Avenue Odd

There are obvious merits about living with one's parents. Clean laundry, home-cooked meals and a fully stocked fridge, to name a few. But still, I feel a longing to leave and lead a life of my own.

I know I will miss the home-cooked meals, and clean laundry, the fully stocked fridge, breakfast in the morning and everything else, but something feels missing - direction.

It's not that one cannot have a direction in life just because he is living under the same roof as his parents, its just.. there are so many things that you just have to learn yourself, on your own, in your own crisis.

Celebrating so many 21st birthdays led me to thinking.. What is all this fanfare about "attaining adulthood" if you cannot cook your own meal? Wash your own laundry? Iron your own clothes? Live independently? Perhaps we have grown older in age, but have we truly matured? Are we truly wiser than a year ago?

I truly appreciate all that my family has done for me, and it is not out of any lack of love for them that I have such sentiments, but there is so much to learn, so much that you cannot learn under the shelter of unconditional love. It may sound condescending, but I sincerely do not want to burden them unnecessarily.

This longing to leave, is it a want for freedom?

*PICTURE WAS UPLOADED ON JANUARY 1,2006 BY CHAUSS513 ON FLICKR.COM.

 The experience of reading is one that is unique to the reader himself. Immersing in a world unknown, exploring ideas never thought up of before, or just reading for nostalgia, reading is, above all, a pleasure.

Reading a book, that is.

"There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away, nor any coursers like a page of prancing poetry."
-Emily Dickenson

Until recently, whenever we mention reading it has almost always been reading a book, but something has changed this. The electronic book reader. While it is not widely available globally, its use slowly but surely spread.

But what good is a book if it cannot be flipped, stacked on your living room table, or shelved away to collect some dust until you next pick it up and enjoy it again? Someone once said "A book is like a present you can open over and over again". True, that.

A book(or magazine) is more than just its literary content. Its colour, shape and even smell, makes it unique. What it tells of the reader is another attribute that the electronic book reader most definitely cannot replace. A man reading Hugo's Les Miserables looks to be a cultured one, the same man reading Hugo's Les Miserables on an electronic book reader looks (to me) more like a geek than anything else. (if he was reading a copy of Playboy, however, it is preferable that it be done on the electronic book reader, so I guess it does have some plus points.. but I digress.)

Books however small, have a sculptural presence and invariably become little islands of interest. The little mound of books stacked in the loo gives a certain insight into the thoughts and concerns of a person. What books are strewn about on the coffee table have the same effect - people notice books. Books, as any visitor to a civilised house knows, do furnish a room. Books never look untidy, even when piled in tumbling stacks.

Imagine taking a stroll about Harvard, and stumbling upon its massive library filled with books of all disciplines looming above. Impressive, isn't it? Now, replace the tomes with these electronic book readers.. They just do not have the same visual effect, especially if their batteries are long dead.

There is something luxurious, even sensual about the book that the electronic book reader can never attain. Antique tomes have a certain allure that appeals the senses and intellect. Don't know about you but in my case antique technology generally find their way into rubbish dumps (or recycling plants etc. what have you).

As long as Man has the need to narrate his knowledge, the book - the one that uses no batteries and are cheap to produce and can last for ages and ages - will transcend into immortality.

PICTURE TAKEN FROM FLICKR.COM. UPLOADED ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 BY Roberto69 

So a friend went out to buy cigarettes because he ran out. The only thought that came to mind was, isn't it such an expensive habit to keep up? His reply, no choice, I'm hooked.

Moving along that train of thought, it dawned upon me that (pardon me for thinking it along the line of economics here) no matter what governments do, they really do not want their people to stop smoking entirely. For one simple reason, it is such good business.

The rate at which our government taxes cigarettes is, in one word, exorbitant. The amount of premium a smoker has to pay should discourage him from smoking altogether.. right?

I'd say wrong. Smoking to most of these smokers is a lifestyle choice (is, has been, and probably always will be, for nicotine is a steadfast friend), and not quite a financial one. Think about it, some people have expensive hobbies that they are willing to dish out lots of cash to maintain. They set aside a certain amount just for it. As long as he is able to upkeep the hobby, he is fine with paying, simply because its part of his lifestyle.

