The Story of a Boy and His Watch

It all began with a boy who wanted a watch that was both digital and analog. He wanted a casual one, he didn't care about the brand but he was quite particular about the design. It was looking for a needle in a haystack but he knew when he saw it, he would recognise it. And he did.

It was a Takane watch and it cost $50. It wasn't branded but he was so in love with it.

Unfortunately, good things don't last long. During his daily activities, the boy was careless. After brushing past a hand rail in the bus, he scratched it pretty bad. His heart hurt more than anything. More and more scratches surfaced over time. On his trip to Poland, the buckle broke. When he came back he went to get it fixed and very fortunately, the seller told him she managed to get spare parts despite the watch being no longer in production. He was thankful. He went on exchange to Taiwan not long later. Guess what? The strap broke. It was as if life itself didn't want him to keep track of time whenever he was overseas having fun. He came back and used whatever was left of the spare parts. The watch was whole again. Despite the many batteries which ran dead, the watch still operated with a change of batteries.

Yet only recently, for some reason the minutes hand on the watch went loose and it stopped. It was time for another repair. During the process, the boy witnessed how it was being taken apart and thoughts surfaced.

The watch was like the boy. He was unique in his own way, loved by his Father. Yet his many experiences during his daily life worn him out. Broke him down. Again and again his Father tried to put him together, to make him whole, to repair the damage. However, some damages cannot be repaired. Some of the experiences encountered cannot be undone. The boy would have to live with them. This his Father understood and He still loved the boy just like how the boy loved his watch.

The same can also be said with the boy's relationships with his friends. Some of the broken relationships can be repaired, some will never be the same. Only time can tell.

The boy would continue to grow and experience new things. His body would age just like how the watch would. What would happen to him in the future? Only God knows.

PS: I just realised that due to a change in widgets and stuff that some of the images on the blog cannot be seen and am in the process of restoring them.

Back to School

I have been pretty busy lately. This might be one post before I go on a break to deal with school. Busy with what huh? Well, I've been attending a few media events, trying to juggle them with school.
FYP is waving its daunting hand at me, daring me to take on the challenge and start working on it before it appears as huge tidal waves seeking to consume me.

Credit: Psxextreme

I really don't want to have to give up any media events because of school, since they are so much more fun and there's the exposure.Yet the truth is a student's priority should be to study so... it's pretty obvious what's the right thing to do. I agree that not everyone's priority is their studies but so far, it's been mine and will remain mine. Trying very hard to do so at least. Readings are just agonizing.

In my free time I have been watching a couple of movies and variety shows. Let me introduce some of them.

If I have been bugging you about playing badminton, it's because I have been hooked to Cool Kiz on the Block, their badminton series. See, their shows do motivate people to play sports, not like ours, cui until cannot cui that I don't even switch on the TV. I have played badminton since young but have never undergone formal training. Watching some of the training the celebrities had motivated me to pick up the racket again BUT unfortunately Singapore's system of booking badminton facilities is so good, I can't get a court without booking 2 weeks in advance. Really a damper. Active SG my foot lah. Give free money, Singaporeans waste only. If only Singapore could come up with something similar. Not happening anytime soon I guess.

Besides that, I must say that this variety show is really good. It's original in the sense that it's not scripted, at least I don't think it is. Once again, I value originality a lot. If it's not original, the plot isn't much. Everything that happens look real, the teamwork, the emotions the players had and it really appeals to you. It's not your usual broadcasting. You can sense the players' eagerness and determination to win. I can only say that the production team were quite mean to them by pitting them against players who are much more experienced. 

 

 

I just watched God's Not Dead and it's just awesome! So much feelz. Even at the beginning I was having goosebumps. Would you risk your grades to defend God? When your future, your partner all hinged on that one decision? I found that if it was me, I would be struggling to write that. I would probably be thinking about dropping it and all but then again, somethings that happen, happen for a reason. That moment when all 80 students in his class stood up in support that God's not dead...it was just tear jerking. Touching moment. All his effort paid out.

It reminded me of how fleeting life it. You may have a successful career and find yourself busy with work, having a very productive life and suddenly sickness strikes you. What then? It encourages me that doing the right thing for God is what counts, what matters. My time, my efforts are best spent doing what He wants for me. 

