RE: MOOVE IS MORE
this is for my dear fiona who claims she hasn't seen those cows on grass patches everywhere. i finally found a picture on their offical website moovemedia although it's just a picture of the cows' head, it'll do. even shadow wrote a post abt ppl stealing these cows, go read. so i'm not making things up. Anyway for those of you who find the cows adorable but don't wanna try the illegal method of cow stealing can get them legally now at the auction. opening bid is 50 bucks.


and some other photos from else where

cows copulating, someone has a wicked sense of humor.



i'm also gonna advertise for wsi. we're having a show on wednesday at 3pm. Be there! yes, it's FREE. FREE you hear me? i'm gonna repeat. it's FREE! no need to pay.

the geek culture - joy of tech has some awfully hilarious graphics. go take a look.

my personal favourites.
april 18th - the evolution of Homo Portableaudio
april 11th - X-ray desktops
april 4th - where google gets all that Gmail hard drive space
march 28th - just a few reasons why apple is evil- i simply love this.
march 23rd - nano ipods
march 21st - a guide to office chairs
march 2nd - extra polating apple's development of lanyard.

mwhahhahahaha! awfully hilarious. nuff' said.

southpark fans will love this. planearium has came up with a mix and match southpark flash. yes, go and dress up your own southpark. a great time killer (:

breakfast at tinffany's by deep blue something.

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY"S

You say that we've got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we're falling apart
You'll say the world has come between us
Our lives have come between us
But I know you just don't care

And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?
She said, "I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got."

I see you - the only one who knew me
And now your eyes see through me
I guess I was wrong
So what now? It's plain to see we're over,
And I hate when things are over -
When so much is left undone

And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?
She said, "I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got."

You say that we've got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we're falling apart
You'll say the world has come between us
Our lives have come between us
But I know you just don't care

And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?
She said, "I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got."

this song is so cute.
i hosted it.

breakfast at tiffany's novel written by truman capote.
tt's the next book i'm gonna read (: there's 2 at bukit batok libaray! yay! i'm gonna get it! no one had better beat me to it.
mmm... rotten tomatoes gave the movie a 81% movie rating. maybe i'll watch the movie too.

oOo.. about a boy by nick hornby is released in singapore, 1 wk ago at Moon River Cafe, Curry Favour @ Stamford House. i caught the movie already, it was heart warming. but i think the book ought to be a better read. i wonder if it's still there. maybe i'll drop by and check (: since i'm so free anyway. There's still some other books in singapore anyway, can check it out at www.bookcrossing.com

cheryl is feeling better after venting out her anger.
so she's going to smile (:

Smiling is infectious,
you catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling, too.

I passed around the corner,
and someone saw my grin,
When he smiled I realized,
I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,
then I realized its worth,
A single smile just like mine,
could travel round the earth.

So if you feel a smile begin,
don't leave it undetected-
Let's start an epidemic:
quick and get the world infected!

smile like her!


or her!


or even her!


being happy feels better than being angry (:

the tale of how my beauty sleep was disrupted.
i was sleeping nicely all snugged up in my little bed.
It was 6.46am. when the phone rang "ring! ring!"

cheryl : shuddap la phone.

phone : ring! ring!

cheryl : hmph! must be celine, dont wanna pick up.

phone *continues ringing ceaselessly*

phone *goes silent*

cheryl's handphone : ring! ring!

6.48 am. cheryl got out of bed sluggishly, and picked up the call.

cheryl : what la?

celine : cheryl!! i forgot my school bag!

cheryl : what?! what's you freaking problem. of all the things to forget you forget your school bag. why don't you forget your mouth?! ~!@#$%^&*&*()

cheryl : i'm sleeping la! now what time only?!

cheryl *rattles on and on*

celine : can you help me bring my school bag down please?

cheryl : ~!@#$%^&*()

cheryl *slams the phone down*

cheryl being the nice ol' sister she is *picks up the stupid school bag*

6.51am. cheryl's handphone *rings*

cheryl : what else la?

claris : cheryl!! i forgot to bring my chem and bio txtbk!

cheryl : what?!! ~!@#$%^&*() why don't you ever forget to bring your handphone~!@#$%^&*()

cheryl *slams ddown the phone*

cheryl being the nice ol' sister she is *grabs the chem and bio txtbk*

now cheryl stands in the lift, and is laden down with a bag that weighs 5 kilograms, and txtbks that weighs a kilogram each at 6.53am in the wee hours of the morning (still wee because cheryl has been getting up late everyday since there's no school) with her eyes closed.

cheryl *sends down the stuff*

cheryl opens the message on her phone

cheryl's handphone *opening message*

6.54am. cheryl reads the message

shaun sent: oie! meet at 7.15am.

cheryl replies: what?! are you serious?!