With that in mind, the government can tax high amounts, and it is safe to say that the amount of smokers who stop smoking altogether would be proportionately smaller than the amount of money the government can raise from the tax from those who decide to just complain and keep smoking anyway - since it is a lifestyle choice.

Some would argue that tobacco tax is MORE to discourage smoking than to raise the earnings of the government.

I call bullshit on that. Completely. The statement in its entirety is false, I say. (I don't have a Ph.D, I haven't written any books, so yeah, you may choose to ignore me.)

Simply because there is just no substitute for cigarettes. If one decides to stop playing poker because its such a drain on the pocket, one may decide to do something else, perhaps play Old Maid with stakes. However, for cigarettes, its either smoke, or deal with withdrawal. Most would prefer the former, regardless of the price, simply because withdrawal is painful and our brains are hard-wired to veer away from pain, so making a conscious effort to go down the withdrawal path while the other path is available is most unthinkable.

Besides, it is raking in a very large sum of money each year for the governments. It is very profitable business. Had they simply wanted to stop society from smoking, it could simply make cigarettes another illegal narcotic, and send addicts to rehabilitation centers, that would be a much better deterrent than raising prices, wouldn't it? By raising taxes, what it says is, "smoking isn't wrong, its just expensive, so as long as you can pay, no worries mate!"

So keep smoking, it keeps the country's economy up. Also, smokers die earlier (tested and proven), and thus have less years to soak up taxpayers' money in healthcare and other benefits in their (less than usual) later years.

Nothing personal, its all good business.

Sidenote: Many researches have shown that men think women who smoke are sexier than their non-smoking counterparts. I'm starting to realise where that came from. If you'd only observe the way some ladies smoke, the cigarette is such a phallic symbol, and the whole mouth thing before the exhale.. I know where those researchers got that idea.. lol.

*THE PICTURE WAS UPLOADED ON OCTOBER 21, 2007 BY ArtWerk ON FLICKR.COM

DAMMIT. 5 HOURS TO BURN AND I LEFT MY iPOD AT HOME.

palmface.

PHOTO WAS TAKEN OFF FLICKR, ORIGINALLY UPLOADED BY TMink.

Yes, yes.. I know this is OLD and crummy. Evolution vs. Creationism aka Intelligent Design.

Evolution: From single cell organisms, creatures on earth took different evolutionary paths through processes of natural selection.It all began with the Big Bang. Extinction happens to species that "go down the path to a dead end". It all sounds very logical. Though one question remains, what caused the Big Bang(personally the burning question for me is: are we really all made of stardust?!??!)? Also, even if there is a scientific theory to that (there are many put forward by physicists and astrologers), how did such a process cause life?

Creationism aka Intelligent Design: A supreme being created each and every creature. It sounds like an "easy-way-out" for something that could not be explained by many early "thinkers". Point to note, in many holy scriptures that cite creationism and intelligent design, there are thousands of species of animals that are not mentioned. For example, in the Bible, there was no mention of a creature that resembles a Kangaroo, and yet, there they are getting run over on the expressways of Australia today! This can be attributed to geographical positioning. Since the author(s) of the Bible probably never got a chance to cross the ocean to reach the continent of Australia, they never got to record it and send it into Noah's Ark, but yet.. THERE THEY ARE! This is but one of the many flaws of the argument for Intelligent Design, and allows for rampant skeptism from the scientific field.

While thinking it through, it occurred to me that while evolution seems very logical to me, with all its digestible, tangible evidence; To a person who believes in a God and his supreme power, Creationism actually has logical, empirical evidence - God created us.

The Big Bang theory left me wondering though, so what caused the big bang?

So conclusion for me, an Intelligent Designer CREATED the highly Intelligent Big Bang that will then go on a process of evolution, and what we have now is only part of a timeline.

In short, God created the big bang 3 billion years ago and decided to take a vacation for 500billion years. Now that, my friends, is remarkably effective management.

Do drop a comment on your thoughts, I'm interested to know what others think of such a widely debated issue.

