A good voice...

This is Timmy Perez and here are her live acoustic recordings:

1. Counting car blues

2. Angels or devils

Easily beats 70% of the studio-doctored vocal recording that's available on the CD market nowadays, including the popular Nora Jones...

Wonder if she'll (Timmy, not Nora) release any CD soon?

Now I'm trying to see if I can get my own radio.blog to stream her music over here...heh...

My tribute to the iPod shuffle ad...

Looks like I've really got too much time on my hands.

Anyway, this is my tribute to a really catchy ad campaign by Apple Computers. In case you were wondering, the song is "Jerk It Out" by The Caesars...


hmmm...think I actually look better in silhouette profile...


Hope you like this. Too bad the iPod costs a bomb or I would've bought one myself.

Baby's photo

Here's another view of Baby at either 9 or 10 weeks. The OBGYN's having some problems dating Baby, who's supposedly at 10 weeks from last menstrual period (or LMP for short, 40 weeks from LMP being a theoretical full-term baby, but the range may be from 36 to 42 weeks LMP) and the crown-rump length (or CRL, crown being the tip of the head and rump, well, it's a PC term for the butt) is at 2.8cm or slightly over an inch, which is about average for 10 weeks from LMP. However, the date on this scan shows 9 weeks. The last scan was done 3 weeks ago and dated Baby at 7 weeks from LMP. From the monthly cycle chart that G & I had been doing, Baby's supposed to be 10 weeks from LMP. Anyway, the scan's accuracy is +/- 6 days so I'm not about to quibble. This is a good site for information on fetal ultra-sound scans.

All we're hoping is for Baby to be healthy. Nothing more, nothing less. There's always a temptation to compare & contrast with growth charts and hope that one's child come up above the 50th percentile. Tsk, tsk, how typical of 1984-ville mentality...

of unchanging history & forgetting our past...

"And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." - The Bible

1. Singapore in the 21st century

"It is a sprawling former warehouse converted into living quarters for foreign workers. But don't ask to look inside. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Member of Parliament...couldn't get past the gate on Wednesday...

No way. A representative of GoldStrong Technology, which runs the place, told him to get a court order first...'All we want to do is see the living conditions for ourselves,' the astonished MP said afterwards. 'Why deny us entry if they have nothing to hide?'

The hard fact is many of the 350,000 foreign workers here are housed in quarters that may not meet minimum safety and hygiene standards...They (the foreign workers) said the place is so packed that 40 men share one toilet. Eight to 10 men sleep in rooms the size of bus shelters and bed bugs are common...

When The Straits Times went there on Monday and asked to go in, the answer was a flat no. 'If they are not happy with living conditions here, they can get out. We don't care,' shouted a company official who refused to identify himself...Another contractor said...'You give these people a palace and they will turn it into a pig sty.'

Indian and Bangladeshi workers arrive in debt to the tune of $7500 - a small fortune paid to various agents to secure a job here. 'We have no choice but to put up with whatever is offered to us,' said a 30-year-old Bangladeshi..."



Excerpts & picture from The Straits Times, 22 April 2005.
Front page article titled "No entry for MP to see worker's dormitory"
By Radha Basu

2. Singapore in the early post-War era

"...'I (Lim Kim San, head of Singapore Press Holdings, describing housing conditions in a Chinatown shophouse during the post-War colonial era) went into a three-storey shophouse with one lavatory and two bathrooms. We counted 200 tenants living there. It was so dark and damp. It was an inhuman and degrading existence. Underneath the staircase was a single plank. A man was lying on the plank. He had rented it. That was his home!'..."

Excerpts from an article in The Straits Times, 17 October 1997.
By Tan Sai Siong

3. Singapore in the 19th century

"The establishment of British rule and new trade opportunities marked the beginning of a long period of continuous Chinese immigration (to Singapore). The first junk arrived from Xiamen (Amoy) in February 1821. By the mid-19th century, Chinese immigration was well organised. Many immigrants started their new life in debt due to expenses incurred in making the journey. They were often ill-treated and exploited, until the indentured labour system was abolished in 1914."

Wang Gungwu, Director of East Asia Institute, Singapore.
Excerpts of an interview.


Photo from http://homer.pacific.net.sg/~malabar/sources.html

May God forgive our forgetfulness & trespasses...

second visit to the OBGYN...

well...it's time for the second visit to the obstetrician. will post new photo of Baby later. Taking G for a swim after that, think she needs some form of light exercise. As for me, I'm still fighting the Battle of the Bulge. Good to know that I'm still fitting comfortably into a 30-inch pair of jeans I bought 5 years ago, heh. And my BMI is 22, double heh...

