Dominatio Per Malum

I only realised quite recently, that Lord Millett was spelt with 2 “t”s. I have been spelling it as “Millet” for the longest time. Another bit of trivia: Hoffmann is spelt with 2 “n”s, not one.

I should be doing exam prep, but i was moved to write this quick diatribe because Singtel Mio sucks. Big time. It has caused me significant annoyance since its installation, mainly because its modem has a tendency to disconnect for no apparent reason. So it disconnects and then after a while, it reconnects, leaving me frustated. Because it is not serious enough for me to go through the hassle of getting tech support to fix this, but it is annoying enough to seriously piss me off. And from what i gather after googling the web, mine is no isolated issue and alot of people are annoyed by Mio. So if i suddenly dc while on MSN, you know why.

My Laptop gave me a c0000218 error last night, forcing me to hit the metaphorical emergency button. Meaning i had to use the BIOS interface to startup using the Recovery Disk. Such a drastic measure means that i essentially reformat my disk, losing all my files. Plus i had to waste the whole night just to download and install the basic stuff like Firefox, Word, Antivirus etc.

Naturally, bad things come in pairs, so my desktop also decided to quit on me the next morning. I am thus in a foul mood.

I never realized how absolutely annoying it is to read something with CAPS LOCK, until i had to read this.

today’s haze is really bad. The acrid smell of smog lingers in the air and its really beginning to annoy me.

today’s paper left me with a sinking feeling. Not only did i not finish writing (which is always a bad sign), i was writing out of point. I didn’t even have such bad vibes for Torts, which is my worst subject ever.

well, there’s always a silver lining on a hazy cloud i guess, and Battlestar Galactica (the best thing you could possibly watch on TV. Its better than Lost, Prison Break and Desperate Houswives combined) Season 3 starts today. No other TV series is even remotely as good or as anticipated as Battlestar Galactica. Its seriously good shite.

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.

The Waste Land , By TS Eliot ( An Excerpt)

I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

April will be a busy, busy, busy month. I’m finally able to see why T.S Eliot describes it as the cruellest month. Utterly prescient.

I’m still waiting for May.

Random stuff going through my head…

I have an MP (Member of Parliament, not Military Police) as a lecturer. How cool is that? I like the slack way he teaches. Haha.

I will be mooting at the Subordinate Courts. Yay!

PGP has a nice facade. Looks like a condo from the outside.

I’m on my way to giving up 25% of class participation marks in an 8 credit module. Yes, i am that blase.

I feel like writing a rebuttal to a Straits Times article written by my lecturer, but have too much work to do.

I have no time. I need more time.

Why am i blogging instead of writing my 3,000+++ word assignment?

Why am i blogging about procrastinating?

Why do i like to use rhetorical questions?

Some things in life have no answers.

There is still hope for Singapore film.

Youtube Link. Main website.

Why Blog?

“I write to remember, because I will forget. Because a memory is a frail and tenous thing, tethered loosely to reality by the faintest of gossamer thread, sparkling in the light.”

This is the gulf between so-so writers (me) and really, really good writers in my school. I need to gain more exp so that i can level up. This quote was so poetic that i had to post it. Maybe one day i might be able to write at this level.

Alleged case of torture in the army.

If everything that was alleged is true, then this guy must be freaking hercules for actually surviving! But then again, given the fucked up level of the SAF, i’m not really that surprised. After all, the commandoes don’t seem to think there is anything wrong with dunking soldier’s head in a basin of water.

Via gssq.

:: SingTel :: - Consumer - Testpapers

You know that Singapore is a grades obsessed nation when even freaking Singtel provides online test paper service! Wtf! Since when did Singtel branch out? As if there isn’t enough workload/stress/homework kids face.

Myself: Shit, exams are looming. I am so dead, man. Not only am i behind in studies, i’m actually blogging. WTF am i doing, writing this when i should be studying about, um, more interesting stuff like the formation of contracts?(sarcasm intended)

My Alter Ego: C’mon. You know that deep down inside, you kinda like it. The late night mugging, the satisfaction of conquering piles upon piles of notes. The adrenaline rush of taking an exam in the hall. The throbbing numbness of your hands after 3 hours of non-stop scribbling on your Lit paper. It appeals to the masochistic side of you, the pre-exam frenzy of studying. You like the process of procrastination and leaving it up till the last minute before desperation compels you to study. And as we all know, desperation is the best motivation. Heck, don’t you remember playing Warcraft 3 during your “A” Lvls and Magic during your “O” Lvls? So chill, relax and enjoy living on the edge abit. And enjoy the process of mugging.

