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The impression forces itself upon one that men measure by false standards,
that everyone seeks power, success, riches for himself, and admires others
who attain them, while undervaluing the truly precious thing in life.
~ Sigmund Freud
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Initial: Frederick
Profession: Psychology Undergraduate
Birthday: days left
Height: 1.76m
Weight: 63kg
Blood Type: A+
Waist size: 29-30 inches
Hobbies: Blogging; Reading; Songs & Movies; Chill out
Most Disliked Food: Anything crustacean - due to allergy
Favourite Songs to Sing to: For You (self-composed) & The Promise
Favourite Body Parts: Nose; Jaws
Schools: Pei Chun Public School (1989 - 1995); Chong Boon Secondary School (1996 - 1999); Nanyang Polytechnic (2000 - 2003); Monash University (2006 - )
It's been three days since I've returned from my vacation in Thailand. What took me so long to blog about this? Sadly, I lost the cell phone cable, which I used to transfer my picture files from my cell phone to my desktop. It is a hassle to be borrowing my girlfriend's cell phone cable to do the job instead. But well, I got the pictures, and honestly, there wasn't so much to marvel at over there.
If I could give a comment about my trip to Bangkok last week, it would be this: A mixture of enjoyment and pity. Thailand, in my opinion, is a poor country. It is no different from Vietnam, or any other third world country. The reason of it being labelled "developing nation" perhaps is just a simple euphemism. And when I was there, I had some second thought that perhaps, "third world" is really an extreme understatement. Call me a critic, and say that I was only exaggerating, but as if such things aren't enough to spoil my mood, the people there just freaks me out.
Overall I arrived at the airport last Friday and was greeted by young attractive ladies and some men looking for some tourists to be their passengers for the night. It is a "land of smiles" and that I agree - in the context of being guided safely to our hotel in a coach (phew) - for me and my family that is. I was too tired after the flight and all I thought was just to get to the hotel as soon as possible, of course, not forgetting supper before bed. I was told that the hotel we would be staying was called the "Twin Tower Hotel". I thought it must have been very impressive, but when I got there, I don't see two twin towers, but I saw a short several stories high piece of flat with some run down roads leading to the entrance. Then I suddenly remembered what the tour guide in the bus told us along the way... "It is a four star hotel". FOUR STAR??? Great... In Singapore, this standard is equivalent to a three star hotel... maybe just two.
The rooms were spacious, and so were the corridors, but there wasn't much to see anyway.. the hotel was pretty small in size compared to, for instance, Hyatt. But I'll not forget what greeted me at the hotel entrance. It was a giant Buddhist-like structure and of course, the pictures of the King and the Queen. Wow... I never had such privilege to be greeted by the pictures of Singapore's president and first-lady in a hotel unless I ended up being dragged into the police station. I was thinking, "Man, I just arrived from a democratic-disguised autocratic country to an outspoken autocratic-yet-not-so-autocratic country, and that the only difference is perhaps the prime minister cannot be found." But I like their smiles and I really wish Singaporeans do give that kind of smile, which looks genuine and friendly.
However, that kind of friendly treatment could only be received in the hotel, the zone of comfort. As we sail away from the shallows and into the deeper parts of Bangkok, things are more different. The streets are famous for their traffic jams, disorganised traffic movements, and confusing road signs which is all in Thai. The people on the streets were struggling everyday to make a living for themselves, and that include the taxi drivers, who cheated us twice by driving us all around to nowhere and pretending not to know English. How the fuck do you not know English and be a taxi driver in a nation's capital? Don't they know that tourists exist? Don't they realise that providing good impression and treatments to tourists is vital to their nation's economy?
Certainly, I don't think they have a single clue. Because the books they read are nothing but books talking about their monarchs and their royal lifestyles. There were no bookstores in shopping malls or on the streets (I've actually checked to see if there were any books to shop around for). Everywhere, I see pictures of the king as if he is some kind of a divine god. This makes me wonder if I've made a wrong trip to North Korea instead. I don't see my prime minister's photo everywhere unless it's election day, such that people would get to remember how the fuck he look like. Other than that, I don't think it is a good idea to let people marvel at how handsome a politician you are unless you are Hercules.
