Thank you for drinking soda

On the first day of my training at my company's vendor's site, our instructor told us that the soda (soft drinks) available from the vending machines are free.














It was just 8.30am and quite many of my course mates were already drinking their favourite soda to their hearts content. I went to check out the vending machine, wow there are so many sodas to choose from, I counted, there are 16 different drinks! Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Sprite, Diet Sprite, Dr Peppers, Diet Dr Peppers, Fanta Grape, Fanta Orange, Fruit Punch, Root Beer, Ginger Ale, Cherry Coke, Lemon Tea, Mountain Dew.

I wondered if this is the cause of obesity in the States. Incidentally, on the same day, I read this report
Waistlines Continue to Grow in U.S from Associated Press:

There is no mention in the report that soda is the cause of obesity but those working in the soda industry will be similing if they were to know that during the duration of my training, some of my course mates can drink up to 2 or 3 sodas per day. I am no saint, I too was 'lured' into drinking but I choose Ginger Ale and Lemon Tea :) If you were to look at this scenario on a bigger scale, those lobbyist will probably be saying "Thank you for drinking soda".

This brings me to the satire comedy movie 'Thank you for smoking' which I watched recently on krisworld. The story is about how the character Nick Naylor, deals with the public/his family and friends, being the person to hate, as he is a lobbyist in the smoking and tobacco industry.

Nick has a 12 year old son and he teaches his son to argue rather than to negiotiate to 'win'. In Nick's words, "That's the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you're never wrong".

I can remember two particular scenes:

Kid: My Mommy says smoking is bad for you
Nick Naylor: Oh, is your Mommy a doctor?
Kid: No.
Nick Naylor: A scientific researcher of some kind?
Kid: No.
Nick Naylor: Well then she's hardly a credible expert, is she?

In the other scene, Nick creates an analogy for his son about how arguing over whether smoking causes cancer is similar to an argument over whether vanilla ice cream is better than chocolate. They stage the fake argument and Nick begins twisting the discussion until he's talking about freedom of choice in ice cream flavors, something to the extend like there is truth as to chocolate is better than vanilla (vice versa) but people is free to choose which flavour they like. Flustered, his son says, "But that's not what we're talking about!"
"But that's what _I'm_ talking about," emphasizes Nick :)

Well, all I have to say is we are what we eat so we have to be responsible with what we consume. Yes life is short but don't blame the unhealthy food, blame ourselves instead and exercise if you feel the guilt :)

Scenes from the movie

Greetings from Washington!

As I take in the sights, I'm brought back to some of the movie scenes that I've enjoyed in the past.

In the film "In the line of Fire", there is this scene where Clint Eastwood watches Rene Russo leave from the Lincoln Memorial. Clint mumbled to himself: If she looks back, it means she's interested. Come on, give me a look back now. Just give me that smug expression and be on your way. Rene Russo finally looks back, so cliche right, haha, thats Hollywood :)













Another scene filmed not far from the Lincolm Memorial is one from Forrest Gump. Tom Hanks was preparing to make a speech in front of the reflecting pool when long lost Robin Wright saw him on the stage. Then in Hollywood style, they run to each other's embrace while wading in the pool. The pool appears to be sheet clean from afar but on closer look, alot of duck droppings ah :)

A good rest

I am reminded by how many hours of proper sleep I had when the washington heat get a little over me this afternoon. Lets do some maths here, in spore timezone:
sun 27, woke up 6.30am for run
sun 27, 4pm left for LA
mon 28, 8.30pm reached hotel
mon 28, trip to washington at 10pm
tues 29, back in hotel 6am
finallY hit the bed! That comes up to 48hrs! Wow, now as a make up, I will try and get 9hrs of sleep :)

Waiting

I have about 4 hours to catch my transit flight to Baltimore-Washington airport to my destination, Columbia. i survived the 16hrs flight, manage to watch 5 films to kill time and catch some sleep in between. Watched singapore gaga, a 55mins documentary on things singapore by tan pin pin, two brits production, kinky boots and keeping mum, the latter starring kristen scott thomas, mr bean and maggie smith. The other two were she's the man and thank you for smoking.

