We live in a city full of materialism but lacking in soul

April 28, 2007
We live in a city full of materialism but lacking in soul

THE stock market is reaching a new high, new apartments in prestigious locations are hitting psf prices that border on the ridiculous, en bloc fever has seized our small but prosperous country in a proportion that is unseen before and people are buying new cars as if there is no tomorrow. Our country has indeed outgrown our expectations.

I have also lately seen siblings taking each other and even their own parents to court over some property-sale dispute. Kinship is sacrificed for the many millions that are at stake. It seems blood ties are worthless. Is it worth it?

Our society is riding high on the cash cow of materialism. Starting salaries of young graduates are re-adjusted and our civil servants/ministers are getting higher incomes. People work harder for their promotion and I have seen department heads as young as 27 or 28 years old.

Singapore is indeed a land of opportunities and no wonder we see long queues of foreigners wanting to work and settle down here. We have become the New York of the East. We have arrived, or have we?

Yet I see a city lacking in soul. There is an empty shell that people hide in with their degrees, work achievements and expensive purchases. The exterior seems posh and attractive but deep inside there is ugliness and a sense of disenchantment.

Many feel lonely and have no one to share their riches with as they themselves have no time for relationships. Work becomes their solitary pursuit and meaning for existence.

Divorces are ever increasing year by year as people do not see the value of giving in and valuing love commitment in a relationship. There is also no time for such a commitment as time spent may not translate into any tangible return for either party.

We often measure friendship or even marriage on whether the opposite party can provide some form of return. That is why many find it difficult to ask their friends out when the chips are down.

People here want to mix with the successful and the attractive. If you are down and out you are often left alone. What a shame!

Even in MRT trains, our population needs to be reminded to give up seats for the aged and pregnant women.

Our domestic maids are routinely abused during their work assignments. This is a sign of a graceless society lacking in simple gracious acts. We seem to have a long way to go here.

As the country continues to prosper and mature, let us give some thought to how we can improve the software of our people. As we frantically work and pursue materialistism, I find that many of us have lost our soul which gives us the meaning of our existence. For if we live life without any meaning, we are better off not living at all.

Gilbert Goh Keow Wah

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not written by me, but i think i could have written something better.. LOL.. then again.. he does deliver interesting point of views.

Goggling madness

Wonder if any of ya saw this before?



js

For the clueless...

Dead week is a slang term for the week before final exams in the United States of America. The week is known thus because of the propensity for college and university students to save exam study until the last possible week, and because term papers are often due. Students prepare for the exams and papers by pulling all-night study sessions, usually with the aid of stimulants such as coffee, NoDoz pills and Red Bull. During this period some students will suffer from sleep deprivation, increased irritability, and stress [1].
Ref: [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_week, dated 07:34, 23 March 2007

(see what research term papers have done to me!!)

Here, Georgia Institute of Technology students have developed a "primal scream" tradition, in which students open their dormitory windows and scream at midnight, every night of dead week. It's called Midnight Madness!!!

Ladies & gentlemen, start your (scream)engines!!

God bless & take care GIPeeps! Victory is ours to steal!!!

The Great American pastime!!

Ok GIPeeps, the invitation has ended but the offer doesn't stop there. Those interested can purchase their own tickets and still join the rest of the gang on the 29th.

Cheers
Ray

Hey guys, here are the flight details for the flight from Chicago to San Francisco. We are flying to Oakland airport instead of the main airport because it is cheaper to do so. Oakland and San Francisco airport are both about an hour away from downtown san francisco. There are several ways we can get to the city center. The BART system which is the train service in SF and also a bus would be our options. The cost per person would be less than $10.

The flights from Chicago to San Francisco/Oakland are listed below:

All flights would leave Chicago on the 18th of May.

1st Choice: ATA flight 4627 departing at 730am and reaching Oakland at 1005am.
(www.ata.com): select departing from Chicago and arriving at Oakland

2nd Choice: Frontier flight 533 departing at 220pm and reaching denver at 355pm.
Connecting flight 663 departing from Denver at 450pm and reaching San Francisco at 630pm.
(www.frontierairlines.com): select departing from Chicago and arriving at San Francisco

3rd Choice: Frontier flight 533 departing at 220pm and reaching denver at 355pm.
Connecting flight 661 departing from Denver at 615pm and reaching San Francisco at 745pm. (http://www.frontierairlines.com/): select departing from Chicago and arriving at San Francisco

The flights from San Francisco to Atlanta are listed below:


1st Choice: (30th of May) Airtran flight 52 departing at 925pm and reaching Atlanta at 5am.
(www.airtran.com) : select departing from San Francisco and arriving at Atlanta


2nd Choice: (31st of May) Airtran flight 44 departing at 1255pm and reaching Atlanta
(http://www.airtran.com/) : select departing from San Francisco and arriving at Atlanta

Please go to the individual airline website to book your tickets NOW!!

*sources provided by the WKWDYL search engine - get the best, forget the rest -

as requested:

Goliath


Mindbender
listen to fiona scream. she was screaming ALL THE WAY haha

something we shouldn't have missed..

