ah.. so its been almost 17 months since my last post.. firstly i didnt post while i was on exchange in india coz i cudnt access the website from there... so much for india being a programmer's birthplace.. wats the use of having good programs if the net connection is as slow as the bullock cart still existant on the roads.. or rather sand tracks. In case yr wondering, i didnt go there to do my phD in farming, but went to one of the top technical institutes for my exchange and while i did not have the greatest of times thanks in part to food poisoning, it has enabled me to broaden my view of life. If you think you dont have a PSP and are jeolous at the guy in the mrt or bus who is playing with one, just be thankful that you are able to afford the ezlink fare for yr bus or mrt trip. even that amount is a rare luxury for some in india. ok, i have started my usual philosophical rhapsody so ok ok not again...

whats old? exams are here.. whats new? only one exam this semester!! too much to say in the long 17mths.. of coz its now 5 years 7mths and 16 days of pretty long loviness between me and devi darling.. i gotta say that malay girls are pretty hot at the DnD that i attended with her.. haha.. nice nice.. oh well.. i have never been one to associate myself with girls.. my next post will most likely be about more mundane stuff

as it can be seen, this post is just to get things back on track to let any avid readers (i am quite sure i have none) of my blog to let them know that i am alive. the only changes are a slightly rounder belly which is expertly covered by my ever slim frame and the lack of fitness from no soccer and running for a long long while..

whatever it is.. blogger sara is back.. haha.. stay tuned...!! :D

Happenings..

Its been a very eventful past few months.. and i would take this oppotunity to say a silent prayer to two recently departed beloved ones.. namely my grandfather Mr Anggamuthu and Devi's Grandfather Mr Noel Phillips, two men who led very distinct lives but had certain similiar characteristics...

My own Grand-dad was 73 wen he departed, he left us because of cancer. A smoker since 16 and heavy drinker, its easy to point the finger at those two causes that led to his demise.. everyone has said b4 tt u will only miss a person wen he has left u.. tt does seem to be true..

I was never close to my grandfather but i made sure that i was with him during his last days as often as possible.. its a pity that his children didnt really care much abt their old man.. the time they came to visit him in hospital during his sickness was the first time they saw him in probably months.. he may have been crude and all in his mannerisms but its a pity tat he left without striking a huge lottery which he said he wud have wanted to give to all his 5 children equally.. to children who didnt do much for their father in his last days.. neither did i as a grandson..

the funeral proceedings were a comedy of sorts at certain stages.. constant quarrels, finger pointing, all of which have no place when we are sending someone off on their final journey.. it is however an experience i will not forget at all..

I had only ever seen and talked to him less than 5 times in total but during those times, Mr Noel Phillips has only left me with one impression; he is a true gentleman to the very word. A fit 83 year old who spoke perfect english whom though i thought was quite forbiddin during our first encounter but how wrong i was. I still recall his quick jolt out of his bed and warm handshake to me when i visited him in hospital.

Both these men wanted the best for their children and their kids as well. Whether they meant it for their fathers is another question that will never be answered.

Its my personal opinion that despite the closeness (or the lack of it) that we feel towards a person, it is essential to extract the useful aspects of their lives and characters. When we die.. we must make sure that we have left our mark in someone who is still living.. such as my grandfather in his positive outlook twds life (never till the end did he know his illness) and for Mr Phillips' gentlemanliness.. Something that i would do well to inculcate into my own life..

peace be to them..... Om and Amen..

The End of May

May '06 has finally ended and i have gotten back my exam results...

Didnt do particularly well, but at least i raised my CAP score to a decent level... still on course to hit the minimum of 3.5 which will get me my 2nd class lower honours..

Why do i keep gettin the feeling that i should have done better after i get my results? The module tat i thought i would score in gave me a B only. Yet my arts module, which being an engineering student i would considered being disadvantaged in gave me an A-. And lo and behold, of all modules that scores me a B+ it jus has to be FLUID MECHANICS!!! Whats the world coming to i have no idea..

Some tips from me to those who are really bored for this period of June:
1) Go read Calvin and Hobbes.. you wont regret..
2) Go play online games at miniclip.com... tonnes of them..
3) If theres anything that you possibly cant get during another time of the year, do it now..
4) Stock up on snacks and beer.. for the world cup of course..
5) Last but not least... be nice to your loved ones and before takin out yr external frustrations on them.. put yourself in their shoes... remember not what you have done for them but what they have done for you in your time of need..

Of course.. enjoy yourself to the fullest.. coz life is short.. even then.. enjoy responsibly!!

Singapore GE 2006

Today is polling day in Singapore and i get to vote for the first time since i have "come of age" so as to speak. But how much does the general elections mean to ppl of my age.. say those between 21 and 25? Those who are not exactly teenagers but not yet adults with much political or working experience as yet... From what i gather from general consensus.. seems that no one really cares apparently. Here are a few responses i have gathered from my friends; people who range from university students to the usual crapsters who waste their lives away roaming causway point shopping mall in woodlands:-

1) "Well, I feel that we need to appreciate the enormous effort put into the current elections by the opposition parties and its time to recognise their efforts."

2) "Elections.. dono laaaa.. jus go there and vote only... prob follow what my mother say la..."

3) "Oh... i confirm voting for opposition la... why u scared ah? Scary cat!"

4) "Don't care la... eh.. if voting for who then got more poges pakesh not?"

5) "My area contested not? Anyway what's my area ah?"

As you can see (from my small group of "surveyed" individuals), people of my age don't really have an acute sense of what exactly democracy means. They are more concerned with matters such as having more fields opened for sunday football games and stuff like that. So am I. And their claims that these elections are a waste of time, useless and what not just indicates their ignorance to local matters. So how did i choose my vote? Well the way i did so would probably give you an idea of who i might have voted for and since voting is secret, i shall not give away anything.. haha..

