2007 - 33

Okay..How shall I start this? First, Salam Aidiladha to all Moslems from all around the world. May God grant me the chance to perform my Hajj one day. InsyaAllah, If God permits. Just a few days ago,almost three days ago, I was celebrating my birthday. Now, it is already the new year, 2007. The best thing of having your birthday near the end of the year is that, it brings about a lot of merry and joy as it gives the person new hopes for the new year and not forgetting, his or her new age.

As I mentioned before, I am 33 years old now. I am not ashamed about it or face the peril of getting older as the years go bye. No, of course not. I am quite contented with the idea of being more experienced with life as the days go by. People may say many things about it. I will just smile and ignore the unnecessary remarks. Anyway, I have to say my humble thanks to many of my friends who had either called me, message me or went out with me to either wish me or celebrate with me on my birthday. I felt so honored and happy with your warm salutations. I am blessed to have many great friends and buddies. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. With the new year, I am not going to spell out my resolutions at all.

Why is that so? It is simple logic. I have yet to accomplish my previous resolutions from the previous years. In fact, I am wondering on how does the term, " new year resolutions" come about? I see it as just another hoax of wanting people to have hope or certain targets to achieve.To me, I have given up on making new year resolutions. On the contrary, I will rather make new prayers or wishes to God to make it happen.

Let us put it this way. To err is human. If I have made a lot of mistakes to people, I apologize.

I yearn to be a better man as I grow mature.
I yearn to see the world be a peaceful place for all humankind to live in harmony among each other without racial discrimination or religious profiling.
I yearn for a better life full of love and peace.
I yearn for the best for my family and friends.
I yearn to shower those who needs my help based on my capabilities.
and I yearn to seek peace and serenity forever.

Goodbye 2006. Goodbye 32. Welcome 2007. Welcome 33. The odd numbers of my life have come again since I celebrated my 22nd birthday 11 years ago. Perhaps the year 2007 will be a good year for my family, my friends and myself indeed. InsyaAllah..If God permits. What will ever happen in 2007? Only God knows. Reality check - I have only left with one week before I start to work again. How time flies....

The Odd Numbers

I have always waited for this day to come. It is the day when I am able to feel the double odd numbers of my life which is, 33 years old. Time flies and today is my birthday. The thing about this day is that, it comes once in every decade of a human life.

Look at it this way, you will only be able to experience it first when you reached 11 years, followed by 22, 33, 44, 55 and so forth. What are the odds of that? It takes another 11 years altogether. It is just a simple theory which I believe that something good will happen when the time comes. I can foresee myself settling down by this year. Hmm...wait..that is too drastic. Perhaps I shall be able to face happiness in many ways. A new resolution is made everytime when my birthday arrives. This is cool when it happens to coincide with the new year. Now, isn't that cool to know that people from around the world is celebrating the coming New Year with your birthday,just around the corner? Haha..cheap thrill.

I had just returned from a very touching celebration done by Frodo and his friends. They tricked me to go to Vivo City, a new shopping centre in Singapore, and bought me a birthday cake with 6 candles symbolising 33. I was so touched and honored by it that I smiled and blushed continuously. Put it this way. It has been long since I celebrated my birthday. It has come to a point where I am beginning to ignore it whenever it arrives yearly. Well, at that point of time, I thought it is just another typical creation by people who loves to be reminded about how old they are getting each year. I do not like birthdays. To me, it is just another number. Why do we have to keep thinking about how old we become from time to time right? Well, I may be wrong to think that way. Some people cherished their birthdays. I just happen to think otherwise about it. In the end, birthday celebrations are more meant for your friends who want to see you happy for the day right? Absolutely correct.

Anyway, today by 2.15am, I will be 33years exactly if I were to be really precised about the actual day and time when I was born. Hey, the party just started. I will be on a date tommorow with my latest girlfriend whom I had met recently. Girlfriend? Now, isn't that something new for my life? How long has it been? 3 years after my last break up with my ex-fiancee. I am sure all of you must have been wondering on this newcomer in Max Muchacho's life. Questions such as " Who is she?", "Where do you meet her?" , " Where is she working?" will always be the common questions from my friends. I have the answers for that now..

I met her by God's will. Alhamdulilah. Praises to Allah. Hopefully, this time, it will work for me. I keep telling myself many times, recently that, I got to make this relationship a success. The best think about her is her patience and sincerity. She got the looks, she got the career, she can think, she can smile, she can dress, she can make me happy and she can...I can go on and on with the list. Is this love? Is this even a relationship? Is this the one? Is this the final countdown for Max's search for love? We have yet to see that.

Well, like what Frodo said, " Do not think too much on it. If there is chemistry, just work on it." He is correct. InsyaAllah..it will last forever this time. It is time for me to open up my heart to accept new love. It has been sealed for a long time indeed.

Oh yeah, before I go, after the date, my buddies and I will be partying in a club of my choice. Let me see. I will figure that out later. Till than, take care.

Wishes That Are Not Meant For Me..

Yesterday, I went to my classmate's engagement ceremony at her house. It was quite a joyous event for her and all of us were very happy for her. She looked like a princess for a day except that she is now engaged to her longtime boyfriend. This brought down memories of my engagement that occurred three years ago. No worries, I was only thinking of the good part and not the bad part of it.

The worse thing is not about refreshing my mind on my ex-engagement. It began when one of my classmates started to tease me consistently to let go of my friend and avoid mixing with her as she is already engaged. Wait a minute...There is nothing going on between me and her. What is the matter with him??

Oh no..not again. The teasing started to increase from minute to minute. I do not know why on that spur of the moment that I tend to ignore his comments or remarks on my so called "illicit affair" that I had with my engaged lady friend. Perhaps I was just so happy that I cleared my examinations and I am in my dreaming world right now since it is my holiday. His deragotary comments were irrelevant. What happen after I ignored him? He got irritated eventually. Perhaps this is the part where I realised that this bloody guy has always been eyeing on my success of life and I will rather say that he is not pretty happy with what I have.

He mentioned a lot of rude comments on my life. Even my other friend was surprised to hear that and was shocked to see me reacting quietly about it. I told my other friend that there was no point in arguing with him on his pathetic remarks. There is no truth in any of it. It is just going to be another waste of breath.

Well...life goes on. But if I were to encounter him doing the same thing again, he will get it from me...than he will know what it is like to be condemn from someone who is older than him. For God's sake, he is 6 years my junior...

Some people are just ludacrous.

Results, The Aftermath Of The Post Examinations

I am filled with excitement. I had passed all my examination and the results are not that bad either. In fact, the fear of me not passing my Mathematics subjects, has haunted since the start of the holidays. Imagine this, the whole cohort could not complete the exam paper and it is one of the toughest as compared to the previous years.

Well, some of us were disappointed with the results. Some had a bigger GPA than me and some had lower than me. It does not matter at all to me. In fact, the fight to compete with the rest of the students had entirely diminished to me. Why? I see no point in doing so. Why must any students fight with one another to maintain a certain grade so as to be the best amongst all? Perhaps it is the quest to proceed to the next level of education but there will be a quota for that.