Besides, it was not as clean as Singapore, not as prosperous as Singapore, and the people are not as knowledgeable as we are (or as I am). But then again, it is a good shopping ground for most female shoppers (I've literally shopped and surveyed the entire mall) as there were more female stuffs than male stuffs. How encouraging this is! So girls, get your purse ready and shop there whenever you have the chance to be there. At the same time, perhaps some of you could marvel at the awesome beauty of some transvestites or she-males and get some improvements.. they're perhaps a great role model to follow. Most probably, they are the people who also brought the male population down (or even confused it) in Thailand, which explains why I returned home with nothing except a belt.
Food Food was great! I mean, only for the room service, the hotel's nearby restaurants, and the grand restaurant which we dined in during the company dinner. Those were the times I ate to my fill. Another dish sold in shopping malls, such as the Mango Sticky Rice is very delicious. Anything other than these mentioned were the cream of the craps. It is obvious enough once you've taken an all-day tour around the markets and the bazaars. You will definitely see it for yourselves. If you are daring enough to eat those, I'd say you are one hell of a hero (and 'hero' has some hidden semantics yet to be deciphered).
The Good and Delicious
On the left, was my first meal in Bangkok, which was Kakuni Rice from a Japanese Restaurant beside my hotel. On the right, was the Lamb Chop I had for room service at night.
The Bad and Dangerous
This is where sausages are sold in the market. At first I thought they were not cooked, but as I walked closer, they were cooked and left in the open for mosquitoes and flies to be fed... as well as humans who also have their fair share of consumption.
The Ugly and Inedible
Okay, this is the worst of the worse. Fruits lying in the open attracting bacteria and human stomachs.
Opinions Sometimes I really wonder if these people ever know what hygiene is like, or civilisation is like, or even education is like. It is true that they have the capability of adapting in such an environment while tourists shudder at the sight of such unhygienic ways of food preparation on the streets. Surely, such culture does not exist elsewhere except places like this. And the moment when I thought of religion, I was enlightened by a Nirvanish sensation of peeing, and I thought, "YES! This is it! Buddhism is part of the cause for such poverty because of its teachings and the people who merely follow such nihilistic and poverty-minded philosophy." Buddhism teaches people to be content with what they have, and if nothing is spoiled, it is best not to mend it. Again, religion hinders progress and all-round excellence. In America, I find bibles in every hotel room. But, in Thailand, I find the teaching of Buddha instead. What will I get if I'm in India? Gandhi? Shouldn't they just practice contraception by offering every room a set of condoms such that we do not have unnecessary births that add burdens to the society in future if ever these accidental newborns weren't educated and disciplined properly by their current parents? This is a huge problem.
Moreover, I felt disgusted and critical, and even more xenophobic when my family met taxi-drivers who took advantage of us by driving us all around town aimlessly, and pretending not to know English. From then on, I got a very bad impression of the Thais, the city, and the entire place of hell on earth. Bangkok has got to be the worst city I've been to in my entire life. If I were to store some dead corpses when the cemetery runs out of space, Thailand would be the right location to build a fortified morgue, not forgetting a little bit of air pollution here and there from third hand diesel-filled vehicles driven by uneducated comedians.
Just take a look at the life there and compare it with what we have got in Singapore, and you'll know how fortunate we are to have a money-worshipping government who can't stand disorganisation - The roads here are safer and more organised, the motorists were effectively taxed to organise the road into more organised traffic jams, the food here appears to be served beautifully only on pictures in organised foodcourts until you begin to see a tiny wet piece of tissue paper on newly washed utensils, and the only city that doesn't sleep is 7-eleven. How nice... For once, when I arrived in Singapore, I felt secured because if there's one thing I miss, it'll be the love of my girlfriend. I hated Thailand the way I consistently despise Singapore as well. But if I were to compare them both, I think the only similarity is that it is ruled by someone, and that the rest of the story? ...a full load of shit.
Critical? I don't think so. I'm pretty straightforward with what I've got to say. If there's nothing good about something, there is really nothing good about it.
On Sunday, I finally arrived at Terminal 3. Home Sweet Home! At last!
January 24, 2008
Hey peeps.. I've done my assignment and now I'm in the classroom with practically nothing to do, and this explains why I'm choosing this time to blog an entry that would probably last for the whole weekend till I come back from Thailand.
