nai's rhetoric

For the lovers of fine prose, here is my feature poem of the day.


Archibald MacLeish - Poem in Prose

This poem is for my wife.
I have made it plainly and honestly:
The mark is on it
Like the burl on the knife.

I have not made it for praise.
She has no more need for praise
Than summer has
Or the bright days.

In all that becomes a woman
Her words and her ways are beautiful:
Love's lovely duty,
the well-swept room.

Wherever she is there is sun
And time and a sweet air:
Peace is there,
Work done.

There are always curtains and flowers
And candles and baked bread
And a cloth spread
And a clean house.

Her voice when she sings is a voice
At dawn by a freshening spring
Where the wave leaps in the wind
And rejoices.

Wherever she is it is now.
It is here where the apples are:
Here in the stars,
In the quick hour.

The greatest and richest good,
My own life to live in,
This she has given me --

If giver could.

1. sit down at desk, check email

2. write down a list of things to do today. 23/10/05 read economics until price elasticity of demand, do research on insider trading, finish my accounting homework

3. launch my msn

4. seeing that no one interesting is online, i go to my blog and see if anyone left any comments on my chatbox

5. no one left anything on my chat box.

6. feeling a little depressed, i check my yahoomail account

7. still no emails, i launch my fxstudentchallenge account to see if im making any virtual money

8. i grab a mars bar and start eating

9. ok im going to start doing my accounts homework after im done with the mars bar

10. im done with the mars bar. i light a cigarette

11. i go to my favourite blogs and read a little, trying to get some inspiration

12. i go back to my blog and click on the links to my friends blog to see if that have updated anything

13. someone interesting comes online, i spend the next one hour chatting

14. i light another cigarette

15. feeling somewhat hungry, i go to the kitchen and prepare my lunch

16. i come back feeling bloated, decide to reward myself with an hour of gaming. it takes 2 hours

17. feeling utterly dissatisfied with my progress today, i decide to tidy up my desk to make everything look organise

18. i pull out my accounts text book

19. i go to my online learning space to see if my lecturer has posted any answers on the module

20. i start scrolling through my music list to find a song that puts me in the mood

21. i check my mail again

22. i go to soccernet.com to see the latest news on manchester united. they drew 1-1 with tottenham. damn. i hope united signs ballack.

23. i eat another mars bars

24. i go to the sink and start squeezing my pimples

25. i end up taking a shower feeling all grossed out and oily after having made lunch

26. i come back from the shower feeling refreshed and somewhat drowsy.

27. i decide to take a power nap. 10 minutes max.

28. i wake up in time for dinner.

29. with most of the day gone, i really decide to start working.

30. i put a to-do list in my palm

31. feeling somewhat lazy, i go make some tea

32. i end up making dinner.

33. i take my customary after meal smoke and laze a little

34. i check my mail again

35. i finally get down to working

36. it lasts all of 45 mins :)

im a genius.

brusied, bloodied and battered, Tras Arrowfoot lay sprawled on the ground. his broadsword just within arms reach. the same longsword that has carried him through countless battles lay just beyond him. the once gleaming blade now grew dull with fallen foes blood covering it, trickling down to the hilt. under the twilight, you could still see the azure glow of the sapphire embedded in the hilt. blessed by elders and monks before Tras, the longsword was said to be magical. all that magic now couldnt stop Tras from staring down the face of this bloodthirsty assiliant.
the band of ogres had ambushed him. his fault for not have picking the familiar musky odour that bloodstone orgres carry with them.
the ogre grunted and heaved his massive double bladed axe and prepared for the killing blow. with whatever left of his strength, Tras managed to roll on to his side, and scooped up his trusty longsword and prepared for the next blow. stumbling a little, favouring his left leg, Tras adopted the true defensive stance; crane over waters; that has been taught to him since young. his childhood memories seem so distant at the moment.
the bloodthirsty ogre swung again, axe met sword in deafening clash of metal. Tras barely had enough strength to parry the attack. he was in trouble. bleeding heavily from a thigh injury on his right leg he could hear the distant horn call of more ogres approaching. he had already dispatched 6 ogres before meeting this more hardy adversary.
it was going to be a long night he thought to himself.
and the dance begun. Tras took the impetus and went on one last attack. moving through his stances like a dance, flowing from one move to the other. the ogre was taken aback by this sudden surge of energy that his opponent possessed; was driven back . the din of the battle was aburptly interrupted by the nock of an arrow and its release. fletchings to cheek in a smooth motion, Sophia Fayre let loose an arrow at the massive orgre and her aim was true. elves seldom missed. it was quickly followed by another 2 arrows in rapid succession.
with a great thud, the ogre fell to the ground, 2 arrows pertruded from his makeshift chainmail of broken metals whilst the third, the killing blow, went straight through his larnyx.
Tras stared bewildered at his defeated foe and turned back. and under the cloudless moonlight stood his lover, still somehow looking angelically serene despite having faced the rigours of battle. her hair, silver like the mountains of franz josef, played with the night breeze sillhouetting her pristine face. an angel to behold, sophia looked ageless. her clear blue eyes stared right into him.
"thought you could use a hand tras" she laughed. her voice, melodious like seraphs on the lyre still brought chills to Tras's spine.
"i had it under control Sophia" indiginant in his responsce, the pride of a young elf still worn on his breast.
their reunion was abrupty interrupted by the arrival of two river trolls. cunning and fast, trolls are formidable opponents. but so too are elves...

