A Cambodian's Blog

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T18:17:00.002+08:00

Greeting guys!

2008 has been a bad year for some and a good year for others, but may 2009 be a better one for all!

May the New Year bring you and your family a world of peace, love, happiness, good health, and success!

To those who died

2008-09-12T03:29:00.001+08:00

Book just finished

2008-09-09T12:42:00.003+08:00

The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews: 1939-1945 by Saul Friedlander.

This second volume about the mass murder of the Jews (and other groups of people) during WWII is both informative and touching. One would think history's main purpose is to inform, but the human elements presented in this work are such that one could not but ask questions that are unlikely to be answered. How could it be that mass exterminations were the very goals of war instead of its unintended consequences? How could humanity have sunk so low that whole categories of people were persecuted not because of what they did but because of who they were? How could this atrocity have happened at all, not least in the 20th century? If there were to be a hypothetical ultra sexist-feminist movement today whose primary aim is to annihilate the whole male population of the world, its logic would not be too different from the Nazi anti-Jewish ideology, but the thought of such a movement has to be inconceivable to any thinking person.

Friedlander does not pass judgments lightly in the book. In fact, he mostly leaves the reader to pass their own. He, however, presents enough evidence and facts that informed conclusions about certain issues could be reached: the inaction of the Catholic Church (and Pius XII in particular), the roles of collaborationist governments, the general sentiments of the populaces, etc.

As I said, the human elements are a very integral part of the book. Readers won't easily forget the boy who stole his sister's bread and felt ashamed and guilty because he knew that she would have to go hungry for the rest of the weak, the Jewish Sonderkommandos who assisted in the killing of their brethren but knew full well that their turn was next, or the passing mention of a woman who ate the buttocks of her dead baby.

Video and transcript of Barack Obama's acceptrance speech

2008-08-29T18:19:00.005+08:00

Man, this is a great speech!

"To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who travelled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honours the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbour, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and colour, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America."

Books I'm reading

2008-08-12T15:26:00.003+08:00

American Sphinx: Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph Ellis. Another book to satisfy my presidential biograpy fetish.

Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939 by Saul Friedlander. I'm trying to better understand the Holocaust.

Some thoughts

2008-08-06T15:12:00.010+08:00

Here are two things I've been thinking about today.

1. Preah Vihear and stuff: Last night, I finally managed to read the whole of the June 15, 1962 ICJ judgments on the Preah Vihear temple case. I'll try to explain what the fuss is all about.

Firstly, I was rather pleasantly surprised that one of the counsels on the Cambodian side was former U.S. Secretary of State (under Harry Truman) Dean Acheson. I first read about him in David McCullough's biography of Truman. He was amongst the most important figures of international politics after the Second World War. I wondered what got him interested in the Preah Vihear temple case, but I guess his help did contribute to our ultimate victory.

Secondly, IMO, it can be inferred from the judgments that the so-called "contentious" area surrounding the temple should rightfully belong to Cambodia as well. True, the court said that the map produced by the French was of a non-binding character "in its inception, and at the moment of its production." The Thais did, however, accept its legality "by conduct" afterwards. If you know a little bit of law, this is a classic example of estoppel. It was unfortunate that the court refused to directly rule regarding the area. This had to to with Cambodia's initial application rather than any doubt about our rightful ownership of the land. In its initial complaint, Cambodia wanted the court to rule on only two points: that the temple belong to Cambodia and that Thai troops be withdrawn from the area. Only in the Final Submissions did we increase the number of complaints to five points including the recognition of the border line on the map as official and binding. However, since the primary purpose of the case was to establish who had sovereignty over the temple, the court's opinion that the line drawn on the map became binding after its publication was only a "means" of proving in Cambodia's favor rather than the "end" of the ruling itself. To summarize, regarding the 4.6 sq. km. of land surrounding the temple, the court's opinion is rather vague but unmistakable: it belongs to Cambodia as it is shown lying inside Cambodia on the map which, though not strictly binding at the time of its inception, became binding thereafter.

Lastly, an important question remains: what would happen if we decide to go to court again regarding that piece of land? I think we'd have a good case. However, the dilemma is now reversed. If I hear correctly from a few friends who have been to the temple, the entrance to the temple from the Thai side is very near to the temple itself (i.e. it lies inside Cambodia according to the line indicated on the map.) Because we have not challenged that, we may have been been trapped by estoppel ourselves.

2. Sexism in Singapore is alive... and half well: One in 2 Singaporeans would vote for a female presidential candidate according to an article in today's Today. Of 1,256 people polled, 63 percent and 58 percent of female and male respondents, respectively, said they'd vote for a woman. The article also notes that, currently, there's not even one female minister of the cabinet in Singapore, but 4 out of 5 people would support a female minister. Personally, I believe sexism is still very much alive everywhere today. Anyone who bothers to think for himself/herself knows that this is wrong, but it seems as though not many of us bother to think or the depth of our prejudices is much stronger than the capacity of our intellect.

Quote of the day

2008-08-02T17:22:00.004+08:00

I think, to a large degree, I've lived my life according to this philosophy.

"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." William Shakespeare.

Heck, this is hilarious!

2008-07-21T22:32:00.002+08:00

Note: Rated PG. Minors, please don't watch it.

Channel News Asia referred to the Preah Vihear temple as "Prah Vihan": I think they need a better fact checker

2008-07-21T00:56:00.005+08:00

Ok, I'll admit this. I have a (very bad) habit of always trying to point out others' mistakes. This impulse is even more potent when it comes to factual mistakes related to Cambodia made by foreigners. These mistakes are often foolish and unnecessary, but, most of the time, they are a result of genuine ignorance rather than any malicious intent. Last year, I posted this entry about SingPost's mistakenly calling Cambodia "Democratic Republic of Kampuchea." I sent them an email and they did correct the error. Cambodia is now listed under "CamBODIA." I have absolutely no idea what the deal with capitalized letters is, though!

So given this fault of character of mine, it's no surprise that I can't help writing another email when I saw this Channel News Asia (CNA) report. (For those not familiar with CNA, it is a news network based in Singapore.)

The report identified the Preah Vihear temple by the Thai name of "Prah Vihan." I thought it was only fair that a Cambodian temple be called by its native Cambodian name. Here's my email to CNA's news editor. I do encourage all Cambodians who saw this report or others in which the temple is called by the wrong name to write in as well. Come on guys! Together we can change the world's misconception of our country!

Dear Editor,

A couple of days ago, I was watching a Channel News Asia (CNA) news clip about the current tension along the Cambodian-Thai border. The report stated that the military standoff took place near " the ancient Prah Vihan temple."

CNA's choice of name is very unfortunate and amounts to nothing less than a factual error. While it is true that the temple is known by different names in the two countries (i.e. Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Prah Vihan in Thailand), there are two very good reasons why it should be called by the Cambodian name of "Preah Vihear."

Firstly, the 1962 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling unambiguously recognized the temple as belonging to Cambodia. It is, therefore, logical that outsiders should refer to the temple by its native Cambodian name of Preah Vihear. CNA's decision to call the temple by its Thai name instead is both unreasonable and biased.

Secondly, all written proceedings at the ICJ referred to the subject of the dispute as "the Temple of Preah Vihear." Both Cambodia and Thailand officially referred to the temple by that name and so did the judges. It is clear that the temple in question was associated with and identified by its Cambodian name by the international community as well as the two sides of the dispute themselves. There is, therefore, absolutely no ground for calling it by any other name now, Thai or otherwise.

I believe that CNA observe a respectable standard of of journalistic integrity. As such, I sincerely hope that this particular error was a result of inadequate fact checking and not of any deliberate editorial decision. I have no doubt that CNA would rectify this mistake in its future reporting.

Sincerely yours,

UPDATE: Seems like CNA has made the correction! Check out CNA news clips on this YouTube channel. Even though the spelling on the screen was correct, the various news anchors invariably pronounced the name of the temple as "Prah Vihan" from Clips #1 to 8. The change has apparently been made from Clip #9 onwards. Great job, CNA! You've just proved that you're neither biased nor ignorant.

Books just read

2008-07-19T21:29:00.004+08:00

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein.

The escalation of tension around the Preah Vihear temple: a case of irrational nationalism?

2008-07-18T01:34:00.006+08:00

Thailand's decision to increase troop presence along the Khmer-Thai border is very unfortunate. Any person with even a passing interest in Khmer-Thai relations would know that there is a long history of fundamental mutual distrust and animosity between the two peoples. Any sign of troop escalation by one side is bound to be seen as an act of aggression by the other. The result is a dilemma of vast troop buildups that, assuming both countries harbor no adverse intentions, neither desires yet is inevitable.

I am a Cambodian and may be biased. Personally, though, it is hard to see Thailand's troop deployment as anything but provocative coming especially on the heel of the recognition of the temple as a Cambodian World Heritage site. Thai troops were sent after three Thai protesters were arrested for illegally crossing the border into the temple area. But that is no warrant for such a highly visible show of force by the Thai side. Is it not the right of a sovereign nation to detain those who infiltrate its border without permission? Reverse the scenario and there is little doubt how Thailand would act. It would just as soon arrest Cambodians who enter its territory illegally.

I would attribute the current stand-off to irrational nationalism especially on the part of the Thai public. Granted, most forms of nationalism are irrational. However, the kind that we have seen coming from Thailand after the Preah Vihear temple was assigned the World Heritage status is especially so. If there was any doubt about the true ownership of the temple (which there was not much), the 1962 ICJ ruling in Cambodia's favor pretty much resolved it. For the last 46 year at least, the bilateral Khmer-Thai relations have been conducted on the understanding that the temple belongs to Cambodia. The application for the World Heritage status was, strictly speaking, an internal affair of Cambodia. I could personally see no reason to seek any kind of support from Thailand for the bid. The fact that the Thai government did endorse it just goes to show Thailand's explicit recognition of Cambodia's ownership.

The bulk of the emotions (mostly negative) pouring out of Thailand are, however, those of the Thai public. I cannot help but speculate how much of Thailand's force buildup along the border is politically motivated. The current Thai government is in a crisis. It is charged by its own electorate of being incompetent. A sudden change of position in the Preah Vihear issue as well as a (more tangible) deployment of troops to the disputed area seem just the things to appeal to the current nationalistic fervor fermenting in Thailand's streets.

Having said all these, I seriously hope that the strong nationalistic feelings will not unduly affect efforts to peacefully resolve the ongoing standoff. Both Cambodia and Thailand should try to see the enormous economic and strategic opportunities the Preah Vihear temple area presents. Cambodia holds the ownership, but the area is more easily accessible from Thailand. A peaceful development of the area stands to benefit both sides. Furthermore, such a peaceful development is critical to the maintenance of good bilateral relations between the two countries.

Funny commercial

2008-07-01T20:22:00.002+08:00

Oh my goodness! I haven't stopped laughing since I saw this about 10 mins ago. NOTE: Beware of vulgarity!

Book just finished...

2008-06-26T00:15:00.003+08:00

"Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick.

