Sorry to keep all of you guys waiting so long for this exposé. No one regrets this wait more than I do, believe me. You’ll be glad to know that this one will be a worthy read, or so I hope.
For this exposé, I’ll try to hit more for the wow factor than the controversy factor. It’s a topic hitting closer to home, or the graduating batch specifically. What I’m talking about here is the Adam Khoo workshop, what is formally known as the ‘I am GIFTED, so are YOU’ program. For others who did not attend it or don’t even know about it, don’t worry. I’m writing a full introduction and explanation for it.
Before you continue reading this, remember that the objective of this specific exposé is to reveal to readers what they had missed, not to spark a controversy like all the others. The inferences below are based on personal analysis and research and are open for arguments. With that, I hope that you confine your disagreements within this blog community.
This may be a bit lengthy, since it is a full analysis, so do be patient and take your time. So guys, the wait is over. Enjoy and be amazed (and comment on the tagboard!)
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Forbidden Files #02 - Picking the Brain
An exposé by Seraphim
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[1] Over the course of three weeks before the March holidays, the whole of the graduating batch of students from my school went for three day program titled ‘I am GIFTED, so are YOU’ by the Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group.
[2] A little background info on the program. The whole program is one of the many motivational programs that Adam Khoo and his collegues has created to cater to different needs. Being one of the top five most influential speakers in Asia, he and his team of highly qualified trainers have been changing the lives of many for most parts of their lives. When I say highly qualified, I mean these guys who trained us are damned qualified. One of the trainers, R****h, has won numerous speaking competitions internationally and another trainer, G**y, is a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming (whatever that means, it just sounds difficult).
(identity disclosed due to privacy policy)
[3] The aim of the program is to make the attendees better students and ultimately become a success. Realize that these people mean to really CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES within 78 hours. Unbelievable? Believe it. That’s where I come in. There is a reason for everything done in the program. Now I’ll be sharing with you what they were and how it affected the attendees.
[4] In a nutshell, they achieved this with the successful integration of psychological techniques with teaching skills. In short, it is like brainwashing. The only difference is that this is willing change of thinking instead of forcibly doing it.
[5] What makes this program more effective than others is that it is delivered to the audience through multiple senses; sight, hearing and touch, along with appeal. This method of delivery was done throughout the entire program, which I will be elaborating in the later part of this exposé.
Day 1
[6] The first day was meant to be a very light one. In whole, the entire day was filled with extremely funny jokes that left everyone in uncontrollable fits of laughter at one point or another. It might seem insensible, but as I’ve said, there is significance.
[7] To make all the attendees motivated to succeed, it was important that everyone believed that all of them can be successful, which was no lie. The method to achieve this however, was full of lies. For half of the first day, attendees were told of stories, some true and some false, of how some initial failures ended up becoming winners at the end of the day. To deepen the effect, they used personal examples to have a personal touch with everyone, which also doubles up as a method to bond with the attendees through the sharing of personal experiences.
[8] By lunchtime, the mindset of attendees would have turned optimistic. With that change in mindset, the trainers then set out to permanently imprint that belief by reinforcing methods of achieving the success. Let’s sidetrack a bit. During my speech at the end of the program, I mentioned that the trainers did not teach us anything new, and that is indeed true. The methods that were ‘taught’ to achieve that success are in fact old methods re-taught to us and enforced by the power of belief.
[9] How many here know about mind maps to help revision and association to improve memory? I bet most of you do, but do any of you really hold on to these ideas to help improve studies? No. These are the two main techniques ‘taught’ during the workshop, and in truth they are very effective methods. To imbue belief into these techniques, they gave us unbelievable but real examples of how these techniques could be put to use. For mind maps, they showed us how a one-page detailed summary of a 30 page chapter could be done and how they could effectively memorize a series of random words in consecutive order. Cool right? And to think that anyone is capable of doing such things.
[10] For the later part of the day, the trainers went into more intense activities. They went into increasing productivity and rate of learning by teaching us how to maximize brain capacity and quickly pick out information. We were told that typical methods of revision only used up small amounts of brainpower, which is not absorbed well by the memory. By teaching us how to maximize brain capacity, more efficient memory is resulted. Also to help quicken word processing, they taught us the wonders of speed reading, that is the quickened ability to absorb information from text.
Day 2
[11] If the first day was about opening our minds, the second day would be to drill things in. This part of the program is the most intense. Read on to find out.
[12] The first day explored the possibility of success actually becoming a reality. The second day started with making that closer to reality. All of us are bound by the limitations of time, thus to achieve everything, we must work our way around it. The trainers introduced to us the ten step study plan, which is a comprehensive yet easy enough to follow guide which formulates our successes. Then they revealed to us the timetable that we’re supposed to follow to keep the lessons taught to us locked up in our heads. Oh yeah, I apologize if the descriptions are a little ambiguous, but I still need to abide the copyright laws of the contents of the AKLTG programs.
[13] The possibility of actually following the study plan is then enforced with the next segment, which was back to increasing productivity. The previous day, the trainers showed us how the techniques could be put to use, this time, they showed us exactly how it was done. They revealed to us the exact methods of how to imprint data and long strings of information onto our memory and how to unlock the full capacity of the brain.
[14] After lunch, the mood began to turn down a bit as the trainer was setting up the mind for the climax of the program. At this point of time, the trainer opened to us the realization that life does not end at secondary school, that once O levels are over, an enormous possibility unfolds. Also, through discreet means, the trainer made us spill out some of our guilty feelings that we had towards things in general.
[15] Now this part is my favourite: the climax. In order for the attendees to change their academic performance, everything has to change, including their environment. This includes changing our perception that we had for our family. Unfortunately, most of us do not value this as much as we are supposed to, making this part a little painful. So they had to make us appreciate our families like we are supposed to, so let me tell you how it was done.
[16] The upbringing of appreciation was done rather forcefully, with regret and sadness being the main tool here. For a human mind to feel extreme sadness, it has to first experience extreme happiness. That was the purpose of the abundance of jokes from the previous day. This part began with a thorough scolding. Don’t get me wrong, this is no lenient scolding. It was done with pure anger, violence and a loose mouth, if you catch my drift. The scolding part was to arouse the sense of initial regret for not taking the program seriously, not appreciating our parents enough, etc. Well, you should know how a real scolding feels like. But that was only the beginning; now let’s get on to the real part.
[17] With the regret part already brought up, now the sadness has to come in. By now, the mind would have been prepared to fall from that feeling of extreme happiness to extreme sadness. Nonetheless, the use of environment for this part further strengthens the arousal of sadness. To create the atmosphere of sadness, the lights were dimmed, the music played changed to a sad one, and the attendees were asked to close and cover their eyes and sit in a crouched position. All of this leads to the preparation of the mind and body to become sad. Then came the trickiest part.
[18] Through the power of words and mental visualization, the trainer made the attendees realize that the most important and closest person to us is none other than ourselves. Then they moved on to facing the vision of our mothers. The trainer articulated the appreciation our mothers have towards us, how proud they were for having us, how they had taken the trouble of bearing and raising us and the things they regretted doing that might have contributed to our current state of development. From here, you can tell that our regret was surfaced by the revealing of our parents’ regrets. From here we moved on to the vision of our fathers. Again, the same thing was done, with the inclusion of how our fathers regretted not being as close as they wanted to and how they could not appear as sensitive due to being the head of the family. By now, the feeling of empathy we have for our parents’ regret would have become our regrets too.
[19] To enforce this, the trainer then shifted the state of mind to shock by realistically articulating the death of our parents. If the previous feeling of regret was from empathy, the sense of regret that developed now would have been purely ours. The impact of this image is so powerful, the mind actually simulates our actual thoughts and feelings of how things would be when our parents would really die. Throughout this part, almost all attendees would have come to tears but this part brought wails of crying. Readers, I cannot emphasize further the power of words here.
[20] Making the attendees cry here is not for sadistic fun, it was to bring about the sense of appreciation that we are supposed to have for our parents. Other than that, crying is one of the body’s natural ways of releasing guilt and regret, something that most people rarely do. Despite the effectiveness of the trainers, I can classify three groups of people who would not have been affected. The first one are the veterans, those who have at one point of time or another felt this sense of sadness before. The second one are the innocents, those who do not have enough guilt or regret to bring about this extreme sadness. But majority of those who did not cry belong to the third one, the brainless. These are the people who were tipped off about the crying part and did all they could to distract themselves to avoid this or just don’t have enough intellect to comprehend sadness.
[21] All in all, that part was a success. We were then sent off for a silent toilet break and came back to write a letter to ourselves and another to our parents telling them of this encounter and new vows.
[22] Before, we have been realized the possibility of options after secondary school life. Now the trainers made us realize that we have a whole lifetime ahead of us, and what happens then depends on what we plan now. With the confidence that we could become successful at the beginning of the day, the trainer then guided us into setting our long term goals for ourselves, including our JC and university life and our careers. The day ended with further perfecting our speed reading skills.