Now I am at Los Angeles airport, the UA terminal to be exact. There are no shops at the departure area just counters for u to check in so I decided to check in early to get to the departure lounge, at least there will be some shops and cafes. So here I am, at starbucks, ordered a pomengrenate frappachino, seated near the window overlooking the runway.















The radio is playing Lisa Stansfield 'All around the world', and it is turning dark outside. No wifi here but didnt know what else to do so login to blog abit.

Jog & Fly

Today I participated in my first even run/jog at the Safra Sheares Bridge Run. The turnout was about 60,000! and its not easy to jog when you have so many people around you. Anyway I managed to complete the 6km run, feel so good after that, despite the rain that came pouring down at the 4km mark.

Right now, I'm at Changi Airport, departing to USA to attend a training. Hope I will get some rest on the plane to recharge. Adios!

All set

This is my running tag and Tshirt for tomorrow's Safra 6km run.

0320, nice number? I will buy 4D for this weekend, see got luck or not :)

The future will be fun with Office 2006!

Office 2006 is here!
These are the latest features for the new 2006 business computers!

Some Features you may need on your Computer

KOLYA

在早报副刊读到这篇文章, 读后也有同样的感触,但本身没有那么好的文笔,所以把它放在这,与大家分享.

很喜好这部电影, 小男孩的童真是非笔墨所能形容的.回故一下也有9年了,1997年KOLYA在奥斯卡赢得最佳外语影片的荣誉.
没记错的活第一次是在97或98年新加坡电影节看的.第二次观赏应该是在04年的捷克电影节吧. 与作者一样我也被布拉格的美景迷着, 很侥幸的,在03年有机会到布拉格度假,总于目睹了这个有东方巴黎之称(Paris of the East)的城市.



快乐的泪光 (刊登于8月23日早报副刊)

● 尤今

“KOLYA”是一部精彩绝伦的电影，以捷克语和俄罗斯语为对白，附中英文字幕。

　　当初买这影碟，只为了一个非常简单的理由：它拍摄于捷克首都布拉格，而我，对这城市念念不忘──忘不了它集绰约风姿与万千气派于一身的超俗美丽。那回的旅游，让我至感遗憾的是：好几卷照片因为人为的疏忽而走光了，因此，我希望在电影中重新拾掇那一份逐渐模糊的记忆。

　　然而，影片震撼我的，竟不是让我眷恋不已的绮丽风光，而是一份催人泪下的人间温情。

　 　故事发生于1988年的布拉格，当时，捷克还在苏联的掌控中。主角路卡是布拉格一名怀才不遇的大提琴手，风流倜傥，把婚姻视为桎梏，年过五旬，仍然是逍 遥自在的单身汉。许多女性倾倒于他的音乐才华而主动投怀送抱，可是，他却因为经济拮据而决定与一名素不相识的俄罗斯女子假结婚，帮助她取得捷克的居留权而 为自己换取丰厚的酬劳。双方议定半年之后离婚。俄罗斯女子有名五岁的儿子哥耶，与祖母同住。万万料不到，女子婚后竟逃到西德去私会情人，把儿子哥耶留下。 更料不到的是：哥耶的祖母不久病逝，照顾哥耶的担子于是落到路卡身上。

　　束手无策的路卡把哥耶带返母亲处，要求母亲代为照顾，可是，一向痛恨俄罗斯人的母亲，一口拒绝了。

　　故事于是在一老一小之间展开了。

　 　路卡只谙捷克语，哥耶呢，只懂俄语。两个连沟通都有问题的人，只好靠肢体语言努力适应。路卡把哥耶当作是摔不掉的累赘，哥耶将路卡看成是有怪癖的老人， 两相嫌弃。然而，后来，哥耶的童真，终于攻陷了路卡心房里那坚固的堡垒，两个年纪相差了半个世纪的人，建立了相濡以沫的“父子情”。

　　电影拍得平实而又真实，显得特别的温馨，也特别的感人。

　 　为了给哥耶解闷，路卡大汗滴小汗地砍伐木柴给哥耶雕小玩偶、买蜡笔和画布教他绘画、送小提琴让他学音乐、带他外出骑脚车寻乐子。早熟的哥耶，亦步亦趋地 跟着路卡，玩得很开心，散落一串串清脆的笑声。终于，有一晚，上床后，主动给了路卡一个响亮的吻，说：“晚安，老爹。”。