Read an article in today's Urban section of The Straits Times. It's about how men in their 40s fight against the flab. You know, I'm starting to feel the effects of every meal. Watching what I eat has become THE thing to incorporate into my life now. Hawker fare no longer has its appeal like it did during my teens & 20's. Funny, I don't miss pigging out as much as I thought I would. Maybe it's because I've seen enough of cardiograms showing clogged arteries...*shudder*...

of IR radiation & harmful effects...

You know, it's funny how they made a mess and issue so much propaganda trying to justify the setting up of casinos in 1984-ville. Some have said that it's only 3% of the total area of the gambling dens Intergrated Resorts, or IR for short, but it's expected to generate almost all of the profit that's necessary to keep the entire country's economy afloat. If that's not an indirect admission of the hidden impact of a gambling centre being able to punch far above its weight, then it must be another statememt for the Think-Before-You-Speak campaign.

Some have mentioned that casinos are needed to remake Singapore, to make it unique or different from other cities around the world. Let's see....

Casino counts worldwide:
(click on underlined links for websites that provide these figures)

North America...1754
Africa...153
Asia...191 (excluding 1984-ville's)
Carribean...108
South & Central America...276
Europe...1563
Australia & islands in the Pacific...441

Grand total... 4486

Wow, I'm sure 2 casinos will make 1984-ville so damn unique...

Some others have said that even though the main religious groups in 1984-ville (namely Buddhists, Christians, Hindus & Muslims) have come out against the setting up of casinos, the good folks who run this country say that they should not listen to the voice of just one group of people (specifically the people who oppose it). Hmmm...let's see...

Singapore's population breakdown:
(by religious affinity)

Buddhists...42.5%
Christians...14.6%
Hindus...4.0%
Muslims...14.9%

Total... 76%

Oh well, doesn't matter, we have a 24% majority, so let's go ahead...

One other thing about the "only-3%-floor-space" for us to think about. They say the rest of the space within the gamling dens Integrated Resorts are good for family-fun, where we can pack our children off for a weekend of family bonding and other stuff. You know, some time back I bought rat poison to get rid of the rodent problem in my house. Now let's take a look at the ingredients of rat poisons...

Carbohydrates & protein (that's the good stuff)......99.999%
Rodenticide (that's the stuff that kills the rats)...0.001%

Hey, that bad stuff's only less than 1%. Wow, I didn't know rat poison was safer than casinos...let's do it baby!

suspicious looking devices...

hmmm...

Just got 4 sets of scientific instruments. Boy, I tell you, these manufacturers make tons of profit from the mark-up prices of plastics... :-p


Some glam, Apple-lookalike instrument...

Anyway these are what are known as data loggers. Basically what mine does is they take temperature and humidity (that's how wet the air is, you know, that sticky, muggy sensation you get after it rains on a hot sunny day) readings at fixed time intervals. So I will be throwing these guys into the forest, leaving them alone for 2 days before retrieval. Wah...so scientific...so glam...so "Discovery Channel"....NOT!

With the red blinking LED light when switched on, I think the forest rangers are going to wonder if it's a suspicious package that goes BOOM...


...opps, what did I just activate?!...


So here's a view from Bt Panjang, across the 2 Peirce Reservoirs. In the horizon, you can make out some tall blocks situated along Upper Thomson Road. Singapore IS really that small...




Here's another composite photo of a nice picnic ground I found. Very quiet and sheltered from the roads. Opposite bank is the zoo, we could hear the tigers roaring occasionally. NM providing the foreground subject, pondering over the waters.


Click on the photo for a bigger view...

of rights and societal norms...

You know, it's funny how we sometimes cling on to the cherished notion of freedom to decide our own destiny but at other times want to impose our own views on others. So do we really want to be able to say that we can end our life at our own choosing? Apparently not so, says the law. Found something interesting on the Singapore Statutes OnLine webpage. Section 309 of the Penal Code states that "Whoever attempts to commit suicide, and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both." Sounds to me like what they're saying is we can't kill ourselves but others can (but not emotional parents). Hmm...

So the question is this: do we have the right to decide when to die? We certainly don’t have the right to decide when we’re born...


View from Anglesea, a small town along the Great Ocean Road.
Taken in June 2001.

If we have the right to decide our manner of death, what about the right to consume drugs? What about other rights?

You have the right to inhale cancer-inducing fumes which costs $11 a pack but do I have the right to fresh air?


Along Bedok Jetty. Taken in 1999.

You have the right to gamble away the family fortune but do your family members have the right to a stable family life?

So when does individual freedom end and societal norms take over? Is there an absolute code of conduct by which we measure ourselves against? If no, I say we screw civilised conduct, but if yes, then I’m afraid we’ve all got some serious accounts to settle.

TBYS

There's an interesting read about the so-called "right to die" in today's government mouthpiece print media. It's an excellent article that demonstrates the need for a Think-Before-You-Speak campaign in 1984-ville.

