The Power of Words...

The words you used everyday have a great impact on our lives... We use words to influence, persuade, convince people... Some words are encouraging and positive while other sapped the energy straight out of you. Perhaps that's the reasons why most religions believe in the power of prayers...

Till now, I think Dr Emoto's work is one of the most amazing researches I have seen... I was first introduced to him by my cousin who brought me along for a seminar last July. All in all, Dr Emoto has discovered that the words you speak, write affect the structure of the water crystals... Water collected from a amicable site and one from a war-torn area give rise to a beautiful symmetrical crystal while the latter is assymetrical and "burst". It is also interesting to note that "Thank you" in different languages give rise to different beautiful crystals... Amazing... If you wrap a piece of paper with a positive and negative words over 2 transparent bottles respectively... you get differing crystals too...

Heard that Dr Emoto is in the process of publishing a book in collaboration with the United Nations with the pictures of the water crystals... These books will be distributed to the children in the third world countries... to bring hope and serenity to those who are less fortunate in this world. One can explore his official site at: www.hado.net

Humanity

Peace

Amazing Grace

Check out the rest of the pictures at:

http://www.hado.net/water_crystals2.html

http://www.hado.net/gallery.html

When the Rain Falls...

The downpour began soon after I boarded the bus back from Esplanade... I heaved a sigh of relief that KC and I did not stayed on for the Runway Cycling at Paya Lebar Airbase... Runway Cycling is a national event whereby Singaporeans (mainly SAF/RSAF personnels and cycling/skating enthusiasts) gathers and cycle or skate on the runway at the airbase... There is this Endurance Challenge which one will be recognize for finishing a 30km or 45 km route... As we have made not prior booking for the bikes, we have to walk... But instead of walking the entire route, we walked out of the airbase.... hazzz...

Results was released on Friday and did pretty fine. -) Finally finished reading "The Da Vinci Code" and is time to watch the movie... =) This is my last "EXTENDED" holidays before I graduated next year... There is a need to compress time and finish up the TASKS I have meted out...

I just love the smell of the air after a heavy rain... Refreshing and clean... =)

Embrace the waves...

Bondi Beach, Sydney

Been doing transcriptions and finishing up Da Vinci Code...

Gonna run early in the morning... Ciaoz...

Seeds of Dreams

One has quited her job to pursue her dream of a NGO... And she is seeing light now is the government has placed much emphasis on recycling from recent news reports...

One is a budding singer... look out for him in June...

Many have sow seeds of dream in their lives... but not many have actually found the catalysts to spark off the infinite chain of possibilities...

Brief Reflection...

Thought through some stuff just now despite the uncomfortable sore throat...

Relook at some of my priorities...

Sort some matters...

Felt more aligned now...

But please, let the sore throat go away...

Catching up...

Wednesday
Been catching up with some friends over the week... Met HP and E at Clementi for a singing session at KBox... HP has graduated for one year and E just had her HYP presentation... And I have one more year to go...haz... HP drove us home... Albeit her company is not an MNC, she does have the privilege of having a car solely to herself... I was suppose to be home fast but an accident which involve 3-4 vehicles occur at the junction at Ten-mile junction & we got caught in the trafiic jam for at least 20 minutes...

Thursday
Bought a Sennheiser headset and a mike from Sim Lim square before heading down to Marina Square... Met CL for dinner and we were both amazed at how fast time has flew... From a freshie in year 1 to the year 3... Gonna treasure the last year in NUS...

Saturday
Brought parents for dinner at Marina Square at the "La Mian Xiao Long Bao" restaurant... It was my first time in my life that I brought my parents out for dinner... I feel a sense of liberation coz I realise that I actually need to summon a considerable amount of courage to do so...haha... I wish I have a younger or older sister someone... girls are usually more expressive and more vocal I guess...

Sunday
Packing some stuff up and booking in in the evening as there is exercise from tonight to wednesday...

Till then... =)

Ambidexterity

Most of us will do most the our everyday tasks with our dominant hand... In the light that the right hemisphere of the brain control the left side of the body (and the converse is true), most of us will tend to "overwork" one side of the brain without realising that he/she is still left with the other side of the brain to leverage on ...

I started to play around with the idea of ambidexterity (I don't know this word then...) when I was in primary school... Result: I can only brush my teeth using my left hand albeit the fact that I am a right-hander... I tried using my right hand to brush sometimes but it was painful as the brush kept hitting the gum awkwardly... Perhaps it was this everyday ritual of using left hand (which trigger the right side of the brain which controls creativity and emotions) that spur the interest in fine and abstract arts in me... I always wish I had some formal training in the technicalities in fine arts but never had the chance too... But I did a piece of work while I was studying for my 'O' levels 8 years ago... And here it is...