This is a very engaging book chronicling the Pilgrims' voyage to and early years in the New World as well as King Philip's War (the first and bloodiest English-Native Americans war.) Was recommended to me by a friend and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in history!

"Together" by The Raconteurs

2008-06-25T19:42:00.003+08:00

Even though it is just a side project of several established musicians, this is one of the best bands out there. And this is a great song with great lyrics. As usual, enjoy!

Quiz of the day 3

2008-06-23T19:13:00.002+08:00

Here goes the third installment.

The handshake problem: At a party everyone shakes hand with everyone else. There are 666 handshakes in total. How many people are there at the party?

Difficulty level: Easy (high school math).

As usual, the first person to get the correct answer gets a very loud applause :)

A tribute to Tim Russert

2008-06-15T22:08:00.002+08:00

RIP, buddy!

Why?

2008-06-09T15:30:00.003+08:00

Don't you think it's freaking annoying that in life we have to do things we don't particularly like doing?

Take breathing for example. Personally, I'm no big fan. I could literally save a lot of my breath if I didn't have to continually suck in (increasing polluted) air only to blow it all out again. With millions of years of evolution behind us, I wonder why no organism has developed an oxygen-independent biological system. If it wasn't fatal, I'd very much like to take a long break from this laborious yet necessary exercise.

And there are many other less vital things too. Like doing laundry, brushing teeth and so on. There are just way too many frivolous things that need to be done even if they're about as exiting as eating a bar of soap. Sigh!

Consequences of rising food prices

2008-06-02T18:53:00.006+08:00

I think it is fair to say that the soaring food prices, especially that of rice, have hurt most people. We in Asia are hit even harder because rice is our staple food.

The causes of the increasing prices are well-known enough: Higher demand in Asia because of new-found prosperity, crop damages in countries like Vietnam, the use of some agricultural produces (especially corn) to make biofuels and so on.

But what are the consequences? More specifically: What are the consequences that are not very obvious and may, therefore, often be ignored? I can think of one scenario that is caused directly by high price of rice.

I'm sure Cambodia is one of the countries hardest hit by this food price crisis. And I don't mean the poor people who are the victims here. I mean the political parties. They must be very sad. Soaring rice price in an election year simply spells disaster. Imagine when the parties have to give out free rice to potential voters during campaign rallies. One 50-kg bag of rice for one family is no longer possible unless the parties don't mind going bankrupt. The only way out is to give out free noodle, sarongs, or "MSG" instead of rice. A typical rally should sound something like this:

Politician: "So thank you very much brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunties for being here today. Our party will never forget you. In fact, we know very well the hardship of rural people like you all. I myself grew up in a poor farming family. If we are elected, we will help to the best of our ability. We will build new schools, irrigation systems, roads, and hospitals. As of now, we can only thank you by some small gifts from our hearts. Each family here will get two sarongs, 2 kramas, 2 T-shirts, 1 box of instant noodle, 2 bags of "MSG", and 10,000 riels in cash."

People: "No. We want rice! We want rice! We want rice!"

Politician: "Now see, brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunties, you don't understand. Recent researches have shown that eating too much rice can be detrimental to your health. Doctors have recommended that you start eating instant noodle instead."

People: "We don't care! We love rice! We want rice! We want rice! We want rice!"

Politician: "But, brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunties, the instant noodle we're giving out is MaMa. It tastes very good. It's not just some made-in-Vietnam noodle."

People: "We don't care! We love rice! We want rice! We want rice! We want rice!"

Politician: "Fine, fine fine! Only you know what you want best! After we get elected, we assure you that every family here will get not just 1 but 2 bags of rice. Is that agreed?"

People: (Whispering amongst themselves) "Ok, let's not waste time. Let's just go home and go back to our farms. Better grow our own rice than wait for it to rain down from the sky."

Everytime cover by Glen Hansard

2008-05-31T15:00:00.001+08:00

Here's one of my most favorite songs covered by Glen Hansard of The Frames. Enjoy!

I... AM... OUT... OF... MY... VOICE... SERIOUSLY...

2008-05-22T05:48:00.002+08:00

Picture paints a thousand words. So here's ten thousand words for you (since it's quite a big picture) :) I couldn't recall the last time my heart pumped so hard!!! Finally!!! I've been waiting for this for a long long long time!!! Gotta sleep!!!

Memorable quote

2008-05-17T23:39:00.002+08:00

"Fight for your country - that is the best, the only omen!" - Hector.

Movie just seen

2008-05-14T21:25:00.003+08:00

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

This is, hands down, the freaking funniest movie I've seen this year (but again, I've seen only about five). Apart from the jokes (and I assure you there are many), here are the two things I like most about the movie (spoilers here, don't read on if you haven't seen the movie):

1. The opening song: "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.

I'd heard this song before somewhere, but I didn't know who sang it. After I saw the movie, I just had to find out more about it. Turned out it was a song written for a Jazz singer named Louis Armstrong. A lot of other artists also did cover versions later on. This is one of the most beautiful and uplifting songs I've ever heard... ever. This is so gonna be the song to which I dance with my wife on my wedding day (in about 10 years' time :). Here's a live version of the song:

2. The poem recited by Kumar at the end of the movie titled "The Square Root of Three" by Dave Feinberg.

A very funny and touching poem. Here it goes:

"I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed".

Quiz of the day 2

2008-05-12T02:02:00.010+08:00

Here's today's edition:

Which team won the Barclays Premier League during the 2007-2008 season?

Here's a clue:

Yes you're right!!!
MANCHESTER UNITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now take that Chelsea and Arsenal (to Chelsea and Arsenal fans, nothing personal here). United have been the best team and the best team are now champions. I just can't stop smiling...

Now to the real quiz question:

Who do you think will win the Champions League final in Moscow in two weeks' time?

Now if your answer is not Manchester United, you're wrong :)

TED Talks: Richard Dawkins

2008-04-27T11:49:00.001+08:00

Here's one of my heroes talking about the strangeness of science at TED Talks.

Bayon Temple on the Colbert Report and Ta Prom Temple in a Pepsi ad... Darn cool

2008-04-24T22:31:00.004+08:00

A few month ago, I posted this entry about a novel that has the Bayon Temple on its cover (just that the book was actually supposed to be about a Mayan temple!)

Seems like putting footages of ancient Khmer temples on videos and the like has been very much the fashion lately. The Bayon (again!) has been used by the Colbert Report (one of my most favorite shows ever. Look out at 0:43 onwards) and the Ta Prom appears in a fantastic new Pepsi ad (from 0:28).

It's good to see familiar images from our country, but I doubt that the people watching these videos actually know where these temples are from. Do share if you know of other Cambodia-related things mentioned or shown on any other forms of foreign print or media.

What I just finished reading and what I'm reading right now

2008-04-24T18:07:00.007+08:00

God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

I enjoyed this one a lot for its exciting and poetic prose. The book shows Hitchens's tremendous ability to write as much as his dislike for god.

The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan

My first Carl Sagan book. It looks promising so far.

From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman

A travelogue-cum-political-commentary from the author of "The World is Flat". I'm sure I'd like this one.

Another memorable quote

2008-04-24T17:46:00.000+08:00

"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones." - Richard Dawkins.

Here goes the video

2008-04-21T19:17:00.000+08:00

This must be one of the funniest videos on YouTube.

Quiz of the day!

2008-04-14T23:40:00.003+08:00

From now on I'll post quizzes/brain teasers/puzzles here from time to time. The first person to come up with the correct answer will get a fantastic prize: A big round of applause from me!

Try to be honest and not cheat by looking the answer up in Google for example. The answer will be revealed in the next edition of the quiz if the no correct guess has been made.

So here goes today's question:

What is the 11-letter word that all smart people spell incorrectly?

Happy Khmer New Year!

2008-04-13T11:54:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year of the Rat to Cambodians everywhere! May all your good wishes come true!

Little, ordinary, everyday things that set me thinking

2008-04-09T21:27:00.003+08:00

You know there are little things in life that, though they seem very insignificant at first glance, may set your mind racing in directions you have little control over. One of those things happened to me this evening.

I was having dinner at a hawker center near where I live and as usual I took my wallet out of my pocket and placed it on the table to my right. That's one of my many rather quirky habits as I always feel extremely uncomfortable sitting with something as lumpy as a wallet under my arse. And as usual I was reading while eating. The book was to my left and, as such, the wallet was out of my line of vision. I was rather absorbed by the reading that I didn't pay any attention to the wallet. I must have had total faith in the level of safety in Singapore and, to be frank, that is more or less the case. I've never lost anything valuable that I put on the table as long as I am present (I once lost a hand phone, though, after I'd left it behind in a McDonald's.)

All of a sudden, I heard someone address me in Chinese. I was quite shaken out of my reverie. The old Chinese man motioned at my wallet and kept saying something in Chinese. I didn't understand a word of what he said, but I didn't need to. His body language was more than adequate to express his meaning. He was telling me to put the wallet back in my pocket in case someone just snapped it away without my noticing. He must have observed me not paying the least attention to the wallet. And he was kind enough to inform me so. I said thank you and gave him a thumb-up.

He continued for some time in his little Chinese uncle-knows-best advise. I was smiling. I was thinking how nice of him to have told me that! It's not very often nowadays that people show they care for others. Sometimes ago I read in the newspaper that a taxi driver died after someone had beaten him up and left him sprawling in a public park. His life might have been saved had someone even cared to check if he was doing ok. As it turned out, people who did notice him were in too much of a hurry to get to their offices as it was the morning rush hour. How sad when people value work more than the possibility that they could help someone who is hurt! A guy did stop by and check on him eventually, but by that time he was already dead.

I think in many ways we are now undergoing a process of "dehumanization". We spend more time with a computer or at work that the level of personal interaction between us has decreased. Instead of talking face-to-face, we use emails. Whenever I want to ask my friends something, I SMS or MSN them even though I know full well that they're just in the next room. I do value a well-defined private sphere where I am not disturbed and I always get very frustrated whenever such a space is intruded upon. No doubt that is very important to me too. But what I miss most the last four years that I've been here is the interaction with my family, relatives, neighbors and friends. I miss the small talks, the jokes, the telling of stories, the sharing of ideas and, of course, the frequent nonsensical rants. Whenever my family and relatives have one of our frequent large gatherings, we are a loud bunch. I guess that's why I'm quite opinionated (not always a good quality I suppose.)

The old Chinese uncle reminded me of my neighbors. We always watch out for each other. Whenever my parents were away on business, they simply had a word with a neighbor and my siblings and I would be taken care of. Whenever we kids misbehaved, some neighbor or other would make sure that our mischiefs are reported to our parents (my God, that was not always a pleasant experience I assure you.) They had good intention though. And that was the most important part. They did not just want to see or enjoy seeing us punished. They genuinely thought they had a shared obligation in our development, to see to it that we grow up good and do good. That's the spirit of my neighborhood. I'm very much indebted to this. I hope some day I could do my part to help in its improvement just as it greatly assisted mine.

Light, Darkness: A poem I wrote sometimes last year in memory of someone

2008-04-08T00:39:00.003+08:00

Running, walking, limping, crawling,
Destination: nowhere,
Eating, drinking, breathing, living,
Purpose: none.

