SG Fairy

Unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere, you would have heard of the earthquake which happened early morning in Central Java, the Yogyakarta area.

It's funny how a couple of weeks in Indonesia can do to you. Having spent a month there, experienced Javanese hospitality, talked to the locals in an effort to understand how their minds work... you somehow develop some sort of feelings for them.

So when I heard about the earthquake, my heart really went out to the people... I think it also really affected me because 2 weeks out of the study trip last year, were spent in Yogyakarta. I wondered if the places affected are the exact same places I visited... what if someone I had communicated with while there, is now injuried in hospital, or worse, dead? I remembered this guy whom I had met while wandering along the main road. He had brought me to his gallery and showed me his batik paintings, explaining to me how the process was done. We had exchanged numbers, promising to keep in touch, but I never really did bother for some reason. I now wondered if he was ok.

Of course when I hear of some bad thing happening to people, I get sad and sympathise with the victims. But for the people of Yogyakarta, I feel for them even more for some strange reason. It's sorta like my feelings for Nepal too. I spent a whole month there when I was about 14-15... and I still have extremely fond memories of that place and I do most earnestly desire to return there some day. So when I read news about the political situation there, for example, I feel extra sad.

Perhaps it is coz you've been there, seen the place with your own eyes, met the people... so hence that place no longer becomes just another geographical location to you. It becomes very real to you. And therefore, you can relate more to them.

Makes sense?

I do hope the Indonesians in Central Java will recover soon...

Hmm.... I hope the ancient architecture there's ok too...

Went to watch 'Da Vinci' just now... my mum had advised (when parents say 'advise', they normally mean it's a command) me not to watch it, so she'll probably kill me if she finds out. I'm from a Christian family, you see.

But I am pretty open-minded to hearing about other religious theories etc... it's a matter of, 'I'll respect your opinions and beliefs if you'll respect mine'. Everyone is entitled to believe in whatever they want.

If you're talking about it as just simply a movie, then it's a pretty good one. Was quite long, about 2 1/2 hours, but enjoyable... something I wouldn't mind watching again.

If you wanna discuss the theories brought up, about the Holy Grail, the Priory of Sion etc... well, I dun really know what to say, really.

I mean, it's all interesting stuff and of course, something which could be true... every theory is a possibility til there is evidence beyond any reasonable doubt that it is not. And the Holy Grail theory really goes back to one single thing: were Jesus Christ and Mary sexually intimate?

Dan Brown will take out the Goseph of Mary, and Philip and whatever ancient book that indicates something to the effect of 'Jesus and Mary were married'.
And anyone who doesn't believ the Holy Grail theory will take out the Bible and say, 'Nope! Not true!'. And everyone will debate over it til the cows come home and yet, there'll still be no answer. It happened centuries ago.

So then it becomes a case of, 'what do you choose to believe? which evidence will you acknowledge, and which will you dismiss as untruths?'

Those who choose to believe the Holy Grail theory will dismiss the Bible and accuse the Vatican of fabricating the books in it and etc, while holding on to, for example, the Goseph of Mary.

Those who choose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and all that is in the Bible, will dismiss all the other Gosephs.

So if you cannot even agree on the set of ancient documents and the historical stories to test the theory on, then you cannot do anything.

I choose to believe the Bible. So hence I do not believe in 'Sang Real'. You can debate with me all day and night and thrust various pieces of evidence into my face, but I still will not believe it. That is because I have chosen my faith and I have chosen to believe in the Book and its stories on Jesus.

That doesn't mean I will mock someone who chooses to believe in the Holy Grail... that person also made a choice of belief, nevermind that it's a different belief from mine. We'll never be able to agree on whether the Holy Grail is real or not coz we have chosen to believe in different things, so why even bother arguing over it?

I respect you, and you respect me and my choices.

I only wish that all the people out there kicking a big fuss over the movie would understand that. Of course the whole movie, the theory, threatens the very basic foundation of Christianity and Catholicism... but then again, doesn't every other religion out there do that too? So what can you do? Wage a war against all other religions and belief systems that are different from yours? That's plain silliness!

Let's all be adults here.

Anyways...

He's going to lend me 'The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail' next week... I think that's the title... it's the original book Dan Brown stole his ideas from....

I'm sure it'll be a really interesting read... I've always enjoyed reading various versions of Christian church history.... just for the knowledge, where you read it and then go, "oohhh... so there's such a theory ah!"

Quiet day today... still feeling a little sore about the Mother's Day thing. Last night I had gone online looking for recipes... I figured I'll cook a small simple dinner for Mother's Day. I made plans to go to the national library to return some books, then go buy groceries. Then my mum tells me, "For what? You just do the ironing can liao!" And I felt a knife go right into my heart... I probably was just over sensitive, I probably shouldn't have bothered... but it did bother me.

Anyway, I just spent a couple of hours at the library in the late afternoon, then headed home where I tackled the ironing. Have finished the entire mountainload now.... my feet are aching.

