just a little thought.
Why is it that when a celebrity dies, their death is shown in the entertainment pages of the newspaper instead of the obituaries? Like the recent death of Taiwanese actress Hsu Wei Lun. Why was a death caused by a car accident shown in the entertainment pages? Sensationalism of death?
justin.
death.
This is some topic that has an extremely high probability of veering into the unwanted territory of emo so I shall try to avoid that. It has a high probability of veering into religion as well and I will try to avoid that as well. In my opinion death is probably as hard to define as life. It is a very blur and grey area that cannot be pinpointed. And it's not much use trying to.
What happens after death, noone knows. In the non-religious point of view, it's probably just a long sleep. Since one doesn't feel anything when they are sleeping, perhaps when one dies, they just sleep forever. In a religious point of view however, there is something after death. Religious people like to think there is something after death. Heaven and Hell. God. Reincarnation. Maybe it's the sheer unpredictability of death that makes one want to believe there is something after death. Maybe it's a fear of the unknown.
I had voiced this out before but it wasn't long before a certain religion starts to tell me about their faith and I didn't want to keep up the argument. We all have our own views so lets keep it that way.
As I was saying, perhaps it is the fear of the unknown that makes one scared of death. One definitely does not know for sure what happens after death. Each religion has their own preachings. What if all were right? What if the god which one believes in is actually in the self? Which means heaven or hell or whatever one perceives is the thing that one experiences after death. Which means devoted Christians will go to Christian heaven, Muslims will go to Islamic paradise etc. I do not want to delve too much into religion so I shall stop here.
People say that when one has a near death experience, the most important moments of their lives will flash past their eyes. If one has a very important life, then would he take longer to die? Or is the concept of time blurred when one is dying. That 2 minutes which the heart attack takes to kill you might seem like 2 hours. Similarly when a bullet hits ones brains, the supposed millisecond it takes for the person to die might be a very long and agonising period of time for the person who took it. This seems like a very scary thought. So never put a bullet into your brains. You might regret it. Not for long though. With this blurred concept of time, perhaps one would have a "longer time" to reflect on the important moments of their lives.
For me, I would just like a peaceful death in my sleep. It wouldn't seem right to go any other way would it? As for what happens after that, it can decide for itself. Oh but I want You'll Never Walk Alone to be played at my funeral. Provided I have one.
justin.
distractions.
They are surely not needed and mostly unwelcome when one is going about their business. Things such as TV, phones and in my case, usually the computer, distracts people while when have to do some work. Such as me typing this entry while I am supposed to be working on my Economics essay I have owed for the past week.
Sometimes however, I find distractions a welcome way to destress from the boring routine of everyday life. Major distractions such as Johnson's birthday party on Sunday have both their pros and cons. We had lots of fun and did lots of shit that we would do even if there was no party anyway. We had lots of food and lots of fun. We also spent a lot of money, but I would say it was money well spent.
The bad thing was that I woke up some 4 hours earlier than my normal Sunday and slept almost 2 hours later than my normal sleeping time, leaving me almost dead in school today. I practically slept through the first 2 periods, using headache as the passport to putting my head on the table and sleep, with some unwelcome distractions such as teachers waking me up.
Welcome distractions in lessons would be the teachers deviating off-topic, letting us chit-chat in the lesson, therefore more effectively keeping me awake then saying "wake up" in a monotonous voice that would push me even deeper into dreamland. Therefore, I like lessons where teachers are not so stuffy and give a more interactive and interesting lesson. I think everyone does.
Distractions such as a bug flying everywhere in class, leaving behind a trail of screaming hysteria is also very much welcome. How a little bug hovering above our heads could result in such a major loss of dignity in some, I will never find out. But it is definitely great to see this phenomenon at least once in a lifetime. If anyone thinks I am alluding to any particular incident. I am not. I am just conjuring up the image in my head.
Now, it is time to end this distraction and get back to my work before more distractions decide to come along, at 11.50pm to be exact.
justin.
A Thursday which I thought was Friday.
An alternative title could be: A day in school which could have been worse.