Regarding whether parents should have the right to decide if they want medical intervention in cases where the children are severely ill, a prominent doctor was quoted as saying, " 'Parents are simply too emotionally involved to make this kind of decision...' And these parents are in the majority, she added." (The Straits Times. April 14, 2005. Page 3 article titled "Don't let them suffer")

Duh... so I presume good parents must be un-emotional when their kids are gravely ill...

When asked if she would want medical intervention for her child or herself in such situations: " 'If it were myself or my child, I wouldn't do it,' said Dr Lee, who is single."

Wah... so qualified to know how it feels to be a parent (and a parent with a sick kid).

Well just in case we go away with the idea that this doctor doesn't want emotional pa-pas & ma-mas making such decisions in every situation, she made an exception: "If the patient was of sound mind, the situation would be different. 'I may be willing to be less dogmatic if the patient is an adult with full mental faculties and has full and accurate information of the possible consequences.' "

Steady lah! Good patients under the stress of critical illnesses or in a comatosed state are expected to think clearly. Not only that, they must read scientific journals (instead of The Straits Times, I suppose) during breakfast/morning commute/toilet breaks...

the heart of MacRitchie (part 2)...

"...Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them...Therefore take no thought, saying What shall we eat?...for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things..."
- The Bible


Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) flying over Upper Peirce Reservoir.
Photo by NM.

This is taking slightly longer than I thought but I've finally surveyed most places within the Central Catchment Area. Seen & heard weird things but it was a fun experience, especially going in with friends, beats walking alone and silently all the time.


Something interesting caught the eye of CK.
Photo by NM.

You know, it's funny how little I talk to myself when I'm in the woods. I seem to have more thoughts in my head when commuting or out and about in town but everything in my mind seems to dissolve away into the stillness of the forest whenever I'm in there, even with friends tagging along. Maybe I've filled my head with too much inconsequential distractions. Somehow I think that living in this world of ours was (and still is) never meant to be a complicated affair. Why is it that I fill my head with so much worry? Isn't it nice to be quiet from my thoughts?


Some lady bird beetle.
Photo by NM.

"...And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her..."
- The Bible

So much for my worries...


Malayan Colugo or Flying Lemur (Cynocephalus varigatus)
Photo by NM.

Faith Enough...

Ice is thin enough to walk on
Rope is worn enough to climb
Throat is dry enough for talking
World is crumbling but I know why

Storm is wild enough for sailing
Bridge is weak enough to cross
This body's frail enough for fighting
Home enough to know I'm lost

Just enough to be strong
In the broken places
Just enough to be strong
Should the world rely on faith tonight

Land unfit enough for planting
Barren enough to conceive
Poor enough to gain the treasure
Enough of a cynic to believe

Confused enough to know direction
Sun eclipsed enough to shine
Still enough to finally tremble
Seen enough to know I'm blind

Should the world rely on faith tonight

- Jars of Clay "Faith Enough"

of road kills & night foraging...

This has been a packed week even though it's only Thursday...

On Tuesday, somebody from the nebulous public reported a road kill along the PIE near the junction with BKE, reportedly a pangolin, a kind of scaly ant-eater. Of course, this was right up our resident mammologist, NM's alley. So we hopped on to B's vehicle, B being our government-agent & point-man for such things, and sped to the said location, only to find the carcass lying right smack in the middle of the right-most and the fastest lane, vehicles zooming in excess of 100 km/h when the traffic cops aren't watching.


Road kill, Malayan pangolin or Manis javanica


A snatch-and-grab operation in broad daylight was planned to recover the body. It involved a turbo-charged open-top pickup, a rather large fish-net, a long wooden broom-handle, 3 covert operatives and no air support...heh...

So B was the pilot for the whole operation, everything hinged upon him maneuvering & slowing to a strategic speed on a 100km/h heavy-traffic highway, allowing the 1.9m-tall NM, sitting behind, to swop down and scoop the body up with the afore-mentioned equipment. As for me, hey, I'm just the war correspondent clueless kaypoh, so don't shoot...


NM examining the carcass up close...what a pong!


Everything was systems go as we sped back to the hot-zone. The ride was choppy, with heavy enemy presence traffic all around. B made his approach, slowing down to almost a crawl for the retrieval. NM reached down and made the scoop...

"Crack!"


Preserving tissue sample in 95% alcohol for DNA work.


The broom handle snapped into two, dropping the body back on the hard tarmac road with a dull thud. B jammed on the brakes. Suddenly all hell broke loose as the enemy opened up traffic started to back up behind us. The sound of gun-fire cars horning was incessant, an RPG Audi A6 whistled pass, barely missing us.

"Abort! Abort!" screamed NM.

"Heck! I've had enough of this," I muttered, and promptly jumped over the side, grabbed the late-pangolin in my right hand, snatching up the net and broken handle with my left.

"Get back in! Get back in!" B shouted above the pandemonium.

I dived back into the vehicle. "Go! Go! Go!"

