neverforeverdotnet

Why the uproar? If spoken by anyone else, this message would probably not have come across as anything special.

If anyone from the UK reads this, be thankful you have liberal media - one willing to provide alternative viewpoints - even those you may not necessarily agree with. In Singapore, I’ve yet to hear a member of any opposition party speak on television… much less a diplomatic enemy.

“In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Upon the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, Son of Mary, the Word of God, the Messenger of mercy, I would like to congratulate the followers of Abrahamic faiths, especially the followers of Jesus Christ, and the people of Britain.

The Almighty created the universe for human beings and human beings for Himself. He created every human being with the ability to reach the heights of perfection. He called on man to make every effort to live a good life in this world and to work to achieve his everlasting life.

On this difficult and challenging journey of man from dust to the divine, He did not leave humanity to its own devices. He chose from those He created the most excellent as His Prophets to guide humanity.

All Prophets called for the worship of God, for love and brotherhood, for the establishment of justice and for love in human society. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the standard-bearer of justice, of love for our fellow human beings, of the fight against tyranny, discrimination and injustice.

All the problems that have bedevilled humanity throughout the ages came about because humanity followed an evil path and disregarded the message of the Prophets. Now as human society faces a myriad of problems and a succession of complex crises, the root causes can be found in humanity’s rejection of that message, in particular the indifference of some governments and powers towards the teachings of the divine Prophets, especially those of Jesus Christ.

The crises in society, the family, morality, politics, security and the economy which have made life hard for humanity and continue to put great pressure on all nations have come about because the Prophets have been forgotten, the Almighty has been forgotten and some leaders are estranged from God.

If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.

If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would hoist the banner of justice and love for humanity to oppose warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies the world over.

If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would fight against the tyrannical policies of prevailing global economic and political systems, as He did in His lifetime. The solution to today’s problems is a return to the call of the divine Prophets. The solution to these crises is to follow the Prophets - they were sent by the Almighty for the good of humanity.

Today, the general will of nations is calling for fundamental change. This is now taking place. Demands for change, demands for transformation, demands for a return to human values are fast becoming the foremost demands of the nations of the world. The response to these demands must be real and true. The prerequisite to this change is a change in goals, intentions and directions. If tyrannical goals are repackaged in an attractive and deceptive package and imposed on nations again, the people, awakened, will stand up against them.

Fortunately, today, as crises and despair multiply, a wave of hope is gathering momentum. Hope for a brighter future and hope for the establishment of justice, hope for real peace, hope for finding virtuous and pious rulers who love the people and want to serve them – and this is what the Almighty has promised.

We believe, Jesus Christ will return, together with one of the children of the revered Messenger of Islam and will lead the world to love, brotherhood and justice. The responsibility of all followers of Christ and Abrahamic faiths is to prepare the way for the fulfilment of this divine promise and the arrival of that joyful, shining and wonderful age. I hope that the collective will of nations will unite in the not too distant future and with the grace of the Almighty Lord, that shining age will come to rule the earth.

Once again, I congratulate one and all on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. I pray for the New Year to be a year of happiness, prosperity, peace and brotherhood for humanity. I wish you every success and happiness.”

Gary @ 26 Dec 2008 :: A thousand words, All the news that's fit to print, Stifle me, stifle you :: No Comments »

Slightly over a year has passed since the formulation of my previous list, so here’s a look at what’s on the cards for 2009 (or earlier):

Things outstanding from the last list:

1. UWA lens < - Peleng 8mm? EF 10-22mm? 11-16mm?
2. Battery grip

New things:

1. Dricab < -- this is long overdue!
2. wireless flash trigger < -- ST-E2?
3. NAS / extra HDD for archival purposes
4. Elan 7NE + 28-80mm
5. 24-105 f/4L
6. Horizon kompakt / perfekt
7. Mirror’s Edge
8. PS3? LittleBigPlanet? < -- :)

Gary @ 10 Dec 2008 :: Bitchin', A thousand words, General :: No Comments »

Gary @ 07 Dec 2008 :: A thousand words, Music, 1337 :: No Comments »

Storm lashes Brisbane in what must be the ultimate sleep-in weather. If you think the first part is bad, wait for the second half.

Gary @ 01 Dec 2008 :: A thousand words, General, All the news that's fit to print, w00t! :: No Comments »

I remember when she was a YouTube superstar… and now she’s touring the US. Lucky girl with a beautiful voice.