click here for the blown up.
my mates, old and new.

i have to stop oversleeping for my 9 oclock lectures. bleh. dulan.................

Here's a quick poll for you guys.

Suppose say you see this Lynx shower gel in the showers for the past few days. You pick it up and it smells/looks new. It looks sperm free.
The question: WOULD IT BE CONSIDERED CHEAPSKATE TO START USING THIS NEW SHOWER GEL YOU FOUND IN THE SHOWERS?

please leave your answers on the chatbox or comments page. I cannot guarantee anonymousity so vote at your own risk. All votes are final even if the final results are close. (unless your last name is bush).

DJ Nai signing off

:):)

One of my cousins, Yee, got married a few days ago. The plan was actually for me to fly up to attend the wedding as well but i didn't get my time-tables and stuff on time so me and my bro had to give it a pass. Such a pity. 2 weddings I've missed so far. Nabei.....
Anyway, I hope for happiness to be with them. CONGRATULATIONS YEE :):)

Yee&Sonang's Wedding Pictures

Some pre wedding shots.

Man my little nephew is so cute. god i miss my cousins.

Just came back from an open lecture conducted by professor jeffrey sachs; a real celebrity in the world of academia. It was on global proverty or more specifically about achieving the millennium goals. That is to end the world's extreme proverty in the world. It was quite a good lecture. He spoke with much conviction and passion, something he has devoted his whole life to; that is putting an end to global extreme proverty by 2025.
You know some people just have this really noble heart. This guy has been to over a 100 different countries (thats half the world literally) witnessing first hand accounts of how improvished people still live on this planet. How is it possible that the same world that Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen plus Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffet(combined GDP of the 41 poorest nations and their 550 million people if my memory serves me well) can also be home to the poorest people who get by with less than US$1.50 a month. Something monumental must have fucked up with the distribution of wealth and all the economics theory we have studied in school. So he is kind of like making it his personal crusade to end proverty with the help of the G8, EU, UN among other nations.
Isn't that a brilliant notion? Being able to end global extreme proverty by 2025? In our generation? Maybe there is some purpose to our existence in this era afterall. Honestly, I can tell you, Im not that noble. People who help with humanitarian efforts, distributing food, procuring medical/food/water supplies, working the in sweltering oppressive heat of the african climate. These people are noble. People who campaign for human rights and make it their personal crusade, they are noble. Well, I help the old lady cross the road from time to time.
But whats reassuring is that we all have the capacity to help. ALL of us. One way to start is to stop being so IGNORANT about what is happening in the world around us. I think of the disadvantages of being born in a first world economy is that it makes us blind to the proverty at our doorsteps. I daresay that if you are reading this, you are probably one of my friends. I also daresay that you are quite oblivious to the fact that 5 million babies in africa are going to die from Malaria in 10 years. And thats just in africa alone. According to sachs, if everyone in the first world country gives just 3 bucks (1 plate of chicken rice plus kopi bing), we would have 3 billion dollars. Enough to bring the mortality rates of babies dying from malaria by a staggering 65-80%.
Now you're probably thinking: " hell nai, in all the time ive known you, you've never talked about this before. now stop putting on this act of having moral high ground and get down and fucking go ktv with us and fuck the world man" Well thats true. Until a few months ago. I borrowed this book from the library called Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus. That really started it all. Microcredit is now an area which highly interests me and something which I see myself getting involved in the future. The idea of using financial tools that helps the rich get rich, to help the poor! I think its fucking brilliant man. It started with a US$27 loan in 1976 to 9 women in bangalore. Today Grameen bank has annual transactions of US$2 billion.
"ahh.... so nai, its still about the money lah!" well yes and no. I still want to buy my M3, I still want to live in a penthouse, I still want to buy that country club. I still want a good life(this is not really excessive if you compare it to the likes of forbes500 category). But i think we have to cast away the old image of 'social workers' volunteering and earning meagre money. Theres going to be a new breed of humanitarians, and its going to be us. Microcredit bankers. If you wanna get rich, might as well do it the right way.
Everday you wake up you look yourself in the mirror. Be thankful, be thankful, be thankful. No matter how fucked up your job is, how shitty school work is, how deadlines are approaching, how many extras you take, how lousy the market is or whatever. Look on the bright side, at least you're not dying from malnutrition in the middle of nowhere right? Personally i dont do that enough. To Reflect. but whenever i feel down or lousy or feeling particularly unconstructive, i just think about how fucking fortunate i am to be born in Singapore and to be studying in london. We all have to try and try somehow to make it happen in ourselves.
At least when we die and God has to choose to send us up to heaven or down to hell, we have a 50-50 chance of appeal ;)
(and no william, you're definitely going to hell no matter how many lives you save. LOL)