And yes, I'm going to Thailand this weekend with my family 'cos my dad's company has organised a company dinner plus vacation in Bangkok... one of the finest hotels, and so I heard. Well, I can't wait to fly off tomorrow afternoon for some time off from my final exam revision. But of course, I could never bear to leave this place without getting in touch with my darling. Well, definitely I'll be missing her for the next three or four days or so... but anyway, I'll still be enjoying myself and I hope she would do so as well.
Nonetheless... lesson has just started and at first I thought that revision would be on the topic of "Personality". In fact, we were instructed to be getting ready for the "Personality" revision. But today... change of plans... argh...
Anyway, I gotta go... and this lappie is not going to be resting in my house for the weekend. Sean is loaning this device from me. And till the day I return, I'll be blogging about my trip to Thailand.
Alright! Time to say goodbye or now.
Signing off...
January 20, 2008
It's Sunday, and in several minute's time, Monday will arrive. I've never felt so comfortable doing my own things at my own pace this morning, and that all the time I was going to church just for the sake of going, has now spared me of such agony. At last I could finally say to my contented self that I have been liberated. For years I was stuck in that church filled with disgusting politics within cell groups, bias and resentments among the members, and swaggering authority among the leaders. Yet, my doubts and indecision kept me wavering and in huge dilemma. Now, I've made a decision to leave my cell group and start my life afresh outside of church. In fact, I believe, that there are many more things I could do in this world and in this life time of mine. Religion and God are not the only essentials that people crave nor are they of the only importance, but the overall satisfaction and inner peace lay not in religion, but in the constant seeking of knowledge and meaning of one's existence.
As I have no longer much to complain about since my departure from a place that has plight me with resentments and bitterness, I would thereby blog less about religion and faith as this topic has taken a toll on my blog and ripping it off its own main purpose. I admit I have been too focused over the past several months writing solely about my philosophies, and indifference toward all kinds of religion. The reason being that my experience during those times were pretty much grounded into my struggle with religious people, questioning of religious faiths, and arguments over irrational superstitions. Thus, since the matter was over and that the case is already closed, I would now start a new chapter in my blogging history by changing the subject.
It has been a very good experience letting out my steam as I blog during those times of agony and deep thoughts. I have learned many things through reading widely during my free time, and writing creatively whenever I had the chance. However, blogging is still my central hobby, except that these days I am swarmed with deadlines to meet. I am very happy that I have found my way out of religion for the time being and start a brand new life in search of a better living. I think this should be the way that everyone should go about doing, as it is so important to seek happiness, freedom, and one's meaning of existence. That said, I currently value each and every moment of my life doing things that I love to do - anything that excludes the idea of religion, faith, or God. It makes me feel better in many ways, as compared to the times I was struggling to mix around with people whom I do not really enjoy being with. The reason is very clear - I wasn't appreciated, so I won't want to waste my time of my precious life trying to please everybody. I want to first, please myself, and the few who are close to me and whom I love, because they deserve better.
Anyway, I'm thinking of setting up a Free Thinker's community online by creating a forum. There would be endless topics which anyone could discuss about, and the aim of this forum is to bring Singaporeans together such that a strong local community and interactions of free thinkers, atheists, agnostics, or humanists etc. would be built over time. But first... I need supporters and initial members. Haiz...
January 14, 2008
I am tormented by the tyranny of the Christian faith. Over and over, those horrible believers were constantly in conflict against the core of my very own principle. For years I've been involved in church and giving in my best ability to serve and my original purpose was intended to glorify Lord Jesus. But with relationship with God, comes a responsibility for relationship with people. I felt unappreciated by my leaders, and my members... as if I was insignificant to them, and that all my efforts and time I've put in to contribute to my own cell group have been forgotten. Here I am after eight long years telling myself that everything is over. I've had enough... and if people still do not understand this, there is nothing more I could do to make them understand the way I am feeling. As far as I am concerned, I had to stop all these nonsense in my life right now. And as I started to hate Christianity and move away from this belief, I am living a very happy life free from faiths, superstitions, and all those spiritual nonsense that has been plaguing my life and my principles.
It's funny isn't it? Sometimes, when we adopt a belief which we once thought it would do us any good, until a time when something contradictory happened, and we started questioning its usefulness and reliability. That is when we come to term with whether or not we choose to continue believing the same way that we used to believe, or move on to another set of values and principles that would make us an even better person other than Christianity and religion themselves. We come to term with what is right to us, when we feel that we should all not accept things which are ambiguously factual and things which lack evidence to even clearly explain itself in the first place.
