Phew.....Finally the Net is UP

Is there LIFE without the Internet?

My answer will be NO, strange huh?

How suddenly within a short span of time, NET becomes A Definitely Necessity.

The recent Taiwan earthquake seemed like pulling the plug of my happiness & joy.

My life suddenly stopped……to a standstill.

For once, I became totally lost. Like a junkie in the midst of a withdrawal symptom.

I NEED THAT FIX, man.....

Hey SERVICE PROVIDER, what happened?

Why you have to put all that eggs in ONE BASKET?

So when the BASKET exploded, so goes our daily fix of the 'sunny side up' and egg prata.

Hey you guys ARE SMARTER than that, right?

Or you are NOT?

When will the US ever learnt?

Everyone will agree whatever happenings or mis-happenings in the world today, USA sure has her dirty hands in them.

After invading Iraq on the pretext of WMD, it is now successfully (again) pressured UN to impose sanctions on Iran.

How that will help World Peace?

What is happening in the world today is not due to differences over religions, territories, ideologies...............BUT more on the preferential treatment that USA gives for her illegitimate half-sister, you know who lah...

There's no HIDING here.

Everyone knows that Israel has nukes. It has also in its so-called "defensive" strategy, used clusters bombs in Lebanon.

How come no SANCTIONS imposed against Israel because of this.

Let's go back to Iraq & do a check at how many deaths occured since the ouster of Saddam Hussein March 2003.

As reported by NewScientist.com:

"Around 655,000 people have died in Iraq as a result of the US-led coalition invasion, according to the largest scientific analysis yet.

That is 2.5% of the country's entire population.
The study was conducted by US and Iraqi scientists to determine how many Iraqis have died since the invasion in March 2003.

Various estimates have been made of Iraqi casualties, ranging from 48,000 to 126,000. But these have been based on reporting by the press, hospitals or the military, and tend to underestimate the dead, the researchers claim.

Gilbert Burnham and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, Iraq, surveyed 1849 households with a total of 12,801 inhabitants, in all but two of the 18 governorates across Iraq.

The researchers asked about births, deaths and cause of death. They did not discriminate between civilians and combatants.

The death rate before the invasion was a fairly normal 5.5 per thousand people per year. Since March 2003, that figure has averaged 13.2, the researchers found.

More worrying, the death rate has risen every year since the invasion: this year reaching 19.8 per thousand people per year, a near-fourfold increase over pre-invasion levels. "

“Change the channel”

- Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt's advice to Iraqis who see TV images of innocent civilians killed by coalition troops.

Mercy Relief - S'pore Unsung Hero

I've always been very proud of Mercy Relief and truly still is.

They are always first to give a helping hand & very quick in their response to any disasters.

They are very fast in despatching whatever help necessary irregardless of where.

As reported by CNA, the Mercy Relief team together with Land Rover Club have left for Muar this morning at 4am to help the flood victims there. Muar is one of the areas most badly affected by devastating floods caused by heavy rainfall which is said to be the worst in a century. About 80,000 people have been displaced by the rising waters. The volunteers in nine Land Rovers aim to distribute 2,000 hygiene kits and 100 water filter kits to those affected. The team is expected to return to Singapore next Sunday.

May GOD bless them for their compassion & relentless efforts in helping those in need.

BONO got KBE, hurray!!!!

KBE? Know-Based Economy?

No, not that one...

But Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order. That means our friend, Bono has been just knighted by Queen Latifa, oops sorry no, Queen Elizabeth II.

I really think he deserved it for all his superb humantarian work especially in eliminating poverty in the world.

Actually, I knew not about the state of extreme poverty in Africa until the G8 summit in Scotland last year thru' the Live 8 concert. Bono together with Bob Geldof got the G8 Leaders to increase aid to Africa from US 25billion to US 50billion. Also to "forgive" the debts of the 18 poorest countries in the continent.

