Another Exchange on God & Bible

(Below exchanges triggered by this other exchange
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2001_06_01_cckplanetblog_archive.html)

From: yinsze@jmsassoon.com.sg
To: cheng_chee_khiaw@jpmorgan.com, bkjchua@pacific.net.sg
Subject: Re: Some quotations - some interpretations needed

Hi,

I don't really know what this debate is all about, but I felt compelled to make a few points. We can argue till the cows come home but I don't believe science can ever prove nor disprove the existence of God. Science deals with what is observable and measureable, and has nothing to say about the spiritual world. I think even the best scientific minds have not been able to make any claims - based on science - about such questions as the soul, or life after death. Since God cannot be observed and measured, science shrugs it off and implicitly denies its existence. Is that the right approach? I don't know. If we think that the scientific method is our only valid window to the world, then I suppose we will just have to wait until science has something to say about the spiritual world (we may have to wait a long time). Some people choose to believe that there is a God and some don't, and I believe there are highly intelligent (ie, scientific) people on both camps. I have met highly articulate, well-read, knowledgeable people who happen to believe in God, and vice versa. What has science got to do with it? Nothing. Has God discouraged men from improving his quality of life through research and development? Not that I know of.

And about that 2,000-year old book. What can people who lived 2,000 years ago teach us? We now have hand-held devices that contain more information than what all those guys had ever known. We may be a lot more knowledgeable than those guys back then but I believe "human nature" has not changed one bit (or byte) after all these years. Men still kill, rob, rape, plunder and lie as much as before, if not more so. Read the Bible as a scientific text and you are bound to be disappointed. May I suggest that you read it with an open heart - perhaps then the words would begin to come alive, and you would not miss the forest for the trees. You know how rapidly books of the past become obsolete and irrelevant. Karl Marx's stuff once has the whole world all worked up but now it's a joke - no one gives a damn. And that was no more than 150 years ago. But the Bible seems different. I do not proclaim to know much about the Bible, but it has already revealed to me enough truth about human beings that I begin to wonder about the people who wrote it more than 2000 years ago. The greed, fear, lust and treachery portrayed in those pages are no different from the stuff you read in The Straits Times yesterday. The way the Bible and belief in God has changed the lives of people I know is nothing short of amazing. These people might have been dumb, irrational, spine-less, can't-think-for-themselves -- and yet it is obvious to me that the outcome of their belief is ... good.

I know, in today's computer age, it seems ludicrous that some higher being (ie, God) would send his son down to die for us. And being the Son of God, he didn't really die anyway - as you know, he was resurrected. Superficially then, the Bible would appear to be no more than a consistent, well-written historical textbook. But suppose for a moment that there is God and He wants to save us from our sins. If He had not sent Jesus down to do the things he did, do you think there is any chance that anyone of us born-sceptics would ever believe in an unseen, unheard God? Not way! If God really want us to believe in Him (for whatever reasons), is there any other way He might have done so? Perhaps not. Anyway, I was struck by the fact that Jesus had a really difficult time convincing the people of his time despite all the miracles he performed. You may ask, why would God want to save us, why did He leave allow women and children be killed in wars and earthquakes, why did He let a cute 2-year old English boy be brutally murdered by a couple of ten-year olds, why did He allow someone like Hitler to kill so many millions before he ended his own life? I don't have answers to questions like that. I used to think that I must have satisfactory answers to such basic questions before I can believe in anything. But my ego has since been deflated along with the economic downturn. I don't fully understand how panadol can help bring down my fever, and yet I have been taking it faithfully each time I fall ill. Must I understand everything about God before I believe? Can I?

Thanks for bearing with my confused thoughts.

Rgds,
LYS



To: yinsze@jmsassoon.com.sg
bcc: friends, family
Subject: Re: Some quotations - some help for confused thoughts

Hi my friend,

Science does not attempt to and cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. I don't think science like you claim denies God's existence. So I am not surprised that many scientists do believe that God exists. But it will be very difficult for most scientists to believe that one of the many religions practiced by humans is the only truth about and only way to God as some religions claim. This is a very important difference - as you will see below.

As we know very well, science is not the only window to the world. Like you alluded to, imaginations like that of many fanatics, lunatics, cheats, racists and writers like Hitler and Harold Robbins in this world are some other ways to view the world. But science is the only one we know of that has any credibility and has withstood the test of time. By science here I mean the broad approach of accepting a view as more accurately representative of nature than another if that view stands up better to observation, measurement, repeatable testing, and corroboration by other findings, as opposed to a particular scientific view or theory (the latter was what Richard Feynman was referring to in his quotes).

The scientific method has enabled us to piece together a knowledge base (not an individual theory or observation) that can help us make decisions on the following:
1. Believe in the existence of God(s) - may be we should not split hairs here.
2. Believe in a particular religion
3. Believe that that religion represents the only truth about and only way to God

Each of us may make a decision on some but not necessarily all of the above. But my view is that it is only reasonable to make our decision in the order above and not juxtapose them. For e.g. one can decide that one believes God exists but choose not to believe in any particular religion. Or one can believe in God and a particular religion but decide not to believe that that religion represents the only truth about and way to God. But one cannot believe that one's religion represents the only truth and way to God, but do not firstly decide for example that God exists.

I think that to make a decision on each of the above, one has to rely not only on one's own personal feelings and experiences alone but also on empirical observations and knowledge about the world around us. It is the latter where science has contributed much - everything about science is empirical. Thus an empirical observation that there are no more good people who are Christians than there are good people who are Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists may not be a scientific discovery but is nevertheless scientific in that we can subject that observation to measurement and corroboration with information we gather through our daily life (if we bother to observe beyond our little circle).

We must also appreciate that humans may make decisions subconsciously based on very selfish and less objective reasons. For example, one may think that a religion is closer to the truth because that religion happens to fit in to his believe that he is more special than everything else in this universe. Or that the religion happens to address his fear that he may end up at the wrong end of the world. I think you alluded to those human tendencies in your note.

Although none of the decisions above is necessarily less important than the others, it is nevertheless simpler to disprove any claim to the latter ones than the first using empirical evidences available to and in a way not dissimilar to that employed by science. (added later: That is because the first claims only that God exists while religious texts usually claim that and more. The more a religion claims the more opportunity we have to verify those individual claims and by extension the voracity of the whole text - by association. For example, a religion may claim that the world is of a certain age, that humans are created in the image of God, or that a certain event had happened. If any of those claims is found to be unreasonable or inconsistent with the knowledge we gathered through science or through our increased knowledge of the world made possible by the many inventions of science, then by association we have some basis to doubt all its remaining claims. For example, that its words are the words of God or that it is the' ultimate' truth.)

If we appreciate the considerations above we would be better able to address some of your views:

- you claim that God has not discouraged men from improving his quality of life through research and development.

You are not incorrect. For we see that happening around us everyday already (empirical observation). But that claim does not in any way help us in making any of the 3 decisions above.

- you seem impressed with the Bible because it seems different as it has revealed to you enough truth about human beings that are no different from the stuff you read in The Straits Times yesterday.

Well, I do not disagree that humans had not changed much in instinct in the last couple of thousand years. That would be the same with all other animals. Scientific findings indicate to me that if someone had lived 100 million years ago, had known and was willing to document the basic instincts of sharks, you would be impressed with how accurate that would have been with what you can learn today from the Discovery Channel! For that matter if you had bothered to find out, you would learn that Sun Tze's Art of War's and the Tao Te Ching's documentation of the behavior of humans and more had remained largely relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. I will not be surprised if it is the same with many other texts from other cultures. You would also find the Kamasutra extremely accurate and relevant in depicting human sexual acts despite the years. That Harold Robins' books are as accurate in capturing lusts as any book except that his books will not last as long for the reason that it offers no other psychological rewards like the promise of a better life at the end. The fact that the Straits Times can also document human behaviors as well as the Bible also goes to show that it is no miracle to be able to do so. So does the above help one make any of the above decisions? I don't think so.

- You observed that the Bible and belief in God had changed the lives of people you know is nothing short of amazing and it is obvious to you that the outcome of their belief is good.

I do not disagree that there are many good Christians and many lives were changed by the Bible or by believing in God. It is just that I had come across and read about many good non-Christians throughout my life too. Some of them will undoubtedly claim that their lives were changed by a different experience than yours. For me, they are also beacons of hope for the human race. I do not notice any statistical difference between good Christians and good non-Christians. To me that is uplifting but not amazing. It is consistent with statistics on religious followings around the world and so can be scientifically proven.

I also read about dogs and dolphins that saved lives. Birds that remain faithful to their partners for life. Animals that do not kill or consume other animals in their whole life. Animals that don't lie. To me that is goodness no less than that any human can lay claim to. Are they religious in the way as to believe in one of man's religions? Are they also blessed by the Bible? This bit I do know: they can't read our books and I'm not sure they will be that impressed with those well-documented human behaviors. You see, your observation that humans still kill despite all the godly attempts you thought were made to change man proves all the more that we humans are not just not much different from other animals but we are worse. Other animals that kill do so only when hungry but we kill for that and more. If that is the case, are we closer to God as some religions claim? My empirical observations above make me think otherwise. If that is the case, should I believe in those religions?

If, as you claimed, your religion's believe that God had tried so hard to change man (the mechanics of how that is done is not important) but had so far failed, does that raise some questions about your belief?

- you said you don't fully understand how Panadol can help bring down your fever, and yet you have been taking it faithfully each time you fall ill.

I do the same too. Both of us know that there are enough empirical evidences that Panadol works better in curing fever than many other methods - you may not know why but that is still a scientific approach. But that does not mean that other generic Paracetamol pills do not have the same effect. Neither does it mean that we should not be conscious of the possibility that an overdose of Panadol will kill us.

Does that say anything about faith? Yes, a lot: be careful where you place your faith. You would be better placed if the faith is better supported by empirical evidences and you take a broader consciousness. For depending on which 'pill' you happen to try, your faith may be on a different 'brand' from others. That does not mean your 'brand' is any more effective or closer to the truth.

