can you recognize this tune?

划划划你船，轻轻下那溪，喜喜乐乐，人生是个梦。。

Soccer with St Gab boys

get ready.....

okay....all the action come out..

Kong Kong, Sungai Johor

trip to Kong Kong, a part of Sungai Johor. this is during the trip back. notice the white strip in the background.. and true enough, after we check out of Johor's immigration, we met a storm while heading back Changi.
Very fun trip, over night with seafood dinner and BBQ, beer..

9 of us, the structure behind us is the restaurant. dorms are behind the restaurant, air-con with bathroom attached. floating fish farm just beside.

Check this out, the fishes are huge!! almost as big as me (length and width). we asked the guy what fishes are these, they say its "Kelong fish". looks like snakeheads, but the double fins looks like arowana.

Confused@India

was looking thru some of the photos on my laptop, didn't even know that i have this photo. India? Changi? No idea man.. confused.. It's either Hyderabad airport or Changi. but i doubt its Hyderabad, since we left at night..

the economy of birthdays

a common phenomenon in singapore is that people like to collect money from a group of friends to buy birthday presents for individuals.

suppose we start on a basis of assumption that in a group of friends, say A, B, C, D, E; the presents bought for each individuals during their respective birthdays are similar. for this case, let A be the birthday person and B, C, D and E collected money to buy a present for A

we acknowledge that the presents' value is equal to the value of the money collected is $(B+C+D+E), assuming there is no loss in value from the transfer of money to present.

if each person's present is similar in value, it should be equal to value present(A). therefore, Present(A)=present(B)=presentC)=present(D)=present(E).

assuming that each person in the group give equivalent amount to buy for any of the presents. meaning each present will be the value of present(A)/4.

for each birthdays, the value of present(A)/4 is given to buy presents. that would be a dollar value of $present(A) for the whole year [present(A)/4 * 4].

the present received by each individual will be equal to present(A). [since present(A)=present(B)=present(C)....etc]

therefore, the value given out and the value received is the same each year.

in the process of buying presents for others, there are deadweight losses such as energy, time, effort to think of something, sms-es to organize, quarrels from divergence of opinions etc. we let the value of these losses represented by value(losses).

so the total welfare is present(A)-value(losses).

but if everybody stop buying presents for each other, and each individual just go and buy a present for themselves for the value of present(A) at their respective birthdays each year, the value spent will be $present(A), which is less than the current phenomenon, which is present(A)-value(losses)!!!!!!!

So, everybody should just stop buying presents for their friends and just buy themselves something each year!!!!!!!!!

okay, even if you argue that there are goodness from it, such as gratefulness, thanksgiving, the fellowship values, and we denote these values as value(goodness). i contend that value(goodness) is just equal to value(losses). so there is no overall gain. don't forget, there are usually a lot of chances, that presents bought are not used by the receiver due to a bad fit or taste preference.

and often, there are a lot of inequality created due to unequal value in presents, and bad choice of presents etc. therefore, the whole society's consumer surplus is transfered to producer surplus, and that contributes to a greater rich poor parity.

so overall value of the society is less than desired if you think about it rationally.

update after long

long time since i updated the last post. have been to China and Perhentian trip. Packed everything into a summer holiday, was fun. i think i'm sucker for that kinda of nomadic and sometimes i'm a sucker for stress too. i need tastes of reality from time to time to keep me alive.

But anyway, my point is that everything is back to back, internship>China>Ipoh>Perhentian>come back straight away Spook show, and then school kicks in. So haven't really had time to sit down with anybody and share about the China trip. hmm.. maybe should go for a beer at brewerks, kinda miss that place. Any takers?

From time to time, i do miss China. maybe most memories i had in China is pleasant for this trip. the scenery there is awesome really. when we were travelling to the primary school up in the hills (2500m above sea level), the places we pass by is quite breathtaking to me. maybe i have not seen much scenery really, but i would Asia has the kinda scenery and the flavor that no place can contend. i'm beginning to love Asia more and more really. i mean we have the tallest mountains, the fiercest whitewaters, the most diverse culture and heritage, the best food.. i think i can be contented in staying in just Asia for the rest of my life.

was just thinking that day, you know when you were young, you have many things you wanna do, but you are not old enough or does not have the required skills; and now the feeling is like the skills are acquired, but the opportunities are not there sometimes. maybe it'll arrive in due time.

we'll see.

treasure

"....remember that wherever your heart is there you will find your treasure. you've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense."---------, Paul Coelho



"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" is an exerpt from the bible. lets look at the full text:


“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:19-24)

Burn

Is it a like quarter life crisis, when you always think of how old you are and start to compare yourself with others and how is your achievements proportionate with your age progression? been thinking about what would i be, always thought i know what i want, but sometimes suddenly felt momentary lost. well, this song came to my mind, dunno why. Hmm..what is the real meaning of this song?