I've finally found something in my life that makes me free and happy, which is what I have been seeking after for my entire life. It is like falling in love with such freedom of choice and happiness like there's no tomorrow. It doesn't matter if I go to heaven or hell for that matter... because everyone including Christians are going to be judged in the end, and there would be more people in hell than in heaven anyway, so why the heck should I bother about such life-after-death myth or rumours? I would rather make the best out of this life time being happy and doing the things which I could, hopefully, make a difference in the society I'm living in, than to waste my efforts in worrying about the afterlife. There's much more things to do here than to prepare for death like any other uber religious people do.
Yes, death is a goal, but it should not be our focus. Death should be the warning sign to all of us, that life is short. And therefore, we should all embrace this beautiful and wonderful opportunity in our pursuit of our own Promised Land.
Some of you may ask me why do I hate religion. One reason could be due to my bad experience in church for over eight long years of my life. Other main reasons are because, in my opinion:
Religion divides people. It literally separates society in the way we each view the world as what is described in our holy texts. Whether their intentions were for good or better human morals, they still inevitably separate society with interaction along side the flaws of human nature. Because of our individual differences, organized religions often fail in uniting humanity with the concept of absolutism. Furthermore, as beliefs influence our ultimate action and hence alter our destiny, it is no question that our individual beliefs, values, and principles, being different in all aspects, shapes our destinies differently. We all have our own destinies and purpose in life, and all these springs forth from the beliefs that we personally hold within ourselves. Thus, to this day, as organised religion plans to unite humanity in the ultimate belief in a single deity, it failed to embrace modern scientific evidence, modern sense of morality, reason, and rationality... and beyond that, failed to explain itself by being contradictory to what it also means by saying, "We each have our own destiny in God". Individual differences within a single imperialist authority, does not equate to the logic of relativity within the variation of absolutes. It merely goes the other way round by saying that in all relativity, there are absolutes, and that in all definitions, there is one truth in each of them. However, the down-side-up logic explains that in every truth lies variations of perceptions and definitions, both relative in their own nature - meaning, in every absolutes, there are relativity, subjected to every definitions. Why not put it this way - "Our beliefs and meanings we give to our life and the things we sense and touch, are the result of our existence". God did not give meaning or purpose to our lives, but rather, we give meaning to it and thus, that is how we are defined. We are defined by the meanings we give to ourselves. COGITO, ERGO SUM - I think, therefore I am.
With religion separating society, it will inevitably separates individual to the point of marriage and other intimate relationships. It is a gross authority that forbids certain relationships that they deemed demonizing or improperly evil, such as homosexuality and the yoke between believers and unbelievers. The Christian faith is one very good testimony of such bigotry and disgusting view of these individuals, without considering the essence of love within such relationships - about the way it is formed just like any other forms of love and intimacy - it demonizes such acts as sinful and improper. This is the problem with faiths thriving on the absolutes, whereby in the condition of humanity, there is no absolutes.
The danger of religion not only lies in the denial of scientific facts, but also in its opposite operation against the discovery of truth. Unlike Science, religion does not construct and disprove its own hypotheses based on natural causes, it basically form conclusions out of supernatural hypotheses that is impossible to disprove. It basically explains nothing, drawing merely extraordinary conclusions with extraordinary explanations to explain extraordinary causes. And yet, people around the world were fighting and murdering one another in the name of their so called extraordinary claims of God and other mythical supernatural beings. Any normal intelligent person could tell that this is so ridiculous.
Do I leave the Christian faith because I'm disillusioned?
Yes, I am. I am disillusioned by how I was treated and the observations I've made all these eight years being actively involved in church. Not just that, I'm disappointed that I do not get most of my doubts answered in the most satisfactory way. Of course, there are billions of things that we don't know (i.e. is there an afterlife etc), but isn't embracing science, the constant seeking and discovery of new evidence, more rational and satisfactory than embracing a particular faith that doesn't explain anything nor put its religious hypotheses on the line in the first place?