B sped us out of the hot-zone...

Remind me to either stay as a neutral observer next time or keep to walking in the forest, a much less stressful escapade...


Trapping a few ants in plastic bottles.
Photo by NM.

...which I did the same night along the Lower Peirce boardwalk. I think NM had enough of the afternoon's stunt and came along with me to chill out.


Big critters!
Photo by NM.

These ants, known as the Bornean Giant Forest Ant or Camponotus gigas, are probably the largest in the world, coming in at the size of a cockroach (albeit a rather skinny cockroach). They are rather timid creatures and scatter around when they sense danger in the form of ground vibration or torch light, so I had to be extra gentle in bagging a few of them.

Well, so much for the past few days...

of man and animal...

"...I said in mine heart concerning the...sons of men...for that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts...yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity...all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again..." (The Bible)

Had a thought-provoking session with church friends last night. You know, I'm not a religious person in the conventional sense (i.e. belief in regular attendance in church, meetings and other forms of participation in formal displays of religiosity). There is a God, there's no doubt about it, I have seen and felt too many signs to deny His existence. The bottom-line is that I'm probably too proud to be mixing it up with pious people but anyway, that's another story, I'm digressing...


The polar bear.
Largest land carnivore.
Snaps off the human head with a single bite...

The thing is, are we really all that different from the animals we see around us? It's true, you know, that we are made from dust and subjected to the same forces that drive animals. Eat, sleep, reproduce, fear, joy, death. That much is certain. So there is a basic question which must be answered before we even begin to contemplate other things:

Q: Are we really unique?


The chimpanzee.
Opposable big toe.
Try manipulating things with your feet...
This fellow can.

The fearful thing about giving an answer is that either way will take us down very different roads. I don't agree fully with this guy (his statement about plants) but there is a point to what he says about the evolution vs. creation debate. If we are truly a result of random chance and this universe as we know it is really driven by natural & unguided forces, then what significant is there in being civilised? Countless men died fighting the Japanese Imperial Army and the Nazi machine, in the hope that they were doing something right. But is there a right to begin with? If "no", then everything is just a joke. Well, you say, the victors write history. So we're back to square one. Your point-of-view is as valid as the next person's. And the reason for civilisation collapses.


Huge leaf of the fan palm.
Able to make food from just sunlight and water...

What if we were really unique? Different from the beasts. There should must be a purpose to all that we're doing. Why are we doing what we do? For fun and laughter? Partly. Why did I get married? Why do I want to bring another life into existence together with G? Spend probably the next 18 years fussing over Baby. Why am I tramping around the forest looking at ants, getting stung, bitten, rained on, cut up by thorns and subjecting myself to unpleasantry. The end of it, I get to spend some more sleepless nights writing a thesis which no more than 4 people will read (me + supervisor + 2 other examiners, not even the binder will read it).


The California sea-lion.
Dives to 800 feet.
Swims 100m faster than an average human takes to run on land.

I am beginning to realise the enormity of answering "Yes" to the above question. We all want to answer "Yes" to give justification to what we do but do we know the responsibilities that come along? And by answering "Yes", we cannot set our own standards anymore. There has to be an absolute standard to strive for, otherwise our arguments for being unique would degenerate once again...

The question that follows "Yes":

Q: Are we ready to face the Standard by which we claim our uniqueness?...

Baby's photo!

Just had the first trip to the OBGYN with G. Rather nice lady, although we had to wait for an hour plus to be seen. Anyway, here's a photo of the ultrasound scan of Baby...



...hoping that I've got it correct, having returned all of my embryology knowledge to the pre-clinical lecturers. The body stalk is the beginnings of the umbilical cord while the amniotic membrane is what's commonly known as the "water bag" with the "water" filling the extra-embryonic space. Of course at 7 weeks, not everything's formed but it's really amazing that give him/her another 2 weeks and every organ and body part will have been formed, this is at the end of what's known medically as Carnegie stage 23 of the baby's development, the 1st trimester being divided into 23 stages, this site has a whole lot about Carnegie stages. For even more amazing pictures and diagrams of the developing human, visit The Visible Embryo website.

Well, now that Baby's expected to arrive around mid-November 2005, we're all conscious about what we eat and how we conduct daily routine. Just bought a whole bunch of vitamin B complex, C, folate and calcium pills. You know, I really wish we had the time to plan and cook our daily meals according to healthy guidelines but in fast-paced 1984-ville it's nearly impossible. Besides G's having weird food cravings and appetite's unstable so I'll probably wait until end of 1st trimester. Really thankful that she's not feeling nauseous or vomitting. When eating out, I've also adopted the strategy of waiting for her to finish her food, which she sometimes doesn't. I'll hold back to mop up the leftovers. Ha! This saves me from ordering too much food and keeps the pace of tummy development (mine, I mean) in check...