It was the end of a very long and draining day. 4 hours spent brainstorming on possible hazards which might cause our bioethanol plant to go KABOOM, another 2 hours in a freaking boring lecture on Petroleum Refining, and 3 hours preparing for the KR Final Year Command next week. All I want to do after it all was to crawl in bed, whip out my phone and read a couple of articles that would lullaby me to sleep with the my all-time favourite TV series, Friends, playing in the background.

But no…. Manchester United were going to play a crucial match at 2.45am against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter final, trailing 1-2 on aggregate as a result of a devastating last minute defeat in Germany. United had to win; one-nil would do the trick but they had to win. With the form United were in and a half-fit Wayne Rooney, it was always going to be difficult for us. But as a diehard fan, I expected United not to disappoint me, especially considering I had sacrificed to watch the match.

All doubts I had before the match banished in the first few minutes! Before we knew it, we were up 2-0 in the first 7 minutes courtesy of a Darren Gibson missile and a Nani’s clever backheel. I smelled another AS Roma thrashing all over again! And it was rightfully deserved; United played brilliantly and the match was definitely one-way traffic. When Nani fired in his second goal, it was 3-0 and I had already started dreaming of a final’s date with Barcelona in Santiago Bernabeu. There was no way in hell Bayern could get themselves out of this shithole. They needed a miracle to save them. But there was one problem with that statement: in United vs Bayern fixtures, one can always expect miracles.

It only took one bit of complacency to turn the tide; it only was a second’s lapse of concentration. Within two minutes, United gave away a soft goal… a very very soft goal. Just like the one they gave away in the last minute of the first leg in Munich. Suddenly it was 3-1, and one more goal for Bayern would knock out United via the away goals rule. Bayern were lifted and the tides have changed. Suddenly we were hanging on.

Then came the moment of stupidity: Rafael, having been already booked, pulled Ribbery back and hence, deserving his second yellow card and his ticket to take an early shower and reflect. It was the first caution that he really had to reflect on. The second foul was actually worth commiting for a yellow card -that is, provided you’re not already in the book.

Suddenly we were one man down against a lifted Bayern Munich. I looked at the clock: 40 minutes to go. That’s a extremely long time to endure with 10-men on the pitch. I could feel my spirit sinking. I knew that with the quality Bayern had on the field, they would score sooner or later. And indeed it was that sheer quality that sunk United. A picture perfect volley from Arjen Robben, connecting from a Ribbery’s corner kick, blazed through the crowd in the penalty box, and ended up in the back of net.

3-2 on the night. 4-4 on aggregate. United didn’t have enough energy in them to come back and Bayern were heading to the semis.

At the end of the match, one could only look back at the first 40 minutes and wonder: “What the hell happened??”

I’m not going to expect the same readership over the weekend to translate into this post. This is going to be more of a personal post to those who care.

That is a picture of my hand and how it looks now. A lot better than how it looked a week ago. No more dead and dried skin, and everything looks completely healed except for the Z-shaped scars which looks like a mini Zorro gave me a piece of his mind.

As I hoped in my post a week ago, I was allowed to take off the splint part time to give the hand more exercise and better mobility. It still needs to be worn when I sleep and in crowded places to avoid over-extending the newly repaired tendons. While it does look a lot better on the outside, I still can’t get my full range of movements back. I’m struggling to make a full fist and I can’t get my ring finger and my little finger to straighten.

While you may find that I have a valid reason to be frustrated, my latest trip to the physiotherapist gave me a massive reality check. The patient who saw the therapist before me had a badly injured elbow. He had metal bars stuck into his arm all around his elbow, which I think functioned to support his elbow. His wounds have yet to dry and were still under heavy bandage. It was really close to resembling a real cyborg arm. Compared to his, my injuries seemed like little scratches. And he seemed damn cool and relaxed about it.

That kind of put things into perspective. However bad you think your situation is, there are always people who in far worse ones. Just a small reminder to always be grateful.

“Please take this cup of suffering away from me,” he whispered silently, “Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.” He knew though that he had to take a sip and eventually drink from that cup of suffering.

People came and left his humble abode. They greeted him with smiles, patted his back, and shared laughters. But he saw straight through it. These people will soon betray him; these people will soon strip him off his clothing and shove a cactus up his backside. As they left, he saw evil smirks painted across their faces, the faces of demons.

12am. Finally the hour has arrived. It was the beginning of, what was supposed to be, a special day. A contingent was assigned to take him to a supper to celebrate this day; they were the messengers of death, carrying him to his last supper. He knew they were coming, and he stood up and bravely followed them. His neighbours tried to console him; it was a fake consolation. He knew they were wolves; wolves who couldn’t wait to turn their backs on him. He observed the tools that they carrying. Seemingly harmless, these were the tools that they would use against him. They waved these objects -ropes, poles and cactuses- to secretly taunt him and strike fear in his heart. But the fear was already there. He was terrified.

