Thursday, September 30, 2004

In The Middle

Crap. I'm in a dilemma right now. Remember the last time I told you I couldn't take the FYP? Well I got a call from my supervisor today sayinng I could! Bloody crap. It's been yes one moment, then no. Then yes then no, then yes again. What the heck? Here's a recap of how this whole roller coaster journey started.

First, I was told that I couldn't take my FYP because I owed 2 modules. My mentor said that we could write in an appeal letter requesting to take the FYP as an overload module.

The following week, my friend YF who wrote an appeal letter like me, got approved, so I got my hopes up. But it turned out that my appeal was denied.

Around 2 weeks later, I got a call from my mentor saying that I still had a chance of taking the FYP. He had spoken to them and they were going to reconsider my case again. So I wrote in a similar appeal letter and signed a form stating that I knew of my heavy work load the following semester. My appeal got approved 2 days later and I set up a meeting with my supervisor 2 days later.

On Monday this week, I met my supervisor but when I told him that I was lacking 2 modules, he was surprised and wondered how the people approved of me taking the FYP knowing that I had so many modules. He said that he was going to talk to the people who approved me and tell them not to let me take my FYP because of my heavy workload.

Today I got a call from him saying that I could take my FYP after all because he thought I was an IT student. IT students take 1 more module than MMC students so he miscalculated and thought I was taking an one more module than I actually had.

So that's how this entire roller coaster ride has gone. They say I can't take my FYP, so then I resign myself to not doing it. Then they say I can, so I get my hopes up and get all hyped up to do my FYP. Then do an about turn say I can't again, and the whole thing starts again.

The question now, is whether I should take my FYP or not. To tell you the truth, I don't feel like doing it because after I met the supervisor on Monday, I totally gave up on the FYP. So you can understand how I'm feeling now.

Anyway, here's the PROS if take my FYP now:
-Can graduate with my classmates.
-Won't waste money on another semester.

CONS:
-My extra modules (on top of the usual ones) will lead to a lack of time.
-I might fail a module because of heavy workload, causing me to stay back another semester to repeat it.
-My FYP's quality won't be that good because of the lack of time and attention.


So which should I take? Taking the FYP next semester would mean that I would be able to give time, attention to it and produce good work. The pros of it would be the opposite of the pros of taking my FYP now and likewise for the cons part.

Dang~ Thinking of this is making me sleepy. I guesss I'll go to sleep or do something else. Hahaha.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Motivation

Yeah, it's a Wednesday! I like Wednesdays beause after today it's practically the weekend! Haha. And oh, I received some good news in my school email.


Lecturer X/ict/staff/npnet@NPSTAFFDOM
09/28/2004 07:13 PM

Subject:
Debarment of AVFE and OOP Lifted

Dear Paul,

This is to inform you that your appeal against the debarment from the above modules has been successful.

Please ensure that you attend all classes in future.

Yours sincerely,

Lecturer X
for Course Management


Phew. Now that I can take the exams (debarment = not allowed to take exams), that's one hurdle down. The next hurdle is actually passing the exams. Like always, I need to find motivation for me to buck up and study. For me, it's hard to find motivation for something I have totally no interest in. Like studying. Most of time, like many people, the only motivation I get is the one from the fear of failing.

Now what some will do is too lower their expectations so that the chances of them failing to meet it will be reduced. For example, aiming for 60 when you know you can get 80. It's way of protecting themselves. In my case however, it's different. I just want to get everything over and done with. Haha. I do set expectations for myself but since I don't have the drive for something I'm not interested in, the standard isn't that high.

However, the exams are coming soon so we all need some motivation. Motivation has to come from somewhere, so here's a few motivational posters to get everyone started!

















(From Bubblemunche. The whole list is at Despair.com)


Okie, I was kidding. Haha. Those posters are hecka funny. Especially the one about letting go and success. I think everyone should buy of those posters and put it up at home. That way whenever you're stressed out, you can look at the posters and no, not get motivated, but laugh your bloddy ass off.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Model Answers For Your Exams

Ever been in an exam and don't know the answers? Or find the questions so simple to the point of being stupid? Well, here are some real answers given by 16-year-old British students doing their GCSE Exams last year.

(View them all from Mr Brown's blog.)

Q. How is dew formed?
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

In a democratic society, how important are elections?
Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.

What does "varicose" mean?
Nearby

Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section"?
The caesarean section is a district in Rome.

What is a terminal illness?
When you are sick at the airport

How can you delay milk turning sour?
Keep it in the cow (He got an A)

How are the main parts of the body categorised? (e.g. abdomen)
The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax, the
abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowls, A,E,I,O and U.



Hahaha. Well, if you're going to get a wrong answer, might as well do it with a sense of humour. If the test questions are too easy and you're bound to get full marks, put a few wrong answers here and there just for the fun of it.

Update: I just realized this is post number 100! Yahoo!

Scandalous? Nah..

Hmm... I've been asked to blog the more scandalous and "juicer" details of my life, but the truth is, I don't have anything scandalous to blog about! Haha. I guess it's partly because whenever something happens, I usually don't let it get to me. I have this ability that whenever I get pissed at someone, I can just forget it 2 minutes later and go on as if nothing happened. So even I feel killing someone, that feeling only lasts 2 minutes. Secondly, if people trust me enough to confide in me, the least I can do is to keep their trust and their privacy.

Another thing is, I usually don't blog about my feelings because I prefer to keep them private. The only people I tell them to are the people closest to me, (which are lesser than all your fingers in one hand) and of course, my super lovable and ultra cute girlfriend! =D

Anyway I prefer to blog about my opinions and perspectives on life because I find it so much more interesting. Everyone has their own views and interpretations where better place to discuss them than on a blog?

I took an interest in blogs because in a way, it's seeing the world through someone else's eyes, walking around in someone else's skin and knowing how they feel going about their daily lives.


Keeping on the topic in my last entry, I feel that if someone wants good looks to be one of the attributes they want in a partner, it's perfectly fine. One shouldn't go and say, "Wah, don't go for looks la, so superficial." Now good looks are like any other attributes so to want them in a person is the same as wanting your partner to have the attributes of intelligence, patience, etc. The only problem comes when it becomes a pre-requisite. Meaning that it becomes a must-have in partner. Because like I said earlier, looks are superficial. Your relationship should be built on something with a firmer foundation.

