♥ walk, don't run

how little we know

Friday, April 24, 2009 @ 12:12 PM

"We're Christians. I'm sorry, I don't know very much about syariah law. So to correct any misunderstanding, what I'm trying to say is that we're there for all women, whether the woman is a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Christian, a free-thinker, we're there for all regardless of race, language or religion." Extract from 23 April Press Conference transcript

One of the things that I often have to grapple with when I call myself an atheist is knowledge of religion. How can I reject God and religion if I have not read or know enough to make an informed decision. One question I would like to pose to everyone. How much do you know about other religions?

missing

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 @ 12:28 PM

a good friend of mine is getting married ("good friend" is relative, we've known each close to 8-9 years and we probably have met only 5 times. and yet we know each other so well.) he recently proposed to his gf although he had earlier spoken to me about not being sure and being pressured. i'm happy for him but sad too, because everyone's happily getting married! haha. not that i would wish him unhappiness, but i guess i'll miss those days when i could tell him everything and i mean almost everything, without getting judged. yes, we are that honest and i do miss that honesty. our emails have gotten less frequent, shorter in length and less open. but all this is inevitable i guess. i'm glad he has found someone he loves to spend the rest of his life with. but i'm just a bit wistful, after all, i did have a crush on him before and he was one of those people i just love talking to.

make better mistakes tomorrow

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 @ 6:00 PM

The following extract is from the Kent Ridge Common:

"AWARE is primarily a secular national organization that fights for women’s rights in Singapore. When pressed with a hypothetical scenario of a woman dismissed from work based purely on a discrimination arising from her sexual inclination, Josie Lau’s answer was hesitant and evasive to say the last:

“(We) have to look at it and see what direction we’re going to take,”

“We haven’t had the chance to discuss individual ideas yet, we want to quickly get on with work.”

Clearly, such a case of unmistakable sexual discrimination of women in Singapore should not require the grand workings of a tedious litany of ideas to be categorically stood up against. For the leader of a secular organization fighting against all forms of discrimination of women not to provide a simple definitive answer to such a direct question, the future may indeed be ominous for the rights of women in Singapore."

inside all of us is a wild thing

@ 4:51 PM

one of my favourite writers! "where the wild things are" by maurice sendak. my absolute favourite from sendak is "outside over there" which made me cry so hard. the movie is directed by spike jonze and looks really good.

against the whiteness

Monday, April 20, 2009 @ 10:20 PM

uniqlo was seriously disappointing. well, i have shopped there before in tokyo and recently, hong kong. the store was just too small. even in space starved hong kong, the outlet that i went to was spacious and bright. and i didn't even see the steven alan or opening ceremony range. to me, that would be one of the highlights of these mid-range brands; their designer collaborations. i hope they would at least bring the shipley & halmos range, love the black and white dresses with zippers.

yep so i left empty-handed and went off to times where they were having a 15% off on everything. i was pissed that they had a huge-ass section on christianity - prayer, bibles, christian gifts etc. that's annoying, i thought bookshops were secular and more importantly a source of knowledge. so i've decided not to buy any more stuff from times. haha.

2nd may is the egm for aware. i'm sure to be there! under such strong scrutiny, i suggest they bow out quietly and try to evangelise in a more subtle way. but in a way i'm glad they did it in such a dramatic fashion. it calls attention (more bad than good) and at least we know, there is an agenda. if they were more patient, we may have not caught on early enough and before we know it, aware could become a pseudo conservative christian organisation. i don't understand how these people who preach love have so much hate in them. no matter the outcome, i am satisfied with the press, the discussion, the debates and activeness online. our civil society is well and alive online and that is heartening.

happiness is a grave mental disorder

Sunday, April 19, 2009 @ 9:05 PM

yes, i'm born disillusioned. haha. it's like i can't wait for this life to be over and done with and find out what's next. although technically, as an atheist, there is nothing next. but currently no religion is interesting enough to entice me. i certainly don't want to end up in hell with self-righteous moral bigots. or be reborn as something that i have no control over. i can't stop wanting to accelerate through life. everyday, i feel the urgency to do so many things. i must lock myself up and meditate nonstop for weeks. haha. i remember the last time i was in nepal. when i walked out of the meditation centre, my head was so clear, so clean and everything whizzed past me so quickly, i couldn't keep up with the world.