As he entered the dining hall at his last supper, he was greeted with cheers. He forced a smile, and took a look around the room, glancing at each person who was about to betray him… at each person who was about to deny him. They handed him bread to commemorate this special day, and they asked him to make a single wish.

A lone voice resounded through the room. “Don’t make a wish you know won’t come true,” it said sarcastically. He knew that was true, and decided against repeating his short prayer a few moments ago.

He then continued to break the bread to hand it to each one present… to each person who was about to torture and torment him, and to each person who was about to walk away and deny him, too scared to stop the rest. They took the bread and ate it, while glancing over at him at every opportunity they had. They wanted to make sure he didn’t walk away… at least, not in the shape he was currently in.

Shortly after everyone had finished their bread, one of the men present stepped forward and hugged him. It was a hug, but it felt like a stab in the back. It was the kiss of betrayal, and it was a sign for them to bring him down. The beasts were unleashed. He tried to resist, but soon realized it was futile. They had grabbed his body, locked him down and brought him to the ground. He bit the dust, and was finding it harder and harder to move. The stripped him off his clothing, humiliated him and tied his legs to a wooden plank. He soon found himself lying on the plank, with all his limbs securely locked down. He cursed them, but he realized that they had won.

They clipped his nipples with pegs and wrote on his body. A candle was lit, and burning wax was poured onto chest and thighs. He let out a strong scream as he felt the heat all over his body. To add insult to injury, they placed a cactus in a pot on his chest, ordered him to balance it to avoid the deadly circumstances. All this was done while his nipples were pegged and his body tormented with scalding wax. The pain forced his body into a continuous struggle, and the cactus tipped over. He screamed again as the numerous small needles pricked all over his body. He wanted it to end, he begged for forgiveness, and they finally backed off. Without looking back, they ran off into the shadows, leaving him battered and bruised.

After shaking off the daze surrounding him, he sat up, he looked up at the clock. The first hour of that special day was over. He had 23 more to fear.

This post is dedicated to my neighbour for his 24th birthday.

Happy birthday, Hok! Hope you had a blast.

The dust has now settled after the announcement of the long-awaited Apple tablet, now called the Apple iPad. Arising from this dust, is a wave of mixed reactions towards Apple’s “latest creation”. Walt Mossberg was cautiously optimistic, while others have called it “just an over-sized iPod Touch.”

Well, after the announcement, I was initially as disappointed as the next person. Refer back to my previous post, and realize that out of 6 hopes in my wishlist, only 1 was really fulfilled:

• The name: iPad? Seriously? They didn’t bother to read the negative comments all over tech blogs before the announcement? When Steve Jobs announced the name, it was the perfect cue to usher in the tampon jokes. I was a bit surprised the iPad didn’t have wings.
• The stylus: It was always gonna be unlikely. Let’s just hope for third party apps and accessories.
• Content in Singapore: In the meantime, I have heard that iBooks is US-Only. There were also no demos on how magazines can be packaged. Though I could settle for third party apps, it would have been nice to see a central hub for magazines like iBook.
• Price: HOME RUN! I never thought the tablet would start at $499!
• OS: OS was very very similar to the iPhone OS and I regard this as the biggest letdown. Its hardware specs should allow it to do more, and multitasking, as well as widgets, would have been a welcomed addition. Also, the user interface seems too bare and empty for my liking.
• A surprise: Nope. None. Na-da. The biggest surprise was the price, then iWork. That shows a lot. And there was no “one other thing.”

But definitely, it would unwise to write off Apple just yet. Rewind to 2001, and remember how the iPod was ridiculed after its launch. Now it’s the gadget of the decade. Of course, it took them a few iterations for the iPod to really take off, but I believe it will take a lot less on the iPad.

Just give developers a little more time and third party apps optimized for the tablet might just blow you away. Digital magazines will spring up and the stride towards interactive education and textbooks will continue. Peeking into iPhone 3.2, we discover a lot more promise. Among them are desktop file sync-ing for third party apps and the ability to call on 3G. Of course, a webcam on the iPad would have made this feature a lot more useful.

In short, Apple has provided us with a stunning blank slate with a lot of potential. Now it’s up to developers, content providers, -and jailbreakers- to help us fulfill that potential. In meantime though, I’ll be saving up, perhaps for the second generation -hopefully it has wings.