On the contrary, in the end, if any of the students, failed to win, wouldn't that be disappointing? what I will advice is to do your best in the examinations and do not have the urge to compete with the rest. It is not emotionally good for the heart if we are going to be envious or jealous of others better than us. Yes, it is good to have someone to admire upon but it is not good to try to be someone who can score well when in the end, we know our maximum limits. Just try your best and if you studied well enough, I am confident that passing is just a breeze to anyone. Getting distinctions are just an added plus to your hardwork.

Never compare. Study hard and play hard too. Anyway, as for me, I am already on the verge of exploding to smithereens. Do not get me wrong. What I meant here is that I am already at my peak of excitement as I can now enjoy without fear. Till January 10, 2007, when school reopens, I will party to the max.

And ...did i tell you something? I had found my match for a girlfriend. I am seeing someone right now. Pray for me that this will work. Tell you more on that on my next blog. Adios...

A shocking image

Just a short one, remember when I said that I had a very short hair cut? I thought that I am crazy to do that now but after my trip on the train this afternoon, I realized that I am not that pathetic.

This is because I saw a couple of young teenagers who had a hair cut with some funky outlook on their heads. Now how do I describe this. They did some line designs that look like a zebra crossing on the road by the sides of their head and make some spiky hair on top of their head. Some have designs of an unknown picture at their back of their heads which reminds me of the punksters in the 90s where they will have their long sharp and spiky hairdo on their heads and roamed around aimlessly in town for attention.

Oh dear. These teenagers must have mimicked that fashion and they are trying to revive that era again. To be honest, it is a mockery to their image. The difference between that time and now is that, these teenagers nowadays do not have their style on their own as compared to those kids in the 90s. I got to admit, those confused kids during the 90s with their spiky hairdo, had created their image of their interest in a certain music or culture. The teenagers nowadays are just following the past. Sigh.

Anyway, be it cool or not, it is still silly to me. Why do you want to have a porcupine head and show off to people? Shouldn't they just become a clown in the circus? I rest my case.

A Bonus To All

Hey, today is a good day for all civil sector's servant. We have just some bonus from the government and indeed it has been a long time since I have acquired such plentiful some of money.

I mean, it is not that much really but some extra cash will be good for the soul, don't you think? It had been a long time eversince i did a career swap from a Network Engineer to a Teacher and this has been quite a meaningful day for me, my first bonus from my new career. It brought about some good memories that I used to perceive during my previous profession.

What did I did when I get my first bonus? Indeed, I shop till I drop. Exactly Not! I managed to pay off my bills first. Than, I decided to go out with Faz, my colleague for a rocking good food in an Indonesian Restaurant known as Desa Kartini, which I believed, is the best Indonesian Restaurant in Singapore. Than, we watched a movie known a Dejavu, a definite fantasy movie about going to the past to save someone's lives. Oh yeah, the night before, I went out with some other friends of mine, Frodo, is one of them, and watched the movie, Saw part 3. This movie is a continuation of the movie, Saw and Saw part 2 and I think this is the movie gruesome movie I have seen for the year.

Well enough about movies, Faz and I continue to purchase some gift for another colleague of ours who is going to get engage this 24th December. Well, this is a problem. Both of us are men and we are not sure on what to get for our friend, Fiz, a gift. In the end, after much patrolling around the shopping centres in Orchard Road, we came across a splendid box with some body lotions and bathing stuffs in it. Thanks for the Christmas sale, we got a good bargaining price for it. This is funny. We men, will always find ourselves in a dilemma in getting a lady, a present. I mean, for men, it's easy to buy them a present as compared to our female friends. I believe women, will be a bit sensitive on the type of gifts that they will receive from their other friends. In the end, I told Faz that, the gift has to come sincerely from our hearts and I am sure she will appreciate it. I hope so..

In the end, we chilled at a cafe in town and talked about our greatest nightmare that we have yet to face in future. Our maths results! Well, like most of what my friends have said, it is now in the hands of God. We hope and pray daily to clear this horrible maths exam paper in order to move on to the next semester. The funny thing about this, I have yet another three more weeks of holiday and I reckon that I am going to do tonnes of stuffs which I have forgotten to do during my examinations period. The problem is, to do that, I have to recall what it is.

To conclude, perhaps I will only do it when I remember what the heck I am supposed to do during these long breaks. Till than, I will just relax, figure out my next travel destination, figure out what to shop like buying a DVD recorder and party till i drop. Hmm...maybe I should rekindle the idea of socialising with other women. Let me see, ah..let nature takes its course than. I am so free now and when that happens, I ended up having an army style hair cut. Can you believe that? Sometimes I ponder on the crazy things I will pursue when I am that free. What will happen next? Stay tune..

Returning from the holidays

What an excruciating feeling to return from Sabah, Malaysia. That is where I was from before returning to Singapore. This time, the trip was a meaningful experience as I have learnt a lot on life itself and also on another country's culture. Sabah is located on the eastern side of Malaysia and its people are mostly indigenous as compared to the mainland Malaysians who are mostly Malays.

The intriguing part of this trip is mostly made up of my understanding of how Sabah and Sarawak and Brunei are joined together. I have not known this until I am actually there to witness it. I used to think that Brunei is an island off Sabah but the truth is, it is in the middle between Sabah and Sarawak. Sabahans or Sarawakians have to drive through Brunei in order to reach Sarawak and they have to bring along their passports even though they are not travelling abroad. Aha..That is another interesting thing. Since I came from Singapore, a very tiny weeny small island at the edge of the Malay Archipelago, travelling inter states never existed at all for me. The only way to experience that is to go overseas such as in Malaysia. Therefore, Malaysians and other bigger nations have the experience to go inter states without using passports. I find it weird as when we took a domestic flight from Kuala Lumpur(KL) to Sabah, my KL friends did not have to bring their passport as they are locals but as for me, I have to, as I am a foreigner.

Isn't that great? Anyway, let me summarize the trip in brief here. I travelled upwards to KL via a bus and it took me around 6 hours to reach KL. Usually it will take shorter than that but due to the traffic jams that occured, the journey was extended to another hour. Once I reached KL, I rang my friends up. One of them happened to work in Exonmobil which is actually just across KLCC Twin Towers, Malaysia Tallest building and shopping centre. I will say that this one of Malaysia's prominent landmarks. I waited for him to finish work at 5.30pm and off we go for a dinner in one of the shops to eat noodles. This is the best thing about Malaysia. I can eat almost anything there without a worry. It is all Halal though I normally will not bother much about it while I am in Singapore. To me, as long as it there is no pork, the food is edible.

After our sumptious meal, I head on to my friend's place for a night before we fly to Sabah via a budget airline in the newest Low Cost Carrier Terminal, next to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. As with all budget airlines, the service is budgeted too. We have to queue up for almost an hour to check in. The seats in the plane are not catered for big size people like me. The food has to be bought and it is expensive and not worth it. The plane is undeniably scary at times especially when it hits a couple of turbulences on air - well this is normal for all planes when it comes to turbulence. Well, I shall not complain further as it is a budget airline.

