Online Resolution

Christmas is a time for family warmth and home coming, but for some people, it is the season of much stress with traveling, spending, preparing, among other reasons. Thankfully, these days, keeping in touch is no longer limited to a telephone call or occasional meeting up. We can stay connected with our loved ones and friends through channels such as the social media or online video calling. We can also communicate, share text, photos, videos, music and other media files with just about everybody around the world using mobile phones, digital tablets, or computers.

Nevertheless, when we share about our private lives to the public, we need always to be careful because such sharing can affect others and how they think of us. Our bosses, colleagues, relatives, and friends, for example, might see us as weak or ill-mannered reading some of our status update on social networks. Leaks through words of mouth by people sharing what they read from our social media postings and blogs can also spread and cause damage to relationships.

When I first started a blog, it was not something I wanted to do, but because I was assigned as a journalist by my editor to write an article on blogging and to interview people to find out their thoughts on the subject. A number of people I interviewed gave their reason for blogging as wanting to make friends who share similar interests, while some said they blog to de-stress or fight for a cause.

“Of course, we run the risk of facing ridicule and criticism from people posting their comments,” said an ardent blogger. “But we can deal with it.”

Like many bloggers, I frequently offload my burdens writing about the things that happened in my life. Many people came to know me and my innermost thoughts reading my blog. Today, my life is an open book, found within the pages of my writings. Blogging is my medium of choice to reach out to the masses in the world. With my blog linked to various social network communities, every blog entry I post gets to reach out to the masses and the targeted people.

Of course, once in a while, I would receive some argumentative or negative comments at my blog or social network pages. Thankfully, those were dealt with without quarrel or hurtful feelings.

What about the rest of us? How do we participate online?

As we prepare ourselves for the coming year, let's remember not to let negative words proceed from us, for such can hurt others and expose us to ridicule.  Whether we are conversing, sharing videos, images, music or other types of media files, let's share only whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, or praiseworthy.

Merry Christmas 2013

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.

Lost and Not Yet Found

Ten years ago, I have the confidence that if I dropped something without knowing, someone behind me who saw it would pick it up and give it back to me or at least inform me I've dropped something. Today, I cannot say the same would happen in this nation-state.

Just yesterday, I unknowingly dropped a fanny pack. After walking more than 50 meters, I realized it was lost and quickly walked back the trail to search. I also went to where I suspect I dropped the fanny pack as I felt then something came loose.

Unfortunately, nothing was found. I've lost my ATM/Debit card, driving licence, Android phone, and a few other items. A police report was filed and I am praying that some kind soul would return the items to a police station.

It was a sad day for me after canceling my debit card and obtaining a replacement SIM card. Till now, I am still hoping that I don't have to do the same for my driving licence and a few other cards.

What do you think? Is it possible there is still some redeeming grace for the people living in this nation to do the right thing?

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Celebrity Living

Paparazzi seem to be the name of the game with the famous even though they have come under constant fire for invasion of privacy. In an article by Orthry Torres at Voices.Yahoo.com some years ago, the author questioned the reason for the inordinate attention and negative talk about those who make celebrities famous by the publicity they gave them. Should not celebrities expect being famous is accepting both their personal and professional lives will be watched and criticized from the media? If celebrities feel the paparazzi make them feel as if they are being stalked, is it fair to say they only mind being stalked when they have a book, movie, or album they need help in promoting?

Getting the publicity one desires and losing one’s privacy are two sides of the same coin when it comes to celebrity living. On the one hand it is a way of getting famous, on the other it may be deemed as invading private lives.

Today, many of us in a sense are celebrities online. Whether it is peer pressure or the need to stay in touch, we join social networks and leave behind trails of digital footprints of what we do and where we visit on the Internet. Our movements are tracked down by our followers and we are ‘stalked’ by different kinds of people. If we leave trails because we desire attention or to be followed, we might just get our reward or lose our credibility in full, depending on how well we handle our online activities and behavior. If we do not do well, our sin will find us out. If we blabber or share about the things we do in our private lives on the social networks, we should not expect to live our lives with absolute privacy.

Are we feeling we are under the scrutiny of the public eye? Are we making ourselves famous for the wrong reasons or are we doing it out of concern for others? Not all things in life can be done in secret, so we need not hide what must be done even in public. Our intent is what is important—are we doing it to show off or to care?

Christmas Up North

Christmas is coming!

Here's looking at Causeway Point's
Christmas decoration.

Are you feeling the Christmas mood yet? (",)

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is around the corner.

Here's taking a look at one of the more
interesting Christmas decoration at JEM.

Are you feeling the Christmas mood yet?

SpideY n Venom Web Designers

"It’s hard to get any work done with these two hanging around."

