ROYs

The ROYs have landed.

Public Transport

While I have a deep appreciation for, in my humble opinion, the extremely well-planned, convenient, and comfortable public transport infrastructure in Singapore, I rather dislike taking public transport, especially during peak hours. Call me spoilt, but I DO NOT enjoy having my personal space invaded by every Tom, Dick, Harry, and even Jane, Mary, and Sally.

Case in point: I, on this very rare occasion, managed to get a seat in a comfortably empty MRT carriage this morning. With beautiful thoughts of settling down and having a good read to pass time on the long train ride, I took a seat and was rather pleased with how the day was going. Next thing I know, a lady, and I am stretching the use of the word here, sits down in the seat beside me. And THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE RIDE, SHE SITS SO CLOSE TO ME THAT OUR SHOULDERS ARE PRESSING UP AGAINST EACH OTHER. I tried to create some space by leaning to the other side, and even shifting rather obviously, and even leaning forward to pose like some superhero, but SHE WAS OBLIVIOUS! It was like she's thinking, 'Hmmmm... I seem to have more space now, let's see how much more space I can have on my right. Oh, there seems to be a guy on my right, but he doesn't seem to need a lot of space, while I need more space than my body can take up.'

Now, I understand that I am not the slimmest guy around, but I try not to take up more space than necessary. I don't spread my legs wide open like I have a tumor in my nether-regions, nor do I try to puff myself up with imaginary muscles, and encroach into other people's personal space. And I absolutely dislike someone's shoulder, or other assorted body parts pressing up against me while I am trying to enjoy my train ride. AND SHE WAS LIKE HALF AS WIDE AS ME! And she was taking up more space than me. I was so tempted to take a picture of her face, and post it on the Internet, to warn people not to sit beside her.

Rare enjoyable train ride, ruined.

All said, I would like to think I do not infringe on someone else's space; even while standing in a crowded train, I try to make myself take up as little space as possible. But I think it all boils down to being considerate. And you cannot be considerate to other people when you think that you are entitled to acting like you are entitled to something. But hey, I am entitled to my space too! The seats are contoured for a reason... One more thing, why does the MRT companies allow so many people to squeeze into the trains or buses when there is a maximum number of commuters allowed in one carriage or bus? This is a safety hazard, and makes the ride oh-so-unpleasant. Just increase the frequency of the trains or buses, so that people will not want to rush and squeeze for 45 minutes just so they can shave off 2 minutes of their traveling time.

That's my beef with public transport, the public. Public transport in Singapore is practically like a movie; you get to see the good, the bad, and the plain ugly. I have a love-hate relationship with public transport; I love the transport, I hate the public taking it. But not to take public transport would mean petrol costs, ridiculously overinflated yet ineffectual ERP rates, exorbitant parking fees. But that is another story for another day.

A snowball's chance in Hell

Sometimes, the cruelest people are the people who don't know that they are being cruel.
Sometimes, the most casual remark can be the most stinging.
Sometimes, I tend to think too much.
Yeah, a snowball's chance in Hell.

Simplicity

Oh, that I may never lose the simplicity of heart.

Hands

Hands, strong hands that hold me tight
That because of my weaknesses help me fight
Hands, strong hands that shelter me from harm
From the storms, and the fire, and the floods that come
Hands, gentle hands that guide me back to the path
when I wander from it, and the ground beneath become rough
Hands, gentle hands that hold onto me with love undeserved
That feed me when I hunger, and water me when I thirst
Hands, firm hands that chasten and correct but never hurt
So that one day I can be free, and fly as high as a bird
Hands, firm hands that grasp mine tightly as tight can be
That work from behind the scenes, for no one but me to see

Colours

Call me delusional or otherwise, but I think that a life worth living is one that has not lost its 'colours', so to speak. Not everything has to be explained, and neither can everything be explained with solely faith, or science alone. I'd rather be a fool than a cynic.

If everything conformed to what people determine to be 'rational', 'logical', and 'empirical', then life would be rather dreary now, wouldn't it? And think about it, a lot of things in rational, logical, empirical science are theories. A theory is defined as such: A proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact. Some scientific theories require us to take a step out of our comfort zones, or a step of faith, if you will, to accept it. You don't see gravity, but you trust that it will do the job of pulling you back to earth when you jump. And yes, it is called the theory of gravitation.

Don't get me wrong now. I am all for science, and logic, and empirical evidence, and the like. But just because I am an advocate of the scientific method doesn't make me a mutually exclusive subscriber to it. I think there is room, in all our lives, for the natural, and the preternatural. To take it one step further, I think we need both the natural, and the preternatural in our lives. After all, isn't balance the key to life?

In my humble opinion, it is easier to explain something than to see the preternatural at work. To me, the divine can be so subtle that we may overlook it. But I want to have space in my life to recognize what I feel is the divine. What people call coincidences, I call divine appointments. To me, that makes life easier to live; that Someone out there is looking out for little old me, than the random occurrence of one out of the billions of permutations that could have occurred.

It has been said, that we humans have a god-sized void that nothing else can fill. That's perhaps why many people are looking for something as elusive, as ephemeral as the divine, the preternatural. To me, it doesn't exactly matter what god you choose to fill that void with. But I think it is a better life to live if we have a little faith, a little hope in our lives. Yes, science doesn't explain everything, and yes, faith doesn't explain everything either. People may think that it is too ridiculous to try to attribute incomprehensible things to the divine, or it is too convenient to ascribe divinity to things that we can explain using other more 'rational' methods. But the way I see it, the divine may be above reason, but it is not beyond reason. Otherwise, it wouldn't be 'divine' now, would it?

I sure hope that you noticed, that I am not making a case for any particular religion, or anything. I am merely stating, in generic terms, what I feel about the preternatural and divine. I just think that the acceptance of the supernatural can, and should, go hand in hand with the natural. I feel that we all need to believe in something greater than ourselves, whether we choose to acknowledge that or not. We all need a sense of awe, of splendor, of glory, and of whimsy.

To make a rather poor analogy, if science were the shades black and white, then faith would be the colours. Mixing the two would not make either lesser, but rather, each would be enhanced by the other. Blind 'faith', without rationality and logic, is without depth. But rationality and logic, without faith, is monochromatic, and frankly, quite dull. Shades, and colours exist whether you see them or not, whether you choose to see them or not.

Just don't lose sight of the shades and colours of your world.

Retro Kick!

So, I have been on a retro kick recently. Downloading tonnes of Sega Genesis (remember that?) games. Nothing beats retro video games! Classics like Sonic, Comix Zone, and my personal favourite, Earthworm Jim! Reliving my childhood, since there's nothing much going on for me in terms of my future.... yet... New week, new hopes though! Got to remain positive.