When life got empty,
There was a light that shone on me,
But now that light has long been out,
All is nothing and all is doubt.

Where light, hope and you used to be,
Now only darkness, absolute, complete, pitiless,
Oh eyes! You are wretched when you can’t see!

OH MY GOD! You won't believe who I met today!!!

2008-03-31T21:13:00.007+08:00

OH MY FREAKING GOD! I'm still shaking right now!

As today was the birthday of one of my group mates, a few of us went for a nice lunch at Suntec City. And guess who we met when we were on our way back to school?

Standing right in front of the Toys "R" Us store were none other than Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their two adopted sons Maddox, a Cambodian-born, and Pax, a Vietnamese. We went over to have a chat with them and, of course, ask for autographs.

As it turned out, they were stopping by Singapore on their way to the holiday home they kept in Battambang, Cambodia. They said they usually brought Maddox back to Cambodia a few weeks every year so that he could get reacquainted with his native country. When I mentioned that I was a Cambodian myself, Angelina started speaking to me in Khmer. I was totally freaking out. Her Khmer was good. And she was apparently quite pregnant with her second biological child (her 5th overall). As for Maddox, he was a very cute and well-behaved kid. He also spoke decent Khmer. Man, I was glad he's still very much connected to his old country.

Oh God! I still can't believe I actually got to meet such a lovely family. As we were the first few people to recognize them, I managed to have some photos taken with them. I'll be posting them here very soon, so watch out!

And did I mention that Angelina was one extremely hot mama?

UPDATE Hmm, let me see. This entry was posted on April Fool's Day. So what's the probability that it was a joke? I don't know. Maybe quite high I guess.

For those fortunate few who have taken your precious time to frequent this blog and read the post, I hope you enjoyed this harmless joke as much as I enjoyed pulling the prank on ya :) I also hope that the realization that this post was a complete fabrication did not cause undue excitement or psychological distress on your part and that no one will sue or take revenge in any other form on me! God bless.

Tibet

2008-03-22T01:42:00.003+08:00

The Chinese government's handling of the protests in Tibet has turned out to be a very ugly affair. At first I thought the Chinese were using heavy handed tactics to disperse the protesters to be sure, but they were just that: heavy handed tactics.

It's now quite apparent though that the Chinese troops have resorted to murder. They opened fire on protesters! Now, that is NOT an attempt to restore peace and order. That is an act of plain and cold blooded murders. Of course, the Chinese government's human rights record has never been particularly palatable, but I thought (or hoped rather) that reason and sense would restrain them from committing this very type of atrocity. However, it now seems as if the Chinese live by a system of reason and sense that is altogether very different from my own.

If the killing of five Bostonians in 1770 by British troops can to be called "the Boston Massacre", then what is happening in Tibet is surely nothing short of a massacre too.

What I'm reading: Democratic Presidential Hopefuls edition

2008-03-16T14:06:00.005+08:00

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.

The Democratic Presidential nomination race has turned out to be quite fascinating. I'm halfway through both of the books and both of them sure know how to write. I'm rooting for Hillary by the way.

Today's your day ladies!

2008-03-08T14:06:00.003+08:00

To all mothers, sisters, wives, girlfriends, single women, female presidential hopefuls and especially old angry spinsters all around the world, happy Women's Day!

Some knowledge sharing here: all my blog posts are now officially licensed under Creative Commons

2008-03-06T17:02:00.005+08:00

If you scroll to the lower right-hand side of this blog you will notice a small button saying "Some Rights Reserved".

Creative Commons is a movement that aims to make creative works available to more people with less stringent copyright protection. This helps promote the creative works, disseminate knowledge as well as encourage creativity.

As opposed to trademarks, once a piece of original work (literature, music, films etc.) has been created by a person, that person's ownership of the copyright of the work is automatically recognized by the law without the need to register with an intellectual property right office or something like that.

Under the Singapore Copyright Act, copyright generally includes right to:

1. Reproduce the work in a material form;
2. Publish the work if the work is unpublished;
3. Perform the work in public;
4. Broadcast the work;
5. Make an adaptation of the work;
6. Be identified as the author & to object to distortion or mutilation of the work (moral rights); and
7. Limited performers’ and rental rights (e.g., computer programs).

Now, if people other than the copyright owner of the work commit one or more of the above acts, they are said to have violated the copyright of the owner. Copyright violation in Singapore is a criminal offense.

Naturally, this is a very strict rule. Too strict. Imagine that you are a budding artist and you've just composed a new song (melody and lyrics). By law, once the song has been finished you're automatically entitled to all the 7 protections listed above. But because you're still unknown in the music world, you want your first song to be heard by as many people as possible so that you could start building a fan base. You upload the song to the Internet and allow people to download it for free. Furthermore, you also want them to help spread the song to their friends and relatives (by playing it to them on home stereos for example). But the problem is that one of the protections explicitly states that the song cannot be performed in public by non-copyright holders.

Creative Commons came up with a simple but rather smart idea that since the copyright is usually too restrictive, it makes sense to allow copyright owners to relinquish some of the protections if they so desire. Our budding artist may choose to forgo protections number 3 and 4 because he wants his new song to be spread around, but at the same time it may in his interests to hang on to the other protections since he wants to safeguard the integrity of his work (by not allowing others to adapt or change the work) and possibly make money from it someday (by not allowing others to reproduce or publish it now). Creative Commons achieves this goal by creating standard-form licenses that allow people to choose which copyright protections they wish to enforce and which ones they are willing to let go.

For example, my blog is now officially licensed under the "Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License". This means that you are free:

* to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
* to Remix — to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

* Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
* Noncommercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
* Share Alike: If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

Note that:

* For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
* Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
* Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

Do you enjoy seeing others fail?

2008-03-01T01:12:00.000+08:00

Is it wrong to sometimes enjoy seeing other people fail miserably?

One of my favorite TV shows is Deal or No Deal? and there's no moment sweeter (for me) than when a contestant, upon coming to the last two suitcases containing $10 and $10,000, declines a, say, $5,200 offer from the banker only to open his/her suitcase for $10.

It is simply amazing that people still believe in things like "lucky" numbers even though they know full well that all the amounts inside the suitcases are completely random. Yet another sign that homo sapiens are not very rational after all. No wonder economics is not a perfect science.

I guess (or hope rather) that the contestants, whether consciously or not, calculate the expected value of the amounts in the remaining suitcases. But, as anyone familiar with math knows, expected value calculation requires the use of probability. And here's the curious thing: People almost always tend to overestimate the probability that the biggest amount is in their chosen case even though it is just as likely to be in one of the other remaining cases. If $100,000 has not yet been open and there are 5 cases left, they believe that the $100,000 "must" be in their case. Oh God, why do people think in terms of luck and not probability?

If I could play the game, here's what I'm gonna do: I start by choosing case #1, then proceed to open cases #2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the first round, #8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in the second round and so on. I will continue opening the cases until almost the very end and then take the banker's offer. I will almost certainly not play until the last two cases (unless the amounts remaining are too trivial and I couldn't care less). If any future Deal or No Deal? contestant is reading this, try it and let me know the result :)

I guess these mentalities help when you play. First, be pessimistic: always assume the worst; assume that your case does NOT contain the big amount. Second, be forgetful: don't even care about your previous moves (aside from taking notes of the amounts you've opened so far. This is solely for the purpose of calculating the expected value of the remaining amounts); never regret a choice (because that's stupid! It's all random! Had you known it was the $250,000 case, you wouldn't have opened it. But you didn't know. That's the whole point.). And lastly, after you've "dealed", don't even care what are in the remaining cases; take your money and treat your wife to a nice dinner.

The banker is not that exceptionally smart, but I rarely see the contestants beat him. They always start by promising the audience a nice dinner afterwards but end up foregoing even the roti prata. And talking about the audience, never ever listen to them. They will always shout "No Deal". Truth is they don't give a hoot how much money you win. They're just like me: they enjoy seeing you fail :)

Quote of the day

2008-02-28T01:19:00.003+08:00

"The heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and thanks to that artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past." - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Movie seen last week

2008-02-20T23:48:00.001+08:00

The music's quite horrible but the blood made up for it!

Movie just seen

2008-02-03T18:43:00.000+08:00

Should a man ever cry? Isn't the simple act of shedding tears considered a sign of cowardice, a mark of blasphemy, the very betrayal in the highest degree of manhood? Man, I wish that's not true because once I've laid my hand on the Kite Runner the whole notion of the brave, unflinching, never teary-eyed man I sometimes aspired to become was completely and utterly shattered. I cried. Many times.

But who wouldn't? I challenge you to read the Kite Runner and not cry, man and all that you are. I picked the book up accidentally enough. My flight from JFK to Singapore was delayed the summer before last. I got bored and just walked into a typical airport bookstore and randomly chose a book. I didn't have a chance to start reading it until I was on holiday in Cambodia. But over there, I finished it and started over again. It was just so good. It was the best book I'd read the whole year and one of the best I've ever read ever. Basically, it's a heartwarming tale of two Afghan boys who grew up in the same household. One was the son of a rich man, the other the son of the servant. Their friendship (though one of them didn't want to call it so) was forged precariously based on respect, commitment, and obedience on the one side and pity and jealousy on the other. Through a series of incredible but plausible events, one of the boys decided to end that friendship. And he lived to regret it.

I just saw the film adaptation of the novel yesterday. As with any other adaptations, it was of course not as good as the book itself. Personally, I think words are a much better medium of expressing feelings and thoughts than pictures. There is this ambiguity, this liberty of interpretation, this 2D-ness to words. But once those word are adapted to screen, instead of emotions that we could personally feel we get concrete images, we have no choice but to absorb the interpretation someone else chooses for us. In this case, though, the filmmaker did a decent enough job. The presence of real-life Afghan actors gives the film authenticity. And so does the fact that the film was mostly in the Afghan language (with English subtitle of course). I think this is the best movie I've seen this year (but of course I'm not a movie person and I haven't seen that many.) The movie is no less touching than the book. In fact, some of the scenes are quite vivid that they'll stay with you for a long time. I specifically enjoyed the brilliant performances by the actors portraying the young Hassan, the adult Amir and Baba. They were simply fantastic. Again I just couldn't stop my tears. How embarrassed for a grown man to ask for a tissue paper from his female friend!!! But I just couldn't help it. And I just don't care. I'm not the kind of person who hides his emotions anyway.

Now, there is a way to be good again.

Bayon Temple on the cover of a thriller novel

2008-01-30T22:05:00.000+08:00

Just came across this novel called "Temple" by an Australian bloke named Matthew Reilly. It's supposed to be a fast-paced novel about some ancient Inca temple. Notice the Bayon smile in the lower left corner of the book jacket however. That's pretty cool, ain't it?

Photos of the day

2008-01-27T22:20:00.001+08:00

Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovich at the Australian Open women singles final. God, there's never been so much beauty at a Grand Slam match before but hopefully we'll see much more of them this season.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open men singles final. I watched the match earlier today. It was absolutely entertaining.