Source: BuzzFeed.com

Halloween Scare

The party's about to begin, and the scariest of all the Halloween decorated houses thus far appears to be the one with a lifelike zombie crawling out from the ground with arms stretched out, ready to grab any passerby. The zombie, dressed in military uniform with a skull for his face, seems to be like one coming out from the movie, World War Z. Among the many other houses in the area, there are also those with pumpkin faces and heads, screaming ghost masks, cheese cloth ghosts, and cobwebs sprayed on gates.

It's like the Western version of the lunar calendar seventh month celebration—Festival of the Hungry Ghost. I sometimes wonder how many of us really know the origin of Halloween, and whether we should be involved in such a celebration. Here's taking a look at an extract from the article 'Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?' by Elliott Watson at CBN.com.

The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions.

But what about today? Perhaps we can still learn from history. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences. Since that time many Christians have decided to allow their children to dress in more “innocent” costumes of pumpkins, princesses, Superman or as a cowboy. Part of this is due to the simple reality that in today’s Western culture it is nearly impossible to “avoid” Halloween.

As Christians you and I are placed in this world to be a light in a world of darkness. There is no lasting benefit to ignore a holiday that exists around us, but it also does harm to celebrate Halloween as it has originated and grown over the centuries.

My suggestion? Christians should be teaching their children (age appropriately) that:

• there is a spiritual world filled with goodness from God and evil from Satan (Eph. 2:1-10);
• life with Christ has power over darkness (I John 4:4); and
• those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.

To counter the evil influence of Halloween, we need to join together and celebrate the reality of the heroic efforts of Christian saints over the evil in their day. Many leaders in the past—and present—have fulfilled the mandate of destroying the works of the devil through their sacrificial commitment to Christ and His Kingdom.

Too, rather than “hide” in the face of evil, we should unabashedly and boldly create an alternative that is positive and uplifting; that celebrates good over evil and the triumph of God over Satan. We need to provide an environment that also makes room for heaps of fun while using the day as a “teachable moment” to celebrate God’s protection, provision and purpose for our lives.

Halloween came from the word Hallowe'en which is a contraction of "All Hallows' Eve" or the day before All Saints Day. All Saints Day is the day dedicated to the remembrance of the saints (hallows) and martyrs of the faith.

So what do you think? Should you celebrate Halloween with the occult or do away with Halloween altogether or just the devilish decoration and masquerade?

A Soulless Nation-State

In retrospect ten to twenty years ago, I must admit that today I no longer have that sense of belonging which I used to have in the past. My sentiments tend to agree with the people who deem us a soulless nation-state which has lost its identity.

Taking an extract from the article 'The End of Identity' by Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh, I can comprehend what he meant when he wrote:

Put another way, Singapore is possibly the only country in the world where there are more migrants — including temporary workers, permanent residents and foreign-born citizens — than native-born people. Some like to call the US a country of migrants. Singapore is much more — it is a country for migrants.

While diversity must be cheered, it would be callous to ignore immigration’s impact on feelings of identity and belonging. Singaporeans welcomed “Others” when they were a small minority; now that “Others” are flooding in, completely dissolving native-born Singaporeans in places such as Marina Bay, the core feels vulnerable.

“My Singaporean Chinese friends used to speak only English to me,” says Farouk Khan, a Singaporean who lives in Kuala Lumpur. “Now whenever we meet, they are always trying to litter their conversation with Malay words and phrases. They are trying to show that they are local Chinese, different from the Mainland Chinese.”

Some suggest that when Singaporean Chinese try to differentiate themselves from Mainland Chinese — or, for that matter, Singapore Indians from India Indians — it is because of classism or racism or some other prejudice. While perhaps true in some instances, the most basic instinct that is driving these actions is the loss of identity. Singaporeans are desperately clawing onto any vestiges of Singaporeanness.

The pro-migration camp does not seem to understand these grumblings. The common refrain is that many countries welcome migrants, and so Singapore should be no different. But this harks back to the earlier point about magnitude. While migration does occur globally, no other country has enacted such dramatic demographic change.

If you are a native born Singaporean, share with me your thoughts on this. How do you feel as the minority in this nation-state?