- Lastly, I also do not understand everything. But that does not stop me from making the following decisions: that I tend to believe that God exists. But I also believe that believing in a religion and believing in God are not the same. I am willing to make a decision on one but not the other. I also believe one decision comes without an expectation of reward while the other may, and that it is dangerous and arrogant to believe (as some religions claim) that one religion has the sole right of way to God.

Rgds
CCK

p.s. I don't think the economic downturn has anything to do with our above topic but you are free to make any correlation you wish.



To: yinsze@jmsassoon.com.sg
bcc: friends, family
Subject: Re: Making decisions on incomplete information

My friend, my comments in blue italics below. Rgds CCK

To: cheng_chee_khiaw@jpmorgan.com
Subject: Making decisions on incomplete information

Hi Chee Khiaw,

It's good that we have broad common agreement on the role of science in our lives.

Your last paragraph summarises quite neatly your views on religion and God. Your views are obviously well thought out, consistent and extremely logical. Your caution about misplaced faith is certainly worth noting, as men had so often killed or condemned others in the name of God. I fully agree that blind faith is not only stupid, it is also downright dangerous.

Allow me to summarise your views/beliefs: It seems you prefer to watch from the outside rather than to get involved or closer to God since you do not know which is the correct way.
(What makes you think that not choosing a religion or following the Bible is watching from the outside and not getting closer to God?)

Empirically, as the end result (judging by the actions of various religious people) is similar, there are no obvious reasons to favour one religion over the other. You do believe there is a God (or Gods) somewhere out there. And He happened to create man among other living things, and the man he created is no different from or better than the many other creatures that walked the face of this earth.
(How do you define better? Who decide what it is better? Is that you or God?)

The best you can do under the circumstances is to use your head and live life the best you can: in a nutshell, you do your own thing while God does whatever He does. Period. There is nothing wrong with that - or is there more to it?
(I'm not very sure of that as I do not fully understand how He works. I am quite certain that the way I live now is what He wants me to. And may be everyone else too. Just that some just don't get it, like you said about others who do not believe in the Bible. Just wonder what makes you think that what I am doing has no relationship with what God does? Everything I do has something to do with Him. Don't forget: He is God. So, are you talking for Him or something else?)

If you do believe in God, then it begs the question of the connection between man and God. Morality issues aside, the very fact that man is able dominate his environment like no other living creatures on earth suggests that we are not in the same category as the other animals. The intellectual capacity of man is a quantum leap compared to other living things here. I find it difficult to accept the argument that man is no different from the other animals.
(Not sure what you mean by 'dominating his environment' although I'll disagree. Man may be better able to manipulate or adapt to the environment but not dominate it. God dominates it not you or me - by definition. Thinking it is the reverse may be too arrogant and presumptuous about man's ability especially with respect to God's. Also, what makes you think being able to manipulate or dominate the environment as you claimed is God's wish and not the Devil's? You see, God may not mean for man to egoistically think that they can dominate His environment. That may actually mean the end of the beautiful world He has created. Even if that is the case, is that domination and possible eventual destruction possibly meant as a curse for everything else and man is just the means to do so? If that is the case, man may be special but definitely not in His image. Also, could your claim that man is 'quantum leap ahead of other living things here' be because man had killed off our closest competitors against God's wish. Could that be the Devil's work? What makes you think that having the relatively higher intellectual capacity than other living things 'here' says anything about man being closer or special to God? Arrogance? What makes you so sure 'here' is of such significance to God's scheme of things? What makes you think that man's level of intelligence is anything to be proud of or amazed about? May be in His cosmos i.e. 'here' and EVERYWHERE ELSE, something else is right now looking at you and arrogantly saying that you are no better than an ant with respect to its ability. Well, may be not because it probably knows better not to be as arrogant as man.)

As you noted, man may even be evil when compared to many animals. That is true, and because of our sin we cannot "see" or get close to God. Christians believe that Jesus is the bridge between man and God. The only bridge. And the fact that man is a sinner in no way suggests the "failure" of God. Man can choose to do good or evil and many men had chosen the latter, despite God's attempts to reach out to them. I suppose God can just wave His hand and all the evil doers will simply vanish into thin air - but I am not privy to the reasons why God chose not to do that.

According to the Bible, God sent Jesus to save us from our sins so that we may again be one with God. It does not mean that Christians do not sin. But it does mean that the ball is now in our court, and it is up to us to respond to Him, and He will take it from there.

It is of course most comfortable to do nothing. We live our lives the best we can and we do not need to be apologetic for any of our actions. The downside to this strategy is that you may well miss out on your one and only chance to be with God. I'm sure, as you have done very well on your own so far without needing God, not being with God may seem like no big deal. But how do you know? Can you be sure of that? An adopted child would surely long to know who his biological parents were.
(What makes you think that I do not need God or am not already with Him? What makes you think that I am doing nothing about it? Remember I started these mails. Simply because I disagree with you? Are you speaking on God's behalf or could it be something else you are speaking for? What makes you think that it is God's intention for you to know who He is? What makes you think he has given you the capability to do that? May be He doesn't care one hoot about you. But that does not make you feel good. So you decide on the opposite. For Him.)

What are your downside risks should you decide to accept Jesus as your Saviour and later discover that the whole thing is no more than a hoax? Well, you simply walk away. A bit embarrassed perhaps, but definitely wiser for it. But, on the other hand, you might discover things you otherwise might not have known.
(My downside risks should I accept Jesus as my Savior is clearly documented in your views and presumptions. I just discover it and I walked away wiser a bit earlier. But I am not sure God cares about that either)

The 3 decisions you have spelt out concerning God may not be mutually exclusive. (Of course they may not be mutually exclusive - especially if you don't care to differentiate them) If there is a God who created you, it is entirely possible that He may have some plans or instructions for you that may preclude you from practising other religions. (Why should you doubt that God have some plans or instructions for you when Everything IS His Plan? Now, you are not so sure who He is or what?) Seen in this way, religion is inseparable from God. We only get to know God through prayer (ie, religion). A religion, believing in Jesus Christ for instance, is a way towards God. And as you know, Jesus said that he is the only way to God. So there is this rather inflexible nature of Christianity - Jesus is the only way to God - which you find intellectually disagreeable. (That is a contradiction you must reconcile, not me. I have already done that.) But whoever said God has to make His ways agreeable to man? (For the same reason, what makes you think that man can only get to know God through prayer or through Jesus? To be able to state that with certainty you have to know everything about Him. God's creation knowing everything about Him? Isn't that arrogance and a contradiction?)

You seem to think that being a Christian is a rosy experience that ultimately leads one to eternal life in Heaven. Far from it. That's why there are many backsliders - people who kind of dropped out after a while. Essentially, to accept Christ means to submit your will to Him - and that's not an easy thing to do.
(Where did I say or imply that being a Christian is a rosy experience that leads one to eternal life? I only said that being one may be driven by the expectation of eternal life. Now you are also speaking for me. But that's OK - as long as you are not speaking for God)

As for myself, I have finally decided to take the plunge, based on the above considerations and the experiences of other people. I told myself that I have limited time in this world. It is not possible for me to find out and compare different approaches and religions before deciding on one. (Why must you decide on one religion? why not decide that any or no religion is fine as long as the end result is good? Isn't that more good than just good? Oh, but the Bible says otherwise? Is that bad, good or more good?) I will simply have to make a decision based upon incomplete information - something that happens to us all the time in our daily lives, like taking panadol (the right dosage, of course). Have I done the right thing? At this point, I don't know. But I do know that I do not want to regret in the twilight of my life for not taking that initial step when I had the chance, and the life to live it. (That shows that you may be no different from the other animals. You see, they also make many decisions in their lives with insufficient information - actually they have less since their intelligence is lower than man's as you claim - and I don't know of anything that shows that they lived their lives with regret or they did not live it in life! Isn't that more amazing? Other animals living with less information but still no signs of regret or of not living life to the fullest? But they don't count? Or you know damn sure they do have regrets in not believing in your religion?)

My friend, You are right that we make decisions with incomplete information for we can never have complete information. That is by definition available only to God (I am actually quite surprised you, a believer in God, seem to be a bit unsure if that is the case). But whatever little reliable information I do have allow me to see what I shared with you above. I hope you live a good life but I don't wish you to think that others (animate or not, here or elsewhere) have less right to that than you do. That is what I hear from my heart. I would like to think that it is God's message for me but I am not sure. Although I have no one 2,000 years old paperback book to corroborate with, I however find that this whole existence is an open book much more beautiful than the one you seem to only take from. And if God is to be better understood, will one paperback that revolves only around man be the answer or will it necessarily have to be through His entire creation? As you said in your first mail, to see the forest and not the tree? To see His whole creation in context and not with man in the centre?

Rgds,
Yin Sze.



To: cheng_chee_khiaw@jpmorgan.com
Subject: Thanks for your considered views

Hi Chee Khiaw,
Thanks for your spirited response. I apologise if I had put words in your mouth or appeared to have belittled your convictions. I was merely trying to clarify things for myself. As you can see, I have a lot to learn about such things and my faith is tiny. Those are some of the issues I have been struggling about and it is good to hear your more considered views, which I hope will help me understand these things a bit better.

Rgds,
Yin Sze.


To: yinsze@jmsassoon.com.sg
Subject: Re: Thanks for your considered views

Hi mate,
Same here. We learn everyday - even from those (and I don't mean only humans) we think are insignificant.

Rgds
CCK

The Missing Day - What's Really Missing?

(Below is a series of exchanges started by this article about 'scientists looking for a missing day' that the Bible supposedly mentioned. I thought it was all bullshit and therefore did some research. That was when I found that it was just a hoax - see my response below. This is a perfect example of how gullible some people can be. What this shows is missing is that of the ability to think logically.)


Please respond to liangperngseow@bigpond.com
To: cheng_chee_khiaw@jpmorgan.com
Subject: FW: [Fwd: Fw: The Missing Day]

I am sure you would all find this amazing........

