Yong Zi's Blog

Last time, whenever a movie was advertised to be "for the whole family", I would think that the intelligence of the movie would be compromised to the lowest denomination in a family, that is of the kids.

Two days ago, UP proved to me otherwise. It was a movie that could engage kids, youths, adults and elderlies at their individual levels, intellectually and emotionally.

Truly a masterpiece.

Enough said. Go watch it if you haven't. Forget about GI Joe, this is the MUST watch.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fungus-makes-zombie-ants

Isn't nature just so cool?

For 19 years, I have looked forward to National Days with excitement, happiness and joy. Excited by the prospect of seeing grand displays and performances. Happy that Singapore is celebrating her birthday. Joyful at taking a break from hectic school work. During this year's National Day NE shows, I saw the same emotions written on the faces of every child. I, however, felt different this year.

When our company was informed that we would be involved in NDP this year, none of us felt happy. We felt it was an extra commitment. We felt it was a thankless task. Going through countless rehearsals and burning numerous weekends served only to feed the apathetic side of us. What is the point of all this superficial shows? Why are doing this instead of preparing for operations?

These questions were going through my head when I trudged up the steps at the stands during the second NE show. I wasn't at the first NE show, but I heard from my friends that despite the heavy rain, everyone was in high spirits. At that moment in time, that scenario bewildered me. Wasn't it another run-of-the-mill NDP show?

As the fireworks exploded overhead, I recalled a few scenes that struck me during the parade: the poignant video which poked fun at the pledge, greetings from overseas Singaporeans, the thunderous total defence display, the performance that took us through time from 1970s to 2000s, the cute little boy who wanted to be the future president of Singapore, MM Lee stressing how Singapore would become a metropolis in 10 years from independence, SM Goh saying that we need fighting spirit to succeed, the medley of classic Singapore songs and of course the finale with this year's theme song, "What Do You See?"

Then I recalled more, more than the parade: The effort our company put in to ensure the presidential gun salute goes smoothly, the sheer volume and professionalism of the volunteers and NSFs ensuring the NDP runs smoothly, how my fellows specs and officers would joke around during the rehearsals despite the workload and the smiles on the faces of the children at the NE shows.

What do you see? I see a Singapore built from the sweat and tears of her citizens. I see a home where I have my friends and families. I see a great city that was built from virtually nothing. I see a place where I belong. I see a nation which deserves my protection and sacrifice so that my children and grand children would be able to taste the fruits of our labour.

What do you see?

From resiliang

5. Put the careers you have seriously considered/would find interesting in bold.
6. Put the careers that make you think "WTF" in italics.

1.	Epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine. Sounds a lot like an occupation with statistics and no clear answers. I prefer working on something more concrete.
2.	Biomedical Engineer
3.	Chemical Engineer
4.	Pharmacologist
5.	Microbiologist
6.	Oceanographer
7.	Environmental Engineer
8.	Pharmacy Technician
9.	Biologist
10.	Zoologist
11.	Meteorologist
12.	Ecologist
13.	Hydrologist/Hydrogeologist
14.	Marine Biologist
15.	Electrical Engineer
16.	Physicist
17.	Paleontologist (Interesting)
18.	Botanist
19.	Dental Lab Tech
20.	Market Research Analyst
21.	Chemist
22.	Geologist
23.	Researcher
24.	Astronomer (Interesting)
25.	Materials/Metallurgical Engineer
26.	Medical Lab Tech
27.	Actuary (Using science and mathematics this way is blasphemy :P)
28.	Chemical Engineering Tech
29.	Environmental Consultant
30.	Mechanical Engineer
31.	Pharmacist
32.	Inventor
33.	Electronics Engineering Tech
34.	Electrical Engineering Tech
35.	Artist
36.	Electrician
37.	Mathematician
38.	Technical Writer
39.	Cartographer
40.	Statistician

 

All the best to those who are having their Nationals competition like the canoeists (blooddevil, the_solitary,  Niklas and hectortroy) , akyd  , jinrong  and Shirli for their National Economics Quiz as well as to yzq for his IChO.

I would be flying off in the early morning of 13th July for IBO. Wish me luck :D

Gold with Honours!

HCCO forever!

Space.

Beyond the stratosphere, above the clouds, far from the muffled noise beneath. A looming darkness that is surprising calming as it is eerie, grand as it is empty.

Space.

