23 Days Later...

Hey World

School has started for 2 weeks, and for some strange reason, I'm already swamped with stuff to do. Right now I am fortunate enough to be able to relax a little bit, let off some steam, and finally put my thoughts to words (or pixels, if you like).

Long story short, taking MCATs and 4 subjects (the normal load) is not exactly fun, nor should I allow that to be a damper to my college days. Indeed, the workload is already pretty high, and it's only the 2nd week! I must imagine the later weeks will prove to be a harder test. For the MCATs, it's tough to score very well on it as it requires exceptional knowledge and it focuses on critical thinking, the stuff that it's believed to make great doctors. It's not healthy to dwell upon self-defeatist slogans, and I am gonna try my best for it...and perhaps be encouraged (and maybe encourage) others along the way too.

When I was waiting to disembark on the plane heading back to the States, I thought up a line to describe myself...unfortunately it has a very emo ring to it and literal reading of it may actually exaggerate what's inside me. So here it goes:

"The heaviest luggage is not what you carry in your hands - it's what's in your heart" - Josh Foong (but I bet someone else must have quoted this already!)

Honestly, I had an immensely enjoyable time being back home, catching up with family, friends and church...and appreciating that I will always have a home back in Singapore. The bonds I have made at home are still going really strong, and I truly appreciate that. This also makes leaving home a little harder than usual, having to put those bonds on pause again as I make my way back to the Land of the Brave, and not knowing where my feet will be in the next couple of years.

The prospect of having a future in the States is a very big and attractive dream to me right now. I may be similar in terms of personality in both back home and in the States...and yet I find myself drawn to the States itself, the opportunities I could look into, the values the nation is built upon, the people I've met etc...I can't exactly express the nature of my "drawing" to the States into definitive words. This is nothing to say anything negative about Singapore too...it will always be home for me, a place where I can trust in having loving family and friends...just that the government puts me off (I am not directly affected by their policies, but the disingenuoscity they exude in action and speech).

I guess this is a time of waiting, preparing and praying...to put my desires before God, and seek His direction in my life. Realistically, I would continue to study in the States provided I can get into a medical school here (which is a task of a very tall order!) or even if I meet someone special over there...(I know, oooOOOooo, but hey that's what I really believe that is important too).

For now, I would continue soldiering on with my college career, continue to grow closer to God in our relationship...and maybe blog more often?

Take care,

Joshua

Rekindling Age-old Ash

Hey Everyone

Hope you all are doing fine and in good health!

Well, I had this blog running roughly a couple of year’s back, and somehow it died as I occupied myself with a lot of things that starved the blog of much needed time and attention…especially since I have the tendency of spending at least an hour on a simple post, making sure I am making sense in good (or acceptable) English. The advent of facebook also accelerated the process, as it experienced a population boom that beats the earth’s in terms of percentage, with FB allowing me to detail my life (and look at others too) in a convenient and quick fashion.

Also, I just got back from a holiday in HK, and I have felt that I’ve been largely wasting thinking energy upon myself, coming up with thoughts in “aloof” prose that have not found any physical form to live down the ages. In short, I’ve been thinking without writing, “wasting eloquence” if I can put it in as humble a form I can. The chinese have a saying: “The worst pen beats the best memory”, and it’ll probably help to have a record of my thoughts to look at in the future.

In life, I tend to listen to others a lot, and I haven’t really found the time and setting when I can (at least) attempt to fully express my mind to others, regardless of how earnest they may be in finding out more about me. It’s no one’s fault at all. I admit right here that I am lousy at coming up with spontaneous descriptions on what I think or feel at most moments, and only able to do that when I’m alone or even writing (like now). Just seems like writing brings about a different palette of colors to paint our lives with, talking may be instant, but it’s a different way of communication, and I find that without writing, I will be unable to express more detailed and perhaps more expressive areas of my life from the inside. You can’t cook nice curry with a frying pan.

So I’ll try to just start this blog again, and not for the narcissistic ideal of “showcasing myself” to the world, but just as an area to give my thoughts form, perhaps to truly seek to better communicate the “going-ons” in my life to others (if they are even interested haha), and to act as a platform to open myself up to God and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. In life, I do find that we all (or at least I) have the need to spend time away from the hussle and bussle of life, to reflect upon our inner condition, and truly come into fuller knowledge of the bigger picture (God’s will for us in life, spiritual health etc). It’s too easy to be mixed up with the rush of life, and miss out on what is truly critical in our lives…spiritual fruit being one of them (Galatians 5:22).

Hope this is not another flash in the pan, and welcome aboard if you’ll like to tag along this journey.

Take care and God bless,

Joshua

Wordpress Wunderland?

