Monday, March 30, 2009 @ 9:44 AM Author: clarinda
The following article highlights the need for vigilance and unity in combating extremists, and more importantly, what are the lessons to be taken away. Are there any areas that need fine-tuning or changes? A thorough review of each incident will be essential to ensure the safety and security of the country. In addition, countries will need to continue co-operate and share intelligence information to reduce the occurence of such incidents.Gunmen storm Pakistan police academy
MANAWAN, Pakistan (AFP) - - Gunmen stormed a Pakistan police academy Monday, triggering an intense battle with security forces that left at least 20 dead, weeks after a brazen assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Television footage showed bodies of policemen lying face down on the parade ground as heavy gunfire continued to rattle round the camp at Manawan outside Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore.
Paramilitary soldiers, armed and wearing flak jackets and helmets, opened fire and fanned out around the perimeter of the site, which was surrounded by scores of police cars and armoured vehicles, an AFP reporter said.
"The number of killed is at least 20," a police official, Amjad Ahmad, told AFP outside the compound, and dozens of wounded were rushed to hospitals.
Other police officers said the number of casualties could rise because of the heavy crossfire between the attackers holed up at the training centre and the paramilitary troops.
There were also television reports of hostages being taken, but that could not be confirmed.
Ahmad told AFP there were 10-12 "terrorists." He said half were in police uniform and half in civilian clothes.
He said they were armed with hand grenades and rifles, and killed security guards at a rear entrance.
Senior police official Azhar Nadeem said they were caught by surprise.
"It was a surprise attack and the initiative was in their hand. Police are reacting to that, and I hope that this stand-off will end soon," Nadeem told Express television.
The latest attack came weeks after a March 3 commando-style assault on Sri Lanka's touring cricket team by assailants armed with guns and grenades. They killed eight Pakistanis and wounded seven members of the squad.
Those attackers walked away unhindered by police, and authorities have not announced any high-profile arrest in connection with the assault, which has at least temporarily ended Pakistani chances of hosting international sport.
Officials said that assault bore the hallmarks of the November 2008 attack on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, which was blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militants and killed 165 people.
At Manawan, an AFP reporter saw one helicopter land inside the camp, while another landed a short distance away and a third flew overhead.
Kamran Ali, an official at the Lahore rescue department, said that some 60 wounded policemen had been moved to different hospitals in the city.
"We fear that the death toll may rise up to 50 or 60, because the attackers lobbed grenades on groups of policemen," Ali said.
Lahore is Pakistan's second largest city and capital of wheat-bowl Punjab province, which is also the country's political nerve centre.
Extremists opposed to the Pakistan government's decision to side with the United States in its "war on terror" have carried out a spate of bombings and other attacks that have killed nearly 1,700 people in less than two years.
Much of the unrest has been concentrated in northwest Pakistan, where the army has been bogged down fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists.
On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a packed mosque in Jamrud, a town in the northwest, killing around 50 people.
US officials say Pakistan's northwest has become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and have since regrouped to launch attacks on foreign troops across the border.
Such is the scale of extremist violence that US President Barack Obama has placed Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda, tripling US aid to the nuclear-armed nation as part of a new strategy that also commits billions of dollars and thousands more troops to the Afghan war.
Obama called Al-Qaeda and its allies "a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within" and urged Islamabad to demonstrate its commitment to eradicating extremists on its soil.
copyright of APF
Sunday, March 29, 2009 @ 8:19 PM Author: clarinda
AGREE with the RATINGS!! Boys Over Flowers is the BEST among the three versions!! =)If only Korean Language was offered as one of the language modules for Module Outside the Main Discipline (MOMD)..
Going ga-ga over man-ga
Girls can't get enough of this manga. So two more TV adaptations are expected for Hana Yori Dango
By Jocelyn Lee
In Taiwan, it is called Meteor Garden (2001). In Japan, Hana Yori Dango (2005), and in Korea, it goes by Boys Over Flowers (2009).
Now, China's Hunan TV is coming up with another version of the wildly popular idol drama, which will air later this year.
