updates... :D

Ok it's been a long while since the last proper update...

- CNY
Chinese New Year celebrations was of pretty the same routine as previous years, but I was glad that this year, i managed to meet quite a few of my cousins (e.g. my dad's younger sister who reside in Malaysia came down to visit us) whom I have not seen for the past few years. Heh.... the Ang Pao collection was also not bad but that's another story hehe :)

- VDay
Valentine's Day was a pretty normal day for me but it was interesting walking around school and seeing the girls (and guys) walking around with bouquets from (or for) their loved ones. I remember for my 4-6 lecture, there seemed to be those who were rushing off for the night's programme :P

As for how I celebrated it myself... basically i shared my box of chocolates with my hall friends.. it was a gesture which they evidently appreciated. :)

- Tests and projects
Am still mulling on whether to continue with ME3221 (Energy Conversion Processes). I find it disturbing that I just cannot understand this module. Mental block or am i just not up to it? To complicate matters there is a test (30%) coming up this coming Friday.

2 more weeks to the start of Week 7 and I must decide on whether I'm going to keep or drop this module by then.

I am taking 6 modules this sem, 3 of them project based (2 of them are 100% CA in fact.) On top of that, I'm taking SJAB's Higher First Aid course and on top of that, the CCA points to key in.

Thought of the day: if I am planning to S/U, how much effort should I put as compared to one who is planning to score?

- Volunteer work
The general situation in both my Organisations now seems pretty lukewarm. Not surprising based on my dad's assessment that "Singaporeans are a stressed lot". Both Organisations being voluntary in nature depend largely on the spare time of their members. And with prices up again (unfortunately), the man on the street has less time to spend on volunteer work. No wonder one of my friends lamented that some people are pretty mercenary nowadays, with the first question being "How much will I be paid?" or "What's in it for me?"

What about uniformed groups? They face a tough manpower issue... Students who have graduated from secondary school are no longer so forthcoming in rendering their services to their alma mater (through the Cadet Lieutenants/Cadet Inspectors or equivalent schemes)... especially when they begin to be involved in more attractive activities in the JCs/Polys. I myself wasn't too active in JC due to SJAB (granted, I was in the Students' Council but I didn't try new things like ODAC or similar stuff). The uniformed groups in general have a problem retaining manpower. To complicate matters, there is a disdain for all things uniformed in Singapore (in particular the military - as opposed to the States where service members are proud of their uniforms.)

In SJAB itself, there is a lack of suitable qualified volunteers to take on more important positions within the organisation. Many choose to remain within their comfort zone and not take up new challenges...

FW: Beware of panadol

Something about panadol. (also help to improve my malay vocabulary, hah... although this is in Bhs Indo)