Actually it wasn't that bad. Firstly, some of us without CCAs went to see Michael Tan. Today, I learnt to be objective and pay attention to the message instead of the messenger like the horoscope section in life! told me to. So I blocked out his face and tried to listen to what he had to say. Nothing important. We just had to confirm our newfound CCAs by afternoon.
1st period was SDP. Since Mdm Goh was not here, we had Lester Low take over our lesson and teach us something about time management. Which then struck a chord with me. Time management is something very important and pertinent to our lives. Which is why I believe the authorities on the upper echelons of this particular educational institution should get their time management right before trying to pass this very important skill to the students. Otherwise, it would just serve to confuse and pull the students back even more. Refer to timetable entry for details.
2nd period was PE physical conditioning. I screwed it up badly as always. Poor timing for running, 0 pullups out of the required 11 etc. And I am damn tired. Some people are just not made out for this being fit thing. I am one of them. I seriously don't see the point in me trying to keep fit because I don't see the point in being fit if many sacrifices have to be made. I am not one who likes to eat veggy and excercise so that I can live for 10 more years. So stop using extra time in the army to threaten me. I will willingly accept whatever shit the army dishes out to me becuase I expect it. Don't expect me to accept or expect shit that is dished out to me during PE because I would very much like to enjoy whatever short life I have because I am not fit. I think 2 years in NS would be the fittest I will ever be in my life.
Anyway, during break, I was too damn tired to eat anything. So I drank 2 bottles of H2O instead. And ate during Econs lecture. Shan't elaborate too much there. Fast forward 2 Lester Low periods 1 lect 1 tutorial to after school.
I am now a man with CCA. CCAless club is a thing of the past. We looked for Ms Full MC and somehow persuaded her to let me and Darren join the Environmental Society. Which is cool because we know our teacher in charge, making things easier to some extent.
Which brings me to the point how the "environment" today was very bad. It had to rain like a spoilt toilet bowl which never stops flushing. Right when I was done for the day and getting ready to go home. So I reached home having taken a shower and took another shower. And then, I thought today was Friday. Then I realised it was Thursday and another long and arduous day in school frought with dangers awaits me.....
justin.
the entire irony of things.
Sometimes, life just makes you wonder. At how things work out.
I am barely past the 3rd week since school has reopened. And there has been a change of 4 timetable already, with only the fourth change being a minor one. And it has made me wonder at how the timetable committee can be so bad at managing timetables that it has taken 4 tries to get it right. Maybe it's not as easy as it looks. But regardless of the difficulty of the task, it should have never needed 3 major changes in the timetable and one last minor change.
The real reason it has pissed me off so much is actually due to school hours. The most favourable timetable was the first one, with school ending at 1pm on four days and 3pm on one. Then it became later, with Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays ending later than Thursdays and Fridays. Then on Wednesday, a NEWER timetable came in, changing the short days again, to the days we had already attended the long days and extended the 2 of our short days. Is this some joke the fucking school is trying to play? Is A Levels not enough for the students to worry about? We still have to worry about what fucking things to bring the next day. AND when we will ever get a short day?
The entire irony of things is that a timetable is supposed to help one manage time. And so far, all it has done is to confuse and piss me off.
justin.
oh well...
Sometimes, it is really difficult to fathom how a weekend can just fly away when I was just sitting on my ass doing nothing. Maybe it has something to do with me waking up at 3pm. Still, it's really fast.
Anyway, somewhere in the really fast yet boring weekend, I was having a conversation with one of my friends who is doing teaching as a part-time job. In a primary school. And according to her, (some)kids these days are horrible. Some were horrible in my days barely 6 years ago but not as horrible as them. I think.
Anyway, the primary school memories came flooding back. How I was held back during recess because I talked in class or did not do homework or had extremely bad handwriting. Apparently, these days, the kids are only allowed to be held back for 5 minutes during recess. And there were many things teachers did then which are not allowed now. And I thought they were all conquering creatures when I was a kid. Now, if the teacher touches your arm and you complain, it could possibly result in a pay dock for the teacher.