It is time we wake up to this day and age of reason, and start thinking about the next step in life to which we should make the best of, rather than just merely "investing" in the treasures up in heaven that we might or might not get after we die. Then again, the importance of reason and rational thinking must not be excluded from the ingredients of daily living. What would happen to this world if everyone base their rationality and actions upon such feeble entity like faith?
The world would be so much better without extraordinary claims...
January 09, 2008
Watched 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' with Sean and my girlfriend today. It was a good historical movie, which means plenty of talking, slow motion movements, and lots of politics.. only for those who have the patience to endure throughout this epic storyline about the great queen who brought England to its golden age.
I truly enjoyed the show this evening and what brought me to laughter was how stupid those people back then could get by fighting non-sensically for a war known to be 'holy'. There are many holy wars in history and none of those were significant till this day. Think about the crusades and the inquisitions. Do they make a difference in our world today? Were they remembered as the most impactful events that contributed to the advancement of rationality and do they promote love? NO! These "holy wars" spread nothing but hatred and bigotry against people of different beliefs. In addition, these non-sensical wars sought to kill others in the name of God, the flying spagetti monster. Even today, these wars are not fought using primitive weapons or guns for that matter... it is nothing more than just massive evangelisms just to get the whole world saved and to bring in the numbers.
I don't see the importance, the logic, and find any stupid reasons to interfere in other people's lives just because of their beliefs. What I admire Queen Elizabeth in that movie was that she mentioned something like: "It is the people's deeds that will be punished, not for their beliefs". This has got to be words from a rational mind, compared to that Spanish King Phillip who was so deluded by his Catholic religious faith that robbed him of his rationality and sanity. There is a limit to everything in life whether one likes it or not. A religious mind spells doom to oneself and others, a meaningless mind encourages gullibility and ignorance, but a rational mind, free from dark age religious dogmas and superstitions is clear to think, dream, and act according to one's own level of maturity and conscience.
Again I shall remind you guyz that I'm not speaking against people who practice religion. There are certainly very nice people who are Christians, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and so on. My concerns solely lies with the issue of people becoming extremely religious, or deluded by a religious faith that somehow cannot perceive things the way normal, rational or intelligent people can. Yes, it's all about morality in certain religious teachings. I have no problems accepting some moral teachings from various religious faiths, just make sure that the "GOD" element is absent from that very teaching, because if a God actually commands people to love their neighbour as themselves, and to get people saved, it is already a forced order. If I don't like or love a person, no one can command me to love that asshole. It is by will and by choice that we either love or hate a person. But who does God thinks he is by commanding us to love others like ourselves? Surely, people back then do have a little bit of sensibility to be able to tell when to love and when not to love. Why do they still need someone to manipulate their morality for them, as if they have no brains or human emotions to do as they wish? Perhaps they do not have one, I guess. And if it is for the good of people, then why does the next commandment goes something like: we need to get people saved? Saved from what? Be killed and go to heaven so that there is no more sufferings and wars here on earth? Bullshit! Wars and sufferings are caused by people, and it doesn't matter which kind of people. Religious people and non-religious people are just as guilty - being responsible for the killings and the selfishness in this lifetime.
If moral philosophies cannot change the population of the world, there is no doubt that religion or God cannot either. Decisions and actions are determined only on one's conscience and the brain of humans. If the conscience is polluted or corrupted by some silly religious texts that promote genocides, subsequent similar actions of that person based on such texts would more likely to follow. After eight long years of my life being involved in a church, I've experienced the most positive sides of religious people, and the most grusome and disgusting sides of religious people too. They are one of the more amiable people I've met, perhaps, speaking in the context of the country I'm in. Yet, some or many of them can be harshly disgusting and ugly, because they would invade my private life, and among the kepo (singlish. kepo = busy-body) religious people, the most skillful busy-bodies are that of the cell group leader, the helpers, and the evangelising members, who are constantly so curious about my private life and affairs, and that anything that happened in my relationships in the past few years had to be considered or interfered by them. I say now FUCK YOU all, and don't tell me what to do, and who to go or not to go out with! Moreover, nobody appreciates my presense or the things I've contributed by sacrificing my time and my effort, even though I have a different way of looking at things. I mean, this is the real world isn't it? When there are no one who instinctively clicks with you, it is hardly anything you could talk about. And when there is nothing to talk about, whatever you do would go unnoticed. It's just as simple as that. And those stupid cell group leaders and pastors, acting as if they are geniuses of the millenium, told me to forgive and become even more spiritually involved with God (I could then imagine intimately having sex with God would be one way to please him, perhaps shaking my dick till it bleeds to please those spiritual leaders as well). However, I'm not doing them because I know it would be ridiculous to accept nor forget such unpleasant experience and hypocritical nonsense. But anyway, these are God's people, you know, the way God created them to become hypocrites themselves? These are God's children. Disgraceful, dumb, and totally scoring zero with emotional intelligence (EQ). I forgive them not because God tells me or commands me to. Rather, I forgive them for their god delusion and hypocritical behaviour and offenses towards me as a person with my own human rights.
