Touching interviews with centenarians, about their look on their long lives:
(clockwise)

1. Alice Herz-Sommer, 108
   I survived the concentration camps, and this is something extraordinary. Thousands and millions that had to die, and we are sitting here. When we are old, we are aware of the beauty of life. Young people take everything for granted. It all depends on the character you’re born with.
   Everything I forget. Even if I write it down, I forget to look. I had an excellent memory and now, I’m an idiot! [Laughs] What do I do against it? I learn Bach by heart and play the piano. My son died aged 64. He was a gifted musician, and a wonderful son. My only child.
2. Nellie Wright, 103
   I don’t get by, I exist from one day to the other. I’m hoping for the end to come. I’m tired of it. Why should it be like this? Not a penny in my purse! I’ve worked 74 years.
   Why am I here? I’m waiting for God to straighten this out. I should be home! My husband died while I was in here. I never even got to his funeral. It doesn’t matter. I’ve been a decent girl, never drunk or gone with men. I’ve just lived and worked like a silly fool.
3. Helen Turner, 101
   I’m going to live to 120! I had a party and champagne at 100. Actually, I can’t remember much of it, as I’d had a lot to drink.
   I was engaged once, but I never met… well, I knew what I was looking for and I found it, but too late. He’s a professor. Of course he’s married. And I can’t imagine he’s the sort of person to go off the rails. Not that I wouldn’t want him to. I’m not saying I’m that good!
4. Nora Hardwick, 105
   It’s in the genes, I suppose. My mother was 94 and my eldest sister was 96. Granny was 97. I’ve kept my brain active. I read and do crosswords. And I have a little shot of whisky at bedtime. I think that helps.
   If it wasn’t for my daughters, I’d have to have somebody in every day, but, you see, Maureen has showered me today and Jan’s washed my hair. They keep me clean, that’s the main thing. I’ve treated myself to a little scooter that I can get out on, in the fresh air. I don’t like sitting all day. I take every day as it comes. Each one is a bonus.

Source: http://lickystickypickyme.tumblr.com/post/4009128410/touching-interviews-with-centenarians-about-their

"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that death will tremble to take us."

I'm back from a long long hiatus!

I spent the past few months running through my life, exploring my limits and hopefully my potential, learning about my dysfunctions and self-absorption, chasing after what I thought would be good for me. Haven't really stopped to smell the roses; maybe I've forgotten how they smelled like, but I'll get down to them soon, I promise:)) It has been a steep learning curve, with fatigue and tears and all.  And I know it'll get tougher from here, with job hunting and school applications, but I'll take heart and gain more courage.

SO JIAYOUS EVERYONE!!! <333

I've shared this story with others more than once but I think it's still worth penning it down.

" There was a young girl who was very stressed up over her studies. One day, she confided in her mum. Her mum smiled and asked her daughter to prepare three pots of boiling water. In the first pot, she placed carrots in it. In the second, she put in eggs. And in the last pot, she poured coffee beans into it. After some time, her mum told her to remove the things she had put into the pots previously. The carrots in the first pot had become very soft. The eggs, in the second, had turned hard. The coffee from the third pot, was aromatic and tasted really good.
The boiling water is like adversity. Some people went into the situation determined like the carrots but came out soft and crumbled. Others went through adversity and became hard like the eggs; cynical and pessimistic. Yet others were able to change their circumstances and bring out the best in themselves and out of the entire situation. Instead of letting the water affect it, the coffee beans changed the pot of boiling water into a fragrant pot of coffee. "

Let me forget about today till tomorrow. But when tomorrow comes, I'll work hard toward my pot of coffee.

It's the holidays so it's time to be pensive lol:))

I visited the National Museum on wednesday with jeanette!!

Cai Guo-Qiang: Head On


An installation by Cai Guo Qiang
From the Deutsche Bank Collection
Presented by Deutsche Bank and National Museum of Singapore
Venue Exhibition Gallery 2, Basement
Date FRI 2 JUL 2010 - TUE 31 AUG 2010 10:00am - 6:00pm

Head On is created by Cai Guo –Qiang for his solo exhibition of the same name at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin. Although the Berlin Wall is long gone, and the former East Germany and West Germany have reunified, there remain deep and intractable historical issues between the two sides. The 99 life-sized wolves are leaping en masse towards an unseen wall, with those at the front falling from striking the wall while those bringing up the rear continuing surging forward, undeterred. Seen from afar, the leaping wolf pack forms an arc full of force and power, their fierce courage and spirit of warrior camaraderie seemingly serving as a reminder to people: humanity is easily blinded by a kind of collective mentality and action, and is destined to repeat such error to an almost unbelievable degree. The crux of this installation lies just before the glass wall, as the artist reminds people: invisible walls are the hardest to dismantle. The second and third parts of this colossal installation - Illusion II and Vortex - will also be exhibited. [Source: National Museum of Singapore]

Should we follow the crowd and go on a never-ending chase? What if the majority is wrong? Yet, on the other hand, we are all so curiously alone too! Maybe what's essential is we keep making signals and communicate through the glass wall.

I usually don't think of art in ways like these. And it's interesting how the artist is able to portray something so close and meaningful to us in a seemingly subtle manner.

