And there was light....

Welcome back!

2007-01-12T14:29:00.000+08:00

Haha i know it's kinda late but welcome back to school!
well the work is kinda piling up yeh, so good luck!

The Last week.

2006-10-22T15:52:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone!
Well this is the last week of this term, and we won't see each other for quite a while.
For me, it has been great being in this class, and i hope that this kind of unity can last.
anyways anyone know what stuff we are bringing for the Oktoberfest thingy on thurs? cos we're gonna need to start ordering that soon
kk see ya!

famous last words

2006-10-04T18:33:00.000+08:00

why, hello, people!
do i detect an all-pervading sense of gloom that's descended upon everyone of us?

OF COURSE NOT.

because why? because there is NOTHING to be gloomy about. oh, yes sirree. no, i'm not being sarcastic, though i seem to be rather good at it. honestly.

and because i like a barrelful of laughs as much as the next guy (actually, perhaps a heck of a lot more), here we have:

Famous Last Words

I'll get a world record for this.

Let me reach in and get your watch out of the printing press.

Hey, there's no handles inside these car doors!

Gee, that's a cute tattoo.

There's no way I can miss.

Of course it's fireproof.

He's probably just hibernating.

What does this button do?

I'm making a citizen's arrest.

Oh, that's easy.

So, you're a cannibal.

Are you sure the power is off?

Yeah, I made the deciding vote on the jury, so what of it?

No, my shoes aren't untied.

Relax, the odds of that happening have to be a million to one!

What do you mean, "I'll be back"?

Why is the rest of the Star Trek landing party wearing a different color?

Pull the pin and count to what?

Oh, they cleared this mine field years ago.

They can't hit us at this range.

There's only one way to find out.

Gee, these pills are awfully small. I think I'll take a few more to be sure they work.

Oh, it's not loaded.

I can fix it, I can.

Which wire was I supposed to cut again?

What? Everyone knows the Titanic is unsinkable.

I wonder where the mother bear is.

Oh, don't worry, I've seen this done on TV.

These are the good kind of mushrooms.

I'll hold it and you light the fuse.

Let it down slowly.

Is that what i think it is?

Rat poison only kills rats.

Safety labels? Pah.

Oh, they're blanks.

OK, I'll go ahead and make your day.

It can't possibly rain for forty days and nights.

No, no, these are safe. I've seen birds eat them all the time.

I'll get your toast out.

Oh, shit.

Gee, it's never done that before.

Give me liberty or give me death.

It's strong enough for both of us.

This doesn't taste right.

I can make this light before it changes.

Nice doggie.

I can do that with my eyes closed.

I've done this before.

For 5 bucks, I'll poke it.

Well, we've made it this far.

Hmmm. That's odd.

Hey! that's not a violin.

I think it should be dead by now.

Oops.

Of course I know what I'm doing.

Don't worry, we outnumber them.

Look, no hands!

Mafia, schmafia. get the heck off my lawn.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

Oh, these windows are fine to lean on.

Do you hear that?

No worries, it's got airbags.

You'll be perfectly safe behind this much shielding.

That's not smoke, that's steam. .

It's so tame you can put your head in its mouth.

It was fresh just last week.

It should be ok to swim in.

It's supposed to make that noise.

It's pretty much grounded.

They only attack when they're hungry.

I can hold my breath at least that long.

I bet I can fit in there.

I'm sure it will support my weight.

It's just a few scattered lightning bolts.

The tide's not that strong.

That's just a water snake.

If I could just reach a little higher...

We'll be safe as long as we stay here.

Let's make a run for it.

It's ok. I have a reserve chute.

I can jump from this high. It's only water.

This airline only charges half as much.

Don't bother unplugging it. I'll only be a moment.

Let's take this shortcut. .

What happens if we touch these two wires toge-

We won't need reservations.

Uh-oh.

It's a dud! It's a dud! It's a du-

You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, now would you?

OK, but this is the last time.

Oh, don't be so superstitious.

Hey, watch this!

This planet has an atmosphere just like on earth.

What duck?

Safe? Of course it's safe!

What do you think this does?

Er...

rachel: nothing but a short battle

2006-09-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

rachel: nothing but a short battle

So the end of the year draws nigh unto us again bringing in a breeze of nostalgia. Once again, we see ourselves turn to the religion of studying, paying much obeisance to the books on our table. I believe we are all praying creatures, and certainly the Divine Power has received more whispers from down below than usual, but when I picture myself praying, I somehow get the impression that I'm praying to my books instead.