The Philippines is also reportedly producing a remake of the series, making it the fifth version of the show.
These live-action adaptations of artist Yoko Kamio's manga Hana Yori Dango make it one of the hottest properties in Asia.
The manga and its adaptations tell of a poor girl who enrols in an elite school. Four rich handsome guys, who call themselves F4, bully the students in school but she stands up to them. The leader of the quartet eventually falls in love with her.
Despite the multiple retellings in different languages, the series is still popular, especially with female fans.
The reason for the enduring fascination: the winning formula of a fantasy-like story plot combined with droolworthy casts from different countries. The Taiwanese version, for example, spawned the boy- band F4, which became an Asian hit phenomenon.
Student Crystal Chua, who has watched all three versions, says: 'Watching it makes me feel as if such dramatic whirlwind romances can happen to normal people like me too.'
The 17-year-old adds: 'Plus, the four characters are very cool and handsome, especially in the Korean version. Just watching them on TV makes me feel very happy.'
Communications officer Jennifer Law, 23, has also seen all three adaptations and agrees: 'The cool storyline of ridiculously rich bad boys who are in fact kind-hearted, coupled with a few love triangles, is enough to hook me.'
Student Jasmine Lee, 19, adds: 'I have watched the Taiwan and Korean versions three times each and I wouldn't mind watching them again because seeing four smoking hot men on TV at the end of a stressful day in school simply gives me sweet dreams at night.'
BOYS OVER FLOWERS (Korea)
Year: 2009, 26 episodes
Starring: Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon and Gu Hye Seon
Romantic exchanges: Jan Di (Gu) makes chocolates in the shape of Jun Pyo's (Lee) face as a Valentine's Day present but cannot give them to him as their date is interrupted by his mother. He gives her a necklace but she loses it and risks her life trying to retrieve it during a snowstorm.
Grand entrance: Jun Pyo goes to school by helicopter, with the wind ruffling his permed hair.
Local flavour: He gets a taste of an ordinary Korean's life at Jan Di's home, where he makes kimchi with her family and goes to a public bathhouse with her father and brother.
Theme songs: Paradise by T-Max and Because I'm Stupid by SS501
Trivia tidbit: Talk of a curse started when the five leads were involved in road accidents this year. Online gossip intensified after an actress in the show, Jang Ja Yeon, was found dead at home in an apparent suicide on March 7.
Rating: 8.5/10 The Korean serial has all the elements of pretty boys, high production values and a good script.
METEOR GARDEN (Taiwan)
Year: 2001, 19 episodes; 2002, 31 episodes
Starring: Jerry Yen, Vic Chou, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu and Barbie Hsu
Romantic exchanges: Shancai (Hsu) makes biscuits in the shape of Daoming Si's (Yen) face for his birthday. He surprises her with a diamond necklace during a late-night date on his balcony.
Theme songs: Qing Fei De Yi (Can't Help Loving You) by Harlem Yu and Ni Yao De Ai (The Love You Want) by Penny Tai.
Grand entrance: Si speeds to school in his convertible and climbs out of it looking all sullen and pretty.
Local colour: Shancai's mother is a typical auntie whose idea of dressing her daughter up for a posh party is to drape her in a shiny getai-worthy outfit.
Trivia tidbit: The cast took off to Barcelona for the sequel, Meteor Garden 2, which starred Singapore's Michelle Saram. Her gurgling character became a target of fans' wrath for briefly coming between Si and Shanchai.
Rating: 8/10 The fantasy factor in the idol drama is cranked up with the droolsome casting of four tall and handsome hunks. The four actors were virtual unknowns at the time and their acting was raw but female fans were swept off their feet nonetheless.
HANA YORI DANGO (Japan)
Year: 2005, nine episodes; 2007, 11 episodes; 2008, the big-screen finale.
Starring: Jun Matsumoto, Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda, Tsuyoshi Abe and Mao Inoue
Romantic exchanges: Makino (Inoue) bakes cookies shaped like Doumyouji's (Matsumoto's) face to remind him of their love after he loses his memory, but another girl takes credit for them. Before Doumyouji leaves Japan for America, he gives Makino a personalised necklace.
