startling lessons

i learnt a couple of new things regarding Punjab (Pakistan) while I was there...

There is a potential of 15 Billion dollars worth of trade between Pakistan and China. Currently the trade dollars amount to 5 Billion dollars only.

The economy has been growing at a steady rate of 8 to 9% anually for the last 5 years.

Poverty reduction has been reduced by 15% for the last 5 years and will reach the Millenium Development Goals by 2013, and by 2015 the poverty rate would be reduced to a single percentage digit.

Some startling facts:

85% of solid wastes in Punjab is not disposed of properly

Only 58% of Punjab have proper toilet facilities. And in some cases the toilets are used to store grain like wheat as there is poor irrigation and drainage facilities, and most of these toilets have no access to water and are too dry to be used, except as a handy storage area.

48% of hospital patients are treated for waterborne diseases

Only 48% of Punjab residents wash their hands before eating.

Only 58% wash their hands after using the lavatory.

And most shocking:

85% of baby deliveries/births are conducted by un-trained mid-wives.

Maternal Mortality is very very high in Pakistan. 1 in 120 women are victims of Maternal Mortality.

And...

Untrained midwives have been known to inject women with an injection meant for cattle to induce delivery. Obviously the injection is not suitable, and often is too strong causing the uterus to rupture almost immediately.

the next time you call a woman a fat cow...think about it a little.

guns and bobby

i was pretty disturbed about this entire Virginia tech massacre...when i left for Lahore last Saturday...i was still thinking about it...and spent my time on the aircraft mulling over articles on 'The Economist' edition on 'America's tragedy'.

The article discussed the assault-weapon ban which President Bill Clinton approved in 1994 (covering semi-automatic rifles plus high capacity magazines for handguns). The year before, the Democrats passed a bill imposing a requirement for background check. 'But the democrats believe they paid a high price for their courage: losing the House of Representatives in 1994 and the presidency in 2000. Bush has caused it to be much worse- he's let the assault weapon ban lapse.

The interesting thing the article pointed out, though, was that Americans are increasingly becoming more uncomfortable about gun possession, although they don't support a complete ban on weapons as there are too many weapons are out there already, and most of the public feel the need to own one to defend themselves.

I think strict gun-controls are a must. It would, at least, restrict access of young children/adults to guns.

I also watched Bobby on Krisworld. And the movie certainly struck a chord with me on the topic of my last entry. My favourite quote from the movie, and from his speech at the California Primaries...the last speech...before his assasination..

' Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our souls.'
-Robert F Kennedy, Speech in Ohio, 05 April 1968

massacre, carnage & plastic bags

in the bus this morning. my book stayed in my bag. i was transfixed with the news about cho.

it started over breakfast. over my bowl of cereal, i read of how an Indonesian family's life was, in one fell swoop, altered forever. their son, a Virginia tech PhD student's life was taken. His family sold their house, car and god knows what to send their son to the 'land of the free' not knowing that they'd never see him alive again.

the next article that caught my eye was about how South Koreans from Korea were ashamed and disgusted that they were ethnically connected/linked/associated to this murderer named Cho.

typical. typical. we can expect that the debate will now not centre on whether one man's freedom to protect himself in the land of the free means 30 men's lives could be taken away in an instance? , but instead, on whether Asian's are pre-disposed to depression, insanity and aggression, etc. etc. I think we can certainly expect this from a great proportion of white-trash in the mid-west.

Koreans should hold their heads up high. I bet if that Korean boy stayed put in Korea, he would have been a happy bunny now. Ok, realistically- he may not be too happy, but i'm sure he wouldn't have been slinging a gun around taking photos of himself for a manifesto which clearly showed his discontent. He was a victim of alienation...someone revisit Marx pls?

back to the bus... CNA's next headline for its next new piece was- Carnage in Baghdad. 200 dead. 30 opposed to 200. One instance, the result of an alienated boy certainly disturbed, the other a result of a 'legitimate' orchestration of men in suits, i think- clearly disturbed too.

so what, another 200 in Baghdad, who cares?

I do.

And all the way across the continent, Singaporeans brought their own bags to NTUC and other major grocers.