We touched down in Kota Kinabalu and I booked reservations for a three day stay in Hyatt Regency which is situated right in front of the sea. I manage to get upgraded to a King Size bed due to lack or rooms at the time of my hotel check in. The room is perfect with a balcony, big living room and great facilities for me to choose if I decide to stay indoors. However, I stayed the firt two days in my friend's place which is in Tuaran, 30 minute drive from Kota Kinabalu. What an astounding experience when I came across a town which is very relaxed and stress-free. Imagine that there are no big shopping centres in Tuaran, just old shophouses. Flora and Fauna is abundant there. Practically, the entire Tuaran is covered with many trees and undeveloped lands. Cattles and many farm animals can be seen wildly roaming around the villages. My friend told me that the cows managed to outwit the farmers by opening up the fence and it decides to roam around freely by the road side. Imagine this, sometimes when we drive we have to wait a cow to move along to the other side of the road. This is funny. I will make funny sounds to the cow with my friend horning it with his van and the cow will slowly take his time mooing and moving across the road. The best part it will leave behind its fertilizer in the middle of the road. I told myself, this is back to nature for me. :-)

I met my friend's mother who was an ex-teacher and we chat about everything. The two days in Tuaran was so comfortable and stress-free that time passes so slow. We went to all the resorts to take pictures and I manage to take a picture of Mount. Kinabalu from the road. I decided to have a return trip with a couple of friends in future to trek the mountain as the trip up to the mountain will require at least four people and plus, it is a four day trip. Well, I shall take a pass for now thinking of the stamina, courage, persistence and patience I need to have before I make my move up. That requires planning and simply not on an abrupt manner indeed.

In fact, if I want to talk about wanting to be close to nature, I am already surrounded by them. My friend brought me to view the countryside of Sabah, and mind you, the humidity level was extremely hot. I was perspiring constantly while I was in the van. The air-conditioning in the van was spoilt. Imagine that. No complaints still as it was a free ride. Oh yeah, the food in Sabah was delightful and fulfilling. The sabahan tradition is that all food there must be tag along with soups. Well, you can imagine all the different soups that I tasted when I ate my lunch and dinner there. I have also learnt that my friend is a Kadazan, a Sabahan native tribe and I noticed that most local natives in Sabahan has disctinctive features almost similar to any other natives found in South America and so forth. They are indeed good looking people. There is something in their face that glitters away when we look at them. Isn't that interesting?

Shopping in Sabah was exciting. Imagine the costs of items in Kota Kinabalu is half lesser than the price in Kuala Lumpur. Being a Singaporean, I go beserk with the idea. I ended up shopping like a crazy maniac. that is our dollar currency is 2.33 times as compared to one ringgit. Hmm..that is a good feeling to shop. Everything else in Sabah is cheap. The entire trip was so relaxed that I don really bother about my next plan or destination when I finally checked in the hotel two days later. I went swimming by the pool, sun tanning, walking around Kota Kinabalu to try various foods and deserts, shopping little things in the Filipino Market( An arts and crafts market filled with Fillipinos from Mindanao, drinking and watching cable. I've met a couple of beautiful Sabahans ladies and we chat and do many things. :-)

That is life. I almost forget that I have school to attend to when I return home. Hey, that will only be by 10th January 2006. I still have more than a month to enjoy at home. I am practically so in peace now, that I can do anything. Perhaps I should go and travel further next week. Let me see my budget anyway.

Well, we returned to KL on the 4th December and the next day, I make my way back to Singapore by bus. The whole trip was awesome. My friends in KL brought me to best dining places which are so cheap when I returned from Sabah to KL. I almost feel like staying there for a couple of days but I remembered on my commitments back home. It was indeed a mind soothing trip for me which I wanted. I managed to get it at last.

A Thumbs Up Musical Show

I remembered clearly about my interest in seeing the musical of Puteri Gunung Ledang in the esplanade, not too long ago. Indeed, I managed to achieve that last Friday, when I witness the first, Malaysian or rather, Malay Musical Show in the esplanade theater in Singapore.

The first thing you may wonder is that this show would probably be a failure as we never had a real good musical show for the Malay Industry. I was mistaken. I knew the Puteri Gunung Ledang show and I have always been a fan of the legendary Malay Warrior Hang Tuah since I was a child. You can definitely imagine, my enlarged concentration on the musical as I want to see whether the organizers had managed to transform it to a theatrical performance or not.

I am not a good commentor or a critic on the show itself but I will try my best in summarizing what I had observed last Friday during the musical. It all started with the Majapahit (ancient Javanese Kingdom in the current, Indonesian region) empire who have been weakened by the spread of Islam from the other states. Majapahit Kingdom is the only state with the influences of olden Hindu traditions of the past that was brought over by the ancient people from India. It's nation at that era, was one of the strongest nation in comparison with the Malaccan Sultanate (in the current Malaysian region) and other influencial states of Java who have chosen Islam as it's rightful religion through conquest by Prince Demak, (another legendary Prince in Java) at that century.

The Majapahit Ruler was pressured to call upon his best friend who is the Sultan of Malacca for further assistance against the penetration of Prince Demak's forces into his kingdom. Being a loyal friend to the Majapahit, Sultan Mahmud Shah, the sultan of Malacca, agreed to give him a helping hang by sending in Hang Tuah, his greatest admiral and warrior and his men to face Prince Demak for a truce, in hope that Prince Demak will avoid invading Majapahit. In conjunction to that, Sultan Mahmud, just want to marry the Princess of Majapahit, Princess Raden, the sister to the current Majapahit Ruler. Being forced to do something for his government, the Majapahit ruler agreed to his friend's wishes.

Evidently, Princess Raden, decided that it was not her best interest to marry the Sultan Of Malacca as she had fallen in love with Hang Tuah, when the Malaccan delegation visited Majapahit beforehand. She decided to threw off her position as Princess and become a commoner and travelled to Mount Ledang in Malacca to follow the oath that she made with Hang Tuah, in reuniting their forbidden love between them. Apparently, the love story was further dwindled in the demands of the Sultan Of Malacca. He instructed Hang Tuah himself, a loyal servant of his king, to personally meet the Majapahit Princess on the top of Mount Ledang where she is currently residing by herself, to ask for her hand on behalf of the Sultan himself.

Now, Hang Tuah is in confusion. He had to choose either the demands of his heart or his loyal obligations to his King and he made a mistake by choosing the latter. He visited the Princess and the princess was delighted at first, upon thinking that their forbidden love was reunited. To her dismay, she was only acknowledged by the Sultan's wishes which was personally given by Hang Tuah. Failing to understand why Hang Tuah had to do that in replacement of their love, she accepted it with 7 pre-conditions demands by which the last condition was to have a bowl of his current son's blood.

Of course, this was about to be fulfilled by the wicked Sultan of Malacca when the Princess Gunung Ledang, came into the palace and confronted the Sultan's on his estranged desires. She was actually giving him the signs of her refusal of the acceptance of the marriage. The Sultan was furious as he was belittled by a commoner. She was asked to leave the Malaccan empire but she requested to stay at the peak of Mount. Ledang and the Sultan agreed to let her reside there. However, he cursed her using his royal blood to the country, to be forbidden from going anywhere besides there and be completely invisible by sight by the naked eye from dusk to dawn. If she were to reveal herself to any humankind, the person's eye will bleed to death.

