The Exclamation Mark Blog!

By now, most movie buffs in the world should have already caught Star Wars 3. I trust that most of my readers are current enough to have already watched it, unless they happen to one of the Anti-Star Wars breed.

I happen to be in that category too. While I do not deride and mock at the film as how my co-blogger does, I find the appeal of the show elusive. While the graphics and fight scenes were sure-winner elements of a blockbuster, other aspects of the film didn't captivate me as much.

Perhaps I never had an interest in sci-fi stuff. Perhaps I couldn't stand Hayden Christenson's one-note expression on his face. Perhaps I was just pissed that Mace Windu died and Yoda failed to kill Darth Sidious.

And yet, the show got me thinking. About heroes. I thought about what being a hero entails. Clearly, it isn't as simplistic as being the guy that saves the day. Anakin Skywalker rescued the city countless times, and yet in the end, had his heart tainted with lust for power, in the process losing his conscience and humanity. His master, Obi-Wan was shocked. The jedis in the temple never expected him to massacre them. In their eyes, he was a hero. Larger than life, glorified by all, elevated to the position of a saint. But often the heroes in our lives make mistakes and fall from the heavens, like Lucifer did.

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I remember when I was much younger, my hero was, well, Optimus Prime. You know, the good Transformer in the cartoon? Certainly, he does not qualify for the status of a hero technically, since he isn't even a human being to begin with. But it was the innate qualities he had -- bravery, strength, integrity, loyalty -- that had me so in admiration of him ( or 'it', for that matter). Aren't these all qualities that we emphasize on so much? Likewise till these day, these are some qualities that I espouse.

Of course growing up, your perception of heroism evolves a little, and new heroes/objects of admiration come into your life. I transitted from the phase where robots and pixies and dwarves were a large part of my life, to another phase where textbooks were an even larger part of my life. And then, when you finally reach that stage, where you realize that there is no Optimus Prime, or Batman, or Superman, you finally decide to make another human being your role model.

Initially, my first real (human) hero I admired was Eric Cantona, the infamous former Manchester United captain. Then a young boy captivated by the thrills and technicalities and aesthetic qualities of soccer, passion and love for a football club and admiration for certain players were inevitable. It was a natural progression for a young soccer loving boy to view this player as larger than life, in the process elevating him to the status of a deity. His charisma, his strength, fighting spirit, flamboyance, and even arrogance were something that gripped my attention and admiration so tightly.

Then I started seeing the ugly. His outbursts of temper on the field, the occasional tendency to play dirty for the sake of acquiring a victory -- already the norm in standard soccer games nowadays, especially the English Premier league-- finally got me crashing back to solid ground, forcing me to be down to earth.

Perhaps it was more his talent that kept me in awe. He did possess great leadership, charisma, and fighting spirit. I still respect and desire those qualities, and yet I came to view him as what he really was: a human. And he was a human with flaws he did not seek to overcome.

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No man is an island; likewise no man is perfect.
Sometimes we view our heroes with such admiration, we see only the sheen of grandeur wrapping around them. We often see the facade; seldom the true depths of their heart. We fail to see their weaknesses, as we should, because it is only then we come into a realistic picture and perception of the true identity of our hero. Often when we admire someone so much, when certain people in our society are held in such high esteem by all, these people always fall in some way. Then our world is shattered; it is never possible to piece those fragmented portions of our heart together again.

I remember when I was much younger, a primary school kid. My dad may have visible imperfections, it was apparent to all. And yet I really looked up to him. He used to be in the basketball team of St Joseph's Institution, he was one of the few in his generation to end up in university, and he was an excellent student in his various institutions of education. He was the one who got me supporting Manchester United, not to mention. Imagine my shock when I found out in secondary 1 he was some sort of a porn addict. I remember my state of shock and disbelief. Porn is extremely common nowadays, don't get me wrong. But when your dad is in his 50s with a dying sex drive, and you've for life viewed him as a devoted family man, it is hard to fathom his penchant for salacious internet content. Also, you wonder if he doing it behind the back of your mother was tantamount to cheating. Of course, my mother eventually found out, but I'll spare you the details.