What I'm reading

2008-01-25T16:18:00.000+08:00

Here are the two books I am reading at the moment.

1. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. My fetish for presidential biographies continues with this excellent book on how Abe Lincoln managed to staff some of the top positions in his administration with some of his fiercest arch rivals.

2. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. A biography of John Forbes Nash Jr., the father of game theory and a mad man. Very well written. By the way, Russell Crowe was excellent in the movie too. Do watch it.

Just back from Cambodia

2008-01-25T15:49:00.000+08:00

I was in Cambodia for a few days to attend my youngest uncle's wedding. Had quite a pleasant time with family members and close friends.

Honestly, the wedding itself was quite a boring affair. I'm not really into the various traditions the bride and groom had to go through. But the reception was fantastic. Apart from great food, drink and conversation, there was the added bonus of "eye candies". What more can I ask for? It's really funny how girls spend hours making sure they look their best for the evening. I think my mum, sister and aunts spent the whole afternoon at the hairdresser's while I spent my time much more productively watching TV and taking an extremely long nap. How beautiful life can be for us guys!!!

Weddings are usually a good occasion to get to know interesting people (i.e. pretty girls) and I was introduced to a few. If my inability to converse easily with strangers (especially female strangers) was not enough to shoo them away, my rather questionable dancing skills totally killed the cat. God, I guess I really need some professional help...

2007: Year in Review

2008-01-03T22:38:00.000+08:00

It's almost impossible to believe that another year has passed. I've hardly had enough time to catch my breath before 2007 is gone just like that. But what a year 2007 was! For me it was quite a happening and significant year. Here's a list of the best and worst things that happened to me during 2007.

1. Fondest Memory: The one week I spent with my family back in August. My family's the biggest and most important thing in my life and I'm really sad that the time I can spend in their company has become shorter and shorter over the last few years.

2. Crappiest Memory: Failing the last-round interview for an internship with Barclays Capital. Apart from the fact that they paid $3K+ per month just for interns, I missed a golden opportunity to secure a not-so-bad job way before graduation.

3. Best Book: For non-fiction: Truman by David McCullough. Simply the best biography I've ever read of a man I've come to admire much more after finishing this fantastic book. For fiction: Schindler's List (actually this book is kinda non-fiction too, but hey let's stick to what the author chooses to call his own work). I watched the movie a few years ago, but managed to read the book only last October. A fantastic book which offers way more than the film (even though the film is fantastic in its own way of course). If you haven't seen the film or read the book, you really have to do both.

4. Worst Book: I really do not come across bad books too often. I usually do some careful research before I choose what to read so as not to waste my precious time on some crappy books. But I was deceived! I picked up a paperback novel (Honeymoon by James Patterson) one weekend from my library and wasted 8 hours of my life on it (I rarely leave a book unfinished no matter how crap it is).

5. Best Film: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Pirates is one of my most favorite trilogies (assuming they don't make a 4th one, which is a very dangerous assumption I suppose). The third installment did not disappoint. Of course this rating is based solely on enjoyability (is that a word?). If you want to see a meaningful film, check out Little Miss Sunshine.

6. Worst Film: Evan Almighty. OMG! What a horrible film! Too preachy for my taste and even Steve Carell managed to be unfunny in this one. The animals were cute, but it was still a total waste of my time and money going to see it.

7. Best Album: The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Both meaningful and entertaining. People call MCR emo, but who the f*ck cares?

8. Worst Album: Jordin Sparks by Jordin Sparks. I was rooting for her during American Idol. Her debut album is not up to scratch even though Tattoo is quite a catchy number.

9. Best Buy: My new Nokia E51. A perfect phone especially when it is equipped with WLAN.

10. Worst Buy: Durians at Geylang. Get tricked to buy durians at about 5 times the normal price. Will never forget this.

11. Quote of the Year: "I try to finish the day a little smarter than when I started it" - Warren Buffet (as seen on CNBC).

12. Person of the Year: Ron Paul. I admire this guy. In case you're wondering, he's a Republican Presidential candidate in the U.S. He advocates non-interventionist foreign policies, i.e. he's against the use of force and foreign occupation to "spread democracy" whatever the hell than means. Domestically, if elected president he'll get rid of the the income tax and the IRS and some other bureaucratic departments. Quite a novel idea huh? I think politically this guy is all nuts (because, given the mood of Americans right now, he'll never ever get elected on this platform), but I agree with and like him nonetheless and would really vote for him if I were an American. As of now he's an underdog. But we all know how irrational Americans are. In a perfect world, Ron Paul would be the front-runner.

What a volatile world we live in!!!

2007-12-28T14:50:00.000+08:00

It's amazing how volatile our world is even as we're about to start the 8th year of the 21st century. Last night I was having quite a pleasant time watching The Amazing Race Asia when they cut to commercial and I switched the channel. And right there on BBC World they were having a special program on the assassination of Pakistan's former PM Benazir Bhutto. It kind of depressed me and I never had the heart to switch back to watch the outcome of the race.

What is particularly amusing, in my opinion, is the fact that even in this age we, human beings, still resort to as uncivilized a trick as assassination. I know that those responsible for the killing are most likely extremists, but even extremists are human beings right? Where is their rationale? Where is their compassion? Where is their concept of righteousness? It's surprising indeed if they lack all of these. I'm an optimist by nature, but it seems like in today's world you really are forced to be pessimistic sometimes.

RIP to Bhutto. She was absolutely a courageous woman to have risked everything, including her life, to do what she believed was right for her country. Here are my early New Year wishes: may the world have more of the people like her and less of the assassinations that took her life!

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-24T12:09:00.000+08:00

Wherever you are, I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, friends!!!

"Word Up!" by KoRn

2007-12-18T12:01:00.000+08:00

I kinda like this song quite a lot. Very upbeat!

Russian literature and biographies are what I'll be reading this holiday...

2007-12-07T12:35:00.000+08:00

Here are what I'll be reading this December. As you can see a lot of the books I've chosen to read are from some of the best-known Russian novelists. Hopefully by the New Year, I'd be able to know more about the culture, the ways of life and the thinking processes of the Russians.

1. "Crime and Punishment" by Feodor Dostoevsky
2. "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy
3. "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand
4. "American Prometheus" (biography of Robert J. Oppenheimer, head scientist of the Manhattan Project which was responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb) by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
5. "A Beautiful Mind" (biography of John Nash, best known for the Nash equilibrium in non-cooperative games and as a Nobel Prize Laureate) by Sylvia Nasar

For guys only...

2007-11-13T15:59:00.000+08:00

How many of us guys are not interested in ladies with an hour-glass figure? Looks like we're all in luck, or at least that's what some scientists believe.

A recent study suggests that, apart from being sexually attractive, women with large hips (and small waistlines) tend to do better in cognitive tests and so do their children. Large hips + large brain = bingo for us guys!!!

Curvy women may be a clever bet

What's in the news?

2007-11-11T15:10:00.000+08:00

This is a very welcoming piece of news.

Cambodia's PM takes on boy racers

Book just finished...

2007-11-10T23:15:00.000+08:00

I spent the majority of today finishing Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex". This book is brilliantly, almost cruelly, enjoyable. It tells the story of Cal Stephanides, a hermaphrodite. Each and every plot of the story is and of itself very strange reaching on the verge of impossibility really, but taken together the whole thing is utterly believable.

One of the most fun reads I've had this year. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Here's a memorable snippet of conversation:

"I know. It doesn't seem like she's really dead. It's like I dreamed it."

"The only way we know it's true is that we both dreamed it. That's what reality is. It's a dream everyone has together."

Condolences to my friend...

2007-11-07T21:17:00.000+08:00

All my prayers are with a friend and his family...

Why the world will be ruled by jaywalkers and how ambition goes a long way in deciding your future...

2007-10-28T12:50:00.000+08:00

Been away from this blog for ages. There are two things on my mind at the moment that I want to share. The first one is not very serious, but the second one is as serious as anything can get...

1. Why the world will be ruled by jaywalkers

It is obvious to anyone even remotely familiar with evolutionary biology that our world will be crowded with jaywalkers. Here's the syllogistic argument. First of all, jaywalkers spend less time getting stuck in traffic and could instead use their time carrying out productive activities such as work and study. Second, those who spend more time for productive activities tend to be (probably just marginally but it doesn't matter) more successful in life and successful people tend to be much more capable to pass on their genes (including the jaywalking gene) to the next generation (for example, they don't have much problem attracting "mates" and could afford to raise their children well). Therefore, the jaywalking gene is a very successful one and in time to come our world will be ruled by jaywalkers. The argument is obviously valid, but whether or not it's sound you can decide by yourself.

NOTE: In no way am I endorsing jaywalking here. FYI, jaywalking in Singapore is illegal and unless you have absolutely no better way to spend your money other than paying the fines, you should never engage in the act.

2. How ambition goes a long way in deciding your future

I was talking to my housemate a few days ago and somehow we ventured into a very common yet interesting topic. It started when he asked me if I'd been to Malaysia before. I said yes and told him that in Malaysia there are a lot of Cambodians. I told him that mostly they worked as domestic helpers (maids) over there. This led him to ask the question: why couldn't they find a better job? Why do the majority of us Cambodians end up working in brunt labor jobs? After some thinking, I guess it's really down to two factors.

First of all, we are ignorant. I was born and grew up in quite a rural area and let me tell you that we're almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. We do not know how far other countries are ahead of us. We had no idea that the level of intellectual thoughts those countries attain 4 or 5 centuries ago were already higher than what we have now. And the way they put those thoughts into applications was what fueled their progress.

Second, with all due respect to every Cambodians, not only are a lot of us ignorant but we also seem to be content with what we already have. Unless I'm seriously mistaken, all human beings have the same level of potential brainpower, but we are just extremely unambitious. We do not strive to become better. We are already happy that we can raise a family. We do not consider whether it's good enough to just feed our children or if it is our responsibility to raise them well and give them education and every opportunity they need to succeed in life. That's exactly why a lot of our young Cambodian women end up working as maids in Malaysia. Actually, their parents are rather proud that their daughters work "overseas" and send them money every month. But they do not know (or rather they choose to not care) that some of those young women are constantly abused by their employers. In short, I guess the most dangerous virus of our society at the moment is the lack of ambition.

And how do we cure these two problems? I wish I knew.

Memborable quote...

2007-09-26T14:42:00.000+08:00

If I were an American, my favorite President would be Harry S. Truman (and it goes without saying that my least favorite one would be George W. Bush.) I'm currently reading David McCullough's amazingly entertaining biography of Truman.

Here are two memorable quotes from Truman:

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

"You know when people can get excited over the ordinary things in life, they live."

UPDATE: I finally finished the 1,000-plus-page book. It's extremely insightful and entertaining till the end. Very highly recommended.

What I've been listening to lately

2007-09-19T16:25:00.002+08:00

Here's the top 5 most played songs on my playlist last time I checked it:

1. Here Without You, 3 Doors Down (Man, this is an old old song, but somehow my housemates played it and I've been listening to it nonstop since.)
2. Stronger, Kanye West (This song's damn hip and danceable.)
3. 1973, James Blunt (Very sentimental. Good song.)
4. Umbrella, Rihanna (Hate this song, but can't stop listening to it. Strange. Anyway, if you haven't listened to Umbrella somehow, you must be from Mars!)
5. What I've Done, Linkin Park (Whatever the critics say, Linkin Park's still good. This is one of the better songs from their latest album.)