Anyway, on to another topic. Today went I went to meet my FYP supervisor. Naturally I was a bit nervous as to whether he'd approve my project proposal. So when we met, he introduced himself and then he asked me how many modules I was lacking, so I said,"2". When he heard that, he was surprised. He said that he was surprised that someone would allow me to take my FYP with so many modules still due. At that point, I knew something was going wrong. He said that he would talk to the FYP director and persuade them not to let me take my FYP.

You'd think that I'd be pissed right? The funny thing was, I wasn't. Then he went on to explain to me why it wasn't appropriate for me take the FYP, citing reasons like no time, no time and no time. Now I'm starting to think that maybe taking my FYP next semester isn't too bad after all. At least I can do my assignment with enough time and without having to rush everything. The only bad thing is that I'll have to pay fees for another semester. And when my other classmates will be celebrating their graduation, I can only join their celebrations.

Well, some things can't be helped, so it's alright by me. It's better to be late with good quality work than on time with a bad one.

Monday, September 27, 2004

An Old Entry

Since I’m too lazy to blog, I decided to post up one of my old entries from my previous blog. I did some editing like rephrasing, re-structuring of some sentences and adding some words, but the content essentially remains the same. So you could say that this entry is the 2nd edition.

The other day in my secondary school's channel, one of my friends said that being ugly is a sin. I laughed at first but said that he shouldn't always put looks as the number one thing when looking at girls. After that, a friendly debate in the channel began. Around 3 or 4 of my friends took to the view that looks must be the number one thing, while only another girl and I took the other side of the coin. So, do looks really matter?

Well, to me, it's simple. Looks are important but not essential.

Let me explain. Now, when it comes to love, there are actually 4 different types of love. The first kind of love is the one between friends. The second is between relatives or family. Romantic love, or Eros, the love between a man and a woman, is the third. Finally, the last one, Agape, unconditional love, is the highest kind of love.

Now the kind of love we're talking about here is Eros, romantic love. Love between a man and a woman. Now sexual attraction is part of romantic love, so naturally we have to be attracted to our partner. After all, looks one of the first things that we notice about a person and so often the basis the world judges you upon. One of my friends in the channel said that if looks don't matter, "might as well marry pig". That’s true. Because if something doesn’t matter to you, it means you don’t care about it and holds no value what so ever. On the other hand, if you do care about something, that particular thing holds value and means something to you.

That’s why I say that looks are important.

Now don't get me wrong, I said that looks are important but I also said that looks weren’t essential. That means that they shouldn't be the number one thing you look for in someone of the opposite sex and the fundamental basis upon which a relationship is built. Looks are superficial and if we all picked our partners just based on that, the relationship would only last as long as the next better-looking person comes along. Looks are part of the physical attributes of a person. We should look at a person as a whole and not by each part (like his physical attributes) individually.

If you ask me what I think are the most important features in a partner, I'd say character, personality, looks, in that order. Personality can change over time and circumstances, but character is something that hardly ever changes at all. If I had to make a choice, I'd choose someone with good character and an alright personality rather than someone with a great personality but questionable character. Now when it comes to looks against character, here's my say and I might as well end on this note:

Looks are what attract but eventually it is a person's character that makes the biggest impact on the relationship.

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Boring

It's week 13 in school term! Only another 2 weeks to go. The good news today is that I can take my FYP! Yahoo! That means I won't be graduating later that my classmates if I pass all my modules. I called my supervisor to arrange a meeting and he has this really loud voice that sounds like Donald Duck! Hahaha. Hopefully he's a nice guy. Right now I can't think of anything else to blog about. It's 3:30am and your brain doesn't work as well as it does during this time of night. So I guess I'll just do a normal boring entry about my day. Haha.

Today we had to do filming for our Audio Video assigment and it was going to be a trailer for a kung fu movie. I did some stunts and flips, and there was this particular one where I had to a front flip over a kick and then give the guy (played by the ever helpful JJ) a back kick. The diffcult thing was giving kick that looked solid after landing from the flip. We practiced many times to get the timing right and it was a bit tiring because the landing was a bit off at times and once that happened, the kick wouldn't be a solid one. Still, we managed to finish everything, so that's cool.

I tried using the Bloggerbot to post pictures to my blog but there seems to be some stupid problem whenever I attempt to log in. Oh well. I'm starting to feel sleepy so it's time to go to bed. Nitey nite people! Have a good weekend! =)

Thursday, September 23, 2004

A Guy, A Girl And Their Lunch

As I finished my previous entry in the library, an dramatic event unfolded beside me.

A malay girl came and sat at the com beside me. After a while her boyfriend came. They were talking about something. It looked like they were going to leave, but the girl stayed, took out her notes and the guy walked away.

After a short while, the guy came back. They started talking again. I don't understand what they said because I don't know malay, but the word "makan" kept being mentioned (around 20 times in the space of 5 minutes). So from what they were saying, I guess the guy was asking her to go and have lunch.

Well, the girl didn't want to go, because she was studying and had her notes in front of her but the guy kept on talking and talking and talking asking her to "makan". Still the girl didn't want to go and at this point they both were getting upset. Whatever discussion they had was now escalating into a quarrel.

The guy's voice grew louder and he was saying a whole lotta things with the word, "makan", in every other sentence. I could see them from the corner of my eye and the girl was getting really distressed at what was going one. She held her head on the table and turned her away from the guy who was still talking.

I was wondering when the guy was going to get the point that she didn't want to eat and shut up when suddenly she said something, and pulled out a ring from her right ring finger.

Then the guy stopped talking.(Finally he got the point.) He sat on the computer next to the girl and laid his head on the table. He tried to talk to her but she continued to ignore him, choosing to fix her gaze the notes in front of her.

After a while, he got up to leave but he came back after walking a few steps. This time he spoke softle and said sorry to the girl and tried to get her to put the ring back on. The girl let him put the ring back on but never looked at him while he was doing so. The guy then laid his head on the table again and didn't move at all. The girl continued doing her work.

5 minutes later, the guy got up and left, but came back again after a few steps. Then he laid his head on the table again.






















What happened next? Well.... I don't know because they're still beside me and nobody's moving. Oh wait, the girl just got up and left. The guy lifted his head and watched her leave.. but he didn't follow.

Well, what happened was quite stupid if you ask me. Having a quarrel over lunch. Maybe the lack of food got to their heads. Anway, I'll continue this entry later because I have to go for class now.