7.00am cheryl *stands in front of the mirror brushing her teeth*

what's everyone's problem~!@#$%^&*() very funny right?! cheryl needs sleep! cheryl has been deprived of sleep because of celine, claris and shaun. i hope you're all feeling guilty.

*note* details of the story were not spiced up, because it's already as spicy as it possibly could get, because cheryl is fuming now. yes, her face is red!




*note to claris* written in purrrrrrfect singlish for you pleasure reading.

mmm... i realised my sudden obessession with the keyboards has been in my every post. i'll write something different today.

yesterday i hung out with ally. alissa and dennis will be in town for 2 weeks.

oh yeah, ally was telling me how people get up at weird hours to steal the $500 cows. yeah, you know, the yellow orange red pink blue cows you see everywhere on a grass patch now. the ad campaign by smrt "moove is more", catch no ball? haha. apparently it cost 500 smackaroos to make one of those. well, anyway as she was saying, people get to it at unearthly hours when no one is looking of course. check once! check twice! no one is looking! grab the cow! dump it in you booth! SCRAMMM!!!!! haha. and that's how they do it. pssst... a friend's brother did that. haha, i wonder what on earth do people want anything to do with a yellow cow? put it in the garden to scare off the crows? use it to hang clothes? talk to it? after coming up with as many possible hypothesis as possible, i think they're just gonna hang it up on their wall with a sign, "i stole the cow that does not moO or moves" just for self-gratification, i reckon. or maybe they're just insanely mad. maybe. just maybe. or maybe they're hungry! and want minced beef or beef stew. still maybe.

we caught "guess who", yeah, tt ashton kutcher movie. A haha comedy, the whole idea revolved around racial conflicts. abt a black girl bringing home a white boy. simon played by ashton, told black jokes, he said:

what do you call a lot of black men burried in the ground?
afro turf.

what do you call hundreds of white man chasing after a black man?
the PGA tour. ~white men chasing tiger woods.

i can't remember what other jokes he told, but yeah while these jokes may seem crude, they all just for laugh right? things got ugly after simon told the jokes in the show. anyway, the movie ended with a really sweet ending. It was okay i guess, but nothing really surprising or emotional to add that extra wow factor. hollywood spends millions of bucks on each movie, is it that worth wild paying so much for the actors? paying for talent, when you can't really consider it talent, if the whole movie doesn't blow your mind away in the end. maybe they just wanna stuff the movie with beautiful people. am i being to critical or harsh? sigh. i just really want to watch a good movie, something i haven't done in a long time. i did enjoy the les miserables, there's so much to it, every action every word had a deeper meaning to it.

it feels so great just sitting down slurrping on coffee while catching up. We talked so much. reminiscing primary school. yeah, remember the teachers, those nice sweet ones, and those awfully mean ones that everyone dislikes, the kind you would remember as the mean old lady who pulls your ear. Or that uncle hock seng with the curly hair. hahaha! and the other people in your class, people you haven't met in ages, people you've known personally then, but you haven't got a clue as to where they are now or if they still exsist. ally and i were like, oh she was in this class or that class! you'll actually be quite surprised who were in your classes then, or who were your best friends then, and how we all have changed so much. The things you did when you were a kid. playing hop scotch during recess in the concourse, hanging out in the library well, running around the fish ponds, hanging upside down on the monkey bars, reading your favourite story book. I still remember mine, it was a story book abt this tooth fairy, and i liked it just because it has so many beautiful enchanting pictures in it, and i kept reading it over and over again starring at the pictures. and the kind of sisterly bonding you can't experience anyway where else, just doing all those girly things.

oh! all those good ol' times. it was fun back then

i chatted with sean this morning too. he's doing fine in dallas. i know i've said this many times, but im going to say it again, it's always weird how we do not cherish what we have before us until they're all gone. you'll find yourself missing everything you didn't care about before. i still find it funny.

nic baby, i saw you're vans shoes in spore. you'll be so elated after hearing this. you can get them when you come back to this sunny little island again.

cheerios.

