Youth of Today

Ipods, handphones, counter-strike, internet...that's what this new generation only knows and lives by. Kids are learning to smoke or take drugs even before they learn how to play football or hide-n-seek. Who do we blame ? The government? The Parents? The schools ? The media ? Who is behind this mess ?

Let's take a look at the media. TV and newspapers are full of announcements that some kid shot another in a high school or something like that.Basically negative news sells and that's what's being glorified. Likewise...Cheap music, poor artists, twisted western cultures have invaded classrooms and living rooms these days that kids have even began to choose their wrong role models.

Family oriented tv sitcoms have been replaced with reality shows glorifying fake idols and violence. Dramas have become more gruesome and immoral thanks to show like CSI and Desperate Housewives.What can a kid learn from someone like Paris Hilton ? First of all reality shows are fixed. It's a shame most people think there is a genuine competition going on. It's basically a sham. The producers have already chosen their winners before the competition begin.

The song remains the same...

I used to have a band. It was one that was formed during secondary school. It was more than just an ordinary band. It was more like our very own elusive club. We spent more time hanging out than creating music. I must admit it was fun and enjoyable cause we seemed to forget the world and our personal problems whenever we were together as a "Band". When we did set down to play music, it was more like an outlet for us to vent our frustrations and "Let it all out".

However, the normal singaporean issues like NS,Career,family etc took control of our lives. We slowly had no time for each other and started to break away. I guess it does not have to be that way. It's really up to us to set aside time for the things we like to do. We just can't sit down doing nothing and complain that we don't have time. Time is always waiting for us.

Recently, a chance meeting on a taxi reunited my dad with his childhood buddy. The moment they met, they embraced each other like long lost brothers. It was very touching and i never seen my dad being so much happier.I knew they missed each other's friendship and all the lost time between them. They are now organising a reunion wih all their other childhood friends...I'm sure they would have alot to talk about.

We often take things for granted in life....friendships just happen to be one of those things.However I realised that no matter how much we achieved in life, how expanded our family had grown, it can never replace the feelings built by friendships. It's something so natural that happens in almost everyone's life. I reckon this was also a sign to tell me how much i missed my own buddies and get things going by reuniting the band and start....ROCKING ALL OVER AGAIN.

American Idiot

If you want to know how i felt about the reception that was given to the most hated and worst US President of all time who visited singapore a few days ago...I shall simply put it as "tasteless".

Yet again, It seems a significant number of singaporeans have publicly shown how much they idolize George Bush and all his ideals. The crowd present at his address at NUS hall even gave him a standing ovation. I was wondering whether all of them had forgotten the fact that he's responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people in iraq ? Or were they applauding for the blatant fact that he had achieved all that ? Utterly disappointing yet expected.

I reckon alot of people here expected his speech to be about terrorism and how to suppress islamic insurgency. However as I expected, he rarely mentioned anything about terrorism due to his apparent failure in the middle east. Iraq is in a disastrous state of collapse and anyone who does not acknowledge that is definately in a state of denial.This must have come as a disappointment to many here including the local media which keeps on fuelling the fear and anger by harping constantly about terrorism and it's threats. George Bush has probably learnt his lesson and moved on, i suggest singapore follow suit. Let's talk about something else for a change.

A Shopper's Paradise ?...Not just yet.

Singapore had always famed itself as being the ultimate shopper's paradise destination in asia. This has been one of the tourism board's main strategy to lure tourists into the country. However this is a claim that can be easily disputed. I think most savvy travellers would realise that the real shopper's paradise are located all over Thailand and Malaysia where you can really get your money's worth on virtually any item found under the sun. I guess singapore is more suited for it's convenience because of the fact it is a small island, with a good infrastructure and transport system which is seriously lacking in other asian countries.

Recently i bought a new pair of POLICE sunglasses from Mustafa Center for a reasonable price of $160. It was one of the latest models on sale. A few weeks later, I happened to visit the newly opened VIVOCITY Shopping mall and i was shocked to find that the same sunglasses i bought was on sale at a shop there for $200. This was a $40 dollar difference for the same original model. This was outrageous and can be called "daylight robbery". I think the lesson here is that we must learn to be more careful when spending our hard earned money especially in all these so called upmarket shopping malls.

If Evolution Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve

I normally shun away from any political topics because i personally believe the political world is full of hypocrisy and twisted idealogy. But there are some issues that sometimes seem to consume my thoughts and urge my conscience to speak out. I strongly believe the world has become a more violent place to live in since the turn of the new millenium. It's with great sadness that we have seen so much carnage and loss of innocent lives when we should be embracing and celebrating the great progression mankind have made regardless of our race or religion.

I believe we are all in this quagmire because of the selfish ideals of a select few. The world has seen the birth of the new hitler. US president George W Bush and his legion of fanatical supporters waged a war on september 11th 2001 which they plotted and executed in their own soil. However the evil they unleashed on their homeland set stage for a fury of dramatic events that later "justified" their murder of thousands of innocent people especially in the middle east. It's sad there is nothing much we can do to stop these atrocities except to pray hard for all these bloodshed to end quickly. The fate of the world is in the wrong hands now and we need divine intervention to stop these outlaws before they outlaw our existance.