God Bless
LP

-----Original Message-----
From: Teck Lee [mailto:tcklee@pd.jaring.my]
Sent: 07 June 2001 10:59
To: Lim Tai Pong; Chu Yat Choy; New Jing Yan; Choe Swee See; Gay Lee; Liang Perng SEOW
Subject: [Fwd: Fw: The Missing Day]

Here's something interesting!
ongoal wrote:

Here's how you account for the missing day. Isn't this marvellous?

For all the scientists out there, and for all the students who have a hard time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible, here's something that shows God's awesome creation & that He is still in control.

Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called "myth" in the Bible is true? Mr Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland & a consultant in the space program, relates the following development. "I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at GreenBelt, Maryland. They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon & planets would be 100 years & 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite & have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down. They ran the computer measurement back & forth over the centuries & it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards.

They called in the service department to check it out & they said, 'What's wrong?' Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair. There was no answer.

Finally a Christian man on the team said, 'You know, one time I was in Sunday School & they talked about the sun standing still,' While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, 'Show us.' "He got a Bible & went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with 'common sense.' There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." (Joshua 10:8).

Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy & if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right...'So the sun stood still & the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky & delayed going down about a full day." (Joshua 10:12-13)"

The astronauts & scientists said, 'There is the missing day!' They checked the computers going back into the time it was written & found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours & 20 minutes... not a whole day. "They read the Bible & there it was - 'about (approximately) a full day.'

These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you'll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.

As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book anyway and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof.

Isaiah said 'Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?' Hezekiah said, 'It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.' Isaiah spoke to the Lord & the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD! "Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!" Isn't it amazing?

References: Joshua 10:8 and 12,13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11.

Forward this to as many people who you believe would think this is equally as cool. Never be afraid to try something new.

Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals build the Titanic!



To: Liangperngseow@Bigpond.Com

Hi my friend,

You may want to consider the below before doing anything else. You should at least return this to the originator of the mail.

1. Harold Hill of Curtis Engineering of Maryland died in 1986. The company sells and rents power generators. It's web page claims it has no knowledge of the anomaly reported below.

2. Greenbelt Maryland is a suburb of Washington D.C. I'm not aware of astronauts and space scientists operating out of there. FYI, Washington D.C. is the political centre of the US not the space center. If it is still not fishy enough, read on (needs a bit more thinking though).

3. Below article claimed that 'They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon & planets would be 100 years & 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite & have it bump into something later on in its orbits.'

I'm not aware of any satellite that has been or is being built to last 100 years, least of all 1,000. Satellites are crafts earthlings build to circle above the planet earth. Crafts we use for inter-planetary travel and beyond are commonly called space-crafts. (No man-made spacecraft currently have the power to make space travels of the duration above too).

If the concern was indeed that of a satellite bumping into something, God help all of us. For we should be worrying about that object (the satellite may bump into) ramming into earth!

4. The article claimed that 'They ran the computer measurement back & forth over the centuries & it came to a halt'. This must mean that whoever they were thought they knew the exact positions of all the celestial bodies 'over the centuries'. I would be amazed by that. To perfectly reconcile the past position of a space object with its current position requires accurate historical records and perfect knowledge of Everything not currently provided by the Bible nor available to Science.

As far as I know, no religious organisation in this world has ever been involved in nor is capable of building satellites (or spacecrafts) or such earthly endeavors as space travel. In fact, if it was not because of them man might already be on Mars by now (you see, humankind lost more than 1 day because religious men controlled the levers of power for centuries). So, it is safe to assume that knowledge of inter-stellar mechanics is exclusive to science. But I've never heard any scientist claiming that we have perfect knowledge in that area.

Perhaps some of you have that. But if we bother to work our history back over the centuries, we all know that the Christian Church believed for centuries (until about 400 years ago) that the earth was flat and it was the centre of everything. Persecution of men who contradicted that view (& whom most if not all Christians now believed were right) were harsh and at times meant death. If they didn't even know that the earth was round (shucks, you mean the Bible did not say that?), I'd be amazed anyone would believe they have the ability to make accurate and reliable records of the position of celestial bodies over the centuries.

5. I'm also amazed that the computer came to a halt as claimed by the article simply because it cannot account for a day. As a fellow computer professional, you know pretty well that it would have just been 'garbage in garbage out'.

6. Lastly, to address the relatively simple (I'll be glad to explain why it's so) problem of potentially bumping into things 1,000 years from now NASA could just simply load the satellite with a simple radar (that planes have) and/or a simple set of computer instructions to fire one of its on-board rockets to go round the object.

Of course, pure scientists may be interested in the anomaly if it indeed exists. But then they would have more concerns than that 'missing day' and they don't operate out of Washington!


Quiz :
- How long did it take the amateur who built the ark to get all the animals into it?
- How did that amateur know how many species to load?
- How did that amateur know which species was in which part of earth?
- How did that amateur know which was the male or female?
In case he overloads his boat with all of the same sex (what a waste of effort). For species whose sexes are determined only later in life, could the amateur have mistakenly loaded 2 sexless babies and ran the risk that they both turn out to be same sex?
- How big was the ark? How did the amateur know how large a boat to build? What powered the boat? If by sail, how long did he take to get to Australia to pick up the Kangaroos? And then to Indonesia for the Komodos? Then to Galapagos for the.......and so on
- How did that amateur know the total weight of all the animals he was supposed to load? Did he really have the technical ability to build a boat that can hold all that weight? If that's the case, he was really selfish to keep that to himself. Even then he should have at least kept it safe just to prove that it was all real. He can't? But he could do all the other amazing things I'm questioning!
- How did the amateur keep all the animals fed without the 2 lions eating up the 2 deers?
- Was the flood water salty or fresh? If fresh, did the amateur store enough salt water to keep the sharks and seabass alive? (worry about the other hundreds of salt sea species later). If otherwise?
- Were birds included too? How about plants? Hopefully he realised that many plants don't live in water.

Are all the above questions irrelevant?

Ans : Unimportant - not amazing enough? But it's OK, one 2,000 year old book will satisfy all our curiosity. Amazing isn't it?

Rgds
CCK

1st Retrenchment Looms

Have not spoken to Dean Miller (my boss before Chase bought over Morgan in September 2000) for a month or so now. He called me in the morning to see him at his office in Capitol Towers building where Chase's offices are located.

Dean started meeting by discussing about discrepancy between the lists of junior staffs who do not have positions in the new organisation provided by me and Christopher Lim (a couple of weeks earlier). Sorted those out with him. A couple of phone calls interrupted the meeting. I told him that I was not happy with the lack of HR involvement although we've requested at few times that the HR rep Jacqueline Teo talk to the staff without a job. Dean then said that he too find that Jackie was not that good - unlike Anne Marie Yarwood (white Australian HR rep for Dean before merger). I told him that Anne Marie was the first HR rep we approached for assistance some months back but she was no better. Dean then gave the excuse that it was because she had a new role in the new organisaction!

During the phone interruptions I noticed that Dean's face was a bit pale and blueish, and told him so and asked how things were with him. He said that his mother was not well and things were not easy within the new combined organisation especially with the Business Management group that is responsible for dealing with support groups like middle office (which Dean is now in charge of) and operations. He said that he sometimes wondered if it was the right decision for him to stay back for a role in the new organisation which led nicely into the topic of my position within the new organisation.

Dean then asked what my plans are and if I've been looking for a job outside. I told him that I've not been looking because I was still holding out hope for a role. Dean said that he believe in being honest and forthright about things, and told me that though he tried he could not find a suitable position for me. He specifically mentioned that positions within Operations (headed by Sabha StClaire, an ex-Chase person) have all been filled - probably meaning that he tried to place me in Operations but to no avail. He suggested that I start looking outside now and he will be happy to help as he has connections that may be able to assist. He said that as far as he is concerned there was no hurry and asked me to work out an appropriate timing for my departure. As to retrenchment package, he said that that will include standard one month per year work and prorated bonus (IC). As to extra retention payment for staying back to assist with integration work, he said there was still no clarity yet. {Kuok Lay Hoon, Singapore country HR Manager for new bank, told me and Christopher Lim a month or so earlier that global guideline for extra retention will be 30% more pay for every month of retention}.

Dean also explained to me that the fact that I was not retained was not because of performance (my role in Morgan at time of merger was as Regional Middle Office and Operations Manager for Treasury business). It is just that it made more sense to have the support managers like Stephen Chang (Chase Middle Office Head who got to retain the job) to be in Hong Kong where the regional business manager Paul Kearhson was located. He then proceeded to say that although Stephen and his group were hard working and efficient, their work were focussed on day-to-day stuffs. The implication I got was that he was not very impressed with Stephen. To avoid commenting on that I merely smiled back and told him that he is the boss. He also mentioned that it is the same with his Singapore middle office manager (Shirley Ng of ex-Chase) but also said that they do have their strength. The example he gave was Shirley was able to have a response or ready output to any request by business by the next morning. Again I did not comment. Our meeting ended there.

Outside I passed by the desk of Cheryl Chan who used to work in the middle office but now working on some projects for Dean. She asked how things are with me and I told her about the meeting I just had about my impending retrenchment.

Mahathir Found Solution to His Old Dilemma

Mahathir May Have Final Solution to His Old Dilemma (May 2001)

30 years ago, in his book The Malay Dilemma Dr Mahathir (now Malaysian Prime Minister) claimed that no matter who the person is, he or she will be able to do a job 'if given the opportunity and the right guidance'. His view though simplistic is the essence of Malaysia's New Economic Policy (NEP) implemented since 1970. Like their leaders, many Malaysians believe that the quota system that ensure places are reserved for the Malays in every aspect of life in Malaysia will somehow improve the well being of the Malays. In fact they thought they could even do it without worrying about having the 'right guidance' - although it was entirely possible that they never knew what that meant. Whatever is the case, Mahathir has finally learnt from the aftermath of the 1997 crisis that his old idea did not work. Also according to him, Malay students were not bothered about their education and were losing out to their peers of other races. They were not interested in the sciences and other technical subjects preferring to do the easier subjects like arts and religious studies.