I guess that's why comic characters like Spiderman, Superman and Batman are so popular. These writers portray them as tragically human, grappling with human weaknesses. They are shown as ordinary humans plagued with crippling faults, and yet blessed with extraordinary powers. They learn to cope with their powers and their weaknesses after they come into realization that they possess extraordinary abilities. Comic characters are thus really in essence, what this world will never give us.

We don't get power and authority thrown onto us first without proving our integrity and striving to overcome our weaknesses. Which is pretty much unlike some comic characters, who only learn responsibility and integrity AFTER they get their powers.

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Well, I still have many role models in my life. I admire and respect many people for certain qualities they possess which I feel I lack, or which I strive to achieve. Still, there is only one real hero in my life now. He was human, and yet perfect. He had qualities I still constantly strive to possess-- strength, wisdom, determination, love and courage.

"Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried out sorrows;....
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed."

And so it began, with the Republic and the droids locked in a gruesome battle with one another. Their vendetta stemmed from petty differences and the droids' lust for power, and their fued dragged on for a long time. The massacre was great. A great loss of life was incurred on the side of the Republic. Things were looking bleak for them, who were losing power rapidly, and at the same time wrestling with many internal problems. But so legend goes, whenever crisis arises, a young hero will always rise up to the occasion. And so, a young, charming, valiant jedi came along. Having a talent so great it incites jealousy among the hearts of all, and with such striking and dashing looks it captured the awe of all.....

He was.....














Hippie Drunkie Yoda!

From the way I'm jesting, you can probably construe that I am not a Star Wars fan. Well, you're right. I occasionally cringe with disgust when people fondly mention Yoda, Anakin, Luke or even those frigging Chewbaccas with such glee. In fact, I got so sick of all the bullshit hype going on about this last installment of the prequel taht I decided to actually watch the damn show myself. And oh, I had a ball of a time there, I tell ya.

I loved the uber-cool fight scenes and the cool computer graphics. In fact, those immaculately designed and animated spaceship will cause any tech-crazy guy to be on Cloud 9. I call that a visual orgasm. Damn impressive graphics.

But what was even more fun for me to do during the show was to observe teh terrible acting and abysmal quality fo the dialogue.

Hayden Christenson, a damn good actor he is. Give my hats off to Hayden Christenson, I want to. ( I'm channelling some Yoda talk here.) When he is not flashing his pecs, ( which weren't really THAT impressive) he was busy looking all hot and bothered and confused. And oh, let's not forget, swinging a little silly lightstick around.

In fact, he was such a great actor, you could see all the intensity in the various facial expressions he dons. Oh wait, I mean, facial expression. Without the S. Because in the show, he has a grand total of.... ONE facial expression. Bravo Bravo.


Stupid broody look


Oh my gosh, you know what girls? I suck so much at acting that I have to do this intense eye thing to keep your eyes peeled onto me and your brains hidden away on the other corner of the planet. That's the only way you won't notice how much my acting sucks.



Hey girls, check out my intense macho guy look. Don't you girls just love my frown? Oh man, I'm so gonna get laid after they fall for my dark broody, intense guy character. Acting is a pretty easy job! A few frowns here and there and now I'm a star!


Wah seh, even better, I frown abit and I already look so evil! I am a damn good actor man. Of course, computer effects do help!

You see? The only look he has in the show is the brooding, confused, troubled look. Heck, my grandmother can act better than him. I swear he'd even make Keanu Reeves look Oscar-worhty.

Wonderful acting *pukes*

Although I may generally detest Star Wars, like Yoda a little, I do. A good fighter, he is. But so damn annoying it is, the way he talks. But I love Yoda so much because a certain picture reminded me of a way cooler famous movie/book character.




Classic Moments of Star Wars3: Epitomes of Cliched movie scenes
1) Anakin, staring at Padme.
Anakin: You're so.... beautiful.

Please call the mental institution to come quick! The scriptwriter has gone whacko! What kind of scriptwriter writes that?! EVen a primary school kid could come up with that.

