the nclave

a little enclave for me in the vast ocean of the web. here's hoping i'll look back on all these someday, and be glad for it.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Singapore

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

The Thought of Christmas

Here's something I found while surfing randomly:

One wintry day a man was walking down the street and noticed some grain on the ground. A flock of sparrows was having an unscheduled feast. As the man took a step toward the birds, they became uneasy. Another step, and their nervousness increased. When he was almost upon them, they suddenly flew away.

For a few moments the man stood there reflecting on what had happened. Why had those sparrows scattered in flight? He had meant no harm. But then he realised that he was too big.

Another question came to mind: How could he walk among those birds without frightening them by his size? It would only be possible if he were able to become a sparrow and fly down among them.

The spiritual analogy is clear. In Old Testament times, God appeared to people in various ways - to Abraham through heavenly messengers, to Moss out of the burning bush. They were afraid because of God's awesomeness. But centuries later, the angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds and announced, "There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).

Yes, God became a man so that we would not be afraid to draw near to Him.

Jesus' birth brought the infinite God within reach of finite man.

How much or little do we care on Christmas to draw near to Him to worship Him, give him praise, rejoice (and spread the Good News to others)? Or are we drawn to (if not buried in) fine gifts, foods and entertainment?

Blessed Christmas to all...


Labels: , ,

Sunday, December 17, 2006

i am vulnerable to assassination...

Labels:

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

story of the day...

One day, a man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?" The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way.

Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks accept him, feed him, even fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier. The next morning, he asks what it was, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man says, "All right, all right. I'm dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?"

The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk." The man sets about his task. Forty five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I have travelled the earth and have found what you have asked for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth."

The monks reply, "Congratulations. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door." The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He says, "Real funny. May I have the key?" The monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man demands the key to the stone door. The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.

Finally, the monks say, "This is the last key to the last door." The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound.

But I can't tell you what it is, because you're not a monk.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

What a joker!!

Spotted in The Straits Times on 2 December 2006:

"...The SDP also said the three men were 'prisoners of conscience', whose 'incarceration is politically motivated by the ruling party, if not the Singapore Government'.

They had 'not committed any crime' and were 'victims of a dictatorial regime that is desperate to cling on to power', the party claimed.

Replying, MHA said: 'Chee, Yap and Gandhi were charged and tried in open court and were found guilty of having committed an offence.

'They were fined $5,000, $2,000 and $3,000 respectively. However, they chose not to pay the fine and elected instead to go to jail in lieu of the fine.

'Chee, Yap and Gandhi are therefore in prison because they deliberately sought this situation - their incarceration is a product of their own political motivation.'

Chee is serving five weeks in default of his fine, while Yap is serving 10 days and Gandhi, three weeks..."

And on 5 December 2006:

"...the party said that the prison doctor had found traces of blood in Chee's urine. It also said that Chee had abdominal pains and his blood pressure was low. Chee was admitted to Changi General Hospital.

The statement said Chee told his sister, Ms Chee Siok Chin, who visited him yesterday, that he had not eaten for over a week, as he would feel ill and throw up after eating.

He was 'amenable to consuming hospital food' but not prison food, it added..."

And today:

"SINGAPORE Democratic Party (SDP) leader Chee Soon Juan is in hospital for medical observation and tests, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said yesterday.

Chee has been warded in Changi General Hospital since Sunday so that doctors could examine him more closely and determine the cause and significance of his complaints of nausea, it said in response to queries from The Straits Times.

The SDP secretary-general had refused to eat the meals provided by prison authorities, claiming the food made him nauseous.

But he has refused all medical tests and treatment at the hospital, the ministry said...

...Yesterday's MHA statement comes one day after SDP said on its website that Chee was in hospital because he would feel sick and throw up after eating his meals.

It also said he was 'amenable to consuming hospital food' but not prison food.

However, MHA said he had initially refused to eat the hospital food.