Now Mahathir may think he has a better idea on how to solve his country's problems. In fact he's probably hitting himself for not thinking of it earlier. This new idea was mooted when he suggested that to show that the Chinese in Malaysia are committed to their country, they (only the Chinese) may be drafted to do national service in the military. Soon, to show that the Malays are committed to improving their own lot, Malaysia will be drafting Malays as engineers, doctors, IT technologists, dentists, heart surgeons, scientific researchers and enterpreneurs. You see, that way they do not even have to study and compete against others in schools.

Finally Malaysia will be proposing to the United Nations to make a resolution that to show that the world is committed to the development of 'developing countries' like Malaysia, they should begin to draft Malays as CEO of all Fortune 500 companies. You see, that is perfectly fair as it is only 500 jobs and well within the quota that should be fairly allocated to the Malays based on the ratio of their population to that of the world.

Mahathir must be patting himself on the back half wondering why no one else in the world ever thought of that!

Why Are Eggs Oval?

QuiZ :

All bird eggs (regardless of species) are oval and pointed at one end (instead of being, say, round, cubical or cylindrical) - do U know why?

A. because the birds wanted them to look like those of dinosaurs' so dinosaurs wouldn't destroy them
B. it was pure coincidence - just happen that all birds like their eggs that way
C. because God made it that way
D. because that shape provides the greatest chance of survival for the eggs - they cannt roll away that way. Since birds that lay eggs in other shapes had lower survival rate, they disappear over time (evolution or survival of fittest?).

Unit Trust Malaysian Style

I wanted to put my MYR money in Malaysia into more productive use, but found that there were very few options available for investing in foreign markets (I guess they don’t think why anyone would need that since Malaysia is such a great investment – if you believe them).

Then I found that Maybank's (the leading bank in Malaysia) Unit Trust for KL Equities charges 5 sen commission for every unit. At the issue price of MYR1 that commission represents 5% which is comparable to rates in Singapore which range from 1% to 5%. But with current unit price of 40+sen, the 5 sen per unit commission rate represents more than 10% of the investment! I thought who would buy a fund if they lose 10% of their money up front?

So I decided to call the Bank. I told their sales rep (a Chinese lady) that that's ridiculous and probably explains why no one buys their fund and suggested that they re-look at the commission structure. She agreed but suggested I talk to her manager (a Malay man). The manager's response was really decisive (if nothing else, managers have to be decisive!): they cannot change the way they charge as 'the practice is the same as other funds in Malaysia. Moreover, funds market is under developed in Malaysia and they cannot follow international practices. In addition, when the unit price goes above MYR1 the commission is lower than 5%!'

With that response, I did not know what to say except ‘good-bye’. My thought: No wonder they are under developed!

Funny Poetry

(Received this funny poem from Edna, and sent back another I penned at bottom)

Die Die must read.....very interesting

Life was originally simple and HAPPY
We only toil and suffer in STUDIES
At first only A-B-C, -,+,divide and 1-2-3.
Primary 6 is kan-cheong PSLE
Then go up to SECONDARY
Must learn HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY
Physics, bio and CHEMISTRY
After O levels go JC
Some will choose to go POLY.
This hot and humid little COUNTRY
Somehow seems to have many ENEMIES
Boys 18 years old must go ARMY
After that then enter UNIVERSITY.
Girls here always watch TV
Often skip class and CHIAK LEOW BEE
If you ask them do some DUTIES
They'll just shout " Alamak ! " and cry for MUMMY.
Can study, continue STUDY
Can't study, work FACTORY
Cannot rely on CHARITY
Work like hell and earn just a little SALARY
After CPF and INCOME TAX, you'll be lucky that you
still can buy ROTI
Save money lor use MRT.
Colleagues formerly seem FRIENDLY
Daily treated to their tea and COFFEE
Now they gradually get CRAZY
Worst still behind me say I LAZY.
Bosses every where have no SYMPATHY
Work always must HURRY HURRY
Say I always take MC
Often make me do OT
Midnight go back in TAXI
Midnight surcharge ERP
Cause my bank account NO MONEY
Nowadays you pity POSB
DBS just want EXTRA FEE
Got cheek and say " Nothing is FREE ! "
Boy/girl friend-friend become STEADY
Serious pak-tor and then MARRY
Waste-time and money on ceremony and dinner PARTY
Still got joker-friends just give PANTY
After marry no more HONEY-HONEY
Two years later become DADDY
Wife at KK give birth to BABY
Name given is DO RE MI
Monthly pay back HDB
Moonlight anything including KARANG GUNI
Earn not enough FEEL GUILTY
Jump river suicide and want to MATI
Maybe life is really not that EASY
Better go to heaven and be FAIRY ..............

You say FUNNY or no FUNNY?



(returned to sender)

This story very funny
sometimes a little silly
whatever the worry
the poor writer I pity

e-mails u send many
kept me very busy
asked about your trip to Aussie
but you never answer me

instead I get some more story
make me feel more giddy
so, if you have some sympathy
may be lunch is the remedy?

please please honey
do make me happy
p.s. so how's my poetry?
let me know if it's a beauty....

Icing on The Garden of Eden

Probably not definitive (what is?) but a good overview of what on earth we live in. Worth spending a few mins reading this since many lifetimes were spent understanding it. But then again, it could just be someone's wild imaginations. A grand hoax .....but which one? [cck]


EUROPE: Tracking Climate Change and Human Evolution

Carried away, perhaps, by His matchless creation, the Garden of Eden, He forgot to mention that all He was giving us was an interglacial. Robert Ardrey, 1976

Matching wits with the fickle climate is how we became human. Or so I reflect, while waiting for the London-bound flight to depart from New York. "Delayed by unseasonably severe weather," a disembodied voice proclaimed an hour ago. My fellow passengers speculate about whether the greenhouse climate has already arrived.

Well, there really isn't a threshold of some sort — whenever the ice ages temporarily recede, the carbon dioxide starts climbing. It's more a question of how badly we are augmenting the overheating tendencies. And what sort of trouble we'll make for ourselves with major climate change.

It usually works the other direction: climate change affecting humans in a big way, rather than vice versa. Major climatic changes — particularly the ice ages — have meant quite a lot, when it comes to human evolution from the apes. Back before the ice ages started 2.5 million years ago, we were upright and even looked pretty human, if seen from a distance. Yet up close, it would have been apparent that behind that large face was an ape-sized brain. Then the ice ages started. Great continental ice sheets built up and then they melted off, dozens of times. During all that, we evolved much faster than in the preceding few million years. We now have smaller faces, though with a notable forehead. Seen in side view, however, there is a big difference. That's because our brains have quadrupled in size over the early model hominid.

Why? Nothing similar happened to any other animal during the ice ages. With the brain's enlargement and reorganization, we acquired some beyond-the-apes abilities that we value most highly: a versatile language and a plan-ahead consciousness that enables us to feel dismay when seeing a tragedy unfold, enables us to develop ethics.

What was it about climate change that pumped up brain size, that somehow augmented intelligence? Surprisingly, severity of weather, as such, probably wasn't the key. Rather, it's those repeated boom-times that early hominids had the opportunity to exploit. Some of the stories now emerging about the ice ages demonstrate the challenges and opportunities faced by our ancestors. For example, two particularly dramatic events occurred about 11,000-12,000 years ago, just as the last ice age (the one that began 118,000 years ago) was ending and half the accumulated ice was already gone. Until very recently, no one had been aware of either the American or the European story. And while these two climatic episodes probably didn't affect brain size very much, some of their predecessors likely did.

IN CANADA, TWO GIANT ICE SHEETS had been pushing against one another, head to head: the one pushing west from Hudson's Bay, the other grinding eastward, coming down from the Rocky Mountains. They met in the eastern foothills of the Rockies. With the melting, they each pulled back a little, allowing some grass to grow. And this opened up a north-south route from northern Alaska down to Montana.

It's called a corridor because corridors have walls: I tend to think of this as something like the biblical parting of the Red Sea. The grazing animals discovered the new grass growing in the corridor, and their predators followed them. Brown bears migrated south, as did the humans who had reached Alaska sometime earlier by crossing the Bering Strait from Asia.

This corridor had only one exit. When the hunters reached the southern end of the corridor about 12,000 years ago, at about where the U.S. border is now, they discovered the Americas largely uninhabited by humans. It was ripe for big game hunting and, thanks to living in Arctic latitudes where gathering was scarce, they were experienced big game hunters, even felling mammoth and mastodon in addition to lighter fare.

So they had themselves an enormous baby boom, thanks to this previously untapped resource. A few dozen generations later, about 11,000 years ago, these hunting families were all over the continent, judging by their propensity for losing their favorite spearheads, the so-called Clovis points (one has even been found in the rib cage of an extinct mastodon). Their descendants are, with the exception of a few latecomers such as the Inuit (Eskimo), the present-day Indians of both North and South America.

IN EUROPE at about the same time, there was a more established prosperity, as hominid hunters had been living off the grazing animals there for many ice ages, more than a half million years. By the beginning of the most recent ice age, about 118,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had probably evolved from the earlier model, Homo erectus. Brain size may have already reached the modern size by then; the main change during the last glaciation can be seen in the teeth, but only if you look very carefully.

Teeth became about ten percent smaller, seemingly a consequence of the food technologies invented during this last ice age; they dropped another five percent when agriculture came along. Cooking came first, judging from the charcoal that appears on cave floors starting about 80,000 years ago. Food preparation involving pottery improved things even more. We start to see skulls that indicate even the toothless could survive, suggesting both food preparation and a level of care of the disabled that was not seen in earlier times. Late in this glaciation, between 37,000 and 20,000 years ago, the life of the mind grew: Carved ivory and cave paintings became popular. By 11,500 years ago, these European hunters might have been starting to practice herding and agriculture (which was certainly imminent in the Middle East).

But, as the new Americans were thriving, the more established Europeans got a big surprise, and I doubt that they liked it very much. I wouldn't be surprised if linguists someday show that the phrase, "The good old days," dates back to 11,500 years ago.

THERE WAS A EUROPEAN GENERATION who in their youth enjoyed the warming climate. New grass was growing everywhere along the glacial margins, and the herds were gradually getting larger. It wasn't a boom time for humans, as in the Americas, but both animals and humans were probably doing well because of the North Atlantic's warming trend that had suddenly started 1,500 years earlier (this "Allerod event" was about 13,000 years ago).

