The film starts off with an introduction of the corporation, RDA which is mining Pandora for its unobtanium, a mineral valued at $20million per kg. As the movie progresses, it becomes crystal clear that Parker Selfridge contains no respect either for the indigenous people nor the rich biodiversity on the planet, referring to the Na’vi as “blue monkeys”. He tries to find out what they desire, by offering them medicine, food, education, teaching them English.

Isn’t this such an imperialistic concept, yet still so apparent? Even in today’s context, there’re many instances of corporations, wanting to mine the rich oil in the Amazon, or the diamonds in Africa try to convert the local population by tempting them with many products of our civilized culture. The more nefarious taint the donated food, then offer them medicine in exchange for negotiations or religious conversions.

However, Parker is quickly stumped. He realizes the Na’vi are perfectly happy the way they are and have no desire to leave their Hometree. He then sends in Jake Sully and Dr Grace Augustine to try to infiltrate and understand them, possibly to convert the Na’vi. Eventually, Jake and Grace, having gained a complete understanding of the Na’vi’s culture and appreciation of the rich biodiversity of the planet, tries to convince Parker to stop his plans.

What is amazing is that this actually happens in real life. Daniel Everett, who went to the Maici river in the Amazon to convert the locals to Christianity, came back losing his faith and gaining respect for the indigenous people. He says “One of the saddest things I’ve seen in Amazonian cultures is people who were self-sufficient and happy that now think of themselves as poor and become dissatisfied with their lives.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/10/daniel-everett-amazon)

Parker upon realizing that diplomacy, in the simplest sense, is not working prepares to send in the ex-Marines, mercenaries hired by the corporation, but not before replying characteristically of most administrators (& CEOs) “There’s nothing more embarrassing as bad press, but more importantly, a bad quarterly statement is worse than a bad press.” (exact words hard to remember)

Again, this very lack of respect for the locals underlines the attitude our world leaders take towards other less well-off countries. Let’s us recall that Iraq was invaded because of the weapons of mass destruction which were never found. Iraq is now a unhealthy, unstable democracy but is producing a stable oil supply for the US economy, unlike under Saddam Hussein who was among the first of the oil-producing countries to not sell oil in US Dollars. Timbre, oil, diamonds, gold are just a short list of commodities we wage wars over under the cloak of self-righteousness.

Parker engages the help of Colonel Miles Quaritch to command the troops. Using intel previously gathered by Jake, Colonel Miles takes a preemptive strike using smoke bombs, then high powered missiles against a defenseless group of natives who only count the bow and arrow as their weapons. The Na’vi, realizing the danger they’re in, quickly calls upon the help of other clans, thereby exploding the population of the Na’vis in the area from hundreds to the range of thousands.

The Colonel then give a speech (don’t all officers like to give speeches) about the “fact” that the natives are trying to terrorize them, if they do not win then death would be upon them and terror should be fought be terror. Obviously to the audience, Colonel Miles is being hypocritical since he was the one who started the war first.

Yet, doesn’t it sound so familiar? Extremism on one side, begets extremism on the other, a fact civilization has never managed to understand. Our current “war on terror” began with the same roots, a huge misunderstanding amongst the radicals and a few war hawks leading to a full blown war in Afghanistan, then Iraq with the deaths of many innocent parties like Tsu-tey and Dr Grace in the movie.

Thankfully, the Na’vi eventually won the battle and the humans are evicted, a happy ending for the film. Sadly, the future does not bode well for our own human race. As you have enjoyed the movie, I hope you think about what it means for our race to be conflicted by so many problems, yet unable to find a single and solidarity , defining and deafening reply to all of them.

I reckoned that in my 1 year stint, I have been to many places, having served as a recruit, officer cadet, signaler as well as a civilian working for the army! I would like to think my time with officers of these different vocations as a good learning experience.

There are many reasons why many people outside think that officers have the better end of the stick. They are given trust to handle their own matters, awarded higher respect by superiors, receive better pay and viewed by the public as more reliable. It’s almost like a textbook example of Maslow Hierarchy of Needs.

However, to my own calculative mind, I cannot help but think officers have gotten the shorter end. Like most conundrums, the paradoxical response is often the truth. In the 2 years NSF career, an officer would receive a total of approximately $20,000 while a Man would receive $13,000.

This makes it a difference of $7,000, which a single trade on the stock market would negate or increase. Think of it as small change once you start working in the civilian world.

Most Officers endure arduous training in their 9 months in Officer Cadet School (OCS) and finally after much blood, sweat and tears, commission. Having been in there, I can attest to each day being a constant struggle, and no one really knows if he will even commission. It’s a mental and physical challenge everyday. Why did I write ‘most officers”? Because the officers at ALTI (Army Logistics Training Institutes) hardly chiong-sua during their Pro Term!

After they commission, most are sent to units to become platoon commanders, staff officers and so forth. Being an officer is a badge of honor, but like most badges, it is also a magnet for work assignments.

