'Rawr' I Am!

I seriously can't remember birthdays, and somehow I actually managed to forgot about our National Day. Hm.. Is it because schooling is so over for me already? Or maybe it was because of our current materialistic environment now? I mean the only signs of National Day nowadays would be those decorations put up by CCs and others. Singaporeans themselves seldom even hang up one outside their flats. I can bet that most Singaporeans don't even have a National Flag at home. Mine was misplaced and gone don't know where le.

I mean the Government should really do something about National Pride. Is it really all about the fireworks during National Day? Or about the achievements of Singapore till date? Singapore has prospered indeed and become one of the most developed country in South-East Asian, but the society now are becoming more money-driven and materialistic. Without money, I doubt most especially the younger generation (damn this term makes me feel old) can do what they like. Singapore has indeed become a potential magnet for foreigners to come and get rich - not that it's not good, but the all-rounded welfare of Singaporeans is top priority I feel which they should do more about instead.

During the National Day speech by PM Lee, he himself also mentioned about the online citizens and about responsibilties with it. Hmm.. Singapore can be racial-tolerant, but can Singapore be political-tolerant? What I mean by this would be closely related to how generalisation works. People sees on Chee making a nuisance of himself, and some simply assumed that all oppositions are out to cause disruptions in the nation when what they want to do is actually to bring about a good intention change. But given our political climate, WP's the only one that seem credible at the moment and struggling to get a hold in the Parliament while constantly getting critizised by PAP. One thing for sure is that 2/5 Singaporeans (as voted in the elections) is that people wants an opposition voice in the parliament, but this is surely not well represented a look at the amount of opposition MPs.

Well well... 'Nuff said about politics. Now, I'm more engrossed in the Russian-Georgia conflict. The Russians are actually in a war with Georgia at the moment for those who don't know. It's quite a big thing since it's been long since the Russians were at war. And it has some complications for oil pipeline for people living in the West (Russia supplies them gas and oil - lol), and test how the US and NATO reacts to this situation. Can you imagine if US had to send in troops to support his ally who had one of the greatest amount of troops pledged in Iraq? This would effectively mean a combat between US and Russia. Not quite possible, given that Russia has a leverage in the Iran Nuclear issue - but there's still that possibilities yeaa.. But I think nobody is coming to Georgia's aid seriously since they simply can't afford to.

"If Georgia falls, this will also mean the fall of the West in the entire former Soviet Union."

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Edited - 12th August 2008:

Russian President has halted attacks on Georgia. Let's see how the formal ceasefire is going to come about, while actions like reconnaissance continues and any new Georgian attacks will be "liquidated". Anyway, the previous invasion by Russia I think was in Afghanistan during the 90s, so it's quite interesting to see how this conflict will impact the relations between Russia and the West in this 21st century. Will the West continue to alienate Russia? Surely with this, there's going to be a start with armed build-up for nations around Russia, especially those tiny nations which gained independence from USSR like Georgia. Cold war two is heading soon? Perhaps that's the reason why NATO wasn't demolished when the cold war was over. Will Russia be finally be seen as a great power after being ignored for ages since the USSR collaspe? So many questions, only time will tell.

Meantime, check out the following photos taken from New York Times:

I really liked Clarke Quay for its atmosphere where people simply chill and relax. But it's also a place commonly flooded with tourist and PRs who simply can afford to do so. Just on National Day recently, me and my siblings brought my grandfather there to check out how much things has changed - the progress of Singapore. Well not the river, cos the stagnant water totally stinks. He mentioned alot of things that has changed like how last time he had driven a car over the "now human only" bridge that connects the both sides. One thing he was surprised though was by the amount of Westerners everywhere. Had a wonderful time out that day bringing him around Clarke Quay. Oh yes, I absolutely love the Japanese-style pasta at Central beside the TCC. Their pizza is biscuit-type de, but quite pricey given the choice of Eel. Should try the other flavours bah for that.

NS's coming soon! In almost a month time, in fact. Need to go make my darn black specs soon. And make whatever neccessary purchases. And of course, run more often. Now, I have this inconsistent alternate day routing of bike-run or swimming. Will have to work on my sleeping hours as well, cos it's really tiring me out after my half-day work. Yup, I work till 2pm daily instead liao. Anyway, if you noticed, I added this Twitter Update thing whereby you can keep track of what I do (provided that I update it, of course lar). Can totally put it into good use during NS. Lol. Simply SMS to the contact number, and it will update your status. Lol. Go google "Twitter" to find out more. ;)

*yawn*