For me, its been a weird ride the first week of school. The hols were a good time for me to catch up on my work. Not all though. But I must say, it was a wonderful week what with the IMF-World Bank Youth Opened Space Dialogue that I participated in which, for all those who went, provided the much needed platform to test our faith in the things we learnt at school, particularly the humanities.

That aside, I'm feeling a certain tension in the air nowadays due to everyone panicking about the promotionals. Nonetheless, I somehow feel that its just a vibe thing, its cool to panic. Whatever it is, I just want remind everyone that studying is our battle-whether we like it or not. There's the System and its ways which we may not be too pleased about, but let's just stop complaining and work within the confines of what we have.

More spiritually for me, I feel that this battle is not a battle of grades where the outcome concludes everything but as the old cliched idea: the process. I'm not about to sacrifice a night-worth's of sleep to finish what I have to do for the day and sacrifice the alertness I need tomorrow. I guess we are all different and our pleasure and victories arise from different things. For those out there who belief in a God, perhaps its time we included Him in the battle.

Personally, I've had difficulties putting up with that commitment. Its easy to sin when you're busy and tired for you impute Christ more magnanimity than He has for sin. For us who pray, let us pray earnestly and sincerely, for the devil delights in empty prayer and for him who prays to think he is doing OK.

On a happier note: Happy studying.

rachel: why are jews so powerful?

2006-09-02T20:06:00.000+08:00

rachel: why are jews so powerful?

By: Dr Farrukh Saleem
(The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist)
Taken from a website: http://www.americancongressfortruth.com

Why are Jews so powerful?
There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims. Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?

Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine's 'Person of the Century', was a Jew. Sigmund Freud -- id, ego, superego -- the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman. Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole humanity: Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine. Alert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine. Gertrude Elion gave us a leukaemia fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B. Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease). Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases. Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission. Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism). Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias). Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill. George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye. Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their development). Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine. Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes). Why are Jews so powerful?

Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip. Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor. Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable; Charles Adler, traffic lights; Benno Strauss, Stainless steel; Isador Kisee, sound movies; Emile Berliner, telephone microphone and Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder.

Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include Ralph Lauren (Polo), Levis Strauss (Levi's Jeans), Howard Schultz (Starbuck's), Sergey Brin (Google), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Donna Karan (DKNY), Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts).

Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state), Alan Greenspan (fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush), Joseph Lieberman, Madeleine Albright (American secretary of state), Casper Weinberger (American secretary of defence), Maxim Litvinov (USSR foreign Minister), David Marshal (Singapore's first chief minister), Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia), Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM), Barry Goldwater, Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal), John Deutsch (CIA director), Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM), Pierre Mendes (French PM), Michael Howard (British home secretary), Bruno Kreisky (chancellor of Austria) and Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury). In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer (Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).

Can you name the most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world? The name is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far donated a colossal $4 billion most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world. Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an estimated $2 billion.

At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by wining seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, Krayzelburg and Boris Becker are all Jewish.

Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish? As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo 1/2/3), Michael Man (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The thief of Baghdad) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish. To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery.

William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to? Question: So, why are Jews so powerful? Answer: Education. ?

Why are Muslims so powerless? There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas. Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims. Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless?

Here is why: There are 57 member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758 universities and India has 8,407. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an 'Academic Ranking of World Universities', and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top-500. As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent. A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent. Some 98 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same. Around 40 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same. Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million). Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of its GDP. Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge. Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society. In Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK, the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge. Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan's exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent. The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent while Singapore is at 58 per cent. Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't producing knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't diffusing knowledge. Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't applying knowledge. And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies. Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis). Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545 billion (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining). So, why are Muslims so powerless?

Answer: Lack of education.

Source:Sangkancil

I found this article rather amusing. It was one of the few emails my dad has ever sent me, probably because we live in the same house. Nonetheless, when I read it, I really wondered what his intention was in doing so. Its a lengthy piece and blatantly biased but seems to have a reliable enough provenance if we were to believe the site from which it was quoted from existed.

Now that I've put it here, and forwarded it to all of you, you too must be wondering. Ashley replied promptly. And yes I agree, it is biased. And that's really the whole point.

