the lastsplash

Inspired by my morning encounters on the train, I've decided to become a week-day blogger again. Unfortunately, things take a down turn the past few days and when I have time to start to blog, there is just thirty minutes of week-day left. Oh well, before I blog about the encounters, let me note down about the "terrible Friday". I was awaken by the buzz of my handphone this morning, but I was thankful that it woke me up cuz the sun was shining brightly into my room. It was already 7.25am (normally I would be standing at the MRT platform or in the train by then). I had forgotten to set my phone alarm the night before. So I was late for work the second time since my official first day of work. But hardly anyone noticed that, except for the few colleagues who I sms-ed about me coming late. And the day went yadayadayada ... I ended up with a big problem and left office at 7.30pm on a Friday night. Okay back to the topic of morning encouters of colourful commuters. Apart fro...

Extending from the famous Law of Parsimony, when there are multiple explanation for a bug in a program, the mistake is usually made in the simplest form. Java Debugging Essential Tip 101 #1 : Most of the time its just a typo. Especially when Java is case-sensitive. You think I thought, who confirm I typed it correctly? I learned it thru the hard-way. Java Debugging Essential Tip 101 #2 : If you spend several hours in one direction and you can't solve the problem, you should probably explore the other direction. If its not the server problem, its the client's problem! Java Debugging Essential Tip 101 #3 : Are you sure you fully understood the Exception message? Read again! Read againnnnnnnnnn. Yes, againnnnnnnn. Java Debugging Essential Tip 101 #4 : One error usually masks another. The rest of the codes seems error-free cuz the current one is significant to give you the pain in the neck! Add the missin' brace, the other underlined red codes start to appear! No, I'm not s...

It has been almost two weeks since my Convocation. It was a defining moment of my life. I first heard of his name when I was serving my National Service. He was the big big boss of my department - the Director of Manpower at MINDEF. The speech by the guest speaker, Mr Chan Yeng Kit, CEO of IDA Singapore, reminded us of our decision to place the bets of our future in the IT industry shortly after the bust of the dot-com bubble. He portrayed us as brave souls, passionate about IT. And he painted the future of us as future professionals in the dynamic and exciting industry, where we can make a difference across the society. He also presented past statistics that half of the IT-graduates will take up non-IT professions. I guess I have chosen the path of the other half - following my heart where I think the money will be. Five to six years down the road, I'll see the testament of my choice. Thank you Mr Chan, for continuing to support our dream, pumping millions into Infocomm annually, ...

I'm becoming a weekend-blogger. One who blogs during the weekend. The down thing about being one is, you don't have the strong urge to blog those things you want to during the weekdays (simply too lazy or those things seem too mundane now), and nothing much is happening during the weekends. And I am forcing myself to recall some of my embarrassing moments during the weekdays. It is so that you guys reading can have lil' good time laughing at me. Touched? hee hee. Okay here goes... As the title of this entry reads, I reserved a seat on the train for my friend! Wait wait, before you go on cursing and criticisin' me bout reserving seats on public transport, please let me finish my story. I boarded the train at Yishun. There were plenty of seats everywhere. I placed my bag beside me to reserve the seat for my friend boarding at Sembawang. At the next stop, Sembawang, the morning crowd rushed into the train. And this gentleman pointed to me at the seat, signaling me to remov...

It was finally a real gathering for the class of 1996 after almost ten years. Tho' we see each other once in a while, they were mostly for the not-so-good occasions. So I am very glad we had this BBQ today at Pasir Ris Park, although the turnout wasn't very good. Perhaps during the next one, maybe the 10th year get-together or something, there'll be more people going. Tho' few people, it was definitely memorable - BBQ under the rain with three umbrellas. It was also first time I went to a BBQ where we had to "ration" the food, two crab sticks, two hot dogs, 3 chicken wings, etc for each person. I think its good, cuz there's no waste of food. Just 'nuff for everyone. In the end, we still had some bee hoon left for some good old fun - 终极密码 。 I had like about 4 cups of bee hoon. ha ha. And it ended we a game of hearts. We have come a long way since the secondary school days, the wonder years, the soccer days, the carefree times. I am very happy, everyone ...

As the saga unfolds the last few days, it was the hottest topic in town. I think to be fair to NKF as an organisation and their staffs, they did not do anything evil, just misappropriate use of funds by a few individuals (at least from what the court proceedings revealed). Their donation drive efforts had been really vigorous in the recent years, its no wonder so many people are upset when they discovered the truth. Much more of the truth, as we all know, is still hidden. Hope this saga itself has drawn enough attention for the management to make some changes, and we can leave the rest untouched. I have heard stories from friends, whose family members have to go have dialysis, there are some other non-money related problems with the organisation, again, I think it has to do with the ethics of a few individuals. But often, they are afraid to say it out, in fear of their subsidies being cancelled. Perhaps it is a good opportunity to voice it out, to improve on the quality of service that...

