in singapore, the gurkhas carry machine guns... if you carry drugs, you will be hanged.
in malaysia, beware knowing any mongolian models, you might end up getting bombed to smitherinss....
in russia, beware if you want to be a spy, you might end up being spied.
and if you think of defecting, better think more than twice, or you might end up having nuclear elements in your stomach.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
the love hate relationship of Malaysia - Singapore
firstly, to clarify, i'm malaysian... however, i am ever thankful for singapore and the government for providing me with their quality education ever since A-levels. the quality of this education, it is safe to say, far surpasses what i may hope to receive if i was still in malaysia.
these 2 countries are like siblings. this cannot be doubted, as singapore is born out of the former malaya. if we look at history, the indigenous people in this part of the world are the malays and the orang asli. chinese and indian migrants form the largest part of the current minority in malaysia, whereas through a shift in geo-political and social policies, many chinese moved to singapore, and now form the largest majority in singapore.
relative to other nations with long history dating back to the pre-1800's, malaysia and singapore can be considered young nations. malaysia achieved independence in 1957 while singapore is declared an independent nation in 1963. however, one might think, why these countries, which share such intimate past and consist of basically the people of same races, are not the best of friends?
perhaps due to the spirit of competition some might say? the competitiveness or as they say, the kiasu spirit might have led to this. leaders of both nation simply do not want to feel like they are lesser compared to their counterparts. this might have a hint of truth as we are humans after all. one of the (bad) qualities of human beings is their greediness, to want to be the best, to want others to think of them as the best, and not to be considered sub-standard.
however, in my opinion, this is more due to history than to anything else. if we look at anywhere else in the world, there are many such examples. north and south korea are neighbours, they both consists of koreans, and yet they are a polar apart in terms of relations. what would change this? i think if one day, the dear leader in north korea awakens and want to consider treating their brothers in the south better, both nations can really be best of friends. just like in malaysia and singapore.
people in both countries generally do not hate one another. many singaporeans have roots in malaysia, relatives living in malaysia. and vice versa. history created a baggage for malaysian and singaporean leaders to resume an ultra-friendly relationship. part of it may also be due to the separation of both countries from the former Malaya.
"breaking up is hard to do" as the song goes... and so i believe that the separation of the past has left both sides with a feeling of contempt for the other. however as i mentioned earlier, this is history, and while history forms a part of our identities, it should never dictate our lives for the present and future. it can form part of the consideration for our decisions, but never dictate.
therefore it is heartwarming to see the recent issue of a statement made by the great leader of singapore, MM Lee handled with such acuteness and sensitivity by PM Abdullah of malaysia. as MM Lee himself pointed out, after PM Abdullah assumes leadership, both governments have strived to achieve a friendlier relationship, albeit a professional one. It takes a supreme leader with foresight to not take this issue and spin it out of hand to gain political mileage. PM abdullah has done this, and MM Lee similarly reciprocated by apologizing for his statement, though his statement was taken out of context in the first place. It is true that his statement made people displeased. i was displeased myself. chinese in malaysia are made to follow some rules, law and act that may not be common in other democratic countries. however, i believe that the rule is not oppressive, and in fact, the chinese in malaysia have learn to adopt and live with this policy for the better of the nation. in every country, rule of the law is derived based on its own unique history and culture. this quota system is merely an example of one such policy.
it's great to see the matter now resolved. the way both leaders handled the issue is heartwarming, and visionary. with strong relationships amidst fierce competition between the 2 countries, both economies can only prosper.
who knows, we may just be able to leave the hate out of the love hate relationship. as arsene wenger mentioned recently, competitive nature means that we do not have time to be bothered by the past. we only think of the current and future.
these 2 countries are like siblings. this cannot be doubted, as singapore is born out of the former malaya. if we look at history, the indigenous people in this part of the world are the malays and the orang asli. chinese and indian migrants form the largest part of the current minority in malaysia, whereas through a shift in geo-political and social policies, many chinese moved to singapore, and now form the largest majority in singapore.
relative to other nations with long history dating back to the pre-1800's, malaysia and singapore can be considered young nations. malaysia achieved independence in 1957 while singapore is declared an independent nation in 1963. however, one might think, why these countries, which share such intimate past and consist of basically the people of same races, are not the best of friends?