Now that gives me an idea. I could try that on Jek Suan and his baldy head. But then I wouldn't want to risk being in the blacklist for 1 whole year. Oh well... actually I am just fucking bored. I need something to do other than studying. And my brain is devoid of the genius inspiration that causes me to type something very very very very very very very very annoying like this extremely long sentence which will cause you to read on and on and on and on and on even though you know this is about to happen because I have done it before yet you still keep reading because you want to find out whether there will be anything different this time round which I will be very sorry to imform that there will be nothing different since this sentence is for the same annoying purpose which is to irritate the hell out of whoever is reading this so are you done reading yet because I am done typing.
justin.
can't think of a title.
I was thinking, while rushing my geography holiday homework. Should desperation be the only motivation to do work? I hope not.
justin.
the environment shapes a person.
While I was listening to 摩托車日記 by 五月天, I was reminded by both the title and the lyrics of the 2004 movie The Motorcycle Diaries, which follows the life of revolutionary cult figure Che Guevarra. I have not caught the movie but I have read reviews and plot outlines and am tempted to rent the DVD now.
Most people probably know Che Guevarra as the face on many T-shirts, bags and other assorted merchandise. The Motorcycle Diaries shows a more human side of Che. From the idealistic medical student who starts out on a road trip across South America on a motorcycle with his friend, whose name escapes me at the moment, Che sees sights that transform him into the revolutionary figure he is. The lyrics of the song follow closely to the movie's theme and how I am able to think of a movie I haven't even watched from this song and now want to watch, it I do not know.
I am tempted to try to justify my link here but I do not want this to turn into some Literature cross referencing essay. But what I do want to say is that it is the environment that Che goes through that shaped him from an idealistic medical graduate to a guerilla figure who helped Cuban president Fidel Castro drive the USA to Guatanamo Bay. Similarly, where we are schooled and how we are brought up affects our thinking.
Therefore, we do not always end up the way we want to be. Our dreams and aspirations change along the way, as does Che's. At the end of the day, we might be far from what we ideally dream to be because of the environment that affects us. However, there are people who turn out greater than their dreams. Like Che Guevarra , who became a cult figure that is remembered up till today due to his revolutionary actions. Had he followed his field of studies and became a doctor, had he not taken that road trip, we might not even know his name. Just like him, we all have the potential to be greater than we dream.
誰願意和我 一起寫一個傳說
就算誰能 消滅了我
卻奪不走我們 作夢的自由
Translated into " Who is willing to write a legend with me. Even if anyone destroys me, they cannot take away my freedom to dream". I think somehow this phrase from the song sums up what I want to say perfectly.
justin.
And 2007 goes downhill from here...
Any hopes of me starting 2007 afresh is dashed once school reopens. When school reopens, what is negative from last year immediately pulls down my positivity. Undone assignments, more money to be handed in, and the tiredness in lessons all comes creeping back into my life. The lack of a CCA comes into play as well. The screwed up body clock has fixed itself to some extent. I feel tired at 8pm nowadays and wake up at 2am? Anyway, I have more to say. Coming up right after this. Haha.
justin.
no idea what title to put...
... but 2007 has been so far so good. Probably because school hasn't reopened. Went to Ronald's house for a BBQ today and it was great. We had lots of wholesome family fun such as Kenneth's verbal assault class and mahjong and alcoholic drinks. So the food was great, because Johnson and Ronald and some others but most importantly JOHNSON did the cooking on NCC grills, therefore, the sausages, chicken wings, chicken thighs and pork chops were all nice and tasty. At 8.40pm, there was this exciting Liverpool VS Bolton football match that Kenneth, Jerold and I caught while the others were busy playing some game that included alcohol, some of them getting piss drunk as a result, such as Boris, as well as getting mentally retarded, such as James Quek, who began spouting nonsense like "DRINK UNTIL TOH(collapse)", and "CIGAR IS NOT BAD FOR HEALTH. COS NO TAR. SO IT'S LIKE SMOKING HERBS". In caps because they were shouting. Anyway, pics up when I get them. Happy 2nd day of 2007. =)
justin.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy New Year everyone! It is 40 minutes into 2007 but I have decided to time this post at 12am to make it seem like I posted at 12am and the 1st minute of 2007. As for my promised resolution, in the New Year, I would try to achieve world peace. =)
Unfortunately, the new year means school is about to reopen soon. So I guess my resolution would be to study harder, though I seriously doubt that would happen.=\
justin.
