heineken economy

This is so cool especially since i was reading about barter trade and the function of money (whilst studying for econs) yesterday.

Think the idea is pretty smart, refreshing (pun intended) in advertising heineken or any product for that matter by showing how 'liquid' an asset heineken is.
According to economic theory, the more liquid an asset, the easier it is to trade for other things, which also means that there is a high demand for it.
genius.

Love is

Love is Action, that produces emotion.

Love is concrete.

Love is certain.

Love is sure.

Love is steadfast.

Love is not whimsical.

Love is not undecided. 

Love is, more often than not, undeserving.

growth of idealism in Singapore: we have time to have morality

I was thinking... 'hey so cool!' and then... 'i would totally have spoiled it if i joined'... haha!

song of the season

i love how poetic this song is.
but more importantly how apt this song is.

'i will rise as Christ was raised to life...' 

change.

Tonight I realise I am perhaps in the process of learning one of life's greatest lessons. Thank God.

To lean into the fear as you would in a trust fall.

Sleeping soon, GP prelim tmr.

Night world.

i wrote to escape

Music is my escape.

TV is my escape.

Somebody else’s story is my escape

Even if it isn’t mine

It is my escape

Junk food is my escape.

Sleep is my escape.

Even if I always wake

It is my escape

Shopping is my escape.

Feeling is my escape

Taking a walk is my escape

Even if I tire

It is my escape

Dreaming is my escape

Listening to music is my escape

Having a conversation is my escape

Even if words cease

It is my escape.

There are whole industries built on the human need to escape.

Whole livelihoods constructed to escape

Escaping for a living. How ironic.

Escaping to live.

Was working on my IS when i stumbled on this

I love how this year's UOB painting of the Year is... ' Just Let Me Sleep'

Done by a J1 student from Hwa Chong. Love love love it. Love the message, love the technique. I don't know much about art, never studied it formally but I really think the technique he went with really brought out the message of his painting. The chaos, the swirling lines, the whole textured effect. Just really good. Congrats Esmond!

my next phone.

HOW CUTE IS THIS!??!?!?
I just have this thing for old tech.
typewriters. rotary telephones. old teles. old bulky qwerty keyboards that have certain keys in grey, others in white. u name it. i love it.
AND the best part is.... it retails at S$25. AHMYGOSH.
low opp cost there. (y)

there seriously is something regressive about my nature.

workspace.

for my 500th post: my narnia

 

Realised i get some of my best thoughts (next to when i am in the shower) when i take walks. This is the park i usually have to walk through to get to westmall (the nearest shopping centre to my house).  Also, optimal time is at night when all is calm, cool and collected. i love night walks. they are when i get my best ideas. alright, time to study now. ciao!

On studying/learning

to me studying and learning is all about discovering the genius that isn't us.

was just thinking if life were like a drive we ought to be...

Shifting between the pedals of reason and faith to move us along.

the day we dont need belief or faith is the day we have perfect knowledge. the day we have perfect knowledge is the day our imperfect lives cease. hence, till that day comes, we alternate between reason and faith/belief to get us through life. 

I was just thinking about life when suddenly...

this floated/popped into my head...
the phrase, 'guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life...' but it wasn't phrased so clearly (my memory's a mess) so i went to google 'guard your heart proverbs' and found many versions of the same thing.

'Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.' - NKJV

'Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.' - NIV

Proverbs 4: 23

And then i didnt really get what 'keep your heart... with all diligence' meant so i googled the words. So... it looks something like this.

Keep (retain, maintain, preserve)  your heart with all diligence (steady effort, attentive care, earnest and persistent application); for out of it are the issues of life.

I love how the second part reads 'out of it are the issues of life' 
So true. 


And wellspring actually means : An original and bountiful source of something.
So... it'd be like... above all else guard your heart for it is the original and bountiful source of life.

okay now it sounds a little... i don't know... yoga-rish. (HAHA)
no disrespect.

I think it'd be interesting to study the... whatever language proverbs was originally written in (eg: hebrew word) for heart. I want to know what 'heart' refers to. 
In fact, i would like to know what this entire verse really means.  

I think language plays such an important role honestly.
Just look at the two translations.
They both project actually quite different images/meaning because of the choice of words used. 

This is why i really want to study the Bible in its original languages. 
English... ironically... is a very inadequate language. 
Doesn't have a wide enough vocab to accurately hit the spectrum of emotions/meanings. 
Oh this is why btw, english is an amalgam of many languages and this is also why in many parts of the world, for official world meetings, french is the preferred language (although it is very difficult to learn but precisely because it is way more accurate and precise a language as compared to english) for use. 

The bible should be in french. 
It probably is in france.
I should learn french.

I should learn more languages.
Languages are reeeaally inneresting. 

I love this guy.

' 7 x 3 = 109 '

There are somethings that will never die

Idealism. Optimism. a Refined Hope.

