Wednesday, December 29, 2004

safe in singapore

“The chain reaction that sent enormous, deadly tidal waves crashing into the coasts of Asia and Africa on Sunday started more than 10km beneath the ocean floor off the tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Geologic plates pressing against each other slipped violently, creating a bulge on the sea bottom that could be as high as 10m and hundreds of kilometres long

'It's just like moving an enormous paddle at the bottom of the sea,'
'A big column of water has moved, we're talking about billions of tons. This is an enormous disturbance.'

As the waves moved across deep areas of the ocean in the early morning, they may have been almost undetectable on the surface, with swells of about a metre or less. But when they approached land the huge volumes of water were forced to the surface and the waves grew higher, swamping coastal communities and causing massive casualties.”-- ST

The Indian Ocean Plate, being less dense than the Eurasian Plate, rides underneath the latter as the 2 plates moves towards each other with the plate going below melting into the mantle of Earth. However this slipping under is rarely smooth and tension is always building up due to the rubbing of the rough rock surfaces with each other. The moment this tension is released, it triggers off wad we call an Earthquake, a wave of huge vibrations along the tectonic plates. On 26 Dec 2004, a day after Xmas, this occurred beneath the Indian Ocean, not only triggering a quake, but also a tsunami.

After checking out the map of southern asia, I then understand why wasn’t Singapore affected. We’re so near the epicenter, but only tremors were slightly felt, where r the waves??



The epicenter was at the tip of northern Sumatra island, the crack runs north-south and the waves moved east-west bi-directionally.
North of us lies Peninsula Malaysia; and west, Sumatra.
We were shielded away from everything!! How lucky… juz imagine Sri Lanka was hit as well… tog w India and the Maldives Islands.

Been reading ST Interactive these 2 days (while waiting for my cells to grow in lab… but they always died on me, and so I’ve always gotta redo!! That aside…..). Articles describing how high the wall-waves are, how fishes and the sea creatures were brought ashores, how fascinated ppl catching a glimpse of the dried beach (after the 1st wave) were swallowed by the 2nd one….

The lucky ones tat’s been there and out alive includes a baby sleeping on a floating mattress (beside the parents’ road-side stall), a lady sleeping in a hammock and the hammock was caught in the branches of a tree, thus saved from the enveloping sea…A Hong Kong couple washed out to sea by tsunamis that struck Thailand survived by clinging to a mattress for about six hours till help arrived.

All these happened when we were all safe an sound in the warm embrace of our little island…how fortunate can we get? (I shall digress a little) I’ve juz read a thread in a local biking forum,
www.togoparts.com , and there’s this posting commenting on how we shldn’t be complaining abt staying in Singapore as we compare to many other much less fortunate third world countries… and away from the war-torn nations and also many with inter-racial disputes, unrests and poverty. I agree with was this lady said, but I nv reply to her posting. Some kid replies and ask this lady to think twice b4 posting… kinda had mixed thoughts w regarding this…. Wait a min….i shall go search for this thread…hang on ahz…

“as for taxes - well, the income taxes are low here, but the "other taxes" like coe, and hdb (hdb is a straight tax, since you pay a huge sum of money to live in a place that belongs to the gahmen), erp etc. maybe it balances out with the high income taxes in other countries, but other countries have free medical care (not including usa of course). here - we have to save up for our own healthcare, and somehow the gahmen gets credit!”

“as for stepping out of the country. i have. i went and explored the great barrier reef. i went and mountain biked in whistler. what can singapore offer to compare with that? in fact, what the hell is mdm wong referring to when she says that "singapore really is a good place to live"?”

“So is SG an aquarium culture?.....lottsa goldfish in a controlled environ. Happy in that glass cage and thinking thats its the safest and never mind artificial place to be far from predators and the shortcomings of nature.
Happily swimming, being fed and well maintained with a lot of aquatic pen playthings provided for...artificial plant, stone, aquatic scenery, etc....plastic and faux thingy everywhere...what a nice watery wonderland!
....of course your life is forever in a dependent mode for the rest of your existence. Dunn complain, just give hours upon hours of enjoying viewing and relaxing pleasure to the caretaker and you will be rewarded and maintained well.Not bad....compared to those fishes in lily ponds, mud colored rivers or what have you...they survive on their own and no playthings to boot....very gray and drab life dunn ya think?
And,...what to know about how the real world goes by? Never mind so routine and very cramped area eh? at least survive and alive, food abundant till grow fat... Freedom whazz tat? born and raised in captivity so how to know an abstract thought like that?...least to feel or attain liberty and get yourself gobbled-up by predators or forever swim in murky waters without filters and getting paranoid running away from constant dangers. How to live outside even if want?”