I'm very inclined to say one thing though, Science cannot answer everything. Ask a scientist why are leaves of plants green, and he will tell you that its pigmentation of chlorophyll that plants use in photosynthesis. That is a scientifically accurate answer that has empirical evidence, yet it does not answer the question of purpose or meaning. Purpose and meaning are probably the most elusive of all answers Man seek, answers that Science alone cannot provide. Never mind if God created us or we evolved our superior intelligence - our expansive mind that continually seeks answers is a tool, and Science(addressing quantitative and evident issues) and Spirituality(to address issues of purpose and meaning) merely means to an end(answers). However much they might conflict, they will co-exist. Forever.

*PICTURE WAS UPLOADED BY iuhoaix ON FLICKR.

Full Rankings and Details of the World Bank "Doing Business" report.

Adding to what is already a little treasure trove of accolades, Singapore has, for the third year running, clinched top spot for the Best Country to Do Business.

This year, reforms in two sectors - starting a business and dealing with construction permits - helped the city-state hold its place at number one.

Starting a business in Singapore can take as little as four days, thanks to vast improvements in the electronic business registration system.

Streamlined construction-permit application processes is the other major contributor to reaffirming its grip on the top spot. The entire process can be completed online, and in brief 38 days - that's the fastest time in the world for construction-permit application. Applicants can even choose to receive periodic E-mails or text messages that keeps them updated on the status of application.

While it might not be a common sentiment all Singaporeans, I sincerely do believe that what we have here in this city state is truly impressive and worth fighting for, if it comes to that.

To be sure, there are many issues that Singaporeans are not entirely euphoric about. Issues such as the Electronic-Road-Pricing schemes, rising costs of living (with no apparent rise in wages) and "losing out" to foreigners for jobs are prime examples.

Let it suffice to say though, that every nation has its own troubles. Looking at the world at large, the issues we have at hand immediately seem trivial. Zimbabwe has HIV problems, and is home to 11.3 million citizens of which an estimated 1.8 million are living with HIV. Their average life expectancy is 34 years for women and 37 years for men. Thailand is currently in political turmoil. Looming recession lurks the economies of the United States and Europe (and if history would be right, as it often proves itself to be, if they go into recession, it is unlikely that the impact will not be felt globally). Even the poles have the immediate concern of rising sea levels due to global warming.

While waiting for that hot coffee to arrive at your table, someone might have died of the heat that is characteristic of the climate recently, harvesting the very beans your coffee is being made from.

We take way too much for granted.

Found this video clip from CollegeHumour.. Its insane hilarious!

Imagine if your fonts were people.. What would they be like? Here's a fresh take on it..Granted, its a pretty old clip and some might have stumbled upon it before, but surely its worth another look!

Times New Roman is like the Boss
Arial Narrow is narrow-minded racist
Webdings is a loony!
and many more...

MAILBOX! OPENMAILBOX!

*note: Prior knowledge of how a font looks like will make it a hellalotta funnier!

So school's been in for a while for me now.. All's been fine and well and suitably boring. There is one thing though, that i just HAVE to grouse(some I adore, but heck, grouse seems more appropriate) about. There are "peacocks" who saunter about the lecture halls as if they hadn't a care in the world. Distracting.

*peacocks: people who just have to make a fashion statement, however good or bad. No reference to brain size here, mind you (go ahead, but dont tellem).

Specimen 1: Ankle-Covering Furry Boots. I could hear her feet choking from where I was seated...

Specimen 2:  Deep V-neck body hugging gown. Think.. Oscars, red carpet, limousine. Ladies, please, do not get me wrong, I am all for plunging necklines, and elegant gowns, but in SCHOOL?!?! You are hampering many hot blooded mens' feeble attempt to pay attention to that cleava.. er i mean.. lecturer. Not to mention the hurt you afflict upon the less well endowed.

Specimen 3: BIG FRIZZY HAIR. There are people who actually need to look at the big white sceen on which pictures and words are projected upon to learn. Please, get out of our faces. (Its pretty funny, the seat behind him is consistently left empty). If i ever am forced to sit behind him i shall make him balance the Guiness Book of World Records on his head just to keep the damn thing down.

Specimen 4: Singlets (almost always from New Urban Male). Brrrrr... Nuff said.

Specimen 5: Sunglasses. Unless you're from Bollywood, please, leave them at home.