Last Friday, I attended my sister's commencement ceremony at NUS UCC. Well I didn't exactly attend the ceremony, was just in time for the refreshment (or is it dinner?). heh heh. My boss was kind enough to allow me to leave work an hr earlier. And with a bit of drama on the cab (don't want to elaborate on this since cab drivers already have such bad reputations), I was in time for the most important parts of the event, the food and phototaking. I was really excited when I got there, really eager to find my family. I saw happy faces everywhere, graduates running here and there to take photos with their friends. But the UCC foyer was abit too crowded to be comfortable. Anyway the refreshment was okay, some bee hoon, bao, cakes and stuffs. Fast forward to the photo taking... erm, the back of UCC was under construction so there wasn't many nice scenary for phototaking, just a couple of blue backdrops. After a few quick shots with my family, I quickly took up the role of my ...

This is for the S.H.E. fans. Especially Ah Fa (Hebe) and KM (Ella). heh heh. (need a quicktime plugin installed).

The world does not revolve around me. Therefore, I must be considerate about people around me, must not cross the line of personal attacks or packs of lies. At the same time, I want to maintain the integrity of my blog and be true to myself. As long as I play by the rules, I will air my views. Yes! I can hear many voices who agree =P Applause! Cheers for semi-freedom-of-speech-Singapore. If you disagree, you can choose not to visit my blog (I'll not send you a trojan , not the one the greek used, the backdoor virus kinda thingy la, that sets your default webpage to my blog, heh heh t.e.c.h.n.o.l.o.g.y). I beg for your kind understanding that if I ever cross this vague line, don't sue me! Still earning peanuts and paying my a** off on the bills every month lah (no money for lawyer fee). Don't harm me or my family and friends (sorry I made you guys easy targets with your photos everywhere on the blog). Don't print my photos on newspaper (especially the cover page of Sun...

Didn't notice this song till this morning, nice lyrics, nice tune, nice vocals. What's wrong with the world, mama People livin' like they ain't got no mamas I think the whole world addicted to the drama Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism But we still got terrorists here livin' In the USA , the big CIA The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK But if you only have love for your own race Then you only leave space to discriminate And to discriminate only generates hate And when you hate then you're bound to get irate , yeah Madness is what you demonstrate And that's exactly how anger works and operates Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight Take control of your mind and meditate Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all It just ain't the same , always unchanged New days are strange , is the world insane If love and peace is so strong ...

It is said that body language plays a great portion in determining the first impression. It beings with the handshake. It should neither be a "dead fish" nor a "bonecrusher grip". It should be a firm handshake. But how firm? I was introduced to two ladies this evening. As a friendly gesture, I extended my hand out for a handshake. Half way through my "firm handshake", I decided to hold back a lil'... maybe use like 40% of the normal strength. I didn't wanna "crush" their delicate hands, no I didn't wanna "hurt" them! I guess its natural that some ladies have weaker handshakes, perhaps its in line with their demure, executive image. Ironically, I don't find them "insincere", but rather its the subsequent eye contacts that make a whole lot different. But what kinda of impression will I give them with an initial weak handshake? Like not very sincere hor ? heh heh. How huh ? Perhaps, depending on the size of the ha...

There was an article on Tomorrow about the History of Nantah and NTU. And since we were at this topic in the recent post (about the school dropping the word "technological"), I decided to give my five cents worth as well. So bear with me... Firstly, I question the use of the phrase " angmo NTU ". What is the definition of an " angmo " school? If "angmo school" means education in English medium, I think there is nothing wrong "angmo" about NTU as that's where the " angmo " link ends (okay, unless you are talking bout the exchange students, well, I apologise to our foreign friends if you feel offended, the word "angmo" only describes your hair colour, no racial discrimination =P). English-ed is one of the reasons why we're able to attract talents from various parts of Asia, and even Europe to study here. Education evolves with time, and we have adopted what is advantagous for us. The mix of students from vario...

Today, I truly felt the blues of the Monday morning. Not that I dreaded going to work or couldn't wake up. In fact I was wide awake at 5++, tossing around on bed. Perhaps my mind is programmed to sleep for 6 hours daily, so since I slept before 12 last night, I woke up earlier. The morning started out with strong winds. Fallen leaves swept across the road. The sky was grey. A hurricane, or something of that scale, was coming. The morning adrenaline left me quickly after I reached the office. I continued to doze off for the rest of the time. It felt as if I stayed awake for the night. My brain couldn't really think either. Nothing seemed to be working. The frustration of time running out and making no progress... It was only at 4++ when I felt really awake after a cup of coffee. The caffeine worked like magic. Fitter, happier, more productive, comfortable, not drinking too much, regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week), getting on better with your associate employee co...

Lifted this speech off AIR (Linda Chia's blog). Although we had not start out with fantastic inventions when we were young, or become the CEO of some MNC one day, we can be successful. I think Steve Job's speech is definitely worth reading and get inspired. He touched on the issues of failure and death, which all of us will face. And I think that is what truly matters, which we should learn from successful people - coping with the challenges in life. Hopefully, there'll be an inspiring speech during my convo as well. =P Stanford Report, June 14, 2005 'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I wan...

This morning, my ezlink went "BEEEP!" (with a high pitch), instead of the usual "doo-doop". Yes, no more travelling concession for me. Today also marks a few other significant events. It's one month since I started work. It is also my sis' birthday. Happy Birthday to You!