I find the realms of astronomy intriguing and fascinating. I have dreamt about how it would be like to explore the endless reaches of the universe, as well as the secrets it hold in terms of science. I prefer sciences which are more down-to-earth like biology and chemistry, that can probe and quantify things from a reductionist principle. However, I have never failed to be mesmerised by the equations that thread each fabric of space time together in such an intricate fashion.

Tied together with quasers, galaxies, neutron stars and nebulae, the universe exudes a strange beauty. Every Hubble photo of a cosmic event or object I believe is a work of art. Perhaps it is because we, in our finite lifespan, are unable to probe and reach the vast expanse of space, that precisely generates such interest in us.

Space.

The empty, deafening silence of space tell us not only of beauty in the present, but also of beauty in the past and future. Imagine if you were in a shuttle, staring out into the heavens, and at distant galaxies. You would wonder whether life would be present in those systems, and if so in what stage. By divorcing yourself from context of the Earth, you can stretch your timescale far beyond, from the molten glob that cooled to form Earth to the asteroid that decimated cretaceous life forms. You could also imagine how advanced life forms would be living, with technologies to harvest the energy of novas and warp the fabric of space time.

Space.

It is my hope that us humans would be able to make major headway into space exploration in the next few decades, so that we all might enjoy the fruits of such work. Perhaps till then, we can only get a taste of space through photos, movies and our boundless imagination.

1) I have never won a gold for SMO.
True, have missed gold by a few marks a few times already. Wish me luck as I try again next year.

2) My favourite subject in secondary 2 was literature.
False. I did not have a favourite subject then, although Mr Liew was an excellent teacher.

3) I have a pathetic private music collection, so I often listen to the radio.
True. That is why I don't have a MP3 player.

4) The only airline I have ever flown on is SIA.
5) The first country I flew to was Australia.
False and true. The first country I flew to was Australia, on a Qantas jet plane.

6) I have one friend that came from the same primary and secondary school with me and he is still with me in JC now.
He's Wei Li.

7) I factured my right arm before when I was in primary school. Lucky I am a left hander.
True. It happened in Primary 3, when I was in Princess Elizabeth Primary School. So I guess some of my Nan Hua friends got it wrong :P

8) My ambition is to become a scientist.
True. Science for Life.

9) My first online games was this space game called Diaspora.
True. I played it on a 56K modem, and it was a game with graphics, not a text based one. Was quite laggy, had to wait a good number of seconds before I could jump from zone to zone. Stopped playing after getting 2 hit by some Helios Behemoth.

10) The first PC game I bought was Red Alert 2.
True. Other games prior to that were borrowed.

11) None of my friends has visited my current house.
False. Ask Chee How :P

12) I can survive without a handphone.
True.

13) I obtained a gold for NAPFA in primary school.
True. That is despite walking through most of the 1.6km run. This shows the sudden increase in difficulty of NAPFA from primary school to secondary school.

14) The first soccer club I supported was Manchester United.
True.

15) When selecting schools for PSLE, I placed "The Chinese High School" as my first choice and "Raffles Institution" as second.
True.

16) I prefer vanilla flavoured ice cream over chocolate flavoured ones.
True. Is there something wrong with vanilla? Everyone thinks chocolate is better?

17) Ever since secondary school, I have been visiting the science centre for free.
True. With SSEF + Robotics + Science Talks, I think I have seen every nook and cranny in the science centre.

18) I was the top in Mathematics in Primary 6.
False. Guan Khoon was top.

19) I prefer Coke over Pepsi.
True. Pepsi's too sweet.

20) I learnt to ride a bike in one day.
False. Learnt it in 3 days :P

Now for the scores.
0/5: Calvin (-__-')
1/5: Aaron, Zeqi, Hongyu, Edmund, Bensing, Chen
2/5: Jin Rong, Wei Long, Andrew
3/5: -
4/5: Jezreel <-- Imba
5/5: -

Tagged by neojr4.
One. Think of 15 short bits of interesting stuff about yourself. And they’ve gotta be true.
Two. Come up with 5 false statements regarding yourself, but for fun's sake keep them in the threshold of believability.
Three. Jumble them all up together and list them in any order.
Four. Post them on LJ and let people guess which the five false ones are!
Five. Get 5 others to do the same.