Well I dunno… there’s always ppl complaining abt how Singapore works, how the government plans, policies, how much they r earning compare to wad the citizen folks r earning… complaining abt this, complaining abt that… blah blah…
As above, one guy compared ourselves to staying in a fish tank, away from dangers and everything….but we’re juz in a world of our own regardless of wad’s outside, a whole world tat we’ve come up on our own, sort of an abstract thought perhaps? Happy, safe, but a fake world.

Try to get out of the country then!! Complain so much and u r still here….making noise and not doing anything abt it….sigh!

Oh! As I was saying…the tsunamis… why did I get to this topic? Coz it juz stuck a thought in me that we’re always so safe back home here… no wars, no natural disaster, everyone living in harmony… even when a quake is juz off Sumatra and affecting even India, we’re untouched!

hmm....i think we can't complain all the time abt how lousy our govenment is....lousy planning policies...wadever... coz i believe they've been very thoughtful for us as well...our welll-being and peace in the whole.... possibly juz room for further improvement huh....


Monday, December 27, 2004

post holiday blues......

We’re getting to the last week of the hols le…. Part of me looking fwd to the reopening of school siahz…. Coz I feel tat I’ll be freer for my own activities during the sch semester than in the hols…. Can u believe tat? (but I really cant say for sure….)

Things I’ve set to do during the (passing) Dec break:
1. mountain biking at BT/ Ubin/ T15 etc
2. round island cycling
3. trekking in Kerinci/ Agung/ Tapis & Datuk
4. swim every weekend
5. lab, or work at my uncle’s stall in Admiralty Place Foodcourt.

Things I’ve done in the passed Dec break:
1. 1 x rode in T15 (in an odac event, supposedly helping out, but I think we posed more of a nuisance than help… haha…) and half a round in BT.
2. 1 x trekked in G.Lembak in Kluag (juz a 3-hour trek!! Initially planned for a 2-3 day trek in a 5 days trip to Indonesia!!)
3. 1 x swam in serangoon swimming complex
4. lab everyday!! Stayed the latest till 430am…. Tonight might haf to stay till very very very late too… need to perform a step on protocol every 3 hours for next 12 hours, and subsequently take samples over a period of 24 hours…blah blah blah…
5. 2 x worked in my uncle’s stall, earning abt 100 bucks….
6. >5 x shopped for xmas and gf’s bdae presents
7. 1 x picnic in east coast park
8. 2 x steamboat (one with grill plates (alwyn’s appliance, haha…dunno wad is tat “boat” called), sop’s treat coz of her 21st bdae; and one normal one at lynettes’ bdae gathering)
9. 2 x attending wakes (parents of my friends’ passed away)
10. 1 x playing Santa with my Santa Monica delivering presents till 2am plus….

Last nite I’ve been thinking abt the things I’ve done in the past 1 mth, and I feel slightly depressed and down. I feel that i shld haf done more things I’ve set up to do and not juz laze ard when I got time….

Now I suppose yanbin was rite. She said that although the things I’ve set to do, not many haf been completed or even attempted, I’ve completed other things which I’ve not even plan to do… so I shldn’t be depressed or upset abt it too…. She said once Gery (Geridine) felt the same way too, abt her life (or was it a certain period of time). And it’s only when she penned down everything tat she did on black and white then she realized she’d actually not wasted her time away…

Maybe it’s the things I’ve set r too idealistic... realized tat the stuffs first list almost all r physical activities… however I did replaced some of them with meaningful things like spending quality time with frens (steamboats), my love one (picnic and shopping), family (supper w cousin and bro (and my santa monica) at bedok and then beo-ing Ah Guas at change v)… made some ppl happy by delivering presents to their doorsteps…

So…. Bottomline, it’s not so bad after all.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Cycling Accident

Chiu Cheong wrote:
well i din mean tat anyone of the group did challenged the bus....but juz a general comment regarding road riding....

and yah of course with safety vehicles, it'll no doubt be much safer for cyclists on the road, but i feel tat if each cyclist in any group cycling were to take very good care of their own life, many accident can be avoided.... coz u cant realli juz rely on safety vehicles to take care of riders' lives...

well, juz my 2 cents' worth.