Burn

Do you wanna be a poet and write
Do you wanna be an actor up in lights
Do you wanna be a soldier and fight for love

Do you wanna travel the world
Do you wanna be a diver for pearls
Or climb a mountain and touch the clouds above

Be anyone you want to be
Bring to life your fantasies
But I want something in return

I want you to burn, burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn, Burn for me, Burn for me

Are you gonna be a gambler and deal
Are you gonna be a doctor and heal
Or go to heaven and touch God's face

Are you gonna be a dreamer who sleeps
Are you gonna be a sinner who weeps
Or an angel, under grace

I'll lay down on your bed of coals
Offer up my heart and soul
But in return

I want you to burn
Burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn burn for me burn for me

Laugh for me, Cry for me
Pray for me, Lie for me
Live for me , Die for me

daniels and joshuas and jane

i must have known at least 5 or 6 of joshuas and 5 or 6 of daniels (or more), im sure you guys know more joshuas and daniels than me.

you know last time when we were young (at least for my generation) we read ladybird books, got book 1A, 1B, 1C, then go to 2A, 2B so on and so forth. the main character inside is peter and jane.

i seriously think next time they should just change the peter to joshua or daniel. should be peter and jane, or daniel and jane. or maybe even better, just joshua and daniel. but hey, im not a advocate of homosexuals okay.

myy goodnessssssssss....eeeeeeeeee

(10:04:21 PM) (name censored): WHAT is ur problem, my goodness! hahahah

zzzz..girls.duh

arghHHHHH

ok relax.. keep it down... don't be so angry.. relax.. *breathe in.. breathe out*

i don't understand why, but today when i come to school, i can't access my mail, every web-based school website i can't access, i can't get my mail and all. however, i can access icq and other websites around the world.

i really dunno, should i attribute this to the incompetence of the school's IT department??

most of my closer friends know that i have this unhidden contempt for the CIT. the way that they treat their customers and all, sigh. somebody help me.

bloggingggg

that day i was reading that how blogging has become such a big influence, that microsoft is getting into it, and they set up this msn blog thing, which apparently isn't very good.

see, miKLosoV is just like a rich fat old-fashioned, old man, trying to break dance or play hip hop music. this guy that rips of ideas from kids on the streets and try to push it to sell. its just off.

de-ll ah kao is like this guy from kedai runcit (convenient store, chinese version kind) that sells alot of stuff and eventually becomes a whole seller. like sell many many of the same boring kind, but it sells.

KompaC Lim H.P. is the kedai runcit guy next door that does not sell as well.

KreatiFF is like i call myself "clever", but i score D in exam kind(seriously, how creative is KreatiFF?). monkey see monkey do lor.

Oh-sim is this guy that graduates from traditional foot theraphy. he made if big by making it more angmoh. delist here delist there, now still wanna buy this store that use girls to sell vitamins to sick old men and muscle builders.

the list continues on.. come back next week or so for more profiles of famous people...

uhuh...

"valentines day, a day invented by greeting card companies to make people feel crappy" --eternal sunshine of a spotless mind.
damn right.
i watched the show for about 10 mins and decided to eject the disc.

anyway im having sch break now,
irony 1: breaks in SMU are for students to catchup with work and slog through it
irony 2: i have lots of stuff to read up and do, but don't feel like doing it, and thus not doing it.
irony 3: although ironic, but a break is necessary to keep us sane.

valentines day on mon and bday on fri. not a really cool week. but nonetheless, my church buddies gave me a suprise (masterminded by Mr Foo), that was the last moment before my bday day ends, so it was alright, it offsets the whole day of staying at home and going back to sch for stupid meeting..zzz..

do you realise that adults always like to say that bdays are not very special ( i felt that since like very young..jaded..hah ). one of my friends tell me her reason to feel good about bday is to catchup with friends on that day, but those who remembered my bday are those who are close (can be counted with hands and legs(referring to both those who remember and those who are close)), so nothing much to catchup also.

remember the scene in "catch me if you can", when frank abagnale call carl, he called him on a supposedly special day (to him), christmas eve, because he has no one else to call. hmm.

anyways on the next day after my bday, went to this concert by local bands. the MC is the same DJ that is on power98 FM like now.. called Mario (he passed a cold joke saying you can call him "super" also..) anyways, some bands performed in the concert, the observatory, concave scream, ronin, ugly in the morning etc. check out the ugly in the morning bassist, damn good sia.. he's like brushing the frets, his bass solos.. concave scream is down to 3. heard the guy that plays bass now used to be a very good guitarist, my friend was like "wasted...", then ronin, of course, can't miss the albino lead singer.. he's diff from the rest though.. got good vocals. classic rock.

i hate punk bands. irritating. one played that day. its so off.

nemesis

LTJ has mastered all the best methods of irritating me over the years. he is my nemesis.

yessssss..

yes yes, finally, but well really quite distracted for the past weeks, didn't anticipate the whole sch-is-starting thing, didn't prepare myself emotionally and mentally for it. i guess we are all hit by the tsunami huh.

Andre Pradesh, or more specifically Hyderabad was the place i missed during the last business study mission that i went to india. interestingly, fever 04 (mission trip) was at the same place that i missed. so we went there and had a great time, and as you know, it is also one of the states being hit by the big waves, being in East India.

haha dropped the equity course and took up fixed-income. much more interesting lecturer and subject i guess, enough of discounted cash flow and PVs for a term. for those taking finance major out there, post-corporatereportingACCT201 is a good era. add oil guys.

what's special? well, really nothing. just that some of my friends went to do relief in Sri Lanka and Aceh and all i can do is sulk here back on island S. i just realized that Aceh is the source of Islam in South East Asia. Hmm..

oh haha, under Mr Duncan MacRae for ethics. he told us in class that when he typed his own name in search engine, he saw his name on a SMU student's blog. well if he searches again, mine will be the second or more.

do you really believe in new year resolutions? so what are yours? are goals meant to be fulfilled? well at least stock valuations are usually not true, but that does not stop them being published. but well, i've got my goals for 2005. what 'bout you?