Promotion - in life!

I have officially been promoted... in life... to the post of father! This is a picture of my newborn son.Here's the whole family together.

A new brush

I got myself a new brush, in preparation for the calligraphy piece that I am supposed to write for an exhibition at the end of the year. I went to Bras Basah shopping centre, and asked around for a brush the correct size, and was recommended this.I didn't realise that a good brush can cost so much... but at the same time, I didn't realise that a good brush can help so much too! Just trying out the brush at the shop got me amazed at how easy it was to use the brush, and how much better I can actually write. I am so excited about getting down to using this brush to practise and prepare for the exhibition piece.

As the Chinese saying goes, "工欲善其事，必先利其器。" In order to be good at something, you need to make sure that you have the proper tools.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is on 28 March 2009 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. This is the time when people are encouraged to switch off their lights in a bid to save electricity. Apparently, it met with some success in Singapore, with not just households but some big companies switching off the lights of their office buildings during that period of time.

But should eco efforts be limited to only these specific events? Or should it be something that we do in our daily lives? After all, I would think that this effort is nothing if it doesn't instill in people the need to limit their use of electricity but switching off unnecessary appliances and lights.

In the past, I would leave the lights on in my room when I go to the living room. Now, I have managed to kick that habit with the help of my wife. In our house, the only lights that are switched on are those in the rooms that we are currently in. We have very few appliances that are on standby mode... even the DVD player is switched on (at the mains) only when we want to use it. Our electricity bills shows that for the same household size, our electricity consumption is way below the national average (so is our water consumption, but gas consumption is about average or slightly above, since we actually cook our meals most of the time).

So I hope people do learn from this little event to realise that they can do their bit for the environment, and save a little money as well.

It's a small world

It's a small world after all... one of my physics lecturers from JC is now a student of my taiji teacher. Talk about coincidences. But of course, he doesn't know me, since he was lecturer in front of a few hundred students.

A trip to the zoo

My sister-in-law is in Singapore with her daughter to help out with the impending birth of my child. So we decided to make a weekend trip to the zoo last Saturday. It has been some time since my last visit to the zoo (maybe 5 years?) and it does bring back memories. The zoo has really changed since the time when I was young. My dad used to have projects at the zoo, so I would tag along sometimes to help him out with his work, while getting myself a free trip into the zoo. I vaguely remember helping him out with the komodo dragon and polar bear exhibits...

Anyway, I don't remember the elephants at the entrance, but here they are now.
I don't remember the otter statues as well... but they seem to bring smiles to the faces of kids. Here's the niece, smiling away.Here's us, trying to get the niece to walk. While she can walk on her own at home without shoes, it seems that she is still not used to walking with shoes on, and need help.Anyway, the trip to the zoo was a great experience! I got to bring the niece around, it was a great chance to learn what is in store for me once my own kid arrives. Having a kid around sure isn't an easy task, but the smile on her face (even though she is just my niece and not my own kid) sure makes it worthwhile.

There aren't any photos of the animals... because we were too busy taking care of the little one to be taking photos of the animals!

Want out?

Here is someone wanting out, but the organisation doesn't let him. He is bonded to the organisation that paid for his studies.

The Straits Times article on SAF doc

Here, the organisation doesn't try to stop people from leaving. There is no bond, yet they get food, lodging and studies all paid for, on top of getting a monthly allowance.

Japan Times article on SDF graduation

Talk about differences...

New Hyuga!

Wow! The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force got themselves a new "helicopter destroyer" in the form of a helicopter carrier, to replace the old Haruna DDH.

Read more about it here.

Departures おくりびと

Departures (known as おくりびと in Japan) is a great film about a cellist who became jobless and ended up taking on a job in encoffinment. Just what is so great about a film that centres around the dead?

The film is about the dead. Or rather, about the living left to take care of the dead. It is about a very niche industry that does a job that is needed (everyone eventually dies) yet few are willing to do. There are many scenes showing how the dead are cleaned and clothed. But what is so special about this process?

It is the precision and grace that the cleaning and clothing are performed, that shows the professionalism that goes into this job. As with all Japanese arts (like the tea ceremony), each movement is performed precisely and gracefully. The hands are lifted so high, the sleeve is folded at this length, the cloth is folded this many times. The clockwork precision is like watching a tea ceremony master going through his ritual of preparing tea.