Day 3
[23] For the whole morning until mid-afternoon for the third day, we were perfecting our ability to study smart with all the techniques taught to us. Oh yeah, our speed reading record was 1800++ words/min, that was how much words we could process, in just a minute. By the end of it we were able to create detailed mind maps of our own and were fully prepared for studying effectively.
[24] The time after that was spent fine tuning our time management schedules, from day to day schedules to monthly revision schedule. Then we moved on to fine tuning our long term goals. It was similar to a career/education consultation session as we got to ask questions about the career paths that we were interested in. By the end of it, we knew exactly what we would be doing from now till 20 years down the road, having planned an achievable and ideal goal for ourselves.
[25] Fast forward to the evening, which was the parents session and closing ceremony. The parents were first briefed on what their kids have been doing the past two days and what they have learnt. It also included advice on how to treat their kids better and some of the things they ought not to do.
[26] The most-awaited part of the closing ceremony was the speech part. The attendees were asked to volunteer themselves to go up on stage to make a speech on whatever they wanted. From this session, the personal lives of many of our friends were revealed; their personal problems, family problems, suicide attempts, private emotions, hopes and dreams, among other things. I myself made a speech (of course). It was a very brief yet made an impact and touching enough to bring people to tears, that also included an advertisement for the event management business that I aim for twenty years later. It ended with us giving our parents the letter we wrote the previous day and with a renewed sense of purpose, belonging and motivation in all of us.
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I guess I would just like to stop here for now. Basically, the whole thing has so much to explore that I could barely organize my thoughts to write this recap. This recap of the day to day events itself took five full pages in MS Word! Apparently, there is more to be said of the program, thus I will continue in another entry. For the next one, I plan to do a breakdown of all the techniques used that are yet to be revealed.
I know that the recap above is not complete or might have errors, so do inform me by commenting on the entry.
Until then, be content with this entry, please, if you’re not then I don’t know how long I’m supposed to write to satisfy you…
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Seraphim Anthology #04 - Round the Clockwork
Well, I know many have been waiting for the next exposé. Sorry to disappoint but I'm going to have to halt that. Allow me to compensate for that. I realised that the Forbidden Files is not my only column, so I still have to write about other things. Besides, too many exposés will make it boring. Rest assured that the next one will be of high impact, as all my exposés are aspired to be.
I cannot promise a date for the next one, but I can say that I'm postponing the scandal to put the Adam Khoo analysis first. Hope that's good news. Meanwhile, I'm trying to find inspiration for a good story, so help me out here. I have crafted a small handiwork for your content momentarily, so enjoy!
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Seraphim Anthology #04 - Round the Clockwork
A poem by Seraphim
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[By: Seraphim]
Want freedom from this chroniker cage
To find liberation to become the sage
Tree of life the mortals endure
For the sake of living they cannot cure
Five fingers they slowly count till night
Sick of going through the everlasting fight
Seven days straight they loaded their brain
Ate no rewards drank sorrow and pain
Nine tails of wisdom they try to achieve
Tan have their skins yet more sun to grief
[By: PseudoMan / Tarzan]
Has the sun blinded their eyes?
Or is it the moon that's glazed their sight?
For the escape that they so seek
Lies not at the end of the rhythmic tick
Will they not see the trap they've made?
The orb of twelve that counts their fate
Running away from unseen hands
Will their rush lead to good ends?
The monotony of worldly beat
T'would only be silenced by ended greed
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to PseudoMan / Tarzan for contributing that last stanza. It seemed to continue mine perfectly, so I hope you don't mind me posting them together. I've credited you up there though.
I cannot promise a date for the next one, but I can say that I'm postponing the scandal to put the Adam Khoo analysis first. Hope that's good news. Meanwhile, I'm trying to find inspiration for a good story, so help me out here. I have crafted a small handiwork for your content momentarily, so enjoy!
**********************************************************************
Seraphim Anthology #04 - Round the Clockwork
A poem by Seraphim
**********************************************************************
[By: Seraphim]
Want freedom from this chroniker cage
To find liberation to become the sage
Tree of life the mortals endure
For the sake of living they cannot cure
Five fingers they slowly count till night
Sick of going through the everlasting fight
Seven days straight they loaded their brain
Ate no rewards drank sorrow and pain
Nine tails of wisdom they try to achieve
Tan have their skins yet more sun to grief
[By: PseudoMan / Tarzan]
Has the sun blinded their eyes?
Or is it the moon that's glazed their sight?
For the escape that they so seek
Lies not at the end of the rhythmic tick
Will they not see the trap they've made?
The orb of twelve that counts their fate
Running away from unseen hands
Will their rush lead to good ends?
The monotony of worldly beat
T'would only be silenced by ended greed
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to PseudoMan / Tarzan for contributing that last stanza. It seemed to continue mine perfectly, so I hope you don't mind me posting them together. I've credited you up there though.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Stopping for a breather
Don't worry, this will be a short entry. I realise that throughout the course of my blogging days, I've created and stopped a couple of series, besides the typical blog entries that I occassionally make. So for now, I'll be clarifying what will be in and what will be out.
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Farewell to the past
The following series will hereby be given the axe. I have deem them too troublesome to continue, more like I don't give a damn about them anymore.
The Sims 2 series
That series was created without premeditated thinking, thus it was simultaneous and rash. I actually created it out of sheer excitement of the then new game. And I still think it's a nice game though. Just that I don't think it will make good reading anymore. Besides, there's only one part to the series. Sims, you are the weakest link, goodbye.
The Tale of the Undecided Tales
The tale of this tale is a more amusing tale. From the creator(s) of the fiction came this new type of fiction. When I first started writing fiction for the blog, I thought of creating a series where the readers suggest future outcomes. Turns out the readers weren't too enthusiastic about it and made the fiction end up with very weird continuations, including eternal darkness in a hole because there was no response and the introduction of a magic wok because the readers were giving nonsensical response. Guess we have to say goodbye now.
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Welcome to the future
Well that was the past. Now I will show you the future of this blog. Let me formally introduce to you my blog columns!
The Forbidden Files
By now all of you should know what this is. Being the centre and the most celebrated segment of my blog, this has been causing quite a stir with just the first article. For those who were left out, this series will be a series of exposés revealing secrets, scandals and conspiracies behind things in everyday lives. Think you can stand up to the truth? Think again.
The Wilderness Series
As abstract as the name sounds, abstract is the content itself. For eons humans have tried asking themselves the secrets and meaning of life. I am no different. This is where I attempt to answer some of those questions and regurgitate my words on the abstract topics that will be discussed.
Gilded Grimoire
This isn't a new series, just a new name to give to an old feature. The Gilded Grimoire shall now be the name for the short stories in this blog. Four have already been written from the previous blog and more are on your way. Previously, each short story was based around a certain emotional theme, and hopefully I am able to continue this.
Seraphim Anthology
Despite my knack for the truth, this small segment is my personal favourite. This will be where I write out my poems! Fine, so it doesn't sound that exciting, but it's still my favourite anyway. Guess there's not that much to talk about this thing eh?
I guess those four will be enough to keep me occupied for some time. I may be coming up with new series along the way, but chances are quite slim. These four columns should have quite a lot of potential in them and I don't think I'm coming up with any more until I exhaust the possibilities. With that, goodbye and goodnight!
**********************************************************************
Farewell to the past
The following series will hereby be given the axe. I have deem them too troublesome to continue, more like I don't give a damn about them anymore.
The Sims 2 series
That series was created without premeditated thinking, thus it was simultaneous and rash. I actually created it out of sheer excitement of the then new game. And I still think it's a nice game though. Just that I don't think it will make good reading anymore. Besides, there's only one part to the series. Sims, you are the weakest link, goodbye.
The Tale of the Undecided Tales
The tale of this tale is a more amusing tale. From the creator(s) of the fiction came this new type of fiction. When I first started writing fiction for the blog, I thought of creating a series where the readers suggest future outcomes. Turns out the readers weren't too enthusiastic about it and made the fiction end up with very weird continuations, including eternal darkness in a hole because there was no response and the introduction of a magic wok because the readers were giving nonsensical response. Guess we have to say goodbye now.
**********************************************************************
Welcome to the future
Well that was the past. Now I will show you the future of this blog. Let me formally introduce to you my blog columns!
The Forbidden Files
By now all of you should know what this is. Being the centre and the most celebrated segment of my blog, this has been causing quite a stir with just the first article. For those who were left out, this series will be a series of exposés revealing secrets, scandals and conspiracies behind things in everyday lives. Think you can stand up to the truth? Think again.
The Wilderness Series
As abstract as the name sounds, abstract is the content itself. For eons humans have tried asking themselves the secrets and meaning of life. I am no different. This is where I attempt to answer some of those questions and regurgitate my words on the abstract topics that will be discussed.
Gilded Grimoire
This isn't a new series, just a new name to give to an old feature. The Gilded Grimoire shall now be the name for the short stories in this blog. Four have already been written from the previous blog and more are on your way. Previously, each short story was based around a certain emotional theme, and hopefully I am able to continue this.