perhaps due to the spirit of competition some might say? the competitiveness or as they say, the kiasu spirit might have led to this. leaders of both nation simply do not want to feel like they are lesser compared to their counterparts. this might have a hint of truth as we are humans after all. one of the (bad) qualities of human beings is their greediness, to want to be the best, to want others to think of them as the best, and not to be considered sub-standard.
however, in my opinion, this is more due to history than to anything else. if we look at anywhere else in the world, there are many such examples. north and south korea are neighbours, they both consists of koreans, and yet they are a polar apart in terms of relations. what would change this? i think if one day, the dear leader in north korea awakens and want to consider treating their brothers in the south better, both nations can really be best of friends. just like in malaysia and singapore.
people in both countries generally do not hate one another. many singaporeans have roots in malaysia, relatives living in malaysia. and vice versa. history created a baggage for malaysian and singaporean leaders to resume an ultra-friendly relationship. part of it may also be due to the separation of both countries from the former Malaya.
"breaking up is hard to do" as the song goes... and so i believe that the separation of the past has left both sides with a feeling of contempt for the other. however as i mentioned earlier, this is history, and while history forms a part of our identities, it should never dictate our lives for the present and future. it can form part of the consideration for our decisions, but never dictate.
therefore it is heartwarming to see the recent issue of a statement made by the great leader of singapore, MM Lee handled with such acuteness and sensitivity by PM Abdullah of malaysia. as MM Lee himself pointed out, after PM Abdullah assumes leadership, both governments have strived to achieve a friendlier relationship, albeit a professional one. It takes a supreme leader with foresight to not take this issue and spin it out of hand to gain political mileage. PM abdullah has done this, and MM Lee similarly reciprocated by apologizing for his statement, though his statement was taken out of context in the first place. It is true that his statement made people displeased. i was displeased myself. chinese in malaysia are made to follow some rules, law and act that may not be common in other democratic countries. however, i believe that the rule is not oppressive, and in fact, the chinese in malaysia have learn to adopt and live with this policy for the better of the nation. in every country, rule of the law is derived based on its own unique history and culture. this quota system is merely an example of one such policy.
it's great to see the matter now resolved. the way both leaders handled the issue is heartwarming, and visionary. with strong relationships amidst fierce competition between the 2 countries, both economies can only prosper.
who knows, we may just be able to leave the hate out of the love hate relationship. as arsene wenger mentioned recently, competitive nature means that we do not have time to be bothered by the past. we only think of the current and future.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
ar de ji, ho-li-wud
hey, it's been quite some time since i posted here. how did i realise this? well, someone reminded me that i haven't posted here for some time. and i was thinking to myself, who the heck would read my blog? oh well, at least i've got a strong supporter in my dearest pico :D
anyway, recently, my boss told my lab mates and me that soon there'll be game development projects that the hollywood lab would work on with disney imagineering. oh yeah, i haven't mention that recently my boss (prof) set up a branch of the lab in hollywood. it's called NUS hollywood lab. part of this IDM network. idm stands for interactive digital media. it's supposed to be the pioneer in digital media research (or so it claims). oh well i have high hopes that it will succeed. i do believe in my boss' ability and vision, and also the spending power of the singapore gah-men (govt).
so hollywood sounds like a nice place. now i've got an opportunity to work there for 6 months. not really sure where it would be, but the nus hollywood lab is in USC. but my friend, roger who has been there recently complained that it's not such a nice place over there. kinda like they have a big social divide over there, the rags and the riches, the blacks and the whites... oh well, at least it's in california, somewhere i've been longing to visit. why? i was inspired by this red hot chilli pepper song called *u guessed it* californiacation! hmm, one of my friend, ram, he's still in standford doing his masters. stanford is like a dream place for me, but i haven't got a chance to go there. so i'll pay him a visit when i'm in LA :)
many happenings around the world recently. war (of terror) against terrorists keeps going on. i really wonder, how do we tell who are the good ones? the one killing more people or the one that kills lives who are more important? are 1st world lives more important that 3rd world ones?
anyway, recently, my boss told my lab mates and me that soon there'll be game development projects that the hollywood lab would work on with disney imagineering. oh yeah, i haven't mention that recently my boss (prof) set up a branch of the lab in hollywood. it's called NUS hollywood lab. part of this IDM network. idm stands for interactive digital media. it's supposed to be the pioneer in digital media research (or so it claims). oh well i have high hopes that it will succeed. i do believe in my boss' ability and vision, and also the spending power of the singapore gah-men (govt).
