Armed with my mp3 player and my Ixie, I went on a photo hunt on my own. What better way than to spend it at the Singapore Arts Museum. It was kind of interesting to let the songs that I was hearing on my Creative Zen V dictate how my photos should look like.

Now that school is over, I can finally just admire it from afar and do some reflection instead of being the constant hermit of a rodent institution, if you catch my drift. She looks good from far. Couldn't really see her exterior until now.

The sun sets slowly as it slowly fades behind the concrete jungle of Bras Basah.

I think it is just untimely that I have to leave SMU and graduate into the uncertain world. How I wished, luck for me to sing in cafes and pubs would have come earlier like 2 years ago. I think, it would have made a huge difference. Most of the places that I am working at now are all AROUND SMU. No kidding. Acid Bar is just down the street, Timbre is just ACROSS the street and Venezia is just beside the Admin Building.

Nevertheless, I am truly blessed to even have a taste of what life as a singer/ performer is all about. The real deal in the entertainment business aint easy at all. Lots of hardwork have to be put in. The sky is not always blue. Having to deal with difficult customers who don't like the way you dress up or how you style your hair are just the tip of the iceberg. The experience nonetheless truly benefited me in becoming a more tolerant person. I nearly punched somebody for being rude but if I had done that, I would have not been able to sustain myself and go to Thailand by now. I ain't kidding you. I would have love to quit at that moment in time but as what they always say, "the things you do for money"...

I think at the corners of everybody's minds lies the fact that we want to follow our dreams. Many of those that I am blessed to know and be inspired want to become fashion designers, artists and painters. The only recurring problem is the word "Obligation". In the states, the culture of obligation is absence. You have no obligation to your parents once you're out in the working world. They leave you to fend on your own when you hit the age of 18. Many would leave their hometown and hit the city lights in search of their dreams.

Every single day, we are running down the corridors doing the same routine over and over again. As much as we want to go and chase our dreams, we often think twice due to certain obligations. Over here in Singapore, many still we are obligated to 4 different level of power; the government, the bank, society and our parents. It's difficult to run away from these powers unless you're not a citizen, you're rich, you don't care about what people say and you're an orphan.

Most of us can't run away from reservist. That's a fact. You get fined and jailed if you try to run away from it. They will be a monkey on your back until you have served your full 10 years. Going to to jungle day in day out every year would certainly turn you green. Might as well be a plant. My gosh, they will even prosecute you even if you tried to attempt suicide. Why? Because the government have invested so much in your education and they wouldn't want you to spoil their manpower projections. Check this out.

"Suicide is a deadly serious matter of life or death," said Minister for Suicide Mr. Yeow Teow Loh. "We cannot let citizens decide important things by their own hands and affect our manpower projections."
To them, we certainly owe them an amount of deal. Basically, they OWN US.

The Suicide and Miscellaneous Manpower Offences Bill calls for those attempting suicide to face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

However, repeat offenders will face the death penalty.

"We believe that the strongest possible sentence will deter offenders," said Mr. Yeow.

Irony isn't it. You are trying to stop somebody from taking their own lives but at the end of the day, you might be taking their lives instead. I'm getting dizzy. Singapore is getting confusing.

Well, what can I really say. You see the world in colors while I sometimes love to see the world in red. You stare at life in the face. Taking on adventures and challenges as they come flying at supersonic speed at you. Some choose to run away while others just face it head on because everybody knows that at the end of the day, we'll have to face it. It's inevitable.

I noticed that things in life, they don't change. They just get rearranged. Nobody's pure. Everybody's a sinner. It's a matter of who sinned lesser.


So, go out and HAVE FUN PEOPLE! New Year's coming up. Santa here is wishing for a horny reindeer. Hehehehe...
Passed by this man who was playing some traditional Chinese tunes on his bamboo flute. A rarity by any standard. If only people could listen to what I was listening. It was words within himself, inner feelings that just could not be expressed through words.

Everything seems so blurry at times. We think we could grasp it but only to find that it is just mirage to begin with. Fascinated by the beauty from afar but soon realising as you get closer to it, it disappears right before your eyes.
Many people's hopes have been dashed. I've known a few. They were deluded because they raised their hopes so high on being able to reach it and when it didn't materialised, it was as if a pile of bricks just fell on them. So what I've learnt is that, just walk the normal pace, have an objective in mind be open to the fact that sometimes you may need to take detours and it would either lead you to another destination or just a longer route to your intended destination. Don't worry too much. Destiny awaits. You just don't know what it is.

jamiel
repeat my name