Unlike a man, who can nonchalantly say he does not know to do it (tah bodoh), most officers have to accept work thrown at them by senior officers or warrant officers. The term “act blur, live longer” does not apply to an officer.

Being an officer also brings about added responsibilities, and there are many things which only an officer is able to handle, as deemed by the upper echelons of SAF. Many times, men in unit would sit around stare into blank space while the officers can be seen running around handling matters. At the same time, officers also do not trust men to do things other than the most menial of matters. (lucky me I say!)

Finally, as an NSF Officer, you have to handle regular specialists, who view you with disdain because you have lesser experience, but are of a higher rank than them. If you’re unlucky and pair with a WO who is unfriendly, good luck with your 1 year stint in the unit.

As if there is not enough grievances they quietly face, officers have to serve their reservist till they hit 50 years old while man and specialists end theirs at 40 years old. Trust me, when you see reservists men ambling around in my unit, you don’t want to be in their shoes. Rounded, and less fit in their later years, every moment in green is not pleasure. This applies to everyone.

In operation / war, officers must plan and execute. It is no mean feat to plan and think of battle formations in the sweltering heat while caring for your men’s welfare. Men just loll around and eat their muesli bars after setting up the command posts waiting for orders. Every moment is a wayang moment. Even if you’re tired, you cannot show it to your men or risk losing their morale and confidence.

Now tell me, for seven grand, is it worth it to put in such a sacrifice for a government that doesn’t care for the people’s general welfare? It plainly isn’t.

Therefore, to my platoon mates who just commissioned, and to the many more officers before and after me, I salute you, for your dedication to the country, to our parents (I remember LTC Fred Chung’s speech), and for your ability to look beyond the dollars and sense.

Thank you for your sacrifice.

Ode to Love, Ode to Officers.

There, I have said it. Sounds ridiculous?

It’s not. I’ll explain.

Singapore allows for full religious freedom, which means as long as you do not insult the other religions or cause tension, you’re fine to do basically anything you want. What Josie and gang did to AWARE was frowned upon because it was obviously religiously motivated.

Religions are allowed to adapt, evolve and compete for followers. Persuasive and outwardly modern religions like Christianity and Catholicism are clear winners while seemingly less progressive religions like Taoism and Buddhism are left by the wayside.

Go to the large churches and you would forgiven if you think you’re in a rock concert with hundreds singing and clapping and speaking in tongues.

It is ironic, considering the teachings of most religions span millennia, what has become modern is not the teachings but the way it is taught.

Allowing religions to run free feeds the ideology that religion is mainstream while those without religion are amoral. The religious symbols like the fish, the wheel, the cross are apparent on car decals perpetuates this thinking further.

We have become a nation of religious hypocrites. We quote the good book only when it is helpful. The majority are cultural religious who like the warm, fuzzy notions that come along with a god belief while ignoring whatever they do not like.

What immediately comes to mind are those that pray to Taoist Gods for 4D numbers, but cannot even get the gist of the Way of Tao, or those who binge drink but consider themselves Christians when it is explicitly stated that your body is a Temple of God and you should not desecrate it. I could come out with an entire page of what I see as religious hypocrisy.

The way our government has been treating religion has been giving them sense of security. The most obvious case has been the knocking of creationist ideas on our classroom doors. Hinduism has its own pretty wacky ideas of how this universe came into being but does it go challenging the Big Bang Theory? Religion and Science, should be kept separate.

Last reported, there were 10 primary schools using a Creationist Based Textbook.

The religious community has been given respect beyond reason and have started to encroach on the grounds of our secular Singapore.

This why rational people, anti-religionists must come out of the closet and assert ourselves. After all, the true devils of extremism draw their legitimacy from the silent support of their millions of fellow believers.

As I approached the second half of my second decade in existence, I started reading voraciously. In a teenage world where bookworms are shunned and knowledge is seen as a dirty word, I was making an inconvenient decision.

In the words of an academically inclined friend who had no interests outside of the textbooks, “Thinking makes me tired.” God-given intelligence has obviously been wasted on her.

God. Who created us, how did we get here, where will we be going after we die. These questions tugged at me too. What else can I turn to but books?

Perhaps it would be better to trace my own footsteps in religion before I continue?

I grew up in a semi-religious background with pseudo-religious parents. Like most typical Chinese families, we label ourselves as Buddhists but are actually practicing Taoists.

At the same time, I accepted invitations to churches by well-minded friends. I’ve seen my fair share of tears, answered prayers, and outpouring of love. However, I was also very uncomfortable with their church-speech, praying for minor events like examinations or their pet’s birth.

To my logical mind, I was puzzled. If your loved one has cancer or some illness, it is obviously part of “God’s plan” so therefore why pray for Him to change it?

Yet Christianity held a certain appeal for me. The promise of a Loving God, close friendships and I saw the certainty the flock had. I wanted to be part of this movement. It feels modern, juxtaposed to temples with old folks. Now in hindsight, it is simply the evolution of religion and Christianity has been the fastest in the race.

