The Exclamation Mark Blog!

Mr Moron is back in da house. And today, he is in a very bad mood because of a particular incident on a bus that pissed the hell outta him.

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To the dear passengers of Bus 985,
heading towards kallang from Choa Chu Kang at around 5.30:

First and foremost, I'd like to take back the word 'dear'. Because you do not deserve a single iota of affection from me.

From the moment I boarded the bus, I had a frown etched on my face. I'm perpetually frowning all the time, but this time I was more irked than usual.

At the point when I was boarding the bus, the rain at Choa Chu Kang had just abated and was reduced to a mere drizzle. It would be normal to be a little pushy to be the first to board the if it was raining cats and dogs.. But even in the case of just a mere trickle of water, a whole multitude of secondary school kids clamoured to entrance of the bus, shoving and pushing relentlessly to be the first to enter. Obviously they were so self-centered, so desperate for a seat that they couldn't even afford to let the two frail upper-aged women behind to get up the bus first.

Then, after boarding the bus, I managed to get a seat, fortunately. My friend who was with me wasn't so lucky and had to move all the way to the back of the bus. Less than 5 mins later, the Mat boy behind me starting blaring the Karaoke Hit List From Hell out from his handphone. Song after song got played out from his handphone in full audible range of everyone in the bus. I don't know what's the problem with so many Mat boys I see on public buses, but they seem oblivious to the fact that almost everyone on the bus gets EXTREMELY irritated by their blatant attention-whoring. Even if those annoying pricks had to pimp for some really unwarranted attention, they could at least try to do it in a more pleasant and less irritating manner.

I'll have more on whole episode in a separate post. Before I proceed on, let me clear airs. I am NOT a racist and I have many good Mat friends. But what I observe is that most of the people I encounter who unabashedly blast out songs from their radios or handphones are Mats. I'm not into defending myself, but in light of all the government-patrolling of blogs, I've got to exercise some religious sensitivty here, or I may be forced to shut down my blog, just like a really prominent blogger recently. So I repeat, I have many good Malay friends and I treasure them, and no, I am not a racist.

After the whole aural castration, my ears' screams for some respite finally being answered, a elderly old man boarded the bus. He looked like he was in his early 60s', and he was carrying 2 rather large plastic bags of groceries in his hands. As he trudged up the bus, I wanted very much to give up my seat to the man, but I was doing some much needed reading, and decided to wait a while to see if anyone else would give up their seat to him.

I had a lot of respect for this old man. Normally, many of the elderly would look around for seats like a lost sheep looking for its shepherd. Once they could make any any contact with anyone, they would look pleadingly into the person's eyes to try to coax that guy into giving up his seat
by making him feel guilty. Not that that is a wrong thing, since everyone should obviously give up their seats to the elderly. Anyway this man, like a few others I've met, just trying tosturdy himself on the bus, holding on to the bar, looking ( or rather trying to look) perfectly fine, not trying to garner any ounce of sympathy by pretending to sway around so that they can get a seat.

Anyway, you passengers who saw this old man clinging on for dear life, did not feel COMPELLED to give up your seats to this old man at all. Not. A. Single. Person. Zilch. Zero. What I couldn't understand is, even for a guy like me doing much reading, and who wanted to continue doing his reading, I could feel the need to offer my seat to the old man, what more those secondary school students just staring into thin air doing nothing? I mean if you're staring at the windows, or daydreaming, you could do that standing up right? And you at least do not subject the old man to the torture of standing on the bus, holding onto the bar and his groceries at the same time? Oh but wait, your daydreaming is SOOOOOOOO important to you that you just have to sit down to daydream. You somehow need to focus ALL your attention on daydreaming and standing up would undermine some of that concentration needed. Or, perhaps, you were daydreaming SOOOO hard that you couldn't see a frail old man swaying around RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES?!

Either way, after 5 mins, feeling sorry for the old man, and even more disillusioned with the youths in Singapore in general, I gave up my seat to the old man. I would have done that without waiting 5 mins, but today I really wanted to see if ANYONE in the bus could have that little spark of compassion to just give up ONE miserable seat. Obviously, I have too high hopes on Singaporeans in general, much less the youth. Young, vivacious, bursting with energy, some talking loudly and blaring horrible music on their handphones, and not a single one could take the effort to lift their butt off the seat.