But this issue of biasness is something that puzzles me. What really is biased of the whole issue? I think for one, apart from the fact that the jews are recognized as a great contributor to the world and victim to a certain instant of genocide, and apart from the fact that the media constantly focuses on the strife going on in Arab countries due to Islamist Extremists, the article seems to lack a certain impartiality in its argument [is there an argument?]. Sure, the article does not state its purpose in presenting us an avalanche of facts but logically speaking, one would say that the fella is out to demean muslims[funny how language works]. So assuming, like most of us did, that that was the main purpose of the article, we begin to see that from the very beginning, the argument already falls flat.

For one, muslims and jews are 2 quite different entities. The former refers to a group of people who belong to a certain religion. Under this umbrella, comes Chinese, Caucasians, Chileans and so on. The former refers to a group of people who share the same race, who are descendants of father Abraham.

Well, then you may, trying to be clever, say that the writer may have been using the term "jews" as a general name for practicers of Judaism, he assuming that all Jews were practicers of Judaism [what are they called anyway? Judaists?] thus comparing religion with religion, nonetheless, being, or aspiring to be a noteworthy columnists, he should have known better. Shall we give him then the benefit of the doubt?

Secondly, I think the problem lies with a sort of inherent biasedness as opposed to a presented biasedness[a presented biasedness, I feel, is one where the view is presented, with deliberately chosen facts that favour the writer's stance]. There are some issues that are biased in themselves regardless to the persepctives we take. If we were to assume that he was referring to 'judaists' and muslims and that the facts he presented were 100% true, then the comparison, now being fair, would just be a matter of fact. A mere stating of certain realities. There are some truths, which due to their nature, are better left unsaid. And if we were to give the writer the benefit of the doubt in his comparison with judaism and islam or whatever pair he intended to
compare [assuming they be entities of the same 'category']. Then we may perhaps say that the issue is inherently biased and better left unmention in the name of religious/racial harmony or if mentioned, taken with grace by both parties.

One more thing, that makes the whole thing slightly incredulous may be the grammatical error I found somewhere.

Then again all that is my take. And my fault for just sending out the email without any explaination on my part. So if all this is true? What then? If not, then of course we have the right to incur any feelings of disgust.

This brings me to a rather philosophical point: What makes us go squeamish, to say the very least, when we read an article like that? Would it make a difference if it were true or not?

what do you I think?

fahrul: have a great holiday!

2006-08-31T19:46:00.000+08:00

Hey genesians! Hope you guys have a great holiday and study very hard yea. I'll be off for Asian School's Tournament next wednesday and will only be back on the 18th of September. Wish me luck! While I'm away I hope the class committe ppl will take care of the guys and also the cleanliness of the class. Don't drive Mr Alistair Chew and Mr Kenneth Seah crazy trying to tell you guys to keep the classroom neat and tidy. I know it is hard without me around supervising you guys, but you guys have to learn to be independent. Hahaha!
Anyway, I'm glad everyone is fine now. Don't be too stress up, if you are have a break and get some kit kat, it helps. Chocolates are therapeutic, so i recommend you guys to eat lots and lots of chocolates...Yummy!!
Take care everyone, don't miss me...haha
Have Fun! Bye Bye! :)

rachel: math portfolio

2006-08-20T23:59:00.000+08:00

rachel: math portfolio

There are some things that fuel you to live from day to day despite it meaning a sorrowful existence. The first is probably religion, along with your responsibility to Higher Power.The second is the IB math portfolio and fellow members of its brotherhood like IOP, TOK pres. and IAs. The past few days, I think, have been rather complexed for a few reasons.

Firstly, friday was a holiday. Most of us didn't know whether to be happy or not. Of course there are always those few buggers who whoop at anything that dr. ong says (oh, did anyone notice the ripple of excitement towards tomorrow's public caning...I especially am, its my first...as in my first time viewing one) and then of course theres the group of people who are cursed with long-sightedness and would have realised that an extra holiday would mean no collaboration over how to attempt the math PF. Oh well, I just said it. Well, I guess all teachers know its true. Well, its just seeps into our daily conversations things like that, of course we don't purposely go to each other's houses and sit down with mugs of coke blatantly engaging ourselves in acts of collusion. But really, where do we draw the line? And are we disciplined enough to keep from that limit? Are we even aware. Everyone goes around talking about plagiarism and stuff but its really hard to tell sometimes. Turn-it-in sounds like a very interesting programme to me, maybe they could come up with one for criminal suspects next time.

