National Service, a thing of the past.

So I'm about to enter National Service and frankly I'm none too keen. For those who have yet to enter, are in the process of completing it or have already done it I'm sure you feel the same. Now before you go all out and condemn me as being a coward or unpatriotic let me state my case. National Service is quite frankly a by-product of the tumultuous period known as the Cold War. It was a period of great uncertainty, a period where the entire world could descend into war and chaos faster than you could blink. The kind of war which saw massive amounts of men and material being pitted against each other. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the progress of humanity such wars no longer exist. The war of today and most likely the future will be low-intensity conflicts, where numbers do not count for much. The deciding factor in conflicts of the future would be superior training and technology, as it has always been. In fact I am of the opinion that as technology progresses it will change the very way we fight wars and render a number of equipment obsolete. One of which is the Main Battle Tank (MBT). The tank has dominated ground warfare since the close of the First World War and has played a large role in wars since. But I feel that it's time has come. Greater development in Exo-skeleton technology will eventually render the tank obsolete. In fact the tank has played a peripheral role in every major conflict since the First Gulf War. In Eastern Europe, NATO forces found it hard to bring their heavy equipment to bear as the infrastructure of the villages they had to traverse simply could not support the weight of their heavy armour. In Afghanistan the terrain simply does not allow the tank any maneuvering space, relegating it as a static fire support piece. In Iraq the built up cities and villages are a death trap for any armour units. Frankly speaking, the tank was built for a period which has come and gone a long time ago, it is simply not relevant in the wars of today and tomorrow. And this brings me on to my main point. National Service was instated at a time where the world was a very uncertain place, a time where settling problems with high explosive was the preferred option. This meant that a large standing army was needed to show the other nations that you were not one to be trifled with. In this day and age National Service is frankly unnecessary. What we need now is not numbers, what we need now is a fluid, lean, well-trained and well-equipped force. Being someone who has studied the various forms of warfare I know full well what part reservists play in a conflict. Simply put they are cannon fodder. Reservist units are meant to hold and defend places while the real work is done by line units. For a country like Singapore where manpower is a premium this is a very wasteful strategy. Another point I would like to make is our equipment. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is supposed to be a defensive force, but our equipment is that of an offensive first strike military. Why we bought the Leopard 2A4 Evolution tanks is beyond me. South-East Asia is not a place where one conducts armoured warfare. The Americans learned this in Vietnam. It is possibly an answer to Malaysia's acquisition of the PT-91 tank which is simply the Polish version of the T-72 built by Russia. But honestly, do we need to feel threatened by a Polish copy of a Russian tank? Aren't the massive amounts of 155mm artillery and our recent acquisition of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) more than capable of pummeling any potential invaders into little fine pieces? And then there is our navy. If I'm not mistaken Landing Ship Tank (LST) vessels are used to deploy amphibious forces, which is only necessary if you're invading someone, so why do we have them? And then there are the stealth frigates. Stealth is an offensive technology, you do not want your defenses to be unseen, defences are there to be seen so that they can act as a deterrent. Why do we need stealth frigates to defend our waterways? Are pirates that well-equipped these days that we need stealth to defeat them? But the greatest perpetrator of waste is the Air Force. We have the most advanced and well equipped Air Force in South-East Asia. In fact I believe that we are more well-equipped than Taiwan, Australia, all the states in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and a number of Gulf States. We boast the latest generation of F-16 and F-15 aircraft, both of which are strike aircraft, pure offensive weapons. While I do concede that our navy and air force are our first line of defence and their procurement of the very best can be justified to a certain extent I believe that our army needs downsizing. Which means that we should either scrap or shorten National Service. It is to my knowledge that there are still some units which are under-equipped even when they go on large scale exercises. What is the use of having the men when we do not have the material? Cannon fodder? By stream lining our armed forces we can not only save a couple of quid in our nations coffers, we can also save the time of the people who are forced to serve. And this of course includes me.

Now at:

There's a new blog set up which includes more contributors. This one will still be around to express my sole views. http://thelairofthespicywolf.wordpress.com

To PM Lee

To the Prime Minister of Singapore (I hope he reads this and not one of his in-bred lackeys who couldn't find their own arses with two hands and a map).