This same generation saw things change. One year, the winter rains were scant, and it seemed colder. It wasn't as cloudy as usual in the spring, and the summer was bone dry. The good grazing was exhausted early, and animals started exploring unlikely places in search of food. By the time that the winter snows started, both humans and animals were in poor condition; more than the usual numbers died that winter. Was it just a drought?

The next year was even colder and drier. And the next. The next twenty years saw dramatic changes, far greater than in the "Little Ice Age" of a few centuries ago. Forests died and weeds took over. It became more dusty as severe storms stirred up the dry topsoil. The herds surely dropped to a fraction of their former sizes.

And the human tribes likely did poorly in consequence. Half of all children tended to die in childhood, even in the best of times before modern sanitation and medical care, but poorly fed children succumbed even more readily to childhood diseases. If anyone had had time to notice while scratching around for food, they would have seen glaciers advancing once again. In Scotland, where glaciers had already completely melted off, they started to reform as the summers became too cold to melt much of the winter accumulation.

People didn't live half as long as we do, back then. A forty-year-old person often looked old and worn out. Children, who had never known those warm days of plentiful food on the hoof, surely wondered what the old folks kept talking about. When the generation that had seen the transition died out, the stories may have persisted for a while, and the good old days were perhaps incorporated into the creation myths as a form of heaven on earth.

(A few decades ago, modern scientists looked at the accumulated layers of a lake bottom in Denmark. In a deep layer, they saw the sudden introduction of the pollen of an arctic plant called Dryas that had no business being in Denmark, and named this cold snap after it: the Younger Dryas climate.)

And then — it ended even more suddenly than it had begun. There was a generation about 10,720 years ago, the great-great-(repeat that 29 more times)-grandchildren of those people who were absolutely sure about the good old days, that experienced the change. They grew up in a cold and dry Europe, and then saw the warm rains suddenly come back over the course of just a few years and melt the ice. The grass prospered, and the remaining grazing animals began a population explosion. It became a boom time for those Europeans who had survived up in the land of hard winters, just as it had become a boom time for the Arctic-adapted hunters who reached the end of the North American ice-free corridor a thousand years earlier.

It was as if a switch had been turned off. And then back on again. Or perhaps faucet is the apt metaphor, since the key to what happened is the Gulf Stream's European relative, the North Atlantic Current.

AFTER LEAVING NEW YORK at sunset, our London-bound airplane followed the Gulf Stream to the northeast, up over familiar Cape Cod haunts in the dusk, then just offshore of the Nova Scotia peninsula. We saw the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the overflow from the Great Lakes makes its way out to sea, and saw many fishing boats as we passed over the Grand Banks fishing grounds off the large island of Newfoundland. Finally, during the night, we followed the eastbound Gulf Stream out over the North Atlantic proper.

Before dawn, we flew over the North Atlantic Current, which sweeps northward up toward Iceland. But even after we passed over the current, I continued to see its effects, in the form of rain clouds drifting eastward toward Europe. I saw southern Ireland in the dawn light, great green patches between the storm clouds. Home of the Irish elk, the deer with the giant wingspan — at least for about 1,500 years (the Younger Dryas wiped it out, a good 1,600 years before humans arrived in Ireland).

Seen through the scattered clouds, London at six in the morning is glowing in the early morning sunlight, and the streets shine from the spotty showers; a few delivery trucks cast long shadows while driving on the wrong side of the street. The green parks and the tennis courts are empty. But it's the London of William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Dr. Johnson, Charles Darwin, Bertrand Russell, and George Bernard Shaw.

And London is a puzzle, since it is 51.5° north of the equator. It is hard to imagine any city in Asia or the Americas, that far from the equator, becoming such a center of culture and commerce. None has, so far: not Calgary, Alberta (where parking meters have electric outlets, so you can keep the car warm enough to restart). Nor Moosonee, the town at the bottom of Hudson's Bay. Or chilly Puerto Arenas at Tierra del Fuego, equally distant from the equator to the south.

Indeed, most of Europe is at Canadian latitudes. Compared to the populous parts of the U.S. and Canada, mostly between the 30° and 45° lines on a globe, the populous parts of Europe are shifted 10-15° to the north, mostly between 40° and 60° latitudes. "Southerly" Rome lies at the same 42°N as does "northerly" Chicago. Paris lies at the latitude of Vancouver, British Columbia, about 49°N. Berlin is up at 52.5°N, Moscow at nearly 56°. Oslo, Stockholm, and Leningrad nestle up just under 60°N, where the sun makes only a brief midday appearance during December — about the same as in Alaska's coastal cities.

The reason that Europe is warm and wet, where Canada is cold and dry, is largely due to the North Atlantic Current and how it differs from similar major currents in the Pacific Ocean. All those rain clouds I saw this morning were caused by the copious evaporation from the warm ocean surface of the North Atlantic Current.

But what if something were to happen to the North Atlantic Current again?

THE BEST-KNOWN CLIMATE CHANGE in the offing is the global warming that is occurring from the greenhouse effect. It isn't minor, as this 1989 summary notes:

Computer-modeled predictions of greenhouse warming suggest that global mean air temperatures may rise by 5°C [9°F] over the next 30 years, with amplified rises of up to 12°C [22°F] in polar regions. This is comparable with the temperature increase from the last glacial period to the present interglacial, and the projected rate of increase is probably greater than at any time since then.

The best-known consequence is the rise in sea level that threatens coastal populations. But climate need not change gradually. We now know that, in the past, other climatic changes have flipped on and off, without much of a middle ground. The North Atlantic Current's on-and-off tendencies are only one example of the more general problem of "modes" of behavior.

It has long been known that the climate could, in theory, become trapped in extreme states. The "White Earth Catastrophe" scenario could happen if ice extended over enough of the Earth's surface to reflect a lot of arriving sunlight back out into space: the Earth could freeze and never recover, short of volcanos covering the white surface with some dark lava. And the "Greenhouse Catastrophe" scenario would occur if the carbon locked up in the sediments (not just coal and oil but also that frozen tundra of Arctic regions) were released to the atmosphere in quantities sufficient to form a greenhouse layer of insulation, allowing the atmosphere beneath it (and oceans, and land, and us) to heat up catastrophically.
In the 1980s, the Swiss climatologist Hans Oeschger suggested that, in addition, the earth's climate had several modes of interaction between the oceans, the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the ice sheets. These aren't extreme (indeed, we're in one mode now) but the transitions between them could be uncomfortably sudden. There had been hints of fairly sudden minor transitions. After all, people periodically rediscover that monsoons can simply be omitted some years.

There are drought cycles that repeat every few decades, but some are much shorter: South American fisheries and the bird populations of many Pacific islands are dramatically depressed every half-dozen years by the warming changes in the ocean currents, known as El Niño. Evidence has been accumulating that North American droughts are secondary consequences of equatorial ocean currents turning colder, the so-called La Niña condition. But what Oeschger was talking about was more than minor: he suggested that the climate had major modes, some lasting many centuries. These bistable styles of operation may pose far more of a threat than the slow loss of coastal real estate to rising sea levels.

Modifying the earth's climate with greenhouse warming may well exaggerate such mode-switching — or leave us stuck in the "wrong" mode for centuries, as has happened before. Paradoxically, you can get cold from heat, as the Younger Dryas demonstrates: a warming trend can apparently cause a prolonged cold snap. Most people have a tendency to dichotomize climate change into warming or cooling, and forget that both can happen simultaneously — but in different places.

Ice layers preserved under Greenland's glaciers show that more than 20 regional chills, each lasting centuries, have occurred in the last 120,000 years. The Younger Dryas was simply the most recent and the longest-lasting (almost a thousand years). Though detectable along the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, it was most pronounced in Europe and southern Greenland; you won't see it in the deep ice cores from Antarctica. It was probably triggered, in part, by the dilution of the salt water by all that freshwater glacial runoff. But how were the other 19 cold snaps triggered? Might something like a greenhouse warming provoke another one? Those are the kinds of questions to which we urgently need answers.

SUDDEN REGIONAL COOLING during a global warming trend probably happens because the circulating ocean currents switch into a new mode, as when the North Atlantic Current no longer warms and waters Europe in its customary way. And Europe without the North Atlantic Current would be about like Canada: they both have a comparable amount of fertile agricultural land at similar northerly latitudes. Indeed, Europe gets Canada's air second-hand, a week or so later, as Europe periodically rediscovers whenever a forest fire in Canada makes European skies hazy and sunsets dark red.

You might surmise that Europe's population ought to be something like Canada's 27 million people. But France alone has twice as many people as Canada. Europe, to the west of the Soviet Union, totals more than 500 million people (twice the U.S. population), and there are another 200 million people in the western parts of the Soviet Union that share Europe's climate (the Younger Dryas climate reached as far as the Ukraine). That Europe presently supports about 26 times as many people as Canada is largely attributable to the beneficent influence of the North Atlantic Current, warming all that cold Canadian air crossing the North Atlantic, before it reaches Europe. And thus loading it with a lot more moisture, to be dropped on Europe as rainfall.

What will the "extra" half-billion people of Europe do, should the North Atlantic suffer another hiccup, returning Europe to a Canadian climate? If one could reliably forecast this situation, with a lead time of a hundred years or so, perhaps those Europeans would move elsewhere peacefully or develop a reciprocal symbiotic economy with some Third World countries that could feed them. Yet mode-switching cooling can happen as quickly as the onset of a minor drought, and no one knows how to predict it, much less control it. The first few years, there would be an "economic response": Europeans would buy grain elsewhere and ship it in, cut back on meat. But what would happen in the long run?

Remember how poorly the economic response worked for Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century when the potato crops failed? And what happened during Europe's last Great Depression a half-century ago: Germany's lebensraum excuse for territorial expansion, a professed need for "more living space"? Europe is technologically competent, compared to today's Third World or nineteenth century Ireland, and a starving population isn't going to die quietly. They will move instead. A little glitch in the North Atlantic, similar to those of the past, is the most serious, least avoidable scenario for global warfare that I can imagine.