Seraphim Anthology
Despite my knack for the truth, this small segment is my personal favourite. This will be where I write out my poems! Fine, so it doesn't sound that exciting, but it's still my favourite anyway. Guess there's not that much to talk about this thing eh?
I guess those four will be enough to keep me occupied for some time. I may be coming up with new series along the way, but chances are quite slim. These four columns should have quite a lot of potential in them and I don't think I'm coming up with any more until I exhaust the possibilities. With that, goodbye and goodnight!
Monday, March 21, 2005
Defining my parameters
Greetings again dear readers. For today, I'll just be commenting on the previous entry and clarifying some other things. Some might find it lengthy, but what the heck.
Ok, so let's put first thing's first. I can't ignorantly say that my so called 'exposé' in the previous entry, or future entries for that matter, are not meant to hurt people entirely. I am no stranger to the casualties of truth and honesty. For the casualties of my writing, all I can offer you is my sincere apology. Besides that you have been warned against reading, am I not correct?
I do realise that the type of entries like the previous ones are rather provoking. Well that's the point isn't it? I'm an attention seeking bastard and I'm aspiring to be a damn good writer, so I can't do that by endlessly stammering my sad life to you right? On a more serious note, I would like to let everyone get one thing clear: my writings and opinions are fairly educated ones. They are based to a certain extent on solid facts, that's the whole point of an exposé. This may be wee bit too harsh and shocking to some but I'm here to emphasize the impact of writing on people. What better way to do this than to slam the naked truth in their faces?
True or false, the credibility of my writing is ultimately up to the reader to weigh. I might even sadistically play on that in the future, but I'll try not to abuse your faith in my writing. Despite the negative or probing comments in the tagboard or elsewhere, I deeply, truly appreciate them. No writer would turn away the words of their readers. Besides, there's no greater pleasure than finding the flaws of a perfect masterpiece. (fine, maybe sexual pleasure might equate)
For those that expressed comments privately, I will hold them confidential. Comments like those made by dear old Wraith, I would take pleasure in addressing publically. Oh yeah, Wraith, if you mind me stating the following, just hint me and I'll gladly take it off.
Wraith said "BTW, crime rates for malays are LOWER than the other races... And what has terrorism got to do with malay's downfall? If so, even some Americans are muslims and some were related in terrorist attacks... What one sees and believes in directly affect the type of person they become?". Well that's a summary at least.
Allow me to respond to that. Firstly, I think that what you have said about the malay crime rates meant there are less malay criminals than other races. The actual fact is, and this is for real a fact, the percentage of criminals within the racial group of the Malays is way higher than the percentage of criminals within other racial groups. Sad, but true.
Secondly, terrorism has got quite a lot to do with the downfall. To clarify, the downfall in my exposé is defined by the failure in terms of academics, social, political, etc and the stance of impression that others have. Having said that, terrorism affects the downfall as being related to terrorism obviously will degrade the impression that others have on the Malay community. If it's religion that you say, Singaporean Malays can be safely taken as entirely Muslims and religion plays a large part in defining them. And do you know how Americans muslims are treated? Like vermin, to summarise it. To a certain extent that is similar to Singaporean Muslims too, especially at the time right after the Sept 11 incident.
Thirdly, Wraith mentioned that I'm assuming what one sees they will believe in. You're totally dismissing the other part dear. I said what one sees AND believe in. Those two can't be taken in isolation. Either way, visual input greatly influence one's response and faith, so the point is valid anyway. If you don't believe that what one believes is what one becomes, don't kid me. Have you not heard the power of faith?
Fourthly, I was said to digress a lot. If you read my definition of downfall aboce, I think that clears it up a bit. It's my mistake on my part to not include that in the exposé.
Well, that feels a lot better. I really would like to thank all those people who've read and responded to my exposé. Though it's just my first, the response was encouraging. You guys make me feel like I'm a White House official responding to the president's comment, It's a cool feeling. But that's just me.
Do continue to return here for your cup of linguistic tea and spread the word so that everyone will experience the liberation of walking on Legal Grounds.
(that sounds so much like an ad tagline, cor-nee...)
Ok, so let's put first thing's first. I can't ignorantly say that my so called 'exposé' in the previous entry, or future entries for that matter, are not meant to hurt people entirely. I am no stranger to the casualties of truth and honesty. For the casualties of my writing, all I can offer you is my sincere apology. Besides that you have been warned against reading, am I not correct?
I do realise that the type of entries like the previous ones are rather provoking. Well that's the point isn't it? I'm an attention seeking bastard and I'm aspiring to be a damn good writer, so I can't do that by endlessly stammering my sad life to you right? On a more serious note, I would like to let everyone get one thing clear: my writings and opinions are fairly educated ones. They are based to a certain extent on solid facts, that's the whole point of an exposé. This may be wee bit too harsh and shocking to some but I'm here to emphasize the impact of writing on people. What better way to do this than to slam the naked truth in their faces?
True or false, the credibility of my writing is ultimately up to the reader to weigh. I might even sadistically play on that in the future, but I'll try not to abuse your faith in my writing. Despite the negative or probing comments in the tagboard or elsewhere, I deeply, truly appreciate them. No writer would turn away the words of their readers. Besides, there's no greater pleasure than finding the flaws of a perfect masterpiece. (fine, maybe sexual pleasure might equate)
For those that expressed comments privately, I will hold them confidential. Comments like those made by dear old Wraith, I would take pleasure in addressing publically. Oh yeah, Wraith, if you mind me stating the following, just hint me and I'll gladly take it off.
Wraith said "BTW, crime rates for malays are LOWER than the other races... And what has terrorism got to do with malay's downfall? If so, even some Americans are muslims and some were related in terrorist attacks... What one sees and believes in directly affect the type of person they become?". Well that's a summary at least.
Allow me to respond to that. Firstly, I think that what you have said about the malay crime rates meant there are less malay criminals than other races. The actual fact is, and this is for real a fact, the percentage of criminals within the racial group of the Malays is way higher than the percentage of criminals within other racial groups. Sad, but true.
Secondly, terrorism has got quite a lot to do with the downfall. To clarify, the downfall in my exposé is defined by the failure in terms of academics, social, political, etc and the stance of impression that others have. Having said that, terrorism affects the downfall as being related to terrorism obviously will degrade the impression that others have on the Malay community. If it's religion that you say, Singaporean Malays can be safely taken as entirely Muslims and religion plays a large part in defining them. And do you know how Americans muslims are treated? Like vermin, to summarise it. To a certain extent that is similar to Singaporean Muslims too, especially at the time right after the Sept 11 incident.
Thirdly, Wraith mentioned that I'm assuming what one sees they will believe in. You're totally dismissing the other part dear. I said what one sees AND believe in. Those two can't be taken in isolation. Either way, visual input greatly influence one's response and faith, so the point is valid anyway. If you don't believe that what one believes is what one becomes, don't kid me. Have you not heard the power of faith?
Fourthly, I was said to digress a lot. If you read my definition of downfall aboce, I think that clears it up a bit. It's my mistake on my part to not include that in the exposé.
Well, that feels a lot better. I really would like to thank all those people who've read and responded to my exposé. Though it's just my first, the response was encouraging. You guys make me feel like I'm a White House official responding to the president's comment, It's a cool feeling. But that's just me.
Do continue to return here for your cup of linguistic tea and spread the word so that everyone will experience the liberation of walking on Legal Grounds.
(that sounds so much like an ad tagline, cor-nee...)
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Forbidden Files #01 - To be swept away
As promised, I am coming up with an argument on a very politically fragile topic, one that has been close to my heart and dying to write about. What is it? Read on below. I hope that this will be a feature of interest to readers, so please do hint me comments on possible topics that might be of your interest in the tagboard.
For those who is reading this for the first time, please check out the previous entry for an introduction and heed the warning above the Harry Potter advertisement.
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Forbidden Files #01 - To be swept away
An exposé by Seraphim
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The Malays in Singapore make up the second largest proportion of people in the country. Despite once being Malay soil, Singapore has developed into a country dominated by the Chinese and surprisingly the foreigners, a group that makes up Singapore's minority group.
Over the years, the hold that the Malays have on the country as a whole has been slowly slipping away. It all began, of course, with the very founding of Singapore. The moment that the land was handed over from the Malays to the British was the moment that sparked off the Malays' downfall. Of couse, many sees this as a wise choice of the locals to let the higher power mould our beginnings, but what they fail to realise is why this was so.
The real reason the land was lost from the Malays was not because of wisdom, but because of greed. In secrecy, the government has managed to slip this piece of information into all youths without their notice. What I'm talking about here is the fact that lower secondary social studies never fail to emphasize how much MONEY the British paid the Malay Sultan in exchange for control over the land.
Thank God the government has enough mercy to spare the real reason why the Sultan needed the money, for the sake of the Malays. But since this is an exposé article, I'll defy the remaining efforts the Malays have put to save their faces and reveal it anyway. The Sultan needed the money for cock fighting, as in cockerel. Before the days of betting on horse racing, the early locals betted on fighting cockerels. Obviously the Sultan was a big fan of this.