My name is Kenneth Lim, and one day I would like the honour of serving as the Prime Minister of Singapore. However there is a slight problem. My surname as you can see is not "Lee" and I do not come from a politically well-connected and elite family. My parents are simple working class people doing their very best to provide for their family, not millionaires. As for me, I did not study at some prestigious university, rather a working class one in Melbourne, Australia; it's called Swinburne University. I am also not a brigadier general or some other fancy paper-pusher, mindless rank in the military. I am a simple person who studied at St. Patrick's Secondary and am proud of it. Most of my close friends are heartlanders as am I to an extent. But I think my most important failing is that I am incapable of "kissing ass", or as the older generation would call it "carry balls". The only thing which I can offer to the people of Singapore is honesty, zero political bullshit and the ability to sympathise with the common man and have the will to do something about it; having spent most of my life in a housing estate neighbourhood. I am also well read in a global sense. So is there still a chance for me to become the Prime Minister of Singapore in the future?

Kenneth Lim

I am seriously considering e-mailing this to the Prime Minister's office. Although I highly doubt there will be a reply, seeing as how the government is always busy planning new ways to fleece Singaporeans of their money.

How far we've come

The title speaks for itself.

How Far We've Come

Matchbox 20

Been a long journey, met loads of people, kept in touch with some and lost touch with others (as it always is in life). Almost the end now, I think I can see a ray or two of flight streaming in from the end of the tunnel. After this, life truly begins (well after NS but you know what I mean). To those who've graduated good luck on getting a job. To those who are nearing the end as well end it in style. And for those with a year or two to go or have yet to begin, enjoy whatever you can while it lasts, 'cause when it's gone, it's gone. And to not end this post on a depressing note, TIME FOR ZOUKOUT PEOPLE! (well almost in anycase)

Older, and hopefully wiser

Just a short one before I turn in. Thanks a lot guys, really appreciate everything. For someone with a rather large vocabulary the only word which comes to mind now is "speechless". Thanks a bunch again.

None too cryptic

Had another nightmare last night; which in itself is nothing special, been hard to get a peaceful nights sleep over the past few weeks. Probably due to the late nights I've had to pull since it's the tail end of the semester and there's an assignment or test due every other week, all a prelude to the finals in mid-November. But something about last night's dream unsettled me more than usual. "What is it?" you might ask. Well, I dreamt of reality. And I think it has gotten a bit more colder in here.

Take Me To Eden: Reveal The World

Sounds like a hymn, could be a hymn and should be a hymn. And I'm sure no one expected this song to be an insert in an anime, called Eden of the East, which coincidentally enough also has Falling Down by Oasis as it's opening theme. Fantastic anime, brilliant plot and a brilliant soundtrack. It's a bit of a political anime and definitely gets your brain thinking of all the "What if's" and I'd recommend it to anyone who's looking for an anime with substance.

Reveal the World

"Please continue being a Messiah"

Love song to nobody

Simply marvellous song by May'N. Brilliant lyrics, emotional, heavy; frankly no words can even begin to describe the feelings you experience when you hear the song and understand the lyrics. I'm really not fond of mushy emotional stuff but just this once, I'll make an exception. So listen, and remember, love lost. Because deep down that prickly expletive laced exterior, is a good ole' fashioned romantic.

Diamond Crevasse

"Better to have love and lost than to have not loved at all."

ANIME! Bakemonogatari

Just gotta post the third opening and the ending themes to Bakemonogatari, this new anime which Andrew introduced to me. It's a strange show to say the least, dealing with supernatural events. While it's overall a funny show it does have it's serious moments. Well designed characters and an interesting plot I'll say that it's one of the "must watch" anime's of the season.

Kaerimichi (isn't it just SOOOO cute! And NO I am NOT a lolicon.)

Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari

Idle Musings: Damn you Apple, and you too Creative

Remember when I lost my Zen a month ago and almost immediately went to get the Zen X-FI as a replacement for it? I based my decision on getting the X-FI instead of other models based on its value for money as it offered much more than any other MP3 player at the $229 range. So as befitting my splendid luck Apple has now come up with the new iPod Nano which not only comes with all the wizz-bangs in the Creative (except of course the X-FI system) but also comes with a video camera. Priced at $228 for the 8gb model it trumps my X-FI for value and also happens to be the first iPod with a similar capacity to a Creative to be similarly priced. And I hardly need to state that the iPod is more attractive as it is a fashion statement of sorts. But that's not all, Creative have now released the X-FI 2, which comes with touch-screen interactivity instead of the clumsy buttons on the original X-FI, which I own. Damned, maybe I shouldn't have rushed to purchase a replacement after all.....My X-FI, new, and obsolete.

Master Chef.....NOT!

Tried to cook a chicken burger for dinner today and since I was too lazy to break out the frying pan I decided to chuck the thing into the microwave and set it for two minutes. The result? Chicken biscuit.....well it's still chicken.....So after lamenting over that wasted piece I decided to persevere and chucked another one in at one minute. It came out hot (undoubtedly) but was kinda soft (like nua nua) so it was back in for another 20 seconds. This time it came out marginally better with a more edible taste but I thought "what the heck, another 20 second shot of radiation". Came out kinda hard this time, first signs of "microwave burning" as I call it but still edible all in all. Next time I think I'll just throw it in for a whole one minute 30 seconds and see what happens.....or I could just get a new frying pan and do it the proper way (the previous owners frying pan looked somewhat careworn with mysterious white stuff flaking off it). Another point I'd like to make, frying stuff with a sauce pan which is not non-stick is not the brightest thing to do.....

"Fly Away From Here"

Ya know sometimes ya just feel like lettin' everythin' go and leavin' on a jetplane to fly away from here, anywhere but here. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Fly Away From Here

By Aerosmith

"Ain't nothin' gonna change, if we stay 'round here"

MANIFEST 09! PICTURES!

So Manifest 09 has come and gone like a quick breeze. It's quite possibly the last time I attend it for a few years as I will be taking my leave from Melbourne sometime in July next year. While not permanent I guess where I end up after National Service very much depends on which way the wind takes me. Which means that it might be my last Manifest. And in some ways this year's Manifest while enjoyable as usual felt a bit melancholic. The crowd was fantastic as usual, cosplayers everywhere but for some reason it felt that the crowd got smaller. Well, since this years Manifest wasn't at Melbourne Uni but at the Showgrounds instead I guess only those with an interest in all things anime bothered to make their annual pilgrimage to Manifest. A bit disappointed with the traders this year as the latest products which I expected to see and probably blow my budget on didn't materialise. Well one of the traders did say that new stuff filters down to Australia real slowly due to it's location "down under" so I guess that's that. If you're on the hunt for brand new merchandise Australia is not the place to be. Damn, and I was all hyped up about getting some K-ON merchandise. Well I did get a few decent buys but all things considered not much, well not much when you compare it to the previous two years in any case. Well enough talk, time for some pictures, which I did not take much of this year too. Here are some of the highlights (don't expect too much as all pictures were taken with my swanky but dated N76 which I bought solely because of look not function and only has a 2mp camera).

Mio from K-ON!

Lucky Star Cheerleaders

Hatsune Miku and dude in Shinsengumi uniform

Random Kimono girlsCardcaptor Sakura and Random Maid Random girls in loli dressRiku from Final Fantasy-X and Yoko from Gurren Lagann

Chi from Chobits and Konata from Lucky Star!

Ouka the Divine Fist from .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet

Mio from K-ON! (again....but it's a good shot so what the hell)

DEFINITELY NOT an Idle Musing: Manifest 2009

Eh wa lao Manifest 2009 is like tomorrow la. KNN lucky I saw the bloody event on Facebook on Monday if not GG already. Basket this year the bloody thing not at Melbourne Uni must travel to Melbourne Showgrounds instead, CCB must buy train ticket again. As though the bloody entry not expensive enough, $50 for three day pass. But nevermind, since confirm my last time going for it for a few years I will take the effort to wake up extra early on one of my free days, will sacrifice the cash to go there and hopefully enjoy myself until sui sui. This year I will definitely take a lot of pics one and post here post there. Shit now must see if my camera got battery or not.....