EID MUBARAK

I take this opportunity to wish all my family members,relatives,friends and colleagues SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI. May this joyous occation bring happiness and joy to everyone. Have a splendid and memorable time with your loved ones.

Slayer - Live in Concert - Singapore

Friday the 13th 2006....Legendary Metal Band SLAYER finally came to singapore for a one night performance and i was there to catch them live ! Eventhough it was a relatively short gig lasting just over 90 minutes, they still managed to perform almost all their best songs spanning their 20 years of ground breaking metal history. This was a gig no metal fan should have missed. It was awesome and intense right from the beginning to the end. On a side note, I managed to meet some old frens whom i've not met in years and that made it special. To sum it up, this gig had just rejuvenated the metal craze inside of me. Thank You SLAYER. See you soon !

Ramadan - A very special moment

Ramadan is here, Here is Ramadan.
Ramadan is coming, The time that is blessed.
Ramadan is coming, The time we love best.
The month in which the Qur'an was sent;
A time of great blessing in which to repent.
Fasting for Allah is a great Muslim deed;
Controlling desires and Suppressing greed.

Ramadan is coming, Increase your Iman.
Ramadan is coming, Recite the Qur'an.
Taking "Suhur" in the dead of the Night;
No eating no drinking during the daylight.
Refrain from bad deeds and repent your soul;
The pleasure of Allah is our only goal.

Ramadan is coming, so let us prepare.
Ramadan is coming; there is peace everywhere,
Even if there is hunger, remember your Lord
And wait until 'Iftar' to earn your reward.
Fasting is one of the gifts of Allah
Given to believers to increase 'Taqwah'.

Ramadan is here, here is Ramadan.
Ramadan is coming, so seek the new Moon.
Ramadan is coming, it will be here soon.
We pray to Allah to put right our hearts;
Ask for forgiveness from Allah and make a new start.

Raising our hands we ask for his 'Rahmaa';
Hear us our Lord and grant us 'Jannah'.

Success is a job well done

Success is said to be the consequence of certain actions...a result. Every such outcome has a cause. The cause of the result called success can be described as action that has three qualities - Concentration,Consistency & Humility.

Society has it's own definition of success. In that sense, success is a very social concept. The meaning of success,as generally understood by society today, is the accumulation of status,fame,money and power. If there were no society, there would be no yardstick to measure who is successful and who is not.

For me success is a result. Success is a job well done. Success is not about achieving fame,accumulating money or having power and influence in society. Success should be personal and have nothing to do with what society may think.

I passed my driving test !

Yipee !!! Yes I did it ! After years of putting it on hold, i finally managed to get hold of the elusive driving license. It's hard to conjure up words to express how tensed up a person gets on the day of his driving test. It was nerve wrecking and you can just go "blank" if you did not have some measure of control.

I guess luck also played a part because the road condition was smooth at that time and the driving tester was suprisingly in a good mood. I was hysterical when i was told i had passed and i am savouring every moment of my new found privilege. I can't wait to save up for my very own first car.


PS: This is the first time i ever managed to accomplish one of my new year resolutions and so this makes it even more special.

Italy - World Cup Champions 2006

The World Cup Finals are over and finally no more sleepless nights for millions of football fans around the world.The Azzuri have at last buried the ghost of 94. They have been crowned the new world champions albeit through a penalty shootout win.

However this final will always be remembered for the way the greatest footballer of all time, Zinedine Zidane left the international scene in controversial fashion. The match itself was a roller coaster ride and it did live up to expectations of a thrilling finale. In my opionion, both Italy and France are winners in their own right for having reached all the way to the final.

However we have to bid farewell to the living legend Zinedine Zidane who has given us great moments in football history and has now joined the league of world cup greats...Goodbye Zidane...You are still the best !

2006...What else is New ?

I'm back after a long break and Happy New Year....Ahh another year has passed before we realised it.. Well on the personal side, 2005 has been a hectic and messy year for me...so many changes happened on the personal and working side.

So my resolutions for 2006, is to organise and rearrange my life according to all the changes that have happened. One thing clearly on my mind is that I am going to get that drving license for sure this year!!! You can't run away from me forever ! Well to be honest, i have been running away from taking those driving lessons so that is something i must clear this year.

Alot of other memorable events will be happening for me starting from my birthday on January 14 which is also going to be my wedding day....all the preparations have gone into overdrive and i am looking forward to the big day. I am still in a daze that things are happening so fast but then again i am not getting any younger and i guess it's time for me to settle down in life. I am looking forward to this new phase in my life.

Since i won't be a bachelor anymore, i won't have much free time to surf the net,blog etc. However i will keep this site alive with updates whenever i get the time. Last but not least, I wish the same good happiness and good fortune for everyone living in this planet....Happy New Year....Keep it sane !