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Yes! Here it is finally! A video of the five weeks I spent in India! I used iMovie to make it, and the experience was really painless and quick. I especially loved the customizable video transitions and the globe animation! Amazing stuff! Makes being a home-video editor so much more fun. 
Video geek talk aside. My first trip to India was one that really opened my eyes and has left a profound impression on me. I was deeply humbled, amazed, annoyed, delighted, sadden, shocked and surprised during the journey. The poor, the rich, the food, the culture, and most of all, the experience of IST (Indian Stretchable Time). I think that punctuality is a true rarity in India. Hahhaha!
Towards the end of journey, I spent 10 days in Dharamsala, where I attended 3 days of Buddhist teachings by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Those few days in his presence reminded me of so many Life lessons that you were taught as a kid, but have since forgotten while growing up. Take for example… the importance of Forgiveness.
In the past few years, I realized that I spent a lot of time harboring grudges, or imagining the worst of people who have crossed my path. I now realize how silly it is to do that, when there is so much more freedom in forgiving someone, than with bearing a grudge against them. You spend all your energies filling your mind with angry, afflictive and terrible thoughts that you can’t find peace even when you sleep. So instead of getting angry and upset, isn’t it a lot more constructive to practice forgiveness instead?
Conversely, since coming back to Singapore, I continue to practice this renewed trust in forgiveness. It is not an easy task, and I’ve already been upset with a couple of people. The first person is a young girl whom I have great difficulty communicating with. I find her to be overly-demanding and unappreciative of my efforts and contributions. Still, I am still working on how to get around this, and I suppose that a simple chat should do the trick.
However, the second person whom upset me taught me that anger is really ‘all in your mind’. I spent so much time, thinking the worst of her, or conjuring show-downs in my mind… that I forgot all about forgiveness. Basically, I would get worked up at her, based on my imagination! How silly is that? True enough, reality was quite different when we met again. And I was thankful that I had my eyes and my heart open to see that she was not trying to upset me, but was actually going out of her way to help me. Aaahh… So… I must continue to practice patience and forgiveness. Practice, practice… practice…
18th August 2009 - The Straits Times (by Sujin Thomas)
Jailed for living in an illegal tent
HOMELESS and unemployed, Noor Mohammad Yassin Ismail pitched a canvas tent at East Coast Park in May, 2007, and lived there for almost a month – without a lease or licence to do so.
He was discovered on June 26 of that year, after he was apprehended by park rangers.
In court on Tuesday, Noor was asked to produce his Identity Card or passport but he said that he had lost both items.
It prompted District Judge Mr Shaiffudin Saruwan to retort in jest: ‘I suggest you use a bicycle chain to tie yourself to a tree or you may lose yourself as well.’
Pleading for leniency, Noor, who is tanned and skinny, said that he seldom ate, only doing so if friends gave him food.
He added that his mother is paralysed and looked after by a younger sibling, while an elder sister does not care about him.
He was fined $800 but could not afford to pay the fine so he was jailed four days instead. He could have been fined up to $2,000.
I am utterly disgusted by District Judge Mr Shaiffudin Saruwan careless remark: ‘I suggest you use a bicycle chain to tie yourself to a tree or you may lose yourself as well.’
I mean… here is a homeless guy, who can’t even afford his meals, so how can you expect him to have the money to renew his Identity Card or Passport. Where is your compassion as a judge? Where is the compassion you have a human being? To find out more… check out the on-going debate at The Online Citizen – Where’s the compassion in our “Fine City”?
I have been watching this video over and over again, and it just gets better every time. Thank you Nevisoul (Thomas), may your passion for poi never fade. I hope to see you on the playa and I also hope that you’ll come for Bornfire in Singapore later this year! To find out more about Nevisoul, feel free to check out the blog.
So we spent last Sunday night at Momo’s house playing Rockband. Ayu sure felt some rockin’ in her belly while we were all singing our little hearts out and making the loudest racket you could imagine in the Tampinese heartlands. Hours later… she was in labour and we have a new member join the band! Ladies and gentlemen… Introducing the little rockstar himself… Adil Khairul! Welcome to the world little man!
Adil sun tans on the balcony
Feimao, Grandma & Adil
Here’s a great little video of my dearest friend Paul doing a cover of one my favorite songs by Lior – This Old Love. This song brings back so many bittersweet memories of my last year in Melbourne. It was one heck of a rollercoast year in 2005, but in a blink of an eye, its 2009 and so much has changed. Change for the better, change for the worse… nonetheless, it goes to show the impermanence of Life. Meanwhile… please check out some of Paul’s other great videos on his youtube channel. Beware… he loves to sing into a broomstick and wear crazy headgear sometimes. 
