Happy New Year

It’s a New Year!! Whoopee!! The old has passed and make way for the new. At New Year Eve before the stroke of midnight, we make our resolutions for the New Year coming and thank our lucky stars for the blessings we had. As each one of us makes a list of the things we want to accomplish in the New Year, let us also take a moment for those who had left us in one way or another. We make new friendships, lost our loved ones, forgive our enemies and broke up with others all during the past yr. As the New Year progress, I hope that I will be able to follow my dreams and accomplish things that I couldn’t dream of.

New Year Resolution

For the New Year, my new resolution would be to be more decisive and be able to make decisions for myself. The past yr, I always obliged to say ‘yes’ to people when they asked for help. Often, I could not help them in the best way possible and end up being blamed for it. Or I am unable to make decisions for myself when there are two or more possible choices for fear that I could be losing out. I need to learn to be decisive and know when to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ when the need arises. I guess it boils down to my time in army when I couldn’t say ‘No’ often to my superiors, causing me to be afraid to say ‘No’.

Movies to look forward in 2007

2007 is the year when big blockbuster movies come to our big screen. Click on the title for the link to the trailers

5. Fantastic Four 2: Rise of Silver Surfer
The Fantastic Four gang is back together with a new character, Silver Surfer. Is he a foe or an ally?

4. Shrek 3
The third sequel with the orge and Princess Fiona, together with the Donkey and Puss in Boots.

3. Evan Almighty
The sequel to Bruce Almighty. Nope, it doesn’t star Jim Carrey or Jennifer Aniston. However, it stars Steve Carrell, one of the funniest comedians to watch. His character is Evan and God talks to him, telling him to build an ark like Noah’s Ark in the Bible.

2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The fifth installment of the Harry Potter series…Lord Voldemort’s battle with Albus Dumbledore…cool graphics effect to look out for

1. Spider-Man 3
The last(perhaps?) installment of Spider-Man comics when Spider-Man faces not one, not two but three foes…Sandman, Venom and Hob Goblin will be the villains for this movie.

TV shows to look forward in 2007

5. The Dance Floor - New Reality show in S'pore where contestants have to dance their way to win $50,000. Should be interesting to watch.

4. Heroes - Series returning in Mid-Jan. So far, the storyline doesn't disappoint. More people with powers are discovered and another hero dies...

3. American Idol - Watch new contestants sing before Simon Cowell and hear his snippy, caustic remarks...such a joy to watch...lol

2. The Office - Love the show still. Watch Michael Scott do cringe-embarrassing things...all in a day at the office...

1. Lost - Series returning in Mid-Feb. So far Echo died, more mystery will be unraveled and a castaway might be gone...

So that’s all for this first post of the New Year. Also, by now the new title of the last installment of the Harry Potter series had been released titled “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. I guess I would look most forward to this last release of the book which hopefully would be released by this year (Jul perhaps?)

I wish everyone the best in this year. Make a commitment to yourself to go out and discover more about yourself that you hadn’t known, live life as you want to and not what others want of you, and most importantly, never don't hold back.

Happy New Year. Have Fun\

Think they are statues? Well think again, they are performers!

Goodbye my friend

"Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend...."

Rare River Dolphin Declared Extinct

By AP Wire Service

BEIJING (AP) -- A rare, nearly blind white dolphin that survived for millions of years is effectively extinct, an international expedition declared Wednesday after ending a fruitless six-week search of its Yangtze River habitat.

The baiji would be the first large aquatic mammal driven to extinction since hunting and overfishing killed off the Caribbean monk seal in the 1950s.

For the baiji, the culprit was a degraded habitat -- busy ship traffic, which confounds the sonar dolphins use to find food, and overfishing and pollution in the Yangtze waters of eastern China, the expedition said.

"The baiji is functionally extinct. We might have missed one or two animals but it won't survive in the wild," said August Pfluger, a Swiss economist turned naturalist who helped put together the expedition. "We are all incredibly sad."

The baiji dates back 20 million years. Chinese called it the "goddess of the Yangtze." For China, its disappearance symbolizes how unbridled economic growth is changing the country's environment irreparably, some envi ronmentalists say.

"It's a tremendously sad day when any species goes extinct. It becomes more of a public tragedy to lose a large, charismatic species like the river dolphin," said Chris Williams, manager of river basin conservation for the World Wildlife Fund.

"The loss of a large animal like a river dolphin is often a harbinger for what's going on in the larger system as whole. It's not only the loss of a beautiful animal but an indication that the way its habitat is being managed, the way we're interacting with the natural environment of the river is deeply flawed . . . if a species like this can't survive."

"It's a tremendously sad day when any species goes extinct. It becomes more of a public tragedy to lose a large, charismatic species like the river dolphin," said Chris Williams, manager of river basin conservation for the World Wildlife Fund.

"The loss of a large animal like a river dolphin is often a harbinger for what's going on in the larger system as whole. It's not only the loss of a beautiful animal but an indication that the way its habitat is being managed, the way we're interacting with the natural environment of the river is deeply flawed . . . if a species like this can't survive."