Unheroic Heroes

Actually my blog entry was cut short last night because my sister said I had to rush because of "an emergency". It turns out that she was just tricking me into coming home early because my father made a surprise trip back from the US. Haha. I'm glad he come back (although it's only for 10 days) because it's different when you only have 1 parent around. Although my life's proceeding normally, I don't know, it just feels different. After that I was supposed blogging after watching The Amazing Race, but I feel asleep on the couch (again..) playing WE7. I've gotta stop sleeping on the couch because I always end up in awkward or bad postions. I don't want to get back problems when I'm old.

Speaking of The Amazing Race, I'm glad Chip and Kim won. I just didn't want cocky Colin and Christie to win it. I didn't mind Brandon and Nicole winning it either because Nicole is so pretty. Haha. The episode started with them in Philippines, then go Calgary and finally Dallas. One of these days I've got to go to Palawan where they showed all the beautiful beaches and clear waters. My father always says that Philippines has so many beautiful beaches and scenery yet so poor so financially. I guess it's the government's fault. If you have more 7000 islands, you're going to get a lot of beaches, you've gotta make use of it.

Speaking of reality tv shows, Singapore Idol is showing again tonight! This time they're showing a special episode called, "Unsung Heroes" where they invite the previous rejected contestants (most of them bad ones) to come back and sing. I don't have anything against the contestants, no.. but what I have against is the title of the episode.

"Unsung Heroes"? Come on, this episode is meant to be an episode where they invite all the bad rejects to come back and sing so we can laugh at them all over again. Even the similar American Idol episode called it the reject special or something. You know the one where they showed extra footage of william Hung singing.

Back to the Singapore Idol, I don't recall anybody they are inviting back that is worthy to be called a hero. Except for the 2 auditioning contestants that had hearing and speech problems. They can be called heroes because they did something that required courage and for a noble cause. The pink lady, the careless whisper guy, the lemon tree boy and the rest are just laughing stocks meant to entertain and amuse everyone that is watching. I don't think the word hero is a derserving word to use in describing them.

Some of you might ask, "What about the malay guy whose father passed away and sang Solitaire? He got through but pulled out due to family commitments."

Well, I have to say sorry, but for me, he's just a really fillial son who loves his family a lot. He's a great example fillial piety, someone who has put the interests of his family above his own and I applaud him for his sacrifice. I'm sure his father would be so proud of him. But for me, he's not a hero.

Why do I say that? Well, it's because if someone else was in the same situation, they'd most probably do the same. You practically have no choice if the survival of your family depends on you. It's hard but it's one of those things that you have a moral obligation to do. He hasn't done something that is exceptional and bold, unlike the guy who died trying to save his colleagues in the Nicoll Highway collapse. He's just done something is worth applauding for, and learning from. You could say that he is just one step below deserving the word Hero.

Whatever the case, just enjoy the show tonight and laugh your heart out. I just hope I can see the lemon tree guy show off his dance moves again. Hahaha..

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Just Another Entry

Yeah! I've just finished my last class of the day. It's been a long day, ending at 6, so I thought why not stay a bit longer and blog. =) Today my mentor called and said that I had another chance of taking the FYP this semester. I've got mixed reactions towards this. I'm partly hoping I'll be able to, because I want to graduate with my other classmates and not have to pay fees for another semester. But a part of me doesn't want to either because I'm afraid I won't be able to do my FYP. My grades aren't good at all, and I always struggle in my assignments. Hmm.. Still, if the chance comes, I guess I'll just have to grab it. Like I always say,"Things have a funny way of sorting themselves out." Hopefully that statement holds true for me. Haha.

Anyway, I just read Xiaxue's latest entry and it's a real good one (like most of her entries) so everyone should go read it! Haha. Well, I have to cut short this entry because I have to go home. My sister says there's something on. Alright, later then.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

The Reds Go Marching On

YEAH! Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1!

Enough said.

Sunday, September 19, 2004

There's Gotta Be More To Life

I feel so bored right and when I'm bored, the best thing to do is blog. Haha. My programing walkthrough went alright on Saturday. I'm not too sure I'll pass but hey, it's useless thinking of things that have already passed and out of our control, so I'll just forget it for now. Once again thanks to all those who helped me and were concerned to ask! =)

I was reading Xiaxue's blog and her latest entry is about her days in secondary and when everything was all about the word, study. She goes on to say,

"Isn't it so very sad? My value as a person, only judged by a piece of paper. A very average piece of paper, may I add. An average piece of paper which I have not even bothered to collect from SP after my graduation."

That is so true especially are in Singapore where so much emphasis is put in education.

I wasn't a top student in school, just your average student with average grades. I'd take football compared to studying any day. Besides, I've never really put much effort into studying because:

1) I don't like studying.

2)I've always believed there's much more to life than getting that piece of paper with your name it.

If happiness in life was all about one piece of paper, life wouldn't hold much worth wouldn't it? And it would be as boring as my A Maths class. If you think of it, life is so, so, so much more. Precious memories, unforgettable moments, and all the people around who mean something to you and bring meaning to your life. Life isn't all about getting qualifications, it's about the memories, experiences that you gain along the journey of life.

Of course qualifications are important because it'll bring food to your table in the future but what I'm saying is that if you fail a test or get a C for a paper, it isn't the end of the world. I've always looked at it this way:

At the end of the day, whether you failed or not, you still have 2 arms, 2 legs, your friends, your loved ones and you're still you. Has anything changed? Letting a piece of paper define your value as a person is so sad.

Besides, even if you get straight As, it doesn't gurantee happiness. Back when I was in secondary school, the top student of my school cried when she got back her O level results. Those weren't tears of joy though. She cried because she got an A2 for one subject, meaning that she didn't get A1s for all her subjects. I mean, WHAT THE HECK? You got 7 A1s and an A2 and you're crying?!

Ah.. The things that people do to inflict misery upon themselves. It's kind of stupid if you ask me. See what I mean, even if you do get all A1s, you can still be unhappy. At the end of the day, even though you didn't get the grade that you wanted, you can still smile and be happy. Because it isn't the end of the world, and life still goes on. So which shall you choose? The choice is yours and yours entirely. =)

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Man.. It's been a long day and currently as I type this entry, I'm on the mrt home from Jurong West. Yep, I'm using my laptop to blog (I'll post it up when I get home) since I've got nothing to do on the long trip back. I stayed in school with JJ, YF, Joe, TK and TS to complete my programming assignment all the way until 9pm. Then I remembered I had to print out the bloody codes but since I had no printer at home and that the school printers were closed tomorrow morning, I couldn't print out the codes! So I had to go to JJ's house to print the codes. (see, I owe him another one.)