What Bono said during the G8 summit on July last Year at Gleneagles, Scotland:

A mountain has been climbed here," Bono said. "But it's worth just stopping for a second and looking back down the valley at where we've all come. Doubling aid for Africa has not been easy, and it's been a very hard sell for us salesmen. And I'm very proud to report that these figures are very meaningful."

"We've pulled this off," Bono told reporters. "The world spoke, and the politicians listened."

PERFECTLY CHARMING....

Increase in Alcohol Sales = Rise in Alcohol Poisoning

Yes, it's a festive season - season to be golly and all things GREAT.

But people being people, (to some) to be golly & merry, alcohol consumption is a MUST. Not only that, it becomes EXCESSIVE....

Sorry lah.....not trying to be preachy....

But, hey, we wanna celebrate many many more Xmas to come, right?

CHANNELNEWSASIA reports:

"Alcohol sales are up this holiday season, with wholesalers and bars reporting a 30 to 50 percent increase in alcohol sales. But hospitals have also reported an increase in the number of patients admitted for alcohol-related problems this festive season. It seems like many Singaporeans are going all out to celebrate a year of higher bonuses and good economic growth. Other than drinking in pubs, they are also going to wholesalers to stock up on alcohol in large quantities.

Hock Tong Bee, one of the largest alcohol wholesalers around, is seeing a 40 percent increase in sales this season. Most of its customers buy 24 bottles and above, at a go, to get a discount. And the company estimates that the number of consumers buying direct from wholesalers has doubled this year...........................Hospitals say that, like previous years, more patients are being admitted for alcohol poisoning during this festive period. While they used to see five cases on average each night, this has increased to as much as 15 to 20 per night in the last three weeks.

Dr Gregory Cham, Consultant, Accidents & Emergency Department, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, says: "Some of these patients lose consciousness and sometimes they lose control of their airway because excessive amount of alcohol also induces vomiting. Some of the vomit may enter the lungs and cause lung damage. If there is a lot of vomiting, this can also cause a tear in the oesophagus and some of these patients can vomit blood significantly.” Other common sightings at the A&E departments this season are disoriented drunks who come in with broken bones and fractures from falls, and cases from drink-driving car accidents.

Between January and November this year, there were 525 accidents caused by tipsy drivers...."

MERRY X'MAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

I'm really not too bothered about those silly talks questioning about the origin of Xmas & that it had nothing to do with Jesus' Birthday and all....

WHO CARES?

Hey, Come ON.....

At least there is that Beautiful occasion where gifts are exchanged, Prayer & Meditation of Hope,Peace & Joy, Sharing that rare moments being with Our Loved Ones.............

Those definitely outweigh the suspicions and all the negative thoughts.

Just simply take this song by the old band, Three Dog Night:

Joy to the world, all the boys and girls

Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea

Joy to you and me.

Beautiful, don't you think?

DUAL INCOME, NO KIDS (D.I.N.K.s)

A new group has emerged in S'pore. They are the DINKs - dual career couples who are childless.

Let me give some insights about the DINKs:

a) More 300 thousand of such couples in S'pore

b) They accounted for surprisingly 44% of all married couples in S'pore.

c) Median age of these husbands is 42 yrs old. And 1/3 of their wives are below 35 yrs old.

d) They are better educated with high proportion of wives have atleast upper Secondary education.

e) 57% of DINKs lived in 5-rooms or private homes.

f) Of course, better & higher purchasing power.

Great,Beautiful Life? Not too sure...

2006 Person of The Year - US?

I really dunno whether to laugh or to cry, to feel happy or sad when Time Mag’s named all of us Person of the Year.

To laugh because it is really gullible for Time trying to kid us with this gimmick. Especially when they themselves being a traditional medium giving us the due recognition as the users who generate the content of the Digital Medium.

You believe it?

To cry, because we finally got what we deserved. This is made sweeter when the acknowledgement comes from the GREAT Time Magazine.