2) Anakin, after chopping off Mace Windu's arm and causing him to be killed by Darth Sidious
Anakin: What have I done?!!!!

What have you done? You just read out a horribly dumb, cliched line written by the worst script writer I've ever seen.

3) Anakin (or Darth Vader), on realizing that Padme was dead
Darth Vader: " Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Yes, sorry, you signed that contract Mr Hayden Christenson, so you have to act out that very stupid scene even though you vehemently protest. Yes, I can feel your pain when you shouted that Nooooooooo out. Fortunately for you, that was your best scene.

Seriously, the great graphics and fight scenes, but terrible dialogue which just about ruins about the whole show. I just wish people can stop listening to all the shit about how Star Wars is so amazing, in the process being psycho-ed to believe so, but instead start judging the quality of the show for themselves. I rather watch an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer anytime rather than Star Wars. But hell, George Lucas is already one freaking rich fool, regardless of how hard I slam the abysmal movie.

Maybe the force is indeed with him.

Apologies for the 3 day hiatus, a torrent of unncessary worries have been swirling around my mind, which I find hard to rid off. But finally I'm back to launch into another acerbic tirade against a group of people: smokers.

Ok, now now, please don't take it personally. I do not feel negatively towards all smokers. In fact, I have quite a number of good friends who smoke and I get along with them just fine. I am also aware quite a sizeable portion of my readers do smoke too. That is precisely why I have to make the clarification that I am not biased towards smokers, nor do I stigmatize them.

The only gripe that I have with smokers is the fact that many of them have rather inconsiderate, undesirable practices, which often get on my nerves. I have a beef mostly with old ah-peks or Bangladesh workers who enter the MRT right after they smoke. Those feelings of annoyance are aggravated when of all people, these group of ah pek and Bangladeshi worker-smokers choose to sit beside me on the MRT. After a hard day's work, when I'm all tired, spent and irrtable ( not all the time though, in case you paint a picture of me as this grouchy old slob), what you want to do is just to have some 'me' time on the bus or the train, doing some self reflection, observing people reading a book, or simply sleeping. The people in mention are a mammoth hinderance to that.

I mean, bloody hell, I can't stand cigarette smoke for nuts. Hangingout with a number of friends who do smoke, I've learnt to be a little more tolerant. You know, I don't want self-righteous people coming up to me and saying that I'm some prudish, xenophobic idiot who thinks he is so high and mighty that mixing with smokers is anathema to him. Now, I actually am pretty cool and chummy with many smokers, I reiterate. I must maintain that it's just their occasional selfishness and inconsiderate acts that irks me.

I'll get to the pint. 2 days ago, I was on the MRT, trying to just stone, relax, being in my own elemnt, cooped up in my own little world. I vaguely remember getting ready to to read a book, something I love to do on trains because I lack the discipline to do so once I reach home. Just then, this Bangladeshi Worker (B.W in short) came in, conveniently plonked down on the seat beside mine, which was weird considering there were a number of vacant seats around too.

I remember the instinctive response was to try to shift a little futher away from him, not because I'm racist, you judgmental pieces of shit. It was because he had just smoked before entering the MRT. The rank of cigarette smoke in his mouth could be smelt all the way from Timbuktu. In fact, it was so damn strong, even the B.O of an African refugee who has never bathed in a million years would probably smell like perfume compared to the rancid smell emanating from the B.W's mouth. The worst thing about smoke to me is, it leaves me with a really clogged nose, which exacerbates my post-book-out irritable state. If the late Pope John Paul II was in my shoes, I think he would have chucked away his role as saint of the cnetury and go "!@#$%^$%! You little piece of s***!" throughout the whole train journey.

I wanted to switch seats, I really did. But like Ms.Beautifuk, I may be a little cynical, a little caustic at times, sharp-tongued and full of acrimonious remarks, and even a little impatient, but I would never just get out of my seat and move to another one. I mean, it's just not me. What would that B.W think? He would think I'm some sort of racist bastard and hence I'd be unwittingly perpetuating the stereotype that most Chinese Gen-Y-ers are bloody intolerant. And also, the unapproving looks of people aorund me are not exactly desirable. Grudgingly, I tolerated the smell till I alighted, which was almost a good 35 minutes later. I think my threshold for pain grows everytime I force myself through such torture. My nose is still sufferring right now.