Even though I've finished my assignment, it isn't over yet. Tomorrow I have a walkthrough test that is supposed to test my understanding of the assignment. The program itself is only worth 30% of the final grade while the test is 70%. So in other words, fail the test and you're going to fail the entire assignment. Bloody crap. So I have to study the codes later when I get home. I can grasp some parts here and there, but I still lack some understanding in some areas. It's a bit like having to connect some of the remaining dots so that I can form the big picture. I just hope I don't fall asleep later. Hahaha.

After this assignment, I can breathe easier because there's only one more assignment left. It's like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! Only a bit more to go! Alright, the next stop is Ang Mo Kio so I've gotta stop here.

JJ The Java Master!

This entry is written especially for my friend JJ! Haha. This guy has saved my life, and many other of my classmates, on many occaisions when it comes to assignments. Without him I wouldn't be able to complete my programming assignment by today and I wouldn't be able to understand a lot of parts if he wasn't there to teach me. It takes a friend to help you, a greater friend to help you when you're in need.

Thanks a lot JJ. I already owe you a lot, but I owe you one more. I'll treat you next time yeah?

I also haven't forgotten you, PK. Thanks a lot for helping with doing some of the classes and painstakingly explaining how each they all work together. You explain better than any of the teachers in NP. Haha.

Ready now, all hail the JAVA MASTERS! =)

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Racing Around The World

Good morning! *YaWn* I'm in my programming class and we're all supposed to be doing our assignment but everyone's stuck. How do I know? Because everyone's just looking at the screen instead of typing out their codes. You hardly hear the sound of typing except mine, but that's because I'm blogging away! Haha.

It's one thing if you're too lazy to complete an assignment, but it's really frustrating when you want to complete it but can't because you're stuck. It doesn't help that my teacher answers in a sarcastic tone whenever you ask him something. Maybe that's why no one asks him questions often even though it's apparent that we're all lost.

Yesterday night there was The Amazing Race on tv and they went to the Philippines. The last time I went back was in 1998. Yeah, I remember it because it was during the World Cup and I was quite pissed at having to miss it. They didn't have any coverage in the Philippines.

Anyway, it was funny seeing Colin struggling to control the water buffalo during the plough challenge and get all pissed about it. He was controlling it alone from the back while all the other teams had their partners control the buffalo in front while they ploughed from the back. My friend's father, who was a farmer's son before he came to Singapore said that maybe the buffalo was running away from Colin had it hit and gotten afraid. He probably did but CBS didn't show it for fear of the backlash they'd receive from the SPCA and all the animal rights people around the world.

Another funny part of the show was when Colin and Christie were in a taxi and persuading the driver to go faster with the lure of money. Then the driver said with his tagalog accent:

"Going over 100 is prohibited here, so I guess we have to break the law."

Hahaha. In Philippines they openly break the law, but at least they do it with a sense of humour. There are lots of poor people in the Philippines and most of them work really hard but earn only very little, so you can't blame them for trying every way they can just to get by. It's the natural thing to do, self-preservation.

Alright class is ending soon, so I'll stop here for now. Later!

Hmm..



Wow.. Looks like I'm Abraham Lincoln. Haha. Got this from lexie's blog.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

The Brown Stuff In Life

Yesterday my classmates and I went to watch The Terminal. It's a quite nice show, but it's one of those normal movies that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end. At the end of the show, we were all in the toilet emptying our bladders and my friend YF suddenly said, "Shit happens." I laughingly agreed and so did everyone else.

It's true anyway, crap happens in everybody's lives and it always happens when you least expect it. Here's a perfect example from an email my friend sent me.


The Coffin

A pretty woman was serving a life sentence in prison. Angry and resentful about her situation, she had decided that she would rather die than to live another year in prison. Over the years she had become good friends with one of the prison caretakers. His job, among others, was to bury those prisoners who died in a graveyard just outside the prison walls. When a prisoner died, the caretaker rang a bell, which was heard by everyone. The caretaker then got the body and put it in a casket. Next, he entered his office to fill out the death certificate before returning to the casket to nail the lid shut. Finally, he put the casket on a wagon to take it to the graveyard and bury it.

Knowing this routine, the woman devised an escape plan and shared it with the caretaker. The next time the bell rang, the woman would leave her cell and sneak into the dark room where the coffins were kept. She would slip into the coffin with the dead body while the caretaker was filling out the death certificate. When the caretaker returned, he
would nail the lid shut and take the coffin outside the prison with the woman in the coffin along with the dead body. He would then bury the coffin.

The woman knew there would be enough air for her to breathe until later in the evening when the caretaker would return to the graveyard under the cover of darkness, dig up the coffin, open it, and set her free. The caretaker was reluctant to go along with this plan, but since he and the woman had become good friends over the years, he agreed to do it.

The woman waited several weeks before someone in the prison died. She was asleep in her cell when she heard the death bell ring. She got up, picked the lock of her cell, and slowly walked down the hallway. She was nearly caught a couple of times. Her heart was beating fast. She opened the door to the darkened room where the coffins were kept. Quietly in the dark, she found the coffin that contained the dead body, carefully climBed">bed into the coffin and pulled the lid shut to wait for the caretaker to come and nail the lid shut.

Soon she heard footsteps and the pounding of the hammer and nails. Even though she was very uncomfortable in the coffin with the dead body, she knew that with each nail she was one step closer to freedom. The coffin was lifted onto the wagon and taken outside to the graveyard. She could feel the coffin being lowered into the ground. She didn't make a sound as the coffin hit the bottom of the grave with a thud. Finally she heard the dirt dropping onto the top of the wooden coffin, and she knew that it was only a matter of time until she would be free at last. After several minutes of absolute silence, she began to laugh. She was free! She was free! Feeling curious, she decided to light a match to find out the identity of the dead prisoner beside her. To her horror, she discovered that she was lying next to the dead caretaker.....

Many people believe they have life all figured out. And then shit happens.


The last sentence was added by me to emphasise my point. You can’t be prepared for it, and there's pretty much nothing you can do to prevent these brown and smelly happenings from taking place. Sometimes you're ready for shit and then mega-shit drops on you while you're still asleep.