I mean, hey, who in the world with the right mind would hand over an oversized island of a swamp to some guy in tights, weird sideburn and an exaggerated English accent when the land has strategic geographical advantages and an economic potential? If that guy wanted money, he could have just invested in the good old Singapore. Too bad he was desperately in debt.
And that concludes the embarrassing beginning, JUST the beginning.
More than a century has passed since then, yet nothing has been improving. The loss of the land to the British is now emphasized with the loss of control to the Chinese. The crime rate of Malays are way higher than the other races, and that goes for pregnancy, abortion, academics, and all the social problems there is.
To make it worse, the Malays are even associated to terrorism and for a reason that they themselves can’t deny. So far, all the terrorist-related prisoners are all Malays, most of which were in direct relation to J.I. and indirectly, the Al-Qaeda. Heck, Osama bin Laden’s a Muslim, and so are Malays. The relation is undeniable.
We can’t say that the Malays do not realize their mistakes. Some time back, the former prime minister of Malaysia himself made a public announcement about the failure of Malays. If that isn’t publicity of the Malays’ failure, then I don’t know what is. In that announcement, through tears he revealed to the Malaysian Malays their non-productivity despite the special rights that they have been endowed with since their birth and since the beginning of that nation. Even at the cost of the prime minister’s humility the situation is still the same.
Back in Singapore, efforts to publicize all the failures has become an ongoing effort. The latest edition to that effort is the weekly show titled ‘Hanyut’ on Monday nights on Suria. (for those who cared, I assisted in the production of the theme song, the singer is a stupid minah by the way). The name means to be swept away, the inspiration to this article and the focus of this exposé. Every week, the series tells the true life stories of some dysfunctional teenagers, with a different topic each show. The stories could be about anything negative, including gangsters, tattoos, extramarital pregnancies, abortion, smoking, drugs, you get the picture.
Now, to shed light on such negative matters to the community that spawned them could have several effects. The first is the classic ‘learn from your mistakes’. Probably when the producers thought of the show, this was what they had in mind. Though other consequences to producing the show were probably dismissed or probably not even thought of, typically Malay-like.
The second effect is to stereotype everyone’s impression of Malay teens. The irony is that the ‘everyone’ I refer to include Malay parents themselves. How many here can deny that Malay parents, after watching the show, will tell their children to not follow what was shown on TV without realizing that their children were the ones committing those offences themselves. As if failing is not enough, now the Malays just had to ensure that everyone thinks that they are failures.
The third effect is more psychological. Scientific research has proven that what one sees and believes in directly affect the type of person they become. Now let’s theorize what could happen to a Malay teenager who watches the show. I think you can see it already. Heck, just look down at the void deck to get a clearer picture. Now you can see what happened. When we thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, the Malays once again defied that by putting their youths’ future in a vice grip of past failures. They take the saying ‘history repeats itself’ to a whole new level.
What sparked my fury personally was the tone in which the show was delivered. It makes the viewers all seem naïve and innocent, as if the wrong-doers in the series are some bunch of losers from a faraway place. Well that could qualify since their colossal bosoms did originate from their thinking of walking to the bus stop is a marathon (notice that was a metaphor, not a simile).
If they wanted to make a show about how much the Malay community has failed, at least make it like a straight-to-the-head tight slap, like the article I’m writing now. They should produce a show exposing the sick problems that naïve and innocent looking Malays actually face instead of the naked-to-the-eye problems. Retelling the tale of past mistakes is becoming such a cliché. Surfacing newer problems would be such a touché.
Sometimes one would wonder how a disaster at this massive a scale could be kept blissful to the public eye. More importantly one would continue to wonder what could possibly the solution to all this. Day by day, the stakes are getting greater. As the public eye turns towards the direction of the Malays, will we see them scattering about like the filthy rats they are or rise from the ashes to be born anew. Only time can bring the ultimate exposé to that question.
And yes, I am a Malay.
For those who is reading this for the first time, please check out the previous entry for an introduction and heed the warning above the Harry Potter advertisement.
**********************************************************************
Forbidden Files #01 - To be swept away
An exposé by Seraphim
**********************************************************************
The Malays in Singapore make up the second largest proportion of people in the country. Despite once being Malay soil, Singapore has developed into a country dominated by the Chinese and surprisingly the foreigners, a group that makes up Singapore's minority group.
Over the years, the hold that the Malays have on the country as a whole has been slowly slipping away. It all began, of course, with the very founding of Singapore. The moment that the land was handed over from the Malays to the British was the moment that sparked off the Malays' downfall. Of couse, many sees this as a wise choice of the locals to let the higher power mould our beginnings, but what they fail to realise is why this was so.
The real reason the land was lost from the Malays was not because of wisdom, but because of greed. In secrecy, the government has managed to slip this piece of information into all youths without their notice. What I'm talking about here is the fact that lower secondary social studies never fail to emphasize how much MONEY the British paid the Malay Sultan in exchange for control over the land.
Thank God the government has enough mercy to spare the real reason why the Sultan needed the money, for the sake of the Malays. But since this is an exposé article, I'll defy the remaining efforts the Malays have put to save their faces and reveal it anyway. The Sultan needed the money for cock fighting, as in cockerel. Before the days of betting on horse racing, the early locals betted on fighting cockerels. Obviously the Sultan was a big fan of this.
I mean, hey, who in the world with the right mind would hand over an oversized island of a swamp to some guy in tights, weird sideburn and an exaggerated English accent when the land has strategic geographical advantages and an economic potential? If that guy wanted money, he could have just invested in the good old Singapore. Too bad he was desperately in debt.
And that concludes the embarrassing beginning, JUST the beginning.
More than a century has passed since then, yet nothing has been improving. The loss of the land to the British is now emphasized with the loss of control to the Chinese. The crime rate of Malays are way higher than the other races, and that goes for pregnancy, abortion, academics, and all the social problems there is.
To make it worse, the Malays are even associated to terrorism and for a reason that they themselves can’t deny. So far, all the terrorist-related prisoners are all Malays, most of which were in direct relation to J.I. and indirectly, the Al-Qaeda. Heck, Osama bin Laden’s a Muslim, and so are Malays. The relation is undeniable.
We can’t say that the Malays do not realize their mistakes. Some time back, the former prime minister of Malaysia himself made a public announcement about the failure of Malays. If that isn’t publicity of the Malays’ failure, then I don’t know what is. In that announcement, through tears he revealed to the Malaysian Malays their non-productivity despite the special rights that they have been endowed with since their birth and since the beginning of that nation. Even at the cost of the prime minister’s humility the situation is still the same.
Back in Singapore, efforts to publicize all the failures has become an ongoing effort. The latest edition to that effort is the weekly show titled ‘Hanyut’ on Monday nights on Suria. (for those who cared, I assisted in the production of the theme song, the singer is a stupid minah by the way). The name means to be swept away, the inspiration to this article and the focus of this exposé. Every week, the series tells the true life stories of some dysfunctional teenagers, with a different topic each show. The stories could be about anything negative, including gangsters, tattoos, extramarital pregnancies, abortion, smoking, drugs, you get the picture.
Now, to shed light on such negative matters to the community that spawned them could have several effects. The first is the classic ‘learn from your mistakes’. Probably when the producers thought of the show, this was what they had in mind. Though other consequences to producing the show were probably dismissed or probably not even thought of, typically Malay-like.
The second effect is to stereotype everyone’s impression of Malay teens. The irony is that the ‘everyone’ I refer to include Malay parents themselves. How many here can deny that Malay parents, after watching the show, will tell their children to not follow what was shown on TV without realizing that their children were the ones committing those offences themselves. As if failing is not enough, now the Malays just had to ensure that everyone thinks that they are failures.
The third effect is more psychological. Scientific research has proven that what one sees and believes in directly affect the type of person they become. Now let’s theorize what could happen to a Malay teenager who watches the show. I think you can see it already. Heck, just look down at the void deck to get a clearer picture. Now you can see what happened. When we thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, the Malays once again defied that by putting their youths’ future in a vice grip of past failures. They take the saying ‘history repeats itself’ to a whole new level.
What sparked my fury personally was the tone in which the show was delivered. It makes the viewers all seem naïve and innocent, as if the wrong-doers in the series are some bunch of losers from a faraway place. Well that could qualify since their colossal bosoms did originate from their thinking of walking to the bus stop is a marathon (notice that was a metaphor, not a simile).
If they wanted to make a show about how much the Malay community has failed, at least make it like a straight-to-the-head tight slap, like the article I’m writing now. They should produce a show exposing the sick problems that naïve and innocent looking Malays actually face instead of the naked-to-the-eye problems. Retelling the tale of past mistakes is becoming such a cliché. Surfacing newer problems would be such a touché.