Specimen 6: That hot girl in the back of the room. Thank your mother for such brilliant genes, to be specimen 6 is your birthright. You're just plain distracting. omg. the chair melted.

If you have to make a fashion statement (or a fashion faux pas for that matter), do in on Orchard Road or somewhere else where someone would actually give you the right type of attention. Someone might actually find it artistic or something.

oh and miss specimen 6, come sit beside me;  its cooler here, and no - its not the air conditioner.

Looks like Google has hit the sweetspot once again with its new web browser the Google Chrome.

1% of the World in just a day.. well done Google.

It uncluttered, simple, interface has me absolutely hooked! It uses Webkit like the Apple Safari, and it is blazing quick. It is now my default browser. Download it here:

Download Google Chrome!

With morning classes over.. I now have 5 hours on hand till the next (one hour only) lesson.  While waiting for this lesson, something crossed my mind:

We spend a large part of our lives just waiting, and a good portion of that time, we are waiting for others. Now, that is perfectly fine. For the first 10 minutes or so (lets face it, busses miss us, and jams catch our cars sometimes). After that though it does get slightly (and oftentimes excessively) annoying when we are made to wait, and wait, and.. wait.

As you might have guessed, I am usually the punctual one, and while I pride myself for such punctuality, it never fails to irk me when made to wait anything in excess of ~20mins for anybody. To put it plainly, time, MY time, was being needlessly wasted.

Armed with bristling righteous fury for chronic latecomers of the land, it was decided that I, The Punctual One, will plunge the depths of chronic latecoming and seek the truth and the One Ring to Rule..... nevermind.

Tardiness can seem like an incurable disease sometimes. I do know of people who will make a conscious effort to avoid arriving late. These are the ones who will prepare an hour beforehand, and ultimately, arrive... late.

Habitual latecoming, that is called. However, do know that, THERE IS HOPE! The challenge here is upon deciding on just how important it is for him/her to be on time. In most societies, chronic latecoming is seen - no not as a mental illness, but rather a (serious?) character flaw. Especially in the business world, where (you guessed it) time is money, to waste someone's time is as good as saying 'know what? I cannot be bothered to respect your time, and much less, you.'

Now, with that aside, we move on to the type of lateness that bothers me the most: the "he's-gonna-be-late-anyway" or "I-don't-want-to-stand-there-like-a-clown-waiting-for-him" syndrome.

The reason why this bothers me so much is how this problem can (and will) compound. If Aaron is consistently late by 10minutes, Charles will soon decide to arrive 15minutes after the pre-decided time (surely its ok for her to finally wait for 5 minutes!) So assuming that Charles keeps that up, Aaron will consequently turn up 20 minutes late. Why?

Waiting alone to most people is experienced as a painful, boring and time wasting activity. Above all, it projects an image of a lonely person. Many people have the innate fear of being left all alone, and consequently, hate to be kept waiting, and as such, just keep coming later than the other to avoid the painful experience.

So, what can we do about it?

Being from the fine city state that is Singapore, a monetary penalty comes to mind. For every minute that a party is late, he/she would have to cough up an amount of money, or buy lunch etc. While this may seem like a viable proposition (and is in practice in some social circles actually), personally I feel it will only worsen the situation in the long run; because now, it is "acceptable" to be late, never mind that you have wasted three people's time waiting for you, as long as you buy lunch later, its perfectly fine. I can see a culture building up there, albeit and unhealthy one. (Note: There really is no free lunch. The time wasted waiting for that one person could most probably been put to better use.)

The only piece of real advice I can give is for the punctual party to never fall into the vicious cycle. That way, the person who is making you wait, if he/she considers you of some importance (and since you are meeting up more than once or twice I'd safely say that he does), might 'feel bad' and make an effort to arrive on time in the future.

Alright, for those of you who made it this far, congratulations on conquering my longest wall of text in about two years. Isn't quite the Great Wall.. or the Berlin.. or the Earthworm Jim.. or the Nokia N95.. or the Evian.. or the...

Time is precious, do not waste others' time. Or your own, typing walls of text.

Reading mine, however, is time well spent. Thank you for your precious time.

THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN OFF FLICKR AND ALL CREDIT GOES TO THE ORIGINAL POSTER