Gary @ 21 Nov 2008 :: A thousand words, Music :: No Comments »

I was listening to Sarah McLachlan’s Angel when I thought, “Gee. This sounds great at night. I wonder what other songs there are out there…?” So I hit the button and the first thing that comes up is

Hello, Last.fm? In what way is Angel similar to this?

Gary @ 18 Nov 2008 :: Bitchin' :: No Comments »

TNP recently ran an interview with a couple who are “angry” at the zoo over the White Tiger incident, because the man’s niece had been attacked by a rhino two years ago. Understandably so, but Son, ignoring the fine details - especially those differentiating both cases - is no way to go through life.

This is a prime example of what happens when journalists afford credence to people with more time than brains - the piece ends up laughably shallow.

He said: “For enclosures with dangerous animals, there should be more barricades between the visitors and the animals, such as a glass barrier which will allow people to see the animals. This way, no one will hurt themselves in the zoo.

Makes so much sense!

Because, as we all know, death by om-nom-nom is the only way to get hurt at the zoo.

Because having more barriers between the animals and the gawkers is more likely to thwart those hell-bent on feeding themselves to the animals, while allowing those who want to see the animals continue to be able to see the animals - even dangerous animals.

Because, you know, glass barriers are insurmountable. Damn glass barriers.

Gesturing to the fence at the white tigers’ exhibit, behind which visitors would stand, Mr Ramson, who visits the zoo three times a year, said: “Look at the barrier. It barely comes up to someone’s waist. You never know, in a split second, a child who has never seen these animals may get too excited, climb on the ledge, and fall in. Then it’s game-over.”

“behind which visitors would stand“, indeed!

For a guy who doesn’t seem to like the zoo much, he sure visits it a lot. I mean, a good number of Singaporeans I know don’t visit the zoo once in three years; and this guy does it every 4 months on average. Someone get this guy a Friend-of-the-Zoo card or something!

Also, he sounds tall.

Let’s postulate, for the sake of argument, that the “easiest” height for a child (who doesn’t know better) to scale would be one coming up to his chest. I say so because any barrier as tall as or taller than the child would require the kid to jump, climb, or get himself boosted significantly in order to get it to elbow height. (Remember, we’re talking about a height a child could simply scale like a ninja and get into the enclosure so fast that his presumably-responsible parents would have no time to react.)

I further posit that such at-risk children will fall into the 6-13 year old category. I say this because kids below 6 are generally too short - so as to be unreasonable in the context of this example. Anyone older than 13 should be in secondary school, and I presume (I hope I’m right) that secondary-school children know better.

The average height of a Singaporean adult male is about 1.7m, so I’m going to go out on a limb (in keeping with the facts-from-ass theme of this article) and work with a 1.4m-tall, primary six boy. Boy, because as everyone knows, girls only get excited by ponies. And ponies don’t eat people.

From the above, we can guesstimate the height of the barrier the boy can easily scale by expressing it as 0.75 x 1.4 = 1.05m. Seeing how Mr Ramson described it as “barely comes up to someone’s waist” we can easily agree that the person would have to be at least 2 x 1.05 = 2.10m tall. Wow, Mr Ramson.

So now we all know: If a 2.10m parent brought his average-height hyperactive primary six son (who has never seen a tiger) to the zoo, the odds of said son jumping the fence (with no glass barrier separating them from the animals) are very high indeed.

Also, the secondary moral of this whole post is that you can write a pretty damn lot so as long as you produce numbers from your arse.

Gary @ 17 Nov 2008 :: Bitchin', A thousand words, All the news that's fit to print :: No Comments »

Hot off the Intarwebs today is the collective realization that Steven Seagal runs like a bitch.

Gary @ 05 Nov 2008 :: All the news that's fit to print :: No Comments »

About 30 Islamic radicals arrived at Mukhlas and Amrozi’s home village of Tenggulun, east Java, around dawn on Monday and denounced the executions as “murder.”

If Irony smells of shit, I found this in the sewer.

Link

Gary @ 05 Nov 2008 :: All the news that's fit to print :: No Comments »

Remember, the next time you feel like visiting a (Singapore) park, make sure to first brush up on your Park Legislation 101:

Sleeping on a park bench was not among the ‘Don’ts’, though there is a disclaimer which said the list was ‘not exhaustive or intended to be a complete list of the prohibitions or regulations governing our parks’.

It also stated that ‘any omission does not constitute a waiver of any offence’.

Park visitors can refer to the Parks and Trees Act 2005 and the Parks and Trees Regulations 2005, the website said.

Gary @ 15 Oct 2008 :: A thousand words :: No Comments »