And after awhile you realise...

that it didn't matter whether you succeeded or failed, but that you learned.

Sometimes we forget that....

Love hurts.
As much as it is about feeling complete, right, good... love... true love also hurts.
And I dont know if it is because humans tend to focus only on the good parts of things or whatever that we ignore and then almost completely forget that love hurts too.

I think this amnesia about this aspect of love has led to a lot of people being disillusioned with love and thereafter life. And I think it is really.... for a lack of a more accurate and intense word, sad. I think it is really really sad when people who become disillusioned with love and life just completely give it up altogether. It is almost like watching a movie about a guy who goes through thunderstorms, battles, hurricanes, deaths, whatever terrible catastrophe you can think of, and then, just when he is about to attain what he has gone through all that shit for, he comes to a clift that separates him and the treasure, he looks down and turns back.

Of course there are a ton of metaphors or whatever literally devices I was using in that analogy (hence an analogy) about the guy in a movie.

I think we are generally okay with sacrifice when it hurts a little and the benefits are almost instant. The problem with sacrifice only comes when it hurts a lot and the benefits are nowhere to be seen. A delayed action in the beneficial effects. And yes, if we are completely honest with ourselves, we do know that there are certain intangible benefits to sacrifice, almost akin to giving to the poor, I think it'd be naive and honestly quite full-of-ourselves to believe that humans are ever capable of altruism.

Mmm... so yes I think it is when sacrifice really begins to take its toil on people and when the benefits are nowhere to be seen, that most give up. Abandon the cause. Throw in the towel. Basically.... 'You are asking too much of me and I am really starting to question why I am even doing this in the first place'. It is when the intensity of the immediate and protracted pain outweighs the far-off but long lasting benefit.

I think what keeps you going then.... what happens between now and then is this little thing called........ F A I T H.
Between the crushing pain and the honestly... invisible and almost non-existent benefit, the thing that keeps you going is Faith.
To hang in there, to hang on, to not abandon what you have started on.
To believe, that, despite everything now..... the benefit of your sacrifice and pain will kick in sooner or later. Sooner of course would be much better and appreciated but the point is, to believe that it WILL eventually kick in, and then everything will be worth it.

I think for me... the hardest thing in the world... as of now... is to believe.

since we have to die someday...

why not die for something?
if we live for something already.... why not die for something as well?
rather than, 'she passed away peacefully in her sleep after living a good life and amassing a personal fortune of US$20 billion'...?
that...we might, even in our death, have a meaning, and an effect, a greater effect.

I know this is a super random post but this thought just struck me when I was trying to get some rest just now. I think this is an after thought from last night when I was revising economics and when i was suddenly struck with the thought that some people actually live lives where marginal social benefit outweigh their marginal personal cost. (ya i was studying public and merit goods... heheh) People who see an activity or an event where marginal social benefit will outweigh their marginal personal cost, and they do it. These are people who live life not for themselves but for the bigger picture. I think people like these typically go into professions like humanitarianism, teaching and nursing, yes the, in my opinion, under-paid and under-valued professions in and by society. People who see the point that their life isn't just about themselves (if not we would all be living in isolation on separate planets) but people who live for a greater meaning, a greater purpose than their singular existence. I think maybe this was the point both buddha and martin luther jr. were trying to get at... I think they both said something like that abut human destiny if i am not wrong. oh wells. just a thought.

Probably the Best conclusion a movie has ever had or could have

But you probably would have to watch the movie to get it.
The movie was insanely good.
Just...Insanely good.
The real-to-life-ness of the film... (the pace... the friendly banter... the characters....their flaws their strengths...their personalities... their expressions) the intensity and message of the film..... insane.
Really struck a chord with me.

One of the best movies i have ever watched.

And then I found myself asking...

Why is it that i can believe at least on a superficial level that people have landed on the moon although i have never first-handedly experienced this knowledge, but not believe that there is a God that loves me?

and maybe then i dont really believe that people have landed on the moon or maybe because it isnt a knowledge that i have to deal with on a daily-basis.

Why we wake up in the morning everyday other than the conscious reasons we give ourselves.

We are in search of a better life.
That is the reason why we wake up every morning.
A chance to make life a little better, to change something.
Another chance at perfecting that pass, at holding back that anger, at showing love, at working out that problem sum, at restoring that relationship.
I think we live with a subconscious search of a better life.
And by implication this means that today, was good, could be great, but wasn't the best.
We are always consistently trying to reach or find the best.
And the funny thing is, how do we know that there even is 'the best'?
We do, because what we have done so far, experienced so far, as great as it is, has still not completely satisfied our unending desires.

We desire for infinity.
Because we were made for infinity.
I think it is amazing that our desires never end, but we as humans in the physical body do.
And i think this might possibly be an indication of an after-life.

this time 18 years ago... it was the last day in my mother's womb.

