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A glimpse of the remarkable father-son bond of Dick and Rick Hoyt, and their inspirational journey together in a triathlon and life itself. Music: "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me Video produced by unknown person(s); passed on by Tom C.

revealed: x(ray) files

pre-surgery (23 july 2006)

exhibit 1: left forearm and hand; this is not the elbow

exhibit 2: view of the mid sections of the left ulnar and radius bones

exhibit 3: view of the broken ulnar head (bottom right of pic) near the wrist bones



post surgery review (22 aug 2006)

exhibit 4: view of screws and plates at the mid ulnar and radius, and k-wires at the ulnar head (notice the gaps between the broken bones)

revealed: R18 (cabaret) rating

now 18 year olds are legally allowed to watch foreign 'artistic' tittie shows, thanks to MDA's new rating for them to patronise Crazy Horse (read: Crazy Horse business is dying, so the authorities need to find a way to 'save' Crazy Horse from the brink of extinction).

what interests me about the new rating is not so much about the rating in itself, but by the excuses the authorities churn out to justify themselves. the article claims that singapore is a very family-oriented destination for tourists and that the new ratings allow families with 18 year olds to visit Dying Horse (oops, I meant Crazy Horse).

thing is, i recall that the very purpose for the existence of crazy horse (and clarke quay for that matter) was to cater to the MICE crowd - yes, it was meant to be entertainment fodder for visitors coming into singapore for meetings, incentives, conferences, and events. i doubt a significant percentage of these visitors bring their entire families along. maybe their spouses, but not the kids as well. furthermore, what is the percentage of 'kids' beyond 18 years old tag along on holiday trips?

even if there are some 18 to 21 year olds who tag along, how significant would the increase in visitorship be, specifically those who visit crazy horse?

look, i am perturbed by these justifications. i know the authorities are desperate to make this crazy horse work. after all, it took them months and months and tons and tons of cutting red tape to bring in this show. how could they afford to lose face, right? i just find their justifications stupid, because they make us singaporeans stupid enough to believe them.

i'm calling their bluff. they are targetting the ns boys. crazy horse is losing money to the no-holds-barred ktv lounges.

i'd say the next thing on the cards will be discounted fares for servicemen and they'll be promoting the place for army unit social nights.

it makes perfect business sense. if only the authorities would be more straightforward and transparent in the first place. quit the excuses lah...

you must be joking, joakim!

come on, singapore! it's time to be united so STOP VOTING JOAKIM AS YOUR FAVOURITE IDOL!

he's such an embarrassment to singing that i'm NOT embarrased to admit i'm watching the stupid show on the telly! the show's a quest to find the best singer, and not the cutest idiot! and our local teeny-boppers are a zit-popping, braces-cladded mass of mindless cuckoos to choose the boring, flat-toned joakim every single week!

face it, kids. if you are reading this, please do not shame yourself by not understanding what the singapore idol is all about. if there are teachers amongst my readers, please do your part to save the last hope for singapore's future music scene. please educate those brainless kids:

1. that each bloody call or sms is worth 60 cents! they can call or sms all they want but none of the money will go to making joakim any cuter. neither will he appreciate you 60 cents (or more) if he gets saved (or for that matter, get booted out!);

2. that singing is a talent, not a joke;

3. that music is beautiful, not the face that looks cute and/or dances like a court-jester;

4. that joakim is better off focusing on other talents (read: NOT singing), and kids should focus on other real singing talents.

it just goes to show how narrow-minded our kids are. it's such a shame because this is the only time to exercise their voting rights and they choose idiots/non-talented clowns to be their idol.

it is no wonder our government has no faith in the younger generation: what if they grow up and they vote for idiots to lead the country?

i will not be surprised. and i'm not joking.

tribute to all who did the NUS Tri...

triathlon photo by chenmunn; all rights reserved

the trials of organising the first-ever city race,

the sleepless nights and countless pails of vomit

from entertaining the authorities.

the days prior to the race,

the night before.

the triathletes who believed

in the committee,

and in themselves.

the elements they braved,

the uncertainties they faced,

the traffic lights they dutifully stopped.

they started,

and they completed.

well done lads!

ayam what ayam. ayam singaporean

ayam singaporean
- my red & white tribute to singapore -
condiments and coffeeshop talk;

handicapped are my actions and thoughts.
but are we prepared as a nation?

i'd say YES, it's worth an ovation!

 

Our dreams, our singapore? really?

this year's national day song is quite similar to those that were composed years past. all of them instill that nostalgic sense of patriotism and hopes and blahblahblah that subliminally tells you this message:

'this is singapore. she has treated you damn well. you better contribute in return, and remember singapore is your home.'

nothing wrong with that. singapore has done well. we have excellent healthcare (trust me, i know!), a generally hardworking lot of citizens, and a great defense plan amongst other things. but are all singaporeans treated equally? are all singaporeans given the same opportunities?

can we really call singapore our home?

where are our dreams?

let's take kaira gong's example. she was the cute lass that sang this year's ndp song - my island home. gong's song proclaims that she will never forget singapore, nor will singapore forget her, and dreams are born everyday. apart from getting a chance to be in this year's ndp limelight, she is otherwise honing her talent (read: living her dreams) in taiwan. there are many countless examples like her - TALENTS living out their dreams at places that give them the opportunity to do so. can we really say she's 'homegrown'?

the local university turned me down several times. i remember making an enquiry several years back about returning home to complete my university studies. i was blatantly told by a university admissions officer that i will never get a chance to study in singapore simply because i turned down a position to do my undergrad in "a world class (farce) university". my subsequent applications to do my masters were turned down and given to many students who coincidentally have 2-syllable chinese names. and to think that my industry has only a handful of us practicing, this is rather a statistical anomaly. either that, or i've been forgotten. where is my singapore?

i am living out my dreams, but where is the singapore helping me to live up to them?