But on Monday afternoon, he ate the food bought by his family and later in the evening, 'decided to eat the dinner he selected from the daily menu provided by the hospital'.

The saga of Chee's health behind bars began last week when the party, on its website, questioned the prison treatment of its leader, along with Ghandi and Yap.

MHA, in rebutting the claims last Friday, said they were baseless and sought 'to undermine the reputation of the Singapore Prison Service'.

Yesterday, it noted that Chee progressively ate less and less two days after he entered prison on Nov 23.

On Nov 28, he stopped eating altogether and also refused other food options, like a vegetarian meal.

He wanted only home-cooked meals prepared by his wife, which prison policy does not allow 'for safety and security reasons', MHA said.

It also said the prison authorities had examined the food provided for Chee and 'found no reason to believe' it was the cause of his purported nausea.

It also said he had 'adamantly refused' to have blood tests done to ascertain the cause of his complaints.

He also refused to be put on an intravenous drip, to ensure his health would not be in serious danger.

Hence, he was sent to the hospital. On Monday, his wife, children and sister Chee Siok Chin were allowed to visit him. Prison authorities allowed it although the family's next visit was scheduled for Dec 11.

'Since admission to prison, Chee has demanded to be treated differently from other inmates,' the MHA said.

He has sought for more yard time and more than the entitled visits from his family.

Now in hospital, Chee continues to refuse to let blood tests be done on him. Other methods to assess his condition, such as X-rays and a psychiatric review, are being considered, said MHA.

The ministry noted that if Chee continues to refuse to eat and seek medical treatment, 'the prison authorities will study and access all means to stop him from breaching prison regulations, and doing harm to his own health'." (all emphasis added)


I suppose the extracts above are self-explanatory. The man is just unbelievably ridiculous. And the implications behind it is not too subtle either - he is obviously under the delusion that his name is Alexander Litvinenko and the government is trying to poison him to death.

And the funny thing is, he did not even have to go to jail. He chose to go to jail!

I groan at his retarded antics.

Labels: , ,

early days

My boss has gone home. At 4.55pm. The other 2 bosses are on leave. I am heading for Bangkok on Friday.

Life is good.

But....have just received rumours of the remuneration for my peers in a certain large firm for next year. And I am incredulous. If the rumour is true, I have serious doubts that my increment will even come anywhere near the rumoured amount. Sigh...

Labels: ,

still alive...

Yes, I am still alive. ("Unfortunately", as some may say...)

The reason for my long absence is largely due to the incapacitation of my home computer, leading to the inability to upload my photos, and hence my reticence in posting, since I have no photos to complement my posts!

Anyway, the computer has been most annoying of late. It decided to succumb to some random virus/spyware a couple of weeks ago, and has thus been acting really cranky. It was so bad that I could not even install Norton Anti-Virus notwithstanding that I paid US$39.90 for it!

I thus brought in the big guns, and got my Dad to format and re-install Windows XP, but even after installing Norton, when I next rebooted the computer, nothing could run at all.

And so we went through the whole cycle of formatting and re-installing everything, to the extent that a new 160GB harddisk was bought at Sitex 2006, and the entire CPU and monitor were removed to my sister's room to accommodate the logistics of the overhaul.

So everything was apparently installed last night. Lugged it back to my room, re-connected the harddisks, ran a full virus scan on every disk, got everything working fine (save for the same booting problem, which Dad attributes to the motherboard being old and cranky), and proceeded to reinstate my computer with the necessary software and so on. Seemed perfectly fine when I shut it down to go to bed.

Then, the fateful call from Dad this morning: "The computer can't seem the boot. The blue-screen error keeps happening."

I am highly annoyed by the computer. Am MOST tempted to hop out and get hold of an Apple Macbook. Enough of Microsoft and its antics. Grr. ;(

(Many reasons to switch to a Mac: http://www.apple.com/getamac/)



Labels: , , , ,