JANGAN KONSUMSI SEGALA JENIS PANADOL
> terutama jika punya masalah gastric
> FYI, sharing a true experience story from a
> friend....
> sharing bdk pengalaman dari seorang teman
>
> My husband was working in a hospital as an IT
> engineer, as the hospital is planning to set up
> a database of its patient. And he knows some of
> the doctors quite well..
> Suami saya bekerja di RS sebagai IT jurutera,
> dan RS berencana membuat database untuk
> pasiennya. dan dia mengenal bbrp dokter dengan
> baik
> The doctors used to tell him that whenever they
> have a headache, they are not willing to take
> PANADOL (PARACETMOL) . In fact,they will turn
> to Chinese Herbal Medicine or find other
> alternatives.
> para dokter mengatakan pada dia kalau mrk sakit
> kepala mrk tidak mau meminum PANADOL
> (PARASETAMOL) . bahkan mrk beralih kpd
> pengobatan alternatif china (dengan rempah2)
> atau mencari alternatif lain
>
> This is because Panadol is toxic to the body,
> and it harms the liver. According to the
> doctor, Panadol will reside in the body for at
> least 5 years. And according to the doctor,
> there used to be an incident where an air
> stewardess consumes a lot of panadol during her
> menstrual as she needs to stand all the time.
> She's now in her early 30's, and she needs to
> wash her kidney (DIALYSIS) every month.
>
> hal ini krn panadol mrpk racun bagi tubuh, dan
> membahayakan liver menurut para dokter, panadol
> akan mengendap ditubuh setidaknya selama 5
> tahun. dan menurut para dokter, pernah ada
> kejadian dimana seorang pramugari mengkonsumsi
> banyak panadol pada saat menstruasi krn dia
> butuh untuk berdiri sepanjang waktu. skr dia
> berumur 30-an dan butuh mencuci ginjalnya
> setiap bulan
>
> As said by the doctor that whenever we have a
> headache, that's because it is due to the
> electron/Ion imbalance in the brain. As an
> alternative solution to cope with this matter,
> they suggested that we buy 1 or 2 cans of
> isotonic drink ( eg.100PLUS), and mix it with
> drinking water according to a ratio of 1:1 or
> 1:2 (simply, it means one cup 100plus, one cup
> water.or 2 cups water). My husband and I have
> tried this on several occasions, and it seems
> to work well.
>
> seperti yg sudah dijelaskan oleh para dokter
> bahwa kapanpun mrk mengalami sakit kepala hal
> itu disebabkan oleh ketidakseimbangan
> electron/ion di otak. sebagai solusi alternatif
> untuk menangani masalah ini mrk menyarankan
> untuk membeli 1 atau 2 kaleng minuman isotonic
> dan mencampurnya dengan air dengan perbandingan
> 1:1 atau 1:2 (1 gelas isotonik dicampur 1 atau
> 2 gelas air). suami saya dan saya telah
> mencobanya bbrp kali dan kelihatannya berhasil
> dengan baik
>
> Another method will be to submerge your feet in
> a basin of warm water so that it bring the
> blood pressure down from your throbbing head.
> metode lainnya adalah merendam dengan air
> hangat kaki anda sehingga menurunkan tekanan
> darah dari kepala
> As Panadol is a pain killer, the more Panadol
> you take, the lesser would be your threshold
> for pain (your endurance level for pain).
> karena panadol adalah penghilang rasa sakit
> maka semakin banyak kita konsumsi semakin
> kurang kita merasakan sakit (daya tahan
> terhadap sakit meningkat)
> We all will fall ill as we aged, for woman, we
> would need to go through childbirth. Imagine
> that we had spent our entire life popping quite
> a substantial amount of Panadol (Pain Killer)
> when you need to have a surgery or operation,
> you will need a much more amount of general
> anesthetic to numb your surgical pain than the
> average person who seldom or rarely takes
> Panadol .. If you have a very high intake of
> Panadol throughout your life (Migraine,
> Menstrual cramps) it is very likely that normal
> general anesthetic will have no effects on you
> as your body is pumped full with panadol and
> your body is so used to pain killer that you
> would need a much stronger pain killer,
> Morphine??
> kita semua akan jatuh sakit seiring
> bertambahnya usia, untuk wanita kita perlu
> menjalani masa melahirkan. bayangkan bila kita
> telah cukup banyak mengkonsumsi panadol
> (penghilang rasa sakit) ketika kita butuh
> menjalani operasi, kita akan membutuhkan jumlah
> lebih banyak untuk menghilangkan rasa sakitnya
> ketimbang dengan mrk yg mengkonsumsi lebih
> sedikit panadol. jika kita telah mengkomsumsi
> panadol sepanjang hidup kita (sakit kepala,
> kram krn menstruasi) sepertinya obat biasa
> tidak akan berefek apapun pada tubuh anda
> karena tubuh anda sudah terisi dengan panadol
> dan tubuh anda sudah terbiasa dengan penghilang
> rasa sakit sehingga membutuhkan penghilang rasa
> sakit yg lebih kuat, morfin ?
>
> Value your life, THINK b4 you easily pop that
> familiar pill into your mouth again. >
> hargai hidup anda, pikir dahulu sebelum dengan
> mudahnya menelan obat yg sudah dikenal kedalam
> mulut anda.
> kirimkan ini kpd orang2 yg anda kasihi

FW: 10 things God won't ask you on that day

Something interesting.
----
10 things God won't ask you on that day

1. God won't ask you what kind of car you drove
He'll ask you how many people you drove who didn't have transportation

2. God won't ask the square footage of your house
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home

3. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet
He'll ask about the people you helped to clothe

4. God won't ask what your highest salary was
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it

5. God won't ask what your job title was
He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability

6. God won't ask how many friends you had
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend

7. God won't ask you which neighbourhood you lived in
He'll ask you how you treated your neighbours

8. God won't ask about the colour of your skin
He'll ask about the content of your character

9. God won't ask why it took you so long to seek salvation
He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven and not the gates of hell

10. God won't have to ask how many people you sent this to
He already knows your decision...

oh well.

Well it all seemed happy go lucky at the start but now it has come to an end...

In a relationship both parties must put in effort for it to work. I ask myself have I put in the effort? In what area have I failed?

Oh well, another learning experience for me. :\

Farewell 2007... Hello 2008

Well 2007 has been a good year for me in terms of my results, my voluntary work in The Organisation, CCA and relationship. :)

Results wise, I have seen a slight improvement in my grades and hopefully will maintain or push even higher.

For my voluntary work 2007 is the year I have been promoted to a mid ranked Zone Staff Officer, and not only that, have had the opportunity to mount parades on two occasions. Once as colour ensign and once as Parade Commander. There'll be more to come i'm sure as there seems to be shortage of mid-ranked officers to take up important parade appointments...

As for the other Organisation... well yet another of the instructors has called it a day citing academic committments. Well, his committment these 2 years is appreciated, after all it's understood that studies has got to come first. My committment remains a question mark there...

As for CCA wise (referring to Raffles Hall) it's been a good year of exposure. The most important thing which being part of the JCRC team has taught me is to manage expectations from the hall residents and SCRC which can be quite daunting and challenging at times. But it has also given me a new perspective when being at the upper management level (not top management yet - that distinction belongs to the SCRC), there are challenges and obstacles that those at the middle or lower management does not see.

Most importantly the end of 2007 was a time when I underwent a paradigm shift. Once which helped me see challenges such as academics and relationships in a new light.