So what do you do next if that happens?

Some choose to wallow around in self-pity and complain about how much shit they're in. They swim round and round, deeper and deeper, but they never do anything about it. Until one day, they drown. Others just get up, brush themselves off, and move on.

Setbacks in life happen to everyone but the key is in they way you handle it.

It's alright to complain and be down when it happens but after a while you've get up and move on. Life will move on with or without you, whether you like it or not. Incidentally the word retard means to slow down or hold back, so letting setbacks hold you back and define the rest of your life means that you're making yourself retarded.

So when shit happens, do you move on, or do you stay there and get retarded?

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Jigglypuff!!

It's another Monday night and I'm here blogging once again. It seems like my internal clock is changing once again. My prime hours are from 11pm - 2 am and I haven't slept before 12 midnight in a long, long, long time.

How many of you all out there have links start appearing out of nowhere from words or lines of text in your web brower? I keep getting them all the time. Those irritating links start appearing everywhere I go, from blogs, emails and articles. It's actually because of a trojan horse that infects your computer. The results are pop-up advertisements and those stupid links. (Read more from Symantec.) I tried looking for programs to remove the problem but it seems as of now, the only way is to remove it manually. In the forums they ask you to use the Registry Editor but I don't understand the instuctions so it's better to leave it alone for now than accidentally deleting something and causing my entire system to crash.

I finally got my hair cut after much procrastinating and it feels good to have short hair once again. It's cooler but the thing I don't like about it is that you have to style it everyday. In the mornings I always feel to lazy to put gel, so most of the time I end up wearing my cap.

I met my mentor (a form teacher of some sort for our class) and we talked about the appeal for my Final Year Project. As of now, it seems like I'll be graduating 1 semester than all my friends but I guess it can't be helped. Now my mentor, lets call him LKH, is an old man who's actually a really, really nice guy. It just that he can't teach for nuts. He's like, no, he IS Jigglypuff in the way how he can put anyone to sleep when he teaches and that his voice alone is the most effective cure for insomnia. And since he's old, he gets long winded. I mean, really long winded. My friend YF once spent 3 whole hours talking to him when the only reason for their meeting was to talk about his debarment appeal. YF said that if you don't stop him from talking, he'll go on and on and on until the cows come home and Singapore qualifies for the World Cup.

So when he started asking about other things I quickly stopped Jigglypuff from singing and ran off to have lunch. Phew. One shouldn't fall asleep on an empty stomach.

Talking about Jigglypuff, I think there's one right now in the living room because I'm starting to feel sleepy. Oh well, nitey!

Monday, September 13, 2004

The Magic Is In The Eyes

*Yawn* I'm feeling a bit sleepy now but I don't want to sleep yet, so might as well blog a little. Today's football training was cancelled due to the small small number of people were available. I was looking forward to playing a bit of footy today so it was a bit irritating when I found out that it was cancelled. Ever since the team took a break at the end of last year until last month, lots of things have changed. I don't think the team ever going to be as strong as it was last time.

I was watching the President's Star Charity just now and there was this magician that performed. He did some illusions and there was this part where he did some close-up card magic to the President. He did the Ambitious Card Routine. It's a routine where the signed card keeps on magically jumping up to the top of the deck everytime you put it elsewhere in the deck.

Anyway as he did the rountine, his hands started trembling! And it wasn't trembling slightly, it was trembling quite hard and obvious as the cameras had a close-up shot of his hands. Well, it's like that when you do magic. I've been in the same situation before doing magic to people I hardly know. You get nervous and your hands start to shake involuntarily. Once that starts, there's pretty much nothing you can do about it. Just get the trick over and done with.

The magician's handling wasn't that good and his sleights were pretty obvious. I guess it was due to the severe trembling in his hands, which came from the immense pressure not to screw up in front of the President of Singapore, the 300 people in the studio and the millions of viewers watching at home. If he screwed up, he wouldn't be able to show his face anymore. Haha.

Talking about magic, presentation is always the key. I forgot who, but a famous magician said, "A magician is an actor playing the role of a magican." That makes sense because for the trick to have maximum effect and for the audience to believe that you possess something supernatural, first of all, you yourself, has got to believe that you do.

That's why David Blain's magic is so effective. Because he looks weird, acts weird, and does things that people consider weird. Like tearing your selected card and putting it back together again. And people readily come to the conclusion that he must possess magical powers when in reality, he doesn't.

Part of the reason I like learning and doing magic is because it not only requires skill in the hands, but skill in the mind as well.

Here, try this out. You'll be surprised at how powerful yet simple the trick is.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

How To Get 5000 Votes Instantly

Right now I'm not in the mood to talk about philosophical stuff, so today's entry will be about something else, Singapore Idol(SGI)! Haha. Yes, once again, the show has captured my attention for all the wrong reasons. What about this time? Well, I'm sure all of you watching the show remember this guy.





I forgot what song he sang but most people would agree with me when I say that his singing was terrible. Surprisingly, some how, some way, he still got in. Then at the end he said:

"I couldn't have done this without Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour". (or something close to that.)

At that point I said to myself, well at least he's a good Christian. Can't say the same for his singing though. Then someone in my family said:

"Wah, maybe he's from City Harvest la."

And then hit me like a slap in the face. That's how he managed to get in! "There's no doubt about it!!!!", as they always they say in Naruto. As long as you're from that church, you are guranteed at least 5000 votes in any competiton. Heck, if William Hung was from City Harvest, he'd be in the American Idol top 10 and America's Next Top Model. (Yes, I realise that Next Top Model doesn't have a voting system but I'm sure the City Harvest people would figure something out anyway to ensure he wins anyway.) Their members would vote for him all the way from Singapore and as soon as it was out, buy his debut cd. Thrice. That's no sweat for people who are willing to queue at 6am through the hot morning sun for a service that is at 8, every sunday, 4 times a month, 48 days a year. These are the exact people you want to support you when you're running for the Presidency of the United States, the governorship of Timbuktu or any position that uses a voting system to declare the winner because, just as long as you're from their from church, they'll vote for you all the way. Even if you lack the ability to earn the post, as you've seen.

"But how you know he's from City Harvest?"