Anyway, its just seems so uncannily cursed that math PF should be due on my birthday(the only present i want is a set of earplugs which zaw says she will get for me...how about vacuum ones?) oh yes, and for sarinder, its a double curse because he's having his IOP. People have this weird syndrome of smsing someone for the first time without an introduction.

Well, the only thing about the math portfolio is that I can't seem to find the arithmetic in it. Seriously, I see myself, half the time, trying either to work with a computer programme, grasping new jargon, or drawing straight lines to construct a table. Must have been 20 I drew since 2 days ago. And the last straw came when I started asking my mom whether the tiles on the floor were quite perfectly straight so that I could align the table along them and then carefully align my paper along the now straight edge of the table, but I figured that the tiles where slanted. Sigh. I ended up watching The Wicker Man which was a 'wickerdly' good cult film. Now what is a cult film? Ha. Also, what defines a neighbourhood school?PM Lee said GMSS was a neighbourhood school which was rather contrary to what I supposed.

rachel: death dying dead

2006-08-14T21:25:00.000+08:00

rachel: death dying dead

Hey eggy, you've got nothing to do with the title of my entry. Just want to say that I'm really glad the class is back together, complete pictures are nice. The week with all the trauma of the BS incident and Kenneth not coming and all and you suffering pox was just well, bleak, somewhat.

Just came back from a funeral tonight, its been something i haven't been to for a long long time. My family doesn't believe in all the taboo stuff and my dad being a pastor does have to do funerals so its really part and parcel for me. all the ceremonial condolences, hand shaking and sorry-faced looks you gotta dorn for the occasion. Anyhow, tonight, death looked different. It came across as rather synthetic and really dead. I remembered when I was young and looking at them dead corpses, I would stare so hard I somehow saw them breathing. But tonights corpse was just so dead.

Maybe, its just that I'm older and begun to talk about death flippantly as avenue of release from my dissolving resolve but really I think I don't want to die. Its more like I want to disappear from earth for awhile. Death really is the end. and a sudden one at that, not one you where you can make your exit after a pompous grand finale of sorts.

Life is kinda dreary now, but as we sang jsut now, because He lives I can face tomorrow.

An update into my very boring life

2006-08-07T11:59:00.000+08:00

hey to all who read this blog
ok i'm only gonna be back on friday, cos the doctor says the stuff on my back aren't completly gone yet.
so into wk 2 of my enforced holiday..
haha i know i'm super behind in a lot of stuff so i'll need all your help!
thx to rachel for using the defilbulator (or however you spell it) to revive this blog
see you guys soon!
and one more thing
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!
41 years of PAP, i mean nationhood!

rachel: new skin

2006-08-01T22:45:00.000+08:00

rachel: new skin

Hope the new skin goes well with the theme of creation here. left the navigation bars blank save for the Links one. Feel free to change the stuff.

rachel: monday morning mourning

2006-07-31T21:34:00.000+08:00

rachel: monday morning mourning

Today was quite a frustrating day. I hate it when we, or at least I move through school so fast I hardly gain anything tangible from it except a throbbing headache and a lump stuck in my throat. So many things have happened don't you think?

OK maybe not so many but one little thing which has had such reverberating effects. ben soh. Well we're talking about who condones what and what not and I really think that the school is just doing what they ought to do. Like a computer pretty much. Personally, I don't feel a darn thing. As in yeah, its a burnt up locker and its school property but do we find fault in ignorance, or a person's full confidence in himself if what fahrul says about the pen is right, or just judge by the happenings and don't care about the beginnings. Sigh. I just want to thank ben soh for adding that spark (no pun intended) back into someone's life. Do I sound sadistic? BUt yes, life has begun to sing monotonous one note songs in my ear and I really need a blast to make me move on somehow. About the school and action taken its just their jobs. If I were in the senior admin's shoes I would have probably done the same. Thing is, I don't know. It's just given people things to talk about other than combustion in chem. class.

Yes, monday has not been nice. I seriously felt distraught with you guys in class. And I don't know why thats the worse part.

rachel: the peril of not progressing

2006-07-28T23:48:00.000+08:00

rachel: the peril of not progressing

when was the last time i even posted here? I can hardly remember. I think this blog is really getting stagnated which really goes without saying. I wish I could change the template cos the font really is rather miniscule and hard to read, and a black and white scheme, which is what my blog has adopted as well, is rather garish. Anyway, other than the details, its ironic that the no. of posts have kinda grown because of the apparent perception people have of this blog's stagnation.