Whether there is a God or not, I am now apathetic about it... because as long as it cannot be proven or disproven, it remains a mystery, but the importance of living is to do the most conscious good and to commit the least conscious evil here on earth. Morality is subjective to an individual bound by an absolute law. It is within such restrictive absolutes (like law and order), relativity could strive to be creative, innovative, and motivative such that there will be a prevailance of democracy, liberty, rationality, and free thoughts.
January 03, 2008
As I was taking a break today from reading up for my assignment, I went youtubing and found some disturbing news online. It is always so terrifying to discover that the world is engaging in some religious warfare, especially when George Idiot Bush and Dick Retard Cheney are currently in power. Leaders are people who make the world the way they are, and the types of leaders would create a great impact around the world in various societies. Furthermore, America is considered by most people (rather, the Americans themselves) to be the world's most powerful leading nation.
To me, it would not be so, unless it has a change in government. America is what affects the world economy, which in turns affect the way we live in Singapore since it is an American ally, and one of the more developed countries in the world. Singapore has no natural resources, which is why we still depend on various countries for imports of those resources, such as oil. And everyone should know that oil comes from the Middle-east. The war on Iraq was a great disaster, and a stupid excuse to fight evil and terrorism. Yes, terrorism is a great threat to modern society, and it is something which all of us should fight against. But what was really embarrassing was that prior to the excuse of invading Iraq, postulating that there were weapons of mass destruction whereby Sadam was responsible for acts of terror, none of those was proven true. This meant that the whole invasion was a joke. And while these evangelical Christians in United States think that those terrorists who were Islam fanatics were responsible for the lives lost in September 11 and so on, they failed to see that the idiot, Bush, is waging a "holy war" in the Middle-east, just because he thinks that those people are evil both by nature and by the spirit.
This type of Christianity is not only fanatic, but it is racist, genocidal, discriminative, war-mongering, malevolent, vindictive, and stupid. Out of a sudden, instead of hunting down Osama bin Laden, the target's been changed to Sadam Hussein. It seems to me that Bush can't even tell the difference between the two of them, perhaps to him, the world is only Black and White, Good and Evil, as well as Heaven and Hell. You know what? Only children think like this. Only children would be so naive to think that if one is not on our side (the good side) then that individual must be a bad guy. How foolish, and how retard that can be. This is what the Bible literally trying to say. But if it is not right nor proper for one to take the bible literally, then how illiterally should one take to fully understand without understanding through reading, understanding of semantics, and literally acknowledging those masterpieces of mythical works? If it by revelation, it is basically an excuse to run away from what was written literally on the scriptures. How does one know if revelations are "revealed" to that individual if all he did was to think, that is, pure thinking inside his head and convincing himself, that those revelations must be from God? It would be saying that what George Bush did was correct, because Bush told the nation that God spoke to him to invade Iraq. Wouldn't this be better - Pope Urban II said that God spoke to him to take back the holy land from the Muslim invaders who were Turks, thus leading to the Crusades. Even better - popes and many other christian leaders have told their people that their words have to be taken seriously because it has been revealed to them by God. In fact, these leaders never did tell them in order for them to believe in every word they utter, because to them, these religious leaders represent God himself. It is these sheer authorities that give religion a bad name. And they have the balls to call themselves servant of God?
Take a look at this video I've found. Somebody tell me this is not happening.. argh!