Save the planet. Save humanity. Save ourselves.

it's been a funny week

it's been a funny week.

took the day off on monday and spent it with iman. that was lovely.

went to catch 251 the annabel chong based play on tuesday. dinner was absolutely delicious. we chilled at Harry's- that was nice. play was ok. i was a little upset that the play seemed to portray CHIJ Opera Estate students as either lesbians or Catholic hard-core fanatics who think exorcism will dispel the evil spirits that result in lesbian, sex-addicted behaviour. ok ok...maybe i'm being sensitive cos i am an ex- CHIJ Opera Estate student. But believe you me, non of us experimented like that...at least not that i knew off.

wednesday. had terrible migraine slept the whole day. until 11pm at night, when i took clarinase and proceeded to count sheep, read, watch tv till 5 am.

Thursday. Showered at 5am. had breakfast at 5.30 and was in office at 6 plus. and i was looking as radiant as a freshly plucked strawberry. all the way till 6pm. Met iman, had dinner and went home.

Crashed.

Friday. Woke up at 8.45 am. *&%T! Got into the office at 10am. Feeling ok but terribly upset that I was so so late. Luckily no fuss in the office about my arrival. Day went well. Went to Liang Court for dinner, had ice-cream and chilled with NPL and Fly...and Iman of course... went home before midnight.

Crashed.

Saturday. Dad woke me up to go for breakfast. Showered. Packed up lap-top and dressed up with intent of heading to the office after breakfast. During breakfast. Felt completely groggy. Went back home at 9.3oam and crashed.

It's now 2.24pm.

it's been a funny week.

is that seat taken?

three quarters through the flight, a tall ang-moh came to my seat and asked in an ozzie accent

Ang Moh: Is that seat next (next) to you taken?
Me: No (very politely)
Ang Moh: Is it ok if I sit there?
Me: No problem go ahead.
Ang Moh: Thanks. (he goes around, takes the seat, takes out his magazine and reads)
i continued to watch 'Pan's Labyrinth'.
Ang Moh: I had to move cos there was a huge BO problem in the area where I was seated.
Me: Oooohh...really? (beginning to be interested)
Ang Moh: oh yes! it was a mix of dried sweat, curry and stale smoke!
Me: Oh gosh that's bad (recalling a time when I went through the same ordeal)
Ang Moh: it wasn't so bad in the beginning but 3 hours ago, it started to stink real bad! It's worse than being in a curry restaurant!
Me: Yeah, cos then at least the curry smells fresh! (ba da bing!)
Ang Moh: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! You're funny!

So that's how i struck up a conversation with Ed from Sydney who's a leather trader and Energy advisor. Cool huh? He's really funny and we had a good time chatting!

Anyhow, later when I resumed watching my movie, I suddenly got hit with a terrible odour. I turned and saw a lady. I turn to look at him, and he was nodding his head vigorously signalling that that was her! Man..he was NOT joking.

bali

i promised photos from Bali...this is my favourite one...

why is no so difficult to say

i have always had a problem of saying no.

i thought i had said it. i thought i had articulated it loud enough for everyone to hear. with conviction. with confidence. that no was no.

was it not loud enough? or can people see through the no. that a yes lingers behind. revealed with a plea. a request. with flattery?

i think i've had enough. i just wish i could convince people about it.

a conversation

a conversation i had with a foreigner last week.

She: Are you a practising Muslim?
Me: Well, what do you mean?
She: I'm Muslim, but I don't practise it.
Me: Oh. Well, I suppose I consider myself a practising Muslim although I don't practise as much as I should.
She: Oh, and do you have sex?
Me: Huh?....errr...
She: You have sunni, shia?
Me: Oh, sects. Yes we do.

tsk

griping about the Mrt...or rather its passengers

i usually take the bus to work. it's a much more pleasant experience. no crowd, or little if any. there's the tv mobile and enough room to almost curl up with a book if necessary.

but on days like this morning when i head to the gym, i'd hop onto the mrt at novena to head to work. and i dread the mrt ride in the mornings. if not for the fact that it takes almost half the time i'd rather climb up a bus.

getting onto the train at novena, means that i'm climbing into a jam-packed carriage squeezing myself almost spread out like jam at the door. today someone else jumped into the carriage squeezing me literally like jam between 2 slices of bread, except that the slice behind me had a big ass. Not only did he have a big ass, he was an ass. When we got to Newton, he refused to budge from the entrance/exit of the carriage. He just stood there, while i was face on with passengers desperate to get out of the train. I couldn't move cos he had me practically pinned there, between another guy, and it wasn't as if this ass was a small one!

so i started saying under my breadth:

'You have to step out of the train' repeatedly with my volume gradually increasing.

you have to step out of the train you have to sept out of the train you have to step out of the train YOU HAVE TO STEP OUT OF THE TRAIN YOU HAVE TO STEP OUT OF THE TRAIN

he finally got the message and stepped out. i think he was quite afraid of me cos he let me back into the train first after all the passengers got out of the train.