Do I contradict myself?

YES.

Anyway, we truly and duly deserved the Recognition. Can we really consider ourselves to be on Earth in 2006 & not aware of this Digital Revolution in YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Wikipedia, Del.icio.us, Friendster, Blogger, Second Life & tons others?

To all of US,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

CHINA - the Ultimate Land of FAKES?

Everyone knows that Counterfeiting and Piracy are so rampant in China. And MNCs all over the world are fighting a losing war against this.

''We are spending millions of dollars to combat counterfeiting,'' says Joseph M. Johnson, president for China operations at Bestfoods Asia Ltd., which thinks one-quarter of its Skippy Peanut Butter sold in China is pirated. ''Unfortunately, the problem is getting much worse.''

''Counterfeiting does impact our sales,'' says Tina S. Berry, a spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark Corp., whose Kotex feminine care products have been pirated. ''But our major concern is that the consumer will be dissatisfied because of inferior quality.''

(So Ladies, do be extremely careful...)

Various factors are behind China's piracy rise.

The spread of advanced production technology--be it affordable color-copying machines, entire production lines supplied by veteran pirates from Taiwan, or knowhow stolen from multinationals that have been required by Beijing to transfer technology to local partners--has given pirates the ability to make near perfect replicas of everything from Power Ranger action figures to the packaging of Microsoft Corp. software.

Increasingly loose global supply chains have also contributed: Traders use Internet chat rooms and unauthorized dealership networks to move product around the planet---and mix fakes in with legitimate products sold on the secondary gray market.

But veterans of China's piracy wars know they cannot underestimate the enemy.

Microsoft found this out when it started including holograms on its software boxes, and then inside the user manuals.

Pirates soon learned the trick.

They have gotten so good that they are making knockoff CDs of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system in packaging that is almost indistinguishable from the original. Indeed, whereas fake software for years has sold for a couple of dollars in arcades or street markets, pirates are now able to sell through established retailers--and are fetching up to 95% of the full price of a Windows NT disk, which sells for $240 in China.

''We have no idea who is manufacturing this stuff,'' says Hong Kong-based Microsoft attorney Tom Robertson. ''But this is a concerted criminal enterprise backed by serious businessmen.''

========================

Now, let us relax & watch this cute video a fine example of China's Copy Cats doing a Backstreet Boys' "As long as You love Me"..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMm4MqRoX0o

Below. China Officials prepare to destroy pirated CDs and DVDs in Beijing Friday, Dec. 8, 2006. Some 150,000 pirated CDs and DVDs confiscated this year were destroyed during the campaign. An American film industry official said Thursday that China should lift barriers that block most movie imports, warning that they are fueling its thriving market for pirated titles and hurting Chinese studios. (AP Photo/Color China Photo)

DOHA GAMES - The GRRRRRREEEAT S'PORE SHOW

Hurray!!! Doha Games marks as the most successful ever Asian Games for us.

We bagged eight golds with a record total haul of 27 medals. The golds are from the following sports:

Sailing = 5

Bowling = 1

Swimming =1

Bodybuilding = 1

Before this, we had never won more than five golds at a time.
With this, I really feel that we should concentrate & further develop the sports that we really good at whereas others, like football, rowing & fencing should NOT have entered the Games completely. For Track & Field, same goes.....

PS: Sorry lah, footballers, rowers, fencers.....until you all are GOOD enough then can join, ok?

JEWS & MUSLIMS had the LAST LAUGH...

It is really WONDERFULLY RARE when Jews & Muslims (Together) HAD the LAST LAUGH..

What has long been a religious requirement of the Judaism & Islam is now being recognised by Modern Science as NECESSITY.

Well, what I'm talking here might skipped you from eating your fave cheese filled sausages for a whole week.

Topic here is on Male Circumcision.