Unless you’ve been living in cave or you just got out of an Internet exile, you probably would have heard that Apple Inc is holding an event today. Ever since the venue of the event, Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, was booked by Apple, the buzz in blogosphere has grown louder and louder. And fueling the flame, Apple releases this invitation to the press:

Apple’s invitation

“Come see our latest creation.” Marketing brilliance. Now, the world holds its breath to witness what Steve Jobs will bring down from Mount Cupertino.

So what will be their latest creation? All the hints seem to be pointing at an Apple Tablet (or iSlate, iPad, Canvas, Jesus Tablet or whatever Apple decides to call it). Some Apple blogs have even drawn references to Moses in the Old Testament bringing the stone tablets from the mountain. “There hasn’t been this much hype about a tablet since Moses came down from the mountain”, writes columnist David Carr. Sure, Apple is iconic, but is that comparison a bit over the top?

Steve Jobs and the mythical tablet

I believe this analogy is fair enough. They have definitely deserved it. Just recall how Apple reinvented the portable music industry with the iPod, and how it revolutionized the mobile phone industry with its larger-than-life iPhone. People sure can bet the company from Cupertino, California, can do it again with the Tablet. It seems like the publishing industry is the next target this time around. Imagine: digital and interactive e-books, e-magazines, and e-textbooks. It certainly won’t stop there: it will surely be able to surf the net, watch videos and movies and also play games. Any other plus points? We’ll just have to wait and see.

However, on the flip side of this publicity: Has Apple dug its own grave with all this hype surrounding the Tablet? Surely now, technophiles would have been fantasizing  (and techno-masturbating) over the prospects of the impending Tablet. So, whatever Steve Jobs pulls out of his sleeves today : will it be able to live up to all these fantasies and expectations?

More importantly, will it be able to live up to my fantasies? Here is a short list of what I want from this much-talked-about Tablet:

1. The name: I don’t like any of the rumoured names (iSlate, iPad, Canvas etc). Shakespeare might argue “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” but I feel much rides on what Apple decides to call this device. It won’t make or break the product, but it certainly will leave a first impression. I would prefer something simpler like the Apple Tablet.
2. A stylus! I know this is seriously unlikely as Steve Jobs himself called it a caveman’s method of data entry in 2007, but annotating and marking documents will be a lot easier. Imagine walking into a meeting room and taking notes using the Apple Tablet and a stylus while others use a traditional notepad. And while we’re at it, throw in a software that can convert our handwriting to plain text!
3. Readily available content in Singapore! Each country has its own publishing rules, and we might not see publishers’ content in Singapore that fast. If there’s no content, this may well be a dealbreaker for me.
4. A low price! Ok, everyone wants to see this. I hope for a price around USD700, but realistically, I’m guessing it’ll be closer to 1K.
5. A hybrid OS, which is a mix of OSX and the iPhone OS. The OS is extremely crucial; Apple needs to get this right to seal the deal.
6. Above all, I want to see a surprise! I want Steve Jobs to pull out an X-factor that noone guessed; Iwant Apple to shock the techno-world!

Ok, so this is it, Apple. The world is watching. Don’t disappoint.

The stitches have been removed last week, and this week, it was the dressing’s turn to go. What’s left now are 2 fingers full of scars, dried and dead skin, and wound scabs; the remnants of a New Years I won’t be able to forget.

I’m still in the splint full-time at least until next Thursday. Hopefully then, I’ll have my left hand back, but I fear it would never be the way used to be. I’m still on a strict hourly exercise regime and a scar massage therapy to help the hand recover. But both doctor and therapist said that the sensations and movement range would not recover 100%. My left hand, though not my master hand, has always been the stronger one. I rely on my right hand for accuracy and my left for strength.

Hopefully, they will recover as much as possible though. I’m crossing my fingers (at least the ones I can).

I have always been a preacher of the use of personal technology to make our lives easier. Why burden  our poor brains by remembering our personal schedule and trying to keep track of our to-do lists? This is how people grow old quickly. So I tell you solemnly, burdened souls, embrace the new way of life… get rid of your pen and paper (and save a couple of trees while you’re at it) and embrace personal technology!

It’s been a since the reopening of the NUS academic semester, but it’s ever too late to start using the various softwares and web-apps to make school life a bit simpler. This is my list of the essential apps that every student should definitely tree out!

1. SugarSync (Free basic 2GB account at www.sugarsync.com)

Now students having multiple computers are uncommon. Many people have a desktop computer at home/dorm room, a netbook to carry to class, and, maybe even a super-smartphone as a ultra portable computing device. The problem with this is how to keep all the files that you are working on perfectly in sync? When you take notes in class, how do you ensure the file is changed on your desktop computer without having to transfer it through a USB drive or emailing it to yourself.