I wonder if the bus was to jerk and brake halfway. That old man would probably have lost his balance, fell, and hurt himself rather seriously. Part of me wished that happened, so that those simply ignorant, indifferent trash-heads feel the guilt burning in their heart. Perhaps guilt is the only way to actually stir up some serious reflection on their nonchalance and selfishness. But then again, now I'm so disillusioned with all the youths in Singapore in general that I think guilt is not enough a motivating factor to get them out of their little huts and getting them to be a little bit more selfless.

Those goons in the newspaper forums keep advocating the education of youths on the importance of having political knowledge, and pushing them to play a more active role in the political arena. They also push for more teenage volunteers, citing reasons that they find more meaning in life, make more friends, and learn from the job , etcetera. What I am thinking now is, if the magnitude of their selfishness is so gross, what makes you think Singaporean youths will snap out of their hedonistic ( no, it's not too strong a word) lifestyles and actually participate in something that has an influence on lives other than their own? Do you become a lifeguard without even being able to swim properly?

Sometimes, I believe that parents are the only solution to the selfish-syndrome among the Gen-Y-ers in Singapore now. Other times, as much as the militant atheist in me hates to admit, perhaps Raymond's God could shine some light of reflection onto the darkened hearts of these youths to illuminate their way, exposing them to the truth to their hideously selfish behaviour.

My friend Jieyong has recently started a blog, which he used to claim was a girl's thing. Initially when he knew I was starting a blog, which was a few months back, he was actually quite shocked with it.

A few months later, here he is, part of the blogosphere now.

To make matters worse, (haha) this guy who once claimed blogging was a girl's thing is now coo-ing sweet nothings to his girlfriend, repetitively calling Jasmine , his girlfriend, as dearie. So basically I shall describe a typical blog post by him:

Today Dearie was sick, poor dearie. She has been working so hard and fell ill again, so I went to dearie's house after booking out of camp to cheer her up. Nowadays camp life is so boring. The only entertainment I get is when the coolest sergeant in my camp, 3sg Raymond, comes to the specialists' mess to visit me. Anyway when I reached dearie's house, dearie surprised me with a big scrumptious meal and gave me a big huge teddy bear for me to bring home! I love teddy bears!

Ok, so not exactly the last part. I'm sure Jieyong is not into Teddy Bears! But I was just teasing, playing on the claim he made today about him being a Sensitive New Age Guy. I was commenting that they calling Dearie so much over their blogs is really giving me the goosebumps.

Anyway, Jieyong and Jasmine are such a sweet couple. Although, in my opinion, a little bit too sweet for me! Nono, they're diabetic to me! (super over sweet). Now you know why I'm still single, and they are.... haiz... blissfully in love! *And note to both of you: continue to be sweet to each other and ignore my teasings*

Getting to my main point, I'm wondering exactly whether this Sensitive New Age Guy thing is still relevant to society nowadays. I kind of remembered it being quite 'last millenium', because now the new 'in' term is metrosexual. But the other day I just read that metrosexual is passe, and machosexual is in again.

I kind of envy those who are natural metrosexuals OR machosexuals, coz I'm actually neither. I envy it when a guy like Jieyong can wear a pink shirt and carry it off coolly, like it was just another normal punky hip hop- teenager kinda shirt. For me, if I wear a pink shirt, I'll look more like a confused teenager that is part goth/part drag queen. Ok so I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea. And getting pedicures and manicures are totally not my thing. Besides, shopping to me can be rather torturous since I get easily bored, and half the clothes out there don't fit my rather small frame. Being a metrosexual can also be a rather ambiguous thing, because some people think it's just a polite term for calling someone GAY, which I'm so not. But at the same time, even more people think it's a huge turn-on because it shows that a guy is confident in himself and not afraid to show his softer side. Whatever la.

