1. »  Singapore Armed Forces versus cynics and critics in the halcyon days of peace

    This is a pretty good post about why we need national defence. The examples and the moral high ground it takes is convincing.

  2. a lesser love for Christ.

    When they said that growing up meant more distractions, more allures and more glitter, I clearly remember that I didn’t believe, thinking that they were just benign things which I wouldn’t be affected by at all.

    But truth be told, unconsciously, I am attracted by them. The world blares its sirens at you; scholarships, teacher recommendations, who gets into which top university etc.

    Consciously, I follow.

    And I’d say this is the hardest part. The struggle to choose between two masters. I’d say that this is not a matter of who judges you or not. It’s your own personal walk with God. The best part? All the adults in church whom you’ve encountered, have faced this before. Their lives hold a testimony to which path they chose.

    In a surreal fashion, you walk through the paths that you’d take, and you KNOW the consequences that are to follow.

    Lord, help me not to fill up my lives with things that don’t count at all for eternity. They are distractions, things that do not matter in Thy eyes.

    One thing I’ve learnt about Quiet Time this week.

    QT is like sleep; resting in God so that He would give you the needed strength and grace for the day. What’s more important, is the living. It’s the daily thoughts, actions and decisions that matter. You can sleep and do QT for really long, but if it doesn’t translate into more energetic actions, then in economics terms, your sleep was probably not as productively efficient.

    Live out for Christ each day. Your QT is important as it gives you the strength for the day, just like sleep. But, if you don’t live it out the fullest for Him, the effort you’ve spent in quiet time, would have it’s power nullified.

  3. being argumentative isnt debating.

    I think that in life, there is a fine distinction between professional debating and arguing. Heck the etymologies and whatever of both these words. 

    What I mean is that: people who are just plain argumentative need to learn this distinction and not be so self-conceited; thinking that they are on a higher pedestal than others.

    If you really want to prove your point, why not bring it across in a nicer way? Being critical makes you irritating, and people can, for all they want, leave you in your high ivory tower which you desire to live in.

    Arguing your way through doesn’t mean that people will listen to you any better. 

    A last thought on my mind:

    “Your amount of intelligence is something you’re born with; your knowledge is something you’ve spent much hard work acquiring. But, kindness and love, is something you’ll never get until you stop thinking you’ve so much intelligence and knowledge, and get down to the ground.”

  4. Laziness isn’t a good thing at all.

    Truth be told, army makes you pretty apathetic about life. What you yearned for in school, life and people are all emasculated due to a shortage of time and a lack of energy to focus on these things any longer.

    On busy days, you’re filled with activities where you rush to wait, and wait to rush, again. The short breaks that fill the gaps can’t be used efficiently, especially when everyone is tired from the hot sun. People talk and joke, about frivolous things, that’s all. How deep a conversation could you conjure in 5 minutes? At other times, we laze and relax during this short time. We all know it’s a good thing that we can relax and so on. But, through it all, we have the same face, of being bored. (I’ve no idea why. But I’m only bored in camp.)

    It’s not that we don’t enjoy army. Some of us do. I for one enjoy the physical activities, some (yes only some) regimentation and all the cool stuff we don’t get to do outside. But even then, we still wear this same bored face, trying to get this over and done with.

    And to those people who think I’m anti-establishment, ranting about how useless NS is.. I’m really not.

    In fact, I’m thinking. Thinking about why I’m so apathetic in camp. To me, army is like another phase of education, teaching me about leadership, interpersonal skills and camaraderie in the human spirit. Yet, why do I not get this feeling when I was in school?

    This week: I’m not going to slack. Not in my quiet time, not in the short breaks I have. And it’s not because I’m really too chiong or whatever. I just don’t want to develop a lazy habit. It really isn’t a good thing, looking at what it has done to me in the past 1 month.

  5. Mercury.

    Do you know that mercury is such a beautiful substance? 

    It comes from the word hydrargyrum, which literally means “silver water”; which is truly what it looks like. It’s as if water condensed and took on a polished surface, to create something as futuristic a metal as this. I bet the scientists who first discovered such an element thought it was beautiful as well. :)  

    I’m just awe-struck at how cool this substance is, like melted silver around.

    And that’s not the most beautiful part about this scientific art. It’s almost like a person, with desires, feelings and dislikes.

