Dominatio Per Malum

You read Vettath v Vettath [1991] SGCA 38 as V For Vendetta.

Alfred “Alien” McAlpine Construction Ltd v. Panatown “Predator” Ltd

Abstract: Alfred “Alien” McAlpine Construction Ltd (hereafter known as “Alien”), a parasitic reptillian killing machine, was employed by Panatown “Predator” Ltd (hereafter known as “Predator”) to construct an ancient training ground (thereafter known as “hatchery”) on land belonging to Earth, a subservient planet of P. Defects appeared in the hatchery and P launched arbitration proceedings against A claiming substantial damages. Alien appealed against a decision to allow a claim by Predator , arguing that Predator had suffered no financial loss. No contractual relationship existed between Predator and Earth to complete the building work.

For obvious reasons, the arbitration process failed…

Summary: Held, allowing the appeal, that in circumstances where a contract between a builder and an employer was for the construction of a building on the land of a third party who would own that building, the employer could seek substantial damages from the builder for any defects in the building only where the third party actually suffering the loss had no direct remedy against that builder. Where a direct remedy existed, such as in the form of a direct duel, the employer would be entitled to nominal damages only.

The defective building.

I cannot vote even if i wanted to don’t need to vote. Which comes as no great surprise. Unless i move to another estate, i suspect that i may never need to vote ever again, since noone would actually contest in my GRC.

Harvard Novelist Says Copying Was Unintentional - New York Times

Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard sophomore accused of plagiarizing parts of her recently published chick-lit novel, acknowledged yesterday that she had borrowed language from another writer’s books, but called the copying “unintentional and unconscious.”

Yeah, right. Now, if only i could unintentionally and unconsciously memorise huge chunks of House of Lords judgements, now that’ll be great. Or better yet, Mckendricks. She’d make a great lawyer since she can either (1) subconsciously memorise judgements, or (2) lie with a straight face, either of which stand her in good stead.

And now, back to unintential and unconscious studying.

I haven written a GP essay in eons. So it was somewhat nostalgic to be doing some pseudo GP paper today. Yes, it may well be called lc1002, but its actually a GP paper in disguise. With some tweaking, the questions could have been used for A lvl GP. Anyway, did i mention that GP used to be my favouritest subject?

Because rules are meant to be broken.

9 requirements of practical reasonableness
8 requirements of inner morality
7 Basic Goods
6 boring philosophers
5 aspects of public reason
4 credit module
3 essential elements of deliberative democracy
2 hour paper
1 frazzled mind

I have decided that there will be no more entries until early May. Really. Must. Start. Studying.

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Hmm, i’m impressed by myself…

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You’re not going to mow over everyone to get ahead… But you’re also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it’s an ugly place. You just don’t get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

Your Birthdate: July 15

You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things. You tend to be close to family and friends. But it’s hard to get into your inner circle. Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home. You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak. Your strength: Your intense optimism Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents Your power color: Jade Your power symbol: Flower Your power month: June

You are a Self-Discoverer

You’re not religious, but you’ve created your own kind of spirituality. Introspective and thoughtful, you tend to look inward for the divine. You are distrusting of all forms of organized religion. You especially dislike religious gurus and leaders, who you feel are charlatans.

Your SAT Score of 1360 Means:

You Scored Higher Than Howard Stern You Scored Higher Than George W. Bush You Scored Higher Than Al Gore You Scored Lower Than David Duchovny You Scored Lower Than Natalie Portman You Scored Lower Than Bill Gates

Your IQ is most likely in the 130-140 range

Equivalent ACT score: 31

Schools that Fit Your SAT Score: Brown University Northwestern University Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University Reed College

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

The boringness of studying led to an intoxicated mental state of dullness not amounting to insanity that resulted in diminished responsibility and thus i was easily provoked into slacking since procrastination was a necessity and this act was further abetted by the evil lure of sleep and was thus a causal factor in my negligent act of omitting to study, although i admit that it was a mistake on hindsight but nevertheless entrapment by slackness is not a recognisd defence thus i am guilty of culpable procrastination not amounting to slackness.