As for the machosexuals, I don't exactly know what the term entails, but doesn't it annoy you when some male celebrity on TV just smiles and says a simple sentence and hordes of females scream wildly in delight, labelling him some 'sex object'?

Which leaves me to the oldest trick in the book: being the Sensitive New Age Guy. Though I think it sounds the least cool and macho of the lot, haha, I still think deep inside their hearts, most girls dig these guys. Just as long as you're not TOO sensitive. Like crying when you see the sun rise or something. Good thing is, I don't have to BE the SNAG, because I guess I naturally am, although I find some things hard to say out in words. Like Dearie, or telling my mom I love her.

Step 1 in training myself to be a full-fledged SNAG: (I'll come up with more in my future posts)
1) Psychological Conditioning
I love you dearie I love you dearie I love you dearie I love you dearie I love you dearie I love you dearie I love you dearie I love you dearie.

Wah, no goosebumps this time round.

This is a friend's only post. If you are a regular reader but aren't a friend of mine, you can probably skip this post because you wouldn't really want to read it.

All right. Yesterday was the Sentosa outing my church friends and I had anticipated for so long.

Had to take cab down to Sentosa AGAIN because I was late again as usual in meeting Jiajin. The taxi fare cost almost 10 bucks.

Spent 12 bucks renting the double canoe with jiajin for 1 miserable hour and I treated him to it. Later we realized that if we bought the package we had to just pay 5 dollars each provided there was a certain amount of people. And with the package we could sue the kayaks unlimited times, albeit only confined to 30 mins every time. In the end I ended up buying the package too, and treated a friend to his share. Another 10 bucks.

When they say 30 mins, it's just because those guys who own the kayaking shop are very kiasu. We used for more than an hour before those guys came to chase us.

I am broke. *wails*

It was nice playing beach soccer. Though my soccer sux, it was still nice playing with them. I was thick skin enough to move two mini goal posts to the place we were playing soccer at, without which nearby person was using it.

Couldn't play captains ball or volleyball or even FRISBEE with the females in my cell. :D The 2 leaders were really squeally! Oh man. My ears almost went deaf from their incessant screamings. Haha.

Sharon, Huitian and Shelia suntanned for almost 3 hours but didn't get much of a tan, unfortunately. Jieyong and I got tanned, or rather sunburnt, rather badly, even though we didn't really have the intention to get tanned, but we were just having fun. Proves the point that when you try hard to find for soemthing, you often dont end up with it. But when you aren't desperately seeking for it, it just comes your way.

Kayaking with the guys was fun. Although I was initially rather sad to kayak the single kayak because it meant I would be alone, it turned out to be really good. The single kayak was easy to control and manoeuvre. The kayaking session turned out to be a really fun capsizing session. We capsized and splashed water at each other on purpose, and it just made the whole experience so fun and cool.

Oh, I realized I like playing volleyball ( unfortunately with a netball, those guys know why) but I need a shifu to come and teach me! Any takers? You'll get rewarded handsomely!

Special thanks to Cass for being so motherly as to take care of all our belongings and buying all the food! You are DA BOMB. And Cheese Dale Chang Zhia How. You rock too coz you organised the outing but unfortunately couldn't go, and thanks to your mom for the potato salad! And yes, your efforts are appreciated. Small Sharon and Huishi, though you didn't really do much there, but thanks for your presence and for helping us take care of our belongings. And thanks to the guys for all the fun! Coolness!

Sunburnt and my arms and legs are aching now. Where is the Aloe Vera when I need it?

I had an awesome outing with my friends at Sentosay just yesterday. Weather was good, and you know lady luck's a friend when that happens even though the few days before was a rather rainy period. I have tons of things to write about what we did there,but i'll save that for a separate post.

The main thoughts I had from all my observations from my outing there can be summarised into a few points.

1) If you are some kind of sex addict, which is unhealthy and an absolute turn off, please don't go to Sentosa, especially the beach. All right, we all know that, what am I even talking about?!

2) There're quite a number of hunks/babes there. It causes you to simultaneously feel both excited and yet inferior.

