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Solace of the Shadows
Saturday, December 27, 2003
more pictures courtesy of Audi (no not the car). anyway Audi where are the rest of the pictures!! i want to see! specially of the hotel room! and KLCC
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
It's an incredibly weird feeling, looking through both sides of a mirror and seeing things from a totally different perspective. Today was oddly confusing. After all, it's not that long ago that i was frequenting those very same areas everyday to and from school in my blindingly white school uniform, shouldering my backpack. Having lunch at Ghim Moh market, strolling past the Ulu Pandan NPP to get to Buona Vista MRT, and from time to time i would peer into the NPP or catch a policeman walking into it. Never did i imagine that sometime in the future i would be the one entering that same NPP and looking out at the people walking by it. It was truly a strange feeling, like some sort of detachment from the body, experiencing something completely unfamiliar even though the surroundings remain unchanged. Too bad there weren't many RJ people walking by because of the school holidays, i'd have wanted to disturb some of them heh. The feeling is quite indescribable when the coin has been flipped over and the other side is revealed.
Well today has been one heck of an experience so far. Both good and bad. Many hilarious things happened, but after it all, it left me feeling somewhat depressive about it. Attending to so many complainants, some tough members of public, having to issue summons, such things which go so unnoticed when one is a civilian, living with indifference towards the many difficulties which have to be resolved by others so that they can live with this indifference in mind, free of worries, and sometimes take it for granted. There are many many troubling cases which occur everyday but people just don't know about it, neither can it be revealed, but they are attended to and resolved quickly before it causes any distress. Well what i say may not make sense and i wish i could explain myself, but it would be impossible unless you experience it for yourself.
Anyway such was my first day of attachment. Its ONLY been the first day. I don't even know where to begin but i attended quite a few minor cases but which had quite an impact on me from the viewpoint of the man in the uniform. The first case i attended to was at Kent Ridge where a tree had fallen and was blocking one of the lanes and yes, who else but the police have to come and remove the fallen tree. Does that make sense when you think about it? Making them do such a task? Shouldn't it be left to the authorities who maintain the roads or the Environmental Ministry or something? But yet if you were travelling past Kent Ridge at around 12 in the afternoon you'd have witness a police officer chopping the extended portion of a tree with an axe and two others directing traffic. I directed traffic. It was fun stopping big lorries with a single hand which would ordinarily run you down in a heartbeat in any other circumstance. But i pity the guy who chopped the tree because he was attacked by red ants which started scurrying around the car when he climbed back in.
The second most prominent case was at Jelita Cold Storage where someone called to complain about vehicles blocking the road. When we got there and turned the blinker lights on, you could see people starting to run out of the Delifrance nearby scrambling to get into their cars. A middle-aged taitai ran past me towards her gleaming Merc and apologised to me profusely before gesturing to ask whether it was okay to drive off without a summons. Basically for someone who hasn't experienced this before, i was naturally kind of dazed as to what to reply to her but we gave them a grace period of 5 mins to clear their vehicles or they would get summoned. Some of them though, were not so compliant. And this is the side of people i hated to see. One guy was sitting in his car pretending not to know what was happening, and when one of the guys came to his window and told him to move off or get a ticket, he asked "why? i'm not doing anything wrong just give me a few mins". Firstly, his fuckin car was parked in the direction against the flow of traffic which is already one offence, and the next because he is obviously obstructing traffic which could be seen when cars were jammed trying to get away, ironic because they were the damned people who caused it in the first place. Some seemed indignant about getting a ticket, like it was their fuckin right to park there and defiant about the fact that they were in the wrong. There were alot of ang mohs too who tried to charm their way out of it and i guess most of them succeeded. What i found completely ridiculous was this Rolls Royce parked there by some ang moh couple. The funny thing is that there IS A PARKING LOT which only costs like 2 bucks to park in but instead they want to risk getting fined 70 instead. Another frustrating thing was when we left and circled around to come back and within less than 2 mins there were vehicles camped there again. I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry.
As i was standing guarding the road i saw this bunch of girls come out of the shopping centre when suddenly a car pulled up and one of their fathers stepped out and gave one of the girls, his daughter, one heck of a slap on the face causing her glasses to fly off, like 10m in front of where i stood. I felt pretty horrible because it was obvious the father was trying very hard to humiliate her in front of everyone including the police but before one of the officers could interpose he quickly got her into the car and drove off. Then her friends started to cry. I think all of them were around sec3 or 4.
It was really depressing at first to experience all these things just in one day. Its like having to face all the stuff you don't want to have happening in your day magnified tenfold. Except in this case you're not standing on the recieving side but on the side of being a spectator. But it was good to know that some semblence of order is restored once you have completed a call, leaving the scene with the knowledge that things will somehow return to normal.