Anyway, I'm just gonna type here for as long I as I have the inspiration. As you can see I'll like to talk about the peril of not progressing...I mean this blog isn't progressing and its become rather a nuisance like junk that gets piled up. However, my main point is really with reference to our Christian lives. Most of my posts are gonna be of a religious nature by the way, but I think its something I really like to center my thoughts around. I know there are a few if not quite a handful of Christians in class, Andrew, Carl, Fong, Chris, Jon Ng, J.Choo and Ben Soh just to name a few. However, I think I get this impression that we (I'll be using this to address all of you including myself) all kinda compartmentalise our lifes into spiritual and secular and so on and so forth and as we get more hogged down by work, the compartments increase exponentially enough.

Really, I don't know how I'll start. But maybe I'll just start with how I came to ACS(I) and a bit of why which has been a major turning point in my life (I'm not compartmentalizing here, spritual life=school life=love life=LIFE). The first time I heard of ACS(IB) was from Jordan more than a year ago, but I didn't wanna go. Then my geog teacher, steven ng's wife, told me more about it and said it would suit me because of the way it was assessed. I was quite a fore-runner in secondary school, a prefect, morning devotion leader(in PL, students do devotion and the prefects basically run the entire assembly), emcee for many and almost all occasions in school and well it was a nice life I guess. So I took my chance, came for IB open house, got really impressed with TOK and the idea of taking the road less travelled, and yes, moved by Dr. Ong's speech and a certain Farlowe who spoke to me passionately about visual art. Anyhow, me and a few friends applied for DSA. I got in which was something I hardly expected esp. with the likes of Van Tok being one of the DSA girls and there being only 12 or so places, but I had to reject it for personal reasons. Ultimately, I had to go against my will. I was really upset and I prayed. I was a victim of the consequences of my own foolish actions. Those few months during the prelims and Os, I was constantly asking God for the courage to follow His will and be JOYFUl to give up my dream i.e. ACS(I) if He didn't mean for me to be there. I didn't want to be resigned...and its really a difference, I think when God talks about doing His will its not only the path you take but equally important the spirit in which you submit to His will. At the same time, I knew while waiting for God's answer I had to try to persuade my parents to let come here, sometimes it got really dreary and I had no courage and at one point was in the pits when I felt I was too helpless so I actually asked for a sign which was rain if God still loved me and would encourage me. Well, by and by, God showed the way to AC with my grades and a scholarship which sadly is over but nonetheless I still had to take the road less travelled being the only soul from my secondary school.

So really, my purpose in this school besides getting a spanking diploma (which seems a bit surreal now) is to repay God by growing Him and helping others too. Suddenly seeing myself in a whole class of 20 guys has made me find it tough being a Christian influence because you can't make a man do things, he has to decide for himself and I guess I'm speaking to all of you.

AC is ultimately a mission school and I think we must realize that the concept of Heaven, Hell and God is found in every single language on this earth--I daresay and that is prove of the reality of judgement. Its just my hope that during these few years before we grow up physically, we'll gain the momentum of growing up inside, in maturity, in being able to take responsibility for the beliefs and morals we hold, whether we be Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Pantheist or Occultist. Its dangerous being physically grown up and small inside cos' the playground gets so much more dangerous (money, sex, alcohol and what not) and the potential hurt we cause to our playmates is gonna be so much more.

So really, I think I'd just like us, esp, the Christians in our class, to learn to support one another in our lives. And perhaps, for us Christians, we could ask ourselves a few questions:

1. Do I know what it is to be a Christian?
2. Like truth and reality, is my walk consistent with my talk? remember James 4 where it tells us how a fountain cannot produce brine and fresh water at the same time
3. Do I have a special relationship with God? One that is my own? My own special communication with Him?
4. Do I live my Christian life with momentary sensational hypes during Sunday worship or sermons for them only to last a while? Is it all too much like a sine curve that goes on and on and on?
5. How important is fulfilling my purpose in life? Will I feel afraid if I don't know what to do in life?
6. Do I deem it important for other people to know the God I do?
7. Is God a discovery, an invention or revelation?