so hollywood sounds like a nice place. now i've got an opportunity to work there for 6 months. not really sure where it would be, but the nus hollywood lab is in USC. but my friend, roger who has been there recently complained that it's not such a nice place over there. kinda like they have a big social divide over there, the rags and the riches, the blacks and the whites... oh well, at least it's in california, somewhere i've been longing to visit. why? i was inspired by this red hot chilli pepper song called *u guessed it* californiacation! hmm, one of my friend, ram, he's still in standford doing his masters. stanford is like a dream place for me, but i haven't got a chance to go there. so i'll pay him a visit when i'm in LA :)
many happenings around the world recently. war (of terror) against terrorists keeps going on. i really wonder, how do we tell who are the good ones? the one killing more people or the one that kills lives who are more important? are 1st world lives more important that 3rd world ones?
"The casualty figures show how very one-sided the recent conflict has been.
More than 200 Palestinians have died - including many civilians - and
hundreds more have been injured. One Israeli soldier has been killed - shot
accidentally by his own side. Eleven Israeli civilians have been wounded in
rocket fire from Gaza. " - taken from a bbc news.
The above is but a frequent example of the many innocent lives sacrificed in the name of pursuing terrorists / extremists. But who are those pursuing the extreme actions? it's pretty obvious isn't it? with great power, comes great responsibilities. do you easilly dismiss innocent lives, exploding bombs in the hope of gunning down a few bad eggs?
if the local police do that everytime they pursue a robber, many civilians would have been killed. however, it's great to know that blair is stepping down soon. he should have done that long ago. not knowing how to use the power in your hands, it's best not to cause further damage.
oh well, we can only hope that bush's term will come to an end soon. i think my granny would make a better president.
most normal americans are really great people. i really wonder why among many such great people who cherishe lives, they have to suffer the ignominy of having such a leader, someone who disgraces them more than lifting them.
it's okay! what goes around comes around. you've done something that caused others to suffer great lost, and you'll receive the same compliment next time.
till then, adios!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Farewill Zizou...
No matter what happaned on the football pitch that night, no one can take away your talent. You have been a great joy to watch, you made playing football look easy. Just as an artist strokes oil on his canvas so gracefully, you caress the ball to move in the path you wanted it to. And move it does, with elegance...
In the Finals in france '98, you were an emerging talent, scoring 2 goals to condemn brazil to a defeat no one expected. Back in the year 2002, you scored with that wonderful volley against bayer leverkusen, a goal that would be hard to emulate for years to come. In this edition of world cup, you taught the brazilians a thing or two about football artistry when you tapped the ball over the head of ze roberto, just like what pele did. And it's funny the way you protect the ball. No one seems to be able to get the ball away from you without drawing a foul.
As Henry said after the 06 finals, "we play as a team, we lose as a team". As a fan of yours, I don't blame you for what happened. The team just lacked that bit of luck and energy to emerge as winners again. However, for me, you have nothing left to prove. That trademark pirouette, the grace of a ballet dancer, the control you have over every inch of the pitch will live with your fans forever...
Football is not an individual game, but you bring out the individuality in football.
Thank you, Zizou... I am priviliged to have lived to see you play. And Farewell!
In the Finals in france '98, you were an emerging talent, scoring 2 goals to condemn brazil to a defeat no one expected. Back in the year 2002, you scored with that wonderful volley against bayer leverkusen, a goal that would be hard to emulate for years to come. In this edition of world cup, you taught the brazilians a thing or two about football artistry when you tapped the ball over the head of ze roberto, just like what pele did. And it's funny the way you protect the ball. No one seems to be able to get the ball away from you without drawing a foul.
As Henry said after the 06 finals, "we play as a team, we lose as a team". As a fan of yours, I don't blame you for what happened. The team just lacked that bit of luck and energy to emerge as winners again. However, for me, you have nothing left to prove. That trademark pirouette, the grace of a ballet dancer, the control you have over every inch of the pitch will live with your fans forever...
Football is not an individual game, but you bring out the individuality in football.