Don't know what it is, check here: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision

Dr Kevin De Cock (yes it is his real name, cute right?) who is the director of the HIV/AIDS Department at the World Health Organisation said that the trials in Kenya and Uganda confirm earlier theories that circumcision can dramatically reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS infection.

He mentioned, "The male foreskin is rich in a particular type of cell that is a target cell for the HIV virus. So I think just by removing that tissue, that's one potential explanation. Secondly, men who are circumcised are protected to a degree against some of the other infections that cause genital ulcerations, and also there's some other conditions like abrasions and so on that tend to be less common amongst men who are circumcised. And genital ulcers and small amounts of trauma potentially facilitate HIV actually entering and establishing infections.."

Another representative from the American National Institute of Health, Dr Anthony Fauci (yes it is his real name, cute right?) said, "The people who were circumcised in the studies had between a 48 and a 53 per cent reduction in HIV transmission. The study was deemed to be safe and clearly quite effective."

So guys, what you're waiting for?

60 Years TOO LATE!

a Holocaust Conference in 2006???

It is highly suspicious when Teheran decided to hold a Conference on Holocaust. Why now? After more than 60 years have passed & gone.

Asking questions like whether the whole Holocaust thing is just a myth or hoax have lost its validity.

Before I continue, my apology to my Jewish babes: Wynona Ryder, Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman,Yasmeen Bleeth, Gywneth Paltrow (how on earth can we ever hate & not LOVE them?).

OK, let's say that the Holocaust never happened. And 6 million Jews perished in so short a period is highly doubtful.

Thus no legitimacy to the creation the state of Israel.

So what?

You think the people of Israel will walk way & gladly give back the Palestinian their homeland?

FAT HOPE!!!

When they already entrenched themselves into the soils of Palestine, armed themselves with Nuke & managed to make U.S. their most loyal Dooberman.

They will never leave....even if you managed to light fire-crackers at their backsides.

So this Holocaust Conference is just a Political Game Show. I called it an "Iranian Systematic Method of Making Israel Pissed".

Systematic because prior to this, The Iranian President has spoken about "Israel must be wiped off the map."

One thing though that I'm very sure, this conference is not doing the Palestinians any favor because when things get heated up, the people of Gaza suffers again.

So ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

S’PORE MALAYS’ BRAND
Problems on Every Conceivable Front, REALLY?


It must be quite depressing to be a Malay in S'pore.

Why?

Every other day, the newspapers will feature issues about Islam & spew lists over lists of problems faced by the Malays...year in, year out...day after day...


Is it really TRUE that only the Malays having so many problems & deficiencies...whereas other races have nothing of that sort & having such a great time cruising through Good Fortunes of S'pore?


I really don't think so. BUT for other races, the publicity of their problems are almost non-existent.

That is why I'm very much bewildered about the following:


Why the S’pore Malay Leaders LOVE highlighting publicly so-called Malay problems so much?

How does that help them?

Easier to get help from the Government with that approach?

Or

The Malays REALLY need Help & cannot stand on its own two feet & solve their own problems and thinking external parties help can?

If that's true, Mendaki, AMP and other Malay organizations are obsolete & should be disbanded.

Instead of talking about problems, let us talk about some of the S’pore Malays' achievements, especially in the fields of Education:

PSLE Pass Percentage:
90% in 1996 to 95% in 2005


'O' Levels (with at least 5 passes)Percentage:
48% in 1996 to 63% in 2005


'A' Levels (with at least 2 A & 2 O passes including General Paper) Percentage:
76% in 1996 to 84% in 2005


Now, let us see what Non-Malay Problems are:

a) MRT Suicides and all forms of Suicide

b) White Collar Crime

c) Drunk Driving

d) Loan-shark activities

e) Gambling & Illegal Betting

and many others....last but not least, The Inability to WIN THE SINAGPORE IDOLS....

Let the English Rose rest in peace, please...

Again, the issue of Lady Di's death arises. This time with the release of a 400-page report by Metropolitan Police Chief John Stevens. The report was an attempt clear up the mysteries surrounding Lady Di's death.

