That's what my holidays were made of.
Then there were the bomb blasts. =( I hate terrorists.
Holidays also involve a whole lot of cooking and cleaning and clearing cockroaches. (Alliteration!) My sis and I just sprayed and swept away one. But that's besides the point.
It hardly seems like just two weeks since my last paper on the 19th. Went to my sister's hostel at NUS the next day to look around and help her pack. Stayed over one night, and made the disastrous trip back home. Disastrous because all her luggage and many many pairs of shoes and business suits (she's a business student and needs different kinds for different occasions) weighed a TON. It looked as if we were going on a trip to the ends of the world. When we finished hauling everything into the taxi, there was about 1/3 of the passenger seat left for both of us to squeeze in. =D
Dad was already overseas, and Mum was going on Saturday so sis and I helped her pack, and sent her off at the airport after music class.
Watched Body of Lies on Sunday, it was pretty interesting. About how you never know who to trust when you're an American spy working in the Middle East.
Went to Escape on Tuesday- the most interesting thing was the group of friends I went with =D
Finally managed to get my hands on The Kite Runner! Can't wait to start it once i finish the book i'm on now.
Then the party on Friday at simran's beautiful house! SIMMERRRRR was going crazy planning the thing. But we're the Greats, remember sim? haha. It was great fun, the birthday babies were truly surprised, i think (which is great, considering how news generally spreads so fast). And it was wonderful meeting everyone again after so long. We had ICS Farewell on the same day too, wow I can't believe it's really over. Thanks for the gift, juniors! ICS 07 -08 was awesome =]
I've bought contact lenses again, finally, after six months of wearing specs. Just in time for Prom. Tomorrow night! =D I just get irritated by the getting-ready part. Like the whole art of putting on make-up. Which I doubt i'll ever master, not that I want to anyway. It's all quite irritating and like a mask. Literally.
Gonna meet D and RnB this week too, hopefully =] This should be fun. And reema! I haven't forgotten the treat I owe you!
Now that there's no need to feel guilty for not doing work, I've finally had the chance to talk to more people- people I hadn't talked to in a while or people I'd hardly talked to before, like Likai. He's a very interesting person to talk to. I was talking to him about death in an email conversation, and one of the lines from his reply is this:
Live life as if you believe you will die, not just aware that you will die, but with the conviction and interest that you will die. From this, decide.
There's still a lot of catching-up with a lot of friends to do though =] Not to mention many belated/upcoming birthday cards that need sending out. I haven't even given Dhevy her letter yet, and her birthday is in July =S sorry girl.
Ok, more interesting updates next time. I've gotta go practise walking in heels for tomorrow so I don't end up twisting an ankle. (Sigh.)
8 comments:
we are the greatestestestest though i am the greatestestestestestest!
SEE YOU TONIGHT! i have to wear lipstick, YUCK. and i didnt bother walking abt the hse in heels. stupid heels. die heels die!
HAHA fine fine you be the greatest etcetc, i shall be the wonderfulest!
HAHA YOUR LIPSTICK KEPT SMUDGING ON THE GLASSSS. Smart me didnt wear lipstick!
Yea STUPID heels! WE DA MEN. LOLLL. Oh wait, you're elegant rmb? =D yesterday was funnnn! especially the sheik whatsisname! his pick-up line: If i told you you had a hot bod, would you hold it against me? HAHA. and all his other ridiculously funny things!
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter...
You can't always generalise that way. Freedom from what? Take Mumbai for example. That was an act of malice by extremists. India is a Hindu country, and yet there are many many provisions for Muslims and Christians. They should be glad for those. Don't get me wrong, the majority of non-Hindus in India are cool people. It's just the extremists that i can't stand. Freedom fighters only come into play in a country where the people of the nation are being oppressed. Like when India was under British rule. But there is no such thing in India now. How dare they bomb the place.
Okay maybe I should elaborate a bit more about what I mean... Think it's not the first time I've said something like this.
We don't like to admit it, but terrorists are rationale people too. Given the other more peaceful options, I'm sure that most of them would not resort to violence. Sometimes we focus too much on the acts of terror themselves, than to actually look at the actual motivation behind these attacks.
Not to say that murder and all those killings can be just in any way, but we also have to understand that those responsible for these 'evil' attacks often have no other choice.
I don't really know much about the India-Pakistan conflict, so let's use the US war against al-qaeda as an example.
What we often hear in the news is stuff like the 9/11 attacks, bomb attacks on US embassies, and stuff like that, which causes fear among westerners in general which is what TERRORism is all about, to cause fear.
But there are 2 sides to every story. From the 1991 gulf war to the invasion of afghanistan to the 2nd gulf war in 2003 american bombs have killed thousands of civilians living in those areas. I guess it would be fair to say that the US has caused at least equal or even greater terror to people living in the middle east compared to the fear that al-qaeda has instilled in those living on mainland USA.
Now all these attacks on US troops in places like iraq and afghanistan are taking place simply because the people there want to drive them americans out. In the same way the CIA is trying to weed out al-qaeda operatives living in the US.
Now to link this back to the mumbai attacks, supposedly by some pakistani militants, we all know that India and Pakistan haven't exactly been on good terms in recent history. I didn't do much research about this, but perhaps muslims living in India felt oppressed and being subjugated by the majority of Indians who are hindus. Whatever the case, we must understand that they resorted to violence probably only at a last resort, just as militants in Iraq and Afghanistan have resorted to violence to drive american troops out because face it; what other options do they have?
Many nations across the world have adopted the policy of 'we do not negotiate with terrorists' (learned from the US?) but personally I believe that is not the way we can solve the problem of terrorism. When terror groups exist it is a sign that people are not happy.
The obvious solution would be to address the unhappiness that people have, and not just use brute force to try to kill off the existing terrorists. Whether it is in the name of Islam, in the name of Jesus, or in the name of the Goddess of Mercy, unhappy people will always find a reason to justify their violent actions because there are no other available options through which they can solve the problems they are facing. Why do you think that al-qaeda has such an easy time finding recruits in places like Iraq?
Yeah I hope I have explained myself more clearly...
Haha yes i do understand what you mean, and i took it into consideration before my last reply. Thanks for your comment, it was enlightening, but my point is that the US-Al Qaeda conflict can't be used as an example here. Terrorism definitely ISN'T the last resort in India. What's more, the attack is supposedly by people from Pakistan, not Muslims in India. If the Muslims in India feel oppressed, they should address it themselves, and in more peaceful terms, instead of resorting to violence from other countries. The India-Pakistan feud has loads of historical and cultural background that I can't really easily explain. But i still think that this bombing was more an act of malice rather than an expression of oppression of Muslims in India.
Haha like all conflicts, there's a lot more going on under the surface that what we already know. What you say is also true.
Haha yep we never really know the full story.
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