The Ring of Gyges: Are you a just or unjust person?

2007-09-12T16:07:00.000+08:00

The story of the Ring of Gyges always comes to mind whenever I think about what justice (or injustice) is. If you like stories, here's the legend:

"...(Gyges) was a shepherd in the service of the then king of Lydia, and one day there was a great storm and an earthquake in the district where he was pasturing his flock and a chasm opened in the earth. He was amazed at the sight, and descended into the chasm and saw many astonishing things there, among them, so the story goes, a bronze horse, which was hollow and fitted with doors, through which he peeped and saw a corpse which seemed to be of more than human size. He took nothing from it save a gold ring it had on its finger, and then made his way out. He was wearing this ring when he attended the usual meeting of shepherds which reported monthly to the king on the state of his flocks; and as he was sitting there with the others he happened to twist the bezel of the ring towards the inside of his hand. Thereupon he became invisible to his companions, and they began to refer to him as if he had left them. He was astonished, and began fingering the ring again, and turned the bezel outwards; whereupon he became visible again. When he saw this he started experimenting with the ring to see if it really had this power, and found that every time he turned the bezel inwards he became invisible, and when he turned it outwards he became visible. Having made this discovery he managed to get himself included in the party that was to report to the king, and when he arrived seduced the queen, and with her help attacked and murdered the king and seized the throne." From Plato's "The Republic" (359d-360b).

Now imagine that you were a poor guy and were in love with a very beautiful lady. If you had in your possession one such magic ring, would you use its power of invisibility to fulfill your self interests? For example, will you use the ring's power to steal money from a rich man or to seduce the girl you love knowing very well that you won't get caught in your act (because you're invisible)?

One more thing, I remember I once heard a very similar Khmer folk tale. Anyone has any idea what the Khmer story is?

Moving house, biz law, durian and some other stuff...

2007-09-03T12:51:00.000+08:00

Moving house: Spent most of Friday and the weekend moving house. Absolutely hated packing and unpacking. Extremely grateful to all my friends who lent a hand. New house near Kallang MRT, just a stone's throw away from Singapore's red light district (not that it makes any difference).

Biz law: Taking biz law this term. Didn't plan to, but the bid for corp reporting fell through. Didn't expect to like it, but turned out to be a very interesting and intellectually challenging module. Will probably be one of the most enjoyable courses I've ever taken during the course of my undergrad study.

Durian: Went out for dinner with a couple of friends last night. Had some durian afterwards. Was convincingly tricked by the seller and ended up paying about twice as much as I should have. Still frustrated with my extreme stupidity. Well, lesson learned.

Movie just watched and book just finished...

2007-08-30T16:33:00.000+08:00

Only one word "WOW"! High School Musical delivers again. The songs are still catchy and the dance still cool. It will air in Asia only on September 9, but I managed to watch it "a bit ahead of schedule". Don't ask me how :P
This book is the best life science book I've ever read, bar none! Richard Dawkins describes in details how natural selection can be explained as the process of the differential survival of replicating entities i.e. the genes and not the individuals or groups or species. I like the illustrious examples he gives in support of all the arguments and it's quite enjoyable learning how to look at the world from a totally different perspective: the gene's eye view. I can't wait to read more of Dawkins' work...

Just back...

2007-08-19T12:28:00.000+08:00

Wow, how fast a week can be! Enjoyed every second of my holiday in Cambodia. Didn't even realize it was humanly possible to eat and sleep so much! A lot has changed since I last visited Cambodia, but one thing stays fixed. It's always great to be home...

Soccer and dinner with Cambodian fellows here yesterday. My whole body still aches horribly. School starts tomorrow. Haven't even gotten rid of my holiday inertia yet. Lazy to even drag my fat ass to lunches and dinners. Hope all will be fine this term...

Well, I'm flying home tonight. Cambodia, here I come...

2007-08-10T09:44:00.001+08:00

Macho men, beware...

2007-08-08T15:11:00.000+08:00

While doing my routine scanning of the BBC website, I came across this article about a study of human facial features and the possible effects they may have on relationship-related decisions.

Apparently, a study in the UK suggests that women think of men with pronounced masculine features (such as large noses and small eyes) as less faithful, less warm and worse parents than those with feminine attributes. Women, therefore, prefer those with feminine traits when it comes to long-term relationship.

Read more through the above link if you find it interesting...

One week to go before holiday...

2007-08-06T10:54:00.000+08:00

Look forwards to the one-week holiday I'll spend in Cambodia...

High School Musical 2...

2007-08-06T10:50:00.001+08:00

I loved the first HSM and really want to see this one when it comes out, but unfortunately I don't have Disney Channel at home. Will have to wait for the DVD I guess...

Can someone decipher this?

2007-07-30T17:57:00.001+08:00

Yep, here's a secret code. Can anyone break it?

370HSSV-0773H

If Everyone Cared...

2007-07-29T12:06:00.000+08:00

Check out this song from Nickelback. I like both the melody and the message of the song...

My Fantasy Premier League Team...

2007-07-28T23:00:00.000+08:00

The new season of the English Premier League is fast approaching (and even though I'm really biased, I predict that Man Utd will take the crown again). For those who have played the online Fantasy Premier League, it's time to pick your squad and for those who haven't heard about it, the registration is now open. So make sure you head down straight to the official site and register now.

Here my squad for the new season.

Harry Potter: The End of an Era

2007-07-27T00:03:00.001+08:00

I'm exaggerating a bit here, but it's not too far off to say that finishing reading book 7 really felt like saying goodbye to a long-known friend who's going to a place far far away from you. You have no idea how overwhelming it is unless you're also a Potter fan. I'm not depressed or anything now that the series' come to an end, but I'm totally sad to know that there will be one less thing to look forwards to every now and then.

I first heard about Harry Potter when I went on a High School exchange program to Japan. There was always a weekly reading session where all students went to the library and read from any books they wanted to. Most of my Japanese homeroom mates always chose to read Harry Potter. Unfortunately, all the books were in Japanese and I couldn't read them. When I got back to Cambodia, I talked to one of my closest friends and asked him if he knew about Harry Potter. He did. And the first chance we got, we headed straight to the nearest bookstore (I still remember vividly the day we went to the Peace Book Center, formerly a branch of International Book Center near Preah Sisowath High School). We bought the first two books and dived right in. We've never looked back since. It was very hard to find book 4 and 5 in Cambodia. We looked everywhere in Phnom Penh without hope. Finally, we went to the Independence Monument Bookstore and there they were on the shelves (the bookstore only had a few copies of the books). But the problem was that book 4 and 5 were really really expensive. I just couldn't afford them. Very luckily, though, my friend was more financially secure than I. So he bought them and was very kind to lend them to me after he finished reading.

I bought and read the 6th and 7th book in Singapore. Really, I've never grown too old for Harry Potter. I just can't get enough. I read all the books, I read the two books J. K. Rowling wrote for charity ("Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through the Ages"), I watched all the movies, I devoured all Harry Potter-related news and so much more. Harry Potter has just been such a big part of my life. It's not just a hobby, but a passion. I guess it's one of those things you just can't help but remember through the rest of your life.

It's quite hard to express fully how fond and emotionally attached I am to all the Harry Potter books. Hope the following log from my recent chat with my closest mate (the one who lent me the books) shows the majority of my many feelings.

SPOILER ALERT: Of course, you won't want to read on if you haven't finished book 7. The chat contains a lot of important plots in book 7 as well as those in the previous six books. Select the area between the arrows and read on if you'd like to (but it's extremely long so you shouldn't really continue unless you have a lot of free time on hand.)

>>>Chet: so the boy who lived still end up alive :-)

Panha: yeah man

Panha: but i really think too many ppl died unnecessarily man

Chet: exactly. That was my biggest disappointment of all

Chet: That are killing that was absolutely unnecessary

Panha: exactly

Panha: imagine lupin and tonks' deaths

Panha: totally fucked up

Panha: all of a sudden they're dead

Panha: lying there in the hall

Chet: yeah. And fred

Chet: it was not important at all.

Chet: they got kill in de end FOR NO REASON!

Chet: They have been so long wit harry potter and they don deserve that

Panha: i know man

Panha: and imagine w/o fred how could george live?

Chet: tsk tsk . . . I just don understand why they have to die!

Chet: My biggest disappointment of all was de last 3 death.

Panha: me too

Panha: but i guess jkr was trying to teach us sth

Panha: death is random when it comes to war man

Chet: Don understand why have to make his son, teddy, an orphan.

Chet: My second disappointment is how it ended

Chet: i don mind de last chapter "19 years later"

Chet: but it jump to 19 years to quick

Chet: too*

Chet: It kind of just left everything behind too quick

Panha: yeah

Panha: we don't even know harry's job

Chet: I mean everyone else

Panha: i heard jkr's gonna write an encyclopedia though

Panha: hope she'll fill us in on everyone

Panha: yeah, those ppl like luna

Chet: de battle over, and he's in dumbledor office then it jump to 19 years later! What about everyone else?!

Panha: and lucius malfoy

Chet: Yeah. She kind of just push everyone aside. I'm so disappointed

Chet: the death didn't even got de funeral they deserve

Chet: Lupin fred tonk

Panha: i know man

Panha: the most touching part was dobby's burial

Chet: Yeah!

Panha: and fred, lupin and tonks didn't have a funeral

Chet: I thought so too

Chet: fred and de couple kind of just fade away from de book

Panha: i know

Chet: my first question for you

Chet: is de 7th turn out as good as u hope it to be?

Panha: as good as i thought

Panha: just totally hated the "19 years later" part

Chet: Why? I thought it's good. But it just got there too quickly.

Panha: i think it doesn't serve any purpose really

Panha: we all know harry would marry ginny and ron hermione

Panha: we know that for ages already

Panha: we dun need her to tell us that in the epilogue

Chet: She was just trying to end it. I like de last chapter. But there should be at least 2 or 3 chapter before that last one come

Panha: agreed

Panha: they shd have like a big funeral like dubledore's in the 6th book

Panha: and then they shd tell us what happens to the ministry of magic

Panha: and preferably they shd kinda declare that day "hogwarts day" or sth like that

Chet: i know. And then tell us about everyone. Tell us how thing turn on in de magical world and so on . . .

Panha: and they shd have a statue to commemorate it

Chet: Not just jump to de 19 years later

Panha: yeah, like house elves are no longer slaves

Panha: but are free to do what they want

Panha: because hermione has campaigned for their rights

Chet: i feel like there was such a big missing part!

Panha: it's jkr's sale strategy

Panha: i'm sure ppl will buy the encyclopedia like hot cake again

Chet: Tell u de truth, de 7th book disappoint me alot

Panha: it's good, but obviously not the best in the series

Panha: to be frank, this is the only hp book i didn't really enjoy

Panha: 6 is the worst one though

Panha: my most favorite is still 5

Panha: order of the phoenix

Chet: Why 6?