There was some news articles recently about Maids who commited homicide being spared the death penalty, and some allusion by local newspapers that maids were given “special treatment”, blah blah. But i think the main reason why most of the maids escaped the gallows is largely because of the unequal power of master and maid, a fact the courts are cognizant of. In a number of these “maids who killed their employers” cases, there were some level of abuse/ill-treatment of the maids prior to the murder, which eventually proved to be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back, and the maid snaps. While Singapore does not recognize the “battered wife syndrome” formally, this may be a mitigating factor. The maids are not battered wives, of course, but the essentially element of the “battered wife syndrome” exists, viz- Unequal relationship characterised by the abuse, whether physical or psychological, of the ascendant party to the subserviant party, often over an extended period of time which culminates with the subserviant party eventually snapping.

So how is this preamble relevant to my title? Well, i shall argue that in the army, the circumstances of the “battered wife syndrome” exists, especially if your CSM/RSM/officer is some sadist prick who bullies all the poor recruits around until, someone somewhere eventually snaps. Its not a case of if, but rather when. In fact, i came across a case which was exactly just that: Chia Chee Yeen v Public Prosecutor [1991] SLR 312. Those interested in the full details can read the sad case yourself. The short story:

In 1987, this guy, Chia, shot his CSM to death in a military police camp. Chia was a LCP, a lowly peon of the army forces who had been given 2 x 6 weekend confinement because his CSM felt that he had disobeyed an order. Chia was supposedly a quite, reserved kind of guy, and had tried to speak to the CSM to rescind the punishment. The CSM refused and Chia shot the fella, killing him. Chia was charged w/ murder, and sentenced to death. His defence of diminished responsibility was not accepted by the court.

I wonder, if his case had been tried today, would he succeed based on the “battered wife syndrome” defence? One could probably draw a parrallel between life as a subserviant and ill-treated NSF with a subserviant and ill-treated maid. I sympathise with the guy. Some (though not all) of the higher ranking pple can be really evil at times.

On an unrelated note, another newspaper article noted that people were more prone to using vulgarities nowadays. In my case, it was 100% because of NS that i use vulgarities. Try living for 2yrs++ in an environment that constantly spews vulgarities. Even the Pope will eventually start to swear…

Anyways, if you want to read the full text of the case, you can email me. I can’t put it here because (1) Too Long, (2) Copyright.

Produce pamphlets more economically - April 10, 2006

Looks like I’m not the only one complaining about the eregious wastage. The ST Forum has a letter today complaining about roughly the same thing. Reproduced Below, with my comments in italics and prefaced by “>>”: (more…)

Devil In A Blue Dress (1995) 8/10

One of the best pieces of film noir i’ve seen in a long time, Carl Franklin’s Devil In A Blue Dress is one of those old school kind of film noir, complete with the femme fatale and excellent control of mood. Just as they don’t make westerns like they used to, they don’t make film noir like Devil In A Blue Dress much nowadays. Still, it was a treat to discovered this little known gem from the 90s. Of course, after watching the film, if you were to critically consider the plot, you realise that it isn’t really a very plausible film. But it doesn’t matter, because from the outset, the film moves through its maze of questions, and intrigue. Highly entertaining, even though there isn’t much in terms of action, its the kind of smart thriller that scores not with big budgets but with deft storytelling. Hidden inside the film noir genre of the film is a sly commentary of racism and racial relations. Plus, Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle put in solid performances and this is one film noir that stands at the top of its game.

Wishing Stairs (2003) 6/10

In terms of scaryness, Wishing Stairs scores quite high, with enough hijinks in the second half and some truly chilling imagery to offer even jaded viewers. In terms of originality and plot though, its still a fairly predictable and by the numbers genre piece.

Wishing stairs is third in a loose series of films set in girl’s high school. While it offers its share of chills and scares, it still pales in comparison to Memento Mori, argurably the best horror film of that series. The first half of the film, which sets out the story of jealousy is competantly done, albeit predictable. You could see the twists quite early on. And the plot is essentially a kind of “be careful what you wish for” parable on the dangers of wishes. Obviously, as predictability dictates, the girls who manage to step on the non-existant 29th step of the Wishing Stairs will get their wishes fulfiled, but the wish inevitably becomes a Faustian Bargain where they must then pay for the wish with a metaphorical pound of flesh. All well and good, but certainly too predictable.