Enter Sugarsync! Sugarsync runs and monitors specified folders, sync-ing them up to the cloud and across multiple computers whenever they are changed. It’s cross-platform, so you can use it on both your PCs and Macs. It also acts as a off-site back-up software. Seriously, you would not want a case where your final year project work disappears cause your computer crashed. It even has an iPhone app so you have access to all your files wherever you are, although there are a few limitations with the app. With a 2GB free basic account, this is a must-have!

Do click here for a referral to get a bonus 250MB of storage space.

2. Google Calendar -using Google Sync to sync to your phone

Students nowadays have loads of events to remember. Be it that early 8AM lecture, the extra-curricular activities, the late night hall party, or a dinner date with that cute girl in your tutorial class. You have to remain up to speed with your next appointment. Get used to taking down all your activities using Google’s free calendar! Boy, do I love Google and their free apps! But that’s not enough, you need  to have your calendar wherever you are. Remember you are an active college student that doesn’t spend all day in front of the computer! Answer is: sync it up to your mobile phone using Google Sync.

3. GMail - with NUSmail fetched

Face it, we all hate checking our NUSmail! It’s not user-friendly and just plain ugly and Microsoft-y. Plus the amount of “spam” you would receive everyday makes it impossible to obtain a zero inbox if you’re mail is not constantly checked. You might even miss important announcements from your professors. I would therefore recommend fetching all your NUSmail to your primary e-mail (which should be a GMail account) using POP3. If you want to receive your mail immediately, push your e-mail to your mobile device. I personally use PushGMail for iPhone but it does sometimes prove to be rather unreliable.

4. A Collaboration Tool - Google Sites or Google Wave

When Google Wave came out, I was pretty convinced this would be the tool that I would use to collaborate with my project group members. Turns out, I was wrong. It lacked the features which I felt the group needed. I turned my attention to Google Sites and now it hosts my group calendar, deadlines for deliverables, project updates, a page for minutes of meeting, and a central database for all project documents. I would love to show you my Design Project Tracking Workspace on Google Sites but, unfortunately, it’s off-limits until the project is over.

5. Evernote (Free basic account from www.evernote.com)

Evernote prides itself on being an extension of your brain. Walt Mossberg calls it a “digital file cabinet you can bring anywhere.” You can create notes,  post pictures, sound clips, web clippings and immediately have them synchronized to the cloud to multiple computers and your mobile phone. I use this to take notes in lectures, copy links and web clippings when I’m doing research, and write short paragraphs when I get moments of inspiration. I even wrote the first few paragraphs of my Final Year Project on the bus on my way to a dinner in town.

So, what personal technology do you use? I’d love to hear from you.But if it’s “pen and paper”, don’t bother to write.

It’s saddening to see a single word brewing up so much tension in Malaysia. Sure, the word is not just any word. But, hey, it’s still just a word.

Moslems say the word “Allah” should only be used for the Moslem context, and Christians say the word has been used even long before both religions were born. They also argue that the word is even used in the Christian context in the Middle East and Indonesia. Looking at both points of views, the debate will have no winner. It’s a simple affair, but far too politicized.

As a Catholic myself, I can’t help but wonder whatever happened to taking the high road? Give in and use any other word: “Tuhan”, “Bapa” are all perfectly good alternatives to “Allah”. Why not just spare the nation the fuss and use it? I’m quite sure God won’t mind being called any other word as long as peace is achieved.

Yes, I understand giving in may pave way for the Christian religious rights to be trampled on in the future. I don’t read the Bible much but I’m pretty sure there’s something in there about giving your left cheek when someone strikes your right.

After Googling, this is the exact verse:
“…whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.” (Matthew 5:39)

Let’s practice what we preach, shall we?

This is the first time in three years that I am not involved at all in the management of the KR contingent in the Games and, boy, do I handling miss sports publicity. Trying to inject hype and life into the hall through rallies, posters, decorations, t-shirts still run fiercely through my blood. Well, my time is up. I’m a final year and it’s time for me to sit back in my rocking chair, sipping hot chocolate, and talk about the new batch of sports publicity.

In this post, I won’t talk about the sporting strengths of the halls. There are plenty of those analyses around. I’ll step beyond the sporting courts, fields and tracks to the halls’ sports themes and how each hall packages these themes to hype up their own athletes… and maybe even take low blows at rival halls.