It is about the commitment by the living to send off the dead, to do one final last thing for them as we bid them farewell. To make sure that we remember our loved ones as beautiful as when they were alive. We may think that undertakers are "unclean", but those who perform these last rites are so very important in helping the bereaved through their time of grief. We all want to remember our loved ones as how they were, and not as how they died. It is the professionalism of these people who handle the dead, with the respect shown to the dead, that helps the bereaved in their time of grief.

The only minus about this movie is the lead actress. The story doesn't really need a lead actress, having one was an extra, and felt that way throughout the movie. It seems as if the part of the lead actress was written just so to include her.

Official Japanese website
Official US website

The Inner Game of Tennis (book review)

I am sort of in a "book review" craze today.

Anyway, this book is not just about tennis, though it is a book about tennis. It is a book that talks about learning attitudes through tennis. It talks about our egoistic Self1 who likes being in control, and our capable Self2 that needs to have some free space in order to perform. The pressure that Self1 puts on Self2 actually causes anxiety and eventually hinders Self2 from performing, which reinforces Self1's conviction that Self2 doesn't know how to do things and needs to be told. This vicious cycle eventually leads to failure.

The important thing is to realise that Self2 needs space in order to perform, and that we need to be able to control our Self1 to prevent it from hindering Self2's progress. How we do that is by observing the facts and not passing judgment. By comparing the facts/feelings with a mental image of how things should be, we become aware of our own shortcomings as well as the areas that we are doing well in. For example, instead of saying "I am too slow", the fact is "I am half a second slow". "My hand is too low" should be "My hand is 2cm lower than the mental image". Something along those lines.

The book also talks about competition. I have talked about competition in my other blog on taiji, and reading the book, I realised that we had much in common about how to view competition. Competition should not be about winning. The goal is not in winning. But rather, the goal should be putting in maximum effort to win. When you goal is winning, you are competing against another person. When your goal is in putting maximum effort to win, you are competing against yourself, while your opponent becomes an assistant to help you improve.

So do grab a copy of this book. While you may not play tennis, the principles inside can be applied whenever we are learning a skill or trying to accomplish a task.

Flashing Steel (book review)

As you may know, I hold a second dan in Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaijutsu, so I was a bit skeptical about how much I can actually learn from a book. This book by Masayuki Shimabukuro and Leonard J. Pellman gave me a pleasant surprise, though. Instead of focusing on the movements only, the first part of the book actually deals with the spiritual aspects of learning martial arts, which are principles that can be applied not just to iaido, but in the practice of other martials arts and even how we conduct ourselves in our daily lives.

The part on iaido philosophy talks about how we should conduct ourselves inside and outside the dojo. The part on perception talks about how to see things from a different perspective as we progress in our art. And what truly amazed me is the part on progression of training. It clearly stated the different stages that we experience as we progress in our training, such as moving from the big movements, to manifesting power in our strokes, to adding speed into our movements, and finally adding a sense of "lightness" to our movements. This 4-stage progress is very much like what I experienced learning taiji as well. The explanation of the various movements also includes a short synopsis for each movement, explaining the context in which each movement is being used in.

I would give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. The only thing lacking is the presence of a teacher to actually guide you along. But it definitely serves as a good reference for those who have already started some training in iaido.

The Battle of Red Cliff (movie)

I had always been a fan of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, after playing the computer game series by Koei. Thus, when a movie is being made about one of the greatest battle in the story, that of the Battle of Red Cliff, I was of course very interested in catching the movie.

The first part of this two part movie is still okay, though there were differences with the original story by Luo Guanzhong (which in turn was based on the Records of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou). I guess it has to do with trying to introduce the female actresses in the movie, which resulted in them appearing in the movie even though they hardly featured in the book.

The limit is stretched in the second part, though. Instead of following the book, the plot was stretched so much that it distorted the story. The rivalry between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang was not played out, and while Pang Tong was supposed to have presented the tactic of chaining the ships together, the movie decided to not feature Pang Tong at all! The only saving grace was that the battle scenes were quite well done. You can read more about the discrepancies here.