Her curse still lingers on till this very day. In the musical, Hang Tuah, who was in agony for making the mistake of abandoning his love for the princess, ran away and meet up with the Princess in Mount. Ledang who is currently waiting to meet him there. However, many historians said that Hang Tuah just vanished from sight ever since that day. His grave was never found.

This forbidden love legend was reinstated with colours, music and atmosphere of that era. It was perfectly done to unite the love between a Majapahit Princess and Hang Tuah, the Legendary Malay warrior. I was fascinated by the songs and the show's choreography that I realized that this musical is comparable to the broadway shows in New York. A truly remarkable display of the Malay Legend. Kudos to the team for a very extraordinary musical of the Puteri Gunung Ledang story. Thumbs Up!

Examinations are over!

The coolest things about examinations are that you actually look forward for the things you missed doing. I missed going to the movies, hanging out in cafes around Singapore, shopping and socializing. Of course, nothing beats than going for a holiday. I just rang my KL friends last week and they are so excited in meeting up with me.

Definitely this time, it is not only to Kuala Lumpur but from there, we will be flying off to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, where I will get to meet nature. What is so interesting about this trip is that, I will be able to be with to another place which I have not been to. I will have the chance to do mountain trekking in Mount. Kinabalu, one of the highest mountain in southeast asia, go to Sepilok to visit the Orang Utan Sanctuary(this will be interesting), visit the Monsopiad Cultural Village to experience Kadazan culture through activities such as cultural dances or even a chance to use a blow-pipe and many more. These are the things that I have never experienced before. If people from around the world, takes the initiative or interest to travel all the way to places in Southeast Asia, why shouldn't I do the same thing? Well, I have the opportunity to do so now.

I truly deserve this break and the best thing to have a fresh start is to travel. Why not? I have one and a half months break for the school holidays. However, my last examination was horrendous and horrific as most of the cohort did not complete the examination paper on time. The mathematics paper was the toughest as compared to the previous years. Oh well, I shall think about that when my results come out this middle of December. Till than, it is party time.

The fun starts tommorow with the visit to the Puteri Gunung Ledang, the musical show in the esplanade. I have been waiting for this theatre show for a long time. It is time to let my hair down. Cheers, Max!

What am I thinking about?

I was thinking a lot during these past few weeks. It is regarding the long break that I will tend to have after my exams. Why not? It is going to be one and half months of break. That is a long time for me to rest and relax.

Of course, the question is where will I be during these holiday break? Shall I travel to an unknown place like the middle east for instance which I have not gone throughout my life or shall I just stay in the country and enjoy the break? That is something I will leave it to fate when it arrives soon after 25th November when my school closes for the holiday.

However, as I was thinking now, my mind is thinking about Mathematics Test which is due this Wednesday. Today, I visited my colleague whom had a baby girl born last two weeks. The baby girl is so red and she look so pure. It is this kind of feeling that I will always think about myself that babies are always born without sins and they have long life ahead of them. We share my friend's happiness when we visited his house. He is indeed very happy with his wife.

Now, as I was saying beforehand, here I am thinking about the destination that I will embark on this coming holiday, others are going through a lot more thinking that me.

These are the list. As I am thinking,

• my colleague is thinking of getting a break from his new commitment of getting a newborn,
• my other colleague is thinking of getting enough money to get engage and get married,
• Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are tieing the knot - Marriage thoughts,
• President Bush had just left Singapore and is heading down to the Apec Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam - He surely has a lot to think about,
• The Palestinians are thinking on how to survive for their next few months while they are being oppressed by u know who.The Iraqis and Afghans, are thinking on how to survive in their occupied country,
• The fight in Darfur, the black moslems there are trying to survive from being killed by u know who,
• Singaporeans are thinking about the new GST hike of 7% coming soon,
• The Americans,are thinking on their new future with the Democrats winning a majority seats in the Congress,
• The Malaysians,are thinking on when will the dispute between the former prime minister and the current prime minister will end,
• Indian and Pakistanis are thinking whether they will ever see a nuclear war between them when they keep seeing new nuke tests being carried out by either side.
• South Koreans and Japanese people are thinking of whether there will be an attack by North Korean's nukes,
• The Kyoto Countries members are figuring out on how to cut carbon emmission,
• The Thais are thinking on when will their martial law ends,
• and many other people in the world are thinking on other major issues.

Now, does all these other issues in the world, play a part in my decision? No, indeed not. It is just to show me how small my problem is as compared to other people faced in the world. So, what am I thinking about? Sigh..

An Immoral Behavior

As I was studying today, I happen to notice something peculiar that is going on downstairs through my window. I saw a person peeing by the side of a tree. Now that is not a good view to see especially when you are stressed up with studying.

Apparently, the old man is having his "personal" time in dealing with his personal needs with the public. I take that as an offence. However, we got to look at it this way. Perhaps the old man is senile or could he just be immorally unconscious of his character and the people around him? I think in any situation, if there are any urgencies of any nature's call by a person, he or she should try to withstand the need and quickly look for the nearest toilet. We are mature adults and not children after all right?

The actions of the old man is actually of illegal and not allowed according to the law as it may offend people due to the nudity behaviours. This is simply absurd and requires discipline by the police. Well, in any case, I cannot do anything either as I on the 6th Level of my flat.

If I were to ever encounter such a ludicrous act again, I will definitely tell him off or shove him away. That is the funny thing. I thought we are all civilised. What ever happen to that when we come across such incidents?

Oh well, let me return to my studying for science. I wonder whether I can find out any logic from that experience I had in relations to science. Haha, apparently not!

The first blog on email

Here is my first blog using email. If this works, I believe, I can blog anywhere I want. Isn’t technology cool?

Step Up to an Inconvenient Truth

Yes, instead of studying, I had been watching two movies straight in a row this week. I have two days left before my science test. I really have to do something about it. I have to remove my "slackers" attitude so as to get flying colours for my Test.

Oh well, I wil figure out something when I start to panic tonight. As for the two movies, Step Up and and The Inconvenient Truth - Global Warming. The best thing about these two movies is that it states the necessity for us to acquire knowledge before doing something in life.


Step-Up is a movie dedicated to the learning of Hip Hop and Ballet. This movie
It always facinates me to see people who knows how to dance well. Whether it is Hip Hop, Retro, House Music, Rnb or Salsa/Merengue, it is all about the rythm. If a person can move to the groove of a music, the person knows music. That is my perception of it. I can say that this movie is a purely dance movie. There are not much of a plot to look forward to. Just sit back and enjoy the way they dance. It is cool to see them combine the two dance steps of ballet and Hip Hop.

As for the second show, The Incredible Truth, I was so indulged in this show that I thought I just went to another lecture in the school. This is purely an educational show about Global Warming. It is presented by Al-Gore and he is trying to educate the whole worth about the real truth of the causes of Global Warming and where our planet earth is heading to in the next coming years. It is interesting to know that with our modern comforts of technology and machines, we are slowly heating up the world and that explains why recently we are experiencing a sudden rise in the heat of the sun. The carbon dioxide seems to double recently and the greenhouse effects are trapping the heat that comes from the sun onto earth. There are many more of this. The hurricanes and tornados have increased. The sea level is rising. Drought is occuring on another part of the world. Certain animals are near to extinction. The North and South Pole Ice boulders are melting away leaving to a stop in the current of heat and cold climate in the world gradually.