　　一回，倦游 归来后，路卡在浴缸里放满了水让哥耶享受泡浴，哥耶泡着、泡着，竟把花洒当成电话筒，“拨电”给他的祖母，说：“奶奶，您什么时候可以回家呀？上回，我去 医院看您，可是，老爹说您睡着了，不要叫醒您，您几时才会醒过来呢？您如果醒了，就快点回家来吧！”说着，说着，竟哭了起来；站在浴室外无意间偷看到这一 幕的路卡，赶紧给他的情人打电话，要求以教俄文为生的情人为小哥耶讲个故事。于是，小哥耶在泡浴之后，便躺在床上，握着电话筒，如饥如渴地让那久违了的俄 语带着他飞往那个美丽的童话王国，听着时，他晶晶发亮的大眼睛薄薄地镀着一层快乐的泪光.……听完后，他满足地叹息着说：“呵，真好听啊！”

　　就在这时，我眼眶全湿。

　　啊，再多的玩具、再精采的出游、再新鲜的游戏，通通通通都比不上一个用自己母语畅述的故事。

　　世界上，有什么语言，比自己的母语更动听、更好听、更叫人动心、更令人动情呢？

　　《KOLYA》这影片，除了荣获奥斯卡最佳外语片之外，还获颁“金球奖”最佳外语片奖、欧洲最佳电影奖、东京国际电影节最佳影片奖。

　　它是实至名归的。

　　影片中的许多情节，看似平凡，但却寓藏了深刻的思想内涵。

　　看懂了，处处都是触动人心的启示；看不懂呢，它就仅仅只是一部好看的电影而已。

Sophie Scholl

I watched the movie last night. There were not much actions or drama so to speak unlike other war movies but you could feel that it was impactful. The story traces the last 4 days of Sophie Scholl, in Munich in Feb 1943. The movie centers around the interrogation process of Sophie, who got into trouble while helping her brother in carrying out anti-Nazi activities. Julia Jentsch who plays Sophie did a very good job in portraying the relentless and never-see-die, side of the character. She fought strongly with the authorities, and did not succumb to any of the threats.

One scene that strikes me is when she asked for permission to go to the lavatoy to relieve herself. If I remembered correctly, it was right after she was told that she will be punished for the "crimes" that she has committed - spreading anti-Nazi newsletters. Punishment equates death and Sophie was worried what will happen to her parents at the same time. When she was lead to the lavatory, she did not wash up or relieve herself as you would think. Instead, she stood in front of the mirror looking in vain and rest her back against the wall and let out a cry. A helpless cry.

Read more about the White Rose

怀旧卡通片

你小时候有看过这些卡通片吗?

What a difference a "u" make

I was told last week by my colleague that I may be going to Columbia to attend a training. As it was still pending, I did not look up to find out more on the destination. I told my family and friends and the reactions were "not safe, exotic, out-of-place". Initially I thought I am going to South America too but till I got my facts right, I realised I was going to Columbia and not Colombia. Both sounds the same right? :)

Columbia is in Maryland state, located between Baltimore and Washington. A search on the web shows there are other Columbia in several US states.

This is a short trip, arrive Monday, depart Friday kind, hope I will still get a chance to go to Washington to catch a glimpse of the White House and to visit the Holocaust Museum.

What I Live By

我的座右铭

Do not do unto others, what you do not want others to do unto you.

你希望别人怎么对待你，你就怎么对待别人

孔子也留下了相仿的话“己所不欲，勿施于人”
这句话是儒家道德信条的基础，它的意思是说，自己所不愿意承受的，不要去加在别人头上。八个字看来很简单，其实包含着很深的道理。

播种一个行动，你会收到一个习惯；
播种一个习惯，你会收到一个个性；
播种一个个性，你会收到一个命运；
播种一个善行，你会收到一个善果；
播种一个恶行，你会收到一个恶果。

座右铭

你知道座右铭的意识吗 ? 经常会读到某某人的座右铭,但不知道它的来源. 在网上找到这篇文稿,挺惭愧的,稿上写着小学语文小常识 :)

