moving on...

the connotations associated with the above title seems infinite and almost in an abstract manner.

9/11 - the day which etched firmly in my mind 5 years ago till today. i remember i couldn't sleep that particular night, probably of insomnia or because the weather was too hot. so i switched on my mp3 player's built-in radio and went thru the channels. then i came across 88.9, or more commonly known as the BBC channel. so there it was that i heard the first news about 911.

shortly after the 2nd plane had crashed into the WTC BBC already had reporters on the scene interviewing the witnesses of the event. the impact of the crashes did not hit me until very much later in the morning. there, i saw on the zaobao, a picture and the entire front page devoted to the attack. then, i knew it was no simple matter. i was back in JC 1 then when 911 struck.

so it was generally a big piece of news, and especially with the general paper as part of the curriculum, i read up on it alot. frankly, i couldn't remember what i studied then, but i will definitely remember the night when the news were broadcasted, over the atlantic till a little island we live in.

5 long years. graduated from JC, completed NS, and now into yr 2 of uni life. going by numbers, that is about 1/16 of my life down. as of date, 5/16 of my life is down (avg. life expectancy of sg males is 78 years as i learnt a few days back). which brings me to the next point. moving on has another connotation. it simply means moving on to the next stage of life.

i received a call from a friend the other day. i will not go into details about what we talked about but in general it was about relationships. BGRs, in other words. often in our lives we come across people whom we think "is the one." however, the word "often" suggests that we do not come across just one. several come, mostly go, and what is left is never a 100% "the one." i'm sure all who have had relationships before, or now, will understand this very simple logic.

this universal truth depicts a picture that we are always searching, always looking. yes, everybody has hopes. we have expectations. and while we put in our very best, we still cannot control circumstance... however, circumstance, being a product of human activity, can be geared to a certain degree, and that i believe, is the crux of the issue: choice. the reaction to any circumstance leaves, usually, the protagonist (not sure if this is spelt correctly) several choices in which one must eventually be decided upon.

let me explain this using an analogy. As a fisherman who catches fish for a living, let's assume that the only tool available is the fishing rod. whenever a fish is caught, circumstance forces the fisherman to keep the fish so that it can be sold on the market. however, the fisherman can also let the fish go, if it so happens that he feels exceptionally benevolent that day. note that forcing is not akin to the extinguishing of resistance totally. he still has a choice but he must choose.

however, the problem i think with relationships today is that people in general do not appreciate what they have. this applies to both guys and girls alike. when you see this person who you know is a good catch, we tend to say: hmmm, this is a good one, but i can always get better. or: i know this person has feelings for me (and i do have for him/her too). it doesn't matter what i do, what i said, what i promised - love is undying.

please, for goodness' sake, when you know that somebody is the one for you, please grab the chance and strike while the iron is hot. don't wait till the time when it is all too late. and for your info, no love is undying. with the exception of fairy tales, of course; but as always, if you stop your writing at the happiest point, everything will appear well, right? "happily ever after." rings a bell?

in this case, my friend is undoubtedly a very good catch. the thing now is that guys who have had to chance to cross her path somehow didn't capitalize on it. the only thing i can say is that: please dun follow the footsteps of these guys. good girls are not very easy to find nowadays. same thing for guys.

you know, don't leave it till to a point when you start having thoughts like this:

that person is a really good catch. why didn't i hold on to him/her then?

somehow second chances don't really come as you hope they would.

people move on, even the most patient ones. and when that happens, my friend, is the time you will regret.

for me, i moved.

have you?

pix of resort de la tekong

yup... all these are classic pics. esp the one on the leftmost. "WELCOME!" hahaha

return from Resort de la Tekong

juz came from a half-day sunny island trip to the island most sg guys will prefer NOT to go - pulau tekong!

yes, today is the day i sent my brother off to his BMT. currently assigned to 'C' coy, i hope its not the old 'C' coy it used to be. cos i rem it to be very xiong leh...