yeesh what is it about Singaporean train passengers. are we so ridiculously afraid that we can't get back onto the train?

anyway. i was surfing today and found that Virgin did a ranking of the top 11 metro/subway systems in the world. and we're not one of them the list goes:

1. London, England
2. Paris, France
3. Moscow, Russia
4. Madrid, Spain
5.Tokyo, Japan
6. Seoul, South Korea
7. New York City, USA
8. Montreal, Canada
9. Beijing, China
10.Sao Paolo, Brazil

I've been on the London Tube, the Seoul Subway and the NYC Subway- and hey i think we're just as efficient. Maybe not as beautiful as some of the stations in those cities- which boasts beautiful architecture and interior- but come on! NYC's subway's can be quite dirty, dark and gloomy.

but if passenger ettiquette had anything to do with the rating, i'm not surprised we're nowhere near the top!

runnin into rina

i didn't really run into rina. we had planned to meet. it's been eons. i can't even remember when was the last time we had met.

things have changed so so much. coffee used to be an excuse to spend hours mulling over life. meticulously labouring our every inner thought. we still do, perhaps not so meticulously, and certainly not over hours. minutes perhaps. lucky if we make an hour or two.

we haven't changed much i think. Rina is still the lovely dreamer that she is. a light spirited soul. sometimes i feel that her spirit is trapped in the physical. that she's meant to float by weightlessly. lightly. with nothing weighing her down.

between the two of us...i think i've altered more. have i forgotten how to dream endlessly and aimelessly? i can't seem to tell. i'm contented. i know. but i've forgotten how idealistically optimistic i was. it seems foolish now. but i remember when it meant everything to me.

peter pan. tell me whether what you know is true?

back from bali

i was quite upset that my time in bali came to an end...
but i must say that it's good to be home...
back in the crazy office...

i'll post photos of my trip soon...
and some good tips about bali...
if you're keen on going...

it was an eventful return. had some good news i hope to share with everyone soon...

luv u all....
so so much.

at lunch last friday

P: I, it's great to finally have lunch with you after all these months.
I: Yeah. I'm sorry. I've just been so busy!
P: Me too. Anyway, I'd really like to see you again, and more often too.
I: Oh.
P: No...I don't mean it that way. It's just that, you know...we should keep in touch.
I: Well yes, me too. Well since NUS is so near Holland V, I could swing by for lunch.
P: I would love to swing by to Holland V!
I: Ok then. Let's do that. We should identify a certain day of a month to meet every month.
P: Like what?
I: How about every last Friday of the month.
P: You make it sound like you're scheduling a monthly departmental meeting! So government!
I: But you know. It's really difficult with me. I always say, yes let's meet more often. but it never pans out.
P: Yeah! That's you! Always doing that.
I: See, so if we schedule it, it's more likely to happen!
P: Ok then. No every last Friday of the month is not good. Make it third Thursday of the month.
I: That's ok with me.
P: Ok then. But we have to skip this month. We'll start in April.
I: Cool.

*go figure*

again

i'm in the office again...
3rd Saturday in a row...
i know i know...
you're probably wondering why? if i'm so busy i have the time to 'idle'...
maybe because it keeps me sane...
after 3 hours of work in an office i see five days a week...
you just need to do something else...
and figuring as there's noone else to talk to beside surviving Chiam S.T and Viv (my fishies)...
this keeps me sane.

*sigh*

again.

again

it's happening again...
that feeling...
like the world is crashing around me...

HEAvEN-honey almond nougat

How often do you deserve indulgence?
After a hard day's work? Maybe just on your birthday?
Or when you've done a good deed?
Well you know what- life's too short.
Every day you breathe, indulge.
Take a square or a row of honey almond nougat
and let it melt in your mouth,
Because, for whatever reason,
you deserve it,
whenever.

bronchitis

i'm down with a nasty case of bronchitis. went to bed on friday night almost wheezing as i couldn't breathe without my chest hurting. aisyah woke me up at 5.30am reminding me that i wanted to go for body combat. i sat up and went straight back to bed telling her that i wasnt' feeling great. i woke up again at 7.30am. dressed. got out of the house. and walked right back in to lie down. my breadth was short and my chest hurt. i was afraid. headed to flame tree medical and was diagnosed with bronchitis!

