Black Gold is Music to My Ears

Will be attending the OPEC Summit this week....hopefully someone there will decide to give me an oil field or contribute to the FFFBB. Keeping my fingers crossed....

A Very Angry Man

Jeremiah weighed himself two days ago. It's official - he has lost 5kg over 5 weeks. But he is not happy, for the weight loss is the result of a diet that consisted largely of plain pasta/bread over the past few weeks. The numerous nights of awakening abruptly in the middle of night, of sleep interrupted by those incessant pangs of hunger, have taken their toll too. But Jeremiah knows that he must persist, for that is the only way to build up the F4B2. Hopefully, the beckoning of freedom, the promise of a future free of the yoke of tyranny, the melody of liberty will drown the cries of a growling stomach clamouring for calories. Yes, Jeremiah is hopeful, but he is also very angry. Do you know why? If not, listen (read) carefully.

Do you hear the people sing?

Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums,

There is a life about to start.

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see?

Then join in the fight

That will give you the right to be free!

Ghetto Gospel

Don't know why but I seem to have rediscovered my love for hip hop music. Could it be the ghetto-like conditions here? It all seems like a return to the old days, but of course, this time round, the fantastic folks who made up the "ghetto" are not here.

Sir, Can You Spare Some Change?

I met some Singaporeans working here yesterday. One of them is with a bank and he told me that that his bank "had so much surplus cash that they were at a loss on what to do with it".

Hmm...how about donating the money to the FFFBB? It's for a good cause.

Beating Your Kids is Not Educating Them

Okay...counting sand did not work...there's just too much sand to be counted here! But, hey, Jeremiah found a new form of entertainment, much educational not to say the least, viz the Armed Forces Network channels. Besides showing terrific American TV (bet you can't get MSU vs USC football on primetime in Singapore), the show also featured propagandish advertisements that in hindsight are really words of wisdom along the lines of (a) beating your children is not educating them, (b) if you are getting married, it's better to have an itemised will, (c) gambling is bad for your family and your military career, (d) Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice forbids behaviour that is disrespectful towards US Government Officials. Commissioned officers found to be disrepectful of the President will be subjected to disciplinary action and (e) you are an hero if you re-enlist.

Good god, I need my DVD player (cargo still stuck at airport after two weeks) now!

Confessions of A Bored Man

It's Ramadan and I am bored stiff!!! Should I start counting sand?

The Camels Are Dying

The camels in the Kingdom are mysterious dying!! There are allegations that they were posioned. Poor camels. Will steer away from camel meat for now.

A New Lease (of Life)

Moved into my new apartment today..it's a nice, cozy apartment in a residential compound, i.e. a place that is out of bounds to the religious police and where life conforms more to international life.. Jeremiah is quite happy today because of that, and also because IJeremiah is going to Bahrain in a few days' time..yipee...for the record, Jeremiah just killed his first mosquito in the Middle East!

There's A Silver Lining in Every Cloud

Marhakba...Still trying to organise my life around prayer times - it's kinda hard when every newspaper has its own set of prayer times and I just can't figure out which set is the real one. Also did my laundry today, but the dryer was not working, so I just hung the clothes out of the window to dry. Given the scorching hot and dry weather, the clothes dried in 10 minutes. Who says the desert climate cannot be a blessing?

The New Adventure Begins

It actually began a few days ago...but alas, Jeremiah only has sporadic access to the Internet for now, so he will not be posting new entries frequently, at least for the next two weeks. But he learnt something new a few days ago...there are 19 million camels in the world, and at least 1 million of them are in KSA!

With A Little Help From My Friends?

The packers came to my house recently. Typically, they will take a few hours to half a day to prepare the items for shipment. In my case, they came and went in twenty minutes. Yes, 20 minutes. They are either (a) super efficient this time round or (b) I am shipping too little stuff over. It is most probably the latter. I hope life will not be too miserable there without my material comforts. But then again, I can always count on my friends to send me stuff that would make me happy? Or can I not?

Hmm....they better, otherwise I will be counting sand particles to pass my free time.

Found Another Home

St James Power Station is now officially my third home. Here's the top few reasons why St James is fabulous:

• It's a place where amazing things and reunions happen; I've lost count of the Delta folks I met there.
• Dragonfly
• Movida
• Inexpensive drinks (compared to some of their competitors)
• Good service
• Owner actually makes the effort to mingle with customers..have had drinks with him before
• Friend's sis is one of the lead singers there

Feel free to contribute to the list if you are a St James fan too!

Tinker Bell and A Beautiful Life

"I didn't feel [them] anymore... I really have to connect with the feelings that were there when I wrote them. They're kind of gone and I really don't want them to come back, particularly. My life is different now. They probably just need a rest and maybe I'll introduce them for a much more detached point of view."