anyway, i'm not really sure cos as ppl who have went there all know that the first impression about the "chalet" is that it has nice instructors, nice food and nice living quarters. one word: FACADE.

however of cos u wun want to scare parents off with grouchy CSMs and crazy officers, BMTC is now ISO approved plus other few corporate accreditions to it (i think so). it is very evident from the speech i heard in the auditorium prior to lunch. it sounds very commercialized, with newly incorporated management styles that you find only in MNCs and such. still, i have no opinion against that though.

still very much the same... chartered buses from pasir ris interchange to the singapore ferry terminal, then a very vomit-inducing boat ride of 15 min, and some walking (repeat for return trip in the other order).

the scenery hasn't change much, with the buildings and structures almost the same as i left them. which is 3 freaking years already!! anyway, the tracks and various fields in front of some companies look very bad in terms of maintenance. i wonder where my parents' income taxes go?

well it basically started off with a bus ride to my bro's coy. there, a 2LT showed us around. everything quite the same also, but the difference is that now i am the one on a visit, not on an enlistment program. thats a major difference.

ok, then its to the canteen at school 1 for refreshments... wa lau very kian peng never provide on their own! then have to buy from the stalls which i didn't have good impression of. well, not because the food is no good (it is quite normal by the way, but dun expect good food in SAF camp la!) but because during my BMT i never go there often. eh not cos i lazy ok, but because my coy very strict and xiong leh (FOXTROT)!!! so not much canteen breaks.

after that then got this 2WO explaining to us about the equipment the boys will be getting. wa lau really good stuff leh! very commercial. it was a big leap from what i had even it was just 3 years ago. anyway as expected from a warrant offis-sir the ingerris not very the goot la.

then after that its off to the auditorium for the usual speech and oath taking ceremony. well, its the same stuff but then as part of the "distinguished guests" and not some "enlistee" as it was the case several years back the feeling was quite different. its not so f-up, i felt the jokes were funny, even though some statements were just passing remarks i felt it was hilarious. it seemed like a joke to me. hahaha!

then came the Q&A. here, parents get to pose questions to the speaker (a MAJ). then got this realli cock parent, father of some enlistee, asking / giving this very "good suggestion." prior to his asking, a lady asked: if there was something that had to be passed to the serving son, can she go over to the island? of cos not la! you think your father camp meh?

ok i supposed this smart alec of a pop decided to go around impressing people. so he said: "lets say i have this item for my son and since i cannot go over, and you (the major) said that you would send someone over from tekong to collect it, why don't you set up a counter at the singapore ferry terminal for parents like us to put items for our sons there then yr ppl can come and take?"

what the F! i was rocking with laughter. i think the major tried very hard to suppress his laughs too. the whole place was like laughing. which cock is that? come on la! you never serve before is it, you mean the SAF will change its policy to suit you arh? nice suggestion if we are talking about a customer service program in the corporate world, but SAF???

to the cock parent: hey, uncle ah, why dun you commission a UPS courier service that specially cater to the needs of our training boys on tekong? so that your son can get whatever he wants like he's still outside?? i'm sure the boys on guard duty during weekends wun mind some nice fast food from macD or seafood dinners from the nearby changi village?

come on dude! your son is already enlisted! i understand you went thru some cock BMT that was really tough last time, but please can you let your son be independent for a while, about 2 years? then he can go back being your daddy's boy!

*laughs*

anyway the food was as sucky as before. lunch was (imaginable by all who went thru or currently serving NS) roasted chicken thigh with sauce, tofu and "natural" veggies with rice. thats for chinese. malay food is still better... i ate malay food when i enlisted, made me felt much better. oh ya, by the way, natural means it is still bitter and probably tastes of pesticide. i suppose this is what they call 良药苦口.

btw, the OC for my bro's coy is MWO R Tan, for ppl who still remember, as i do, i left tekong with him being a 1WO. so promote already liao la? back then i rem him cos of 3 things: 1) he was RSM for school 1, 2) he was a commando with ranger and 3) he always ask recruits this question: is zat clear so far? try speaking it in a bengish way under 1.5 seconds. you then will have a hilarious version, probably 99% alike, of how he speaks. haha, encik, dun take offense, take care of my bro ok?

pls dun give him your commando stuff, i noe the red beret very got seh, but pls, none of that ranger stuff ok? he only NSF, money not alot too. i understand u very garung with marksman and IPPT gold plus long service and dunno where you got those jump wings, but pls... tell you wat, i salute you la! even tho not supposed to but lets say i respect you alot la! can?