However, i do wish to give comments to Singaporeans in general.

Singaporeans generally are unable to appreciate the many things that we have in our nation. So much so that (according to the forum section in the new paper), someone wrote that 'the road signs on the expressway have all capital letters and it seems like the sign is "shouting" at road users and we should adhere to the standard of having only the first letter of the world in capitals'. Now if this isn't what you call ridiculous, i don't know what else is.

The very fact that we can drink water straight out of our tap is in itself an impossibility in most countries! And they can complain that NEwater is not healthy!!!

I am not saying i am a perfect "adapt to surroundings" person. I have my flaws too but not to the extent where one complains for everything under the sun. And having seen army recruits and how they behave in camp first hand, i am not too sure about the robustness of our future generation.

Come on guys, please beef up a little.. both physically and mentally and not whine for every thing!

2 more years to go...

Its been a long 3++ months since my last post.. Haven't been having much time for myself and of coz they usual exam preparations took their toll on my mind and body..

Lets not go into how the exams went.. rather let's have a short review and preview on what has been and what will be..

Things i have gained over the past 3 months:
1) Progress package
2) Knowledge on how indian family politics are linked with friends
3) How to keep even whom you would think is reliable at arms length
4) Realisation of the fact that the only constant is change

Things i have lost over the past 3 months:
1) Time due to studying
2) Fitness due to the lack of football

Let's not be very pragmatic about life for a while and reflect on what has been positive..

Had a gd day buying the eye catching spanish world cup jersey at queensway followed by a let yr hair down session at blooies bar with my lecture gang.. Next day was a dedication to my darling for the lack of time given to her during my unfortunate attempts in mugging for my examinations.

But today is THE day. THE day where any true alpha indian male will testament to as being THE way to release all pent up feelings, burdens and issues in that 40m x 20m court at NUS. It is THE day when football has become well and trully alive for us football fanatics and it promises to continue till july the 9th where the next world champion will lift the jules rimet trophy. Nope, i don't think it is England though that's where my heart is. I hope its not Brazil.. we need a refreshing change.. Please let it not be Germany for reasons oppostite to that of Brazil's flamboyance. Let's give my Old man something to cheer about and let Holland take the cup... Will it be Italy after 24 long years? Could the new golden generation of Portugal a la Ronaldo, Deco and Co. do it esp with the old horse Luis Figo still being around? Lots of theories... not definte answer.. only way to get with the action is to watch it live guys...

Till the next post which wont be 3 months away... JOGA BONITO!!!!

Schindler's List

How many of us have felt angry when someone does smtg wrong to us? Deep down inside we probably would have felt "grr.. wish i can kill this guy". Of coz due to law and society, we dont do it. Those who do are punished for it however. So how easy it is to kill somone? Or to put it differently.. How comfortable is it to take a fellow human being's life??

I received this movie from my darling as a Xmas gift. My first thot was tat.. damn its in monochrome colour.. But as the movie went on, it served to remind me the WWII horror that was the holocaust. A jewish female civil engineer was shot in the head for saying that a structure is unsafe. A jewish man who is bringing his sick wife to the hospital is told to leave her behind coz "she is as good as dead". Upon further pleading, the german soldier draws out his revolver and casually shoots the wife in the head. Women and Men of all ages are stripped bare and made to run naked in a circle so that the german soldiers can "weed out" the fit workers. There are countless other events that were portrayed in the movie....

Now, its not what i would call an entertaining movie. But it filled me with a sense of despair as to how.. our fellow human beings could be capable of sins such as those... over a simple matter of race?! And of coz.. there are numerous other similar or even worse atrocities that would have happened during the war.

Though it has been sixty years since the war ended, i feel that we haven't made much improvement as a human race. Discrimination and disharmony are very much a part of many societies, both fledgling and established. It is such things that will forever continue to cause much global tension.

Despite the cruelties that have happened then and are still happening in various other forms today, I am not talking ill abt humans. There are people who made a difference, like the Oskar Schindler in the movie. He is a reason for the existance for the jewish people today.. having saved 1,100 lives. Yet at the end of the movie, he receives a gold ring from his secratary for what he did. He didnt feel happiness nor elation at having helped so many people. All he felt was more remorse. "..gold ring.. it cud have helped me buy out 2 more people.. 1 more.. 1 more person.. 1 more life.." and he broke down.. and he wasnt a jew.. he was just an ordinary german industrialist..

Its heartwarming to know that such people did exist on our planet... and i believe many more will continue to come and go.. but they will not be forgotten.. If only one day we could totally eradicate the necessities for their good actions.. that is what we all need to strive for.. in the small ways that we could..

Peace to the world.

Its a brand new year..

Firstly.. Happy New year to anyone whose reading..

New year resolution: Make no new year resolution

1st significant event of 2006: An immature fellow who pissed me off abt a small matter but i didnt retaliate at all.. and the fruits of my calmness? he himself apologised a while later..

1st significant outing of 2006: Goin out for a date wif my devi tmr.. haha

1st significant thing to do in 2006: Get a new printer cartridge.. it jus ran out wen i was printing some important documents!

Hope this year turns out well for everyone out there.. Remember.. give to those who dont have.. Share with those who are in despair.. Love those whom you hate as it helps yourself to feel gd abt yrself and may even change the person who hates u... easier said than done.. but i have already done these 3 things in the tiny tiny tiny way tat i can within the first 2 days of the new year..

To a better year ahead!!!!