Panha: because it was open-ended

Chet: 7th book was just de three of them wonder hopelessly all over de country

Panha: the plot didn't have a strict ending

Panha: just a set-up for the final book

Panha: do u remember how fun it was for the first five book to try to guess the bad guy

Panha: because we all knew that at the end of the book the bad guy would be revealed

Chet: yeah.

Panha: no defence against the dark art teacher will last longer than one year

Chet: Yeah

Panha: and then in six snape was the dada prof

Panha: so we kinda know he'd turn out bad in the end

Chet: but anyhow, de 7th book missing sth that i really enjoy reading in de first 6 book!

Panha: no suspense

Chet: I get u

Panha: but i really like the fact that snape's turned out as the coolest dude in the world

Panha: i see what u mean too man

Panha: i think we really feel the same

Panha: the most boring part was when they kept wandering around the country

Panha: that was totally totally unnecessary

Panha: that was so boring i really wanted to skip ahead

Chet: yeah. Snape was also disappointing. I thought he would die trying to protect someone and impress everyone. But . . . Sigh . .

Panha: i disagree here though man

Panha: i think it's cool that voldemort didn't know he was being betrayed by snape until harry told him so

Panha: and snape was like "look at me"

Panha: he told harry "look at me" before he died

Panha: it's like he wanted to she harry's eyes befored he died

Panha: also harry named his son "albus severus"

Panha: that's great man

Chet: Oh yeah. Lily's eyes

Panha: yeah

Chet: yeah. And he said de bravest man in slytherin house.

Chet: He finally accept snape

Panha: yeah he said

Chet: but what i'm disappoint is that they didn't get to talk much before he dies

Panha: sth like "you're named after two of the bravest headmasters of hogwarts"

Panha: "and if u get into slytherin, they'll have another brilliant student" or sth like that

Chet: Through out de whole series, they alway talk bad to each other. Not one good word

Panha: yeah i know

Panha: quite sad for snape

Chet: yeah. I mean he deserve sth. It's all coming back to de fact that de story ended too quick!

Panha: also draco malfoy man

Panha: i really hoped during the epilogue that harry would like go and shake hand with him

Chet: yeah. Actually, i'm glad he didn't die.

Panha: i was really hoping for that

Chet: Yeah. Man! I was thinking de same thing!

Chet: they should have at least exchange a few good words! Just to show they become fren!

Panha: i know

Panha: on the whole draco was as much a victim as a culprit

Chet: yeah. I did pity him.

Chet: that's why i'm glad he's alive.

Panha: yeah

Panha: i'm sure he would never kill anyone

Panha: he wouldn't even kill the mudbloods

Chet: He couldn't

Panha: his mother and father also man

Panha: they weren't too bad

Panha: they didn't care at the end

Chet: yeah. They were just afraid. That's all

Panha: they just wanted to see their son alive

Panha: but on the bright sides, i laughed out loud in a lot of places man

Panha: jkr's very good at this

Chet: yeah. It still got alot of funny part!

Panha: it's sad but it also has a lot of lol moments

Panha: "i feel saint-like"

Panha: hahahahha

Panha: fucking hilarious man

Chet: ha ha . . . . Hey,

Chet: you know. . .

Chet: Through out de book, i kept holding my breath

Chet: i was so fucking scare that my fav character got killed!

Panha: Hagrid?

Chet: ha ha . . No man. I love hermione

Chet: my favorite character of all

Chet: It wouldn't hurt me as much if ron or harry got kill than hermione.

Panha: i kept thinking before i read the book that either ron or hermione would die

Panha: esp. after i saw the book cover

Panha: the u.k. children edition one

Chet: me too. And i feel it would be hermione

Chet: what's on de cover!

Panha: the three of them struggling in front of what looked like an archway

Panha: i thought it might be the veiled arkway

Chet: oh . .

Panha: but it turned out to be the gringotts break-in part

Chet: Oh. De one serius fell through

Panha: yeah

Chet: honestly, i think ron and harry are two stupid boys and would got nowhere without hermione.

Panha: talking abt hermioned, i really think it's illogical that she'd end up with ron man

Panha: i was one of the most devoted harry/hermione believer man

Chet: Honestly, i alway thought she would end up with harry

Panha: yeah

Panha: that's random again u know

Chet: i start to believe more when ron left them.

Panha: tell me what characteristics of ginny that hermione doesn't have?

Panha: and then why didn't harry choose hermione?

Panha: and with all due respect to ron, what does hermione see in him man?

Chet: Hermione is de best character in de book. Far better than the boy who lived himself!

Panha: i think so

Chet: Ron doesn't deserve her

Panha: frankly, i don't think harry's that great

Panha: he's just only brave

Panha: that's all

Panha: he's too rash and sometimes indecisive

Panha: and just plain stupid sometimes

Chet: i know. He's not alot better than ron

Chet: hermione was de one who hold de group together

Panha: his best part is definitely his bravery man

Panha: imagine the scene where he walked to voldemort and knew very well that he'd die

Panha: that was very emotional for me man

Chet: he's brave but brainless

Panha: that's where hermione fits in

Panha: u're right, she's the one holding them all together

Panha: hey one more thing i'm disappointed abt

Panha: the dursleys man

Chet: I personally believe she's de best one among them.

Chet: they would got nowhere without her

Panha: jkr shd say sth abt them

Chet: yeah.

Panha: i really wanted to see harry reunited with his only family

Chet: there're so much that she left behind!

Panha: i know

Chet: at least give hint that they got on good together

Chet: they love each other

Panha: u know the first part of the book when i actually cried

Panha: and cried a lot too

Chet: but she just push them aside. I feel that maybe she forget about them

Panha: it's when dudley said goodbye to harry

Panha: he was like "so he's not coming with us"

Panha: "he saved my life"

Panha: and he left tea for harry outside his room

Chet: I had watery eyes lot of part but i actually break only on dobby funeral part

Panha: i cried in a lot of places man

Chet: de begining was also touching. When they say goodbye. Yeah man. Very sad

Panha: but the biggest surprise for me is really the lupin and tonk part

Panha: the sadest in my opinion

Chet: oh i forget that.

Chet: i also couldn't stop myself when fren lupin and tonk die

Chet: they just die and that it was completly pointless

Chet: i can understand dumbledor dead! But i can't understand their death at almost de last part

Panha: i know

Panha: at least, let's say, they could die protecting someone else

Panha: let's say fred tried to shield george from danger or sth

Panha: but he got killed by a piece of wall for god's sake

Chet: Fred dead was sad

Chet: but it was a bit stupid like you said. Wall . .

Chet: But at least it said sth about fred dead

Chet: but lupin n tonk dead come n go too quickly. Without any details

Panha: i guess jkr just likes making characters orphans

Panha: harry was an orphan

Panha: so prob it's cool to make teddy lupin an orphan too

Chet: Did u notice de fact that the whole gang is dead. De jame serius pettigrew and finally lupin

Panha: yeah

Panha: and snape

Panha: and lily

Panha: talking abt pettigrew

Panha: he didn't really redeem himself either

Panha: but at least he showed mercy

Chet: yeah lily and snape.

Chet: yeah. He still die as being a bad guy

Chet: dumbledor said that he would be useful to harry. And harry let him go in de 3rd book

Chet: but it turn out he wasn't useful

Panha: in a way he was

Panha: he helped voldemort take harry's blood

Chet: no. I believe he was bad and die as a bad guy

Chet: never turn to de good side

Panha: but he showed remorse right

Panha: he hesitated

Panha: and his silver hand killed him because he hesitated to kill harry

Chet: I wouldn't count that

Chet: By de way, did u feel that ron was kind of useless in de 7th book?

Chet: there was little role for him

Panha: well, he saved harry's life man

Panha: even though that part was not very believable

Panha: i think this is the bad part abt book 7

Panha: some plots are just not believable

Chet: Saving harry life. This is de only part i can think of ron

Chet: it's kind of just too much fantasy

Panha: haha yeah

Panha: it seems to me that jkr just made things up as she went along the storyline

Panha: that's the difference between great plot and loose plot

Panha: i think she just created fantasy to fill in the plot holes sometimes

Chet: i feel like ron was missing from de book

Chet: feel like ron was just tag along with nothing to do

Panha: the part where teddy, dean, griphook and the other goblin just popped up and talked abt the fake gryffindor sword is really unbelievable also

Panha: and the part where harry stopped saying voldemort's name and all of a sudden he said it and was taken prisoners by the snatchers

Panha: that's just plain insane man

Chet: i know it's a small world but not that small! Lol

Panha: yeah i know

Chet: yeah

Chet: cuz he said his name then they got in load of trouble

Chet: it was stupid

Chet: anyway, i alway feel harry is stupid and stubborn. Without hermione, they be lost in de wood for another century or so

Panha: agree

Chet: who's your fav character?

Panha: i don't have a strict fave one

Panha: but i like hermione a lot

Panha: and i have a crush on emma watson too lolz

Panha: i guess if i had to choose the most entertaining i'd go with fred and george

Chet: i put emma picture on de my laptop screen

Panha: that's y i was so broken when fred was dead just like that

Panha: haha lmao

Panha: snape also turns out to be so cool

Chet: fred didn't have to die. I just don get it!

Panha: if i had a dog or sth, i'd name it severus

Chet: yeah. But we alway know that he's de good guy

Panha: we kinda have guessed that long time ago

Panha: but we also always guessed that he'd die

Panha: that's the strange part

Chet: but i never thought he love lily

Panha: me neither

Panha: i always trusted dumbledore though

Panha: i really thought that if he trusted snape then snape must be a good guy

Panha: hey, i really want to see hermione teach at hogwarts

Chet: dumbledor, as ron has said it many time, :-) is not right in de head

Chet: but harry and hermione didn't teach

Chet: we know that in de end

Chet: nerville teach

Panha: yeah

Panha: we don't know what they do

Panha: but i hope that one day hermione would change her job and go and teach at hogwarts

Panha: maybe harry could go and teach defense against the dark arts too

Panha: hermione's so good academically. it'd be a waste if she didn't teach

Chet: i hope she harry and gin teach

Chet: and ron go to work in de ministry

Panha: yeah ron shd really go to work in the ministry

Panha: and mr weasley shd become the minister of magic or sth like that

Panha: the weasleys shd come out of there poverty

Chet: and at least make that family get rich!

Panha: even though, i have to admit it won't be as fun if they were rich

Chet: lol! Exactly man.

Panha: hahahahahhaha

Chet: was thinking de same thing.

Panha: we agree on a lot of stuff man

Chet: Yeah. But make them rich in de end!

Chet: Alot of fun stuff came from their lack of money

Chet: but they should be rich in de end

Panha: yeah

Panha: reminds me of the funny part in book 1 i just reread

Panha: the part where malfoy made fun of ron

Chet: which part

Chet: i read book 1th to 5th 3 times already.