Also, another pet peeve of mine is when smokers do their little psyche-thing on you. You know, when you're the odd one out in a group witha majority number of smokers, or maybe you're alone with another smoker, and they fish out a cigarette for you. NOw that alone is perfectly fine, perhaps their intention would be to share something they perceive as enjoyable with you. It's what happens after they offer you a cigarette that pisses me off to no end. You know, when you decline their offer kindly, but a few of these dips***s will show their dumbness by asking you why, and you kindly offer an explanation. However, that is seldom enough for them as they occasionally take offence with what they perceive as a blatant form of rejection. Following which, they'll rebutt you with inane comments like 'Aut you're so old le, must try everything la, smoking also scared', or maybe "Aiya try one time won't die one la" or " Why you so square one? Smoke la!" These rebuttals sound familar, don't they?

Doesn't this remind you of some religious people? They love to impose their beliefs and thoughts upon you without respecting your wishes of honouring your own set of beliefs. Perhaps they are doing it out of love, but they are inadvertently causing even more trouble and frustration. Incosiderate fools. Bah. I'm so glad my day quit smoking 10 years ago after smoking for almost 20+ years. It takes strength and determination and great willpower to do so. Now, we can switch on the air conditioner without worrying about a rank of smoke permeating the room when he enters.

**No offence for my smoker readers! Just don't engage in the above mentioned dumb acts! And remember to drop a mint into your mouth after smoking!

I just read One Little Twit's post on what it means to live. I'll be doing a back to back post with Raymond and he should be commenting soon.

Life. The one word being mentioned and a multitude of ideals ricochet off my mind. A life well lived constitutes so many different aspects, but it really is beond definition because it's such an ambiguous term. The true meaning of really living eludes most.

Generally, to live well entails raising up a good family, inculcating good values in your kids and training them to be good people, excelling in one's career and being a success, contribute in some tangible way to society. When people think of an ideal life, they think -- financial prosperity, a nice family, active social life, spiritual well-being etc. Preiously I would not have actually given a damn to something as insubstantial as spiritual wellbeing, but the New-Age movement has to some extent invaded my life and jerked me out of sweet oblivion, making me somewhat mindful of such a ridiculous concept. . Spiritual wellbeing. Huh?

Anyway, to me, all the above mentioned things are good, and yes, are things we should strive for. It is indeed a Herculean task to balance a successful career, healthy family life, and an active social life, as well as do charitable works, and the list goes on. Still, to many, it is imperative they do so, because often these things define their lives. These things gives meaning and satisfaction to their lives. It is to them, living.

And yet, even though the above mentioned are so blindly sought for in life, when I mention to live, I mean it more in a stripped down, undiluted manner. Often we all get so caught up with the above mentioned aspects of life like family and career that we neglect the unquantifiable, less pragmatic aspects of life. When have we taken the time to take an early morning stroll in the park? The fresh air, so crisp in your face, and you just bask in the moment, soaking in the serenity of the atmosphere, enjoying the splendour of nature. When have we let go of our 'adult' mentality, let loose our inhibitions, and do crazy stuff like playing in the playground? ( yes, it's embarrassing, but still, who cares?)

Most of all, how many of us still do actually dream? Call me an extreme idealist, which I in fact am, but I will not budge in my opinion that every single human being needs to have dreams. The PAP maintains that we must have a pragmatic approach towards life, but idealism is still damn bloody important to enthuse people! To keep them expectant, so that most of them don't go crazy over their very existence and start blowing their brains out. We need to be idealistic to keep that thin thread of hope of the realization of our dreams still inextricably bound to the fabric of our mundane, dull, tragic existence, and in doing so retain some of our sanity is this screwed up world.