Learning to own your space...

Read this article on Straits Times on 25 April 06... In the light that I do not have an online ST account, the excerpt below are all typed out word for word (I only choose the more salient parts, the whole article is kinda of long... haz) It should struck a chord in most of us...

" ... My son is 13, and at St Andrew's College in Christchurch, New Zealand. As part of the programme for new students, his tutorial group had its turn to spend five days at the school's own Castle Hill Outdoor Centre where the website says, "students can experience success or failure in a positive atmosphere".

... When my son returned home. he gushed:"I was the map man because others weren't keen. I volunteered. I only got lost once. We drank water straight from a stream. And we slept in a cave one night in the bush, under the stars. We were well away from the roads. Daddy, there were so many stars!"

The sense of wonder was clear; as, too, the fact the experience had made a deep impression on him.

And the question I was asked by some of my Singapore friends? "Was this an enrichment activity"

Which made me stop and think because "enrichment activity" is a phrase that has a certain flavour. It suggests something like a "bolt-on extra" or, even, a luxury. As if to say there is school and there is teaching, and then, if we have time, there may be enrichment. And when something is extra tehn, by definition, it does not carry the same value as what belongs in the mainstream. It is not the stuff of real life.

And so I ask, what counts in the process of learning? What makes a difference to a young person? How do you get someone to the point at which they see their own abilities in a different light - the point at which they 'see' someone bigger inside themselves; the point at which they get a better responsiblity for their own growth?

For one thing, it often does not happen in the classroom, and I say this having paid for many years to work in classrooms.

The activities that make a difference in people's lives seem to have certain common denominators to them. They involve the learner owning the moment, and having to make decisions and take on new responsiblities and take risks.

And the result of these activities is that the learner who returns to his 'everyday life' on a Monday morning is not the same person who left the previous week. He has grown.

... ... How can anyone appreciate anything like this if they have no internal 'vocubulary' of experiences to match it with; if they have never had to find the resources within themselves to face their own unexpected challenges? Others people can tell you what happened to them but, in order to understand, you have to have your own stock of moments you have lived through. You cannot appreciate what you cannot understand... "

Start accumulating your unique moments today... they are the essential ingredients to develop a wholesome being... They are the ones who will leverage on his/her strengths and work to improve his/her weaknesses... They will leave a legacy...

Destiny

Munich
[Taken by Qicong in Switzerland]

Destiny is not a matter of chance,
It is a matter of choice.
It is not a thing to be waited for,
It is a thing to be achieved.

~ William Jennings Bryan ~

Waiting for the final judgement

Adapted from: http://www.niras.com/News/News_archive/judgement.aspx

On the 4th April, the panel of judges of our international essay competition received the 10 essays.

In the coming months, they will be evaluating the essays and decide which to take the 1st and 2nd prize. The 1st price is 16,000 € and the second price is 8,000 €. The decision will be made in the beginning of June, and the revelation is to take place at NIRAS’ anniversary reception on the 31st August.

A total of 126 enthusiastic essayists from 37 different countries participated in our international essay competition. They all wrote an abstract for their essay, describing their views on a future global knowledge society. The average level of the abstracts was very high, and we highly appreciate the many different and fascinating opinions and visions brought forward by the competitors. Therefore, it was an almost unfair task having to pick out only 10 essayists for the second and final phase of the competition.

Though it was very hard, we succeeded to pick out 10 exciting abstracts, all characterized by depicting the future global knowledge society in an innovative and fresh way based on in depth considerations and exciting conclusions. The essays are now in the hands of the judges, and it is with great expectation that we are looking forward to the 31st August where the winner of NIRAS’ essay competition will be unveiled and the 10 essays publicized.

Shall plant the next seed soon...

This is for real...

CAMERA SHY
Not in pictures: Cindy, Glenn, Chee Meng, Ryan (The group photo is totally blurred - waiting for the version from SL's camera)

This is for real - I will be reporting back to camp in 7 hours time... Almost googled on "How to fold smart 4" till YM teach me over msn... Had a reunion with the friends made in Aussie last night... Wonderful time catching up with one another lives... And we have the company of the top Ngee Ann Poly student... congrats to SL!