3) There's also a rather sizeable number of rather... LARGE people there. I'm not talking about people with a belly here. I'm talking about people who are really large. When they run topless, you can see the seismic activity on their bellies. The fats bouncing up and down happily and merrily as if they had a life on their own. Someone pass me the barf bag! In fact, these people are what Ms Beautifuk describes as Regurgitated lard. Now I don't discriminate against fat people, but sometimes seeing large sizeable chunks of wrinkled, fatty tissue definitely induces the gag factor in me. I attribute this to the obsessive health nut in me.

4) Tattoos are ubiquitous ( fancy word for very common) at the Sentosa beaches now. Unfortunately most of these tattoos these people sport are extremely tasteless and an absolutely turn off. Even more annoying is the fact these people think the tattoos they sport up their "cool" factor, when it actually just makes them look like a bunch of conformist dumb-heads. The tattoos they sport are always either some lame chinese characters, some act-beng dragon, or some tasteless and meaningless tribal designs.

5) Church cell groups often frequent there for their outings. You can roughly tell the ages to these cells by the activities they indulge in. If they're adults, they'll probably just sit around lazing and tanning in the sun. If they're young adults, they'll engage in the whole array of popular activities there.... like kayaking, soccer, volleyball, frisbee-catching etcetc. If they're really gina, then they'll bring along a lot of cute, funny games like Twister, and snakes and ladders to play at the beach.

6) Oh, and I say this again, super huge tummies bouncing around is an utter visage of horror.

7) Couples making out in the sea are really desperate, showy, and annoying. If the couple is extremely physically attractive, the irk factor is reduced significantly. But if they aren't, the sight of their silly I kiss-you-you-kiss-me-we-touch-each-other antics are extremely irritating to behold.

8) E104 rocks.

9) And Dale Chang rocks coz he organized the outing but he couldn't make it in the end. And his mom made heavenly potato salad.

In the past couple of months, there had been a great furore and lengthy debate on the feasibility of a casino here. We've seen the gahmen deep in thought and consideration and in great mental turmoil over the 2 choices presented to them. ( ok, I'm just exaggerating, as I shall reiterate again, I believe they have long decided to get the casino done, but had to put on a facade to shut the mouths of religious zealots and self righteous moralistic people).

I understand that the whole issue of building a casino is coloured in many shades of grey. It is subjective to everyone whether it is good or bad, as is how some people would think the pros would outnumber the cons and vice versa.

To put it simply, the government must have reached the conclusion that the economic growth outstrips social costs ( the opporunity cost), and in this tiny $$$$$ nation of us, pragmatism reigns supreme. Thus, the birth of the casino.

As all my regular readers and friends know, I am a Christian, and fiercely proud of it. I am unabashed to say that I believe the casino is a household of sin.

But yet, when I say 'no' to the choice of building a casino, it is not because of religious beliefs. Neither does it have anything to do to the moralistic side of me. But rather, it is the whole gamut of social repercussions that will be brought about with the implementation of a casino. ( Ooops, I'm outdated! It's IR now!)

I was reading an article by Eunice Olsen, our gorgeous NMP, and she recalled this experience she had in Las Vegas. Going to a casino with her mother, she left her mother for a brief moment to get a drink. She was later taking a while to get her drink, which prompted an apology to the man behind her( if I'm not wrong.) What the man said after that left her ( and myself) bereft of words.

(Vaguely something like that) "Take your time. My wife, my children, they're all gone now. But I am still here. So take your time."

Indeed, that comment just left my jaw wide open. Poverty, unequality among the different classes, these are all serious socio-economic issues. But to me, the most dire and pressing social issue to date has to be the breakdown of the family unit.

The government based their decision to build the casino because they reached the conclusion that despite social costs, the casino is too lucrative a cash cow for them to blatantly give up.

I say no because I believe other wise. The government obviously looks at things from a more macro perspective, believing the number of jobs created, which they estimate could be up to 30000, would vastly improve the welfare of the nation, considering the dramatic reduction in unemployment figures.Yet I say, the welfare of the nation will still be adversely affected. Imagine the allure of gambling at casinos, which is now made worse for men because it is glossed over with this powerful image of masculinity. Men like to take risks, and gambling at casinos is the epitome of risk taking?