Well, I for one, love dreaming, and I have many lofty dreams and goals. I may not be the kind of person that Raymond, my co-blogger is. I abhor metaphysical musings, I despise the whole notion of religion, the values it extols and the erroneous concept of how it is the answer to your life, the special soemthign that fills the void in one's life. I find the fact that so many people think they were born into this life with a purpose rather deplorable. Sometimes, it's amazing how man is so proud as to aggrandize their very existence, having this false sense of self importance, thinking they were actually born into this life with a purpose. Such inane thoughts are in fact the epitome of futility.

To actually dwell on thoughts of one's purpose in life, to me, would be pointless mental meanderings, because ultimately, can anything we do in life really amount to something? With the notable exception of a few, like the key political players, i.e. George Bush, I think we'd be going to our graves without anything we actually do in life amounting to much. Linkin Park hit the nail in the song 'In the End'. "In the end, it doesn't even matter" they rant away. Isn't that so true? In fact, to simply just live your life following your dream, not pondering on silly nothings, should really be the philosophy we must all espouse. to ponder on metaphysical aspects of one's life would be an absolute exercise of futility. In fact it would be an impediment to actually really just living out one's life.

Which is why I dream. To keep me hoping, to keep me sane, in a world that seems so bleak. to give me the strength to live out a life where death is a certainty.

Or maybe I should just get a girlfriend or some sex.

"The hardest thing in this world is just to live. Be brave. Live. For me."
-- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to younger sister Dawn

Contrary to popular belief, Christians are not boring people.

As a Christian, I have always had a beef with that misconception. Ok, sure, so some people find us irritating. Or they can't fathom the way we behave. But seriously, I like it that way. It gives me a sense of individualism, and I get a kick out of it.

Till this point, I thought I have been in a pretty cool church. Which of course, I am. Until this pastor from this church came down this week and blew my world away.

You should see the youths from his church. Any atheists would deride them for being a bunch of hyped up fanatical zealots, but they probably just couldn't give two hoots to popular opinions. When they started launching into their praise songs, man they really PRAISED. These guys can jump! Their latest album is just simply fantastic.

I realized that what pastor said is true. To many who first enter the church, they must be thinking we are a total bunch of nuts! But indeed really, this is the gate of heaven.

just a little notification that you can now leave comments. have fun everyone! cheers!

The Red Devils lost the devils in them. Going from 1-0 up to an eventual 1-3 defeat to Chelsea. The irritating, stuck up, !@#$%#$%^%^%& Chelsea?

I think my disdain for Chelsea dwarfs my dislike for Arsenal. In fact, I now think that I dislike Chelsea so much, I don't have any more negative feelings for Arsenal!

Oh well, I think it's time we let Chelsea take a SNIFF of the trophy. I mean, how sad can they be? 50 years without touching even coming within a mile's reach of the title, and finally they clinched it convincingly and with a few records to boot. But oh well, we're merely LENDING the title to you ok, so just take this year to savour the smell and touch of the trophy because next year the trophy will be ours. Yes, that's right, smell it , hug it, kiss it, whatever, just do it for 1 year because that's how long you have to treasure it.

Next year, the expiry date for your trophy is coming, Chelsea. And that's no such thing as renewal.

I've decided to quit playing Warcraft 3 once and for all.

We all know that former President Wee Kim Wee passed away. Well, unless you're not Singaporean, or if you had your head shoved into a mudhole for the past week.

The news broke on the labour day holiday itself, and I think many people gasped in shock, or perhaps heaved a sigh when the news of Wee Kim Wee's demise spread to them. Indeed many people recount their past encounters with him with fond memories, often aggrandizing him by displaying him as a caring leader full of humility and love for the common folk, and in the process almost elevating him to the level of some benevolent saint, i.e. Mother Teresa. The media, along with countless amounts of layman, made him out to be a selfless, kind man. Perhaps he was indeed that amazing, judging by the countless words of praise showered by the people at his wake.