Eric Clapton, 2004

The Way It Should Be

~JUST THE WAY YOU ARE~

Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are

Don't go trying some new fashion
Don't change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care

I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.

I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.

I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.


* * * * *

Dragon or Horse, in Ways more than One

In case you were wondering what happened to Jeremiah over the past week, he just returned from a visit to the Greater China region. It turned out to be a very weird trip...weird in that it was never meant to be a root-searching trip, but somehow it became so. It was not the fantastic food, nor the exciting tensions between modernity and traditions there that caused a small reawakening of the Chinese consciousness within Jeremiah. Nope, it was not all that and you can never imagine what the catalyst was. It was TV. Yes, it was the 60 Mandarin cable channels that did Jeremiah in. The euphoria that gripped Jeremiah when he found that there was only Mandarin channels on TV was overwhelming and intoxicating. It was only then Jeremiah began to fathom what it meant to be a Chinese.

As some of ya know, I will be heading to the Middle East next week for an extended assignment. Somehow, I feel I don't really belong there. The Old Department seems to suit me better. For want of a better analogy, my sentiments are like those of Inspector Ma Rulong in "Project A II" when he was reassigned from the Marine Police to the land division. Let's hope this is just discomfort associated with stepping out of the comfort zone...inshaallah..

Let He without Sin Cast the First Stone

Jeremiah did a good deed today. He guided an elderly person from Orchard MRT Station to Camden Medical Centre. During the bus journey there, Jeremiah learnt that the subject was heading for a medical appointment and had missed the shuttle. The subject also repeatedly asked if it was possible to walk from the MRT Station to the Centre. He apparently wanted to save on the forty-cent bus fare in the future.

Later in the day, over dinner, the Teacher shared that a local TV celebrity who earned at least six figures annually had reportedly asked a sportswear company to provide her with a few pairs of socks. Yes, socks!

These two seemingly unconnected incidents got Jeremiah seriously thinking. How do you draw the line between thrift and parsimony? If you can afford to go for medical treatment at Camden Medical Centre, would trying to save 40 cents on bus fares be considered parsimonious? If you are a local TV celebrity who makes big bucks, why would you beg for a few pairs of socks that probably cost less than $10 in all?

I guess living in this society where we have to fend for ourselves, it is always good to cut down on expenses and save for a rainy day. But then again, money is not everything in this world. We came into this world without money and will be leaving without it. The key lies in striking a balance, but where do you draw the line? Then again, perhaps it is better not to be so judgemental about others' private business. After all, Jeremiah tends to scrimp at times. Maybe we should let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

業

業有三大類：身業，口業，意業：

• 身業就是由身體行為所做的業；
• 口業就是由語言行為所做的業；
• 意業就是念頭；身、口之所造業都是隨著念頭而造是業，念善則造善業，念惡則造惡業。

業力是指個人過去、現在或將來的行為所引發的結果的集合，業力的結果會主導現在及將來的經歷，所以，個人的生命經歷及他人的遭遇均是受自己的行為影響。

致谢: Wikipedia

The Things We Do for Our Country

The American Accent is officially back! As some of ya readers may already know, Jeremiah is going on extended overseas duty starting late August. To ensure that Jeremiah will be a more effective communicator, the High Command has decided that Jeremiah should go on acclimatisation training over the three weeks to try to ditch the Singaporean Accent, beginning 6 Aug, 0000h Zulu. If you happen to meet Jeremiah over the next few weeks, no, he is not trying to be a Sarong Party Boy. Jeremiah seeks your kind understanding, of the things we do for our country.

More than Money

The Man behind the Man behind the Man (no real names in this cloak-and-dagger world) spoke frankly last week. "There is nothing more true than money in this world, at this point in time, " and so he said.

But how true is this? What of love, patriotism and integrity and all the other things money cannot buy? Plus Jeremiah promises to be true to you, the Reader, always. More than Money.

Cold Coffee Should Be Discarded

~咖啡~

太濃了吧
否則怎楹得說不出話
每次都一個人在自問自答
我們的愛到底還在嗎

已經淡了吧
多放些糖也很難有變化
不如喝完這杯就各自回家
別坐在對面欣賞我的掙扎

一場失敗的愛惰像個笑話
熱的時候心亂如麻
冷了以後看見自己夠傻
人怎麼椰此容易無法自拔

一場無味的愛情像個謊話
甜的時候只相信它
苦了以後每一句都可怕
人怎麼椰此難以了無牽掛

* * * * * *

أهلا وسهلا

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings."