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ScherzoLoyalty to Country, Leadership, Discipline, Professionalism, Fighting Spirit, Ethics, Care for Soldiers!
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June 14 To Spot a Black SwanTo put simply, a Black Swan is defined in Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book as an occurence that is improbable or difficult to predict, yet has disproportionately powerful consequences. I'm barely through the first chapter, so I've yet to fully grasp this concept. I apologise in advance if my (over-)simplified explanation leads you to a false understanding of this phenomenon, because it certainly requires a bit more explanation. If you've already read the book, then good for you.
Now, back to what I wanted to say: it occurred to me while reading the book this morning on the train, that the recent deaths of the 2 National Servicemen may actually be Black Swans themselves, because such accidents are similar in nature to that of Black Swans - improbable, hard to predict from previous information, has distortive consequential effects (to the extent that a 3-day halt to all physical endurance training was announced) and sadly, not completely avoidable, i.e. it will continue to occur even if all preventive measures have been taken place.
Now, you have no idea how excited I actually am to actually be able to be part of this Black Swan phenomenon taking place (I am a National Serviceman after all). In any case, studying the causes, frequency and the prevention of sudden death among National Servicemen during training is definitely very very similar to the Black Swan problem proposed in the book, The Black Swan. This entry will now come to an abrupt halt, much to your dismay.
How anticlimatic! But I cannot write further for I have not read enough of the book to actually know what I'm talking about. I don't want to end up smoking my way through, which is at the very best, intellectual dishonesty; at worst it could become what we commonly recognise as bullshit. June 06 On Standing UpI understand how important it is for recruits to do things fast - especially sitting down and standing up. But whenever the commanders say something like, "on your butts up" and "on your feet down", we get really confused whether we should be standing up or sitting down, due to the slight subject-verb disagreement. Hence the slow movements, of course. No, really. To add on, I remember what one of my section commanders used to say: "If you ask me stupid questions, you'll get stupid answers." But he probably left out the line that comes after that (which was Francis' personal message on MSN) - if we ask you intelligent questions, you probably don't have the answers. Naw just kiddding. May 31 Tekong's Night SkyWhen I walk around in town these days, I keep seeing pretty girls all over the place. It's really really weird because I usually don't really notice these things because I'm either busy trying to figure out how to play the guitar solo of a particular song I'm listening to on my handphone, trying to optimise my route from one place to another, concentrating on stepping on the dark coloured tiles and skipping all the white ones on the floor, or making it a point to step on every single crunchy looking dried leaf lying on the ground. And most of the time after ogling at some good-looking person, I'll pass by a glass pane or some reflective surface that reminds me of my awesome looks - a botak head and thick black plastic framed specs. With an appearance like that, I'm really glad that I can't possibly look any worse.
There's one consolation however, and that's the view of the night sky on Tekong. The entire sky is almost always littered with stars, and the longer you focus on a particular area, the more stars you see. I could just sit there and stare at it for hours and never get bored - with my rifle and my buddy and me ee ee, of course.
NS is simply too life-consuming, because its almost impossible for me to not talk about NS. In fact, conversations dealing with non-NS topics usually end up sounding something like this:
Person: The Click Five will be playing in Singapore tomorrow! I have like free tickets but I totally can't go because I have no time.
Me: Oh yeah, I heard about that, somehow. That really sucks.
Person: Okay.
Me: So the other day, I was having live range and my night shoot was totally like pajiao.........
So as a result, I've decided to make it a point to start reading again, so I can at least talk about what I read. Or at least I think I can.
I'd suppose you could look forward to some vaguely intelligent-sounding entry about this new book I just picked up today, titled The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Yes no? May 25 RejectionDefined as the refusal of membership or entrance into an entity and/or the refusal to accept or acknowledge something. It has also been recognised as a recurring phenomenon in many peoples' lives, including mine. Specifically mine. I can only sit here and make the best out of my situation, wondering to myself, "what's next?"
I was playing a bunch of songs by Coldplay on my guitar to pass the time (and at the same time vent some of my own emotions), when I came across a particular verse which really stood out and reminded me of something from a long time ago.
Lying on my table right now are a bunch of university letters with the title of this entry written all over it. Somehow I don't feel special anymore, lol.
But you, all of you, you're all so amazing. And especially you! There was even a note on your handphone which said: Look at the stars, look how they shine for you *
Look how they shine for you, and everything you do! April 26 The First Bookout is Always SpecialBMTC1/Jaguar Platoon 1, in case you're interested.
And so the fastcraft arrives at the ferry terminal and you walk off the boat, wondering why your world is bobbing up and down. Could be the nauseating aura of freedom.