Kent Ridge Hall: Honour, The Way of a Warrior

Honour is a theme that I would go for myself. It seems to represent the same values I tried to instill last year with ‘Warriors’ Pride: Respect All, Fear None’. In fact, ‘the way of the warrior’ was even considered last year as the theme. It was rejected as it seemed too samurai-ish. However, together with ‘Honour’, the phrase sounded a lot better.

How the theme was packaged, however, is something that I would never do: Bright and colourful with splashes of many many many colours. But it was indeed a refreshing change to see after I packaged ‘Believe’ with a strong sense of blue and gold and ‘Warriors’ Pride’ with a dark and eerie feel.

My rating: 4/5

Sheares Hall: Semper Fidelis

It’s no secret that I have always been an admirer of Sheares Hall’s sports publicity: Up to the point where the model upon which I built my Sports Management Unit 2 years ago was Sheares’ SMB. The amount of effort they put in to welcome the games is definitely unrivalled. Banners, posters, props and designs are normally fantastic and well thought of.

But it’s a different story this year. Semper Fidelis does not strike any cord with me. I’ve never liked translated themes. What’s so cool about Latin anyway? Even when translated, “Always Faithful” sounds more like a tragic love story. Even made me tear a bit.

I hate to say this, but I dread the design on the t-shirt. Although I didn’t like the theme, it still should have stood out more in the theme design. Their website though seems simple enough. Still very very orange.

My personal favourite remains how Sheares packaged the theme Desire a few years ago.

My rating: 2/5

Eusoff Hall: Yellow Up!

Eusoff Hall always manages to bring a different tone to the otherwise always-serious IHG themes. And, boy, the defending champions are the only hall that can pull this off splendidly. Previous punch-lines include ‘Eusoff’s Back’ (smartly printed on the back of the t-shirt), and ‘Please Stand Behind the Yellow Line’; and this year Eusoff went with ‘Yellow Up!’. Meant to inspire their sportsmen to bring their game a level higher, I can’t help but wonder whether the theme was Barney Stinson-inspired.

My rating: 5/5

Raffles Hall: The Rise of The Pheonix

This theme may be one of the most appropriate ones ever. Raffles Hall has just finished rennovating their hall, and with half a hall empty, they had all the space in the world to pump in new athletes. And they did a good job in doing so: stories of the number of sportsmen they took in were just frightening. After a few years at the bottom of the IHG table, I predict this will be the year the phoenix rises from the ashes… maybe not too high up,  but still… it’ll be a rise. How appropriate.

My rating: 4/5

Temasek Hall: Respect

Simple theme… Looking at their t-shirts, I initially thought their theme said “Respect TH”, which seemed like a desperate  plea to the other contingents to respect the defending women’s champions. Only after reading through the IHG booklet, did I realize it was plainly ‘Respect’, encouraging their athletes to earn respect. It picked up a keyword from my theme last year, resounding a similar message. Nice and simple. It should have been packaged better to avoid that initial confusion.

My rating: 3/5

King Edward VII: ?

To date, I have no idea what the current convening hall’s theme is. I did see some KE7 residents wear a shirt that said: ” Warning: Champions Are Coming” or something along that line. If that is their theme, it’s just bad and plain inaccurate. It won’t scare anyone off, and it might even invite a few laughes. I sincerely hope -for their sake- it’s not really KE7′s theme.

My rating: 1/5 (if it really is their theme)

The opinions expressed above are my own and do not reflect the stand of my hall. I don’t mean to offend anyone and I’m just giving my honest opinions as I have a great passion in sports publicity. I would love to hear any criticms on the themes that I have packaged in the past as well.

“Luckily it wasn’t your right hand…” was a frequent quote that I got from people who heard my tragic story. Although it is definitely true, it makes you realize how much you need that inferior hand…

Here is a list I compiled on the small things in your everyday life that you can no longer do properly without a fully-functioning left hand:

1. First thing that comes to everyone’s mind: you can no longer properly wipe your backside! I won’t elaborate further.
2. You can no longer tie your shoelaces. I haven’t worn any laced shoes since the accident. Thank god for an rather extensive wardrobe.
3. You can’t scratch certain unaccessible parts of your back. Damn, this is a pain in crowded and public places.
4. You can’t roll up your right sleeve. I had to go around looking for someone to help me do that when I was wearing long-sleeve shirts.
5. You need to learn to type with one hand! I have never been a fast typer, but now, I’m just plain pathetic.
6. You can’t bring back a tray of soup from the canteen stall to your seat without spilling it all over the place.Eh wait… I have never been able to do that.
7. In the shower, you can’t scrub your right armpit! But I can tell you one thing: my right arm is getting more and more flexible! And hopefully this will be mastered soon with one arm.

But then again… focus on what you can do, rather than on you can’t and you’ll be much happier!