Hostel waiting list -- Successful!!!

Dear Readers,

I know I've gone on a hiatus for quite a while, and that's because i have been mulling and fretting about my hostel application via waiting list. and GUESS WHAT! the boy and I both got rooms! hahaha.. He got TYPE A, while I got TYPE C room.

It was quite an adrenaline-filled and nerve wrecking process. The boy was smart enough to begin applying at 11:59 while hitting the SUBMIT button at 12 midnight sharp. His application clocked in 00:00:23. On the 23rd second. Me, however? I began logging in at 12 midnight, and... needless to say, of course the server response was slow, given the hundreds of undergrads logging in at the same time. My application was clocked, I believe, between 12:03am and 12:04am.

Little wonder, that the boy got allocated his room a whole 24 hours before me, which sent me into a silenced frenzy for the day. And today on the 23rd of August, I got it too!

God blessed us! Thank YOU.....

More updates from PGP soon!

Gone Cold

The altar is cold, and barren against the touch
Warm wine poured forth into silver goblets
Drunk by silhouettes, murmuring.
They come and they leave,
Circulating like the warm wine in the body
That gradually turns
Cold.

The keyboards sing a praise
A resounding cymbal
Clap your hands, all ye instruments
They compliment the bassist with the brilliant
walking bass line,
and listen to the 16-beat roll of the drums.

Weekly, they pass like shadows
From the noonday sun,
The same handshakes, the same smiles
The same greetings,
Hows your baby doing?

We do not have ears, we cannot hear.
Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
Sounds the great and terrible Voice
And even the pews tremble.

W.J.H

National Day Parade 2007

I really enjoyed this year's NDP. The theme was brought out so very well, a world of possibilities. Every act and spectacle serves to reinforce once again, that we can dream big, as a nation and as individuals. Even the location was ideal. The Singapore River where we humbly began, and yet now the skyline testify to our success and prosperity in a mere 42 years. All that was captured very beautifully, in a harmony of sky and water.

"It was the best of times, It was the worst of times." The morale is unbelievably high this year. We are undoubtedly born in one of the golden periods of Singapore, and perhaps of the world, having seen neither the toil and hardship of our forefathers, nor the poverty of their contemporaries, yet being able to enjoy the fruits of their labour with a prospering economy and good governance.

Of course, some able-bodied NSF may retort about how NDP may be a highly "wayang" affair. As in every cause, we will have our fair share of cynicism and satirical jokes. Yet let spectacle, glory, and patriotism have its hour, for there is a place and a time, for the celebration of the nation, for the fireworks and for the tingling of the spine at the Singapore flag flown high, for the lovely harmonies and the new and adventurous tunes that capture the essence of our time, for the resolute and immutable national anthem.

Happy Birthday Singapore.

A day will come...

There will come a time, when I'm old and haggard, with saggy cheeks an sallow skin. But it is not this day.

There will come a time, when I will gaze at my children or grandchildren with all the raptures and longing to be young again, but it is not this day.

There will come a time, when I will dispense words of wisdom and caution to the careless youths of tomorrow, but it is not this day.

There will come a time, when I will count the days I have to live by, and wait for that hour, but it is not this day.

This day...

I AM that reckless youth. I have the right to be careless, and to dress up and travel and do all the things young people do.

lest I should regret when i reach that fateful day.

SO let the worries fly out of the window. We're going SWEDEN!!!

Watch this space for Boy and Goon in Sweden!

Owl Post and other musings

There is something very dramatic about millions of books travelling to the world at the same time, arriving at people's doorsteps. This bomba-lastic (this funny, non-existent word came to mind) phenomenon seems to be something that just might happen in the world of Harry Potter itself, thus fanning the magic and excitement. Granted that if it were their world, we could possibly suffer from an attack of owl droppings. Yet, behind these astronomical figures, every book that arrives at a home seeks to consort a private audience with its reader, making this Harry Potter event not just phenomenal but also very personal. It is clear that we all seek an alternate reality from time to time, and the more vivid this other world is, the more willing we are to escape into its realms. I shall be quite reluctant to leave the world of Harry Potter, and would be sure to bequeath this wonderful legacy to my future children.

The magical world aside, I came across a most pointed and poignant column in Life! today, by Teo Cheng Wee. His bolded summary of the column read,

"I've always been dismissive of the relationship between my youngest brother and his girlfriend. But at their wedding recently, it dawned on me that what they have is what I've always dreamt of having."