Randall Reeves, chairman of the World Conservation Union's Cetacean Specialist Group, who took part in the Yangtze mission, said expedition participants were surprised at how quickly the dolphins disappeared.

"Some of us didn't want to believe that this would really happen, especially so quickly," he said. "This particular species is the only living representative of a whole family of mammals. This is the end of a whole branch of evolution."

The damage to the baiji's habitat is also affecting the Yangtze finless porpoise, whose numbers have fallen to below 400, the expedition found.

"The situation of the finless porpoise is just like that of the baiji 20 years ago," the group said in a statement citing Wang Ding, a Chinese hydrobiologist and co-leader of the expedition. "If we do not act soon they will become a second baiji."

Pfluger said China's Agriculture Ministry, which approved the expedition, had hoped the baiji would be another panda, an animal brought back from the brink of extinction in a highly marketable effort that bolstered the country's image.

During the latest expedition, an online diary kept by team members traced a dispiriting situation, as day after day they failed to spot a single baiji.

Even in the expedition's final days, members believed they would find a specimen, trolling a "hot spot" below the industrial city of Wuhan where Baiji were previously sighted, Pfluger said.

"Hope dies last," he said.

www.baiji.org

This first line of a song that I know is very meaningful especially with the recent article that I chanced upon while surfing. We often ask ourselves what had gone wrong after the consequences had come. Many times, we ignored the warnings that we had received and only reflect and ask ourselves what happened. Like this poor animal who doesn't deserve it's fate, we could only lie and face the consequences as helpless as it. Also, there wasn't anyone mourning for this poor animal when it became extinct just this month. How many times do we have to continue to pollute our environment that we live in until we humans faced the threat of extinction? Why can't everyone do their part to protect and cherish the environment and its animals that lived together with us? The Bengal tigers are facing the threat of extinction, the rhinocerous is being hunted for its horn, the orang-utans and the gorillas' habitat are slowly being destroyed due to the threat of globalisation. It's always a loss when an animal has become extinct. I want to show my future generation of what a Tiger looks like in flesh instead of just image from the textbooks. I want to let the future generation admire the marvels of creation and look at the majestic lions and tigers with awe instead of looking at the pictures. It's time for us people to be more aware of our environment and more pro-active about it instead of just ignoring the dire consequences until it's too late. By then, are we going to ask ourselves what did we go wrong? Or take proactive measures to prevent the horrible outcome?

However, hope still last...we can still make amends and help the animals who are now facing the threat of extinction or being endangered. It's time for us to take the first steps to accept that the animals need our help or they will be gone forever. It's time for us to be aware of the pollution that we are excessively contributing to the environment so that we can do something about it. It's time for us to take a stand against abuse of animals and do our part to ensure their existence of survival so that our future generations can see the marvels of the animals instead of looking at pictures of the Dodo or the Tasmanian Tiger like now.

Christmas Time!!

Well, Christmas had just passed and I am still feeling the after effects of bloatedness and my stomach groaning from too much turkey, ham and sausages. I went for the mid-night mass at my church and celebrated the birth of Christ with my friends. To me, the meaning of Christmas is not about shopping or exchanging of gifts or even abt Santa coming down the chimnys to give presents which some might say tat he is the Devil w/o the ‘n’. Instead, Christmas is just about being thankful for wat you have and spend more time wif your family…All of us have our ups and downs throughout the yr. However, we should be thankful be grateful for wat we have. As the year is approaching its end, Christmas is also the time to take some time to reflect our past yr and thank God for all the blessings tat we have received. Also, we should take moment to pause and pray for those people who lost their lives during the Asian Tsunami 2 yrs ago. It helps us to remind ourselves tat life is fragile and we should cherish it and continue to live for the moment…

As Christmas has passed, the malls have begun their annual post- Christmas sale. Sadly, there wasn’t much things to buy for the mens’ department as most of the items were still too expensive or not on sale…For the ladies, I guess today must be their lucky day as many items were up for sale…

Another small peeve of mine before I end the post, how come people dun have the decency to clear up their plates esp during the rush hr...took this pic during the late rush hr and it's seems tat the staff and the customers can't be bothered to clear the rubbish...sighx

New Mall

After studying for my exams in Nov, I took a long break and went to the new shopping mall called Vivocity. From there, there is a huge magnificant view of the ocean and the sea. It's a nice scenery to look at especially when you just wanna chill and relax by the bay...

Band performing @ Vivocity

As the mall is located near the harbour port, there will be small ships sailing through...

Sunset view of the bay from the mall with cable cars in the background. The big ship is actually the Star Cruise ship

The Departed

Ok, there's this movie that I wanted to watch. It is actually a remake of the Hong Kong thriller movie – Infernal Affairs, thus it is a remake version. According to the New Paper, this is the how the story goes....