Thank you, Zizou... I am priviliged to have lived to see you play. And Farewell!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
soccer madness
It's the start of the beautiful game season! it's actually coming to my 4th World Cup season!! well i watched the 1990 world cup final in a drab affair where germany beats italy. but i didn't know a sh*t about what all the craze was about at that time. my dad woke me up at 3 am in the morning and said, it's the WORLD cup finals. i was thinking to myself at that time, what the hell is the world cup? but anything that has to do with the WORLD certainly has something special. and so, there it begins, my first encounter with the beautiful game.
i was 9 yrs old at that time, and wasn't some kid who played football, and certainly not a fan. however, after spending some effort to keep my eyes open to watch that goal-ess match, i got excited the next day in school, when i realise how many other boys also watched it. it became sort of like the cool thing, something to talk about. talking about football among us kids then were like dissecting a theory piece by piece, with such indepth analysis.
so i started reading about football, following (like every kid then) the EPL...
but then i realised there's not only the EPL in the world. there were many other leagues. but the EPL was the only league shown on TV in this part of the world. and so we got attuned to familiar names in english soccer.
my next world cup, 1994, i was more grown up then, familiar with quite a number of teams, and therefore started to understand the attraction of the beautiful game (why the heck would anyone wake up at 3 in the morning to watch 22 men kicking a ball). it was also during this world cup that i realise, many other non-EPL related teams play more attractive soccer than england! and i also started to realise, england is not as good as they were hyped up to be. (at the time of the writing of this post, it proved right again as england was knocked out by portugal for the 2nd time running.)
even though managers and coaches come and go, tradional football powerhouses typically try to retain their style. For example we associate italy with great defence, brazil with attractive play involving individual skills and ability to score beautiful goals, holland with their total football. Nowadays, these teams also set out to reinvent themselves as the gap between the powerhouses and other teams narrowed. ghana impressed in this world cup with their bold, strong play.
personally though, sometimes things become strange, like with brazil. i think they never get their samba rhythm for this tournament. we only see them playing counter attacking football, not play-making. counter attack is when you patiently defend and wait for your opponent to leave you spaces at the back and you attack them with one swift deadly movement. play-making is when you have a genius to control and move your midfield (like zinedine zidane or zizou of france). the whole world wanted to see ronaldinho show his stuff, but i guess he didn't quite perform because the tactics employed by brazil never really suited his style. Oh well, at least we saw the best of zizou reminiscing the 98 moments again.
i was 9 yrs old at that time, and wasn't some kid who played football, and certainly not a fan. however, after spending some effort to keep my eyes open to watch that goal-ess match, i got excited the next day in school, when i realise how many other boys also watched it. it became sort of like the cool thing, something to talk about. talking about football among us kids then were like dissecting a theory piece by piece, with such indepth analysis.
so i started reading about football, following (like every kid then) the EPL...
but then i realised there's not only the EPL in the world. there were many other leagues. but the EPL was the only league shown on TV in this part of the world. and so we got attuned to familiar names in english soccer.
my next world cup, 1994, i was more grown up then, familiar with quite a number of teams, and therefore started to understand the attraction of the beautiful game (why the heck would anyone wake up at 3 in the morning to watch 22 men kicking a ball). it was also during this world cup that i realise, many other non-EPL related teams play more attractive soccer than england! and i also started to realise, england is not as good as they were hyped up to be. (at the time of the writing of this post, it proved right again as england was knocked out by portugal for the 2nd time running.)
even though managers and coaches come and go, tradional football powerhouses typically try to retain their style. For example we associate italy with great defence, brazil with attractive play involving individual skills and ability to score beautiful goals, holland with their total football. Nowadays, these teams also set out to reinvent themselves as the gap between the powerhouses and other teams narrowed. ghana impressed in this world cup with their bold, strong play.
personally though, sometimes things become strange, like with brazil. i think they never get their samba rhythm for this tournament. we only see them playing counter attacking football, not play-making. counter attack is when you patiently defend and wait for your opponent to leave you spaces at the back and you attack them with one swift deadly movement. play-making is when you have a genius to control and move your midfield (like zinedine zidane or zizou of france). the whole world wanted to see ronaldinho show his stuff, but i guess he didn't quite perform because the tactics employed by brazil never really suited his style. Oh well, at least we saw the best of zizou reminiscing the 98 moments again.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Whistler - Blackcomb
I was at Vancouver a couple of weeks back. First time in that part of the world (North America). Actually, i was in Montreal for about 1 week for a conference, CHI 2006. It's the premier conference for Human Computer Interaction and I was showcasing my project there. It's about chickens, and this system allows you to remotely touch your pets through the Internet. We used chickens because they are such badly treated animals. Some dude has actually shown that by touching chickens, you give them pleasure and therefore increase their welfare. So we extended this conclusion by building a system that allows you to touch your pet wherever, whenever. Pretty cool eh? :) you can check it out by googling "poultry internet".
