band of brothers

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.

- 'Henry IV', Shakespeare

... or as I call him, Shakey.

dreams that men dream

The traditions passed down through the ages.
The passing of time,
The dreams that men dream.
They are all ineveitable.
As long as men continue to pursue greatness,
these things will exist forever!

- One Piece

... of conflicts

What are conflicts? We see them all the time. It's almost everywhere in every way. Politics, backstabbing, hate and pretend faces. But... should I have that little faith in people?

I'll start by saying what I want to believe. I want to believe that everyone does not in any intention to cause anyone else trouble. I cannot imagine being thought as the 'sabotager', but not realise that I had even in the mind to try to be so. So, surely the person that I have thought to have backstabbed me may not have intended so.

Ever so often have I encountered people who actually thought I'm trying to "play games" behind them, and believe me, I was shocked that I stood stunned for the next few minutes. "No! Never!" was I all I could cry out in my heart.

Perhaps I was given a gift to see things simple, or simply my esteem disallowed my anger, that I know that whatever unfortunate happens, there's always a reason. let me illustrate...

1) That guy cut queue in front of me, and made me unable to board the bus. Sure, he could have been just damned selfish. Hey, maybe he needs to get to the hospital fast to see his relative in the hospital.

2) My friend complained that his boss dumped him a pile of work just before he could go for his 1 month holiday, thus the boss dispises him. Sure, the boss could be damn biased. Hey, maybe the boss' boss is the ass here.

3) That guy backstabbed me again! I do a better work than you! That no good piece of crap! Sure, he could be just plain evil. Hey, maybe he's just plain scared of undermining my work, and asked someone to help provide suggestion to my work.

Yah, what are the chances? But remember there is always a reason of some sort. You know how it is, that sometimes when you chat with someone, and it ends up in sudden akward silence. I'm saying that somehow, bad circumstances land ourselves in discontent, and suddenly suspicion arises.

Also remember that our suspicion comes from lack-of- or mis-understanding. Would you suspect your best friend if he told you your work sucked? Of course not. Let not our short period of knowing a person control our logic.

But then, if you're sure that that particular person is just plain evil, go ahead and hate him. I'd probably hate him with you. Bwahahah.... (6)

I've been lucky I guess. The video unit I worked in had politics, but usually a unspoken consesus. Any conflicts happen b4? No! Because everyone could find someone to talk to in the department, and find out that their discontent actually came from a bad situation that befell the department. (DiTV, you rock.)

Now, having joined JSS, I realised that there were more issues than I could thought could be. Wished I had more time to understand it too. But one thing's for sure, I could be sure that the next generation has the ability to handle future ones. I stand witness the rapport, and know that we can be really open to one another. There is only a flight of soaring heights for the club.

... of a nation's birthday.

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY, SINGAPORE!!

It's not everytime I'll have a comment on the National Day Parade, but this year's performances were exceptionally well done. I do not think highly of the ones before, and perhaps that provided me a great relief that there is still an anticipation for the next NDP.

A word before I start, though (for the purpose of wanting to end on a high note). Why does a nation display weapons on its birthday? While I can understand the innocent enjoyment of seeing military equipment that some could never see and get closer to again, I am constant bugged by the pessimisstic underlying motive of display.

The stand circular stand served as a central attention for certain parts of the importance, and the lights equipped around was well made used of for colours and patterns. Very smooth.

Long enough pre-performance took to parade, and quickly I was soothed by Act I of the performance. A simple, yet elegant enough animation brought in the introduction of the naming of our island, Singapura. Then onto the stage. The children played particularly well the roles of a variety of creatures, which included birds, squrriels, butterflies and elves (give them the asethetic praise, pls. hehe). Colourful and somewhat sweet was the key, and was a welcome change to the concept of majesty. Or so I thought, till a statue of a lion, standing over the awe of all. As Sang Nila Utama set foot on the island and breathed the word "Singapura", the fantastic music arrangement illustrated the echoing of the word, till it reaches the perfect harmony throughout the island. A high for end of the act.

Second act was dubbed "40 years of Nation Building", which continued to demostrate the fantastic music arrangement. Old, familiar tunes thrown into the whirl of our favourites - banghra beat, retro, futuristic fx-es etc. Along with the thrid act, was the perfect mix of the races. Heck! Why are we still stopping at 4 main races, when we are already the most globalised nation? Performers included people non-Singaporeans, which I thought was rather delighted about. For the third time, perfect.

For a man who believes in dreams, I do believe that we are a people. Big hopes, big dreams. Man, we're damn big for a small red dot.

... of heroes

I'm gonna share a secret about guys. And I'm not even supposed to tell you this.

You know when guys read comics, or watch superheroes (be it in movies or cartoons), they can't help but place themselves in those shoes. "What would it be like? What would they do? When will I have the glory?" You know, that sort of questions. Now, these are not fantasies. These are options.

Right, and you girls wonder why men often act tough, play games that "save the world" and do sports and go to gyms.

But can we really help it? Just look at Spiderman. Almost everyone can relate to him, his school life and love life. Just look at number of things we have in common. There's only one difference between me and Peter Parker. That means I'm only one step to being a superhero!

Yeah, considering all you are short of is a radioactive spider to bite you.

Now, don't go passing on careless judgements on men. (That's my privilege.) And no, I ain't quipping no gender jokes. I'm just gonna say that this phenomenon is a good thing. I mean, isn't it nice to have someone who is strong, dependable, always there for you at the right time when you need them, and always protecting you? That's what superheroes are, and what men strive to achieve.

Maybe it's just a society pressure on how a man should act. Nevertheless, it is still what men want, be it for themselves or for someone. We want to protect what or who we love. We want to be strong. We want to be able to do everything possible for the one we love.

What about our female counterparts? Well, I dun noe. I ain't no women. But don't compare them with others, let alone heroines. Compare us not with heroes too.