It's a good cop bad cop scenerio. Set in the mean streets in South Boston, rookie cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) goese undercover to infiltrate an organised crime ring. Meanwhile, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), the mob's powerful boss, has an inside man of his own, golden-boy detective Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), who is firnly planted in the department's Special Investigations Unit. It doesn't take long for both sides to realise that they have moles in their midst, and from then on, Costigan and Sullivan race against time to expose each other.

I haven’t watch the Hong Kong version yet, however what make me wanna watch this US made movie is that it is directed by Martin Scorsese, one of the best directors in town. I loved watching his movies, like recently the Aviator and Gangs of New York, both of which I think is the best classic films of all times. Thus I think that this movie would be one of his best works that he directed and really really hope that he wins an Oscar for this. This man deserved it eons ago. Also, this film features some of the best thespians in Hollywood like Jack Nicholson. I watched his Oscar-winning movie “Over the cuckoo nest” which I enjoyed his acting tremendously. He played a convict trying to be mad so that he would be hospitalized instead of going to jail for his crimes. However along the way, the hospital inmates crazy antics and the psychiatric treatment caused him to doubt his sanity. Nice movie to watch which I highly recommend.

Honesty is the best policy?

Remember when we were young? Our parents taught us not to steal, cheat and especially lie to others. Our parents always told us to tell the truth always, especially if you were caught doing some illegal stuff and it's better to confess truthfully than to lie. If not, our parents would come out with some superstitions mumbo-jumbo stuff saying that our nose would grow longer if we lie like Pinocchio in the fairy tales.

However, as we grow older, the truth seems to take a back seat. Our parents tell us not to tell the truth to others, especially if the other party could not handle it. Why not, we asked during our teens? Why can't we tell our Aunt Betty that she is too ugly or tell Uncle George to go and take a shower because he stinks up the room? No, our parents said, "It's rude to insult other people and it's not courteous." Eh...so it's courteous for them to make a stench in the room and not courteous for us to just tell them the truth?

During our interview, the advice given would be to always blow your own trumpet...even if you don't have one. Tell your interviewers that you did a lot of impressive stuffs as written in your resume, have lots of experience when you have none, or even boost about your personality and your interest for the job when you don't even like it.

Why it is that people can't handle the truth when it is shoved right to them? Why, as we grow older, try to hide the truth with many layers of facade instead of just being upfront about it? Why we can't tell our bosses how we actually feel being overworked instead of just grimacing and complaining behind their backs?

I know it's difficult to tell someone the truth or even difficult for someone to handle the truth. I remembered during the times when I was still in NS working as a clerk and there was one female admin supervisor who is the worst person that anyone would work with. She played office politics shrewdly and use her skills such as apple polishing to win over her superiors. However, when dealing with her own subordinates and fellow colleagues, she acted as if she is the boss and wants to do things her way and sometimes even got into arguments with them over minor issues. To her superiors, she is the role model worker that anyone could ask her for. To her subordinates, she is the wicked witch of the East who will always create trouble in the office when there is none. I suppose, as everyone might suggest, is to keep my mouth shut and just worked under her. But no, I told her bluntly the truth that she is a hypocrite. She said that I was rude and insubordinate to her and threatened to report me.

I guess in our life, truth is something that we want to hide from others. Sometimes, we lie to our friends to prevent them from hurting. Sometimes we tell a white lie to our parents to prevent them from worrying. Other times, our parents lie to us so that we could have a better childhood than they had. Or perhaps protect us from the societal problems and issues that we innocently do not know. During school, our teachers lie so as to encourage us to study better and be more optimistic. In working life, we lie to our bosses so as to retain our jobs. Our bosses lie to us so as to ensure that we keep working under them. We have an American President who lied to his fellow citizens so as to engage a war. The world today we lived in as all a pack of lies. It is like a deck of cards stacking up to form a pyramid at the top. Who will be the one who will pull a card from the base, causing the whole foundation to crash down?

The light of the truth can be harsh to those who have been in the dark. During the olden times, Plato wrote about prisoners who lived their whole lives in a cave and were chained in place. Sometimes a fire will be there which throws shadows against the wall in front of them. That's all they ever see during the time in prison. They have no reason to believe there's more to the world. However when they are released and stepped out into the light for the first time, their eyes hurt. Once they adjusted to the light, then they found reason to hope for better future. Yes, sometimes, truth hurts. No, in fact truth always hurts. However, once we are adjusted to the truth, we will find it more acceptable to deal with it. So it's up to us to turn on the switch so that others may see the truth of light...yup even though it hurts initially.

Back to School

This week marks the return back to school after 1 week break. Here I am in the lecture theatre when I am a tiny speck in the vast number of people attending this Econs lecture. Arghh...need to check out with my work before the exams begin in Nov. Have not done my physics lab report and practised my Spanish during the hols...need to hurry revise them before I forgot them totally....

Notice the guy standing? I wonder if he's checking out some gal sitting a few rows below mine...hmmm

Took this pic as the lecturer was rambling...trying to keep myself awake...yawnz...