Met JQ for dinner just now and we were discussing how worried we were over the release of the examination of the election results last night... Both of us do not embrace one-party rule and so do many of my peers... There need to be an opposition in the parliament...A good one... BTW, "abalone porridge" and "lift-upgrading" don't work for some opposition dominated constituencies. That kind of intangible loyalty cannot be replace with tangible benefits. It is far deeper than that...

If SDP ever win the Bukit Panjang constituency; I think I will shift out of this estate immediately... Undoubtedly, PAP has faced intense competition in some GRCs; especially in Aljunied where they only win by a small margin... The results is out - it is time to "close up the ranks" and get on with building a better home again... It doesn't matter who you have voted for; it is now for us to assess how the performance of the various parties within the next five years. With all the lift-upgrading completed within the next 5 years, perhaps we are going to get "horizontal" lifts which will stop at every apartment in the next election?

And for now, is time for Gomez to clear up the mess... he should have taken a sampan instead of walking straight into our world-class changi airport to fly off to Sweden immediately after the release of election results...

Voting Day...

I almost got to vote till I realised that my side of the estate is segregated out to another constituency... This means that Bukit Panjang Plaza and Bukit Panjang Primary School is not part of the Bukit Panjang voting boundary at all... Being doing some packing and will be off for aussie outing later... Ciaoz...

Fruitful 2 days...

I was thinking through my 9-year life plan while heading towards town... Is not easy but not impossible... Need a significant amount of effort... -) But nothing in this world comes without effort... That's where the commitment and stamina is required see us through certain stages in our life which seems insurmountable... As my CS4253
project leader says: THE SKY IS ALWAYS DARKER BEFORE DAWN... haha... And it is also with this belief that our project rises from rock bottom right to the top... Just as crisis management is of paramount importance in projects; I believe it is even more important in our personal lives... Always have contingency plans to prepare for the unexpected...

Wednesday was spent meeting up with a secondary school friend whom I have not met for 2-3 years... He is graduating and will be heading on to KPMG to further his career. We caught MI3 - and yea, this is what I call IMPOSSIBLE... The outcome of the show is too good to be true...aha... If it was not a movie, I believe some characters would have died earlier in the show..ha...



Thurdays was spent in IRO and had a celebratory dinner with my cs4253 project group mates... Food at the Myanmar restaurant was great... Proceed on to Marina Square for drinks where our camera-shy leader was snapped with shots all the way...

Got to retire to bed... Got to go down to IRO to finish some tasks tomorrow...

Ciaoz...

89 days in Green...

Called up CPC in the morning to confirm my resumption of National Service... It has been approved... +) Yea! That will mean I will be 'FREE' from NS after I graduate next year... Looks like I need to give the Lee Shiu Summer Program a miss... Work from IRO has started coming in with the manager calling me in the morning... Seems like more busy than term time...

Heading down to town now... Ciaoz...

至尊红颜

This is trailer of the latest prime time Channel 8 show... The show focus on the conflicts, love and hatred which arises from a restaurant business empire which spans 3 generations... A significant proportion of this production is shot in Sydney... =)

I was telling my friend today: we should save up enough $$$ to purchase some properties in Aussie and rent them out to students... =) I think it will be a lucrative business given that so many students heads over to Aussie to study annually... And of course, I will reserve a room for my own lodging when I travel to Aussie... =). Is a perfect merger of business and fun!

Commencement of Holidays...

Finally, I am done with my final 2 papers today! One started from 9am to 11am and the next one was from 1pm to 3pm...

And yea, can get down to do things that I always wanted to do and unfinished tasks pushed back till down... They span from setting up some stuff, a new design for the blog, a picture blog (someone suggested it) and right down to the finer things in life, that is, to pour out the sand I have collected from Bondi Beach, Gold Coast, Fraser Island to air them a little... To finishing the scrapebook for my Aussie trip... To visit "Fords Motor" which is the site where the Japanese surrender for World War II along Bukit Timah (FYI, I will go to the strange and bizarre places to take photos; I visited at least 5 cemeteries in Aussie for photography)... And many other stuffs that I wanna do...

Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the official email for resumption of my national service next monday... Else, it is possible that I may apply for the month-long Lee Shiu Summer Program which will bring me to Hong Kong and China in July. And yea, not forgetting my work at IRO and to do field work for my FYP too...

My right hand is still aching from the papers today as I type this entry...

Is time to rest and to meet an old friend of mine tomorrow!!! And yea, rest my hand too...