Monday, February 28, 2005
Saturday, February 26, 2005
a state is an internally autonomous territorial and political unit composing a federation under a sovereign government.
that's what all of us singaporeans are familiar with.
but what happens when this sovereignty of e government is taken away? the govt fails to have e power n authority over the land and the people. it becomes a "failed state". in which case warlords etc take over.. n conflict and violence becomes the main course of the day. (smth like e scenario in Black Hawk Down.. josh harnett is so cute!)
this is what is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo (n many other parts of e world). there is so much killing and looting in the villages. but there's more.
rape is consciously used as a weapon in this war.
quoting from National Geographic's journalist Lisa Ling (on the Explorer), "Women in the Congo are considered "war booty," essentially. They are the ones who are suffering the most. The villages are attacked in the middle of the night by young soldiers. They violently rape the women. They've killed so many people already in six years. Four million people - and no one is paying attention... This is happening right now."
it's disgusting. these women are gang raped by these soldiers.. n there r stories where the soldiers tried to force a 20 yr old man to rape his own mother. when both of em pleaded to die instead, the soldiers brutally abused the mother. i'm leaving out what exactly they did cos i think it's too inhuman to even think about.
it's gets worse. many of these women r then rejected by their own husbands, for e "shame" they bring..
it's just gross, what humans are capable of. n it's sad that these things r happening n many of us dont even know. is it a race thing? that just because it's happening in africa, we dont really care?
there is a larger issue here. women ought to be treated with respect and dignity, just as much as men are. so there may be a cultural thing involved. but they fact that so many women, worldwide, are being treated as commodities is just outrageous. women are human beings too, not objects. (and anw, i dont agree w e whole male chauvinistic pig attitude. even in our society, respect for women is still lacking. was watching ally mcbeal reruns n leggy morgan said tt nth gets e attention of girls more than a man who has true respect for e lady.. or smth like tt. now girls, isnt tt just true? but im digressing.. nvm..)
wars being fought cos of men's desire for power n wealth.
women used as pawns.
n rape as weapons.
again, there must be awareness on what these brutalized women in congo r facing right now. we have no excuse for feigning ignorance and being indifferent once awareness is created.
will u do smth?
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
i'm so glad i survived e past wk... (w/o looking like a traumatised panda at e end of it all.. ok maybe a lil..) haha.. =)
alrighty.. so it's been a while since i last updated.. i haf soooo much to say... n i feel so lazy to type em all out!!!
but anw.. was having a chat w my good old sub-ed aft vday.. about vday roses.
some ppl (well, maybe just e Xtremely practical guys & gals) think tt giving roses as symbols of love is superficial... simply cos pretty roses r only good for a few days... b4 they grow old, wither n die.
seems to me, however, tt how can anything tt is symbolic be considered as superficial in e 1st place? symbols carry meaning.. a deeper meaning therein. so how can tt be superficial?
roses as symbols of love.
love. i dont think anything can ever carry a greater mix of meanings n emotions than love itself. therefore, (gosh i sound like i'm doing some freaking mathematical induction thingy) giving roses as symbols of love is anything but superficial. :)
also, love isnt all nice n everything all e time right? gets a bit "thorny" sometimes doesnt it? :p
besides.... abt roses dying so quickly n all, is kinda reflective of love... isnt it? love doesnt last forever.. well actually more accurately put, lust doesnt last forever.. e "lovey-dovey" feeling n all at e beginning.. is just tt. e feeling wears off n what makes a rs work past this is when u start to look past these initial feelings.. n deeper into e person.. flaws n all.. stuff like tt..
also.. abt roses dying.. abt em being transcient etc.. there's this old chinese saying.. erm.. bu zai hu tian chang di jiu, gi zai hu cheng jing yong you. (my chinese is wOnKy!!!) directly translated, it means: it doesnt matter tt it doesnt last forever.. it happened, n tt's all tt's impt. (okayyyy... cj's gonna knock my head for my chinese again)
so yeaps! roses R NOT superficial declarations of love.
haha.. tt's it..
but then again.. maybe we shldnt always simply use things in nature for our own purpose like tt.. (tt is sooo typical of human beings being selfish n thinking tt we r e center of e world n tt everything is made to revolve ard us n our needs) maybe we shld simply appreciate roses for what they r.. creations of beauty. n leave it at tt..
ahhh... i haf so much more to say!! but 'nuff said abt roses..
i'll continue w my ramble another time.. *wink*
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
got this off e net somewhere..
Every February we celebrate Valentines Day by giving flowers, candy and cards to those we love. We do this in honor of Saint Valentine. You may be wondering, "Who is St. Valentine"?
Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. There was an Emperor at that time by the name of Claudius II. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married. With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger military base. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree just wasn't fair and chose to marry young couples secretly. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine's actions he had him put to death.
Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor's daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first 'valentine' himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it 'Your Valentine', words still used on cards today.
Perhaps we'll never know the true identity and story behind the man named St. Valentine, but this much is for sure...February has been the month to celebrate love for a long time, dating clear back to the Middle Ages. In fact, Valentines ranks second only to Christmas in number of greeting cards sent.
Another valentine gentleman you may be wondering about is Cupid (Latin cupido, "desire"). In Roman mythology Cupid is the son of Venus, goddess of love. His counterpart in Greek mythology is Eros, god of love. Cupid is often said to be a mischievous boy who goes around wounding both gods and humans with his arrows, causing them to fall in love.
haha, how interesting!
anw, happy valentine's day & happy friendship day, everyone!
& *mmuuaacckkss* to ryan. :P
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
it's a happy day today..
1st up:
HaPpY CHinEse nEw yEaR!!!!!
haha, gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai! *grin*
best wishes this new yr!
[cyn's foo-foo bear!]
annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd..............
happy birthday to a certain old fogey.
:)
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
i figured it's inauspicious to talk abt death n suffering during e lunar new yr so i'ld better get this over n done w.
Making of an unequal world
Of the world's 6.3 billion people, over 1 billion live on less than $1 a day.
Another 2.7 billion survive on less than $2
Diseases
11 million children die every year
More than 6 million die from malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia
Everyday HIV/AIDS kills 6,000 people and another 8,200 people are infected with this deadly virus
Every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria - more than 1 million child a year
More than 800 million people go to bed hungry everyday - 300 million are children
Some of the most populous countries such as Indonesia with over 200 million people or Bangladesh with 140 million people are poorer than some top MNCs
people are dying, of inequality, poverty & hunger, by the hundred thousands every single day. each night when we rest our heads to sleep on our comfy bed, millions of kids can only shiver in e cold dark night, tummies growling.
these numbers are large and are very real. more people die each day than the total deathtoll of the tsunami disaster. the only reason how we can remain nonchalent abt these is that the deaths occur in a much less dramatic way, much easier for us to show ignorance n indifference towards.
sharon stone raised more than US$1 million in a matter of minutes at the world economic forum in davos recently. to buy mosquito nets for the children dying of malaria in african countries. U2's bono calls this a "stupid problem" simply cos of the fact that people r dying from PREVENTABLE deaths. scores of children wldnt have to die if only they had enough money to buy mosquito nets to protect them from the malaria-infecting mosquitos. and the fact that money was raised so quickly, just as she made an appeal for them, shows that with awareness, we can all do out part to better the world.
it's easy to say that with money, all problems will be solved. this seems to be e stand tony blair is taking. but that obviously is just skimming the issue here aint it? politics, lack of education come into play. n while we as individuals can only do so much to help better this dire situation infecting the world, we can show great awareness towards these issues. collectively, we can indeed make an impact.
there's so much more to life. to ur life. r u going to just read this post and forget about it? or spread the word that the world isnt as rosy as our myopic view from comfortable singapore tells us. will ur conscience let u do tt? will u remain indifferent to the suffering surronding us?
cliche and bimbotic as it sounds, if i had one wish for the world, it wld be definitely be world peace.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Two great guys - one great law!
The Ampere's Law Song
Refrain:
Mr. Ampere's magical, mystical, wonderful law!
Of Maxwell's equations, it is the longest and strangest of all!
On the left side, he wrote circulation
Of magnetic field, 'cause it was neat.
On the right hand side of his equation --
Mu-naught I - he thought it was complete.
(Refrain)
Decades later, Maxwell saw disaster,
Although he thought of Ampere as a saint --
In between the plates of a capacitor
The right side's zero, but the left side ain't!
To fix this problem, he added to the right side
Displacement current, a brand new quantity!
It started mu-naught eps'lon-naught and ended by
The time derivative of phi-sub-E.
(Refrain)
And so to Maxwell the myst'ry was reveal-ed--
He saw how light could move through empty space.
The changing B-field made the changing E-field,
And vice-a-versa, all at the perfect pace.
(Refrain)
Words & music by Walter Smith 4-6-01
Chords by Marian McKenzie
ã 2001 Walter Fox Smith
***
from the good ppl at Haverford College
the things i go to school for.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
HEY HEY!
check this out:
ignore that "4b ..." part.
too tired to crop it n stuff. just got back at 11pm from helping to set up the booths n decor.
be there!
cos honestly, it's good. ;)
p.s we've got lan games (with spanky new white 17" flat screen computers)! CDs, health, IT prdts! fashion, accessories, beachwear.
haha.. n yes, piglet indoor slippers!!!!!!!!!!
p.p.s ok i'll go slp now. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. brain fried. (8am - 11pm in sch! *wails* n it's not some performance etc. it's doing work. k nite. or i'll be a walking zombie tmr.)
Tuesday, February 01, 2005