Monday, February 28

Calendar of Agenda (February)

A look-back on what I busied myself with in February 2005...

1 Feb
Help out in NPCC Video
2 Feb
Cross-Country Run (Upper Secondary)
4 Feb
Dad comes back from Australia for Chinese New Year
7 Feb
Help out: Sec 4 Maths Self-study Programme
8 Feb
Reunion Dinner
9 & 10 Feb
Chinese New Year holidays (visiting)
11 Feb
Visiting (Dad's friend's house)
12 Feb
Visiting (Ex Form Teacher's house)
14 Feb
Valentine's Day
Help out: Sec 4 Maths Self-study Programme
18 Feb
MY BIRTHDAY!
20 Feb
Dad leaves for Australia for work
21 Feb
Help out: Sec 4 Maths Self-study Programme
28 Feb
'O' Level 2004 Results Release Day!
throughout Feb
4A 2004 Graduation Video

Friday, February 25

God Protects His Own!

A miracle when the tsunami struck Aceh, Indonesia

We know that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh was destroyed by the tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest.

But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh. In that town are about 400 Christians.

They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslims of Meulaboh. They were told that if they wanted to celebrate Christmas, they needed to go out of the city of Meulaboh to a high hill to celebrate Christmas there.

Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas the 400 believers left the city on December 25th. After they celebrated Christmas, they stayed overnight on the hill.

As we all know, there was an earthquake followed by tsunami waves the next morning of December 26th, destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and resulting in thousands killed. The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction.

Now, the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished them for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims perished while not even one of the Christians were affected.

Had the Christians insisted on their rights to celebrate Christmas in the city, they would have all died. But because they humbled themselves and followed the advice of the Muslims, they all were spared from destruction and can now testify of God's marvellous protection.

This is a testimony of the grace of God and the fact that as believers we have no rights in the world. Our right is to come before God and commit our lives to Him. Our right is kneeling down before the Lord Almighty and committing our ways to Him. He is our Father and is very capable of caring for His children.

Praise the Name of the Lord.

Bill Hekman
Pastor, Calvary Life Fellowship (Indonesia)

Wednesday, February 16

Dear Sky...

What's Singapore coming to - a dry spell and a plague of irritating mosquitoes? The weather's been so freaking hot down here that it hasn't rained for weeks. I personally haven't met a raindrop since like - early January this year? Oh wide, wide Sky, if you've decided to hold your bladder you shouldn't - not for so long - you might just get some pelvic disease like bladder failure or something (yeah I'm being sarcastic). So why not you just empty your bladder soon, Sky - but not to sudden or too much at a time too - we don't want floods or the title of another Atlantis. Anyway, you've caused enough trouble already - fires in Punggol and other grassland areas in Singapore, brown dried-up grass that seem to have perished in some desert country and - WORST OF ALL - an irritating plague of mosquitoes that just never seem to get enough bite (I mean, blood). Sarcasm aside, even ensuing fogging of drains and their surroundings never seem to have much use - I still see a few mosquitoes buzzing around for all their worth be it day or night. To the point that my ex-Physics teacher was warded in hospital rather recently for a bad bout of dengue fever. Sometimes I feel that maybe I should sleep under a mosquito net or keep a bottle of Mortein nearby so I can whack/spray the heck out of that daredevil "mozzie". So Sky, oh Sky - why not just comply and send the stormy clouds - I wouldn't want to wake up one day to find myself in desert utopia.

Monday, February 7

The wonder of the LONGEST words

According to Disney:
SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS - popularized by the movie `Mary Poppins', a nonsense word meaning fantastic; also called supercalifragilistic

According to the Ozone Asylum:
HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPPEDALIOPHOBIA - the fear of long words

According to Guinness World Records:
FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION - an act or instance of judging something to be worthless or trivial

According to AskOxford.Com: PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS - a pneumoconiosis (lung disease) caused by inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust
ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM - originally, opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England, now opposition to the belief that there should no longer be an official church in a country

Other words (mainly technical ones) recorded in the complete Oxford English Dictionary include:
otorhinolaryngological (22 letters), immunoelectrophoretically (25 letters), psychophysicotherapeutics (25 letters), thyroparathyroidectomized (25 letters), pneumoencephalographically (26 letters), radioimmunoelectrophoresis (26 letters), psychoneuroendocrinological (27 letters) hepaticocholangiogastrostomy (28 letters), spectrophotofluorometrically (28 letters), pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).

According to Useless Facts:
The longest official city name in the world, made up of 164 letters, is "Krungthep Mahanakhon Amorn Rattanakosin Mahintara Yudthaya Mahadilok Pohp Noparat Rajathanee Bureerom Udomrajniwes Mahasatarn Amorn Pimarn Avaltarnsatit Sakatattiya Visanukram Prasit" a.k.a. Bangkok, Thailand.
The world's longest name officially used by a person is "Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorft Senior" which is composed of 28 words or 192 letters.
"ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC" is the longest acronym. It is a Navy term standing for "Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command."

AND According to UrbanDictionary.Com: The longest word entered in a dictionary anywhere is Swedish, and it's NORDOSTERSJOKUSTARTILLERIFLYGSPANINGSSIMULATORANLAGG- NINGSMATERIELUNDERHALLSUPPFOLJNINGSSYSTEMDISKUSSIONS- INLAGGSFORBEREDELSEARBETEN, which means "preparatory work on the contribution to the discussion on the maintaining system of support of the material of the aviation survey simulator device within the north-east part of the coast artillery of the Baltic."

and FINALLY:

The full name of a distinct part of DNA, the tryptophan synthetase (a protein/enzyme with 267 amino acids), extends to 1,913 letters: methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanyla lanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalany lphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspa rtylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylserylleucyllysylisoleu cylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanylglycylalanylaspar tylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylser ylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonyliso leucylglutaminylaspfraginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylpheny lalanylalanylalanylglycylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcyste inylphenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylargin ylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylgl ycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylpheny lalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalany ltyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylva lylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglu taminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminylalan ylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolylisoleucy lphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylaspartyl aspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryl tyrosylglycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylseryl arginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparag inylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleucylasparaginylhistidylleucy lvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylalany lprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylser ylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylas partylalanylglycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylser ylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhi stidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylprolylglutamyllysylmethio nylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalylglutaminyl prolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine!
Just try to pronounce that... you'll go berserk! Notice that some parts of it sound ridiculous as well... like "-asparaginy-"!

Tuesday, February 1

Calendar of Agenda (January)

A look back on what I busied myself with in January 2005...

1 Jan
New Year's Day
13 Jan
Hildan Torch Rehearsal
14 Jan
Hildan Torch
20 Jan
Student Council Commendation Service Rehearsal (1)
21 Jan
Hari Raya Haji & Treetop Walk
22 Jan
Paternal Grandma's birthday celebration dinner @ Yishun
24 Jan
Student Council Commendation Service Rehearsal (2)
27 Jan
Cross-Country Run (Lower Secondary)
28 Jan
Student Council Commendation Service (actual)
31 Jan
Help out in Upper Sec Maths Mentorship Programme