Whether it is a greenhouse-induced rise in sea level threatening the half-billion people relying on low-lying areas of the Indian subcontinent, or a cooling-and-drying Europe in need of lebensraum for a half-billion people, or the projected return to dust bowl conditions in the American Midwest and the loss of irrigation water in California (whose agriculture already helps feed Eastern Europe and the USSR in their bad years), climatic change is not likely to be peaceful. "Disruptions" is hardly the word for it.

We are very overextended, with far more population than we can support (even in the off-years of our current climate, as those Third World famines have repeatedly demonstrated). Major climate change, whether ice age or greenhouse warming, means a considerable "contraction" in the human population that the planet can support, unless new technologies fix up things very well indeed. An abrupt Dryas-like climate change, however, could easily destroy the stable civilizations that such large-scale innovative technologies require.

BUT WE HUMANS THRIVE on challenges, and a prolonged series of climatic changes probably played a leading role in how we evolved the neural mechanisms for those aspects of our consciousness that exceed those of the apes.

The most unique aspect of our consciousness is "thinking ahead," our ability to spin scenarios that try to explain the past and forecast the future. Often these strings of concepts make little sense (such as our nighttime dreams); other times, we shape them up into a thing of quality (such as a poem or a logical argument) and then act on it. Planning ahead in other animals is mostly a hormonal thing, hoarding behaviors being triggered by the shortening daylight hours of autumn which prolong the nighttime release of melatonin from the pineal gland. But we humans are capable of planning decades ahead, able to take account of extraordinary contingencies far more irregular than the seasons.

Since the prehuman brain enlarged only when the ice ages came along, the betting is that climatic challenge had something to do with the Great Encephalization — probably not so much because of a more severe climate but because the constant disruptions created opportunities and slowed "optimizing." Shaping up a body plan to the environment, efficiently dealing with its opportunities and hazards, is the usual anthropological concept of darwinism, but fickle climates can add another dimension to the story.

Give evolution enough time to shape up things for efficiency, and jack-of-all-trades abilities will be eliminated — we'll get a stripped down, lean-mean-machine version optimized to the existing climate. Fortunately, evolution is slow. Climate often changes faster than biological evolution-for-efficiency can keep up — and so a brain that can function in various different climates has an advantage over one that is merely efficient in a single climate. Retaining those jack-of-all-trades abilities is a lot easier if the climate keeps switching around unpredictably.

Ever since the major buildup of ice caps started 2.5 million years ago, the world climate has been oscillating markedly every 10,000 years or so (and more often in some regions), with major meltbacks of the northern ice sheets every 100,000 years (like the one 13,000 years ago that heralded the development of agriculture and then civilizations). This book makes the argument that we owe our versatile brains to these first-one-thing-and-then-another challenges of the ice ages — and the boom times that often followed.

That doesn't mean, however, that another major climatic challenge will pump up the brain a little more. There has been a little change in scale. The human population has increased a thousandfold since the end of the last ice age: that's what agriculture, animal breeding, and technologies have made possible, compared to the days of hunter-gatherer bands wandering around. Having large numbers of individuals tends to buffer biological change, to slow it down.

EXPLAINING THE CLIMATIC PAST, forecasting our climate's future — those are some urgent tasks for our newfound mental abilities. But since human behavior plays the major role in generating the problems we now face — all those boom-time birth rates that lead to more population than can be fed in the drought years, our live-for-today and let-tomorrow-take-care-of-itself mentalities that lead to more pollution — understanding our evolutionary past may be just as important as building those big computers that will make working models of the global interactions between ocean, atmosphere, and ice. The way to make plausible plans for the future is to know what's worked in the past, and what hasn't. Navigating in tight spots means knowing the currents.

The inhabitants of planet Earth are quietly conducting a gigantic environmental experiment. So vast and so sweeping will be the consequences that, were it brought before any responsible council for approval, it would be firmly rejected. Yet it goes on with little interference from any jurisdiction or nation. The experiment in question is the release of CO2 and other so-called "greenhouse gases" to the atmosphere.... Because of our lack of basic knowledge, the range of possibility for the greenhouse effects remains large. It is for this reason that the experiment is a dangerous one. We play Russian roulette with climate, hoping that the future will hold no unpleasant surprises....

My impressions are more than educated hunches. They come from viewing the results of experiments nature has conducted on her own.... Earth's climate does not respond to forcing in a smooth and gradual way. Rather, it responds in sharp jumps which involve large-scale reorganization of Earth's system.... Coping with this type of change is clearly a far more serious matter than coping with a gradual warming.

the geophysicist Wallace S. Broecker, 1987

'K' Carved on Her Chest

Below is a news item from today's Straits Times in Singapore.

The woman's sin is doing business with fellow men of the 'wrong' colour!
Despite all the ill-gotten advantages passed on them by their forefasters some whites still do whatever they can to retain that veil of supremacy. Even if it includes harming their equally superior whites. If those white Afrikaners below can do that in this time and age, can one possibly imagine what their ancestors could actually do to the blacks over the last few centuries? (sorry, not just the blacks but that's a bit too much for many to take).

For some friends of mine who are newcomers to the Christian faith who so surely tell me that they cannot understand why people like me cannot accept the Bible since its effect on people is 'clearly good', the above must be new to them. So too would the fact that more than 1,000 years with the Bible had done nothing to make any good out of those Afrikaners. Some will undoubtedly say that the Afrikaners did not truly follow the faith. If that's the case I suggest they go tell it to the Afrikaners in South Africa and see which letter get carved on their bodies. Then how I wish we can turn the clock back about 100 years before they do that. For if my wish can be met, my faith tells me there's a high chance I'll not see those friends of mine again. But then, I wonder who would have the faith to do that then.

Most Afrikaners will tell you they are devout Christians. Same way that Pauline Hanson claimed that Christianity is 'the white man's way of life'. It is their faith. Same way that those friends of mine say that that's all that matters: faith. Of course faithful as she undoubtedly is, Pauline Hanson did not take the Bible literally. But 'do not take things literally' is exactly what those newcomer Christians tell me to do when they cannot explain contradictions with modern knowledge (i.e. science). They say do not take the Bible literally. Well, one of those friends of mine has to go tell Pauline Hanson that she is right after all....literally, please.

When I cannot reconcile things like the above and wonder at how they can do so, some of them tell me not to think that they are stupid. Of course, I would not dare say so literally but non-literally it must have appeared so to them, remembering that they are the experts at the non-literals.

So I have to put this down literally: I dare not say they are stupid, I just don't suppose they are as smart as they think they are. Some good may come of it if they take the same position themselves. Then they can walk the streets with some respect for the others - including their forefathers whose different faith some of them may find so inferior (some of them actually say so literally).


'K' carved on her chest for serving blacks
JOHANNESBURG - Ms Wanda Stoffberg says that racism was force-fed to her every day as a blonde Afrikaner child growing up in South Africa. Two balaclava-clad men used a knife to carve the letter 'K' on Ms Stoffberg's chest. -- AFP

'One day you wake up and realise you have been part of something so bad and so wrong, for so long,' she said two weeks after two balaclava-clad white men attacked her with a piece of wood, carved a 'K' into her left breast, and told her she was a 'kaffirboetie' - a 'nigger-lover'. They objected to the fact that she served black and coloured (mixed-race) clients at her butcher's shop in George, an Afrikaner-dominated town in the far south. One of the men told her: 'This is a message from our boss,' and then said that 'kaffirboeties' were not permitted to stay in George, she told a racism conference two weeks afterwards.

She kept it quiet at first, but told the conference that the men had also abused her sexually in the July 30 attack. 'They kicked me like a dog and sexually abused me,' she said. She spoke out, she said, because 'I decided to stand up for the truth for once in my life, a truth which many of us are still in denial of'.

She added: 'We should not tolerate any form of discrimination or racism in our country. The perpetrators should be punished. This is the humble message I want to bring to you. I want something positive to come from this. We are a nation in the process of healing.'

Police have posted a reward of up to 10,000 rand (S$2,200) for information leading to the arrest and conviction
of the two men.--AFP

Education Malaysian Style

Types of Schools in Malaysia
There are 2 main categories of schools in Malaysia: 'national type' (whose language of instruction is mainly Malay) or vernacular (whose main language of instruction is Chinese or Indian). Because of 'political' reason and Chinese or Indian being the language of instruction, most vernacular schools did not have Malay headmasters.

Malay Progression or Educational Regression?
From age 7 (1969) to 11 (1973), I studied in a 'national type' primary school (Pasar Road Primary School). When I started there, the headmaster was an Indian. By time I left it was a Malay. Same with my secondary school (Datok Lokman) - Chinese headmaster soon gave way to a Malay. By time I got to form 6 in VI (supposedly one of the top secondary schools in Malaysia) in 1980, it was already run by a Malay. This phenomenon was widespread in the national type schools by 1980. If the large scale promotion of Malays to such important roles as headmasters was based on merit, then in a short time the Malays have made significant progress indeed. But if that was the case, why is it that the NEP is still required today - 22 years later?

The real answer may lie in PM Mahathir's public explanation in 2000 as to why there was increasing number of non-Chinese sending their children to Chinese schools. According to him it was not because they wanted their children to learn Chinese but the teachers were more dedicated. Therefore parents that want their children to do well (in real terms I guess) in education send them to the Chinese schools.

For Students or Teachers?
Directly opposite my old primary school was a Chinese primary school (Chin Woo Chinese Primary). During my 1st year at Pasar Road School, it had a brand new 4-storey building. Throughout my years there, Chin Woo only had a 2-storey building. When I visited the place a few years back there were noticeable changes in both schools. Chin Woo had a new 4-storey classroom block in place of the 2-storey block it had. The new addition to Pasar Road School was a teacher's recreational centre!

Enterpreneurship or Mismanagement of Teachers?
During my days in secondary school we had a few school teachers (characters) that I remembered well. The year I was in Form 1 was the year when Malaysia hosted the Hockey World Cup, and there was a Sikh teacher in charge of physical education who took the opportunity to sell us hockey sticks he sourced from his brother’s sports shop. He sold them to us on installment basis, and we would pay him a dollar a week until we pay it off.