Ah ha! I did my research okie! Haha. And I so totally, totally, totally agree with this guy. Here's what he wrote:

I am rather distured as it is. I predicted the last time that Jerry Ong would not get in into the finals of Singapore Idol, because I KNEW his lack of singing talent too well since army days. Guess what? He gave a bad performance on the show, got bad remarks from the judges, and still got in, and then, as all reports go, he got in because of the voting favours of City Harvest churchgoers.....

I may have to eat my words this time round....The thing about City Harvest people is that they always stand by their churchmates in music and stuff, even if these people are BAD singers. One might call this voting by heart and not by ear. Either way, this episode has made me start to think about rabid churchgoers' mentality in this new pop culture age. We already have too many youths who go to church as if it is part of a club mentality, that is, "throw in your lot with a certain prominent group of youths who go for a church or society or organization, and then you will be called hip". City Harvest-ers have been giving the media and the public that impression so often such that they probably have no grounds to sue the public, should they even try to say that the public is distorting the case about them being supportive of their members with a motive. Yes, I am a Christian, and I view such things happening in our society with an immense sense of social consciousness because I do not believe in the fast food generation of Christians produced by the modern churches right now. Call me "wigged" in the Canadian slang, "old-fashioned" in the typical Queen's English, or "out of fashion" in any sense of current 'hip-iness' , but I STILL BEG TO DIFFER from the general crowd of people like that. The last time, I read much of the news about how City harvest forced a businessman (who nailed the hammer on the head about its pastor giving the credit to his singer wife more than to God) to paste public apologies of more than one million dollars just to say that he has caused Sun(Ho Yeow Sun) immense emotional distress. Broadcasting one's "dirty linen" in public--since the church is very much a family of God--not only shows how it lacks transparency but also an extremely BAD testimony to the world. It brings shame to the family of God.....



Did I already say that I so totally, totally, totally agree with this guy? I did? Well, let me say it again. I so totally, totally, totally agree with this guy! His view on youth churchgoers' mentality being going to church to be part of a hip and cool organization is so true. Why do I say that?

-(Of course I'm not saying that everyone who attends City Harvest is like that. Don't get me wrong.)-

How many of you all out there take the bus every morning during rush hour? How does it feel waking up early while the sky is still dark, waiting for the bus at the packed bus-stop, and then standing the whole journey so close to someone that you can see the sweat on their neck and the dandruff in their hair? I've been taking bus service 74 for the past 7 years and I tell you, it's bloody crappy. If I had a choice, I'd happily take the 11am bus when there's no people, the traffic is clear and I get to sit my ass down on the quite-comfortable seats.

I'm sure almost everyone would agree but these are similar conditions that occur when people go to City Harvest and they do it without complaining! And these are even young people we're talking about. The same pampered generation that complain about everything under the sun. The only other situation I could think of when they'd be willing to bear these kind of conditions is an Energy, F4 or a Dog Dog Cat Cat concert. God isn't exclusively in this church and they can get the same spiritual food if they go to another church, so why go to this one?

Here's an analogy. Say you want to eat chicken rice. So you go to a food court where there are 2 stalls selling chicken rice. Both of them sell the exact same quality of chicken rice. The thing is, one is has a long queue while the other one is practically empty. Which one would you go to?

The only reason I can think of that would make them go through all the trouble just to go to a certain church is that, they attend that particular church for something aside from the spiritual food.

Looking back at the analogy, if you add that the stall with the long queue is a famous and big brand, it would explain why people would be willing to queue there instead of the other humble, no-brand stall selling the exact quality of chicken rice.They are willing to wait and endure the long queue not because of the quality of the chicken rice, but because of the association and the power of the brand.

It is very sad if people start going to church for other reasons aside from God. For when that happens, they've lost the real purpose of going to church.

(Note: This entry is merely an opinion of the writer and is not intended to offend anybody. To ensure that happens, follow this rule: if you think I'm writing about you and feel offended, well I'm talking about someone else.)

Friday, September 10, 2004

The Meaning Of Believing

Yeah! It's a friday! I'm sure everyone else welcomes the weekend like I do. Can't relax too much because my programming assignment is due next week. Crap. So I'm just relaxing in the library right now.

This morning I was running late for class because of an assignment and I needed all the time I could get. Of all the buses that I could get, I got the super slow moving one. You know the kind where the driver(always an ah pek) drives so slow and leisurely that even you could outrun the bus. The crappy thing was that I could do nothing but just sit there reading my philosophy book. (yeah, for some reason I'm into philosphy nowadays.) It was a good thing I was only 20 minutes late and I think the teacher didn't mark me absent.

-This part onwards is one my usual philosophical entries, so if you wanna know about it, read on. =)

Talking about Philosphy, I reading this guy called Rene Descartes. He was a mathematician as well, the one who founded Analytic Geometry and the Cartesian Co-Ordinate System as well. You can blame him for having to draw all the lines for Quadratic Equations during class. Haha.

Anyway, he had this philosophic theory that I found really interesting and logical. I quote from the book, Philosophy: The Classics, "He thought it sensible to rid himself of all his former beliefs in one go and then consider one by one prospective replacements for them rather than to attempt a piecemeal repair of his belief structure." This is called the Cartesian Doubt.

Another way of looking at is through this analogy : if you are worried about rotten apples in a barrel it would be smarter to throw out all the apples and then examine them one by one whether it is rotten or not. Only if you are absolutely sure that the apple is fine and sound then should you put it back into the barrel for one rotten apple would contaminate the others.

So it's saying, throw out all your beliefs, examine them one by one and only believe in something if you are absolutely certain that is true.

Sounds logical doesn't it? Believe in something if you are absolutely certain that it is true. And it applies in Christianity, any religion, or in anything that you believe in. It's alright to question what you believe in.

The Truth is absolute, meaning it is faultess and perfect, so what you believe to be the truth must make sense, both in your heart and in your mind.

Wait, let me digress just for a moment. The girl sitting to my left is kinda cute. WAHAHA! Ok, back to the topic.

For me as a Christian, I feel that you shouldn't just blindly believe whatever the pastor or anyone tells you. Why do you believe it? Does it make sense? It's no point believing in something if it doesn't make sense to you. So if you don't know, ask. I myself have asked lots of question ranging from the complex (e.g questions about the Trinity), to the simple sounding ones like,"Where did Cain get his wife from?" Even the bible asks us to meditate on the Word everyday.

To truly belive in something means that you believe it with both your heart and and your mind.

But I sense a question coming up.