Whatever. Only idiots buy into that.

Anyway, like that man Eunice Olsen met, many unfortunate people will soon find themselves in his footsteps. Broken families have the power to really bring about horrific consequences, which will affect the generations to come, not just this generation of us.

The nation is made up of many institutions, most importantly of which is the family unit. The family is the cornerstone of a strong, powerful nation. I dare not think what this breakdown of families will do to the nation.

So much more to post about the whole casino issue, but I'll save it for a later time. Till then!

Recently I've kinda stumbled upon a couple of blogs that contained a couple of posts on their jobs. Fro, Kerio, Ms Beautifuk, Bubblemunche, etc.

I've just read Beautifuk's latest post on how she couldn't fathom the nature of the job such of one selling poultry at the market, or of some selling roasted pork meat at Mei Zhen Xiang. Somehow or rather, as much as I hate exposing myself to the risk of being labelled a spoilt brat, I too must agree the appeal of such a job eludes me.

Perhaps, you say, they get free food? Or perhaps they get paid better than when working at places such as McDonald's, where the nature of the job is pretty much similar, but yet, you get paid peanuts. They can justify themselves with a million reasons, so the list goes on.

But to me, I would never be able to get into such a torrid environment. I'll never subject myself to the absolute torture of getting such a job. Selling poultry! selling processed meat over the counter! Compared to these 2 jobs, I think working at McDonalds seems like working as the President's PA or something.

Ms Beautifuk's main gripe with those jobs are the exposure to dead meat. Lots and lots of it. She's a vegan after all. But for me, my gripe with those jobs is that it's simply the lowest-class job ever. You get stuck in this dead-end job without any prospects, you grow jaded after a period of working in the job, but still you just grow too lazy or disillusioned to even lift a finger about it. Happens all the time huh?

I mean, tons of people grow disillusioned or jaded while at their jobs. But the thing is, if you are to be so, then at least get stuck in a job with a good environement! Air conditioned buildings, proper hygienic toilets, the absence of people reeking of sweat and body odour, and more leeway to just slack. Of course, working in the office fits the bill. But working in an office produces its own number of disincentives too.

Like the paucity of competent people. Lack of people with the patience to teach. Irritants who try pushing work to you to do. Being inundated with a thousand requests to carry out some inane errands. The politics. Bosses from hell. Irritants, irritants, and more irritants.

All that adds up to one simple conclusion: I don't think I'll ever get into an office job. Even if I do, it would never be longer than a year. I've already set my sights on some lofty goals, like being a TV writer, or maybe some film director one day. An impossibility in Singapore, some might say. But I would rather live with those ideals and work towards them than get stuck in some pathetic, dead-end job where I know I'm just wasting my precious life away.

Digressing.

Compared to my vocation in my previous camp, which was an autotech specialist ( or rather, vehicle mechanic), I think going on to a Signal camp is so much better. No more grease, no more oil, no more dirt, no more dealing with idiots. No more downright irritating bosses. Now, I'm dealing with communications and stuff. And it sounds so much cooler too. Indeed, I would say I'm blessed in many ways to be where I am now.

Anyway, back to the point, in Singapore, where it is such a desert of dreams, where pragmatism reigns, I just wish people can be a little more idealistic than be contented with a silly little job that guarantees that not-bad pay. Who wants to remain a poultry-seller or taxi driver forever?

Many Christians are irritating. Yes, I just said that. This coming from one who is unabashedly proud of his faith. At the expense of my old brethren, sometimes some Christians can be way too irritating even for me to tolerate.

Did I just hear hushed tsk-tsk-ings at me? Are some Christians reading this going "oh that sinner!". Do I sense a million people outraged at the above statement? Because I'm totally unremorseful for that sentence I said. I mean it 100%.

Even in my circle of Christian friends, most are great people, but even within my church there are just some people that pisses the hell outta you occasionally. For eg, the goons who are condemning me in their heart just this moment for me making that statement.