Hi Guys

After giving some thought over a very long period of time, I have finally decided to try out blogging on wordpress. Still exploring what a free wordpress blog can do, and hopefully get my blog up again after dying since Nov 2007.

Take care, and check this space.

Imperical Theory

Why Empire?

Roughly the original Star Wars goes like this: The Empire are more or less the 'bad guys' of the Star Wars universe. They are a huge organization that ruled the planets with fear. Corruption, shortsightness, and tactical ineptness have been hallmarks of the Empire.

Unfortunately (just joking) some of my good friends happen to support the 'good guys' called the Rebel Alliance or whatever, and for a good reason I believe many more do prefer the rebels. The rebels are the answer to the 'evil Empire', and consistently achieve success over the Imperials. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca are just the few of the heroic faces that saturate the Rebellion.

I'll try my best to present my case as logically as possible, and I admit I have not read expansively on the expanded universe. Rebel victories irk me and I stay away from them (I did read a bit but I got turned off). I am aware of events that would cause me to be a rebel-emphatizer such as the alliance against the Yuzhan-voong.

One can say that I am biased in sources, and I accept that within reason. The expanded universe ultimately draws upon what the movies have portrayed initially, or else they can't be called 'Star Wars'. Since the rebels already are pictured as the winners, it would not be surprising for the expanded universe to follow in a similar vein.

For me, I can't imagine myself liking the rebel movement for quite a few reasons. Not that I love evil and that kind of stuff...but deeper than that. No single sentence can really convey my preference for the Empire haha.

1. Rebels are the 'Convenient Choice'

This is one of the main reasons why I don't like rebels. It is just too easy to fawn over the good guys and woo for them. They win practically anywhere...movies, novels, comupter games and such. Is it hard to support someone who's a good guy and winning? People like to be associated with champions (since they are remembered for winning, such as wearing Nike apparel or being a Man Utd fan haha).

In a way, this can be linked back to real life. Remember those 'easy solutions' that now plague the world? Fertilization was the 'way' for the green revolution, Vioxx was withdrawn from shelves worldwide, even DDT started out with widespread belief of its answer to pests. It is tempting to accept the solution without taking notes of possible implications. GM foods is another 'easy solution' that is really killing us in the background of big companies and political manipulation.

People might argue that the rebels paid the cost in their lives, hardship, emotional stress and so on...then more so for the Empire. 2 Death Stars (or moon-sized space stations) staffed by Imperials on them perished in their duties. The Rebellion had the storywriters on their side and usually rebel victories smell of 'artistic license'...think Ewoks. :)

Check these cool links out:

The Endor Holocaust

Principle of Evil Marksmenship

2. Possible in Real Life?


Real life rebel movements also do not prove that rebellions are wholly altruistic or are free of criticism. Being a rebel is not a life that is simply all about fighting for freedom or against a huge and oppressive power. Humans are infamous for ulterior motives, and what makes the Alliance free from manipulation? They already depend on smugglers (who now have an avenue to put on an ethical front on their operations), they need to garner popular support (what if 1 planet doesn't agree? Would rebels just happily walk away and say 'thank you and continue to support Empire scum'), and Rebels exist as long as there is war.

The Empire also cannot be a wholly evil organization, with its tactically inept members bent on self-advancement. For one, we can always examine the empires of this real world. It is too simplistic to say all the empires were bad, as they did oppress their colonies and robbed them of their national heritage (China has lost a LOT from the British, and the British refuse to return them to 'help preserve history'),

Well, no one face can describe the whole Empire. Even though the stormtroopers and TIE fighter pilots are clones, identical twin experiments have shown large differences between twins. Everybody's different and it is within logical reason to postulate that there are noble people in the Empire, Pellaeon would be one of them.

3. Good Intentions turn Bad

Ever believed someone would like to be corrupt for the sake of it? Is it possible to have purely evil intentions that drew upon evil? Thing is...it's not as easy as that. Let's take a look at Emperor Palpatine:

What he wants (what others think): No good Jedis, since he's a Sith and evil.

What he may think: It's his life mission, and he needs to achieve it for his organization he lives for, the Sith. In short, 'keeping it real'.

What he used to achieve his goals: Smarts and guile. Really fooled those wise Jedis.

Everyone has a life mission, and Palpatine used his gifts to attain it with dedication (what we all strive to do so too). The gifts themselves are noble qualities, but its applications are not noble in this context. Ultimately, this evil grew from a legitimate goal, and notable gifts were used to evil ends. Bad draws its meaning and power from good.

Message is: It's too easy for us to call others evil because we just don't agree with their goals.

*of course this philosophical argument is very short...it's a blog after all!