Sometimes when i'm playing the keyboards, i get so caught up in trying to do my best, trying to keep up with the band just struggling to stay on the beat, or working out my accompaniment trying to get the best voicings, that i allow tension to build up. when the pressure sets in, it's just gets harder and harder to play in sync. I guess, sometimes i forget that i'm not playing for everyone, i'm playing for god alone. Even though the music is not perfect, and i keep making mistakes, just being able to worship god in my own way is the real blessing. And god doesn't require perfection, all he asks is for your true heart, mean the words you sing. I think god has blessed me by allowing me to play in our OC band. Kimpong and chern wei have been such patient and forgiving mentors, lips too. yeah, i learnt a lot for them. it's just simply amazing what god's doing in my life right now. I'll continue to give him my best.

***

It's just amazing how god created the whole earth and all creation. For one the food we consume, magically becomes part of us. Can you imagine anything so amazing? yes, the french fries you ate last weekend is now part of you. How our voice box works, being able to hear, yes, yes, all these are the amazing works of god, the way he created us. yes, let's not forget the amazing animal kingdom he created too. The creatures we stare at, at the zoo. I'm mused!

Eagles are the most long-lived bird in the world. By the time they reach 40 years old, their claws will start to age, losing their effectiveness and making it hard for them to catch preys. The lifespan of an eagle is up to 70 years old. But in order to live this long, it must make the toughest decision at 40.

At 40, its beak is too long and curvy that it reaches its chest. Its wings, full of long, thickened feathers, are too heavy for easy flying. The eagle is left with 2 choices - do nothing and await its death or go through a painful period of transformation and renewal.

For 150 days, it first trains itself to fly beyond the high mountains, build and live in its nest and cease all flying activities. It then begins to knock its beak against granite rocks till the beak is completely removed. When a new beak is grown, the eagle will use it to remove all its old claws and await quietly for new ones to be fully grown. When the new claws are fully grown, the eagle will use them to remove all its feathers,one by one.

Five months later, when its new feathers are fully grown, it will soar in the sky again with renewed strength and is able to live for the next 30 years.

In life, as an individual, in a ministry, even in an organization,sometimes, we have to learn to make difficult decisions so as to make room for changes. Changes bring about renewal. And the only way for us to soar again is to let go old ways, old habits, old lives. For as long as we are prepared to put aside our old baggage - past glory or shame, past success or failure - be willing to become zero, with an empty cup mentality, we will be able to discover our potential and head towards a renewed perspective in any aspect of our lives.

Isaiah 40:31 but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

a thought from the writer who wrote this:
I used to wonder why the Lord would associate those who wait upon him with the eagle and not other birds like peacocks, chickens or turkeys. It is only when I read this that I know - God has intended that we should soar on wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint. But this could only be possible when we hope and wait in Him to renew our strength and be prepared to be moulded all over again - be zero again, be still again, be quiet again. And the journey of renewal will be painful and it requires an attitude of 5 words - I WANT, I AM WILLING. Finally, be bold, be strong and soar like an eagle - for the Lord Thy God is with You.

WEST SPRING BLOGS

i think west spring secondary school has the most happening school blogs in the blogosphere. i seriously mean it, a simple check with yahoo singapore search engine shows, that we're one of the few schools that have a blog, other schools include west wood secondary, the only other school i could fine, has only 5 members. east view secondary has a student forum. yeah tt's about it.

wsss blogs
wsss alumni
wsss eng dept
wsss tech club
wsss band
west spring idol

TA DA! we're just one school but we have a total of 6 blogs instantly. maybe we'll even bag one of these blog award.

even mr r(A) and mr K blogs. i also found ms m's blog while searching through yahoo.

check this out! speaking of privacy, even our principal is invading the blogs, everyone had better be careful what they write about from now on. who else but our very own principal can do sucha fine job at launching the eng dept blog with a good article .

