The one after the birthday...

Just took another step towards the "big" four-0.

Yesterday was my 39th birthday - yes, yes, it was also Halloween. Guess you can say I was kinda a "kooi kneah" (ghost child). Anyway, after all these years I'm just praying that I had equipped myself with enough common sense, intelligence and kindness to bring up Ethan in a way which would ensure he knows always what's right or wrong.

Well, yesterday was kinda good for me. Got up, went to work, went out for lunch, picked up my 3rd Prize for the Big Puzzle contest from Gurney Plaza (shopping vouchers)..the usual... ;-)

Last night, Jo and I spent a lovely evening at 1885 (E&O) and had a great dinner.

The lovely wife & I...


We had planned to later adjourn to "Bed" at Pulau Tikus for drinks with our friends. Sadly, earlier, Stacy & Mel had been waiting for us at Coffee Bean Bellisa Row when Stacy's handbag was snatched from the seat next to her by a thief! It was shocking to think that such a thing could happen at a place which is usually crowded with people and so bright at that. It did happen, put poor Stacy through the hell of making police reports, cancelling her cards etc. It really wasn't about the loss in monetary terms but the hassle that comes with it.

So beware people, if you are having a nice, relaxed cup of coffee at any coffee joint, make sure you keep a tight hold on your belongings. I was made to understand that the management of Coffee Bean and Bellisa Row prohibits the putting up of signage to warn unsuspecting customers about the possibility of such snatch thieves. Scares the customers away, it seems. Well, mine is not to criticise their methods, however little I think of it, but mine can be to do whatever I can to warn people about it.

I have been pretty quiet, blogging-wise, lately. Partly due to being busy on the work front and partly due to being at complete awe with the world of blogging.

I'm talking about the "Battle of the Blogs" which had been dominating our regional blogging scene. It was started by a blog by one Wendy Cheng, who commented on the use of disabled toilets by the able-bodied and how one disabled person was "rude" about it. The short of it is that she basically pissed a lot of people off and lost a couple of sponsorship deals on her blogsite. Spearheading her attack was Peter Tan, who was of course offended by Wendy's manner of expression. This lead to a full-on battle between "supporters" of both sides and a tremendous influx of comments on various Blogs.

Now what really made me sit back and read in awe was the amazing impact blogging has had on people's lives. Many were defending their position with gusto and energy, many wrote with finesse and eloquence. Most had a determined point of view and held to it steadfastly. Given that the average blogger is between ages 18 - 30, I was proud, yes, proud to read the disagreements, the voices of dissent and the strength to stand up for what they believe in. As I said in my comment on Peter's Blog, what's important is that people have a right to state their point of view. We should all be able to agree to disagree. Is this then the direction of our youth and community towards a more knowledge & information driven world? If so, then blog on people, blog on....

There were a few comments about the difference between privileges and rights in between the debate. I just want to state here my definition on that. Rights exist when there is a duty on someone to allow it. So, if there is some statutory or regulatory requirement for something, then a right is created. Privileges, however, depend on the good sense of people. Since not all people have good sense, that's why we have the "under-privileged". Question is: do we want to impose a duty on everyone so that those who need it, will have rights? Or do we want to leave some things to the good sense of people to grant privileges? Too much of one or the other will expose us to some defect in our socio-economic strata system. Perhaps to borrow a concept from our Buddhist siblings, the middle road is the one to trod on...

Ponder on it.