Sometimes one would wonder how a disaster at this massive a scale could be kept blissful to the public eye. More importantly one would continue to wonder what could possibly the solution to all this. Day by day, the stakes are getting greater. As the public eye turns towards the direction of the Malays, will we see them scattering about like the filthy rats they are or rise from the ashes to be born anew. Only time can bring the ultimate exposé to that question.
And yes, I am a Malay.
Monday, March 14, 2005
It begins.... Again...
**********************************************************************
Epilogue
**********************************************************************
Days, weeks, months have passed. Over the past three months, the lone Seraph has dragged his battered body over the trecherous horizon. Three long, painstaking months of smelling rotting flesh upon his body.
It was three months ago that he escaped from the final battle. The last battle of the Seraphim, the battle that took them all, save one. It was the battle of Heaven's Hell Grounds, the last city of the Seraphim. Though he managed to revived the dead bodies of his comrades to strike a second time, the enemy nonetheless prevailed, allowing his just amper time to make his escape away from his doomed comrades.
A battle was lost, yet his hope did not. For the past three months, his motive had been clear. From the remains of Heaven's Hell Grounds he set off for the one place he knew he could seek sanctuary. Setting off for the journey was easy, but heading for it was not, as his destination was nothing more than myth to him.
Ancient Seraphim mythology spoke of a sacred place at the heart of the lands. Numerous tales told of the place's wonders and marvels that supposed travellers once encountered, though no one could account for actually coming there. This place that the myth speaks of is a place of controversy, a place where the forbidden is ordained.
The obstacle to heading for such a place is its exact wonder. A place of controversy means that it exists yet it does not. A myth. Despite this the lone Seraph pushed on. Not out of insanity but out of desperation. If the place truly exist, it would be the only place where his hope lies. For it is there that ancient magic was hidden...
**********************************************************************
Well hello again dear readers! 3 months of no blogging, I can't describe how nice it feels to speak my mind again. So before we get on to other posts, let me brief you about what this new blog is all about.
Seraphim Legal Grounds
A place where the forbidden is ordained. Many would wonder as to what that means. In short, this is the place where forbidden topics will be spoke, forbidden opinions will be heard and forbidden information be shared. A place where the forbidden is allowed. This will be a place of danger to those whose minds are too feeble to understand the full expanse of forbidden ideas. For this is what this place will become: the forbidden grounds.
Other than the usual dose of short stories, poems and exaggerated daily reports, there will be new segments as well. The first of which is the Seraphim Jounral. It will be a series following the tale of where our Seraph left off in the previous blog. In this series, he will be exploring the new land of Legal Grounds, in which he will encounter new beings and bestowed with a new destiny.
The second is obviously the Forbidden Files. It is basically a series of political arguments regarding anything that could spark off a riot in some people. We're talking on the level of racism and gossip here, if you catch my drift. I intend this to be a very dangerous grounds indeed.
Other than that, I'll probably pop up with new stuff along the way, so do look out for them. Well, I'm a little exhausted from revamping the whole site, so I will retire now.
Until the fires are ready to burn.
Epilogue
**********************************************************************
Days, weeks, months have passed. Over the past three months, the lone Seraph has dragged his battered body over the trecherous horizon. Three long, painstaking months of smelling rotting flesh upon his body.
It was three months ago that he escaped from the final battle. The last battle of the Seraphim, the battle that took them all, save one. It was the battle of Heaven's Hell Grounds, the last city of the Seraphim. Though he managed to revived the dead bodies of his comrades to strike a second time, the enemy nonetheless prevailed, allowing his just amper time to make his escape away from his doomed comrades.
A battle was lost, yet his hope did not. For the past three months, his motive had been clear. From the remains of Heaven's Hell Grounds he set off for the one place he knew he could seek sanctuary. Setting off for the journey was easy, but heading for it was not, as his destination was nothing more than myth to him.
Ancient Seraphim mythology spoke of a sacred place at the heart of the lands. Numerous tales told of the place's wonders and marvels that supposed travellers once encountered, though no one could account for actually coming there. This place that the myth speaks of is a place of controversy, a place where the forbidden is ordained.
The obstacle to heading for such a place is its exact wonder. A place of controversy means that it exists yet it does not. A myth. Despite this the lone Seraph pushed on. Not out of insanity but out of desperation. If the place truly exist, it would be the only place where his hope lies. For it is there that ancient magic was hidden...
**********************************************************************
Well hello again dear readers! 3 months of no blogging, I can't describe how nice it feels to speak my mind again. So before we get on to other posts, let me brief you about what this new blog is all about.
Seraphim Legal Grounds
A place where the forbidden is ordained. Many would wonder as to what that means. In short, this is the place where forbidden topics will be spoke, forbidden opinions will be heard and forbidden information be shared. A place where the forbidden is allowed. This will be a place of danger to those whose minds are too feeble to understand the full expanse of forbidden ideas. For this is what this place will become: the forbidden grounds.
Other than the usual dose of short stories, poems and exaggerated daily reports, there will be new segments as well. The first of which is the Seraphim Jounral. It will be a series following the tale of where our Seraph left off in the previous blog. In this series, he will be exploring the new land of Legal Grounds, in which he will encounter new beings and bestowed with a new destiny.
The second is obviously the Forbidden Files. It is basically a series of political arguments regarding anything that could spark off a riot in some people. We're talking on the level of racism and gossip here, if you catch my drift. I intend this to be a very dangerous grounds indeed.
Other than that, I'll probably pop up with new stuff along the way, so do look out for them. Well, I'm a little exhausted from revamping the whole site, so I will retire now.
Until the fires are ready to burn.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Events Update
**********************************************************************
WARNING: Before screaming, read the following first
Skip to the news section further below to skip the crap
**********************************************************************
The following are the probable reasons that you might want to consider to scream for:
- Irregular/seldom update of the blog entries
- Old template
- Those irritating entry messages
- Unreasonable reasons for hating me
**********************************************************************
SCREAM NOW
**********************************************************************
Ugh, another three weeks and not a single entry. Months and still the template doesn't change. Those irritating pop-up messages... What am I doing?!?! Why does time abandon me?!?! Why am I even blaming time that doesn't even do anything?!?!
What the hell am I saying?
Let's try to make sense now. Since school closed, there hasn't been a single day when I could sit down and rest without having anything to do. Actually I have barely stayed at home for 3 hours straight without having to go out (except for night time that is). Pathetic isn't it? I have got to find time to do complete unfinished business, do my hobby and silence those homeworks.
To make it up to you readers, below is a compilation of some events that you might be interested in. For once I'm writing in a factual report style, so you can heave away the worry as there will be little crap. Ok ok, I should cut the crap now. Read on for the articles.
**********************************************************************
Councillors' General Meeting
23 November 2004
**********************************************************************
The gloom was still fogging around the air on that Tuesday morning when councillors started to arrive for the meeting. Even before the meeting started disaster has begun to strike. Due to a miscommunication of the actual meeting time the councillors started to arrive over a wide time range and had to stare at empty space for what seemed an eternity.
When the councillors did arrive, a quick glance could tell that the attendance was attrocious. A handful of the sec 2s were obviously AWOL and more than half of the sec 3s obviously skipped the meeting entirely/purposely. To heat up the situation was the mingling of the peer leaders, who also came upon the request of the DM. Basically they acted as catalysts for the production of inattentiveness.
Many stared at each other as the beginning of the meeting was much awaited for. Amazingly the president had no agenda for the meeting. I repeat: no agenda for the meeting. Impossible/improbable/impractical but this is the bitter fact caused by the excellent president. So for the first part of the meeting the Exco and the DM had to what they call 'bullshit' through till the second part came.
The second part was a much called for relief. The much anticipated Apprenticeship Program has finally been initiated and officially recognised as the official new grouping for the student council. The present councillors were split into their various departments, where they were briefed about their department, told about future projects, learnt of what are to be expected of them and started on a small task to start the ball rolling.
Even so some departments suffered boredom as their leading Exco did not have anything planned out. But what the hell, my department had one hell of a time as they learnt of the hidden things that I deal with and the advantages of being in my department, which included a sharing of some classified documents with them. Also we worked on next year's duty roster, previously seemed boring but the thought process I took with them spiced things up by a lot.
The meeting was cut short by the sudden request for the Exco by the DM to help prepare some documents for the open house. Unknowing to most students, this year's open house was doomed from the start with last-minute preparations and improper completion of work. I'll reveal more about the open house in the next article. The Exco ended up having to do some of the documents which the organising committee were originally supposed to do. At that point I couldn't help myself from silently giggling as I knew that things were being screwed up.
**********************************************************************
School Open House
25 November 2004
**********************************************************************
The morning began with me arriving at Jurong East Sports Complex, where a 'Choose your secondary school wisely' Seminar was going to be held. Preparations was being done 2 hours in advanced to make sure that everything would be fine.
Basically the whole event consisted of a lot of ushering, standing and waiting. Anotherwords: bullshit. That basically sums it up.