I don’t know what i should be more worried about- that i’m behind in my materials, that my alter ego is talking to myself, or that i might actually anticipate exams. I think school is screwing with my brains.

Long Week.

Tired.

Not in the mood to write properly. Won’t even bother. Won’t even edit the post. Read at own risk.

Day 2: Flag day. Like all other flag days, a necessary evil. I personally wish to kill whoever it was that invented flag day because it sucks, really. And it is a farce against the concept of charity when schools have “compulsory charity work”, a phrase that is an oxymoron in itself. I used to hate the farcical nature of the quota of CIP hours, and i have no fucking idea why i went for Flag Day against all common sense. But i did. Alot of standing, alot of walking. Luckily, my fac wasn’t half as crazy as those Hall people whom i heard got up at ungodly hours (like 5AM) to prepare for Flag Day, presumably in the name of charity, but lets face it: its for the awards and whatnot. And, of course, who can forget the famously strongly worded email to King Edward VII hostelites who were more or less threatened that disapperance on Flag day = explusion from hall. Talk about being draconian. Anyway, doing flag a month after the NKF scandal, what did you expect? It sucked.

Day 3. Some skit was done. A lame gamestall was set up. My OG actually did quite well, which was surprising given the last minute effort. Still, mad props for my OG mates who actually put up a decent skit (vis a vis the others, of course). We got quite a good spot to buy used texts. I spent more than $200+ that day alone. I am so broke, man. And that’s not even taking into account the amount i spent on all kinds of matric week stuffs and the mega big hole in my bank account once i get my laptop. Some kind of OG bonding game in the late afternoon. Not as lame as i expected it to be, partly because we played some game suggested by our OGL instead of the official stuff. There were even free cans of Red Bull given away at one point. Still, i think that the taste of Red Bull sucks, nothwithstanding whatever energy benefits it may give. Ended the day with a senior’s concert, which was actually very good and the highlight of the whole week. My only quibble was that the acoustics were too loud and that they should have lowered the volume of the mikes.

Day 4. Got my timetable. It sucks. Not quite as bad as some of the other’s, but objectively speaking, still quite horrid. For 3 out of 5 days, i have lessons in the morning and in the late afternoon with a large chunk of free time in between. An introductory lecture by the vice dean, which was really very dry and boring. The dude was like talking to himself the whole time. And the worst thing is that he is gonna be my lecturer for SLS. I hope he won’t be droning to himself once lessons proper start. Beach thingy in the afternoon. It has rained in the morning and so we weren’t exactly very enthu about the whole beach thingy. By the time we got to Sentosa, our OG numbers had dwindled to single digit figures. The beach activities weren’t awfully fun. It’s main purpose seemed to be to make everyone drenched and sandy. There was a drag queen thingy which was lame, to say the least. Yes, i’ll admit that it has some entertainment value in the sense that it made people laugh and all, but really, i felt that it was akin to taking a vicarious pleasure at someone’s humiliation. Nevertheless, major props to those willing to go drag for the day, especially my OG mate who willingly did the drag thingy. It takes guts to do that, and for that you have my respect. Dinner was a buffet sponsered by Drew and Napier, which was actually fairly good. By the time we left, it was 8+ and i was totally spent. Slept soon after i got home.

Day 5. I had to settle my GIRO thingy. So i had to brave the labarynith that was the Enginnering Faculty in order to find Block E3A. Then i went to settle some laptop stuff. Missed the orientation activities for the day.