Chet: i read book 6th twice

Panha: he said sth like "my father told me all abt the weasleys. they all have red hair, freckles and way too many children that they can afford"

Chet: but i only read book 7th once. Finish it today

Panha: it was hilarious man

Panha: haha

Panha: i'm almost at the end of book 1 now

Chet: ha ha . . Draco said that on de train.

Panha: i'll reread everything to make sure i haven't missed anything

Panha: yeah

Panha: a lot of poverty-related jokes

Panha: which part do u think is the funniest in book 7 though?

Chet: My favorite part in book 1 is when it said " from that time on, the 3 of them become great fren"

Chet: sth like that

Chet: book 7th . .

Chet: Hmmm . . . Maybe de holyness part

Chet: de joke about george ear

Panha: yeah that one's very funny

Panha: haha

Panha: he was like "i'm holey"

Chet: what's your?

Panha: my most fav part is the one when ron said all the house elves shd be evacuated

Panha: because it was dangerous for them

Chet: you know, fred die when percy made his first joke ever! Sad . . . :-)

Panha: and then hermione jumped on him and kissed him

Panha: and then harry was like "OI!THERE'S A WAR GOING ON HERE"

Chet: I think that was sweet rather than funny

Panha: the kissing part is sweet man

Chet: oh, yeah. It was funny when harry said that

Panha: but the "OI" part

Panha: that's fucking classic

Panha: yeah percy was joking

Panha: shit

Panha: and fred was still laughing when he got killed

Chet: yeah, did i mention that i'm resigning minister? Then fred laugh and . . . Gone. Sad

Panha: yeah man

Panha: damn funny and all of sudden prob the saddest part of the book

Panha: to be frank, i relaly didn't see that coming

Panha: and i guess no one did

Chet: i never thought that fred would die

Chet: never

Panha: no one ever guessed that man

Panha: and speaking abt funny

Chet: i sense lupin death coming somehow. But i never thought fred would die

Panha: there's also the part where they transformed into 6 fake harries

Panha: fred and george was like "blimey, we're identical"

Panha: damn, i was lauging so loud man

Panha: and then fleur was like "oh bill, I look 'orrible"

Chet: oh yeah! I really laugh at that part

Chet: they alway been identical and that joke was killing! Lol

Chet: and then ron mention de tattoo! Lol

Panha: yeah haha

Panha: "ginny never mentioned much abt the tattoo" or sth like that

Panha: man, i'm really gonna miss the harry potter books so much

Panha: it's been such a big part of our lives, hasn't it?

Chet: yeah. It attaches to me very deeply

Panha: i still remember us wandering around PP trying to find book 4 and 5

Panha: man, that was the good old day man

Chet: yeah . . . Try everywhere for de book

Chet: when we start reading harry potter. She already produced 4 books

Panha: yeah

Panha: we started rather late

Panha: i really have to thank u man

Chet: we kind of late joining de club

Panha: i could never have afforded to buy the expensive books

Chet: Yeah. I think i was de one who start read it first

Panha: yeah

Panha: i always borrowd them from u

Chet: it's ok man. I'm glad we start reading it

Panha: me too

Panha: now we have one less thing to look forward to

Panha: very sad

Panha: but at the same time, we're damn lucky to be the harry potter generation man

Chet: hmmm . . . I wish it would go on 3 or 4 books more

Chet: yeah Man!

Chet: among de 7th book, which is your favorite?

Chet: i know it's hard but choose one.

Panha: fifth

Panha: order of the phoenix

Panha: i don't know why but i thought that was the best book ever

Panha: probably it's because everyone was so mature and so close together

Chet: It was great.

Panha: i still remember harry said sth like "you'll never understand love and friendship" or sth like that

Panha: to voldemort

Chet: i like to read about de life 3 of them had in hogwart

Panha: me too

Panha: the little things right?

Panha: like quidditch

Panha: and the house championship at the end of each year

Panha: and peeves

Panha: and so on

Chet: yeah. And book 7th didn't have that

Panha: that's y the wandering around part in book 7's not too good

Chet: i like to read about that

Panha: what's ur absolute fav out of the 7?

Chet: I like de first one de best.

Chet: de reason for it is that i like to read when de three of them become fren

Panha: yeah

Panha: definitely that's one of the most memorable things ever

Chet: trol and hermione stuck in de bathroom was how they end up being best fren

Panha: yeah

Chet: ron and harry conversation on de train when they first meet

Chet: hey i'm going to bed now

Chet: hope to talk more about it tomorrow wit you

Panha: yeah me too, mate

Panha: gotta wake up for work

Panha: hehe

Chet: i love to discuss about harry potter wit u since i got no1 to talk to here

Chet: we talk some more tomorrow.

Chet: Night

Panha: great

Panha: hey, have u got the two books jkr wrote for charity?

Panha: fantastic beasts and where to find them

Panha: and quidditch through the ages

Chet: no.

Chet: Does it related to harry potter?

Panha: it's just fun read

Panha: really really fun man

Panha: i'll get them for u

Panha: as a token of my appreciation for everything man

Chet: if u have then bring them and let me borrow :-)

Chet: or else, buy them and i pay u when u here. Whichever one

Chet: thanks man. We are de two true harry potter fan as cambodian!

Panha: yeah

Panha: no bigger fans than us really

Panha: ok, good night mate

Panha: talk to ya again later

Chet: Hope to see YOU soon. Night

Chet: bye<<<

Evil kid... LMFAO...

2007-07-24T22:50:00.000+08:00

Hahahahaha... This dude's a psycho. I'm afraid he'll take over the world one day. Just listen to his evil laugh... Hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...

WARNING: Never ever watch this video at work or in class. You shall not hold me responsible if you get fired from your job or expelled from your school...

Just finished...

2007-07-23T20:10:00.000+08:00

The adventure has come to an end. And what an end it was! I'm just too overwhelmed right now to tell you guys what it feels like to finish reading the book knowing full well that it's gonna be the last one. To make things worse, I've caught this terrible cold and got this evil sore throat. Check this out first, though! Will tell you all later how the ride was...

ONE MORE DAY TO GO...

2007-07-19T20:49:00.000+08:00

Yeah, you read it right! Only one more day to go... It's gonna be the longest day ever, but it'll also feel like Good Friday for all Potter fans!!! Can't wait for Saturday to come...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

2007-07-16T21:53:00.000+08:00

I'm not exaggerating when I say this: this movie is probably the best Potter movie so far. Order is actually my absolute favorite book of the Harry Potter series and I think they did a fantastic job with the film. In terms of character development, Order is without doubt the most vital. Everyone turn so mature and responsible. And Emma Watson looks so beautiful I think I have a huge crush on her now lolz. My most favorite character in the movie, however, is Luna Lovegood. The young actress playing her was simply amazing.

Memorable quote:

"You have an emotional range of a teaspoon." Hermione to Ron. LMAO...

Five days to go...

2007-07-16T21:52:00.000+08:00

Oh my lord! STILL FIVE LONG DAYS TO GO!!!

Exactly one week to go...

2007-07-14T11:08:00.000+08:00

Mere words cannot do justice to the agonizing circumstance in which I have found myself precipitously placed. Oh cruel, unrelenting, merciless Fate! How have I wronged thee? Why do thou take such dark pleasure from torturing a poor and helpless soul as mine. One week! That's the rather arbitrary length of time thou have deliberately placed between my present calamitous state of perpetual wanting and the glorious happiness which will be brought about at the conclusion of thy brutal barrier as surely as night will follow day. I challenge thee, O Fate! If it is truly thy intention to prove thy benevolence, I dare thee to employ thy utmost rigor of exertions to expedite the passage of this one horrible week as much as would be allowed by the strength and greatness of thy divine power.

Do you see how wasteful the English language can be? All the above crap can be summarized by just one obscenely short sentence: "ONLY ONE FREAKING WEEK TO GO BEFORE THE GLORIOUS DAY ARRIVES... HOW CAN I MAKE IT FEEL SHORTER?" No wonder all those old English novels take up to 500 pages to tell stories that could be told in 20 words... That's why I sometimes like to read Cambodian novels instead (especially by Kung Bun Chhoeurn). They're very short and I usually only scan for the one special page anyway (if you know what I mean ;)...

Eight more days to go...

2007-07-13T16:15:00.000+08:00

The countdown continues... ONLY EIGHT MORE DAYS TO GO... But it feels like ages...

Ten more days to go...

2007-07-11T22:29:00.000+08:00

The countdown begins now... TEN MORE FREAKING DAYS TO GO...

Wikipedia Article of the Day

2007-07-08T22:42:00.000+08:00

Here's another fix of WAotD: Stewie Griffin, my most favorite character from Family Guy.

Books I just finished reading and those I'm reading...

2007-07-08T22:25:00.000+08:00

Amazing read. It will go down as one of my most favorite books and Richard Dawkins one of my favorite non-fiction writers. Can't wait to get started on his other works. Here's a quick quote:

"'Tell me", the great twentieth-century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once asked a friend, 'why do people always say it was natural for man to assume that the Sun went round the Earth rather than the Earth was rotating?" His friend replied, 'Well, obviously because it just looks as though the Sun is going round the Earth.' Wittgenstein responded, 'Well, what would it have looked like if it had looked as though the Earth was rotating?'"

What I'm reading now:
1. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
3. 1776 by David McCullough
4. The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud

Breaking news...

2007-07-04T09:51:00.000+08:00

Alan Johnston's been freed...

Compass...

2007-07-03T22:20:00.000+08:00

Bought this at Daiso (the famous Japanese Y100 chain store. In Singapore it's S$2!) yesterday. Frankly, I've been here for almost 3 years now, but I still can't tell which way is north. Hope the compass will help!

Memorable quote...

2007-07-03T17:46:00.000+08:00

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." Seneca the Younger.

Wikipedia Article of the Day...

2007-06-25T22:43:00.000+08:00

I like Wikipedia simply because it's free and covers almost everything. Usually it's my first point of reference for anything new I want to know more about. So I think I'll share with you guys from time to time whatever I happen to read on Wikipedia. Beware, though, that the articles are not always accurate. Exercise prudence.

For today, I just finished reading about The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Enjoy it!

Just pre-ordered...

2007-06-25T22:13:00.000+08:00

Today I got out of work early so I went to a nearby bookstore and pre-ordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... at last. I was in my office attire and the bookstore staff looked me over from head to toe. I'm sure she was thinking quietly: "What a loser! He's this old and still reading Harry Potter? Get a life, buddy!". And then she threw the ultimate embarrassing question: "Would you like the children edition or adult edition?". I tried my best to save some dignity and quickly replied: "Adult edition, please", but in my head I was like: "Hell, lady. Do I look like a thumb-sucking five-year-old?".

For those who haven't read the books, you really have to read them for your own good. One day you children will ask you which Harry Potter book was your favorite. Imagine what they'll say if you tell them you haven't read any.

It's coming out on July 21st, so rejoice fellow HP addicts...

Memorable quote...

2007-06-21T17:58:00.001+08:00

"I disapprove of what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire.

I hate Mondays...

2007-06-18T21:05:00.000+08:00

I really really really hate Mondays...

"Going to a Town" by Rufus Wainwright...