The report cost US$5 million and took three years of hard work. Stevens had access to about 400 interviews with witnesses and friends of the princess.

But the report does not clear up any thing, in fact, stirring more questions. The main BIG question is the claim that U.S. agents tapped Diana's phone the very night she died. WHY???

Thus the conspiracy theory about how & why is as follows:

1) She was pregnant with Dodi's baby. Thus it would be a ROYAL FLUSH to have her & the baby as Muslims. Some weight to this theory because it was the British Government gave orders for Diana's body to be embalmed and wilfully destroyed all medical evidence, including the alleged pregnancy. Since embalming was against French law. So only the British Government or the Royal Palace had the powers to push it through.

2) She needed to be "gone" to allow Charles the chance of marrying that Hot Babe...whom he is married to now.

3) The driver was drunk.....no...the driver was a French Agent......no lah, Mafia.....oops alamak so confusing.

Better stop here.

As angelic as an angel can be. Missing you....

Animal Noises from the Cabby

It was quite a hell taxi ride from the jam studio to my crib just now due to the insane blabbering of the Cab Driver.

The Conversation went something like this:

Cabby: Wah your hair so long huh? No need go NS meh?

Me: NS don't want me lah...so I got exempted.

Cabby: You have sick meh, I see you healthy ma......you sure know how to keng.

(Wondering what keng meant...so I remained silent. Just when I was about to put on my headphones to listen to Cradle of Filth, the Cabby spoke...)

Cabby: Wah, nowadays everything go up. PUB bills, bus fare, mrt fare, GST ..... really cannot tahan.

(I noticed he didn't mention of the rise in taxi fare. To avoid being judgemental as advised by Deepak Chopra, I remained silent. He continued...)

Cabby: I tell you lah. Next time when you vote, NEVER vote for PAP. You sure suffer one .......before election, they give you every thing, %$*&$#$ also they give. BUT when they win already. you wait lah....your underwear also they want.

(Alamak, too much obscenities for my delicate ear-drums to bear........just like listening to those boybands.......I cannot tahan....so I said.....)

Me: Boss, in front there can stop.

Cabby: Why??? Your house still far away! You high tight is it? Say lah...

Me: No. I forget about something urgent lah. OK, here can stop.

Cabby: Here? OK. Before you go, remember what I tell you. Next Election, vote for Opposition. WE really need CHANGE!! CHANGE!!

(I quickly paid him & quickly chabut!!! )

PS: Change, change, change........if really want to change, stop eating rice lah & change to other thing. Can or not?

The only change we need is only when the diaper gets soiled. For S'pore, that hasn't happened yet.

When Joy to the Eyes is = Joy to the World

Seeing the Holy Pope in a state of repose & deep in prayer inside Turkey's Blue Mosque recently is such a joy to the eyes & to the world.

Suddenly, there is a bright ray of hope for humanity. This is indeed true especially when the leaders of the two biggest religions in the world showered each other with respect, love & kindness.

After all, all roads lead to GOD whether you travel via TPE, KJE, North-South Highway or even Route 66. U catch my drift? Never mind...

I'm aware of the uproar in the Muslim world earlier about the Pope's offensive speech. Hey, but the guy has apologised...give him break.
He's still new at the office. So it was just a bad mistake. The same mistake you made on your first day at work. Thinking the CEO is the office attendant & asking him to bring you some paper clips. Happens to everybody.

The photo above ranks as one of most beautiful shot for Year 2006.

PS: In 1981 (5 years before my birth) the late Pope John Paul II was shot at Saint Peter's square by a Turkish extremist, Mehmet Ali Agca and fortunately, the Holiness survived. Later in 1983 when he had fully recovered, the Pope went Rome's Rebibbia Prison to personally meet his would-be assassin to forgive him.

May God bless his beautiful soul...amen.

ZoukOut 2006 - A Success???