Oh I intended actually not to talk about the chicken project, but about the picture above. So as this is my first ski experience, I couldn't help but took a picture with the dude sitting beside me. He was friendly enough to be photographed. He seems like an experienced skier but maybe this is his first time in Whistler too. And by the way, Whistler-Blackcomb is the world's no. 1 ski resort and is the venue for 2010 Olympics. I didn't plan for this trip, but as I was transiting in Vancouver with another friend for 2 days, we thought, what the heck, might as well venture to somewhere new. So we asked around a bit, and found out that hey, we can actually ski even though it's near the end of spring now.
Skiing is tough, mind you. It certainly looks easy to TV, but first thing you learn is to climb uphill and there is just no friction available for you to rub your ski on, and you tend to slide downhill. So what you do is you walk like a duck, but sideways... And imagine now you are wearing a shoe sized 50. yeah... your 2 feet tend to clash. but going downhill is fun... way fun... you tend to feel like the speed is throwing you off balance, but once you get the hang of it, it gives you the speed thrill similar to roller coaster. but maybe slower. but a word of advice, train up your stamina if you intend to pick up skiing. now i understand why it is called a sport!
Oh did I mention also it was the first time I experience real snow? It's funny, they're not as soft as I thought. Perhaps it's due to the late spring season. Heard that fresh snow are much softer. Anyway, they feel like ice kacang. hard... the local kind, not the taiwanese kind. but this kind of hard snow is good for making snow balls. when you whack the other person, it feels kinda painful.
Introduction
Hello world!
Well, if you are a programmer or you have picked up programming before, this is usually "Lesson 1". Yeah, those super thick programming books actually start off by teaching you to say hello to the world. Hmm...how creative.
Here I am!
This 2nd line is my own. It is to announce to the cyber/digital-world, one infested with techno-geeks who has become lazier by the day to even go out and get to know people and prefer to share all their deepest darkest secrets with unknown fellow geekers, that I am part of the community. Initially, when the term 'blog' first appeared, I thought to myself, "Hey, why would anyone wants to showcase their diaries to the rest of the world?" I thought this is pretty similar to kind of excitement that exhibitionist get. Or naturalist. Or people that likes to go around without any sort of clothing because they believe that your skin IS your cover. But then again, the trend started picking up and before you know it, hey ho! They sprung up like mushrooms!
In Singapore, (un)fortunately, many people start to think that blogging is 'kewl' (the local slang for cool because the kids here somehow think that spelling cool this way is, well...cool!) Some even got so popular that they came up with some pretty creative way to make money (by tying up with advertisers...
And you know, like recently there was a pretty interesting made-in-singapore video circulating around which is not unlike the one that stars 'French' Hilton. So the blogs here went crazy trying to get more hits by writing about that story. Oh, until someone told them it is illegal to circulate indecent materials. Hmm, perhaps that video is not so indecent after all. I agree with some that the person who started distributing the video is the most indecent. Or maybe it's her/his hobby...
Well, if you are a programmer or you have picked up programming before, this is usually "Lesson 1". Yeah, those super thick programming books actually start off by teaching you to say hello to the world. Hmm...how creative.
Here I am!
This 2nd line is my own. It is to announce to the cyber/digital-world, one infested with techno-geeks who has become lazier by the day to even go out and get to know people and prefer to share all their deepest darkest secrets with unknown fellow geekers, that I am part of the community. Initially, when the term 'blog' first appeared, I thought to myself, "Hey, why would anyone wants to showcase their diaries to the rest of the world?" I thought this is pretty similar to kind of excitement that exhibitionist get. Or naturalist. Or people that likes to go around without any sort of clothing because they believe that your skin IS your cover. But then again, the trend started picking up and before you know it, hey ho! They sprung up like mushrooms!
In Singapore, (un)fortunately, many people start to think that blogging is 'kewl' (the local slang for cool because the kids here somehow think that spelling cool this way is, well...cool!) Some even got so popular that they came up with some pretty creative way to make money (by tying up with advertisers...
And you know, like recently there was a pretty interesting made-in-singapore video circulating around which is not unlike the one that stars 'French' Hilton. So the blogs here went crazy trying to get more hits by writing about that story. Oh, until someone told them it is illegal to circulate indecent materials. Hmm, perhaps that video is not so indecent after all. I agree with some that the person who started distributing the video is the most indecent. Or maybe it's her/his hobby...
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