(Warning: This post is terribly incoherent largely because loud music was playing. If you manage to follow, you have amazing cognitive abilities)

I don't think the church is a contradiction, i think it is a paradox.
(And i know paradox is essentially a self-contradiction but it is not just a contradiction, it is a contradiction that is found to be true.)

Church is a holy gathering of sinners. (see..)
But then if you really think about it, ALL of Life is a paradox.
We live to die.
We spend to earn. (if you are a keynesian)
And... many others which i can't think of at this precise moment but i am sure you are able to name a few yourself.

my point is... at the end of the day... the things that really hold true are paradoxes.

Anyways, lately I have been sort of... battling Christianity. Or as we now know it to be.
Just a few thoughts i have about it.....
I just feel that there are just too many inconsistencies in our faith today that have arisen out of the selective choosing by man of man's thinking/interpretation of the Bible in the past (and even now). And this has proliferated into modern day Christianity. And by that i mean, we have inherited this, multi-factional brand of C. These selections have birthed this version of modern day Christianity that is of many versions of Christianity i.e the multitude of denominations.

And sometimes I really wonder how sound these schools of thought are anyways. In a way, I am building my faith on someone elses' received revelation of God if you think about it. And whatsmore... half the time, i dont even know who that someone else is. I mean really... in church we dont talk about St. Thomas Aquinas much do we?? (or at least not from where i come and unless you're taking a theology class) and maybe that's because this faith isn't supposed to be centered on man but God. But the funny thing is, this faith is very much developed by both Man and God. I just...I find myself asking... how do we know when is the time for another martin luther moment? if it is even needed in the first place. How are we to be so sure that this faith, that has been developed (largely by man's perception and received revelation) over 2000 years, is still what it was about 2000 years ago? I have realised in my reading up, that Christianity is much like academia. We build on it over the years. Each new era comes along and there's a new interpretation/development in Christianity..a change in christian thinking, sometimes a radical change like the martin luther reformation. Yet, Sometimes just more confusion, uncertainty and question marks (per-determination or free will?)

Ergo, when the elders keep telling me to go back to the Word and to personally search for it, I think to myself, 'but wouldnt everything i will be/am interpreting of the Bible, be greatly affected by the era i am now living in?' Very much of the Bible I will be/am perceiving is based on how much humanity has developed, or as human development now stands today. For eg what I call 'The relaxation and death of formality of human relations', how parents have now become their childrens' friends (and in a way losing that fear and sometimes proper respect for the parent) and so has our perception of God that He is our 'friend', a peer, as opposed to the slave and master relationship in the past (before it was illegal) where God was our master and we were His slaves.

But then again, this might not exactly be a problem because if you think about it, maybe the things God was saying in the past and is saying to the present IS different. I mean duhhh... How can we expect God to repeat Himself... for more than as long as life has been around..? Surely as humanity has progressed, God has a different message for that progression...right??

So the thing is... we are suppose to (and invariably will) glean different messages from the exact same passage in the Bible since the Bible itself cannot change, therefore our opinion or perception of it has to. This really makes me wonder whether the kind of God we worship is very much the same as the kind of God the shepherds used to worship.( i know i said this before already) Like if i had a time machine and went back to Father Abraham's time, i wonder how differently or similarly we will describe our God, and whether we will exchange weird quizzical looks to each other when the description has been offered.

Ok i guess the bottom line of the last 4 incoherrent paragraphs is this:
1. How accurate is our fundamental perception of God today as compared to... say... Jesus' day granted that each era will perceive Him differently as according to the conditions of their time?

And when we have answered that, i guess only then can we know whether it is time for another martin luther moment.

Another thought I have is that... I think one of the main problems in Christianity today is the same problem it faced in St. Paul's time. It is still very much mutually exclusive. And by that i mean, here is the world and everything in it (politics, economics, social movements etc), and here is Christianity. Or at least that is the way C is from where i am. The divide between secularism and religion. Sure it can be used as an ideal and in fancy speeches but when it comes down to it there is still this divide. And i get it, i get that, we have to do this in order for multi-everything and thereafter stability and progress to take place... but I dont know... it just seems to me that the times of C in King David's day is very different as opposed to what it is today. In the sense of the countless wars the Israelites went to in the Old testament to rid their land of pagans as opposed to our multi-everything policy of today. I mean... if you actually adopted the OT kind of stand in politics today you'll just be labelled an extremist.

And then there's science. Which some might argue it pushes for C and others against it.

Sigh.

I don't know.
Ah-ha!
And there we have another of life's paradoxes: the more you learn, the more you don't know.

But i guess...in a way, the beauty in life is in its paradox. the irreconcilable truths.

Fascinating.

This is why you should watch vimeo instead of youtube.

The Future Belongs to the Curious from Skillshare on Vimeo.

they have phenomenal videos like this.

guess what i did today.

hehehe. ;)