***

Anyone knows the answer to "The difference between volunteering & being called into god's service"?

The TRAC aka Truth Ministries. [Tr for trac, & uth for youths], did a very intresting write up on this, for the band workshop.

1 chronicles 15:16-19; colossians 4:17

"When god has put his call on you, woe be to you if you turn to the right hand or to the left. He will do with you what he never did with you before the call came; He will do with you what he is not doing to other people. Let Him have his way." Oswald Chambers

Here's 12 differnces between a volunteer and one who is called by god.

1. a volunteer looks upon rehearsal as another commitment he's been obliged to fulfil, but someone called upon god looks upon rehearsal as another opportunity to be used by god.

2. a volunteer looks upon any constructive critism with indignation, but someone called of god is grateful for feedback because he wants to be the best he can be.

3. a volunteer puts in minimum effort, but someone called of god puts in maximum.

4. a volunteer sits back and complains about this and that bothering him, but someone who is called of god leads a personal campaign to improve what needs improvement.

5. a colunteer feels threatened by the talents of others, but someone called of god feels secure in god's direction for his life.

6. a volunteer does no outside practising or preperation (afterall he's just a volunteer), but someone who is called on god comes to rehearsals and a performance as prepared as possible.

7. a volunteer wants to quit at the first sign of adversity or discouragement, but one called on god digs in and perseveres.

8. a volunteer is oblivious to the needs of the ministry, but someone called on god prays over the needs of his ministry.

9. a volunteer is more prone to jealousy of others, but one called of god praises god for distributing gifts and talents as he chooses.

10. a volunteer shrinks back from resolving relational conflict, but someone called of god seeks to resolve the conflict to preserve the unity of the team with which he serves.

11.a volunteer's main source of fulfillment is his talents and abilities, but someone called of god knows that being used of god is the most fufilling thing you can do with your life.

12. a volunteering can't handle being put into a situation where he's going to be "stretched", butsomeone called of god responds to god's will with humble dependence on him.

okay, so tt's all 12! i personally find 11 the main reason that keeps us going.

eee... yuck. i'm hungry, so i popped the leftover breakfast from sometime this week [which is rotiprata] into the microwave. LOL. i left it inside a little while too long, a mintue approximately and now it's so hard and crispy. kinda taste like pastry. HARDEN pastry. not to mention a few burnt parts in the middle. mmm.. and so i finally found the "puurrrrfect" recipe for making impromtu pastry, so if i ever do offer you pastry, you'll know when to say no. oh well, i'm still hungry so im just gonna eat it. shush!

well, since pei pei asked, i shall answer it here. Worship went well, i didn't really catch the groove for the first song though. so i turned downed the volume till it was extra soft so you could only hear the blasting guitars and drums, for that song. but the rest of the other songs were fine. my fingers are still tapping away. this is so thrilling! lalala~ (: i can play! LOL.

why?

i remember those tuesdays, the UMFs will declare the day healthy tuesdays. So everyone has to bring some healthy snacks to snack on in class. there were apples, grapes, health bars, yucky green vegetable juice [looks so gross] haha.. but there were never any bananas! why didn't we have any bananas? why?

After Reading THIS, i bet you'll NEVER look at a banana in the same way again!

Bananas:
Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS:
Forget the pills -- eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anaemia:
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power:
200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work?: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers:
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control:
Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature

Seasonal Affective Disorder
(SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking:
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress:
Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes:
According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine, "eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%"! So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

if this was all true, bananas ought to become some sort of highly valued magical medicine, but then again, if that really happens we wouldn't get to buy them so cheaply in the market, so no more banana splits for claris. i can hear her moaning already. AND... we'll be putting all the doctors out of work. They'll be jobless. now now, we wouldn't want that would we?