Especially after my camp in dR forest, I realised that there are still many things I want to do in life, like someone once said "There are many things in this world to see and to marvel."

And for relationship.. hehe that's for another post!

Happy New Year everyone!

Obituary

A respected SJAB officer, Mr. Stephen Khit Joong Khee, O.St.J. , former Area 3 Commissioner and NHQ Staff Officer (Grade I), passed away on 22 December 2007. He was 74.

Perhaps what my fellow officer wrote about him sums up pretty well:

"Mr Stephen Khit, as far as I remember, was a very nice man. Despite having stroke, he continued to work. The last time I saw him, was probably when he was manning the St John Supplies Shop at HQ.."

I first got to know him in 1998 when I was in Secondary 2. Back then it was because of buying uniform accessories for my Corps. He always had his breadth of experiences to share with all of us from his experience in the British Army and after that, the SAF. Needless to say we had many things to talk about and he kind of inspired me to continue on as an officer after graduation.

I just returned from bidding my last farewell to him. His wife recounted fondly his association and passion for SJAB, and the many wreaths from SJAB members spoke volumes.

Here is a great officer whom many look up to, and his loss is a great loss to all within the Organisation.

Goodbye, Sir, and rest in peace.

Aaron's wedding, SinMal Camp and more!

Been a long time since my last update which was when my exams were still totally not finished yet. Since that post, a lot of things happened... too busy to update... anyway I will do that now...

Immediately after exams I had to pack the stuff in my room for preparation to move out. Lucky one of my friends was staying for vacation so can park my stuff in his room, LOL! It took two days to pack my stuff...

I also wanted to collect my stamps from NPCC HQ and I did confirm with my cousin that the person in charge was around. Then when I reached there (and waited half an hour for him), he said that he was only in charge of the stamps for the UG conference participants. Mine was under another person who was overseas at the moment :P) Looks like I have to get him to mail me the stamps soon as I have no intention of making another trip down.

8 Dec was my friend Aaron's big day, so we went to his place the day before to stay over. And no we did not have a bachelor's party the night before, he still had quite a lot of stuff to settle and was up till late at night. Anyway, it was a fun experience not to mention I got to know a few of his wife's friends as well.. Not to mention that I observed for the first time a Catholic mass and its differences from the Protestant practices which I grew up in.

Congratulations to the newlyweds and wish you many years of wedded bliss!!!

---

The following week was NTU Hall XI exchange on Wednesday 12 Dec. They have a canteen in the hall itself which means that the residents don't have to venture out for their meals (and unlike NUS, not all halls have meal plans.) The following day was the highlight of the whole holiday which was my SinMal Camp (Singapore-Malaysia Combined Camp, held at Malacca) which I will write about in another post, too long for one blog post haha.

Something interesting.

It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

- Mark Twain

Something which I find particularly true in light of my voluntary work with The Organisation, and the fact that there are people who will fight tooth and nail just for the particular honour.

Nick Vujicic

I met Nick Vujicic last Sunday at Faith Community Baptist Church and am truly inspired by his testimony. Here we have a man with every reason to give up on life but he refuses to, and in spite of his circumstances he lives his life to the fullest potential!

I daresay I had a paradigm shift after listening to him. All the 'challenges' which we face daily are nothing compared to what he has had to go through. Coupled with the fact that he is only 25, pretty young but in spite of that, he is making an impact on the world by sharing his story and motivating others to rise above their circumstances and live life without limits.

Above that, he's also a pretty humorous speaker and one who takes his disability light-heartedly (you've got to see the video, i shan't spoil it for you)! I think NUS should get him to speak to the students one of these days...

----

Something to share:

Nick is the epitome of 'courage' and positive thinking.


Part 1:
Great motivational speaker This is a MUST WATCH !!!
Part 2:
click here
Part 3: click here

This shows snippets of how he copes with some of his daily routine :click here

Exams.. the end is almost in sight

Alrighty it's the end of another week and i have but one paper left (and it's open-book) so i can take some time off before the final push.

My take on the papers so far:

HR2002 - Pretty okay, as it's quite open ended... hope i answered the questions well
ME3122 (Heat transfer) - 'nuff said. Total screwup.
ME2151 (Materials engineering) - I found the paper quite ok but i hope that my answers are correct...

Argh, this sem has been super busy and not as productive as i hoped it will be! But next sem will be better!

Been clearing some miscalleneous JCRC work yesterday and catching up with friends. Then tomorrow will go to FCBC to listen to Nick Vujivic... a guy born without limbs.. and he's just a couple of years older than me. Amazing how God can use people in such a mighty way... but as for me still got some way to go ba...

I received an SMS today inviting me to take up Parade Commander for the Zone Presentation at the end of this month. Wow.. my pleasure and honour it shall be.

Just had a conversation with my colleague who left The Organisation and he is thinking of making a comeback. Well, good, we need you and look forward to serving alongside with you once again.

One of my colleagues from my workplace left after 2 years of service. Well, all I can say is at least I managed to say a proper goodbye to him... We'll meet again for lunch or something.

And, to you: thank you for lending that listening ear when it mattered the most, I really appreciate it.