Day 6. Rag day. The most boring day yet. The sun was hot. On hindsight, it was a bad idea to come. As for the floats, well yes they are nice to look at and all, but the environmentalist in me is screaming bloody murder for wasting so much resources. And not to mention man hours. Time that could have been far more constuctively spent. I’d rather do complusory CIP than partake in senseless float building activities. And the misplaced sense of competitiveness among the people, especially amongst the Halls is really nauseating. Luckily, my fac had the sense of mind to dispense with the sheer stupidity of it all and instead make to with a presentation rather than join in the madness of float building. This is one of those time that i’m REALLY proud of my faculty in not being like senseless sheep conforming to herd mentality. Went out with some OG mates after the Rag day activities for lunch and slept like a pig after the activites ended for the week.

Lessons proper start next week. I have a fucking thick stack of notes to peruse, something that i am still procrastinating. And that’s not including the many files on IVLE i’ve yet to go through. Plus, i’ve only managed to watch 2 movies so far this week. That is so utterly pathetic! Will i have to give up my love for films if school sucks up all my time??? Speaking of which, i was pleasantly surprised to see that my uni offers modules on Film. Currently, the module on American Film looks awfully tempting… but alas, my fac is one of those where you cannnot choose your modules- everything is complusory.

Anyway, time to sleep. The craziness of the week is taking its toll on my body.

A new addition to my vocabulary: autochthonous

au·toch·tho·nous : Originating where found; indigenous

Sentence: Legislation towards an autochthonous legal system

What it actually means: Legislation towards a native legal system.

Shorter is often more succinct.

Which of course brings me to the real question: How exactly do you pronounce autochthonous???

Or, for that matter, autochthonal and autochthonic?

BBC NEWS | UK | London blasts cause chaos on Tube

The terrorists strike again. This is just so fucked up.

The blogging world is all over this. And, no doubt it has become coffeeshop talk after the front page treatment given in today’s Strait’s Times. In straitlaced Singapore, this whiff of a scandal no doubt has whet many appetites. Especially when this time, its between two fairly influential organisations. This is no David vs Goliath matchups which Singaporeans are used to. You know, the one which often ends ups with the David losing and paying for the suit to the government/government related agencies? This time, both sides can afford Senior Counsels and both sides have a reputation to maintain.

But, today’s startling revelation that NKF CEO Durai earns a yearly salary of almost $600,000 is just mindboggling. I mean, this guy gets 10 month bonuses when most people would have been happy with 2 months. That virtually doubles his monthly salary of $25,000, a princely sum if there was one. If he were the high flying CEO of a bank or MNC, noone would begrudge him for his excesses, but as a charity, the CEO should know better. But, as someone who subscribes to the belief that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys i can’t begrudge this. I think that NKF has achieved remarkable success, with huge reserves and has managed to change people’s image of working for a charity. Thus i believe his pay to be fair, but getting such huge bonuses when the economy isn’t exactly soaring is too much. In addition, the alleged opulence, including the much talked about first class flying definately counts as excesses, especially when used with company money.

However, that is not my main beef against him. I do not begrudge his high salary; that is fair pay for doing a good job and running an efficient organisation. I do, however, question the excesses of the senior management as well as the ludicrously generous bonuses. But my main point against Durai is his audacity to actually sue SPH. I mean if he has a clear conscience and has indeed lived a frugal life, he has every right to sue when SPH casts aspersions on his character. But that is patently not so, as the reports today indicate. His case against SPH was, simply put on thin ground, though even then i was surprised by the hasty U-turn today when it was reported that “NKF withdraws defamation suits against SPH and journalist“. The trial that was supposed to last 10 days ended on the second day. Abit anticlimatic, yes, but the fact was that after Senior Counsel Davinder Singh totally demolished Durai’s credibility, the plaintiffs had lost the case. Speaking of which, it was quite a delight to read the transcripts of Davinder Singh’s sharp repartee that probably had Durai lost for words.

In the end, defamation suits are a double edged sword, as Durai no doubt realised. The fact is, i barely remembered reading that article in April of 2004, but by suing SPH, NKF has opened a can of worms, thereby ensuring that everyone knows about the issue, giving it the publicity it never had. If the aim of the courtsuit was to restore the perceived slight to its reputation, then it has backfired spectacularly. As CEO, Durai certainly will face repercussions. Notwithstanding NKF’s excellent work in helping the ill, and its corporate efficiency, that is no excuse for a lack of transparency and its haughtiness in assuming it is right. NKF’s reputation has no doubt diminished, and it is time for NKF to do some soul searching.

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