Banana shake, Banana pie, Banana bread, Banana pizz .... Anyone. Let's have another healthy tuesday party-ee with bananas this time. why not?

yes yes, it's that time of the year AGAIN. yesterday at 7pm in a little town called singapore. the local televsion station decided to air the NKF show AGAIN. oh, i wonder how many times they have to do this every year. I lost count! It's the same thing over and over agian. "pls show some heart and call 1900-112-6888, your donations will go a long way." right, a long way into the reserves just keeping the money for a rainy day, i would say. How many ppl actually buy this crap? the artist performance and the big show. The television stations actually do a count to see which performance gets the most call [i remember reading it in the papers once]. Has it been a sort of "i'm more popular than you" competition between the artistes. What happened to the real joy of giving. Where is the love? Anyway, how much money do they actually need, i wonder what happens to the extra money, if there are any. and why does NKF get all the spotlight all the time? I think there are many more struggling charities in singapore than just NKF right, i mean surely they're worth helping too right.

***

wanna guess why i've been blogging so much these few days? it's really simple you know.


i'm using an imac now. i no longer have photoshop. So yeah, i guess besides photo-shopping all that's left for me to do is BLOG. argh! i feel photoshop sick. withdrawal symptoms are visible already. LOL.

i was clearing my inbox today. guess what? i opened a "fill out, and send me back" mail. it was sent by nic, 2mnths ago,lol, don't ask me why i've suddenly decided to to it now. i hardly ever-ever (like only once a while when i really-really become nuts) fill these kind of mail up, but something came over me today. and i decided hey! why not i do this quiz thingy, just to see how well i really know nic. afterall, i have known her for a really long time.

so this is how it went:
>1. My name: nic
>2. Where did we meet: maplewoods*
>3. Take a stab at my middle name: wei yee?? lol. don't ask me. just taking a shot.*
>4. How long have you known me: err... good qn. 8 years?*
>5. How well do you know me: err... well enough (: i know you're a shopaholic! and you loveeee you're doggie thingy scruffy. and rum and raisin icream ha!
>6. Do I smoke: no. never will.
>7. Do I believe in God: yes. my sista in christ.
>8. When you first saw me what was your impression: you were the cute lala pig girl.
>9. My age: sweet 16 this year.
>10. Birthday: errrrrr...... sept?
>11. Color hair: black
>12. Color eyes: black.
>13. Do I have any siblings: yeah sean!
>14. (If opposite sex) Have you ever had a crush on me: - lalala.
>15. What's one of my favorite things to do: shopping!!
>16. Do you remember one of the 1st things I said to you: err... hello? ha.*
>17. What's my favorite type of music: coldplay. yellowcard.. blah blah..
>18. What is the best feature about me: your cuteee rosy cheeks. soooo pinch-a-ble (;
>19. Am I shy or outgoing: outgoing
>20. Would you say I am funny: funny-cuteee.
>21. Am I a rebel or do I follow all the rules: rebel! too easy to answer.
>22. Any special talents: errr...? huh? scratch my head** i really really don't know. touching catus?*
>23. Out of all my clothes- what is your favorite outfit on me: huh? whatever you wear.
>24. Have you ever seen me cry: yes? i think.*
>25. If there were one good nickname for me what would it be: lala pig.
>26. Are my parents still together: yes
>27. What do I love: shopping!
>28. What songs make you think of me: the lala pig song.~
>29. If you could set me up with one person for the rest of my life, who would it be: errrrrrr... *

MWAHAHAHAA! now everyone knows all abt nic. okay, tt's besides the point.

gee.. look see the * sign i left at the back of some qns, well that was to mark the ones i didn't know the answer to. altogether it's 1,2,3,4,5,6... 6!!! or maybe more, defintely more. =P i'm gonna honestly admit it,i cheated* i hesitated to put *s on some of the qns. i can't believe it. after knowing nic for so long. it's embarrassing to say this, so i guess there's still so much i don't know abt nic. OR rather to say, i don't know anymore. sigh.. sorry babe(nic), you're gonna have to help me out here.

arh!! my debut perfomance is tmr. i'll be playing the keyboards. I hope everything will run smoothly. ok wait, naww... who am i kidding. everything is gonna run smoothly. And pls.. pls... pls... let the guitars be a million thrillion zillion [what's after a zillion anyway] times louder than me so it'll cover up all my errs. (: i'm gonna make a special note to make sure it is. OKAY! now i'm contradicting myself. i think i'll just shutup.