Fast forward to 12:30. The students from the sports complex returned to school to take over duties for the open house. Again, it was all boring duty work in the soaking rain, fitting the gloomy and rural atmosphere that enveloped the school.
Let me emphasize again the atrocity of the open house's failure. This year's visitor count was only around 530, with last year's count being around 1300 and the previous year's being more than 1500. Again, I couldn't help but laugh at the failure of others. What and why the failures are quite personal to me and classified for the school, so let's keep it to that.
All you have to know is the open house was screwed. And you folks heard it first right here from Seraphim Haven.
**********************************************************************
Councillors' Outing
26 November 2004
**********************************************************************
From the moment the idea of a council outing was thought out, everybody had the impression that it would be a complete failure. Up to the moment of arrival, everyone still had that mindset. Things did not look any brighter with the improper planning and ineffecient announcement of the outing.
But what a surprise it was for everyone who turned up! Despite the fact that people turned up at different times, the outing was a blast! It was a mystery as to what made it so much fun; was it the ball games, was it the chit-chats or was it just the good old fooling around? Well that did not matter as all had a good time that afternoon.
The outing started out simple, with some guys playing ball and the girls walking along the beach. Then it started to get aggressive as the councillors had a water bomb war. After that soaking experience, everyone got wild and wet as they ensured that everyone was in the water. Two guys escape the sea's wrath though, as they ran all the way to the other side of the beach to escape the swarm of councillors hell-bent on getting those two wet.
A lot happened in the waters of East Coast Park that afternoon, including a lot of gossipping, chatting and god-knows-what-else. There was the usual Battle of the Sexes as all of us played a lame variation of water polo all the way till sunset. To make it fair, some of the guys pretended to forget their gender for the game.
By the time we got out of the water, it was near 7:30. Changing took ages for both the guys and girls. When we came back, the heavenly smell of pizzas greeted us. Then it was a hell lot of chatting, yakking and giggling. Departure time was around 9:00 or so. But it wasn't straight home for most of us. Some went to McDonald's and some stayed at the beach.
ETA for home for most of us was at 00:00.
**********************************************************************
Wll, I could still go on about the Prom Night, but that would bore most of you to death since it only concerned the graduating students. It wasn't that interesting anyway. I guess that's all for now. Till next time!
WARNING: Before screaming, read the following first
Skip to the news section further below to skip the crap
**********************************************************************
The following are the probable reasons that you might want to consider to scream for:
- Irregular/seldom update of the blog entries
- Old template
- Those irritating entry messages
- Unreasonable reasons for hating me
**********************************************************************
SCREAM NOW
**********************************************************************
Ugh, another three weeks and not a single entry. Months and still the template doesn't change. Those irritating pop-up messages... What am I doing?!?! Why does time abandon me?!?! Why am I even blaming time that doesn't even do anything?!?!
What the hell am I saying?
Let's try to make sense now. Since school closed, there hasn't been a single day when I could sit down and rest without having anything to do. Actually I have barely stayed at home for 3 hours straight without having to go out (except for night time that is). Pathetic isn't it? I have got to find time to do complete unfinished business, do my hobby and silence those homeworks.
To make it up to you readers, below is a compilation of some events that you might be interested in. For once I'm writing in a factual report style, so you can heave away the worry as there will be little crap. Ok ok, I should cut the crap now. Read on for the articles.
**********************************************************************
Councillors' General Meeting
23 November 2004
**********************************************************************
The gloom was still fogging around the air on that Tuesday morning when councillors started to arrive for the meeting. Even before the meeting started disaster has begun to strike. Due to a miscommunication of the actual meeting time the councillors started to arrive over a wide time range and had to stare at empty space for what seemed an eternity.
When the councillors did arrive, a quick glance could tell that the attendance was attrocious. A handful of the sec 2s were obviously AWOL and more than half of the sec 3s obviously skipped the meeting entirely/purposely. To heat up the situation was the mingling of the peer leaders, who also came upon the request of the DM. Basically they acted as catalysts for the production of inattentiveness.
Many stared at each other as the beginning of the meeting was much awaited for. Amazingly the president had no agenda for the meeting. I repeat: no agenda for the meeting. Impossible/improbable/impractical but this is the bitter fact caused by the excellent president. So for the first part of the meeting the Exco and the DM had to what they call 'bullshit' through till the second part came.
The second part was a much called for relief. The much anticipated Apprenticeship Program has finally been initiated and officially recognised as the official new grouping for the student council. The present councillors were split into their various departments, where they were briefed about their department, told about future projects, learnt of what are to be expected of them and started on a small task to start the ball rolling.
Even so some departments suffered boredom as their leading Exco did not have anything planned out. But what the hell, my department had one hell of a time as they learnt of the hidden things that I deal with and the advantages of being in my department, which included a sharing of some classified documents with them. Also we worked on next year's duty roster, previously seemed boring but the thought process I took with them spiced things up by a lot.
The meeting was cut short by the sudden request for the Exco by the DM to help prepare some documents for the open house. Unknowing to most students, this year's open house was doomed from the start with last-minute preparations and improper completion of work. I'll reveal more about the open house in the next article. The Exco ended up having to do some of the documents which the organising committee were originally supposed to do. At that point I couldn't help myself from silently giggling as I knew that things were being screwed up.
**********************************************************************
School Open House
25 November 2004
**********************************************************************
The morning began with me arriving at Jurong East Sports Complex, where a 'Choose your secondary school wisely' Seminar was going to be held. Preparations was being done 2 hours in advanced to make sure that everything would be fine.
Basically the whole event consisted of a lot of ushering, standing and waiting. Anotherwords: bullshit. That basically sums it up.
Fast forward to 12:30. The students from the sports complex returned to school to take over duties for the open house. Again, it was all boring duty work in the soaking rain, fitting the gloomy and rural atmosphere that enveloped the school.
Let me emphasize again the atrocity of the open house's failure. This year's visitor count was only around 530, with last year's count being around 1300 and the previous year's being more than 1500. Again, I couldn't help but laugh at the failure of others. What and why the failures are quite personal to me and classified for the school, so let's keep it to that.
All you have to know is the open house was screwed. And you folks heard it first right here from Seraphim Haven.
**********************************************************************
Councillors' Outing
26 November 2004
**********************************************************************
From the moment the idea of a council outing was thought out, everybody had the impression that it would be a complete failure. Up to the moment of arrival, everyone still had that mindset. Things did not look any brighter with the improper planning and ineffecient announcement of the outing.
But what a surprise it was for everyone who turned up! Despite the fact that people turned up at different times, the outing was a blast! It was a mystery as to what made it so much fun; was it the ball games, was it the chit-chats or was it just the good old fooling around? Well that did not matter as all had a good time that afternoon.
The outing started out simple, with some guys playing ball and the girls walking along the beach. Then it started to get aggressive as the councillors had a water bomb war. After that soaking experience, everyone got wild and wet as they ensured that everyone was in the water. Two guys escape the sea's wrath though, as they ran all the way to the other side of the beach to escape the swarm of councillors hell-bent on getting those two wet.
A lot happened in the waters of East Coast Park that afternoon, including a lot of gossipping, chatting and god-knows-what-else. There was the usual Battle of the Sexes as all of us played a lame variation of water polo all the way till sunset. To make it fair, some of the guys pretended to forget their gender for the game.
By the time we got out of the water, it was near 7:30. Changing took ages for both the guys and girls. When we came back, the heavenly smell of pizzas greeted us. Then it was a hell lot of chatting, yakking and giggling. Departure time was around 9:00 or so. But it wasn't straight home for most of us. Some went to McDonald's and some stayed at the beach.
ETA for home for most of us was at 00:00.
**********************************************************************
Wll, I could still go on about the Prom Night, but that would bore most of you to death since it only concerned the graduating students. It wasn't that interesting anyway. I guess that's all for now. Till next time!
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Gilded Grimoire #03 - In the Face of Death
For more than three weeks I have left this blog. Three long weeks deprived from writing something lame. Sure feels good to be back. Just for the record, I haven’t been doing sick things with The Sims 2, the previous entry is clearly an exaggeration. That is not to say that what was mentioned is not possible… Let’s not get creative here. Like I have said in the previous entry, I’ll be posting a new story, so here it is! Another attempt at human sentimentality, so bear with me. Guess what’s the guy’s profession, answer’s at the end.
**********************************************************************
Gilded Grimoire #03 – In the Face of Death – Imperfection
A fiction by Seraphim
**********************************************************************
Prologue
Through the whistling of the wind I heard the voice of an angel. A voice so gentle and smooth, it was otherworldly. The voice sang out to me, singing the song of mercy. Never before had I doubted myself in the face of a woman, never had I questioned my actions. The merciful doubt angered me, almost to the point of frustration and utmost doubt. Yet my fingers pressed on, and the song was nothing more than an echo.
Chapter 1
The Monday blues hung heavily in the stuffy air-conditioned air of the bustling train. A new week, a new assignment. My client wanted the job done within a few days, like all the other clients. To kill the boredom, I flipped through the file given by my client. As usual, all details were in it. The assignment seemed to be similar as all the previous ones. Without much thought, I stuffed the file back in my briefcase as I approached my destination.
Outside, it was all blue. The constant dripping of the rain thudded against the roof as I made my way to the building. It was not the peak of the assignment yet, just a survey of the area, and the other… client. The whole thing seemed dull, having done the same thing over and over again for the past few years. Little did I know that it would be a whole new experience for me.
Chapter 2
Staring at my watch, it read twelve noon. Office workers started to rush out of the building, eager to escape the urban prison and satisfy their culinary desires. Person after person I stared, scanning for the person my client requested for. Then I saw her. Time itself seemed to slow down as she opened the door to reveal herself to me. There was a sudden aura emitting from the door to honour her exit. As she made her way out the door, all her aspects radiated to me. I gapingly scanned her slowly, foot first upwards. Her freshly polished high-heels gleamed as a spotlight for her slender calf. Further up, her skirt sufficiently covered her thighs until near her knee, but failed terribly to hide her shapely assets. Her office blouse gave her a sense of neatness, yet revealing her appealing inner aspects. She was not short of feminine pride, as hers needed no words to make them more cravingly attractive.
On her neck rests the most perfect face humanity could offer. Heads turned as she looked around, unknowingly swinging her hair gently like a flirting gesture. Her lips mocked the desires of men with a sly smile carved on them. But what topped it all off were her eyes – blue spheres constantly probing into the souls of those she laid her stare on. The only eyes that made me want to blurt out all my hidden intentions.
It was all breathtaking.
She was… perfect.
As the astonishment of her beauty slowly drained from me, awe gradually turned into panic. My assignment cannot be done with such a request! How could I do my job with someone who could make me shake like a little boy? Perhaps the only person ever to make me feel so. It was all but impossible. With all my might I wanted to call my client back and reject the assignment, but I already knew that it was not an option. In the chaos of my confusion, I turned back to ponder about the next day.
Chapter 3
I was not the usual calm and collective self like I always have been. In fact, I was even nervous – a feeling that was alien to me. Something about this woman intrigues me so much it hinders me from executing my assignment. It daunted onto me that there was no escape out of this one. My assignment had to be done, even at the cost of my interest.
Once again I made my way to that dreadful building, never eager for what was to come next. The wait for lunchtime was almost unbearable, seeming to stretch for eternity. When it came, I was not the least anxious. Slowly the occupants of the building filed out, leaving only a handful left behind. One of them was my prime target, the woman of my dreams. A thought occurred to me to enjoy my reward before it is due, but I quickly dismissed it, as I know I would get carried away.
From a distance I watched the woman make her way to her private eating spot. She seemed to like being alone after being enslaved by the demands of the corporate world. She has yet to know that I would be the one to free her from her shackles.
I approached her silently, not wanting her to even acknowledge my presence. Swiftly I entered the small, dark room and locked the door behind me. Oh what a sight it was, to watch her nibble at that croissant while staring out through the window at the other corporate slaves below. It surprised me at how she could mesmerize someone so effortlessly. As I snapped back to reality, I took out my instrument of finality, armed it and waited for the moment.
Chapter 4
I let the wait take as long as it could, waited for her to finish her food and finally face me. When she did turn, she was staring into the barrel of my gun, equipped with the best silencer money could buy. She immediately froze as fear paralyzed every fiber of her body.
Yet at that perfect moment of triumph I hesitated. An alien feeling rose through me that rendered my finger incapable of pulling the trigger. I looked at her watery eyes and I knew. For the first time in my life I felt mercy. A voice inside my head whispered at the immorality of my actions. How could I destroy something so beautiful, so perfect? Something that my body ached to own. I felt myself getting stiff as I played with some playful thoughts.
There I was at this controversial point, with the point of my gun at a point on her temple. To kill or not to kill, that is the question. I knew my time was running out, and I had to do what I had come for.
So I pulled the trigger.
My heart shattered as I watched her fall, but it did not seem to satisfy me. I pulled the trigger again, and again, and again, as though ensuring her death would delete the wrongness of killing something so beautiful. This single death overwhelmed me. A tear rolled down my cheek as my emotions spilled over. As I walk away from the scene of tragedy, all thoughts slowly died away like the death that just occurred.
It would be just another day in the life of an assassin.
**********************************************************************
Phew, that was a tough one. Hope all of you enjoyed it. I would probably be posting more fiction soon, but I need some topics to work on. So just say something in the tagboard! I know I said that I’ll change the template after the exams, but I’m kinda busy, so it will take some time. To end it off, let me wish all of you a Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya!
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Gilded Grimoire #03 – In the Face of Death – Imperfection
A fiction by Seraphim
**********************************************************************
Prologue
Through the whistling of the wind I heard the voice of an angel. A voice so gentle and smooth, it was otherworldly. The voice sang out to me, singing the song of mercy. Never before had I doubted myself in the face of a woman, never had I questioned my actions. The merciful doubt angered me, almost to the point of frustration and utmost doubt. Yet my fingers pressed on, and the song was nothing more than an echo.
Chapter 1
The Monday blues hung heavily in the stuffy air-conditioned air of the bustling train. A new week, a new assignment. My client wanted the job done within a few days, like all the other clients. To kill the boredom, I flipped through the file given by my client. As usual, all details were in it. The assignment seemed to be similar as all the previous ones. Without much thought, I stuffed the file back in my briefcase as I approached my destination.
Outside, it was all blue. The constant dripping of the rain thudded against the roof as I made my way to the building. It was not the peak of the assignment yet, just a survey of the area, and the other… client. The whole thing seemed dull, having done the same thing over and over again for the past few years. Little did I know that it would be a whole new experience for me.
Chapter 2
Staring at my watch, it read twelve noon. Office workers started to rush out of the building, eager to escape the urban prison and satisfy their culinary desires. Person after person I stared, scanning for the person my client requested for. Then I saw her. Time itself seemed to slow down as she opened the door to reveal herself to me. There was a sudden aura emitting from the door to honour her exit. As she made her way out the door, all her aspects radiated to me. I gapingly scanned her slowly, foot first upwards. Her freshly polished high-heels gleamed as a spotlight for her slender calf. Further up, her skirt sufficiently covered her thighs until near her knee, but failed terribly to hide her shapely assets. Her office blouse gave her a sense of neatness, yet revealing her appealing inner aspects. She was not short of feminine pride, as hers needed no words to make them more cravingly attractive.
On her neck rests the most perfect face humanity could offer. Heads turned as she looked around, unknowingly swinging her hair gently like a flirting gesture. Her lips mocked the desires of men with a sly smile carved on them. But what topped it all off were her eyes – blue spheres constantly probing into the souls of those she laid her stare on. The only eyes that made me want to blurt out all my hidden intentions.
It was all breathtaking.
She was… perfect.
As the astonishment of her beauty slowly drained from me, awe gradually turned into panic. My assignment cannot be done with such a request! How could I do my job with someone who could make me shake like a little boy? Perhaps the only person ever to make me feel so. It was all but impossible. With all my might I wanted to call my client back and reject the assignment, but I already knew that it was not an option. In the chaos of my confusion, I turned back to ponder about the next day.
Chapter 3
I was not the usual calm and collective self like I always have been. In fact, I was even nervous – a feeling that was alien to me. Something about this woman intrigues me so much it hinders me from executing my assignment. It daunted onto me that there was no escape out of this one. My assignment had to be done, even at the cost of my interest.
Once again I made my way to that dreadful building, never eager for what was to come next. The wait for lunchtime was almost unbearable, seeming to stretch for eternity. When it came, I was not the least anxious. Slowly the occupants of the building filed out, leaving only a handful left behind. One of them was my prime target, the woman of my dreams. A thought occurred to me to enjoy my reward before it is due, but I quickly dismissed it, as I know I would get carried away.
From a distance I watched the woman make her way to her private eating spot. She seemed to like being alone after being enslaved by the demands of the corporate world. She has yet to know that I would be the one to free her from her shackles.
I approached her silently, not wanting her to even acknowledge my presence. Swiftly I entered the small, dark room and locked the door behind me. Oh what a sight it was, to watch her nibble at that croissant while staring out through the window at the other corporate slaves below. It surprised me at how she could mesmerize someone so effortlessly. As I snapped back to reality, I took out my instrument of finality, armed it and waited for the moment.
Chapter 4
I let the wait take as long as it could, waited for her to finish her food and finally face me. When she did turn, she was staring into the barrel of my gun, equipped with the best silencer money could buy. She immediately froze as fear paralyzed every fiber of her body.
Yet at that perfect moment of triumph I hesitated. An alien feeling rose through me that rendered my finger incapable of pulling the trigger. I looked at her watery eyes and I knew. For the first time in my life I felt mercy. A voice inside my head whispered at the immorality of my actions. How could I destroy something so beautiful, so perfect? Something that my body ached to own. I felt myself getting stiff as I played with some playful thoughts.