“座右铭”的传说

很多少年朋友喜欢抄一些名言警句放在自己的书桌上、铅笔盒里，用来鞭策自己不断进步。我们把这些名言警句叫做“座右铭”。

这种写出来放在座位旁边或其他地方的格言为什么叫座右铭呢？有两种不同的传说。

一 种传说是这样的：宋 朝时有个叫吴介的人很喜欢史书。史书中记载的可以吸取经验教训的事，他都抄下来，放在座位的右边，称之为“座右铭”。铭就是刻在器物上记述生平、事业或警 惕自己的文字。时间长了，他家连墙上、窗上都贴满了警句、格言。以后就慢慢地传开了。“座右铭”的内容也不仅仅是可以借鉴的往事，形式也不仅仅是限于放在 座位的右边了。

另一种说法是有关我国古代大教育家孔子的故事。

据古书记载，春秋五霸之一的齐桓公死了，齐国人为了纪念他，就给他造了一个庙堂。庙堂里摆设了好多祭器，其中有一种很特别的装酒的器皿。它空着的时候是倾斜的，把液体装进一半就直立起来。这种酒具叫欹器。

有 一天，孔子带着学生 到庙里来朝拜，看到了一个倾斜的酒器，觉得很奇怪，于是就向庙里管香火的人打听。管香火的人告诉他，这是欹(qī)器。孔子于是想起了有关齐桓公的故事。 他指着欹器对学生们说：“欹器空着的时候就倾斜，把酒或水倒进去，到一半的时候就直立起来，欹器装满了就又会倾斜。所以过去齐桓公总是把欹器放在他座位的 右侧，用来警戒自己决不可以骄傲自满。自满就会像欹器里装满了水，必然要倾斜倒覆。”说完，他就让学生取来水倒进欹器。果然一切正如孔子所说的一样。孔子 又对学生说：“读书也是一样，谦受益，满招损。你们一定要牢牢记住。”回到家里，孔子也请人做了个欹器放在座位的右侧，用来警戒自己活到老，学到老，永不 满足。以后，欹器被刻在金属上的文字所代替，放在自己座位旁。书房里的铭文也并不都是金属戒训文字，还包括许多格言，警句。但“座右铭”这个词却一直用到 今天。

你是否有座右铭呢？

Stroke

I received this email yesterday and didn't think much of it. Today when I logged in to my mailbox, I received news from our Europe office that one of our counterparts passed away on Saturday due to stroke. This got me to re-read the email again. Hope this information will be useful.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters...

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Remember the "3" steps, STR . (Remember " STAR ".)

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE .
T *Ask the person to TALK . to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
(Coherently) ( i.e. . . It is sunny out today)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke}
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

境由心生

在网上读到这篇文章,在这里跟大家分享:

境由心生

梅冬冬

光阴在闪念间就已流逝，想想自己这些年来一事无成依旧两手空空，心中常涌过一种焦虑感。而当自己为了生活琐事奔波，为了工作或者感情的困扰而烦恼不堪时; 当看到昔日好友天各一方或荣华富贵或居无定所时;当自己不被理解时，思想常陷于一种混沌中，百思不得其解，仿如迷雾里看不清前路，倍感彷徨困惑。
某日，一位多年不见的老友来电问候，话间自己不免感叹起来，觉得生活中有太多的不满与无奈。电话那头依旧话不多说，只淡淡送出句：“境由心生，知足常乐”。

好一个境由心生！犹如醍醐灌顶，让我茅塞顿开。
是啊，细想自己的周遭际遇，尽管有好多事不尽人意，与其苦思不得要领不得解脱，令自己背上沉重的思想包袱，不如退一步，留白天地宽;对于那些功名利禄荣辱 得失，以一份淡泊的心情来看待，才发觉，很多烦恼和失意纯属庸人自扰。若拥有了过人的肚量 、豁达的胸襟，知足而常乐，人会活得轻松得多。

凡事追求完美，反而过犹不及;凡事斤斤计较,反令自己不得安宁。有些人不快乐，也许正因为他不知足。一切感觉皆由心生，坚持自己的原则做力所能及的事，莫 过于强求，这并非是消极的人生态度，只是处世的方法有所不同，依然是可以活得积极入世。

给自己一个时空，为自己营造一份平和的心境，活得轻松写意些。让自己走进生活而不让生活走过自己。领悟了境由心生、知足常乐这些道理，鼓励自己，怀一份善心，去笑对明天。

有了“静看庭前花开花落，漫随天外云卷云舒”的无憾和超然,夫复何求？

知足常乐

1. 一个人的快乐，不是因为他拥有的多，而是因为他计较的少.