2007-06-12T12:57:00.000+08:00

Check out this video. Usually I don't really like this kind of music, but this one is a rare exception. Hope you like it...

Ocean's Thirteen...

2007-06-09T16:41:00.000+08:00

Gonna see this one this evening with a bunch of friends. Can't wait. Totally love the first two. From the clip, it's gonna rock the socks off.

Rusty: "You're Ok?"
Danny: "Yeah. No. I just spit into a pepper."
Rusty: "Is that... Are you... Are you watching Oprah."
LMFAO...

UPDATE: As mentioned, I went to see Ocean's Thirteen last Sat with some friends. Well, the movie is good but not great. One of the Ocean's, Reuben, was tricked by a businessman named Bank (Al Pacino). So all the other Ocean's gather to seek revenge for their friend by trying to rig Bank's casino and bankrupt him on its opening night. The movie has the usual dose of clever jokes and elegance, but the heist plot kinda gets old real fast after the first two movies. We went to a friend's house for our weekly Settlers session afterwards. I won two games in a row so it's not too bad.

Memorable quote...

2007-06-05T22:47:00.000+08:00

"No sign so sad as that of a naughty child," he began "especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?"
"They go to hell," was my ready and orthodox answer.
"And what is hell? Can you tell me that?"
"A pit full of fire."
"And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there forever?"
"No, sir."
"What must you do to avoid it?"
I deliberated a moment. My answer, when it did come, was objectionable. "I must keep in good health, and not die."

The above-mentioned "naughty little girl" was supposed to be 10 years old so I was like "Wow! That must be the smartest and funniest 10-year-old ever." Just for fun, the first person to correctly identify the book and/or movie the above quote is taken from will be awarded a prize. I'll buy you a Snickers when we next meet (if we ever meet at all that is)...

Something I'll do before I die: Part II

2007-06-02T19:29:00.000+08:00

A few months ago, I posted Part I. Here goes Part II:

1. Watching a live football match at Old Trafford.
2. Teach myself a foreign language (probably Spanish).
3. Visit all the provinces in Cambodia (I’ve only been to a handful).
4. Join the live audience at a “the Daily Show with Jon Stewart” shooting (my most favorite fake news program. Almost had a chance to do that when I visited New York last summer).
5. Learn to fly a plane (this one is probably the most difficult to achieve so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. As a kid I always wanted to be a pilot).

How do I get rid of my “sore loserness”?

2007-05-27T14:06:00.000+08:00

I’m being very frank here. One of my weaknesses as a person is the fact that I’m always so damn bitter whenever I lose out in any kind of competitive event be it a game, a sport or an exam. No matter how insignificant the thing is, I just can’t stand to lose and then be “gracious in defeat”.

Take for example the board game I played with a bunch of friends last night. We were playing Settlers of Catan. In case you don’t know the game, it is played by four people and the winner is whoever accumulates ten points first. For a long spell of the game I had nine points and was on the brink of winning. The other three players, however, formed some sort of alliance and blocked my every move. As a consequence of everyone trying to stop me, one of them moved unchecked. I did my best to persuade the other two players to watch him too, but it seemed like they were all hell-bent on stopping me and me only. So finally he won the game. I was furious. No that was an understatement. I was inflamed. I was so damn out of my mind I didn’t even care to congratulate the winner. I forgot they were all my friends. I was so mad I swore I could literally feel the heat in my face. I wondered aloud to them why they didn’t try to stop the other guy, too. I refused to play another game when they asked me to.

Now looking back, I don’t even want to imagine how foolish I must have looked then. I didn’t stop to ask myself why they did what they did. If I were them I would have done exactly the same thing if only to prolong the game. Why, after all, should they have given me favorable treatment and let me win the game so easily? But I guess anger and logic don’t go hand in hand. I forgot one very important nature of us Homo sapiens: we all care about what we want, but we don’t give a crap about what the others want.

So, you see, just because of my stupid inability to admit defeat in a trivial game, my friendship with three of my best friends was dented. Now that I’ve had time to think about the incident more carefully, I’m just very ashamed of my behavior. There are people who are willing to give anything to gain goodwill and friendship. I just flushed them down the drain because I’m a sore loser. To think about it, my former blog description (“An all-in-one venue for me to express what I want regardless of what you think about it”) was a vivid evidence of this whole inflexible attitude of mine.

I’ve noticed this weakness for some time now and I’m really keen on changing it. For a start I’ve changed my blog description. If there were special rehabs for sore losers like me, I’d check myself in. Has anyone had similar experience? Do you guys have any ideas how to get rid of this flaw of mine?

Probably Eminem's best song...

2007-05-22T18:44:00.000+08:00

Check this out. Quite sad and depressing, but I think this song has a very good story to tell... Enjoy...

I have to share with you this story...

2007-05-20T17:08:00.000+08:00

I read this story in a book quite some time ago. For some reasons it's gotten stuck in my head every since. I happened to re-read the book recently and thought I had to share this with you all. Hope you enjoy it. (I'm not sure if I'm committing any copyright violations here, though).

"FATHER FORGETS" by W. Livingston Larned

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding - this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real buddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy - a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, you head on your shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

My first piano piece...

2007-05-17T22:39:00.000+08:00

Some time ago I announced my intention to learn how to play the piano. Now, ages and some half-hearted self-taught lessons later, I'm proud to present to you my first piano piece. The piano's not well tuned and some notes sound rather weird, but the video's less than 1 minute. So give it a shot.

WARNING: All viewers are advised that the crappy piano player is not responsible for any personal or mental injury, loss or damage sustained during or after the viewing of this badly made phone-cam video.

Song I like...

2007-05-17T02:09:00.000+08:00

Check out this song by My Chemical Romance. I just can't stop listening to it over and over again. The video's great too. I guess it's one of the best break-up songs out there...

Who's Next?

2007-05-11T14:55:00.000+08:00

Ronan Keating came and he rocked. And guess what, he also brought a message.

Ronan Keating fans can check out some great pictures here and here.

There was even a petition to postpone an exam so that students could get to see the concert. I'm not sure whether it was successful, though.

So the question is: who do you want to see next? Personally, I'd really love to see U2 in Cambodia. Not just because they are one of the greatest bands ever, but also because they are true believers in and supporters of a better world for everyone. Probably, somebody should start a petition to ask their favorite musician to visit Cambodia... :)

We Are the Champions...

2007-05-07T01:25:00.000+08:00

Finally, we are the champions!!! Many thanks to Arsenal for helping to put the icing on the the cake... The football all season long has been fantastic and Man Utd has showed once again why they're the best team in the world. United for live!

Also, Sunderland's taken the crown of the Championship and been guided back to the Premier League by (who else?) the ex-Reds skipper Roy Keane. Can't wait to see the former boss and employee go head to head next season...

Out...

2007-05-03T04:41:00.000+08:00

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes". So said Mark Twain. Surely history didn't repeat itself for Man Utd. No repeat of the Class of '99 spirit. The better team won and, unfortunately, that better team was Milan.

On the bright side, they still have the Premier League and the FA Cup to play for which would have been very great for any other team. Move on!

My thoughts on the Virginia Tech massacre...

2007-04-22T15:54:00.000+08:00

I think a big trend now is to blame the media especially NBC (where the killer sent some disturbing photos and videos) for the massacre. That's the most illogical and biased explanation I've ever heard. Did Pol Pot watch NBC before he came to power? I don't think so. I guess a normal person can become a monster for a couple of reasons. And yes, the media may play a part. But to squarely blame it for every problem we have in general and for this heinous act in particular is just as ignorant as it is laughable. The media has become a very convenient scapegoat. Now if you wanted my opinion on why that guy Cho could and did commit such a foolish act, I'd list the following reasons:

1. He's mentally ill: I learnt from the papers that he's autistic. And of course he was admitted to a mental institution in late 2005.
2. He grew up in a more or less screwed up family: his parents moved the family to the U.S. because they struggled to make ends meet in Korea.
3. He had a real or perceived hatred of people around him: he talked about "debauchery", "rich kids", "deceitful charlatans" etc. Maybe he'd been subjected to some sort of discrimination, but I think the more likely explanation is that his hatred was all imagined possibly as result of his mental illnesses.
4. It was too easy for him to buy the handguns he used: well, he just walked into a gun shop, showed his identification and just like that he got out of the shop potentially more dangerous than when he came in.

Now, I think points 1, 2 and 3 are almost totally out of society's control. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which is difficult to treat. And after his admission to and subsequent release from the mental hospital, it looked like they didn't even try to cure him. In this aspect, society failed Cho. And as for points 2 and 3, how can you cure a family problem? And you obviously cannot prevent a person from hating other people, can you?

The biggest problem, at least from my point of view, is the fact that guns are freely available in the U.S. That's one point that is totally under control. And for some strange reasons beyond my comprehension, the American government does not opt to take control. There is a difference between intent and capability. Not every person who hates another person can go out and kill him/her. But when guns can be bought so easily, a momentary lapse in judgement can lead to murderous acts like the one we see at VT. Now, some gun lobbyists said that the VT massacre could have been prevented had it been legal for everyone in Virginia to carry concealed weapons. That's pure bullshit. It just doesn't make sense. Instead of trying to prevent the possession of dangerous weapons in the first place, they advocate further possession because, according to their logic, concealed weapons serve as a deterrent measure. Here's an analogy to this illogical logic: if the U.S. is afraid of the nuclear program in Iran, it should arm every country in the world with nuclear weapons as a deterrent instead of trying to stop the Irannian nuclear program itself. This pro-gun explanation is just plain stupidity to me. If there's no threat, obviously there won't be any need for deterrent.

We've seen horrible gun violence again and again in the U.S. School shootings have become somewhat of a calendar event. We've witnessed Columbine, the Amish school attack just last year, and now this VT bloodshed. My whole point here is that while you cannot prevent irrational thoughts, you can prevent irrational acts. If the U.S. government cannot prevent some retards from hating everything they see, at least it should stop making their job easy by stopping the now freely available gun supply.

Summer Reading List...

2007-04-21T02:16:00.000+08:00

I usually spent my summers back home in Cambodia eating, drinking, reading and going out with friends (but mostly eating). Can't go back this summer, though. Will be doing my internship here. So there won't be any eating, drinking and going out, but guess I'll be able to spare some time for reading. So here's the list of books I intend to read (in order of importance):

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (Will go crazy if for some reason I can't read this book during the summer. Has anyone pre-ordered it? Could you please lend it to me after you finish reading? Please, please, please!!!)

2. How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker (Flipped through the first few pages. Looked very promising.)

3. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Hope it's as great as the hype.)

4. Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare by Philip Short (Want to know more about how a bunch of people could singlehandedly drive a country into near-oblivion. Anyone has this book, please lend it to me!)

5. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (Told my parents I wanted to become Einstein when I grew up. Not really a dream-come-true, happy-ever-after kind of scenario, but hey, if you can't become Einstein it doesn't hurt knowing more about him. Again, could someone please lend it to me if you have it?)

6. Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner (Between creation and evolution, I'd take evolution's side any day. Look forwards to an engaging read.)