There I was at this controversial point, with the point of my gun at a point on her temple. To kill or not to kill, that is the question. I knew my time was running out, and I had to do what I had come for.
So I pulled the trigger.
My heart shattered as I watched her fall, but it did not seem to satisfy me. I pulled the trigger again, and again, and again, as though ensuring her death would delete the wrongness of killing something so beautiful. This single death overwhelmed me. A tear rolled down my cheek as my emotions spilled over. As I walk away from the scene of tragedy, all thoughts slowly died away like the death that just occurred.
It would be just another day in the life of an assassin.
**********************************************************************
Phew, that was a tough one. Hope all of you enjoyed it. I would probably be posting more fiction soon, but I need some topics to work on. So just say something in the tagboard! I know I said that I’ll change the template after the exams, but I’m kinda busy, so it will take some time. To end it off, let me wish all of you a Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya!
Sunday, October 10, 2004
The SIM-ultaneous Life of a Sim
Another age has passed, fellow readers, and the time has come for another update. Today, I'm going to start a new feature of this blog called "The SIMologies". I guess you're wondering why the lame name and stuff, so let me explain.
Around 7++ years ago, a revolutionary people simulation game called The Sims was released. Since the game's popular release, seven consecutive successful expansions were released. Yes folks, SEVEN!!! Talk about crazy! Then after an age, the producers finally released its sequel, The Sims 2, sometime in the middle of our exams. Now that the exams are almost over, and I have not the patience, I laid my hands on a copy of that devilishly addictive game.
So the Sims is about playing out every aspects of people's lives and stuff like that. For full game review, check out sites like gamespy.com. Well, I was out of ideas for blog entries, then I though up of writing soap operas of the lives of the Sims that I play, and voila! A new blog feature is born!
Okay, enough with the boring talk. Let's start off the feature with the life of an interesting character.
**********************************************************************
#01 - The Sims 2 - The Life of a Sim Playboy
**********************************************************************
The day starts off fresh, with the background story as follows. The Sim, Don, has proposed to a girl from his neighbourhood, Cassandra. Being a playboy, he has two other lovers whom he still dates. Despite being torn apart between being loyal to his fiancee and living out his life as a playboy, Don still feels carefree. I mean hey, he's a playboy. What do you expect?
It was a beautiful summer day in Pleasantview, the neighbourhood in which Don has been living all his life. Me, as the player who acts like God in the game, has just given Don 1 000 000 Simoleons (the game's currency) and renovated his front lawn to include a swimming pool and an outdoor restaurant complete with a buffet table, a chef, a bar and even its own bartender. A playboy Sim has got to party you know.
Don has just came home from work, as a medical officer or something. Surprising eh? Considering he's a playboy. Well fret not, I'll probably make him work in the military. Don went over to the phone to subscribe to some services; the maid, the gardener, the chef and the bartender. While waiting for them to come over and do his house, Don went to pump some iron on his new weightlifting machine which I had just conjured from thin air in front of him. He needs to look suave to impress the girls you know.
After the chef filled the buffet, our dear Don went to dig in. That was when he noticed the maid cleaning his toilet through the window. Oh! Those hair! Those eyes! That sexy blouse! How can Don resist the presence of a woman in his very own house?! The chef's masterpiece became nothing but a pulp as he gukped his food to greet the new babe. Oh, their union in the toilet was sweet! Don greeted her like all the other girls, straight with a deep smooch to the lips.
Just that one kiss was all it took to win the heart of the maid. Well, me, being the sick player I am, left their desires run wild. The Sim couple were groping and smooching in the living room (with the workout video on the large screen TV, also conjured by me). They were oblivious to the presence of the bartender beside them, offering drinks and feeling left out. He wanted to join in the kissing (yes readers, there can be homosexuality in the game, beware) but with my godly powers I willed him to return to his bar.
So began the affair between Don and the maid. Both of them couldn't think of anything else that afternoon other than each other. At night, I sent Don to town to get some fresh air and get that maid out of his head. But alas, there he met a young girl whom he put his charm on. After saving him from being a pedofile, I sent him home to sleep with some sweet dreams in his mind.
**********************************************************************
Thus the tale of the sick Sim. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm reverting back to the previous fictions for the next entry, so look out for it!
Around 7++ years ago, a revolutionary people simulation game called The Sims was released. Since the game's popular release, seven consecutive successful expansions were released. Yes folks, SEVEN!!! Talk about crazy! Then after an age, the producers finally released its sequel, The Sims 2, sometime in the middle of our exams. Now that the exams are almost over, and I have not the patience, I laid my hands on a copy of that devilishly addictive game.
So the Sims is about playing out every aspects of people's lives and stuff like that. For full game review, check out sites like gamespy.com. Well, I was out of ideas for blog entries, then I though up of writing soap operas of the lives of the Sims that I play, and voila! A new blog feature is born!
Okay, enough with the boring talk. Let's start off the feature with the life of an interesting character.
**********************************************************************
#01 - The Sims 2 - The Life of a Sim Playboy
**********************************************************************
The day starts off fresh, with the background story as follows. The Sim, Don, has proposed to a girl from his neighbourhood, Cassandra. Being a playboy, he has two other lovers whom he still dates. Despite being torn apart between being loyal to his fiancee and living out his life as a playboy, Don still feels carefree. I mean hey, he's a playboy. What do you expect?
It was a beautiful summer day in Pleasantview, the neighbourhood in which Don has been living all his life. Me, as the player who acts like God in the game, has just given Don 1 000 000 Simoleons (the game's currency) and renovated his front lawn to include a swimming pool and an outdoor restaurant complete with a buffet table, a chef, a bar and even its own bartender. A playboy Sim has got to party you know.
Don has just came home from work, as a medical officer or something. Surprising eh? Considering he's a playboy. Well fret not, I'll probably make him work in the military. Don went over to the phone to subscribe to some services; the maid, the gardener, the chef and the bartender. While waiting for them to come over and do his house, Don went to pump some iron on his new weightlifting machine which I had just conjured from thin air in front of him. He needs to look suave to impress the girls you know.
After the chef filled the buffet, our dear Don went to dig in. That was when he noticed the maid cleaning his toilet through the window. Oh! Those hair! Those eyes! That sexy blouse! How can Don resist the presence of a woman in his very own house?! The chef's masterpiece became nothing but a pulp as he gukped his food to greet the new babe. Oh, their union in the toilet was sweet! Don greeted her like all the other girls, straight with a deep smooch to the lips.
Just that one kiss was all it took to win the heart of the maid. Well, me, being the sick player I am, left their desires run wild. The Sim couple were groping and smooching in the living room (with the workout video on the large screen TV, also conjured by me). They were oblivious to the presence of the bartender beside them, offering drinks and feeling left out. He wanted to join in the kissing (yes readers, there can be homosexuality in the game, beware) but with my godly powers I willed him to return to his bar.
So began the affair between Don and the maid. Both of them couldn't think of anything else that afternoon other than each other. At night, I sent Don to town to get some fresh air and get that maid out of his head. But alas, there he met a young girl whom he put his charm on. After saving him from being a pedofile, I sent him home to sleep with some sweet dreams in his mind.
**********************************************************************
Thus the tale of the sick Sim. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm reverting back to the previous fictions for the next entry, so look out for it!
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Seraphim Anthologies #03 - The Battle of Life's Endeavor
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Seraphim Anthology #03 - The Battle of Life's Endeavour
A poem by Seraphim
**********************************************************************
Onward thou shalt march to war!
To where the battle is fought on plains of white
Thou shalt scar the battlegrounds with might
Thy armor is but the plating of labor
Polished by the skills that thou now harbor
Brandish thy sword with beauty and grace
To engrave the battle on thy enemy’s face
Fear not the wrath of the tenders of the plains
O, brave wielder of the Excalibur of blue
For your mastery shalt leave their efforts in vain
And be rewarded to fight for what is true
Onward thou shalt march to war!
**********************************************************************
Ah, my latest works, my best piece yet. For those non-literature readers, the poem's a metaphorical writing about what else? The exams. Took me a few days to get the vocabulary straight, but voila! Look at my masterpiece! Do take a closer look to try to figure out the hidden meanings.
Seraphim Anthology #03 - The Battle of Life's Endeavour
A poem by Seraphim
**********************************************************************
Onward thou shalt march to war!
To where the battle is fought on plains of white
Thou shalt scar the battlegrounds with might
Thy armor is but the plating of labor
Polished by the skills that thou now harbor
Brandish thy sword with beauty and grace
To engrave the battle on thy enemy’s face
Fear not the wrath of the tenders of the plains
O, brave wielder of the Excalibur of blue
For your mastery shalt leave their efforts in vain
And be rewarded to fight for what is true
Onward thou shalt march to war!
**********************************************************************
Ah, my latest works, my best piece yet. For those non-literature readers, the poem's a metaphorical writing about what else? The exams. Took me a few days to get the vocabulary straight, but voila! Look at my masterpiece! Do take a closer look to try to figure out the hidden meanings.
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