Grand entrance: Doumyouji and his clique are greeted by cheering schoolmates like movie stars, as a manga-style montage shows how rich and powerful each of the guys is.
Local flavour: Tsukushi has to prove herself a paragon of feminine virtue and win a teen beauty contest, so that Doumyouji's scary mother will stop trying to separate the lovers.
Theme song: Wish by Arashi
Trivia tidbit: The Japanese version moves at the fastest pace. Its first season ended in nine episodes, compared to Taiwan's 19 episodes and Korea's 26 episodes.
Rating: 7/10 The brisk pace means that this version is engaging but there are also fewer love scenes. Given the phenomenon of the F4 boys, whose heights were a crucial factor in their success, the Japanese cast falls, er, short of expectations.
copyright of SPH
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 7:45 PM Author: clarinda
I came across the following article in The Sunday Times today. Ich denke er ist sehr interessant.The day Michael Fay saved me from jail
Even in the US, some believe that giving up a bit of freedom can serve the greater good
By Lee Wei Ling
Someone e-mailed me an article from the San Francisco Chronicle titled 'Singapore blooms as lush as Eden itself', by Linda Watanabe McFerrin, about our city in a garden.
'Unfortunately, what most Westerners know about Singapore,' she notes, 'is limited to the restrictions imposed on its citizens by a repressive government that dictates the mix of races; regulates reproductive matters, public housing and other seemingly personal matters; bans chewing gum, canes kids and keeps a stranglehold on the media.'
I read the article with amusement and recalled the day Michael Fay saved me from being thrown into jail in New Hampshire. For those too young to remember Fay, let me relate his story.
In 1993, the then 18-year-old and his friends damaged 18 cars in a 10-day spree of vandalism and mischief. Stolen road signs and Singapore flags were also found in his home. Fay was caught, charged and pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced him to six strokes of the cane and four months in jail.
The American media went berserk; then US President Bill Clinton appealed to then President Ong Teng Cheong to pardon the teenager; the Singapore Government agreed to reduce the sentence to four strokes of the rotan; the US media was not satisfied.
At the time of his arrest in Singapore, Fay was living with his mother and stepfather. On his release from prison in June 1994, he returned to the US to live with his father.
A few months later, the US press reported that he had come home intoxicated late one night and had charged at his father. A month later, he was badly burnt sniffing butane when a friend struck a match.
He admitted that he had been a butane addict while in Singapore.
Fay was far from my mind when I spent three wonderful days hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in October 1995.
It was fall and the mountains were covered with red, yellow, rust and gold foliage with tiny flecks of green - a work of art which no human painter can ever equal either in magnitude or splendour.
Just before heading back to Boston, I stopped at a tiny souvenir shop. I bought a sweatshirt with a moose printed on it for my mother.
I then saw a T-shirt with the New Hampshire state emblem, the head of an eagle, and the words 'Live Free or Die' printed around the emblem.
I have always avoided wearing anything which makes a statement. But I could not resist buying this T-shirt. Then I hit the highway again, heading for Boston.
The highways in America are wonderful. They are multiple-lane affairs, with a physical separation between the traffic going in opposite directions. This makes speeding on them safer than in Singapore.
Soon, I was cruising at 195kmh with Scottish music playing at full blast in the background.
Because of the loud music, it took me some time before I noticed a police siren and slowed down.
With its red, white and blue lights flashing, the police car overtook my vehicle and signalled for me to pull over. I did so and the police car stopped ahead of me.
The policeman walked over to my car, demanded to see my driving licence, then yanked me out, saying: 'I am bringing you to the police station to be locked up.'
I protested: 'I was only speeding. I will pay the fine and you should let me off.'
He shot back: 'You were not only speeding. You disobeyed the law by not stopping immediately when I flashed the light to signal you to stop.'
He shoved me into his car and drove off, leaving my rental car by the roadside with all my belongings, including my newly purchased T-shirts, in it and the car door still open.
He radioed back to the police station, saying he was bringing someone in to the lock-up.
'What do you work as?' he asked me.