Apparently, this young couple tied the knot two weeks ago, on 070707, after 10 years of courtship. In this column, the writer recounts how his immediate family members had disapproved of the courtship because "they were all of 16 years when they got together." And the couple had to suffer a whole decade of doubts and disbeliefs that they will ever last. The cloud only lifted after they had announced that they would be registering their marriage, it was then that "the ice started thawing.. you [they] see each other as family rather than enemy, attitudes and behaviours change and the bonds start re-forming." The writer guiltily admits, "Before that, I had never imagined them as mature adults ready to commit a lifetime to each other." And we wonder what they had been doing for the past 10 years.

As to why this particular article resonates with me, my dear friends and family, should be very clear. I was, all of 16 when I got together with the boy (he was 18). I remembered rather vividly the disapproval from my parents, and certain adults in church because we were far too young. I am now hurtling, in 5 months, towards my 21st birthday, with the boy by my side, squabbling away like a pair of eccentric magpies. And I wonder, how peoples attitude would change 180 degrees in another 3 to 4 years, when that time comes. I am bemused, because people never seem to really recognized a couple until they are officially married.

Till then, we shall work on being "ready to commit a lifetime to each other", or, haven't you already known?

And now, Book 7 beckons...

Pride and Prejudice

I have had a most uneventful day at home. Sleeping the afternoon away, and busying myself in finding things to do, and rather uncharacteristic of me. I have, however, discovered the joys of Pride and Prejudice after having watched the 2005 film version of the book, and finally understood how it can be such a much-loved classic.

Hostel

Is there anyone out there not keen on their PGP room?

Xiaoni, the boy and me

I wanted to upload a photograph and xiaoni, the boy and me taken during the boy's POP in 2004. But I couldn't find it. I will when I do.

Xiaoni, the boy and me is a funny trio. "the Ni" , or "xiaoni" 's real statutory name is Anthony, he is the boy's (vincent's) smallest brother, who follows us around whenever he can, since he was very young. For this reason, we often spend time together, playing cards in the hostel room last year, watch movie, eat.

Xiaoni, the one who bites from my subway sandwich while I am not paying attention, who calls me "AH GOON" just like the boy does, who hears my worries and laugh at them, who calls me 'gila'. Who, when the boy doesn't want to bring him around, says " i follow ah goon" and comes along anyway.

He, whom I treat as my own brother.

I wonder how our dynamics will change as we grow up. I hope nothing will change.

We've decided, he shall be called "Uncle Ni." although to us, he will always be "Xiaoni", no matter how old he grows.

To skim the heart's surface

I admit, I am wary.

The miroris event has taken a toll on us, that much is true. The events of the past few days have made me somewhat tired, and weary. I feel like I'm just waiting for this performance to pass. Waiting for next week to be over, after Campus Crusade freshman orientation camp, then I can finally have my own time and freedom again.

This blog may seem to depict a rather discontented life. But I would have the readers know that this view of my life is one-sided, because I usually cannot find the motivation to write here when I am happy or contented. My darker moments are usually also my more pensive moments.

I can understand why some famous writers and poets live tumultous lives. Perhaps, for them, such anguish is mettle for art, and sorrow the writer's opium.

What does it mean to guard one's heart? I cannot afford to ride an emotional roller-coaster, especially when the plunge downwards comes unforseen in the dark. So how can I smooth the peaks and the troughs?

We are created to be independent, and dependent at the same time. This balance is never easy to strike, especially when we put our trust in fallible human beings, knowing that we too, may fail them.

I need to rest.

Disappointments

My living tree shrivels in its own hope,
Strangled by the absence of promised sunlight.
Waited too long for a friendly bird's visit.
These little deaths that happen every day,
What does it matter.

Why make the heart jump, when you know it will stop?
A break in its constant rhythm is not welcomed
Its peaks and troughs are
Unpredictable, I will suffer
A cardiac arrest.

A tree with a pumping heart is not so hardy,
It dies sooner than you think.
Just takes, the absence
Of promised sunlight, and the no-show
Of a friend.

But the friend did come. A cheery bird, hopping,
Looking for the tree with a heart.
Puzzling, though, where did she go?
The little bird thought,
While perched on the dry dead tree.

W.J.H