"he touched my knee"

suaku

Saturday, April 18, 2009 @ 10:08 PM

darn, i'm such a late bloomer when it comes to music. i'm never in the know. but that's because it doesn't rule my life like fashion or books or movies. so anyhow, i'm obsessing over death cab by cutie now. i'm addicted to this track currently. then i realise that they were here in the spore in dec. shite. was the same with muse. i only got addicted to them after i missed their concert. i have to hang around with the musically-inclined more often. or perhaps, just play closer attention to the music bits in juice, which is also my current addiction. i've been collecting their mags since it got better. heh heh.

here's transalanticism by death cab by cutie:

better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife

Friday, April 17, 2009 @ 10:44 PM

Magnus Betnér - Swedish stand-up comedian performs in Methodist church. I wish we were this open here!

happiness is crushing

@ 9:25 PM

i'm quite taken by stirfrys. it's one of the easiest things to cook and yet tastes really yummy. i do one stirfry and have it with rice or porridge. these days i just do greens and mushrooms. feels really healthy! of course i've always been a closet vegetarian, but sometimes too lazy and never committed to it fully.

maybe i'm just dreaming of my latest crush who is buddhist and vegetarian. he is my gbf's ex-boss. sounds like a super combo but i really do love meat and i don't how giving it up will hasten my path to enlightenment. of course i know the do no harm mantra. but what if we killed them painlessly? i doubt cows and chickens have the potential to lead meaningful lives right. in fact, if i go by buddhist dogma, i may just have given them good karma for their reincarnation.

anyway, crushing is super fun. crushing is one of those most frivolous things in life that fills you up with tiny bubbles of happiness. i remember one of my first crushes in church. his name was nicholas. actually there were two boys who were named nicholas but i cannot remember which one it was now. anyway, we exchanged long looks and we sat by each other and went for holy communion together. haha. so sweet and innocent. now my crushings are a tad more unholy. tsk tsk.

oliver stone walks about town

Thursday, April 16, 2009 @ 10:10 PM

oliver stone was in town yesterday and spoke at a special screening of w. i am in awe. honestly, i felt like a fan girl but i think he is one of greatest living directors. plus, he chooses subjects and themes that are particularly significant to our history and lives. i appreciate w much more after his talk and will definitely want to see it again. if you haven't watched any stone movies, you must! start with wall street, platoon and jfk. also, catch w if you can, it is an important movie because it gives you a lot of insight on w. here was a man, a loser and truly unqualified for the job, and yet he he became president and started two major wars of the 21st century.

spaces in between

Sunday, April 12, 2009 @ 1:45 PM

if you haven't read about the ex-co takeover at aware by anti-gay christian fundamentalists, see this, this and this. i beg you please, anyone with a christian agenda, please stop. i am angry and i'm not even gay. it just makes life so unbearable. what about tolerance, diversity, acceptance? we will not stay silent and i say, stop, before things get ugly, before people lose hope and the only change that can come about is through violence. and i hate to hate.

if you're christian and you're disturbed by recent events or how the christian agenda is now a political agenda, please speak up. please let people know how you feel. religion must be a private practice. isn't life more interesting with diversity? let's preserve our differences.

a room of one's own

Saturday, April 11, 2009 @ 11:53 AM

its a better week. cleared my bills and bought grey slingbacks from the pedder red sale. i feel so broke even after getting my bonus and getting my increment. but i'm not complaining! i will stay pay to have my own place.

people keep offering to rent a room from me. i think most of my friends have reached a point in their lives where they just want to have a place of their own. and no, they do not want to get married. they just want their own space. hdb should seriously think about changing their rules. build small studio apartments, let singles buy flats at a younger age.

by keeping to their old housing policies, they have indirectly produced a whole generation unable to stand on their own two feet. they're just so comfortable. adults who depend on their mothers for everything, they can't travel alone, they can't make decisions about their lives, don't know how to work the washing machine. but perhaps that was the point, to infantalise us, trap us, make us so comfortable and immobile, that we will just be mindless autobots. ok i'm exaggerating. hehe. but you get the idea. i'm not against marriage or the family institution. but until then, i would like to be single and happy.

oh yeah, i've been working on a new blog - pornstarkitty. it's basically all the stuff that i like about fashion and clothes. things inspired by good design, photography etc. the template is not done up yet, i've just been busy blogging and researching. enjoy!