:p I was going to grill some salmon fillets, then I found a really delicious-sounding baked potato receipe, and a clam thingy. The vitamins were going to come from stir-fried asparagus and eggplant deep-fried to look like french fries. Save those recipes for another day, I guess... maybe my dad wun brush me off when I suggest I cook dinner for Father's Day.

Yeah.. I'm just having early pms.... my mum's words should never hurt me...

Oh well... I'm gonna get some work done now... then I'll go take care of my neopet. Did I tell you I got to playing neopets again? Lol...

I had seen this ad in the New Paper on wed about this peranakan buffet cum comedy skit at Hotel Asia for Mother's Day. Is quite pricey at S$50 nett per head, but I thought it might be good and different. My family enjoys peranakan food, and got skit somemore! Plus it's Mother's Day! I'm still adjusting to my new spending allowance and if I did decide to bring my family out for that meal, it'll mean I'll have to survive on just ciggies for the rest of the month... but I thought, why not, my mum deserves it.

So ya, I did think quite a bit about whether or not to spend that money on my mum. It may sound like I'm equating money with my love for her, but let's be realistic here - you do have to spend the money for a good Mother's Day treat. I know people have said things like "but everyday should be Mother's Day!" but well, I see Mother's Day as being a day where you go the extra extra extra mile for her.

So finally, with a deep breath, I decided to jump in. I called the hotel cafe, made the reservation etc. I had calculated cost, worked out my budget for the remaining weeks til my next paycheck... everything was settled.

Then this evening we got this unexpected bit of news that would require a slight change of plans - no big deal, just that I'll have to change the reservation from lunch to either high-tea or dinner, or have it on Saturday instead of Sunday. Then my mum kept pressing me for details, like where the meal would be, what it consists of, cost etc... and in the end she said that no, she didn't wanna go. And my dad agreed with her, saying that they'll rather I save the money. After all, we had dinner with my auntie and her family this evening as a sort of Mother's Day celebration and I had bought a cake for it. So there was no need to do anythign else, my mum said.

I suppose I should have been really happy about it. I mean, hurray, I no longer have to hold my purse strings that tightly anymore! But in actual fact, I felt really hurt. Perhaps I should have been touched that my parents are concerned for me, want me to save money etc... you know, the typical Chinese parent mentality. But ya... I felt like, why wun you let me just love you and do that for you? Even if you really didn't want it, you didn't have to brush the entire effort off so lightly like as though it was a totally sucky idea, and you thought I was very silly to try to put something like that together.

It's like you winning a billion bucks, and having decided that you wanted to give it to someone unconditionally coz you love that person, that person laughs in your face and brushes it off, and calls you a jackass to your face... when he could have just politley declined if he didn't want it.

Or am I wrong to feel hurt?

My relationship with my parents can be so complex at times...

Recently, my white MP,
Knok on my door, and very kek ki..
Say 'I've worked so hard, so vote for me',
'Or rubbish won't be cleared, in your vicinty'..

I said 'Dear MP of my GRC',
'Dun remember u, so please pardon me'..
'I only saw you on TV',
'Dozing off and jiak liao bee'..

Last GE I voted for thee,
2% up in GST..
Cut CPF and up utility,
Are still very clear in my memory..

5 years later, then you come to me,
Fresh from your slumber of ivory..
Say that only, you can help me,
Escape from a life of poverty..

Just take a drive on CTE,
Count the number, of all the gantries..
Or squeeze a ride on the MRT,
That has not been cleared for ye..

My life since the last GE,
Has been downhill though I voted PAP..
If I vote the same for your sleeping spree,
I can expect the same misery..

So this time round, I vote for somebody,
Who will kachiao you, to productivity..
Forms fill wrong, no big deal to me,
If there's someone to speak up for ah bee..

So dear MP of GRC,
If life no improve, vote u cho simi?

So now, PAP has 82 seats, and Low and Chiam are back as MPs. I was quite worried that Chiam might not win Potong Pasir this time round, but thank goodness he is still here.

It appears that the money carrot is not really working this time - just look at Hougang and Potong Pasir, S$100 million and S$million upgrading carrots respectively... which makes me wonder... so is it a matter of voting based on personality and character? Or are the lower classes having such a bad time that they're totally disgruntled with the PAP? We've heard about the widening income gap in SG... how bad is it? Just look, Ang Mo Kio won by just 60-plus percent... I dun see that as a really strong mandate for the PM. If the lower classes are really suffering tremenously, then we have to do something about it.

I just hope that the PAP will take the time to seriously examine the reasons why they didn't perform that fantastically... and that they wun pursue the Gomez issue.... I'm sick and tired of hearing about it.

I'm tired... busy day at work... we're progressing along well with the project.... and I'm glad it's moving along fine.

Polling day is drawing near... the banter between political parties is heating up. But I'm kinda disappointed that the entire thing has degraded into another personal fight. Instead of debating serious national issues, we're back at the 'opposition candidates suck! Gomez is the next target!' topic. I had thought that this time, it's a real chance to nurturing a maturing electorate even more, make then aware of the issue which really count. But we're still at Gomez and lift upgrading.

Oh well... we can hope again in another 5 years...