Or maybe its just because you're stepping onto a floating pontoon over the water.
As if you haven't had enough of the SAF 7 Core Values, they insist on having a final revision of it as you disembark from the ferry. Once again, you are reminded that the SAF 7 Core Values are:
1. Loyalty to Country
2. Leadership 3. Discipline 4. Professionalism 5. Fighting Spirit 6. Ethics
7. Care for Soldiers Then, almost as if it's become part of your brain's reflex mechanism, you echo out, "Platoon 1, drink up!" Like hell maybe SAF wants to remind us that drinking water is the 8th core value; but we all know that the 8th value is actually "Do anything you want but don't get caught," right guys?
I was disoriented like mad when first alighted from the shuttle bus at Pasir Ris. All of a sudden your senses are bombarded by all kinds of sights, smells and sounds that you haven't experienced for the past 2 weeks. Hence the title of this entry, I guess.
April 08 TranscendanceThis entry is best read while listening to Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque) by Claude Debussy.
Clair de Lune, by Claude Debussy.
The title of this piece means "Moonlight".
Imagine the gentle moonlight shining through your window and illuminating your room. It's so quiet at night. You don't realise at first because it's glowing so dimly, but slowly the clouds step aside, and the moon's soft sparkle drifts past the curtains, onto the floor; onto your bedside. Taking a break from your neverending pile of work, you heave a gentle sigh as you lower your head and rest it on the table. That's when it catches your attention, and you are suddenly taken aback by its presence, like a surprise guest.
The feeling was inexplicable, almost magical; and the moon's mysterious aura brings about a surge of emotions that flow freely. It was both about the happy and sad things that have happened, things that you have no control over... the uncertainties of life, the fear of losing the ones you love and not realising how much somone might love you so dearly. You're in awe and at the same time a little puzzled at how so many things can enter and leave your mind in such a short time.
A quick glance outside and one realises how absolutely stunning the moon has been, on this tranquil night.
April 02 Reality, Patch 1.4.1The follow patch notes contain information regarding the changes to your life after patch 1.4.1. Extended Life maintanence will last for approximately 8 hours from 1.00am until 9.00am, Singapore time (PST +9 hours). For further details, please stare at the mirror and ask yourself what you really want to do for the rest of your life. Everyday Life Health, Safety and Environment Love Life and Romance
Oh how happy we will be? Oh how boring life will be?
March 25 CopierIt has a mind of its own, and it feeds not just on paper and toner...
It feeds on your misery!
I can't say today's my first encounter with a stubborn and difficult copy machine, but its probably one of the toughest I've come across so far. Imagine trying to copy 4 pieces of paper, and having the bloody machine jam 6 times. End result? Lots of crumpled paper, a sheet of smudgey half-photocopied stuff, and a very frustrated person.
Gotta admit the smudgey half-photocopied paper actually looked rather (mmm ok, more like vaguely) artistic, but its nothing compared to what Nathalia Edenmont can whip up with a bunch of dead butterflies and moths - too bad I'm totally going to miss her exhibition at Gallery Eighty because I don't want to go there alone! (and the person I asked cannot make it grrr..)
The copy machine totally pissed me off this morning, and I was on the verge of running to the workshop and grabbing a hacksaw and maybe a drill to open up the bloody thing. Seriously, I won't be surprised if I open it up to find Mas Selamat having tea with Satan inside. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just laughed at my own joke, hahaha! And did I mention that the devilish copier only screws up when guys or old ladies use it? The cute office chicks never seem to have any trouble printing or copying their stuff.
So anyway, I got some other random office guy to call up the serviceman and see if he can exorcise our fiendish little copier. He arrived shortly, performed a bunch of rituals which involved opening and closing the covers, printing 3 test pages and finally writing us a $40 bill for his services.
Maybe I should have called a priest instead.. *threatens photocopying machine with the wrath of god*
Hahahahaha and maybe he'll try to photocopy his bible and the paper will jam again lololol!!!
So anyway, while the serviceman was there, there were no paper jams, the copier functioned normally. I could almost see it glowing faintly with an angelic aura...
Until the serviceman left.
*scary evil music starts playing*
March 17 The ScammerIt's the block test period now. I remember, not too long ago when I was still in JC, I'd change my nickname the night before block test Day 1.
Instead of Scherzo, you'd see the following in its place - BLOCK TESTS POSTPONED TO NEXT WEEK, CHECK EMB FOR DETAILS.
And I'd get a crapload of clueless people asking me, "omg is that true? OH YEAH!" or maybe "its not on EMB, are you sure you saw that message?" I end up laughing so hard, I could barely study. Maybe that's why I always do so badly.
Good times...
Those were some good times..
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