1. I have never won a gold for SMO.
2. My favourite subject in secondary 2 was literature.
3. I have a pathetic private music collection, so I often listen to the radio.
4. The only airline I have ever flown on is SIA.
5. The first country I flew to was Australia.
6. I have one friend that came from the same primary and secondary school with me and he is still with me in JC now.
7. I factured my right arm before when I was in primary school. Lucky I am a left hander.
8. My ambition is to become a scientist.
9. My first online games was this space game called Diaspora.
10. The first PC game I bought was Red Alert 2.
11. None of my friends has visited my current house.
12. I can survive without a handphone.
13. I obtained a gold for NAPFA in primary school.
14. The first soccer club I supported was Manchester United.
15. When selecting schools for PSLE, I placed "The Chinese High School" as my first choice and "Raffles Institution" as second.
16. I prefer vanilla flavoured ice cream over chocolate flavoured ones.
17. Ever since secondary school, I have been visiting the science centre for free.
18. I was the top in Mathematics in Primary 6.
19. I prefer Coke over Pepsi.
20. I learnt to ride a bike in one day.

Tags: cowvin_89, kaiyang, friedpiggy, jez_hex, jinrong

And green is my favourite colour...

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest: You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary. At Your Lowest: You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in. In Love: You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated. How You're Attractive: Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room. Your Eternal Question: "What else do I need in my life?"

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

You Are Not a Cook

You know cooking isn't for you, and you wouldn't even consider trying to make a homecooked meal. And this is a very good thing. You've saved all your friends and family from unintentional food poisoning!

I watched V for Vendetta yesterday with Calvin, Wai Peng and Jinquan at Suntec. I must say the show lived up to its expectations.

First of all, the plot was very thought provoking and beckoned the viewers to reflect and feel. From the start when V starts with his rhetoric of V words, I could tell that this film was not going to an ordinary action film. V was cast in the light of a freedom fighter, who was more of a protagonist than an antagonist as he did not kill ordinary civilians recklessly and murdered the government soldiers and fingerman only if threatened. However throughout the film, I felt that some of his actions were unneeded and even wrong. For instance, I do not think it was necessary for him to imprison Evey in order for her to understand what freedom actually is. Realisation of the need and power of freedom can also be achieved through seeking the truth, which is what the detective did.

I think V was a product of his time. His method of using violence and manipulating the populace (giving them masks to purposely create violence and unrest) to bring down the government was a necessarily evil only because the totalitarian state was far worse off. Evey draws the parallel between V and the movie Count of Monte Cristo when she said that she pitied one of the characters as he cared more about revenge than his girl. These methods and the thinkings behind would never be adopted in a normal democratic society. If done today, it would just seen as terrorism. V realised this too in the end, after telling Evey that the world tomorrow belongs to people like Evey and he belongs to the past.

Second of all, despite delving deeply into philosophy and politics, V for Vendetta was also a feast for the eyes. The final showdown between V and Creedie's men was sleek and skilfully executed (pun). The cinematics of the Parliament House going up in flames in tune with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was breath taking too.

8.5/10 Go watch it quick before you get left behind!
"You go find your own tree." - V, repeating after the protagonist of Count of Monte Cristo.

I changed the journal format.
Yah.

Good Luck to all fellow Hwa Chong students in the upcoming series of National Competitions.

And Congratulations to those who did well :D

Argh, what went wrong... why not 100%?

Your College Life by highfivejunkie
Username
What will you study?
Your Roomate	leonard_ho
The Football Player	cjqsg
The Cheerleader	frankchn
The Band Geek	hongyu
Highly involved in their Frat/Sorority	alfree
The Crazy Drunk	jez_hex
The College Slut	blooddevil
Your Significant Other	lincheewee
The Creep that sneaks into girl's showers	chunhao
Likeliness you'll graduate: 99%
Quiz created with MemeGen!

YEAH! GOLD WITH HONOURS!

Today was the last day of the SYF Central Judging for Secondary School Chinese Orchestra. After having heard that NYGH got Gold with Honours the day yesterday, beating RV, we were rather determined not to lose to them. Everyone was pushing and hoping for that gold with honours, everyone shared the same dream.

When we went up on stage, every other CO were sitting down there as we were the last group in the morning session. Everyone was a bit tensed we started on the set piece Xing Kong. But soon after, everyone got into the mood. Mo Li Hua, our choice piece was excellent, Shou Hao played his solo well even with shivering hands :D.

After we finished, there was a tremedous round of applause from the audience, which gave me much hope that we could get that gold with honours. After a gruelling 30 minute wait for the judges' decision, our CO was finally awarded Gold with Honours. The Gold with Honour contained our whole CO's unity, spirit, sweat, blood and tears. Looking back, I will really miss the days I had with HCICO.

I had to change the colour format. The old one was too jarring for the eye.

If I missed you out in my friends list tell me.