In simple terms, we can see the landscapes of certain countries, being minimized by the influx of sea water to their lands. Some countries will even disappear from the world. Like the movie mentioned, the world map will be redrawn in the future due to global warming. Europe will encounter another Ice Age. Certain Insects will double. Mother Nature will have to submit to the force of will of the Global Warming.

I was enthralled to see these explanations from Al-Gore in the movie. His speech is really fulfilling and sensible. However, one question that I will like to ask him, if I have ever had the chance in future. The question will be, " How can human beings revert back to our old ways of life, 50 years ago, when the technology had tremendously given us the convenience of life in this rapid globalization world? In short, can we stop using our cars, air-condition, sprays, prevent cutting down trees? Recycle paper and water? Stop the emission of toxic gases or unwanted gases? Stop dumping waste to the lakes? It's not as easy as A,B,C

Some of these points are already being practiced in certain countries. In fact most countries in the world are adhering to the ' Kyoto Treaty except for America. Isn't that surprising?


' The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to signatory nations.

' WIkipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol



Oh well, I can think about this later. I think I better wake up and start studying for science. Till than, do your part to save our planet earth. And, start dancing. :-)

Studying at home - Its impossible!

Well..it seems that I have a lot of free time today. Actually, I am forcing myself to write something as I am feeling so lazy to study. I was browsing through some of my science notes and I realized that I am not learning anything.

So, I guess, school is the only place that I can really study for my exams. Now, what makes my room not a conducive place to study. Let me list it down here,

• I got an entertainment system in my room plugged with HBO and other CABLE movies.
• I got a desktop pc connected to a broadband internet.
• I got a comfortable bed which has a mattress designed to protect my backbone from having muscle joints pains.
• I got tonnes of DVD to watch
• I have an MP3 player with another set of speakers for me to listen to my favourite songs.
• I have a collection of Computer Games which I can choose to play for hours.
• I can smoke freely in my room.

Now..with these distractions, how shall I study conveniently? So, from tommorow onwards, school is my chosen place to study and scream, though I cannot smoke in school. Sigh..I will figure something out for that. Ok...that should be all for now..I am going to watch Shark's Tale and try to study something.

Adios, Amigos.

Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical

Yes, the picture speaks for itself. I have always been a fan of this movie, Puteri Gunung Ledang. It has finally been made into a broadway show or a theatre show in esplanade. (www.esplanade.com)

I have just bought some tickets to watch this first created Malay epic theatre in the esplanade and I have never been to the esplanade itself ever since it was created in Singapore.

The thing I have always liked about this show is the bondage of love between the magical Mount. Ledang Princess and the legendary Malay Warrior, Hang Tuah. I have always admired the Javanese culture and had long to learn on how its traditions are based upon. Of course, I am from the origins of the Javanese people with a little mix of Arabic from my mother side.

The Javanese culture is so unique that when a javanese dancer dances on the floor in front of you, you will be mesmerized by the beauty of a Javanese Woman. The peace and tranquility by the dance will always fascinate me and provide me with happiness.

Perhaps I have it in my blood of a Javanese inheritance culture. Perhaps I am so moved by the innocence of the movie Puteri Gunung Ledang, that I am curious to know more of this tradition. I am intrigued by the ambience of its mystified presence and its dance movements which are so pleasant and soft.

Maybe one day I will get to know more of my original roots. It can be quite an interesting voyage to find my late great ancestors lives and they most probably came from Indonesia.
In fact, only two days ago, while I was doing my mathematics tutorials, I came across this Javanese Lady who happen to talk to the school's janitor in Javanese Language. At first, I thought that they were talking in Malay Language but I was surprised to know that they were speaking in Javanese and it sounded so sweet and perfect.

Maybe I should go to Indonesia this coming December holidays to find my roots back there. Maybe also, I will be able to find my true destination or purpose in life as they say that the past is always the beginning of everything.

Well, till 24th November arrives, I will have to put all these aside for my exams to finish. At least, I have something to look foward to after my exams.

The Perfect Dream

It had been an exhausting week as today marks the end of my Maths Quizzes before my final Maths examination which will take place in the next fortnight. On the other hand, a classmate of mine had just turned into a new dad of the year as his wife had delivered his child yesterday.

Whenever such glorious events happen in someone's life, I will always feel very happy for them. Why not? That only shows their blessed life of being able to continue their next generation after years of loving each other as a couple. It seems to be the logical way of living any life in this world to most people.

The issue that I will think about is about myself being in that situation when the time comes. Now, as someone that will turn into 33 soon, I wonder whether the thought of me waiting with my future wife in a delivery room in a hospital will ever come into reality. Can I visualize myself waiting by my wife's side and seeing her in pain and agony of giving birth? What will the vision of myself be when I receive my first newborn out of my own flesh and blood?

The feeling of satisfaction? The feeling of complete? The feeling of love that will finally flourished into another human being brought into this world? I do not know. I have yet to find my love to know how is it like. Yes. I know. Who will that be? Hasn't Max been out of love for a long time since the break up of my engagement? The search for the new love has now turned into something that is dependant on fate. What is my next dream than?

Well, as the quote goes, " If you cannot get what you want in life, you should help others get what they want in life." The purpose of my life is yet to be determined. Only God knows that, it is like a perfect dream that is circling in my mind. To be realistic, the perfect dream seem to be fading away as I aged further. When I walked everyday with my disappointment on my love life eversince, I will often ponder on how to assist someone in their live so as to complete my lonely life. I guess that is why I decide to swap my engineering career into teaching. The will to inspire someone to be the best in their life when I have yet to accomplish mine is fulfilling and enriching to myself.

Well, I gave my congratulations to my classmate, who has turned into a father. I sometime wonder whether he is liking it or not. Well, that is neither my concern nor my prerogative to question that. As for me, if that perfect dream ever come to me in this life of Max Muchacho, I will be praising Allah forever for granting me that luxury of love.

One Down, Two More To Go!

Well, today is my English Examination for my first semester in NIE and I can tell you I can actually think and visualize nouns and verbs in my head! I had been studying ever since last Friday and I just realize that I love learning the English Language.

I can say I should be able to do not too bad for my examination today but nothing is for sure until I got the results. It is now in the hands of fate. What can I say about the coming examinations? It sucks!

Ok, as for science, I have to do a lot of reading in preparation for the test next Friday, 17/11/2006. Before I can do the revision for science, I have my last Mathematics Quiz this friday which is 10% out of my other 3 quizzes which I did not fare well. That is not all. I have yet my final dreaded exam which is this coming Mathematics Examination on the 22nd November.

I guess for these coming two weeks, my life is going to be merely, books and papers. Hey, that is not too bad at all, thinking that I have at least one and a half months of holiday break this coming November 23 onwards. At least, I have something to look forward too for some life.

Well, wish me luck. I can foresee a lot of my classmates getting stress over these few weeks. Adios.