Info source: Wikipedia

Bronchitis is an obstructive pulmonary disorder characterized by inflammation of the bronchilungs. Chronic bronchitis is often caused by smoking, and may be fatal. It is common in habitual tobacco smokers and residents of polluted cities. Like many disorders, bronchitis can be acute (short-term), or chronic (long-lasting). Chronic bronchitis is defined clinically as a persistent cough that produces sputum matter that is coughed up from the respiratory tract, for at least three months in two consecutive years. of the

Chronic bronchitis is predominantly caused by smoking, and has also been linked to pneumoconiosis, excessive alcohol consumption and exposure to cold and draught.^[1]

Symptoms

• An expectorating cough (the color of the mucus does not signify whether the infection is viral or bacterial)
• Dyspnea (Shortness of breath)
• Fatigue and/or malaise
• Mild fever
• Mild chest pains
• Vibration in chest when breathing

I definitely suffered from Dyspnea. Did i mention that iman was down with bronchitis a couple of days before me. Turns out that Bronchitis is infectious. And my case has nothing to do with smoking. you hear?

anyways.. what freaked me out completely was while the doctor was diagnosing me, she asked- have you travelled to or met with anyone from birdflu countries?

*panic*

"oh, i'm just asking to be extra careful."

*how comforting?*

....

i finally downloaded some photos. check them out

isn't he cute?

aren't i cute?

check out more photos here...

the colour red

i am bagelgal

first i've never liked murder mysteries. never. i didn't even know it was one when i picked it up in mumbai last year. all i knew was that i had just heard that pamuk was awarded the nobel prize for literature. and i couldn't say no to the book which in india cost me only a mere 8 dollars.

no regrets.

i've never read anything quite like this before...his perspective...fresh. his posturing between east and west. remarkable.the insights he provided into turkish history, culture and art. priceless.

if you're keen on picking a book...get your hands on this one...

Read an Excerpt


on a related subject...i'm running out of bookshelf space... i think i'll have to stop buying books..not until i get my own place...yeesh

my photojournalist friend

felix emailed me...telling me that he won 2nd place for the worldwide photoshare competition.

i think his photo was gorgeous... check out the other winning entries at

http://www.photoshare.org/contest/2006/06winners.php

Congratulations Felix!

Felix Masi

Rural deputy headteacher Jackson Kanani and other commuters wade through a flooded road to school in Funyula Basia, Kenya. Jackson, a teacher at Bukhwamba primary school, is one of the teachers facing the hardships of instilling knowledge in the future scholars and businessmen and women of Kenya. Some teachers travel as far as 15 km each day to get to school, and are poorly paid for their efforts.

Judges' Comment: This is a moving picture that talks about the efforts and conviction of those who believe in education to improve their living conditions.

hurrah champions of the ASEAN football cup 2007

it's monday morning and i'm still ole-ole-ole-ing....not out loud...but certainly i'm still celebrating last night's win! football fever's got me bad...watched the semi-final 2nd leg against Malaysia at the National Stadium...and also headed back there to watch Singapore kick Thailand's butt in the first leg of the finals! Last night match was the highlight of the week...

i spent the morning lazing about watchin telly...took a short nap in the afternoon. iman picked me up and we went to run some errands before heading to Vivo city... had a quick dinner of Long John's Silver- oooooo so sinful....my diet's def gone down the drain....and then made a quick stop at Naf Naf where i fell in love with a to die for retro black and white print top...that fit like a glove...

iman gave me an approving nod...and i could see the glimmer in his eyes... telling me to ignore the pricey price tag and to fish out my credit card...which i did. if i had thought about it some more the miser in me would have stopped me...but i was happy with the buy...

we then rushed to Zai's place at Normanton estate...oh man...it was a colonial semi-d...gorgeous...small, quaint, breezy with a beautiful pool in the front yard...perfect...i'd love to live in such a place....

together with the rest of my supper kakis...we cheered Singapore to their championship......

Congrats boys...and you too Zai!

photo source: http://cyberita.com.sg

easing me through the new year...

the last 2 days have been tough...

imagine having a persistent head cramp...one which makes you feel as if you're skull is shrinking an inch an hour...closing into all your senses...making your head frown...your eyes buldge out from the pressure...your heart begins to race...and your breathing shortens...

i haven't felt stress like this in a while....

and it's such a challenge...even to breathe in and out slowly...pushing in as much oxygen into the chest...to force yourself not to exhale hoping that it would help you stop the frantic beating of your heart...

that all things will return to normalcy soon...

that i'll feel human again...

i've changed my skin...

to remind me that there's much more to life than this...that i should take the time to sit back and relax...to enjoy the simplicities of life...