I also found that a Science teacher of ours who was also the discipline master of the school had his own shoe shop which he goes to run after school.

In Form 2 or 3, we had an ‘Industrial Arts’ teacher who sub-contracted door/window grille works that he farmed out to us students who did it as a source of pocket money. It involved essentially soldering of iron pipes to make grilles. I and some classmates joined in act but were not properly trained nor briefed on how to do soldering and the risk associated with it. As I was new I had to look directly at the spots that I was soldering instead of doing it behind the dark-gass shield. I paid dearly for that. After a day of doing that, my eyes were so strained that I had to sleep immediately after I got home. When I awoke, my eyes were oozing tears and ‘puss’, and was so painful that I could not open them hours!

Reserve or Deserve?
When I was in form 5 (17 years old), we sat for our MCE or 'O' level examination. The school had just published the results of a ‘trial exam’ and we were anxiously reviewing our results and counting the number of points we got. In real-life the points would determine whether we got to go on to form 6 (HSC or 'A' level) and then to university. So it was quite an important matter for all of us - at least that was what I thought. As me and a few friends were anxiously counting our points, a Malay schoolmate rode up to us in his bicycle wearing a grin on his face. He must have noticed our anxiety. His comment to us was this: you all (non Malays) have to worry about the number of distinctions and this points thing before you can go to the next grade and enter university. I on the other hand don't have to worry about them. I only have to pass my exams and I will get a place!

I was quite surprised to hear that. I did not know about the New Economic Policy well then. Although I knew that a quota was reserved for Malays in university and at work, I did not think of it the way this boy did! That was a day of reckoning for me and I could never forget that day. He must have been taught by someone (his parents probably) that there was no need for him to perform any better than just pass exams, and a place will be reserved for him in the university and presumably everything after that. And if every Malay kid thinks the way he did at that age they would probably never find the need to work hard for the rest of their lives!


The above is an example of how a system whose intention was to uplift a whole race but compromises on time tested considerations like meritocracy and quality actually resulted in the very opposite of what was intended.

No Money to Share a Football?

In my secondary school days - when I was between 13 and 17 years old - there was a group of school mates that I played with everyday. We must have been the most playful lot in school for we played before school starts, during recess and after school ends. And the games we played each year varied according to the 'flavour' of that year. In form 1 (13 years old) it was hockey because Malaysia was the organiser of the hockey world cup. An Indian teacher must have made quite some money selling hockey sticks to the kids in school - cost about 18 dollars a stick then. As we grew older and when the school started to provide the balls it was volleyball and basketball. But football was the perennial favorite of all the boys. When we were younger and before the school started to allow us to borrow balls from the school we played real football only during physical education classes because we could not afford to buy a ball. At other times we only played a football 'variant' - kicking bottle caps on the cement floor of the school's basketball court. Our school shoes wear out really fast then because of the constant scratching against the cement floor!

When we were in form 3 someone suggested that we pool some money together to buy a soccer ball. Although each of us had to only contribute about 2 or 3 dollars, it was still a big sum for most of us. So when a Malay friend of ours (named Rashid) told us that he could not afford to pay for his share, we sympathised with him and I went round asking the other boys to chip in and pay for his share. I was quite happy that we managed to do that and Rashid got to play without paying anything. I was however shocked speechless a few weeks later when I saw Rashid coming to one of our games in a nice looking track suit (matching yellow color Adidas pants and top). It was the 1970s and no one else in school other than the sportsmen representing the school got to wear something like that. And that's partly subsidised by the school. Although I knew it was expensive I did not know exactly how much. So I asked him how much it cost him. He sheepishly told me that it was 30 odd dollars and his father bought it for him. I thought to myself that this is the same guy who told us a few weeks ago that he could not afford the couple of dollars to share a ball. I then realised that it was all a lie to get someone else to pay for him. How silly of me to have paid for part of his share when I myself could not afford that nice track suit he was wearing.

I never did own a track suit until I came to Singapore for university studies - with money my elder sister gave me from her savings. (She started working a couple of years back and gave me about $1,000 when I left for Singapore for university. It was not enough to last me the 3 years and I was relieved I got a $11,000 study loan from the Kuok Foundation a couple of months later.)

Priest-Nun Leviticus

(This joke inspired my little contribution at bottom)

Subject: Priest n Nun joke

A priest was driving along and saw a nun by the side of the road. He stopped and offered her a lift which she accepted. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing the habit to open and reveal a leg. The priest looks and nearly has an accident, and after changing gear lets his hand slide up her leg. She immediately says, "Father, remember Psalm 129".

The priest apologizes profusely and removes his hand but is unable to remove his eyes from her leg. Further on when he changes gear and has ogled at her leg for the zillionth time, he lets the hand slide up the leg again. The nun once again says, "Father, remember Psalm 129". Once again the priest apologizes, "Sorry sister but you know the flesh is weak".

Arriving at the convent the nun gets out and the priest goes on his way. Once he arrives at his church he rushes to the Bible and looks up Psalm 129 - it said: "GO FORTH AND SEEK, FURTHER UP YOU WILL FIND GLORY."

MORAL OF THE STORY:
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE WELL INFORMED IN YOUR JOB OR YOU MIGHT MISS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY.



CCK:
Have to say nun-type was quite creative coming up with first chronicle.....but alas got nun of the fun she want.

So mark the second chronicle:

Revelation for nun-type:
getta to john and not beat around the book.
Just let priest-type's hand runneth over your cup
while nun-type offereth constant confessions (feedback).

Did not help that nun-type used quotation
that's nevereth in the said psalm.
Luckily for nun-types with lesser psalm collections,
there are hymms that don't give a luke
what says the psalm,
and are endoweth with johns
that giveth what nun-types needeth without psalm aids.

So genesis the world as numbers come forth
and sought, and found glory further north.
And causeth the exodus of the likes of
matthew, daniel, samuel, esther and george.
While other nun and priet-types play judges in spite
and use only their palms for leviticus.

Psalm good?
nun the less, priest the lord!

Organic Fools

One weekend when my sister & family from Batu Pahat was visiting, they brought along some home-grown vegetables for us. On learning that the vegetables we were having for dinner were 'organic', another relative in Singapore expressed interest in getting some in the future as she also 'believed' in the benefits of organic food.

So months later when we visited my sister, we brought back some of those vegetables and my mom gave some of them to this other relative who upon seeing that there were holes on the vegetables exclaimed 'ee! how come got holes one?'.

I did not know what to say but wondered on what basis this fella expected the vegetables grown without the 'protection' of insecticides to be 'hole-free'. It is like expecting the insects not to touch those vegetables and to leave them exclusively only to humans!

Only fools think that nature is made only for man, and they can have exclusive right to nature's offerings ......

WL's Gift to An Old Tin Can Collector

It was one of those Saturday nights when 2 niecese came over to our house to play with my daughter WL. At about 9 PM I suggested that we go for some 'teh tarik' like we do once in a while at the 24-hours prata place at Old Bedok Road. (Once, after one of these teh tarik sessions, I found that I could not sleep even at 3 AM, and I could hear the kids running and playing around on the floor upstairs oblivious to the fact they were suffering from the problem as me!)

That day, by about 10 PM the kids started pestering me to bring them for 'teh tarik'. I told WL that she will have to bring some money along (something I do quite often by now to teach her monetary concepts). So she took some money from her ang-pow collection and we went with grandpa, grandma and LL.

After the tea, the kids and grandma went for a stroll along the row of shops where the prata shop is. A while after that the kids came and told me enthusiastically about some poor kittens they saw lying on the five foot way. WL insisted I go along to see. When we got there the kids started talking about how pitiful the kittens looked and asked if we can bring them home. May be I did not look very enthusiastic about the idea so WL suggested bringing only one home. I disagreed and explained that their mom will be looking for them and will miss them if we take them away. On top of that the kittens were being taken care of by the people around there as there was some milk placed there for them to drink. The kids seemed satisfied with my explanation. So we left the kittens alone.

As we were walking back to our outdoor table at the prata shop, we saw an old man rummaging through the dustbin at the bus stop nearby. On the ground was some empty soft drink cans he had collected. Although I turned my head back to look at the man, I did not say anything. Did not even know that the kids noticed. It reminded me of a news report I read years ago about one such man who died after being knocked down by a car while going home late at night. That dead man was out with another friend of his to collect used cans in the middle of the night.

The next thing I knew was WL taking a 2 dollar note from her pocket and asking me if she can give it to the man. I said okay and left her to walk over to the man to hand over the money. From afar I could see that he was talking to WL and it took him like half a minute before he accepted the money from WL. I did not ask WL what the old man said to her but she came back to me looking quite happy with what she did. I carried her in my arms, gave her a peck on her cheek and whispered softly into her ear about how nice she had been with that gesture.

Interestingly, unlike the case of the poor kittens, her 2 cousins were not interested in the old man and did not partake in what happened.

Loo's Grafitti

(Received this chain mail about graffitis. It inspired my little poem at the bottom)

Subject: Graffiti...hilarious!

Washroom Graffiti 1
Here I lie in stinky vapor,
Because some bastard stole the toilet paper,
Shall I lie, or shall I linger,
Or shall I be forced to use my finger.

Before he graduated to be a poet, he wrote this....
Washroom Graffiti 2
Here I sit
Broken hearted
Tried to shit
But only farted

Some one who had a different experience wrote
Washroom Graffiti 3
You're lucky
You had your chance
I tried to fart,
And shit my pants!

Perhaps it is true that people get inspiration in toilets
Washroom Graffiti 4
I came here
To shit and stink,
But all I do
Is sit and think.

There are also people who come in for a different purpose
Washroom Graffiti 5
Some come here to sit and think,
Some come here to shit and stink,
But I come here to scratch my balls,
And read the bullshit on the walls...

Toilets walls are also job advertisement places.......
Washroom Graffiti 6 (written high upon the wall)
If you can piss above this line,
the Singapore Fire Department wants you.