There are just these few that really give this whole exterior of smiley smiley Christian. Like oh look =D, I come to church and cell and smile =D. And I laugh =D. And I joke =D. So that makes me such a great Christian eh? So it's ok if I speak out bluntly against some people in the most pathetic, unhelpful, unconstructive and ultimately dumb way possible, it's all right. Because my =D makes me such a wonderful Christian. I can say whatever I want and not take into regard what effect my words have on others. And it seems that this abominable disease afflicts females a lot more than males.

If you're reading this, relax, it's probably not you. Or maybe in parts I do mean it, but the above rant is not mainly directed to you.

But generally, to the above kinds of people: Please do something about it. your pretentious =D is not going to save you all the time. Even the wasteful washed out druggie on the streets can put on a =D.

Mostly likely the people I have in mind are not reading this. But I hope they do stumble upon my blog somehow. Anyway, if you do fall into the above, please do something about it.

You know why so many atheists think Christians are an irritating bunch? Because the fact is, many of them are. And now I think they even have Christians to back them up.

How sad is that?

This is my sophomore post. For those of you who can't tell I'm a new guest blogger here, either
1) you're blind
2) you're new here

Anyway in the recent weeks I've been busy hopping around different blogs, some of which Marilyn and Raymond have linked on this blog. Fro's blog is a must read and a favourite of mine. His cynicism is rather infectious, and his posts all rather satirical in nature. Ms.Beautifuk's blog is also another favourite online haunt of mine. Sharp on wit and full of spot-on observations of people in general, hers is a blog full of subtle humour. Cheeky's blog is DA BOMB man.

Now entering into the pertinent part of my post. All right, every thought whirling around my mind regarding the whole casino crap can be summarised in one short sentence. WHY IN HEAVEN'S SAKE DOES EVERYONE PONDER SO MUCH ABOUT IT? I mean, the gahmen probably has made up the decision long ago. Those poor sods debating incessantly on forums on the pros and cons of having a casino. Ok, so most of these people are either self-righteous moralistic dummies or short sighted, bigoted, religious zealots. Those that are for the casino can't really be bothered to actually give any feedback on it because either way they will still go on with their normal gambling routines. Bookies will be around, Singapore Pools will be around, Soccer matches will still be around, everything will still work out as per usual.

As such, we can see with incandescent clarity the blatant nonchalance most gamblers show when asked in response to the casino. Either nonchalance, or absolute confidence. Somehow, these people must have known that the gahmen will be constructing it anyway. Ok, some of you retards are thinking, what makes ME think they'll definitely build it? But for heaven's sake, they WILL build the casino k? Anyone with common sense knows that the whole We'll-tell-you-our-final-decision-in-a-few-weeks crap is just a big pile of bull. An absolute facade to keep those religious zealots at bay, so that the gahmen have at least shown those goons that they have been "deep in consideration and thought".

The casino is too great a cashcow for the gahmen to just throw into thin air. Sure enough, social costs will be incurred, but the gahmen is not so dumb to not have considered the repurcussions. Surely they know social problems will arise from the the construction of this casino, but hey, guess what? Economic growth outstrips social costs, and pragmatism reigns supreme, the gahmen will still carry out what they have already decided to do a long time ago and get the darn casino built.

This leads to the crux of my post today. Why the $%^!@#$%^%$^$% do people ponder and worry so much over this rather inconsequential matter? Even without the construction of a casino, gambling still goes on. Those that are susceptible to addiction to gambling will most like get addicted to it even without the construction of a casino. I mean, will it really matter? Religious zealots just get unnecessarily burdened with this whole matter which is entirely out of their control ( especially in Singapore where riots are banned) and the gamblers worry so much like their life depended on the casino even when they're doing perfefectly fine without one now.

More inane than the psychos worrying endlessly over the whole matter will be the reasons the gahmen will give to justify their decision to build the casino. oh, we want to build a creative society and the casino will bring about blablablabla. Oh, we want to attract tourists so that our economy will benefit blablabla. We want to assimilate certain aspects of foreign culture into our own singaporean culture blablabla. Oh, we're progressing towards a more open-minded society, with the permitting of eating chewing gum, bar top dancing etcetc, and the construction of a casino would cement our resolution to work actively towards that goal blablablabla.

You get the point.