Post Salam Lebaran

Ok. How did it go for my syawal today? It went good so far. I happen to manage to do some visiting to my relative house this year. Surprisingly, for this year, I visited the most number of houses as compared to last year. This is the year where I am packed with many assignments and examinations but somehow the blessed month of Syawal enable me to enrich the spirit of Raya with my family members and friends.

Of course, out of many happiness and excitement, I do face some issues with some people during my preparation before Raya. For example, my younger brother refuse to assist the house chores when Raya arrived last week. In the end, instead of him helping me, I am involved in doing all the house work by myself. This is the problem with chores, it is simple to me. If anyone who is staying with you, refuses to do it, by all means necessary, do not do it. There is no point of seeing a half done job when there is no sincerity in it. It only makes the other worker feel irritated by seeing it.

Well, actually, this is the first year where, my younger brother opens up and tries to establish the brotherhood relationship with me. It has been like 30 over years since he ever did something to rekindle the brotherhood.The first time when he messaged me that he want to know more about me, I was astonished but wary as all our lives, we have never been closed. I had an adviced from Zul whom mentioned to me to be careful when comes to talking to siblings who are not closed to me.

I was skeptical but in the end, I believed him. Why? That is because I realized that my elder brother was the one who wanted to reunite with him. Hmm. To cut the story short, my elder brother and myself once, ever quarrelled with him on matters pertaining to his decision to run away from the house recently. Imagine, the separation we had when he ran away and our hatred towards him when he ignored our parents at that time.

Time change,my younger brother came back. My elder brother of course behind my back tried to maintain contact with him except me. I was lost in delusions to know this. However, it turns out that the truth had to be revealed. He talked to my younger brother and eventually he encourages me to talk to him which I did.

Well, I was so happy to know that our brotherhood strengthened when Raya approaches. I was disappointed to know that my younger brother's character and selfish attitude remains the same still though he tried to talk to me. I realized what Zul mentioned to me is true. There is no doubt that there are a lot more for my younger brother to do when he wants to re-establish his sincerity in my brotherhood with him.

It is easy to forgive but it is not easy to forget. I have my closed buddies with me. It is the idea of relinquishing the intentions of my brother that saddens me. After finding out that my elder brother's relations with my younger brother that make me put aside again, makes me open up my wings to my close buddies instead of family. Of course, parents are my top priorities now. However, despite that fact, my relations with my brother is in a state of a deadlock, I shall just maintain the momentum but shall not go further than that.

I have my closed buddies still. That is all I need for now.

Salam Lebaran - Eid Mubaraks

Salam Aidilfitri to all Muslims in the world. In a short while, during dawn, it will mark the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Syawal, the starting of Eid Celebrations for Muslims. This event is an annual event whereby Muslims around the world will celebrate their commitment to fasting successfully for 30 days and celebrate with new clothes and visiting one another to strengthen their ties.

In Southeast Asia, mainly, Malaysia,Indonesia,Singapore and Brunei, this festive day is celebrated joyously with colours, food and tradition. The malay baju Melayu or the traditional Malay clothing for men and the baju kebaya or Kurung for the Malay Ladies will be worn throughout their visiting to families and friends. The difference here is the Malay Tradition encourages forgiveness from one another and this is widely encouraged from all walks of life so as to forget the fast and forgive the mistakes done by one another and be closer than before.

Now, if this spirit of enemies becoming brothers and forgiving is currently being practiced by us here, wouldn't you call this the month of Love and Happiness?

It's Syawal and it will mean a lot to those who have fasted for 30 days. I do not understand when peple will say that they have difficulties in fasting for 30 days especially when children as young as 7 years old who have not reached puberty, are currently doing so. Well, its up to them and its between them and Allah.

Anyway, in a few hours time, Ramadan will move along. I love Ramadan and I hope that I will be able to see you again next year. May Allah bless us all. Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin.

The Love Birds That Have Gone Astray..

It was just a few days ago when my classmate, Faz and I were doing our project in school. Both of us are fasting and I cannnot tell you how much I love this month. It brings me peace and happiness. In fact, I can never be angry during this month as I feel calm and relax.

How I wish I can have this month of Ramadan forever. It will indeed brighten up my life always. Well, back to the story, both of us are on our way to the computer lab in the library. Suddenly we bumped into these Muslim couple in the lift. The lady is using a veil, a Muslim Lady's headgear and the Man was holding her hand firmly.

This is a normal scene in my school. There are so many lovebirds going around every now and than. However, what we are concerned is that, this couple refuse to respect Ramadan. They are not only always to themselves and anti-social but, they gladly and freely kiss in front of us on their cheeks. Haha. A veiled woman kissing her boyfriend on the cheeks. Hmm. Hey, what happen? Why are you disrespecting Ramadan? Plus, i do not care if this couple to have sex but what angers me is that they are not in their greatest goodwill attitude in this month of Ramdan.

Let me get this straight. I have nothing against Muslim Ladies wearing Veil. I believe most of them look sweet and humble in it. On the contrary, we will not even see this as a threat to our daily progressive lives. One thing for sure, I have always had high expectations for veiled ladies to behave in public as they represent icons of Islam itself. If one is not to behave accordingly or appropriately in public, it will be a mediocre.

Well, like i said to Faz, let them answer to God directly. We shall mind our own business and concentrate on our projects and examinations. The more we try to be Superman, we will end becoming Strained Man.

Have a great Ramadan and Syawal Celebrations. It's 3 days to countdown.

An Overly Expressive Individual

Yes, the title speaks for it. In this glorious month of Ramadan, I never thought that I can be tested so much on faith as I continue my daily fasting. Ok, here is a little story touching on my school life.

We are all tasked to create a Student Centred Learning package using Info-Communications Technology. We are divided into pair groups and were asked to implement such a package within a month's time.

The funny thing about this is that, my group had decided to finish this project asap and we manage to do that quickly during our one week holiday break last two weeks. Last Monday, we are all asked to post some ideas of our proposals up to our class forum so that we can receive constructive feedback by others to improve on.

Thats the funny part. We decided to ask some of our good classmates whom we are familiar with to comment on our project and vice versa. What we get is an abhorrent remarks degrading our project's motives. We were appalled at his remarks. To make the matter worse, his comments are so unprofessional and unconstructive and immature that I feel like giving him a tight slap.

This is not because that I cannot take criticisms well but there's no basis to his arguments on the forum. A quote from his remarks is where he mentioned that peer assesment cannot be done by Primary 3 students whom are still immature and naive. Sigh. Apparently, this statement shows how inexperienced of him to judge our project and worse condemning the capabilities of primary 3 students. Another quote was when he said that I need to improve on my snapshot of our package as it is not easy to be viewed. He is darn wrong in this. He is mistaken on the software used for the project. I feel like hitting his head with water to wake up his bloody mind. The reason is, the information that we uploaded into the forum clearly depicts our snapshot idea of the package. It does not entirely mean that it is our package. It can be a form of a webpage or flowchart. This is where I believe that without Information Technology knowledge, people will be against IT development in many ways. What happen here is that, he tried to unzip the file and run the programme from winzip itself. Oh my god, how pathetic that can be. He was supposed to extract the whole damn thing onto a folder in a pc and view the index.html file.