THANK YOU SIR!!! (salutes)

but then how come he now go command a coy? (not prizes for good guesses here). i also dunno.

well then its all over, i said bye to my bro, then went back home to crap about it on this blog. however arh, can always have some improvements...

1) i realize now i cannot live without my aircon. so can the boat be cooler? you know ar, tekong can do with more aircon. its a trip mah! muz impress us so that we can have good impression about a very decisive force that is on 3G technology (huh, not handphone ah? sorrie...)

2) eh, can you ppl put at least more rubbish bin or not? nb i have to carry this bag with an empty bottle from the first 5 min i step onto our sunny island to the time i drop off at pasir ris to go home? wa lau! for 3 hours leh!! rubbish bin v ex meh? nb i walk ard the whole place no rubbish bin how can? i not the bochup type so of cos i wun throw into the sea, but at least put some at the ferry terminal on tekong b4 we go off la!!!

wa lau? where got service standard?

coincidence or destiny?

i'm beat after a long day.

basically this day was devoted to doing surveys for my consumer behavior project. what we are supposed to do is to find the relationship between self-concept and consumption. while i will not delve into the details here, having worked very hard a day to say anything but work, i do have something to share, as always.

was rushing late so i took a cab. was greeted with a hearty good morning by the taxi uncle. surprisingly, he was a deep man - apparently, he was a director of some company but has since retired, then moved on to driving taxis as a way to pass time.

well, the reasons he gave were interesting. when i got on the taxi, he asked me if i was meeting my girlfriend (cos i wanna go orchard mrt). well i replied with a no, because i dun have a girlfriend now (p.s. some of my friends have been asking me about a particular someone, though) and said i wanted to meet a friend. "women are a pain. so when you have a nagging wife at home and you do not have to do housework... (blah blah)***" i kinda caught the direction he was going.

anyway halfway through he talked to me about his church, and asked me if i had any religion. i'm not going into sensitive areas here, but in general he asked me to drop by his church for more info. i was very appreciative and thanked his kind intentions, as i sensed his genuity.

so i dropped off. when i interviewed some ppl on the street, i came across this sec 3 student who was promoting his church. well, again, i was asked to go to find out more. i'm especially impressed by the way he promoted it; nowadays, kids could already talk so well. even more so when they reach my age.

(project project)

ok so it's time to leave. i was going to the bus stop with my friend cum project mate, and we chatted on the way. when asked where she was going, she replied that she was going to church and guessed what?

she asked me to go too!

i replied that she's the 3rd person to have asked me to go church today. even buy 4D also not so on the spot leh! why arh? anyway, we started chatting on the topic, and of course, asked again to attend church this evening.

however, at this point of time, while i'm open to options and stuff, i'm still thinking hard about what i want to do (about my faith). frankly, i have no idea, having been a free-thinker for so long. but all and all, it was very inspirational (that's why this post is on this blog) and very spiritual. it really set me thinking on the bus trip home. i muz admit that i had never felt this way about a particular faith before.

perhaps its time for change?

in any case, it was a very informative day today. it also was a day for learning, as i experienced first hand on how to approach complete strangers to do surveys. now 1 more item to add to my list: apart from being friendly to flag-sellers (being one before during community service) i also change my attitude towards interviewers on the street. its a tough job! cos everyone damn "chao been" la, the do-not-approach-me-type la. sgporeans so xiong ah!

time to hit the books again even tho super beat. but i guess the day's events will perk me up.

***quoting taxi uncle. i'm not a male chauvinist or sexist alrite! as ppl who know me will know.