Your Brain is 73.33% Female, 26.67% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Mmm... i came across something intresting today.
Mr brown tries to explain the meaning of lah.
We use the "word", "lah" in our daily phrasings. But do we really know if it's "grammatically" right or wrong (in singlish terms)? yet it sounds right each time we use it.
why? why? why?

MR BROWN TRIES TO EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF LAH
The Meaning of Lah

OK, I cobbled this answer to your question from my own personal understanding and from linguistics studies conducted by people who study this sort of thing for a living, especially sociolinguist, Anthea Fraser Gupta, formerly of National University of Singapore, now at University of Leeds, UK.

So this answer is not entirely my work, but I copied and pasted parts which I thought best answered your question about "Lah", and tried to put it in layman's terms.

Your colleagues are wrong. "Lah" can be defined.

Part of the problem for native speakers of a language (if you consider Singlish a language dialect of a language), is that we are often not conscious of the language's rules and structure, even though we use the language correctly. The second problem arises when a term has multiple meanings, depending on context. So very often, a Singaporean can tell when "lah" is used wrongly, but cannot tell you exactly why.

Hence the difficulty for your colleagues to give you an adequate definition.


The Short Answer
The short answer is that "lah" is one of 11 particles used in Singapore English.

Hard to believe but, "lah" in Singapore Colloquial English actually has a linguistic definition and its use has an internal consistency and structure, just like any particle used in Standard English.

You cannot anyhow use lah, one. Or else Singaporeans will laugh at you.

"Lah" is what English professors call a Pragmatic Particle.

Definition of Pragmatic Particle:
pragmatic particle: A particle that may be used to express agreement or negation.


Definition of Particle:
A particle is a word that
- does not belong to one of the main classes of words
- is invariable in form, and
- typically has grammatical or pragmatic meaning.

Examples of particles in the English language are:
- to (in marking infinitives)
- up (in set up)
- not
- well
- oh


Definition of Pragmatics
Pragmatics is the study of the aspects of meaning and language use that are dependent on the speaker, the addressee, and other features of the context of utterance.


Singapore English Particles
Singapore English uses about 11 particles, mostly borrowed from Hokkien or Cantonese, to indicate attitude to what is being said. They work rather like "you know" and "you see". The three most common are ah (usually expects agreement), lah (strong assertion) and what (usually corrects something).

Here are some examples of particles used in Singapore English:

Lah:
"There's something here for everyone lah." ("There IS something here for everyone.")

"OK lah, bye bye." ("OK then, bye bye.")

"You see my husband's not at home lah. That's the problem, ah." ("You see my husband's not at home, you understand. That's the problem, you see.")

"Her price is too high for me lah" ("Her price is too high for me, I am afraid.")


Ah:
"Otherwise, how can be considered Singaporean ah?" ("Otherwise, how can this be considered Singaporean, don't you agree?")

"And then how many rooms ah?" (asking about a mansion/hotel… "So how many rooms does it have then?")


What:
"No parking lots here, what." ("Contrary to what you thought, you can see there are no parking lots here.")


More from Prof Gupta...

"Eleven pragmatic particles, loans from Southern varieties of Chinese, are used in Singapore Colloquial English. They express varying degrees of commitment to an utterance, and can be arranged on a single scale of assertiveness. They fall into three main groups: contradictory, assertive, and tentative.

"Singapore children acquire Singapore Colloquial English as a native language. These pragmatic particles are acquired early and without error.

"Each particle appears to have a wide range of multiple functions. These apparently disparate functions can be reconciled if the pragmatic particles are examined in terms of a system of marking degree of assertion, which results in different functions when the same particle is used in sentences of different types. No pragmatic particle in Singapore Colloquial English is associated with only one sentence type."

I hope my shameless paraphrasing and outright copy-and-paste of other people's studies plus my own little layman's thoughts, will help you understand the multi-faceted joy of using Singlish.

mmm... simply waking up to a nice delectable warm cup of mocha. 25 ml of choco hershy syrup just enough to cover the base of your mug, & half a packet of regular nescafe coffee mix with half a cup of water, & another half a cup of choclate milk, actually tastes quite nice.

slurrrrrrrrrrrrp....

I wonder how it will affect my energy level for the next few hours. I sure hope that I have hit upon a winning formula to keep myself awake in times of dire need.

chocoholic-high-on-caffeine