I feel so irritated with these people. Especially those students who thought that they know everything but they refuse to admit that they are confused and dumb about it. The frustrating part about this is that, he is our good friend in class and he sabotaged us by making his jealousy of our completed package, public to all.

Now, maybe this is a norm for all in school but I take this wholeheartedly and how do I prove him wrong? Definitely by showcasing them my final product on the day of presentation.

Stupid, young, naive and pathetic brat! I am fasting.

Ramadan's Celebration into Syawal

It has been more than two weeks ever since we fast together as Moslems worldwide. Celebrations of Ramadan can be clearly seen from places all around the world. This is indeed an exceptional thing for Singaporeans as we often welcome Ramadan with tremendous joy and faith always.

Geylang Serai has always been lighted up with coloourful decorations and grand bazaars to cater for the local Moslems to prepare their home with various food for breaking their fast, shopping in lieu of the coming Syawal Festive and so forth.

It is a time whereby many Moslems in Singapore or rather the whole Singaporean community to come together and enjoy the many delights and shopping items for them to purchase as a family.
I can say that many old friends met again during their visit here. It is like the only way where you can restore your ties amongst lost friends from the past.

Well, how can I say about Geylang Serai? It is a lighted up place annually for Ramadan which will always be the heart of every Singapore's community destination. There are other bazaars in other part of Singapore but i assure you it can never beat the grand and traditional feelings of Geylang Serai Bazaar.

Many of us will say that this is Malay Village Of Singaporeans. The older generations will say that this is the place whereby the roots of the local Malays can be found and thus that is why it is one of the oldest popular local and foreign hotspot.
Yesterday, I had bought my new Baju Melayu (Traditional Malay Clothing for Men) at this bazaar yesterday for fifty dollars. I think it is affordable for now. Well, of course it is always been like that for me as I will always purchase a new Baju Melayu every three years. Therefore, you can imagine the number of Baju Melayu I had in my wardrobe.

As all the years for Ramadan, I think this is a special year for me as i will be studying and doing assignments during the whole of Ramadan. To add things worse, I will be celebrating Syawal with examinations this year as a Trainee Teacher. It had been that long since I touched books for examinations!

However, I am bound to sacrifice the eve of Raya and Raya itself for my own happiness. This means there shall be no books on these two days before the battle started.

It's a week more to Syawal. Ramadan, is nearly over. For some, it is going to be very depressing to see Ramadan go away. I know I will. It is a month of peace and happiness.

A Husband In Dire Need Of Help

Well, what happen, Max? I happen to meet a very close friend's husband who is in a crisis in their relationship. That is the problem, I am always the person for them to look for when they face their marital issues.

I have to meet him up as he needs a man to man talk about his wife whom I had known for over a decade even before he marries her. I often end up in a situation like this. I always wanted to avoid such trivial matters but how can I do that when they happen to be my close friends?

Do you know the meaning of love? Is it to care for someone and to tell everything you know to the person? Is that part of love? If that is, is love real after all? Ironic, as this always happen to me. Is it our failure to love or our disatisfaction with our needs that disappoint our way of life?
As for my life, I have yet to see that.

Well, back to the story, I met him and we discuss about his marital issues. I told him many times, that I am not the right person to discuss with as I am not a married person but he declines that opinion. He told me that the only person that can change his wife's opinion on not divorcing him is myself. I was astonished! Yes, the wife has been a very close friend of mine for a long time. Why did he say that way to me than? I mean for six years of marriage, does this mean anything to the both of them? You see, the wife asked for a divorce.

The reasons? It is the normal stuff such as the husband's infidelity, debts and the unsatisfaction of life but, what does that have to do with me? He is like begging me to make me talk to the wife to change her mind, to give him the last chance so that he will change for the better.

Oh my god... These people are so pathetic. I , being the humble and nice person, lent him a ear to listen, give him some tips on how to handle her wife...or sad love life but in the end, both of us know that she does not love him anymore.

Now, do you really expect me to worship the concept of marriage? I simply am totally against it.

Deranged Person On The Train

Have you ever been so bored travelling on the bus or train or even while driving on a car that you realized that you need to have some music tuned in to the highest volume and had fun listening to it?

That was my feeling recently as I had a touch week of assignments and quizzes. Let me enlighten you with some typical visions in the morning on the train. People finding or rushing for seats every time, people sleeping comfortable on their seats ignoring everyone until their station arrives, people listening to mp3 players loudly, people standing with frowning faces looking for places to seat in a crowder train ride and people who are wide awake and simply love reading something.

I belong to almost all of these categories of people in the train. However, mostly, I will end up listening to my Ipod Nano and fly my way into a world of music and dance. Why not? It is a bloody one and a half hour journey to NIE. I need entertainment to cheer me up.

The best part happened to me last Friday. While I was having fun listening to my Ipod Nano, a stranger next to me stood up and give me a slap on my shoulder and start showing me his index fingers going all around his left ear. Now, at that spur of the moment, I felt surprised by his reaction. I thought he is referring to some horrible spider up on my right should and so I brushed my shoulder off but nothing was found. That's weird. What is he up to? The next possible reason will be that he is trying to tell me that he is crazy or he could just be disturbed by my loud Ipod Nano music. Well, for whatever he reasons, he left the station, leaving me smiling and shaking my head repetitively. Why me? There are other people on the train listening to loud music on their mp3 player. Why did he choose me? And that question shall linger on....Isnt that strange?

Is it me or am I giving up hope

I have never felt so calm and peaceful in any other months as in Ramadan. I mean, this month itself has told me to do a lot of soul searching to my life. It is a feeling to relinquish all evil or bad habits and embrace good habits or deeds. It is never felt in other time of the year and trust me, it is one of the most joyous and spiritual time for me.

I felt that sometimes, I face problems in understanding my lessons. Oh yeah, for the benefit of you who have yet to know me, I came from another blog, and had moved on to start writing about things which I have kept hidden before. I am now studying to be a trained teacher in NIE. I am faced with many subjects to learn and this has been one of the difficult times of my careers.

Why is it so? It is because, it has been 16 years since I touched Mathematics, be it, Grammar and Science. I am going to teach in the primary school in the near future. However, I thought wrong about learning primary school subjects in NIE. We are left with acquisition of knowledge of the deeper understanding of the primary school subjects. Let me tell you one thing though. It is tough. The momentum of getting to recall all my basic foundation of education has brought me into a pandemonium.

I was feeling rather upset recently as I find it hard to cope with the strenuous tutorials and lectures but it turns out to be a fantastic thing when I realise that I can actually progress better in understanding the lessons. I guess it comes from my passion to teach.

Yeah yeah, i know. The common reasons most people will say about joining teacher are most likely to be of their passion to teach, the love and joy of handling kids and so forth. On the contrary, I think, it is more to that. I ever heard from a senior teacher telling me one thing about being in this industry of educators. It is the passion of teaching the kids, loving the school, loving the parents and the ever after desire to do your best in becoming an inspirational person to someone. I guess it somehow makes sense to me than any other people joining this career as all my life, I have always wanted to help people in their studies and be the example of how students can turn out to be what they want when they choose to be.