In line with this thought sometime back, I chanced upon my whatsapp status which I changed by accident to 'low battery'. The common status was 'available'. It just hit me to edit it to something slightly longer. 'Available when you need a listening ear'. Sometimes in life, you need just one close friend to listen to you, to hear you out and among that 1000 Facebook friends, you wonder who you feel most comfortable with and you ask who will listen to you. I may not be a good speaker but the least I can do is listen and I was prompted to make that change in status. We, Christians are not that different from the average person without God. The main difference is that we believe. Do you? 

Learning to be Thankful

What sparked this post?

It was about the new IPPT system implemented.

I saw this comment in reply to the changes made in the IPPT system. It said "So.... ippt have became something that everyone can pass..." Well, I should put out this disclaimer first, it was from a friend's friend whom I am not acquainted with and on checking, should be of at least poly education and age. Yet it doesn't make me feel any better. I still feel damn angry about it.
 
Apparently you have no idea how NSmen feel not being able to pass IPPT. If you have slugged it out on the track doing RT during your weekends or have to travel to that camp just for RT when you have a hectic school or work schedule, you will know how it feels. Fine, you can argue why wait till the last minute then do RT? There are people who train for it and still have difficulty passing, like SBJ and it is by no means their fault. It's the technique which they weren't taught.

                             

Credits: Mothership

 
Who doesn't want to pass IPPT in one attempt and forget about it for a year? Not everyone can do it though. This change in the IPPT system is meant to help them. They are the target audience. If you can't pass, you will probably agree with me that this is a blessing. It gives NSmen some hope that training will show results and that IPPT is passable (some NSmen have it engrained in their mindsets that IPPT is bao fail).

If you can pass IPPT in the past (means you have certain fitness), this new system shouldn't affect you much, in fact it makes it easier for you to get your gold. So why do I hear people from this group complaining? Only think about yourself, that you are affected is it?

If you aren't, good, I salute you. I know everyone doesn't like changes but changes like these are for the good of NSmen in general and I ask you to bear with it.

Sometimes Singaporeans have to learn to be thankful and think from the perspectives of others. So what if you can't get your gold and lose out on that little bit of reward when so many others have benefited from it? Can't you just see past that line of ME and MYSELF and see how it affects others?

Was IPPT meant to be exclusive? Everyone pass cannot ah? Everyone pass, got offend you is it? Gosh. I don't know what kids these days are thinking but no, not only you are entitled to passing and getting your gold. It's not like there is a limit to the number of gold rewards they are giving out.

Do refer to my article written with regards to the news of the new IPPT system here:
http://theinfluencermedia.com/2014/07/24/new-ippt-system-brings-relief/

While I am on the topic of how Singaporeans should learn to be thankful, let's also take a look at
http://theinfluencermedia.com/2014/07/20/5-major-facts-about-singapore-that-every-singaporean-should-understand/

My colleague wrote this article and there has been a lot of comments. Basically, people either agree with him that we ought to be thankful for how Singapore is overall but there are people who also criticse it. No, he is not pro-government. Do we need to be pro-government to be thankful for the country we reside in now? It's just weighing the pros and cons and how you want to compare it. If you compare with the best, of course Singapore may not be much but be fair in your comparison, don't take it out of context.

It is always easy to criticize things, policies, the government. Yet, we need to recognize the facts for what they are and see what they show or where they lead. It is a fact that undergraduates or graduates expect jobs with certain salaries. No, it is not wrong. After all, there has been investments made on us, through the form of education fees. We also expect internships to have a reasonable allowance even though the company may be reputable. Hello? We also need to feed ourselves and even our families right? All these facts show us there we have a certain mindset and I won't say it is wrong but there is a cause and effect relationship. The effect is that foreigners are willing to take these jobs with lower salaries.

I don't agree with every choice or decision made by the government or like everything that Singapore is now but still, let's be thankful for what we have. Count our blessings. Do not take things for granted. If you don't know what we take for granted, look to other countries, their poverty, their education, their security, their jobs. Let's treasure all these that we do have and not regret when we lose them. The Singapore today may not be the same Singapore we know of a few hundred years down the road.