Well for now, lets just ask ourselves these questions. I don't really know what I'm getting at at this post. But maybe its just for you all to get to know how I came here, and really I hope, for you Christians to think of God and man, man and God so on and so forth.,

fear God and keep His commandments for this is man's all.
Ecclesiastes 12:13

2006-06-07T21:06:00.000+08:00

Class Corner. Before and after. Sigh...
-Ash

What is the use of this Blog?

2006-06-03T11:24:00.000+08:00

Hey all,
i think this blog is super under utilised...now now what are we gonna do about it.
haha actually i dun care...i ain't a blogger...just writing this to waste time.

ChRiS, >.<

Boy

2006-03-06T20:10:00.000+08:00

alright me hearties, listen up. this is the background info for Boy (We're Doomed). and im sorry i got rather pissed off in class. im sure nobody wants to hear me explain why, so never mind.

so. there are two main factions: the greeks and the trojans. the greeks are led by Agamemnon and the trojans are led by priam. agamemnon's brother is menelaus, who is married to Helen, the prettiest woman on earth. priam has two sons, hector and paris. hector is Troy's general, and paris is the one who ran away with Helen.

Then there's achilles. achilles hates agamemnon, and the feeling is mutual. achilles hates agamemnon because achilles thinks agamemnon is a coward, and honour and glory are all that achilles lives for. agamemnon hates achilles because achilles is rebellious, and can destroy all that agamemnon has built up, evne though many battles were 'won off the edge of his sword'. oh yeah, the greeks also control a massive part of europe now, and now agamemnon wants troy to make his kingdom bigger.

so agamemnon needs achilles and his myrmidons (the leanest, meanest, fighters in ALL of greece. they are uber warriors, absolutely insane. it required only 50 of them to take the beach of troy, though there are lots of historical inaccuracies. it was prophesised that the first greek to step on the shores of troy would die, and it was actually a man named S-something, i cant remember. he died to an arrow, and thus fulfilled the prophecy. but thats besides the point.) but agamemnon knows that achilles will never listen to him. so he sends odysseus instead. odysseus manages to convince achilles, and they all merrily set off for troy. in a thousand ships. significant, that. you'll see.

anyway, the greeks manage to take the beach of troy, and have set up a base camp there. the next day, they plan to push up to troy itself, whose walls have never been breached.then paris comes up with a plan. he plans to challenge menelaus to single combat, and the winner takes home helen. eventually, through some cowardice of paris, menelaus is killed (in Troy the movie. in the Iliad, he's merely wounded and is brought back to Greece safely.or something).agamemnon gets rather pissed, and order the greeks to attack.

but surprise surprise! achilles refuses to fight, and refuses to let his myrmidons fight too. lots of greeks are slaughtered, due to gross underestimation of the trojans by (guess who?) agamemnon! so the greeks retreat. the trojans then decide to push the greeks off the beachhead, and send them home with their tails between their legs. there was actually some dissension among the leaders (hector didn't want to push, knowing that there was discord among the greeks themselves: achilles and the myrmidons did not fight), but the attack went through after all.

through some twist, patroclus (achilles' cousin. more historical inaccuracy: patroclus was suppoedly achilles best friend and/or lover. ^^) dons achilles' armour without achilles knowing. and anyone else, for that matter. hector meets patroclus, and slays him in battle. achilles finds out, gets pretty damn pissed, and goes out to meet hector in a challenge.

this is THE coolest fight scene in the show. hector vs achilles. still, you can tell achilles is whooping hector's butt, and achilles eventually kills hector in a really cool windmilling move. achilles ties hector's body to his chariot and drags the body around. priam looks like he's about to break.

priam then goes to achilles' tent, and begs for his sons body. there's also a girl called briseis, but im too lazy to talk about her. achilles gives priam hector's body, and the 2 form atruce.

after this is the trojan horse thing, yadda yadda yadda. eventually, the greeks sack and burn troy, and agamemnon is killed by briseis. (priam's niece) achilles dies, shot by paris.

and that's it.

so these are the roles i need:
achilles
helen (one of the girls. you think?!?)
hector
priam
paris
agamemnon(possibly zhi yuan)
menelaus(perhaps ben soh)
nestor
glaucus
narrator
evil overlord(this HAS to be sarinder)
solider # 1
and everybody else. as extras in the scene.

please, please DON'T come up to me and start begging me for the roles. how do you know that you're suited for it? wait for the script to come out. im sorry if i sound like a complete asshole, but i do still get final crack at the roles. there's going to be a lot of role reversal, like achilles not having a lot of lines, and stuff like that. i also need someone to volunteer to do the lights. very important, that. don't worry, we cna still change the script.

everybody, im begging you. seriously. please be enthusiastic about this.

fong

Time for some class bonding

2006-03-01T23:10:00.000+08:00

Lets go out and bond as a class shall we? Hmm actually should have gone out on Founder's Day. But since it's gone, will the March hols do? People surely during this week you can take a day off from mugging and revision...
Ash

2006-02-27T21:09:00.000+08:00

i agree with fong, the class blog is really dead. i mean there wasn't any updates since don't know when. i guess all the work that we have says it all. i might say our class needs abit of live. so i would suggest that we have a class party or outing probably around next week. how about that?
at least we can spend sometime away from books and have a good relaxing day, mingling with one another and getting to know each other better for the good of the class. all this is for you own good, if we can work well together it would be an ease to cruise through the next 2 years. A small piece of stick will break easily while a bundle of stick will not break.
United we stand, separated we fall....
i hopefully our class will be the whackiest class..
it all up to you.
the power is yours..
you have the power to decide your destiny

lets get it started...
GO Genesis!!

here is a lyric of a beautiful soul by jesse mcCartney

I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
I know that you are something special
To you I'd be always faithful
I want to be what you always needed
Then I hope you'll see the heart in me
[Chorus:]
I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I wont let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
Your beautiful soul, yeah
You might need time to think it over
But im just fine moving forward
I'll ease your mind
If you give me the chance
I will never make you cry c`mon lets try

a beautiful soul it is...
peace...

2006-02-26T22:17:00.000+08:00

did you know that blog is actually short for web log? then it became weblog. so now people can say we blog.

ho never mind.

haaargh.

fong.

Be whackee! (please?)

2006-02-20T21:37:00.000+08:00

my goodness gracious me. this blog is SO not being utilized. someone has to start using it again. ok i have an idea. instead of using this blog as a homework-telling,message-spreading thing, why don't we use it as a completely random blog for us to rant whatever we rant and be completely nonsensical! but the problem is, no one's going to see this post for quite a while. USE THE COM ONCE IN A WHILE, people. too much studying rots the brain. =D

and another major problem with having a nonsensical class blog is our class itself: we're all very down-to-earth people (most of us), and we're not like a bunch of shrieking, laugh-at-anything, kind of youths.

so, i shall start. even if no one posts, or everyone thinks im a complete dumbass or a jackass for spending waaay too much time on the com, i shall still do it. because i really think that school and class spirit is really important. plus, eggy spent time on this and we shouldn't let it go to waste.

ok i'm getting too deep for this blog. it's supopsed to be light and nonsensical right? plus, my head is starting to hurt.

so. igglenigglefarblebloosh. polly wanna cracker, polly wanna cracker.

and, our class can be wacky. we just have to stop being so intellectual about being wacky. roam free. wanna come into class wearing bangles the size of doughnuts? go ahead! our teachers are pretty cool. they won't scold you straight. and you can probably smile and laugh and take it off and nothing will happen. BE WACKY!

We're going to be together for a while, like it or not. i don't know whether we've scared off someone from our class, but we shouldn't. SO LET'S MAKE THE BEST OF IT ALL! haha. LET THAT INNER WHACKEE PERSON OUT! come on peeps. perhaps rachel and meicen are real party animals when unleashed. perhaps carl is actually incredibly random. perhaps YOUSE GUYS ARE THE COOLEST PEOPLE IN SCHOOL!

fong. (this is my sign-off colour. nobody, and i mean knowburdee, shall usurp my colour. because it is mine. understand? perhaps we should all have our own colour. does it sound kinda male-territoy-marking-out-kinda thing? then perhaps i should say my reason is... erm... i like orange. polly wanna cracker. polly wanna cracker.)

2006-02-09T19:58:00.000+08:00

-Ash

2006-01-28T13:02:00.000+08:00

hey hey hey....

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

Xing nien Quai le..
is that how spelt it?
haha

have a good holiday..

fahrul

Kozy Korner....

2006-01-24T20:31:00.000+08:00

i realised that this blog isn't being utilized....
nvm
for fong especially.... this is the end of the kozy korner... due to drong catching andrew and carl sleeping in it and possibly misinterpreting them... haha
so i suppose all of u are indignant/angry for spending so much money in vain/angry...
petition anyone???

eggy

weekend posting...

2006-01-21T22:54:00.000+08:00

fong....
u better stop singing...
or else...
there will be more than 6 pple on u....

why is there so many people who haven't joined the blog...
pls tell me why...

for class CAS project i think we're gonna do the song dedication service or something...

see u guys on mon...

2006-01-21T12:42:00.000+08:00

Hey, has anybody else noticed how the post go through the border and the bottom? Someone should fix it. and I think the format is a bit too thin too.

2006-01-21T10:16:00.000+08:00

six of you guys, are buggers. mark my words i will have my revenge.

and since you just laughed when i said i promise not to sing anymore if you don't tau pok me(and still tau poked me i might add), I SHALL CONTINURE SINGING IN THE FACE OF OPPRESSION. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

righto. we had some disagreements in class yesterday. guys, seriously, even if you're pissed, work it out. and not by punching someone in the face. talk.

understand that it's a tough job to be in charge of a lot of things.

conversely, understand that people want to be included on decision-makings.

click me baby, one more time..

fong

2006-01-19T22:04:00.000+08:00

hi gene-sis/bro. im glad our class is going well. we have our cosy corner done, a class blog and also yahoo groups. this is great!! i really hope we can have much more fun together. i'm really glad to see most of you guys interacting as that's what i hope for. GENESIS class spirit.. hope its in all of ur genes...
im truly honoured to be ur class chairman, thanks for voting for me. i hope to do my best to take care of the welfare of the class and also to ensure everything goes smoothly in class. i really hope everyone of you will co-operate with me and the other committe members. lets make GENESIS the best class for 2006..haha although our class may not have the most fun people around, i guess its up to us to make it happening. like MR alistair chew said, its all up to us to change what we think of others. if we think we are cool, we will be cool..haha.
that's all..peace..

fruitcake: hello

2006-01-19T20:41:00.000+08:00

fruitcake: hello

OK. This blog is really black. But according to some of us who like the color it portrays a seamless sort of cool. Its just all ironic with the "And there was light..." thing. Just wanna say though that I think this class is niceccentric. Its nice and fun...but their some really weird people around. But I shan't name names. As your vice-chair I'm all ready to be a figure head. But really...what ever goes. Hope class will continue to be fun...or more fun.Cheers to gene-sis/bro!

Aims of the 5.1 Class Blog

2006-01-18T21:04:00.000+08:00

For all the noobs (like chris) in internet blogging.... this is a short intro...
Aims: To provide everyone with knowledge on the uses of this blog....

Hypothesis: A few of u guys dun know the aims of this.

Step 1: be a member of this blog....
Step 2: Click on the 'create new post' link
Step 3: Say wat ever u like...

This blog is for all u gene-sis and gene-bros to say watever u want....
anythin at all...
from dota tips...
to class outings...
to any gossip or wat...

but please... no extremly vulgar stuff... obscene stuff.... teacher flaming...

thx

eggy...

This is lame

2006-01-18T20:59:00.000+08:00

What is a blog for?!?!
And yeah about only 4 or 5 ppl went for the class meeting today...
And how do you set up one? I am so noob...

Chris

One other thingy....

2006-01-18T19:39:00.000+08:00

Dear all members...
Please dun change the skin!!!
unless u have a violent objection...
den please leave a tag..

eggy

2006-01-18T19:26:00.000+08:00

hey hey hey! haha! hi to all of you out there in computer screen land!

its fong here. haha today we had our first class comm meeting, which some people conveniently skipped. hem hem.

but anyways, its really great that eggy got down to setting up this class blog so quickly!many thanks. this gets the offificial FilaFong stamp of approval. (mm-mmm good) i, too, have my own blog, and its right here at http://miffmuff.diaryland.com

link us all, webmaster eggy!

fong

First post...

2006-01-18T19:20:00.000+08:00

hello to all gene-sis (and gene-bros)....
this is ur new class blog, where u can talk and post whatever u like...
i will try to change the skin when possible....

Rule no 1)...
pls end ur post with ur REAL NAME!!!!!! unless u have a nick (like me or fong..)

Rule no 2....
pls no obscene... vulgar... teaching flamin posts here.. thank u...

for people from other classes that see this... pls leave a tag!!!

eggy