the low down

who: the usual suspects. me, frederick, david and nick. juan had his plan A and didn't join us.
no. of beers consumed before going: me:1 the rest:5>
time spent looking glam in queue: 1 1/2 hours
damage: 15 quids -_-
distance ran in the day before clubbing: 4km plus an hour doing weights.
result: im fucking shack now and my hip hurts.
no. of times my shoes got trampled: 7
no. of fat sweaty people dancing around me: 2
no. of skinny sweaty people high on E dancing around me: 2
chick factor: 7/10
sister bliss: not bad
paul van dyke: FUCKING AWESOME
highlight of the day: seeing this posh chick offering the bouncer 45 quids to skip the queue. she was told to get lost. excellent.
downlight of the day: brushing against the skinny sweat guy who was high on E and getting my entire timberland shirt wet. i swear hes gonna die from dehydration.
conclusion: best clubbing night in london so far. 8/10

apparently some clubs in london has this very anal rule about not admitting all guy groups. while i can understand the marketing rationale behind such an approach, it nevertheless puts me off a little. can you imagine zouk in singapore having such a rule? espacially after the first 3 weeks of bmt, you see a company of botak men queuing outside to get into mambo only to find the door bitch saying:
"sorry, we are not admitting all male groups"
"eh brutha, we are in the army leh, first book out let us have some fun lar"
"sorry, we are not admitting all male groups"
"dun lydat leh, protecting our nation you know?
"sorry, we are not admitting all male groups"
"wah lan, kns.. gia ktv liao"
so we got turned down a couple of times and finally found ourselves at this club called ruby blue. cover + drinks + travel + cloak room = 26 quids. think ouch and think it really loud.
it was ok, had a shot of tequila, 2 smirnoffs and i was in lala land. as usual, what else is new.
looking forward to a new week. tennis on wednesday(my hand super itchy liao), french class on thursday, MOS(no not mos burger. ministry of sound okay?) on tuesday, and and and and and im going for the arsenal chelsea reserves match tomorrow! song buay?
im happy that my "i am him" post has spawned off a few of my friends to do the same.
its like some of the things you always wanted to say but you feel buay hiao ba if you were to do it in person or simply there isnt a right moment to.
its an avenue to air your thoughts and feelings and thats what a blog should do for you.
i think i might be coming back next summer, to finish off my Ns liability. hope they post me to cmpb and do paper work because i seriously cant be asked to cheong anymore swa or train any more noobs.
and so this concludes my unconstructive weekend. excuse for i need to go pang sai liao.