I caught the movie, Inception, today! And the plot is thought-provoking. I really like the concept of the movie and how the transitions are brought across so nicely. Shan't divulge anymore lest I become a spoiler:p

What brilliant minds they have, and I marvel at how powerful the mind is. The brain never fails to intrigue me and maybe that's partly why psychology has been a joy:))

The first half of summer is over in the blink of an eye!!

I'm ambivalent about it though, because the second half of summer is gonna be alot more tiring since I'm taking more modules and at the same time, committing to more things. Yet, I'm looking forward to meeting new people in school and to be participating in those activities!

It has become more apparent to me this semester how difficult it is to balance both my studies and dance. It really wasn't easy juggling 3 to 4 dance practices a week alongside revision and quizzes and exams. No matter how much I like to dance, my studies do indeed have to be my priority and I cannot afford to mismanage my time because there's truly no time to accommodate glitches and mistakes.

Just a heads-up on the activities I'll be involved in for the second part of summer. I'm inviting all of you to join me if you are interested too!!

Y Arts Challenge with the Y STARS, 3 July, 8.30am to 12pm
This is a art and craft session with the Y STARS so we'll be partnering them to work on the art projects.

Care to Dance 2010, 10 July and 31 July, 9am to 1.30pm
Wen Yuan and I will be conducting dance workshops for the children and youths with intellectual disabilities! It feels good to be using a skill you know to reach out to the others and hopefully, make their day:))

I'm enjoying this mini break before summer two starts! Many egg-citing things to look forward to this weekend!!
- Movie date to watch Toy Story 3
- Photojournalism workshop with PSYSOC
- Cheryl's 21st birthday party at Minds Cafe
- Working at clay cove on sunday!
- Family's potluck and video-watching party

But amidst all the fun, I'll also be sending my closest UB mates off for their summer exchange:(( Bye bye Yusi, Michelle and Emily:(( It'll be a really lonely summer semester without them:( But I still hope you'll all have fun over at Korea!!

I'm finally back from a long long hiatus!!! However, what prompted the entry is the recent spate of events which left me feeling very upset and disappointed.

What is perserverance and resilience, really? What becomes of your initial commitment and the tasks we've entrusted in you when you quit?

You left because the job was tough and too much for you to handle. But you forget that nothing's easy to begin with. You forget that when you leave, you are also leaving behind the people you've been working with, to take on your responsibilities in addition to theirs. You forget about the reasons that kept you holding on previously. You forget that it doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you don't stop.

The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough.

I believe that life is sweet for those who have fought for it; for life has a flavour which the protected will never know. The darker the night, the brighter burns the candle.

And I hope you'll never quit again.

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these; it might have been."
- American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892

I just read an article on Urban last week which I found interesting and meaningful. It says, we are more likely to regret things we did not do than things we did do. That's because we can see clearly the consequences of things we did do, but are free to imagine what might have been the consequences of things we did not do. Suddenly, the possible benefits seem endless and we conjure up beautiful images of what might have been. We torture ourselves with the thought of joys, loves and successes that would almost certainly never have been ours even if we had done things differently.

I hope that's something worth bearing in mind. Don't hold yourself back, take heart and take flight to your dreams and goals because we are far more likely to regret not doing those things.

On a different note, I just completed a project for my cross-cultural psych module and I'm truly glad to be able to interview my granddad as part of the project to find out the stability and change in our family culture. It's a shame that was the longest conversation I had with my grandparents in 20 years. Listening to old grandfather stories feels good because then I realised things I wouldn't know if I hadn't asked.

Biggest finding of the day: My great-granddad owns a coal-mining business in the past but he refused to let my grandad take over his business because he felt that it was too tough and dangerous a job and it didn't have good career prospects.

Now, I can better appreciate my family because I know my predecessors, my grandparents and my parents had and have worked really hard to bring about a better quality of life for the family. I say my family is BIG; Yah mei says it's an organization:p

Here's a picture of my Ah Gong! See, grandfather's beside a grandfather clock:))

School, PSYSOC, and Chingay have kept me suffciently busy over the past few weeks. More than sufficient actually, because I found there wasn't much time left to mug and to rest. And because of the numerous activities going on concurrently, I've let my friends down time and again because I couldn't make it for dinners and gatherings:(

My goal this week shall be to become less busy!

Meanwhile, some sightings during Chingay 2010:))

People ask, "What do you like most about CNY? The red packets?"
I love CNY, because of the little break from school, because of the new clothes we get to wear and because of the new year goodies! More importantly, I love CNY cos of spring cleaning!! The house looks spick and span after a round of packing and tidying up!! And because everyone seems to be happy and contended, all in the name of the festive season!

Meanwhile, there's alot of work to catch up during the mini holiday!!

Shall let the pictures do the talking:))

It is amusing and interesting that 4 of my friends have asked me about my relationship status this week. I don't usually get the same questions asked of me 4 times in a row. So when this happens, it's an impetus for me to think over it. And I found myself replying with the same answer in all 4 instances lol.

3 weeks into school and I'm already sleeping at around 2pm every night. There goes my new year resolution of sleeping before midnight everyday:( There's a second chance though since Chinese New Year is coming and it's considered the start of a new year too! There's really alot of work to complete. And I start getting all worried when I see the number of commitments I have. Currently, I have modern dance, Chingay practices, alumni dance, PSYSOC Events, PSYSOC SPS, YMCA and Clay Cove.

To all who are feeling stressed,

"Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure."
-Tommy Lasorda

Jiayous for school!!!