I replied: 'I am a doctor.'
'I hope you are a better doctor than a driver. Are you on drugs?'
'No. Do I look as though I am on drugs?'
'No, you look as though you were concentrating on overtaking every car ahead of you.'
That was indeed what I was doing. How often in Singapore can one drive at 195kmh? But I chose not to voice that thought.
Suddenly he asked: 'What do Singaporeans think of Americans?'
I replied quite sincerely: 'We like Americans. Hewlett-Packard, IBM and other multinational companies create jobs for us. But you probably don't like Singaporeans because we caned Michael Fay.'
His whole demeanour changed when I mentioned Fay.
'Michael Fay deserved to be caned,' he said firmly. 'He has been causing trouble since he returned to the US.'
He told me how his best friend, also a policeman, had been shot point-blank and died that morning when he stopped a speeding car. That was why he was in such a foul mood.
From that point on, our conversation got friendlier. We talked about hiking in New Hampshire, how we drove on the left in Singapore and so on.
Without my realising it, he had turned around and had driven back to where my rental car was.
A tow truck had just arrived, but my policeman shooed it away.
He walked me to my car, told me to 'drive safely' and walked off. He did not fine me, nor did he charge me for activating the tow truck.
I drove back to Boston hardly believing my good luck.
American journalists may flog Singapore because of its perceived limitations on personal freedom, but there are some Americans - even in 'Live Free or Die' New Hampshire - who feel that a compromise in personal freedom to prevent anti-social behaviour is necessary for the welfare of society.
Most Singaporeans and many Americans would agree with that sentiment.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
copyright of SPH
Monday, March 16, 2009 @ 10:57 PM Author: clarinda
Personal Exam Timetable - Important information
This important information should be read alongside your PROVISIONAL Examinations Timetable for the Main Summer 2009 Examinations Period. The details of your listed examinations are only provisional at this stage. You will need to check your FINAL timetable due to be published at the start of the summer term for the actual time, dates and venues. Copies of the PROVISIONAL Timetable will be displayed on the notice boards in Schools and Departments and at the Enquiry Services Counter based in the Aston Webb Building. You can view your timetable at www.as.bham.ac.uk/examstimetable and via your Student Portal www.my.bham.ac.uk
1. Please study your PROVISIONAL and your FINAL timetable with care. No allowance can be made if you fail to attend an examination because you have misread your timetable, or failed to check for any amendment
This important information should be read alongside your PROVISIONAL Examinations Timetable for the Main Summer 2009 Examinations Period. The details of your listed examinations are only provisional at this stage. You will need to check your FINAL timetable due to be published at the start of the summer term for the actual time, dates and venues. Copies of the PROVISIONAL Timetable will be displayed on the notice boards in Schools and Departments and at the Enquiry Services Counter based in the Aston Webb Building. You can view your timetable at www.as.bham.ac.uk/examstimetable and via your Student Portal www.my.bham.ac.uk
1. Please study your PROVISIONAL and your FINAL timetable with care. No allowance can be made if you fail to attend an examination because you have misread your timetable, or failed to check for any amendment
2. If your registration details are incorrect you must contact Academic and Student Administration immediately on 0121 414 7542 (undergraduate) or 0121 414 2765 (postgraduate), alternatively you can come to the Enquiries Service desk in the Aston Webb Building
3. If you find that you have two examinations set at the same time, please report this immediately to the Examinations and Congregations Office on 0121 414 3815. Please note that duplicate titles do not indicate a clash but are simply a reflection of the different modules associated with an assessment.
4. As a registered student of the University, you are required to make yourself available to sit these examinations. If you are unable to attend through illness or are ill during an examination, you must supply a medical certificate without delay to your School or Department. Further information is available at
5. Mitigations (circumstances which affect your examination performance) must be reported immediately to your School or Department and before the Board of Examiners meet, even if you do not have supporting evidence available at the time. Further information is available at
6. You must always bring your student ID card with you to each examination
7. Please note that some examinations may be organised by your School or Department, e.g. language oral examinations, and will not be reflected on this timetable
8. The durations of the examinations below do not take into account any additional time allowed to students who have been registered as dyslexic or dyspraxic.