Paul: I love the new microphone, the sound is brilliant.
I’ve been religiously following Crystal and Bjorn’s blog called: Life can be wonderful! Wwoofers’ journey to enlightenment of the soul. The blog chronicles their adventures as they go woofing through England and beyond. Their adventures thus far have been nothing short of amazing and I am incredibly proud of them for taking the path less traveled. Quitting their jobs in advertising and pursuing a crazy dream to get closer to the environment, to foster better relationships with people across the globe and to really live Life and to enjoy working with the land.
Crystal & Bjorn in Cornwall
Crystal is an old friend of mine whom I’ve known since I was 6 years old. Yup.. I can’t believe that we both went to the same primary, secondary and polytechnic schools together. While in polytechnic, she took the path of Mass Communications, and ended up working in Advertising; while I took the path of Film, Sound & Video, and ended up behind the camera in the Media industry.
We haven”t kept in much contact over the past few years, but when she was back in town recently, I got a chance to have dinner and drinks with her in Little India. That little reunion reminded me of how much talent this whirlwind of a woman has. She is incredible with the written word, and behind that brilliant smile, she holds a tongue that can throw you off your tracks if you dare to cross her. She doesn’t put up with bullshit, has a deep sense of commitment and swings between being a Monica and a Pheobe (characters from the sitcom Friends) every time we meet, which sure makes for interesting conversations. But anyway… their blog is truly inspiring, and I only wish Crystal and Bjorn all the very best on their incredible adventures ahead. Namaste!
My eyes and ears were opened by a new friend today – Ian. Here is a guy who has been dating with one of my best friend for awhile now, but whom I’ve never gotten to known beyond superficial levels of Hello and Goodbyes.
But today, today… he really opened my mind. I pointed the camera at him and posed to him a simple question: “What do you think of this piece of Art?” He thought for awhile, and then proceeded to give me a detailed and profound insight into how he viewed this particular installation. He measured every nuance of his answer, and generously suggested his many readings of what he felt about the piece. I was deeply impressed and suddenly humbled.
For me, I’ve viewed this piece of work for two nights in a row, and it has always been just an object, in a warehouse, at an art exhibition, that I had to include in a video. To me, it was merely somebody else’s work, that I did not engage with, because I was busy doing my work – videotaping the event. But now, all of a sudden, Ian’s observations brought this object to life and it reminded me to engage with art. It also reminded me that I should view all future projects as ART|Work. Engage with real Life first, and then weave that into the video. Don’t forget to focus on what is really in front of you, and not just what you see through a view finder. Engage with Art. Engage with Life.
This is probably the 11th night in a row that I have been dealing with insomnia – or rather… bits of insomnia. I fall asleep at around 12am, suddenly awake between 3am to 6am and sometimes, if I’m really lucky, I get to go back to sleep before getting out of bed at 7:30am. Am really really really exhausted from this disrupted sleep schedule. Bleh… and then to top it off, there are the inter-mitten nightmares that range from burning kids alive in a tree, to having cervical cancer or falling off cliffs. Cold sweat and stressful nights? Hell yeah.
But… it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this sudden change in sleeping habits is directly related to the difficult decisions that I’ve been making in the past week. In many ways… it feels like I’m back in the driver’s seat and like a newbie, I’m checking the rearview mirror, crossing out the blind spots and cautiously changing lanes on this highway. A little burn-out and weary… but I’ve still got my foot on the gas and wind in my hair.
Now… lets see if I’m lucky and can grab another hour of shut eye before the morning comes.
There’s nothing more inspiring than reading the words of this boy wonder. I am absolutely in awe of how he goes about making music and inspiring change and positive action in everything that he does. Please check out Jason Mraz’s blog here.
Honestly, it is a challenge to stay that kind of a person everyday, but I believe that it is absolutely possible. To rewire the brain to learn about looking on the bright side of Life. It’s all too easy to just raise your hands to and say ‘I give up! Life is shit! Whatever!’ or to close your eyes and ears to all that is happening around the globe. But it speaks volumes when you go out there and seek change, to stay positive, to be grateful and to be humble. It is as hard as hell, but do it anyway, because you want to.
So I spent the weekend on a cruise-to-nowhere and I came face-to-face with 2000 dirty greedy faces, stuck on a floating casino, eager to gamble their days away. Or engage in extra-marital affairs, smoke, drink or stuff their faces at the buffet line.
Buffet Pile Up
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