Leong Sheu Hau wrote:
What if the big group is organised in smaller sub groups, each having a vehicle following either behind or beside the cyclists? That'll certainly slow down on-coming vehicles and make it safer right? But that is probably too much of a hassle in preparation for these regular roadies.


Kok Wee Aw wrote:
If you see the papers, I think the cyclists cannot do much. the groupwas halfway around the lorry when the bus came to overtake. I doubt MrAng could see much b4 the bus overtook the lorry. I guess cycling inbig groups hard to manuveur out of harm's way.


Chiu Cheong wrote:
ass
it always best tat we practice defensive riding.... nv challenge the vehicles on the road... whether anot we're in the right of way, cyclists always loses out in anytraffic accident...

Leong Sheu Hau wrote:
To: xxxxxxxx@yahoogroups.com
From: Leong Sheu Hau
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:46:52 +0800 (CST)
Subject: [xxxxxxxxxx] Cycling Accident
Think most people would have read this in the papers this morning. Thisasshole bus driver needs to be hanged. Just a caution when organising massrides. You never know what kind of drivers you have despite all safetyprecautions. Do make sure you have adequate safety vehicles to "protect" the cyclists. xh
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dec 22, 2004Cyclist gets pinned under wheel of bus
37-year-old cycling in a group in critical condition after bus hits and drags him
By Teh Joo Lin


A GROUP of about 40 cyclists looked on in horror as one of their group was pinned under the right front wheel of a bus in Lim Chu Kang Road on Sunday morning.

Mr Sylvester Ang is now in a critical condition at National University Hospital after being rescued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The 37-year-old store designer was part of a group of cyclists who ride every Sunday on a trail that stretches from Thomson to Newton.

The group had begun riding as usual at 8.30am and had turned from Neo Tiew Road into Lim Chu Kang Road when the accident occurred.

Mr Richard Tann, 55, a general manager of a moving company, was ahead of the pack, when he saw a blue bus approaching from the opposite direction.

Mr Tann said a lorry was parked in front of the bus, so he signalled to the bus driver to stop and not change lanes until the line of cyclists had passed.

'But he showed me his middle finger and moved out of his lane,' he alleged. Seconds later, Mr Tann heard a 'very loud' bang.

According to eyewitnesses, after the bus left its lane, the cyclists were forced to slow down and shift further to the left.

Another member of the group said: 'Some (cyclists) were squeezed onto the grass patch... we were forced to bunch up together.'

Some cyclists shouted at the driver to slow down, but in vain.

The bus hit Mr Ang and dragged him for about 7m as it swerved back into its lane and stopped.

According to the cyclists, Mr Ang's pelvic and left thigh region was stuck under the wheel of the bus.
Said one of them, who declined to be named: 'His helmet was in pieces and his left leg was totally smashed. One of the riders who attended to him was a plastic surgeon. He told us not to touch his body.'

Right after the accident, the bus driver was seen shaking his head and making calls on his cellphone. None of the passengers, believed to be tourists, got off the bus, said the cyclists.

Together with the police, the SCDF arrived about 15 minutes later and rescued Mr Ang, using airbags to jack up the bus, said an SCDF spokesman.

Mr Ang is now in intensive care. He is believed to have suffered severe head trauma, punctured lungs and multiple fractures to his lower limbs.

The bus driver is now assisting police in investigations.

Meanwhile, Mr Ang's family and friends are keeping vigil at his ward.

Said one of his cycling mates: 'When we train together, he never gives up. Even when he is falling behind, he keeps pedalling, and the next thing you know, he is beside you again. But this must be the hardest race of his life.'

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Attraction, like, love, life....

Yan’s colleague juz registered for marriage 2 weeks ago…and this thurs i’ll be going to a wedding dinner of a sec sch classmate…. Is this a sign or wad?