Ok i think i've said too much but i haven't even gone through half of it. Its only been day one. Til the next time folks.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Just some photos
Monday, December 15, 2003
So i sit in my very budget hotel lobby which also doubles as an "Internet Cafe" (although i think they have to resort to this to supplement their squalid hotel business). Anyway i'm in KL right now on a trip with some of my squadmates and its been really quite interesting to say the least. Basically we came here with absolutely no plans in mind at all. We didn't plan to get accomodation in advance, we didn't even bother planning to get a bus ticket back, but which we did find in the end. It's been quite an eye-opener coming here without those damn tour packages and all which only bring you to the usual tourist frequented areas. I haven't had the chance before to simply explore the area so freely, just walking around and taking things in.
Well after all i've seen so far, I think i'm quite glad i wasn't born in Malaysia. Or maybe just KL haha. Due to some reasons
1. There seems to be no sense of organization in this place at all, or maybe its because i just don't know how this place is run, but it sure looks damned horribly done. Everything is like one chaotic mad rush towards no purpose at all.
2. There isn't much aesthetic beauty around here, as in, pretty ladies. I gotta admit, Singaporean girls are still the prettiest heh.
3. People here don't seem to know what kind of clothes to wear. Or maybe its because the shopping for clothes sucks so they buy crappy clothes to wear, i don't know.
Ok that may sound like little but its a whole lot and i'm not really in a very conducive environment to type what i really want to say. Which brings me to my next point, my hotel. Once i get pictures i'll show just how budget this place is. I bet the cheapest hotel in sg would look 10 times better than what i have. This place looks like Mechmaster or some sleazy pool parlour.
The second i stepped out of the hotel we were approached by some pimp who offered us "services" and asked us which we preferred, thai, ang moh, he has them all for $150 ringgit an hour. Like wtf?! Do we look like we have the words "we want sex" plastered on our foreheads?? Subsequently we bumped into several other well disguised men pestering us in case for some reason we wanted "massage and sex". Straight out of their mouths thats what they said. When we walked through some alleys joining streets, we could see ladies in dilapidated shophouses with the obvious purpose of fulfilling these services. All this right in the heart of KL, so close to the main shopping centres and KLCC itself. Maybe its just me being plain ignorant, but it was quite surprising to see all this so blatantly specially in a "developing" country like M'sia. Another thing i noticed is that every road seems to be a pedestrian crossing and that traffic lights serve practically no purpose. So this means you get alot of traffic jams. I'm glad i'm not a driver here because you'd have to have loads of patience because pedestrians cross roads like there are traffic lights situated at every point on the pavement. One of the taxi drivers spoke to us and upon hearing we were from Singapore, commented that the system we have is so much better because the smallest thing rarely goes unpunished, making things alot more safer and easier in the end. I guess maybe we really do take things for granted in sg, and yet everyone thinks Singapore is this pressurizing hell-hole they can't wait to elope and get away from. The police seem to be quite non-existent in the area as well, the only time i saw them was when they raided an unlicensed ware seller, ironic because the place is located in a bazaar surrounded with pirated goods. Not to mention when we were walking through some back alley offering such "services", we realized that just around the corner there was a police post nearby.
Well one of the good things i have to say is that the food here is dirt cheap and i have spent the bulk of my money devouring all kinds of food possible. If only Singapore offered food this good and cheap. I'd be a happy man.
Ok i'm off for dinner (woohoo good food!), and hopefully i haven't invited any stares from the other patrons here by writing sedatious material (looks around furtively), but well, its the damned truth. Its been a pretty fun trip though. Going back home tomorrow. Take care folks.
Sunday, December 07, 2003
I haven't been out this late for such a long time, it was pretty disconcerting to sleep at 4am and wake up at 3pm and realize half your day has been wasted just like that. Initially i thought last night would be a complete waste of time, but in the end it was good to see so many familiar faces, familiar but distantly foreign through change and time. People have changed so damned much, yet invariably i hope they haven't changed that much from when i got to know them for the first time. Is this what growing up is supposed to be like. Inundated with afflicting emotion. I just wonder, what will become of everyone i once knew in the years to come. Its an unnerving thought. Thinking you know people but separation by time ravages all relationships. But its always comforting somehow to catch up with those you haven't seen in ages.
Wednesday will be the passing out parade, and another step into another phase. I'm just glad that i can finally spend more time at home after this. Camp life can be fun, but not knowing whats happening back home can be worrying at times.
Funny, i had quite a bit to say last night but its all been erased like a distant memory. I think i'm not cut out for a fast paced lifestyle. I hope everyone out there is doing well and good.
New song for this week. I still think this is one heck of a song no matter how many times i listen to it. Please go download here Orgy - Fiction (Dreams In Digital).mp3
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