Smokies

Have a proposal for hiking in the Smokies this weekend. Thinking of climbing Mt LeConte via the Alum Cave Bluff Trail. This is an approximately 11 mile loop, will take approx 8h, so this will be a full day thing. One of the most spectacular trails and the best vantage points in the park. Moderately difficult trail with elevation of 2600ft (900m?)

Will be hiking on Sunday full day cos I'm only getting to the Smokies on Saturday afternoon. People hiking so far: Jackson and me.. if anyone else is keen on spectacular views and tired legs let either of us know lah :)

Erm yeah and since I can only leave on Saturday there will be a car leaving on Saturday after 12 noon. People in this car so far: BF, WS, and me. Room for 2 more, if anyone also wants to leave on Saturday pls voice out~

Time to De-stress!

Well, been a regular visitor but not-so-frequent blogger for this blog (my own blog also damn cui in terms of up-to-date-ness)... Anyway, received this vid via recommendation from my fren back home. It's mugging time for NTU back home and gonna be our turn soon! So this will relieve some stress i hope...

WARNING: Viewer discretion advised! Strangely, obiang-ness + racist + vulgar = FUNNY! Watch and laugh till pengz ba!



PS: Pern Ren, u've met your match, finally!!




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edited by WS



this is the english version

6 Flags 04/15 is a GO!

Ok people! I have booked the tickets for 6 Flags, and a total of 16 people will be going.

Weather seems to be holding up well, with a few showers and 10% rain probability (for now) .
Keep checking

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/30168?begHour=1&begDay=105

for more updates! Hopefully the rain from saturday doesn't pour over till sunday.

Travel Directions

We will have to take a Marta to station W5 Hamilton E. Holmes, then take route 201 to go to 6 Flags. I'm not sure how the bus schedule works out but i think it starts at 0845hrs and runs at 40 minutes intervals.
So if we miss the shuttle = HONG KAN!!! (*cough* Bev *cough cough* Jane *cough cough cough*)

Could someone help me decipher this thing? It looks like gibberish to me

http://www.itsmarta.com/getthere/schedules/tables/rte_201_Su.htm

-.-"


i is blur

Operating Hours

The operating hours for 6 Flags is 10am to 8pm. So i figure that a good time to meet MIGHT be 8am on Sunday, try to catch the 0925 bus, or even better the 0845 bus so we can all be kiasu and chiong the nice rides first!

The timing to meet can be decided on saturday night depending on everyone's shagness level (i.e. too shag then later lor...)

Breakfast

Might be an issue here since some people dun like to eat too full lest they puke on the rollercoaster, and some people like to eat full full then puke on the rollercoaster. So should we have breakfast together? I'll gather feedback on saturday ba. Till then, keep your fingers crossed for NO RAIN.

A journey

At last! The circle is complete...: 6 Flags 04/15

As most of you might know, we have an upcoming trip to 6 flags this weekend.

The people confirmed going are:
Tayapi
Beverly
Beverly's friend (Lucinda)
Tim
Calvin
Xiang Xin
Fiona
Clarence
Aston
Jackson
Kelly
Liang Yu
Guang Da
Jane
Andrew
Jun Liang (Total 16)

Still waiting on:
Pern the Ren

If i missed anyone out do let me know ASAP. I'll work out the details on how to get there and post it towards the end of the week.

Hohoho just cross your fingers and hope it won't rain on sunday.

If anyone got anymore friends to add to the list, please get to me by Friday 11am as i'll be booking around noon.

Hey guys, here are the flight details for the flight from Atlanta to New York. The three choices are listed below:

1st Choice: Flight 375 departing at 1027am, reaching La Guardia at 1249 noon
2nd Choice: Flight 350 departing at 1110am, reaching La Guardia at 1.28pm
3rd Choice: Flight 366 departing at 1217 noon, reaching La Guardia at 2.29pm

To book the tickets, log on to www.airtran.com and choose Atlanta as Origin and NY- La Guardia as destination for 1 way trip on the 5th of May.

The tentative after exam trip is out. Please take a look and it is still open for discussion. The final trashing session will be on thurs. We will be having the last dinner at Ah Seng and Ah Liang's place before they move out.

The proposed timeline is as follow:

5th May: Flight to New York

5th-9th May: New York tour
(overnight drive to Boston - 4 hrs)

10th-11th May: Boston tour
(overnight drive to Niagara falls - 7 hrs)

12th May: Niagara falls
(overnight drive to Toronto - 3 hrs)

13th-14th May: Toronto tour
(overnight drive to Chicago - 8 hrs)

15th-17th May: Chicago

17th May: Flight to San Franscisco

18th-21st May: San Franscisco tour
(overnight drive to LA - 6 hrs)

22nd-23rd May: LA tour
(drive to San Diego - 2 hrs)

24th May: San Diego tour
(drive to Tijuana - 2 hrs)

25th May: Tijuana tour
(stay at San Diego for the night)

26th-27th May: Las Vegas

28th May: Grand Canyon

29th May: Yosemite and Lake Tahoe

30th May: Flight back to Atlanta from San francisco

That is the backbone to the plan. There are still a lot of details yet to be finalized like the booking of the air tickets, the accomodation and also the things to do in each city. Please look through plan and see whether this plan is able to accomodate you travel plans. The rush is now on to book the tickets to secure the cheapest fares.