"But Christianity calls for belief in certain things that do not rest on logical proof and go beyond reason. That's where Faith comes in. But to do that means to believe in something that doesn't make sense in your head. How can that be? Isn't that a contradiction?"

Ah, my answer to that question.. will be posted up later!! Haha. I don't have enough time to answer it now because well, I've got other things to do. So in the meantime, Why don't you think about it too? :)

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Freedom Of Choice

Yeah! Blogger is finally back online. I've been trying since yesterday to try and post up entries but there was something wrong with the publishing part, anyway, today I posted 2 entries. The first is the entry that I wanted to post up yesterday and the one after that is today's entry.

-------

I was blog hopping and came across this question which lots of people, including myself, have asked before.

"If God is perfect, why did the fall of Man occur?"

If God is perfect, his creation should be perfect too. A God perfect in nature cannot make an imperfect creation. So if that's the case, why did the fall of Man occur? Well, here's my opinion.

When God created Man, his creation was perfect. Perfect means without flaw or error. Since God was creating a Man, it would have to have all the attributes of a human being. It's like how a square has to have 4 equal sides to be called a square. Now one of the human attributes was free will. A human without the ability to decide and choose on their own wouldn't can't be called human at all. (Like how removing one side from a square wouldn't make it a square anymore.) For without free will we all would just be mindless robots walking around without the ability to decide on anything at all.

After all, Why would God want to create a remote controlled robot?

Secondly, we were created in the image of God. God has a will of his own and likewise so do we. No one can force you what to do and what to believe in. Not even God. Why? Because He gave us free will. Now what did this free will exactly mean?

We all know the meaning of the word Free, and according to Dictionary.com Will refers to, "The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action". So to have free will means to have the ability and liberty of choice.

This free will meant that Man could choose to accept or reject God.

Now I'm sure almost everyone knows all about the Fall of Man(click on the link if you don't know) but it wasn't the apple that cause Man to fall. The apple was merely a decision created by God for Man to use his free will and choose. (Free will is useless if there is no choice to be made.) It was the decision to disobey and reject God that caused Man to sin and fall. And because of Sin, Man's nature became corrupted and no longer became perfect. Thus it was Man's own free will and choice that brought about his fall, not God.

If you choose to jump into a swimming pool, it's not God's fault if you get wet.

(Note: This entry is the author's opinion based on an topic he finds interesting and is not intended to "psycho" anyone into anything. You have free will, remember?)

I know the next question that most people would be thinking is, if God is omniscient, why did he create Man knowing that he would fall?

Well, that's a question for another day because I've spent enough time on this entry already. I don't mind doing an entry on the question as long as there's someone who wants to hear my take on that topic. So let me know yeah?

Link Me Up!

As usual today I was surfing round, blog hopping after class and I came across lots of interesting stuff. I can't remember my exact navigation route but it all started when I went to Mr Brown's Blog then I clicked on some link, which lead to more interesting links and so it went.

Anyway, here are some of the interesting links I came across.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Blogging But Were Afraid to Ask - In this site the author lists out 50 rules of blogging. Funny and interesting at the same time.

Here's a few excerpts:

21. The golden rule of computing always applies: back-up. If you are drafting a post, do it in Notepad or in an email that can get saved as a draft. Cut and paste it at the end into your blogging software. Sometimes the software crashes and takes your valuable post with it, and trust me, you won't feel like writing it again. This also lets you do something essential: proof-read. Consider a post like an email: if it's trivial a quick skim might be OK, but if it's a manifesto on all that's wrong with the world you'll want to take care with it. If the world's going to ignore you, you may as well it's ignoring something that makes sense.

41. Just like real writing, sometimes bloggers are hit with blog block. There are three ways to deal with this. Firstly, talk about your blog block. Everyone else has, you may as well tell everyone why your creativity sucks so badly too. Secondly, just post nothing. Sure you'll lose the 3 readers you had, but it's best not to make them sick by posting crap. Thirdly, fight your way through it by posting crap. This could involve recycling old stuff you wrote in a desperate "best of" kind of thing or just keep linking to others until you get inspired again and can write stuff on your own.



Through the blog, Wishful Thinking I found The Gender Genie, which guesses your gender based on the text that you input.

There was also an Asian Weblog Awards and a category for Best Singapore Blogger, which Xiaxue won! Yeah! I'm reader of her blog, you see. She's writes really funny and interesting entries. She also got 2nd place in the Funniest Blog Category.

Oh, and if for some reason you don't want people to visit your blog or reduce the traffic to your blog, read How Not To Be Seen by Laurence Simon.

And finally if you want to see what you don't want to happen to you in a football match, click here. Trust me, you don't want it to happen to you.

Alright, I guess that's enough links. It's time for lunch!

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Man On The Moon

Hmm.. It's another entry about the moon! The last time it was about the moon's existence, not it's whether man managed to land on the moon or not.

I just watched a show on TV called Conpiracy Theory and today's episode questioned whether NASA really did land on the moon or not. And after watching the show, I have to say, I pretty much believe them. The guys claiming the conspiracy theory had a pretty good case against NASA because they pointed out lots of inconsistencies and anomalies in the pictures and footages that NASA gave.

For example why does the US flag flutter when there isn't supposed be any air in space? And the most interesting thing was, when they played the tapes at 2 times the original speed, the originally slow movements of the astronauts on the moon became movements of them running in the earth's gravity. It's like how they record slow motion replays in sports. The camera records at maybe twice or more than the usual speed. That way then the tape is played, the player is moving in slow motion.

What's more the NASA guy didn't do much to refute the claims by not answering the questions posed to him clearly. So did we manage to get to the moon? I don't think so.

Dang, my dog just farted. It stinks real bad! I didn't know dogs could fart as much gas as a human. Haha. Talking about farts, I think I gotta go crap now.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

On The Road To White Castle

I just went to watch Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and it's totally hilarious! Haha. I went with my super cute and lovable girlfriend and she loved the movie too.

In case you don't know, the story is simply about a Korean and Indian guy who go in search of Whitle Castle burgers to satisfy their craving. The movie's full of racial jokes and sterotypes and along the way so many funny things happen. It's an Amercian movie so you've got to be able to understand the american sense of humour to enjoy the movie. Go catch it if you can.