Wow, ZoukOut 2006 was REAL SUCCESS. 20 thousands of revellers flocked Sentosa Siloso Beach to enjoy great music, drinks & checking out those hot babes in bikinis....I think that's the MAIN ATTRACTION. Half of those revellers were tourists. With this we can definitely hit more than 10 million tourists this year.

Zoukout was A BIG SUCCESS!

Successful also in terms of that huge sales of alcohol,bikinis,some latex protection devices,even axe-oil for that throbbing hang-over...

You heard that sick joke:

A babe was so zoukout that she didn't know who zouk her. 9 months later, out come baby zouk not knowing who is the papa zouk.

Don't think that's funny at all.

Every Success Comes With a Price.

Just how much are we willing to pay?

So long the Money's GOOD....???

OK, so Genting Bhd won the Sentosa IR Bid. Before that Marina Sands won.

Great! So what?

We, Singaporeans are torn about this Casino thing from the very beginning.

Why???

Well, many people when interviewed earlier in 2004 mentioned that they were against gambling. YET, they spent a HUGE substantial amount on 4D, Toto and other 'legalised' gambling. And the ACTUAL WINNER is SingaporePools....with pocketing billions annually.

Yet, we STILL maintained that S'pore is NOT a gambling society. "We just gamble for leisure".

They are also others who TOTALLY against all forms of gambling but would love to have the Universal Studios & family-themed parks here in S'pore.

Another group, on the other hand, excited to see an additional 30K of jobs being created to support these Casinos, oops I mean, IRs.

In the end, nobody loses???

Below is recent survey conducted recently on this thorny issue.

SURVEY
ON THE
PERCEPTIONS & ATTITUDES
TOWARDS GAMBLING ISSUES
IN
SINGAPORE
Report by the National Council on Problem Gambling
September 2006

Click here ==>http://www.ncpg.org.sg/research/NCPG_PE_Baseline_Survey_Report.pdf

Jump The Train

MRT Train is no longer just a mode of transport here in S'pore. It also become a mode of suicide. As usual, the conspiracy theorists had tons of explanation for this rising trend - @ 250 cases since last 10 years.

Two main reasons are:-

1) To be well-known instantly. If you jumped off from any high-rise flat, no one will know.....or care. But if you do it at the MRT station, especially during peak hours, will surely make you famous..oops or infamous.

2) All the problems that lead you committing suicide will be known by all & ......finally will be solved. If you got huge debts, no problem. The donations to your funeral will raked in minimum a 5-digit income. There was even one family of the demise who received half-a million dollars in donations!

My proposed short-term solution is mainly to put up many Warning Signs & "Educational" Posters across the MRT Stations.

See Examples below:

Change & Add Current Warning Sign with these captions:

Sample One

Sample Two

Well, you like me ideas???

How KEN go wrong????

I felt like vomiting upon listening to Hady’s first singles, “You give me wings”. It sounded more like, "You've burnt my chicken wings".

Why???

Not because the song sucked, not because of Hady’s singing, but more of the poor recording and production work. The sound was really BAD, man.....

It sounded like Hady was singing in the toilet & was recorded on a cassette tape. There was no highs or lows....very poor mixing...like having the Prata Mamak doing the Sound Engineering.

Why? Why can such things happen especially from the work of a known perfectionist like Mr Ken (not-go-wrong) Lim?

Why???

Is it because:-

a) it's a RUSH job - got to release before the fans' interest start to fade.

or

b) everyone loves Hady so no matter what junk is offered, the public will buy..even if Hady were to duet with Miss Piggy, people will still buy his album.

or

c) ...don't think the album will sell so why spend money to lose money?

But for me, no matter whatever are Ken's reasons, he has failed us BIG TIME with this cheapo effort. Ken has let us and Hady down miserably. He must have thought we are deaf after all.

PS: This is a SAD CASE....where a Great Talent was wasted.....poor thing...