Ministry of environment advertisement
Washroom Graffiti 7
We aim to please!
You aim too! Please!

Washroom Graffiti 8
Seen above a urinal:
Please do not throw cigarette butts in our urinal.
We don't piss in your ashtrays!

Washroom Graffiti 9
On the inside of a toilet door:
Patrons are requested to remain seated
throughout the entire performance.

Washroom Graffiti 10
A sign at a swimming pool bathroom:
We don't swim in your toilet,
so please don't pee in our pool!

Washroom Graffiti 11
Another sign seen at a swimming pool:
Welcome to our ool.
Notice there's no P in it.
Please keep it that way.

This should teach you a lesson
Washroom Graffiti 12
Sign seen at a restaurant:
The hands that clean these toilets also make your food...please aim properly.



LOO'S GRAFFITI by CCK
Since we usually find the most creative graffitis in men's toilet, here's a dedication to them.

Hell knows no fury
than a man in hurry
to dispose of his carry
through his little furry

Therefore one can relate
if we can be considerate
that the loo we congregate
should not one desecrate

But not 'em wonderful graffitis
for they are cute little titbits
that make it easier a bit
for men to relieve their 'di' 'di's

Graffitis are what people scratch
on the wall and the ledge
with one hand on the catch
and a nice imagination to match.

Whooosh, pheeew and yeeees!

German Field Marshall's People Management Guide

Erich von Manstein, one of Germany's ablest field commander during World War II used to remind his military commanders of this people management principle.

He said there are 4 types of officers based on combination of 2 characteristics - smart/stupid and lazy/hardworking

1. Stupid but lazy ones: leave them alone, they do no harm

2. Stupid and hardworking ones: these people are a menace and must be gotten rid off at once (they will create all sorts of problems that require a lot of other people's effort to fix)

3. Smart and hardworking ones: keep them, they make excellent staff officers and make sure every detail is taken care of

4. Smart but lazy ones: they are suited for the highest office (for they will find the shortest way to get things done!)

Difference Color and $20 Makes

Last Sunday, I cycled to the local Bedok South market to buy some soya bean drink. In front of a toy shop, the owner has installed a 3-track motorised Tamiya toy car racing circuit. When I first stopped to watch there was a bunch of about 10 or 12 young boys (Chinese and Malays who were no more than 15 years old) crowded around the track but I noticed something immediately. Only 2 of the boys, Chinese brothers, were placing their cars in the track. Even though they each had a toy car in hand, everyone else (Chinese and Malay kids inlcuded) just watched them silently. I noticed some of the other kids sheepishly slipping their cars into the track only when the brothers' cars were not in the track.

The cars belonging to the brothers were very fast and zoomed round the track. The other kids were obviously impressed. But that was not the only reason why they stayed out. I could see that the 2 Chinese boys whose father was standing behind them looked rather proud. And when one of the Malay kids looked admiringly at one of their cars as it was picked up, one of the brothers said to him in Hokkien vulgarity something like "what the fuck are you looking at?". I was shocked that the father did nothing but I figured that it must have been happening for some time and the man had done nothing all the while or probably worse condoned what his kids did. From then on I looked straight in the direction of those 2 boys and noticed that they knew that what they did was not right. For I could see that in their eyes when they sneaked a look at my direction once a while.

When one of the brothers' cars jumped the track, a Malay kid picked the car up and placed it back into the track but the Chinese kid did not even show any appreciation. Given his arrogance and his remark to the other Malay kid earlier I angrily told the Malay kid in Malay that those Chinese kids were bad mannered (kurang ajar) and they should not pick their car up for them anymore, and their cars were faster because they had better batteries. I wasn't sure but figured so as there were not many variations I could think of for such simple toys.

The Hokkien kid that said the vulgarity earlier sensed my displeasure at him and knew I was talking about the batteries. So when another Malay kid, a rather plump (in a cute way) kid of 10 or so, placed his car in the track but the car went in a much slower pace than the brothers, I asked him if he knew what caused the difference. And to my surprise, the perviously arrogant Hokkien kid joined in and offered his advice by shouting to the Malay kid to get "GP batteries". So I gave this plump Malay kid some money to buy some of those GP batteries which cost $1.20 for two. Another skinny Malay kid wanted a set too so I passed him some money and asked him to go get it.

As it turned out I discovered that there are faster motors that cost $19.90 while slower ones cost $5.90. And there were fast-drain batteries that were better than others. I asked the 2 Malay kids if there are rechargeable batteries and if they are better. They said yes and I gave them $50 to get them. They cost $10 a pair.

Also found that there are more variables. Some kids add lead weights to the cars and has foam tires instead of original rubber ones. So, I tried to explain to some of the Malay kids crowding around me then (they must have heard about my gifts by then) how they should play around with the variables or combinations and see what is best for the track, not necessarily one combination fits all etc. But I could see that all except the skinny one was not really paying attention (may be they just wanted some fun and not interested in figuring things out). The skinny kid also thanked me 2 or 3 times for the batteries. He will be grow up to be different.

At the end, I thought how arrogant the Hokkien kids were earlier and all because they had more expensive motors and batteries that probably cost no more than $20 each. I felt like going to get a few top end sets and give it to some kids to 'compete' against those arrogant brothers!

But first, need some quick education. Must surf the net to find out what Tamiya has to offer…..

Old Cobbler Wong

Cobbler Wong was an old shoe mender near our office - McCallum Street by the side of DBS Building to be exact. His death a week back at the age of 82 was reported in the Straits Times with the following account:

- the man worked as a cobbler from the age of 13 till the day he died.

- words of appreciation from one of his sons written on a board and placed at the spot where his father mended shoes for his customers and where the old man fainted the morning of the day he died. The message was for all the nice people who had been his father's customers through the years and who had shown the old man great kindness like buying him meals daily.

- how much his cobbler father’s work meant to him and about him waking up at 4 am daily to 'go to work'

- the man being awarded an award some years back for his exemplary services (despite his age), honesty etc. as a roadside cobbler

- the old man giving each of his grandchildren $10 every week but had never stepped foot outside of Singapore - not even Sentosa!

- One of his son's remarking about how surprised he was that so many people could have shown such kindness to his father even though he was neither 'rich nor famous'.

I remembered the old man well for 2 reasons. He was very much a part of the 'scene' along the path many of us take to go for lunch daily. Whenever I see him I wondered if he really had to do that given his age and how lucky most of us are in contrast. It also reminded me of a saying by an English writer quoted by Gandhi as having had a profound impact on him: 'A life of labor is a life worth living'.

I remember the 2 instances when he turned down my business. Sometime back I thought I might be able to give him some business. So, I brought my old soccer boots and asked him to have the soles reattached. But he told me that he cannot fix them and I'll have to go to a shop with the machinery to do stitching. I returned weeks later with a simpler problem - a casual shoe with part of its sole detached. I thought now he should have no excuse not to fix it since I could have glued it back myself with super glue. To my chagrin he turned me down again! This time he told me that the sole would not stay on for long even if he glued it back for me. Which was true - I glued it back myself and it did re-open again sometime after.

My personal experience with Cobbler Wong helped me to better appreciate what was reported in the papers. That old man was really honest and professional. And his other customers must have appreciated it too - thus the award and kindness shown to him in return. I now feel a tinge of regret for having approached him - for he might have thought that they were just out of sympathy (which was somewhat true).

So from him, a few important lessons I learnt in life were reinforced:

- A life of labor is indeed a life worth living. His work meant so much to him that he did it till the day he died.

- Goodness begets goodness and it does not matter who you are and what little you do.

- Never be like Cobbler Wong's sons. One who wondered in public why others could have been so nice to his father even though he was neither 'rich nor famous' as if goodness has anything to do with those 2 attributes. None of the sons and grandchildren had bothered to accompany the old man even for a trip to Sentosa! It made me feel sick. And that probably explains why the old man preferred to come to McCallum street everyday. He probably felt closer to the nice people he knew there than his own off springs.

But all the above would have just simply receded to the back of my mind had I not learnt of what a man I know did for old Cobbler Wong. And I had to write this down - for my friends and kids when they grow up. This man is a colleague in JP Morgan's Corporate Services group - responsible for mails and other administrative tasks. Apparently his first encounter with Cobbler Wong was more than 10 years ago when he wanted a new hole punched on his belt which the old man (younger then) did for free. This colleague felt so bad that he bought the old man a drink that day. What was most admirable was that since that day, that was what this colleague did almost every morning without fail! Just like what a woman was reported in the newspaper to have done with meals for Cobbler Wong.

One day last week, on his usual drink delivery to Cobbler Wong, this colleague was a little surprised when the old man asked him to take off his shoes so that he could polish them. Our colleague was embarrassed but did so as it was an unusual request from the old man and he did not want to disappoint the man - if it made him happy why not? But he was to learn on his next delivery the next morning that the old man had fainted the previous morning (sometime after polishing his shoes) and had passed away that day. He returned to the office that morning with the memory of the dead man and wondered about the significance of the event the day before. Did the old man sense that he was about to go and the polishing of his shoes was his last act of appreciation for the kindness shown to him?

That only God will ever know but we should all be proud to know that among us is a very, very nice man and his name is Das, short for Devathas Kumarasamy.

p.s. can someone pls forward a copy of this to Das - couldn't find his e-mail ID! And those who want to join Das for lunch can let Ee Lin know - she is arranging one and it was she who told me the story about Das and Cobbler Wong.

Why Maids Are Not Allowed in Cricket Club

ST reported recently about a member of Singapore Cricket Club challenging the club for forbidding her Sri Lanka maid from entering the club. The Club claimed that it was specified as condition of club membership. The question is why are maids not allowed in the club? Pick the correct answer from below:

A. Members in club are not distinguishable from maids and do not want to be mistaken as one (see next point)

B. Members' parents and grandparents were treated the same way by the club when it was exclusive to their colonial masters and they were not allowed to enter the club. So their children now want to do the same to others to feel as good as their parents' colonial masters.

C. Members paid so much money to show off they could not afford to be seen there with someone else's maid

D. All of the above.