My stomach's been acting a bit weird today. It feels funny but there seems be nothing wrong. No crap discharge, no nothing. It just feels funny. Plus I'm feeling a bit sleepy and at times my brain's information processing center is a bit laggy. Anyway, I'm just glad I managed to spend some time with my sweet girlfriend. Haven't been out with her for a long time because we've both been busy so today was nice. =)

Talking about busy, I've completed one assignment today so there's let me see... 2 more assignments left. I think. One at the end of this week and the other one next week. After that hopefully it'll be back to normal.

Alright, my sweet and lovable girlfriend is back from walking her dog! Later!

Random

I just wanted to start blogging but class just ended. LoL~ Yeah! I'm hungry.

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Champion!

I'm at my friend's place right now and we're having a Winning Eleven 7 tournament! And guess what, I became the CHAMPION! Hahaha. Took Man Utd and won all my 3 matches. Finally shut up my noisy friend who's always boasting about his Arsenal. Haha.

Today was quite an uneventful today. Just went to church and all but there wasn't football training which left my afternoon really boring. Can't think of anything else to write about the day really.

Tomorrow I've got an assignment to finish and I haven't even started. It's a video project, just got to do a video that lasts more than 30 seconds. There has to be some effects in the text and the transitions. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it quick.

I'm going to be doing an entry on the definitions of Love soon, haven't got time to do it now. Anyways, I've gotta go crap now. Must be the pizza.

Friday, September 03, 2004

Crunch Time

Yeah, it's Friday again. Assignments are going to pile up soon because it's crunch time. My course, which lasts 15 weeks works like this:

First 8 weeks - Really slack. I don't know how to explain it, but it's quite relaxing because there isn't really much to do.

Week 9 - Common test week, meaning you have to study but if you only have 2 tests like I did, then it's considered quite slack too.

Week 10-13 - Assignments come in. I call this period crunch time because assignments have to be handed up almost every week.

Week 14 -Study break, which means some studying but still allowance for S & R. (Slacking and relaxation.)

Week 15 - Exam week which usually lasts for 2 to 3 days.

Then it's the holidays!!


So actually the only time where I really have to work and get stressed is during the 4 weeks from week 10-13. After that it becomes slack again. Most of the time after the 4 weeks of crunch time, it becomes really boring because you were working hard, doing stuff, rushing deadlines and then suddenly you're doing nothing. I'm not sure if my course being slack is a good thing but well, since I'm here, might as well make the best of it and move on.

I reading around because I've been in a bit of a philosophical mode this week and I came across this article, Can Life Arise By Chance and also God & Failure of Science Shown with Emperical Evidence. Those are quite interesting articles with quotes and lots of big words. Articles like these make you think and try to understand what it's view point and whether you agree with what it's saying. It questions your viewpoint on life and makes you think on whatever you believe in makes sense. Like what Ravi Zacharias said,"What I believe in my heart has to make sense in my head." Sounds logical. He's one my favourite authors though I've read only one of his books. Haha. Also the big words that are used in the article like "Primordial", "Antiquity" and "Infinitesimal Circumference" become cool new words that you'll learn but will hardly ever use. Haha.

I thought of writing a blog entry on the failure of scince too but I'm not in the mood to write another long entry like the "A Wager On God's Existence" entry. Maybe I'll do it another time. Or maybe not. I guess it's time for me to go and do some work now. After all, it's crunch time.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Naruto 2!

The new Naruto 2 game is due to be released soon! Cool. I've just bought Naruto 1 but I already can't wait for the next one to be released! I wanted to post up the pictures but for some reason it won't work. You can check out the pictures here.

Kuchiyose No Jutsu!

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

A Wager On God's Existence

I've sitting after class with nothing to do and I feel like blogging so here I am. I was thinking the other day about the idea of believing in God. Well, I believe in God but I'm not going to go into the topic of proving whether God exists or not. It's just way too long and and I'm too lazy to start on something that philosophers and many other people having been dedating upon for aeons.

Now think about it, although there are many signs pointing to the existence of God, there are still people who do and don't believe in the existence of one. So which side should you hop on to? Let me put it this way, seen here in an episode of South Park.

Kyle (barges through the door):(in a franctic voice) "Mom, Dad, Am I going to hell?"

Kyle's Mom: Why? (in a stern voice) What did you do Kyle?

......

Mom: ".... us Jews don't believe in hell."

Kyle: "We dont?! But what if we're wrong?"

Mom: "Well... Kyle..... they could be wrong too."

Kyle: "Yeah, but they're wrong, no big deal. If we're wrong, we burn in hell!"

Kyle's baby brother, Ike: "Oh no!"



Makes sense doesn't it? If you believe in God but he doesn't exist, no big deal, you've lose nothing. But if he does.. bad mistake. This argument is also called Pascal's Wager, brought forth by the 17th century mathematician, Blaise Pascal, considered by many to be the father of modern probablity theory. He decided to sort everything out through probablities and outcomes. You can read up more on at this site.

"Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.” [Blaise Pascal, Pensées, Infini-Rien]

So it makes more sense to believe in God right? To put it simply, you've got nothing to lose by believing in the existence of God. It's like buying the lottery for free with the odds at a 50% chance of winning. If you win, you win everything, if you lose, you lose nothing. Dang, I'd be willing to play that lottery anytime. Any guy who's gambled will also tell you the same thing.

Now I'm going a bit off topic here but I just thought I'd talk about this. I don't like the idea of forcing people to believe in God or go to hell because I believe that's not the way God intended you to go around the share the good news. And forcing people to believe something out of fear isn't going make them geninuely believe in it.

I prefer to put it this way, that people should believe in God simply because they need one. Just look around you in the world today and if you tell me that nothing's wrong, you must be blind. War, senseless violence, innocent people dying, bad singing on Thursdays at 8pm, the list goes on. The world's on the highway to self-destruction. It's apparent that something's wrong and that we're lacking something.

Here's another point, if you look at it in a similiar way to Pascals' Wager, those who believe in God will always have an advantage over those who don't. Those who believe in God will have someone to fall upon when times get troubled and someone to help them get through it. If you don't believe in God, you only have yourself to get by all the crap that everyone experiences in a lifetime. Weighing out the rewards, believing in God gives you something positive in your life, while the other choice offers nothing.

Put this together with Pascal's Wager and it makes even more sense to believe in God. For not only do you get an eternity of life and happiness in the future, you enhance your life now! I never knew of a better deal than that.

Well it's up to each one to make their own choice. No one can make that choice except you. Anyway, I'll end off with these 2 meaningful verses from the Bible.

John 3:16-17 -- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

John 10:10 -- "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."