I, for one, didn't feel much for him. This does not indicate a lack of respect or honour, neither does it imply that I am another apathetic young Singaporean Gen-Y-er. If, indeed, if it was MM Lee Kuan Yew who passed away, I would definitely have felt at least a little sad, even though such a piece of news would still fail to elicit any really strong feelings within me. The main reason was the fact that I was way too young to know of the works of such a man. In fact, I only knew of his man's existence on the very day of his demise.

Now now, acknowledging the many wonderful works this man has done for the country is one thing, but the idea of a mass wake open to the public is one I often view with contempt. You know they always say, President dies, the world stops for a day to mourn, we normal layman die, life goes on as usual.

The late President Wee Kim Wee must have done a great lot for society I am sure, and must be revered and loved by many who has personally witnessed his humility and benevolence, but I am dead certain many others must have exceeded him in terms of effort spent in doing good. In fact, some people dedicate their ENTIRE lives to doing good, for example social workers, who despise the lack of financial prospects and shy away from public scrutiny to do good. No media exposure, no big-hype tribute to such a special breed of people. If these people toil day and night, scrimping and saving so as to survive on their meagre paycheck, and do not gain even a little public praise, why should the President, who does barely as much as these sacrificial people, get such a big hype commemoration ceremony? Plain unfair I tell you. Granted, many of these people who dedicate their lives to the cause of making a positive impact on the world are not the ra-ra kind of people, and would rather stay behind the scenes, shying from any media attention, and that is the choice they make. Still, sometimes I lament the unfairness of this society in not giving merit to where it is really due.

Sometimes I look at these people in authority, and I wonder if they really deserve the kind of flattery they deserve. The late president probably deserved his, but when I think about the royal family in the UK, I can't help but cringe in disgust. Those people are BORN into the royal family, and all their lives, just because of mere biological coincidences, get to enjoy a life of luxury, while the layman of the country slog and toil away day and night to make ends meet. These people did not work to deserve their place in the royal family, their position of power was ust handed to them like that, as the legacy goes, but no one personally went up to them and said that they deserved their place they're holding. So that doesn't make them SUPERIOR, that just makes them LUCKIER. Sometimes I see those smug faces of the princes and I can't help but feel disgusted.

Done with the digressing, now back to the main point.

I remember the day after the Pope died, my friend asked me whether I was feeling sad, but my frank answer was that I didn't feel much at all. Neither did Raymond, even though he is a pretty staunch Christian. Sure, this man touched the world with his great works of love and his forgiving heart, but I think millions of people who share similar attributes do exist. And besides, he hasn't done anything that has really revolutionised my life, so naturally I was rather nonchalant about it. A friend who happened to be nearby, commented that I was a bastard when he heard I don't really feel sad for the late Pope. Which of course made me want to throw a punch to his face.

Likewise, as much as I think the late President is to be held is full honour and respect, I have to say that I am now still nonchalant about his death. I think giving him the honour that is due is the best I can offer. But I am not going to offer fake "I'm going to miss him" or "I'll forever remember him dearly" statements. Any faint sense of loss within my heart was gone the next morning.

That friend of mine can call me a bastard all he likes.

Just read my friend Jieyong's blog and in his recent post, he commented about guys and fashion sense. Which really took me back because usually the only 3 touches on are : Soccer. Camp. And Jasmine ( of course, if not she'll kill him . haha.) Anyway he made certain interesting observations which I agree in parts to, but I also have differring opinions regarding certain statements he made.

'They are afriad to try new things. I remembered few years ago, if a guy would to wear pink, people will laugh at him but now it's so common. I feel, guys will only do try out new things when they see many other guys doing so and people keep commenting it's nice n fashionable n so on. Which means, if a girl want his bf to try something new or something she would like to see on him, she must gang up with her girlfriends to tell him how nice it will suit him. Ok, this is the problem with guys including myself, a typical answer will be, " eee..... no way i m gonna wear that. i wont look gd n i think it's weird." but trust me if u can manage to get him try it on then you or together with your friends mega and mega say very very nice in a very excited tone hahaha you will see him buying it hahaha...however, there still this group of guys that is very old fashion and must really try very very hard to convince.'