2. 拥有是负担，不计较就自在，能放下烦恼才能快乐，

3. 多是负担，是另一种失去；少非不足，是另一种有余；

4. 舍去也不是一种失去，而是另一种更宽阔的拥有。

5. 人如不知足，就永远都在烦恼中. 愿你永远幸福哦

生命的空隙

很多时候,我们需要给自己的生命留下一点空隙,就像两车之间的安全距离———一点缓冲的余地，可随时调整自己，进退有据。
生 活的空间，须借清理挪减而留出；心灵的空间，则经思考开悟而扩展。打扑克牌时，我们手中握有的这副牌不论好坏，都要把它打的淋漓尽致；人生亦然，重要的不 是发生的事，而是我们处理它的方法和态度。假如我们转身面向阳光，就不可能陷身在阴影里。当我们拿花送给别人时，首先闻到花香的是我们自己；当我们抓起泥 巴想抛向别人时，首先弄脏的也是自己的手；一句温暖的话，就像往别人身上洒香水，自己也会沾到两三滴。因此，要时时心存好意，脚走好路，身行好事。
光明使我们看到许多东西，也使我们看不见许多东西。假如没有黑夜，我们便看不到闪亮的星辰。因此，即使是是曾经一度使我们难以承受的痛苦磨难，也不会是完全没有价值的。它可使我们的意志更坚强，思想、人格更成熟。因此，当困难与挫折到来，应平静的面对乐观的处理。
不要在人我是非中彼此磨擦。有些话语称起来不重，但稍一不慎，便会重重压到别人心上；同时，也要训练自己，不要轻易被别人的话扎伤。
你不能决定生命的长度，但你可以扩展它的宽度；你不能改变天生的容貌，但你可以时时展现你的笑容；你不能企望控制别人，但你可以好好撑握自己；你不能全然预知明天，但你可以充分利用今天；你不能要求事事顺利，但你可以做到事事尽心。
在生活中，一定要让自己豁达些，因为豁达的自己才不至于钻入牛角尖，才可能乐观进取。还要开朗些，因为开朗的自己才能把快乐带给别人，让生活中的气氛显得更加愉悦。
心里如要常常保持快乐，就必须不把人与人之间的琐事当成是非；有些人常常在烦恼，就是因为别人的一句无心的话，他却有意的接受，并堆积在心中。
一个人的快乐，不是因为他拥有的多，而是因为他计较的少。多是负担，是另一种失去；少非不足，是另一种有余；舍去也不是一种失去，而是另一种更宽阔的拥有。
美好的生活应该是时时拥有一颗轻松自在的心，不管外在世界如何变化，自己能有一片清静的天地，清静不在热闹繁杂中，更不在一颗所求太多的心中，放下挂碍、开阔心胸，心里自然清静无忧。
喜悦能让心灵保持明亮，并且充塞着一种确实而永恒的宁静。我们的心念意境，如能时常保持清明开朗，展现于周遭的环境，都是美好而良善的。

摘自《读者》2004第一期

梁文福 - 左手的快乐

I chanced upon this book from the library recently. It was sitting on the "What's New" section and it beckoned me to take him home.

A good read it was. It is a collection of short articles that the author has contributed over the years to newspapers columns (ZaoBao and some Taiwanese papers).

I grew up listening to XinYao and you certainly can't miss Liang Wen Foo's works. I am not one that really listen / scrutinise the lyrics when a nice song is played. I'm attracted more by the melody of the music piece and if I really enjoyed it, I will then check what the lyrics is about. Anyway my knowledge of chinese songs is limited, the XinYao period was probably my "prime" :)

Ok, back to the book. Liang Wen Foo has a certain writing style that make the reading a breeze. I think I finish reading within a few hours. He is witty with his words and with the ideas he conjures. One of my favourite piece from the book is "Di" (Droplets, literally translated). I won't reveal much here, go and buy / borrow and share your thoughts with me.

Maths Equation

Perhaps this is what our MOE is seeking in our new generation of students, applying their mathematical skills in a creative way :)