Reading widely is not enough, I questioned my friends and parents. Relationships soured, my parents were not exactly in the best of moods. I mean, if you trace the roots of Taoism, it’s just plain silly! Some dude had a dream about Lao Tzu speaking to him 300 years after his death and he starts dabbling in the occult in the Wise Sage name. Bullocks if you ask me. I asked my Christian friends about scripture. I received answers that ranged from hopeful to pure despondent.

“Why not you come down and we’ll share with you personally, meanwhile I’ll keep you in prayer” (lovely, I hope you do keep a list)
“It is said in the Bible that Satan meddled with some of the verses, so we cannot trust everything in the Bible” (wtf? In scientific terms, once the legitimacy of a text is questioned, you throw out everything!)
“So what if you’ve read more (of the Bible) than me, I know and have experienced God’s love so I know he is real” (other than being defensive, totally doesn’t help anything at all)

Facing a roadblock here, I turned to books again. I read The Purpose Driven Life, Case for Christ, The God Delusion, God is not Great etc. I believed myself to get a clear view of both sides. I also read up on the lighter version of Charles Darwin Origin of Species which made me doubt the story about Intelligent Design(on the third day…). Reading about anthropology and the lives of apes allowed me to realize that in terms of societal structure and relationships, we are not different at all!

The life story about Jesus being so similar to other mythical Gods and their births, thou shalt not comment about it here.

Being in a (multi)religious country like Singapore, it is the mainstream and the view held by the government that religion is for the common good. Yet, I discovered a new wave of thinking, Atheism, Agnosticism, Pantheist, Freethinkers.

Can non-religious people be moral? Do they have a purpose in life?
Why not?

Finally, I read about news (not covered in Singapore), about the Vatican protecting child molesting priests. Wars in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh because of religion. How can one not get outraged by it? To my simplistic thinking, if religion is a thing of the past, these petty conflicts will disappear. Humans can then focus on bigger world issues, like food, poverty and disease management.

Lately with newer kids on the block like Scientology and Mormonism gaining in popularity with even more absurd stories, now I just think most people will believe anything.

As Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father of America said, “Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.”

Wow, you’ve read this far. Please tell me I am not the only person thinking this way

My elder brother, faced a dilemma. He could buy a cheap inkjet printer but pay more on the ink, or he could pay more for a laserjet printer and pay less for the toner over the long run. Did you know that ink is worth more per gallon than petrol?

I didn’t think twice. I recommended buying a inkjet printer and using compatible ink.

Why not? Compatible ink is about 60% cheaper than the branded products! Granted, I have not been able to achieve true blacks with the numerous brands I have tried, magenta always seemed to be dispensed a little too freely, and typography does not appear as sharply defined as I would like, but why complain about quality when the price is right?

And just at this point, it hit me. The fight between original ink and compatible ink is like our perpetual ongoing debate about foreign talent invading our shores.

Original ink offers you trouble-free printing (no leaks, clogs etc), advanced ink formulation, highly developed print cartridges and even something as abstract as a peace of mind! These quotes are taken directly from HP website.

In many ways, this argument is like justifying why we should hire local graduates. They move in almost seamlessly into our company’s culture from their locally accredited university and the manager would have no worries about his quality of work. 2nd lower, why don’t you wait back in line, son? (Don’t call us, we’ll call you)

Compatible ink is reverse engineered, it takes existing print-head technologies and inject ink into these cartridges. This results in the purported ink spillage if not done properly. The user also runs the risk of a bad print job and worst, it might even spoil the printer!

Sound familiar? Foreign talent who enter companies tend to have difficulty assimilating into our local culture and could even break up an entire division or with a failure of local insight, destroy the company! Lately, with the advent of acculturation lessons, instances like this is fast becoming old news.

Similarly, compatible ink damaging printers is old news. Just as how the Compaq Portable (a deceiving name for a 12.5 kg computer) successfully and legally reverse engineered the IBM PC in 1983, the same technology has caught up to the giants of the printing world and compatible ink is almost as good as original ink to the untrained eye.

Yet, this has not stopped the printing giants along with their marketing departments endowed with enormous budgets from carrying on with their diatribe about compatible ink and misinforming the public about the intricacies of ink through scare tactics. Why wouldn’t they? I would do anything to protect my precious stream of income, especially if it is flowing faster than OPEC can find new sources of black gold.

At the very least, we now know why we are paying so much and how much of our payment goes into actual R&D. How about R&D focusing on cheaper ink, Goliaths?

In the same way, locals stating that foreign talent are not as capable clearly reflects our lack of social grace and industry knowledge and is pretty much similar to how Goliath trying to discredit David through smear tactics.

Foreign talent is fast catching up to us in terms of quality of output and fitting into our culture. So while the local flavour might always be preferred by companies for ease, these foreign talents are giving us locals a run for our Singaporean dollar.

What can we do? Honestly, for the majority of ordinary Singaporeans, we have no choice but to watch them wheedle away at our income while the exceptional seek greener pastures overseas. After all, who else but our government is welcoming them with open arms?