A relationship starts with one of the 2 liking the other…. Secretly beo-ing from behind pillar, giving extra attention to wad he/she says, always be looking out for tat person among a crowd, heart thumping when the person walks by….. making excuses, walking all over the corridor, making a detour, staying back in class a little longer….. to take juz 1 more glance at him/her…

As the 2 know each other more…started as friends, a plain platonic relationship… enjoying each others’ company…not knowing tat they haf fallen for each other…not realizing tat the day always feel incomplete when the other nv popped by tat day… until suddenly one day one of them finds out tat he/she might lose each other… either tat person has a liking for another, or for some reason, they haf to be apart… the feeling of heartache comes….

Lives of couples (attached but single still..) often decorated with colours, laughter, joy and happiness… sad moments are of course shared too… together, they get by days, wks, mth, yrs… troubles, obstacles, joy, pain… care, concern, greetings, wishings…. Sharing and enriching each other’s life….

“Wilt thou love him/her, comfort him/her, honour, and keep him/her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him/her, so long as ye both shall live?”

couples “tied” (not tied by pressure of vow, but I mean tied in the sense tat they r married to each other….) by marriage haf vowed to stay by each other, for better or worse… can u really find a person whom u’ll truly say tat u love? LOVE in this sense… means LOVE, the family love, the responsible love, the undying kind of love…that u’ll give in all u haf for the well-being and the happiness for tat person…..

yes I know tat no one knows for sure wad is coming into our paths in the future…wad’s going to happen or wadsoever blah blah…. I guess it’s for each couples’ own good to maintain a relationship till “as long as both shall live”…to make sure that the 2 lives that united as 1 during marriage…do not divert again…. not only because of responsibility by vow, but out of loving tat person….

But then again, if the relationship is not well maintained, will “responsibility” holds the 2 together still? Or will it be better that the 2 r not held, only by “responsibility”? wad then is "love", and wad abt "sharing of lives"?

Quoted-- "I John take thee Jane to my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth."

Monday, December 06, 2004

sunday swim

those who know me would probably know that..... i cannot swim.... haha... yah...
"u're in odac and u can't swim??"
"yar..........."
cannot ahz??!

not that i cant swim lah... juz not very water-confident...i managed to passed all my swimming tests i've had in my life: JC swimming lessons, army swimming test... all i passed w/o floatation devices hor....

also dunno y... i've been trying to learn how to thread water... only end up drinking water... and always burping a lot after a swim coz i drank so much... hahaa... i've started swimming (in a way...) since i was abt 5 y/o (the earliest age i can remember myself in water) that was when my dad always brings us to sembawang beach for swim... but then... i nv managed to learn it well enough...

so....so far i've been trying to get by swimming lor! i've joined a few adventure races and usually my concern is whether swimming w/o floatation is a muz....hehe....wimp.... (so wad?!?) but at least i attempted right?? i've joined one race with yanbin and there was a very very short swimming leg, juz 50 plus metres i think....with life vest somemore... and know wad? when i was out of water, no one else was in sight...we were last!! this sux, but we juz laughed it off lah... haha... oh but we managed to complete the race with a not bad timing though... overtook quite a no. of teams...

a yr ago me and 8 other frens participated in AXN Adventure Quest Singapore 2003. but due to poor planning on the organisers' part, the race did not run smoothly... results were lousy.... but we mentioned to each other, that in 2 yrs time, Axn AQ 2005 will be here in SG again and we will try to join as individual teams (we were in relay team then).... but first i need to learn to swim...haha... it's been a yr and this morning i was still drinking water....i suck.

Saturday, December 04, 2004

lonely fri nite!

It’s the sch hols and it’s a fri nite!! wad shld i be doing……? hmm….. out chionging? watching movie with yan? or juz nuah at home watch tv? Well…. im in hall, alone….even my roommate went back m’sia liaoz… and im getting a bad breathe soon! no one to talk to…. staying coz tml morning still gotta go lab to change media for the cells we’re culturing… stupid cells req-ing so much attn….

lonely….lonely….

feeling fat and unhealthy… cycled alone… ah bao’s outside and lazy to cycle…chels at ktv happily honking away….. realized that I had a headache…. been having it since after exam….and always on my left temple…. migraine? brain tumour? haha….dunno…. tired…. think later after taking medicine i slping le….