DD-02aug06- duh! social skills findings

i shall name my daily digest ramblings and opinions as DD from now on.

anyway, today's 'featured' article is on youth.sg's study that suggests that youths involved in arts or social activities have better social skills.

i think this is a rather duh! study. i mean, it's quite obvious that involvement in such activities would build character and well-being.

i am - like many others - a living proof of a person who has the social survival skills relevant to take on the challenges in life.

i've known of social introverts who were deprived of such activities whilst growing up. perhaps due to physical constraints or (lack of) parental approval, kids deprived of joining certain activities grow up to be very boring people. somehow you don't see the zest of life in them, or the enthusiasm in joining group activities. i sometimes wonder how they survive at all. after all, life is so exciting and there's so much to learn!

i also feel that this study will spur a different type of people to surface. these are the kiasu people who, after reading about such findings, force themselves and/or their children to join social activities for the sake of gaining social skills. i believe it's very wrong to do so, and it negates the very purpose of socialising.

it's socialising for the wrong intention.

i'm not sure about the current situation in schools, but some years ago, schoolchildren needed to accumulate CCA points to get into university. points were given based on the appointment/rank of the student in the particular CCA. the problem with this was that many appointments were made up, and many students took on roles which they were not suited for. the important goal for them were to rack up as many points as possible regardless if they had the leadership quality or not!

did joining such activities actually make them better people, or did it churn out selfish 'leaders'?

i personally recall the absolute lack of leadership qualities in some of these 'leaders'. in fact, it was absolutely disgusting to think that people resort to such means.

unfortunately, all kinds of people make the world go round. whether or not one's social skills are improved will also largely depend on personal intentions and the sheer passion to lead.

humans will become more stupid with...

... those reverse sensors in new cars!

whoever invented them must have thought it was a genius idea to assist people in parking their cars.

it's the worse invention ever! now the world of stupid drivers are fully reliant on the endless beepings that tell them if they are too near a kerb or another car!

whatever happened to human instinct called 'estimation' and 'gut-feel'?

without the use of our own human capabilities, relying on the incessant beeping will just numb the sensory human brain!

there goes the human race......

not for the faint-hearted

there are 23 stitches for this one.

14 stitches for the wrist; 12 more for the one below.

THAT'S A TOTAL OF 49 STITCHES ON MY LEFT ARM! SHIVER ME TIMBERS!

 

stitches, scars and splints

just got back from my appointments at NUH. ulna and radius bones are setting quite nicely and are held by titanium plate-strips and screws. the wrist bones are held up by pins that look like hairpins. doc says i have to be careful with the wrist movements so i ought to protect it as much as possible. the therapist remolded my splint (called a Munster cast) to fit my arm and wrist which have subsided in swelling.


the cast i'm wearing is called a Munster Cast. i kid you not.


that scar is about 10cm long. i didn't count the number of stitches.


there are also stitches on my wrist (L-shaped), and another 8cm long one slightly below.

 

daily digest - 01 aug 2006

think i'll start a new series to document my thoughts on the daily news feeds i gather from agencies such as channelnewsasia and slate.

1. the public transport council has recently made some guidelines to the public transport operators to basically buck up on their service standards. i'm personally sick of SMRT's tardy frequency of especially the 980 service. i used to think i could pinpoint (alright give and take 5 minutes) the time my bus would arrive every morning. but that's not the case for service 980. i could wait for half an hour before a sardine-packed bus arrives. sometimes there's even an emptier 980 that follows closely behind the front human-canning machine. i believe that the upstream traffic condition does not warrant such phenomenon to occur on an almost daily routine - the only 'consistent' gripe being the fact that the buses do not arrive on time. now, commuters must brace themselves for a farehike. do we, commuters, have a choice if SMRT decides on a farehike while ignoring micro service levels such as the 980 case? i say we don't really have much of a choice for several reasons.
- there are only 2 operators - SBSTRANSIT and SMRT. but seriously, so what if there's an increase in fares? we still have to take our buses to our destinations. what's worse, these two buggers run the rail lines as well. bummer.
- we have EZlink cards which automatically deduct the 'correct' fare. i'm not encouraging fare cheats, but we cannot really 'control' how much we pay for our trips, right? all the more it's 'convenient' for both commuter and public transport operator to use the automated EZlink system. so how would a fare hike affect the commuters? minimal. we pumped in our monthly $50 credit into our EZlink cards and hope to stretch the travel dollar. with the increase in fares, the stretch is thinner, that's all. the initial monthly $50-sized hole in the pocket is already burned.

2. there's gonna be another big adventure race by action asia after a one-year hiatus. i read the article with abit of salt and scorn, because i can relate to the organisor's woes and tons of vomit from 'working' with the local authorities. i'd say that 'mr. madness' put it very diplomatically that the government departments are showing positive support. erm... 'showing positive support' is very different from 'acting upon it'. RED TAPE, RED TAPE, RED TAPE! the red tapes are all caused by the uniquely singaporean trait of kiasuism and the fact that the public officers handling the case are not empowered to make clever decisions. what happens? they bring the case up to their immediate supervisors (as rannk and file reporting must be strictly adhered to). sometimes the case gets heard but most of the time the 'creative streak' stops right there. dead. i wish action asia the best of luck, not so much on the event, but in tackling some incompetent deadweight in the service.