Kass, one of my good buddies, told me the other day about his passion to teach. He has always wanted to teach and now he is currently studying in the National University Of Singapore. Like most people, I believe that all of us has it within ourselves to be a Teacher. Is it just how much we decide about what we want to do in our lives.

Oh well, i got two years to complete the Diploma. I will love to pursue a degree in education but that depends on the situation at that time. Till than, I guess I am not giving up hope on life yet until I can make a difference in someone's life.

The Class Reunion Of 1989

Oh my goodness, I had met some of my old secondary friends yesterday. Apparently, one of them had came across my friendster account and he decided to give me a message there. We exchanged numbers and what happened next was a meet up with two of my oldest and closest friends.

It was a remarkable experience to see them, yesterday. In fact, I was rapturously excited to see the various changes that had occurred in our lives ever since we graduated from our GCE 'O' level and moved on. Now, of course, both of them, AZ and Mur had settled down and they are both fathers of three and two kids altogether. Now, all of them must be wondering about me still being single and so forth but fortunately that question did not come to our discussion yesterday and we practically talked about wonderful times of our teenage lives in school.

Indeed, they had changed into mature adults. Raj and Han was there with me too as it was coincidental that the meet up coincides with my appointment with them. Therefore, since Raj and Han was our junior in our secondary school, they are 11 years younger than me, I thought it could be a good thing to introduce them to my fellow schoolmates whom had progressed so much in their lives. It was a good experience for them too to witness this long due meeting and it was enriching for them to decide on what they will like to do when they start their first career.

Back to the topic of Az and Mur, we yalked on many things. We compare our knowledge on the many ex secondary school friends who have departed from our lives. It's weird as in the first place, I chose to run away from mixing around with them instead. they were astounded about my limited information of the old friends we used to them. I just smiled as hey, I moved on. We all have different perspectives on life now and I am just glad that the reunion made me happier than before. Why? I am glad that I am still single and I am not a father with many issues clogged with financial burden and stuffs. It kind of make me feel relieved that I can do anything I want right now and not bothered about it.

Anyway, they are all very happy and I am amazed and overjoyed to know that they had travelled frequently. One of them is a Project Engineer and the other is a System Engineer. I am also glad that I manage to tell them that I am mid-career swap employee of MOE, a trainee teacher. They were surprised but they were pleased too.

The meeting ended with us telling one another to remain in touch. It is an indeed a shocking moment for me.

The Exceptional Bachelor

I had a great discussion with SPG, a friend of mine who resides in New York on a career basis. I confesses to her that I need a miracle to happen to me from God, if I am ever destined to get married. Oh no, it is not a matter of me getting desperate to get married. That is so demeaning to the word, marriage itself.

I had seen and dated many ladies in my life and the outcome of all the countless searches, ended up in disappointment at last. Who does not want to get married? I want my own kids of my own. I have begun to realize that I am not destined for that yet. How does that happen? Could it be the issue of me being "picky" in my choice of girls? Not really. It never meant to happen to me yet. I had come to an age whereby I have gone beyond of searching for the right one.

In fact, being to strive for a better life had turned me into a stubborn headed, yet patient and cautious in any decision in my life. As what, my old hyppcrite friend, Dave, used to say that I am a person who lacks "People-Relationship Skills", he is totally ignorant on what he claims. I am not affected by. I am just compelled to say that he lacks it himself with his constant "wayang" or bluffing with actions, with his friends.

In all, I have put his friendship aside with no issues at all after I got to know that of his desperate views on life. Why should I mingle with people who flew around the world, cleaning toilets in the airplane as their career and get drawn to their beliefs and practices? It's sad of him.

Back to my story, the search for the right girl continues but with a little change to the objectives. Im no longer persistent in expecting all relationship to flourish. I will just let God decide now. Let Faith revive my will to explore Love.

To conclude, the very essence of all relationship, relies on the other party's willingness to commit and trust. At least, I rather think it that way, since I want them to love me more before I jumped into one.

The Singapore Idol - A Kudos Event.

I have always been an Idol Fan. In fact, to me, everyone in the world love to sing and appreciate music in life. Be it, the American Idol or The Singapore Idol, it has made me realize many things about life and that is to inspire another person.

We just had our Singapore Idol last Monday, 24th September. It seems to be another charade whereby two competitors of of local stars trying to fight for a record deal. It may seem to be a cliche to me but all went well as the performances in the Singapore Indoor Stadium turned uot to be extravagant.

There are many unworthy comments coming from youngsters that this seems to be a fight betwen a Malay man and a Chinese man but this is definitely not the case. How can that be when the truth is both of them can really sing? Apparently, when the Grand Finale arrives, the mature Singaporeans tend to look for quality rather than embarking on the required race to win. Its not a racial thing as it has rumored to be.

Hady and Jonathan both proves to be the Singaporean Idol when they sportingly showcase their talents in the drive to attract the voters island wide. Both of them did a spectacular show and in the end, there can only be one. Hady appeared to have 70 percent votes from around 1 million votes provided on the show.

Let me see here. Does that make Jonathan a looser or does that make Hady the winner? That is not the point at all. I believe it is none of the above as what really matter is that we, Singaporeans, want to see the best Singaporean to win. Jonathan is good in his own way and Hady is best in his talent. Is Hady equivalent to Taufik, the previous Singapore Idol Season 1? No, that just make it more exciting as they are all unique in their profession.



Last but not least, it was a splendid event that touched a lot of Singaporeans who have always believed in Singing. Especially for people like me, I always hope to be a good singer, though I know that is not possible. Shall we see such excellent young and new talents in the next Singapore Idol? I am not sure but hey, kudos to the winner. I am glad that I had enjoyed it.

Mi Amor Ramadan

Hi , I know it had been a long time since I write something. To start it off, it's the holy month of Ramadan again. I have always enjoyed and loved this month as it has never failed in bringing me peace and happiness all the time. Fasting has given Muslims or myself personally, a way to reflect and re-embark on a new journey to self cleansing of evil and ugly temptations of life. It is like getting another chance annually to improve myself to be a better person in life.

Let me see. Fasting requires Muslims to cease temporarily eating and drinking between dawn to dusk and refrain myself from all the misbehaviours that may deem inappropriate as a human being such as gossiping, lieing,fighting and many more. For those who have always been facing trauma in trying to lose weight, fasting will enable you to do so. Appetite for eating tends to be controlled in a reasonable way for us and in the end, you will tend to see some people losing weight after a month of fasting.

Honestly, non-Muslims will find this hard to follow but trust me, Fasting enlightens your spirit in a manner whereby, you learn to be patient, perservere, reconcile and relinquish any evil ideas or bad habits that you have all this time. It gives you the authority to deliberately accept goodwill and happiness.

Well, I hope the month of Ramadan, the month of Muslim Fasting, will not end that fast. I pray to God that we will all find blessings and wisdom in our path to sucess.

Ameen.

Olla - This is life..

Olla , this will be my first posting in my new blog. I got to move to blogspot in hope to be able to write without prejudice or reservation about my thoughts on certain people. Stay tune.