This world is not a place known solely for its absolutes without reason. It is a wonderful place where things are relative to each other. Even absolutes, too, have relativity within themselves if one were to perceive them in a different light. So the world is not a place filled with just Black and White, or Good and Evil, but a living condition where potential thinking and reasoning is involved due to the evolving intelligence of life on earth. Complexity should not be an excuse for simplified definition of spooky tales and untested beliefs. It should be investigated, tested, and disproven by methods of science. But if science cannot give an upright answer to the unknown and mystical, what makes one think that religion or faith can?
Faith is believing something regardless of whether it would turn out to be right or wrong. Reason is not about belief, but exercising critical thoughts, as well as constant seeking and questioning for answers and scientific truth. While it is reasonably alright to embrace faith (without religious context) with regard to daily living, one should not leave out the importance of reason, which proves itself to be more than useful and reliable, although it does not see eye-to-eye with faith.
Once again, I really really REALLY hope that the next president of United States would be more competent and less religious (more like fanatic) than the current president. It doesn't matter if one is a republican; a democrat; a libertarian; or a secularist, America needs a competent leader, not a pope, nor a religious leader, nor a pastor or elder, nor a church-mouse, nor a christian fundamentalist, nor a priest, nor a monk, and certainly not George Idiot Bush.
Of course, there are other dickheads in America as well (quoted by my hero, Bill Maher).
Sadly, what affects America would indirectly affect the people in other countries, including Singapore. Although one may naively think that America is very far away, the world is shrinking even further in this digital information age, and no information is too far away with just one click of a mouse.
The spread of such abrahamic religion is so quick these days that televanglists are already propagating their faith on the Internet, now avaiable in cell phones, mp3s, and PDAs. It is this massive spread of untested, mystical, and spooky belief that got everyone in betrayal of the cold and harsh reality of science and reason. Well, the harsh and biased treatments of atheists and other non-believers in America and many other christian societies have left atheists with no choice but to fight back, which is a normal human reaction to something that poses great threat to one's life affairs and living standards. Fundamentalists claim that a certain percentage of atheists are propagating atheism online, well, just look at the breath-takingly huge amount of religious people propagating their faith online, on television, on radio, on the streets, and even in the office. Atheism is no longer just a disbelief in God. In fact, Neo-atheism, the new terminology for the current form of disbelief, engulfs the cause of standing up for one's own right to disbelief in God and to live comfortably in a christian society he or she ought to be living happily in. The cause for this new Atheism comprises of the struggle for human religious rights and the right to be equal citizens regardless of religion or supernatural beliefs.
The reason I am in support of Neo-atheism is because it encourages the practice of human rights to have a choice between religion and science. It is completely opposing the ideology of evangelism, or evangelism-cum-discipleship, because: Firstly, it does not interfere in the daily private affairs of other individuals. Secondly, it does not claim itself to be the absolute answer to everything (unlike those who believe that God is) because we all have our rights and the evolved intelligence to seek for answers, which have brought us to this day of advancement in medicine, science, technology, and civilisation. Thirdly, it encourages moral behaviour and reactions not for the sake of religion or any gods, but because of human ethics and common social behaviour, which have also evolved throughout the history of man.
Of course, any religion can teach one to be good and moral. But what about the story of "Three Little Pigs", or "Little Red Riding Hood", or "Pinnocio"? What about moral philosophies such as Buddhism or Confucianism? And how about western philosophies by Plato, Socrates, Lucretius, Epicurus, and many others? All these things teach us the way to live and how to live. The primary intention of these potential religions are, without a doubt, good.
But it is the flaws of man that complicate matters to the extent of fighting one another based on their very own ideals, which they insist are absolutely right. Hence, you will hear things like "you will always lose", or "my god will win", or "you are still losing", or even better "my holy book is right, theirs is wrong". Whereas for I am concerned, the solution to such flaws is not just to practice tolerance, but to understand that religion and beliefs, when taken seriously, can do more harm than good. But my bottomline is that they all are delusions to the reality of life. Why is that so?
Now, we all know that GOD is an entity still mysterious to the minds of homo sapiens. Therefore, believing in a god is one's faith that has a lot to show up. If you believe that there is a God, then prove it. Here is a diagram illustrating my point:
Once again, it is not the Atheists', or Humanists', or Agnostics', or Secularists', or Apatheists' fault for their disbeliefs, as firstly, they have their rights, and secondly, many of them don't see the reason of believing in a supernatural reality, much less living within it or for it, when there have been no solid evidence that there is a God or a one true God. We cannot prove that God doesn't exist, therefore, the hypothesis is still the null hypothesis - not true; no effect; and insignificant. Until the hypothesis is shown to be significant, which apprantly rejects the null hypothesis, then we can say that there is a form of existence and that faith in that one true God (if any as there are many gods in the world still) is significantly necessary.