    Having a full set of outer electrons makes it extremely independent of other elements. It is as if mercury was living in a world of its own, separating itself in higher distinction compared to the rest. They do not dissolve into any other substance, and only merge with themselves.

    They too, because of this property, are extremely neat. You can spill mercury on the floor, and you don’t have to use a cloth to clean it up like water. You could gather them together just by pushing each mercury blob to another to form a huge one, then keep it away.

    It’s so beautiful ain’t it? Even the elements on the periodic table have a life to themselves, a story to tell, through their properties and how they managed to get themselves on the table at all.

    This is the beauty of science.

  6. "As often happens in the real world, seemingly kind behaviors in Ultimatum are inextricably tied in with potentially selfish motivations."
    Superfreakonomics

  7. simplicity abounds in sincerity.

    When people ask me about sincerity, the first earthly person I think off hand, is a friend; who through all things, is unequivocally sincere. 

    I recall a time, where she disliked a person because something that belonged close to her heart was taken away from her by that person. Yet, even through the hurt, she was sincere in forgiving the other, and moved on; being sincere is letting go (if I can even phrase it in such a manner.) 

    To many, this is just plain simplistic. How can such a person exist, right? 

    Being sincere isn’t important in society any longer. It is a fact, to those who have been hurt countless times. It’s better to merely act out to the other person, in order to gain what you want. Perhaps putting on false sincerity could have been a result of being hurt too much. 

    (but who am I to judge, or qualify anybody?)

    How would you know who’s putting on a front and who’s not then? Questions like this rise up, in swift rebuttal to me asking “whys” to the human condition.

    Well, I think that why sincerity is so important, isn’t about how we can make the world a better place and progress in dignity etc etc.

    It’s more about yourself.

    With sincerity, simplicity abounds. You may not be able to do away with people putting up fronts, playing mind games or carrying out their own personal agendas. Neither can you stop the hurt that you’d feel when your sincerity isn’t reciprocated.

    But the best part is that naturally, people who are sincere will surround you. It’s a natural phenomenon that “birds of the same feather flock together”.

    As compared to those people now, this simplistic(ism), as I call it, perpetuates a world of greater engagement and in turn, virtues such as love, kindness which forms the basis of true friendships.

    And when you look at the chaos each day between humans, you stand still enjoying a silence amidst all of it.

  8. Caught in between.

    I’ve always been an idealist, dreaming sandcastles on clouds, whilst having great visions for these grand plans of mine. 

    But these people, are more likely to suffer from a lack of self-confidence. 

    We know that society and life is realistic. Idealists are not people who are stuck in their own towers. We do know what is going on in the real world as well, and we do understand it well.

    Which is why I’m caught in between this dilemma.

    When one intends to go someplace in life, one must take haste, hold firm and seize it. Humanly speaking, isn’t this what many do?

    Yet, the realist in me pulls me back. You lack the grades, the recommendations, the feel. The perceptions of others translate to your social standing and then, determine your opinions. This is especially true, when we have little hard backing (all the As) to prove our worth and intelligence.

    Without grades, unrealistic no?

    I concur.

    But, twill be a fool to not have made a step forward, futile as it may be. For this experience, will shape and teach me.

    And I’d say that it has taught the first lesson: move on, for those who stay still go nowhere.

  9. I know this is weird,

    but i’m not accustomed to sleeping by myself without any people around me, not anymore.

    It’s difficult to sleep outside of camp, when you have spent most of your last waking hours talking to people before you sleep, hearing the footsteps, snores and ruffling of bedsheets from others. 

    To my beloved platoon mates, I may not have had much time to talk to you properly cause of the demands of my appointment, but I do really miss all the stupid things that you do everyday.

    I may have scolded you guys in the midst of getting things done, caused many to be frustrated due to the demands that have been placed upon us. But, know that it was done out of care; for more admin time and rest.

    And for once, I’m missing camp, and the army.

  10. schizophrenic.

    At times, I wonder what extremes the human condition can sway to. People can be extra nice to you and make you feel all warm inside. A second later, their reaction takes a full swing, making you wonder who they truly are.

    How distressing.

    I don’t know whether schizophrenic would be a right “meaning” to attribute this weird syndrome we have.

    But I truly wonder. Are we all that double-faced? I doubt so. We are more complex than that.

    Or are we just human, unable to be consistent whilst having the innately propensity to be hypocritical?

    Amidst it all, one thought lingers on.

    “longsuffering: one virtue people need to learn.”

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