The second half ramps up the fear factor dramatically, but reminded me all too much of The Shining. Heck, there is even one scene in the film that seems to be a homage to the Shining [girl breaks open the window of a door with a corkscrew]. Anyway, while the second half does have its share of fairly well done scares, you nevertheless get a sense of deja vu. The tension is effectively manipulated, but still, the conventional cliches of the long-haired girl remains overused. And lets not forget another pet peeve: scary toilets with scary toilet mirrors which reflect scary stuff. If you’ve watched enough J-horror/K-horror, you probably know what i’m talking about.

Ultimately, Wishing Stairs is a decent if none too original piece of horror that offers a reasonably enjoyable time and its share of scares.

Blade Runner [Director’s Cut] (1982) 7/10

The general consenus is that the director’s cut is better than the theatrical cut. I’m inclined to agree.

Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult classic Blade Runner may be showing its age, but it is still a remarkable film for its dystopian vision of the future, and remains a landmark sci-fi film.

Certainly the graphics is showing its age. Blade Runner isn’t my favourite of the sci-fi films, and parts of the film seem downright over the top. But i’ll give credit where its due and Blade Runner’s bold vision and stylistic imagery was a breakthrough in its time. The running imagery of the eye motif, the pointed commentary about man’s futile quest for immortality and some truly iconic scenes makes Blade Runner a classic in its own right.

While i disliked some of the sequences, and feel that the plot wasn’t as tight as it could have been, i did like the dark, apocalyptic feel of the cityscape, with its pepetual gloom. Worth watching for all cinephiles, if only to see how Blade Runner was so much ahead of its time.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Apple makes Macs run Windows XP

Mwahaha. All your Macs are belong to us.

Channelnewsasia.com

“And to increase the level of awareness and preparedness among Singaporeans, the government will be providing a million households with a handbook listing the do’s and don’ts in a flu pandemic from the end of this month.”

… “The flu pandemic handbook, which is available in all 4 official languages, includes inputs from some 11 government ministries and agencies, with simple tips on hygiene and precautions you can take in the event of a flu pandemic” … “The government spent about a million dollars to publish this handbook”

Me: Hyperventilates at the thought of the amt of trees killed, amt of ink wasted and the negligible effect this will have.

There’s Dumb. And There’s Pointless. This is dumb AND pointless. Can’t they like do something better with 1 mil? Like donate to starving African kids???

TCS Daily - Fear of Confrontation

“Suppose that we refrain from confronting Iran over its nuclear ambitions. What do we stand to gain? Will the Islamist movement outgrow its militant phase and turn moderate and mature? Will our military capability increase faster than Iran’s capabilities? Will the Islamists be satisfied with attacks on Israel and Europe, and leave us alone — and is that acceptable to us? Unless one can give favorable answers to such questions, it seems to me that Iran must be confronted.”

The analogy between 1933 Germany and 2006 Iraq is abit of a stretch, and not really as applicable. For one, unlike Nazi Germany, Iran is a far lesser threat, more a boogeyman opponent than a real threat. For all its talk of its nuclear amibitions, it is so economically and socially backward that its nuclear dream is still very much a pipe dream. Or to state simply, if Iran fires one nuke, USA will fire back 10 nukes and wipe Tehran off the fucking world map. Thus, Iran is more a nuisance than a threat. Having said that, i nevertheless agree with the general thrust of the article that appeasement is a lousy form of foreign policy and only serves to embolden the enemy. The US should clamp down on Iran’s nuclear talk, and not be afraid to muscle in. But i would not go as far as to suggest an Iraq regime change, not least because practically speaking Afghanistan and Iraq are already more than enough for the US to handle. Adding Iran to the plate is simply not enough for Uncle Sam to handle.

Via Ishkabible