In sum, it is a matter of perception and perspectives. But that should not be an excuse to include religion in areas like politics, science, health care, and other aspects of life because religion itself is one fundamental ideology, just like Marxism, Stalinism, Nazism, Capitalism, Socialism etc. While Social Darwinism is an ideology adopted and grossly manipulated by evil dictators in the past, Darwinism is a theoretical approach to science and biology, and it has nothing to do with religious belief, unless one makes it a religion itself. However, creationism is not the answer to science, since it has its roots linking to the abrahamic religious beliefs. It is beyond reason to conclude that just because things are complex therefore they must have been created (a leap of faith), rather than studying the gradual details of its formation and investigating their processess and transformations.
January 01, 2008
Resolutions for 2008!!!
Stay happy, making the best out of my life in the year 2008.
Continue to improve myself and do better in my relationship with my love ones and my girlfriend.
Do well for my studies and aim for a Psychology distinction for every semester.
Read widely and improve my writing and blogging skills.
Make a successful venture in vlogging.
Spend wisely and save plenty.
Make new friends.
Improve my conversation skills.
Revamp my wardrobe.
Stay healthy and strong.
I had a wonderful night of new year celebration yesterday at Esplanade! Well, except for some idiots who were making a fool of themselves on the steet whenever there're such celebration going on, my girlfriend and I did enjoy ourselves, together with our friends, Sean and Elaine. I must say this is the best new year celebration I ever had - firstly, it was memorable as this is my first time counting down to the brand new year with my girlfriend. Secondly, it was quite enjoyable, maybe it's because of the fireworks that really made our day. Standing at the near front roll of where we were at marina bay, the skyline was beautifully torched with those cool display of colourul "shooting stars". For those who missed the event, I must say it was worth having yourself sandwiched between the crowds to catch those fireworks. I feel that Singapore has improved in the quality of its fireworks display, and I certainly hope it would improve further in years to come.
Let us take a quick glimpse of what this year is going to be like...
Indeed, this year is a very eventful year for everyone including me. I can't wait for two worldwide events to take place this year. One of which is the Euro2008 and the other, the Olympic Games in Beijing. Very very excited for these two coming events as I would be staying up to catch them both. Another great event happening this year is the coming of Fomula One to Singapore! And this is the very first time Singapore is hosting Fomula One and everyone I'm sure, especially Car Lovers would be so enthusiastic and eager for this day to arrive. Well, coming March this year, my darling and I would be celebrating our very first year anniversary of our wonderful relationship. And this year, I would be graduating in Australia with a Bachelor in Behavourial Science... and as for my girlfriend, she would be moving on to the next phase of her academic life, and no matter which educational path she chooses to take, I will always stand by her and support her all the way.
VERY VERY GOOD YEAR INDEED!
And I'm looking forward to enjoying myself and improving myself as well. There are so many things for me to talk about this coming year, as well as there are so many things to learn about. It's great celebrating New Year's Day with you guyz (Sean and Elaine)! Just hope you guyz did enjoy yourselves too, despite some screwed up machine and receptionists at the reception counter.
Anyway, this is a great start to a brand new year. The first half of this year is definitely a time for planning and scheduling what ought to be done. I believe this is the time of sowing seeds that in due time, would bring harvest later in the year, and we would reap its rewards. It is always a good time to start planning ahead instead of putting things off to the last few hours when neither false hopes nor prayers would even guarantee any chance of fulfilling whatever that one conceives right here and right now.
This blog will continue to be the way it is, as spontaneous as it should be, as sincere and upfront as it has always been, and I would definitely welcome anyone who has certain discussions to make. Of course, I hope that no one would be such a pain in the ass on my tagboard this year. Let this year be rid of these Internet nuissance!
Once again, I'm signing off.. but before that, may I wish you, a HAPPY, PROSPEROUS, FRUITFUL, and FANTASTIC NEW YEAR filled with FAILURES and DISILLUSIONS, but also ends with SUCCESS, and VICTORIES!!!