9. You will not be permitted to sit any examinations if you are in debt to the University
Examinations and Congregations Office, Academic and Student Administration
Examinations and Congregations Office, Academic and Student Administration
copyright of UoB
ARGH!!! my 1st paper falls on my birthday..2 papers some more..gd news or bad news??
Thursday, March 12, 2009 @ 11:06 PM Author: clarinda
YIPPEE!!! My group has finally handed in the styrene group report..styrene can now haunt me no more..muahahaha..=)Monday, March 9, 2009 @ 9:25 AM Author: clarinda
I have finally taken pictures from my morning jog..really enjoy it as the place is calm, peaceful, relaxing and has a cool atmosphere..=)
there are 3 ducks in the above photo..can u spot them??
there are 2 ducks in the above photo..can u spot them??
did u realise how huge the ducks are??
swan in the lake..take 1
swan in the lake..take 2
this duck was chasing after 2 other ducks.."running" in action
squirrel hopping/jumping about
the squirrel was digging earlier on
the squirrel was eating sth
so many ducks on and surrounding the pavement
"couple" walking down the so-called "aisle"
Anyway, I saw one of my coursemates wearing pyjamas to lectures today..she was so outstanding wearing such an outfit..
Tuesday, March 3, 2009 @ 9:40 PM Author: clarinda
Hopefully those who have been to my blog enjoyed the 2 videos that I have posted.The recent case of a final EEE student in NTU stabbing his professor has taken me by surprised. I have never ever in my wildest dream thought that such things could happen in Singapore. This is probably because it seems that such incident occur more frequently in the US, UK or other European countries. Of course, I have learnt not to assume that incidents occurring abroad could not happen here. That that is being written does not mean that I do not believe terrorist attacks could not happen here. I believe that everything is possible. I just hope that the actual reason why the student carried out such an act could be found. It is sad to see a promising student deciding to choose to end his path this way.
Anyway, I am quite disturbed by the fact that an LA fertility clinic has offered would-be parents a chance to select physical traits of their baby such as eye and hair colour (The Straits Times, 03/02/2009). Personally, I do not support such a move if parents were to used this technology for aesthetic purposes rather than for medical reasons. Of course I understand the desire of parents wanting their offspring to be at least of average looking, but I feel that such technology should only be used in reducing the chances of babies inheriting family medical conditions, or being born with possible defections. This is because the health aspects of a baby's well being should be the utmost importance for parents. Then again, even if the baby is born with birth defects, I feel that parents should not abandon or discriminate against them. Furthermore, as Dr Gillian Lockwood has cautioned, there is the danger of turning babies into commodities that one can buy off the shelf. If the society was to reduced to such a state, it will be a sad sight.
Anyway, on a lighter note, I realised that my large amount of hair dropped might not be due to the shampoo that I have used. This is because firstly, I do not buy inferior quality shampoo for fear of having unwanted hair conditions. Secondly, from a survey that I have conducted with my friends, they too have dropped lots of hair since arriving in UK. Thus, I have concluded that the water in UK could be the source of my problem. Arguably. The water here is milky, such that every time I boil water, I would quickly close the lid so that I will not have to see the milky water. This is so unlike in Singapore where the water is clean and crystal clear, and will not cause me dropping lots of hair.
The weather today is so cold, windy and rainy. The strong wind has damaged my umbrella. By the way, I realised that the UK people generally do not carry umbrella when it is raining. What most of the people did is to just put on their hoodies with the cap covering their heads. Also, I realised that some of the people here would run rain or shine, snow or windy. I will never go for a jog when it is raining or snowing.
One of the rare long entries.
My dinner: Sub of the Day --- Meatball from Subway..Guess what??? This is only the second time I bought something from Subway since I came to UK..
Monday, March 2, 2009 @ 8:02 AM Author: clarinda
I realised that the previous 2 videos that I have uploaded cannot be viewed in Singapore, so I have took videos of that 2 videos using my camera..ENJOY!!!