Agreed. Spot on observation. But the group of girls must be a VERY, VERY big group of girls, because only then will I know many people think that same way. Girls have such different, eccentric tastes that it is really difficult to gauge the accuracy of a single girl's opinion. I know of this female teacher who thinks guys with ear rings are cool, which I used to think too, ( hence explaining my previous infatuation with tattoos and piercings... not that I have pierced any part of my body before), but I too have this other female friend who can't stand guys with ear rings. Thus, it is really really difficult to trust the opinions to just a small select group of friends. Unless, of course, you really look THAT good, but if that's the case, usually you already know you look good and needn't ask for opinions. Which is quite my case, actually.

Square minded. This i have to say sometimes i do have such problems too. Many of us guys dont really know how to match clothes...especially colours. Some guys can wear head to toe same colour and it's always BLUE! o my gosh..hahaha

Ok that is really true. Some guys are so afraid to just take that baby step out of their comfort zone and try something a little more.... dangerous, edgy, and bold sometimes. But I guess sometimes we know our limits. I remember when I was around 13-16 years old, in secondary school, I would cringe whenever we were voting for the colour of our class T-shirt and some girl mentions RED. The guys would be like, EEEE and vehemently voice out our protest, or rather desperate attempts to dignify our manhood among the overwhelming numbers of females in my class. Then, out of the blue, I decided to try to be a little riskier in dressing up when I was in college, and for the first time in my life, wore a RED shirt. Back then i remember the first time I wore a red t-shirt, I thought to myself " Damn, I look good!" ( ok no shameless self praising here.)

Anyway there were a couple of reasons why I first put on that red t-shirt. Firstly, I saw many other guys in church doing that, wearing Red shirts or t-shirts, and I thought most of them look fine. That's the great thing about church, everyone looks amazingly sharp and good! Anyway secondly, when I was in college, I thought since I had such a deprived teenage-hood in my secondary school years being all caged up with this nerdy mentality thing, that it was time for me to REBEL! And hence I thought wearing red was the first step to rebelling, because it was bold and different and shows that you are confident. Many of you must be thinking I am exaggerating, but back then I really did think that way. OF course, now wearing red to me is second nature, I love wearing red shirts and stuff and able to walk about confidently without fearing that people will think you are gay or something.

The lack of knowledge and cant be bothered attitude. Guys are not like girls who will read up Her world and other mags that teaches on how to doll up yourself as in dressing and stuff. Mainly guys would rather focus on comics or FHM and MAXIM girls.....pls dun ask me why =P well i guess this is what normal average guys will do.

Haha. That is rather true to a certain extent. But I realize the weird thing for me is, I love seeing nice clothes and I also do read some magazines that teaches guys how to dress up. But the ironic thing is, I can't be bothered to dress up! I mean I know so many people do have certain stereotypes of people who can't be bothered to dress up, and i think many people stigmatise this group of people, believing to be un-happening and nerdy, but seriously, I think otherwise. I mean, if you see a shabbily dressed guy with unkempt hair, the natural reaction you'd have would be to 'siam' him, and in your mind you must be going 'yucks!'. I feel that looking pleasant is important, so no shabby clothes please, but sometimes a 'devil-may-care' look is rather cool too. Seriously, you see some people that don't bother dressing up that much, hair un-combed, look a little dazzled, but I think these people are really cool in their own way. Yes, they don't really care what people think about them, and they don't really bother to conform to society's expectations of them, that's why they're cool in their own way, in that they have individualism. Sometimes we're so focused on dressing well we lose our own sense of individualism.

I guess labelling myself is really needless. No point labelling myself a metrosexual or whatever because I really don't know where I fall. Sure enough, I do care about how I look and I like to buy new clothes that are nice, but on some days I just really can't give 2 hoots to how I look like. Some days I'm dressed in my nicest, hippest clothes, hair all sleekly done, on others I walk out of the house like I've just woke up and I don't care. That, to me, is my individualism.

Having said that, I wonder how some guys like Jieyong can pull of pink t-shirts!!!! I mean, I've thought of trying one a million and one times, but I know for sure, I'll just look like a drag queen in goth. I'm envious man!