Iron Man 3 beats The Avengers

‘Iron Man 3′ Beats ‘Avengers’ International Box Office Numbers

Marvel Studios’international marketing strategy is paying off and the cast and crew of Iron Man 3 can feel happy knowing their time investment required to conduct a comprehensive world press tour leading up to the theatrical release of the first post-Avengers production was worthwhile.
Where last summer’s The Avengers broke not only the domestic opening weekend record, but in a dozen international markets, Iron Man 3 is already beating it out with $195.3M at the international box office.
Disney and Marvel Studios are happily sharing Iron Man 3′s impressive overseas box office numbers before the weekend’s out, emphasizing the importance of the summer-start release date and Robert Downey Jr. as the quintessential face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here are the highlights Disney noted:
International Highlights

• Biggest opening weekend ever in: Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore
• Biggest opening day ever in: Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia
• Biggest Marvel opening weekend in: Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, Romania, New Zealand, Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia
• #1 film in every market and is the biggest opening weekend of all time in Asia Pacific and Latin America

The $195.3 million estimated haul beats out The Avengers international opening of $185.1 million and is a sign of things to come. The biggest highlight we’re noting is that the film hasn’t even opened in China, Germany or Russia yet and that’s crucial because Disney and Marvel are banking hard in the Chinese box office with their partnership with Beijing-based DMG Entertainment to make Iron Man 3 a co-production. China is even getting a slightly different version of the film with added footage.

• UK – $21.5M
• Korea - $19.2M
• Australia - $18.4M
• Mexico - $16.1M
• France - $14.7M
• Brazil - $12.3M
• Italy - $11.2M
• Taiwan – $8.4M
• Philippines – $7.4M
• Japan - $5.4M
• India - $5.2M
• Spain - $5.0M
• HK - $4.9M
• Malaysia - $4.6M
• Indonesia - $4.5M
• Other - $36.5M
• Total - $195.3M

Iron Man 3 of course hits its biggest market (North America) next Friday and as of last week, MovieTickets.com claimed opening day sales already had more than 400 theaters sold out. That was then. The increased buzz since and closer proximity to its release will increase demand of opening weekend pre-sales even further. Iron Man 2, the last non-3D title from Marvel Studios had a domestic opening of $128,122,480 and the 3D-boosted openings of Captain America and Thor couldn’t compare. It wasn’t until The Avengers brought back Robert Downey Jr. and everyone else together for the record-breaking $207,438,708 domestic opening (the biggest domestic opening of all-time). According to The Wrap last week (before the international numbers came in), Iron Man 3 was tracking for a $160 million U.S. opening which is a safe bet considering the success of Iron Man 2, the international numbers, the post-Avengers boost and the early positive reviews.

It’s safe to say Iron Man 3 will cross the billion dollar mark, justifying its role as the first chapter of Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also raises expectations for Thor: The Dark Worldand Captain America: The Winter Soldier, while also emphasizing the importance of Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle, all of whom have contracts ending with this film. As RDJ is acutely aware, he and his agent are in the best position in Hollywood and were smart to wait for the film to open before renegotiating contract extensions. For the Disney camp, like Johnny Depp with Pirates of the Caribbean, RDJ is crucial to the future of the franchise and they will need to sign him for The Avengers 2 and possibly even Iron Man 4. The film’s domestic performance will be very telling and may alter the course of the future of the franchise.
Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black based off of his and Drew Pearce’s screenplay, and stars Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Stephanie Szostak, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall, William Sadler, James Badge Dale and the voice of Paul Bettany.
Iron Man 3 releases May 3, 2013, Thor: The Dark World on November 8, 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers 2 on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on November 6, 2015, and Doctor Strange sometime after that.
Let me know on Twitter @rob_keyes your box office predictions for Iron Man 3!
Sources: Disney, The Wrap

Hire and Fire Employees Using the Social Media

Social Screening: How Companies Are Using Social Media To Hire & Fire Employees
Source: Mindflash.com

How Employers Use Social Media To Screen Applicants

Source: TheUnderCoverRecruiter.com

Has life come down to this? Is this the way to go in the future?

Our nations's solution to Public Transport Congestion ... free train rides for commuters who travel to the city area before 7.45am. Read more ...

Stress Reliever

One of the many advantages of being a writer or
journalist is the freedom to express unhappiness
and frustrations in writing — an excellent
way to finding relief from distress.

Puzzling Notice in Toilet

A common notice placed above the toilet bowl in Greece.



My question is, what about toilet paper?

Graffiti or Art

The difference between Graffiti and Art
is a mere line across the margin

Photo: A wall near Tras Street

Fabulous Food Up North

D' Rubinah Restaurant
South Indian & Thai Muslim Seafood
592 Sembawang Road
Singapore 758451

Taste
Beef Satay 4 ☆☆☆☆
Chicken Satay 4.5 ☆☆☆☆+
Ketupat 3.5 ☆☆☆+
Thai Seafood Fried Bee Hoon 3 ☆☆☆
Indian Rojak 4 ☆☆☆☆

Overcrowding and Patience

Healthy living is about keeping your cool amid overcrowding
in public transport and other places, despite having
your patience tested over and over again

Exaggerated Resumes

The Truth about Lying on Resumes

by Visual.Ly

Last Supper ... Singapore Style

A picture by Temasek Review ...

The Last Supper ... Singapore Style
at a Hawker Centre before it closes for renovation

The Last Supper ... by Leonardo Da Vinci