Not-So Idle Musings: Affirmation

I've realised that I tend to harp on a lot of the negatives which occur in my life, that the foul sequence of events which plague me are more than coincidences. Who else can lose an MP3 player and have his PC crash within a week? And if that's not enough what if I said that the exact same thing happened almost exactly a year ago? What else is there to blame but your own bad luck. I guess you could say that with all the shit happening in my life I've become rather paranoid. A very very sarcastic, cynical and dark humoured person. But I'll try to change that now, no don't expect me to start smiling broadly and stop cussing my ass off, but maybe I'll tone down the cynicism and sarcasm a little (not to mention the knn's and ccb's). It's time to get up and dust myself off. To get moving forward once again. And not to look back.

The Untitled Track

You know, things change as time goes by. Either that or it was never what you thought it was, merely an illusion created by oneself. At the end of the day what you think is yours alone, inference, quite possibly a ways away from the truth. But what is the truth? Everyone has their own version of it. What you believe is not fact, it's personal. That doesn't mean it's false, it's true alright, because you believe it. The same goes with rights and wrongs, black and white. I won't go so far as to say it's all grey, but what's black and white to me may be purple and green to you. I guess what I'm trying to say is "to each his own". We've all got our own problems, but we tend to forget that everyone else has them as well and while you might think your problem is greater than the person next to you that's just what it is, it's only what you think. But don't worry, because he has exactly the same thoughts as you, for he is thinking his problem is greater than yours. While I try to preach understanding in my haphazard way I am of course guilty of being a hypocrite as well. Sure I may say I try to be as impartial as I can my judgement and reasoning will always be based on what I know, what I have experienced. Which is exactly what it is, my experiences, not yours, mine. Now how impartial can that be? As people come and go there are a select few who will always be there. Family, brothers, friends. I don't have any close relatives here so for me down under my family are my friends. Sure it's a dysfunctional family at best but we make do with what we have. Being totally frank had our paths crossed in another time at another place the previous me would have scoffed at the idea of hanging out with these people. People who were afraid to get their hands dirty when they needed to, people who didn't know how it was to work long shifts at manual jobs, people who have never had to scringe and save for the things they wanted, their next meal. It might sound tough but you do what you have to do. Sure I didn't have to do some of the things I did but self-sufficiency has always been high up on my list. No sense in impressing chicks with my parents cash. My parents are closer to 60 than 55, they don't run businesses but instead work for people. They could do with fewer burdens. But as I said before this is my situation. Since coming here I've learned to temper my views. Learnt to see past the surface and to a certain extent become a milder version of my old self. Everyone has got their points, you've just got to see them. Although there might be a great many differences there are equally as many if not more similarities. If we all didn't have our differences something would be very very wrong. We're bound to have our scuffles, disagreements and the like. But what makes people friends is their ability to see past that. There is no taking without first giving. While it might seem like you are always doing the giving, the time will come for others to give too, and for you to receive. And although things may change as time goes by I hope that one thing will always stay the same. That friends, brothers, family will always remain that way.

Idle Musings: Weapon of Choice

Another share from the Mr.Brown show, and remember people once you go armed forces you can never go back. Bloody civvies.....

the mrbrown show: army fighting language

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Idle Musings: Le Kua Simi

Rough week, won't elaborate much more than the age old adage "shit happens". Well gonna put it past me and bulldoze straight through, no way but forward as they say. Well the good stuff will come eventually so I'll just keep looking for it, either that or it'll find me first. So I leave you now with a music video from the Mr.Brown show.

Le Kua Simi?

Idle Musings: Oops, time difference

Really funny mistake it is, I just returned to 1939 Nazi Ger.....whoops....er.....I meant Australia, Melbourne yesterday, the 9th of August (Majulah Singapura.....yeah right.....). Didn't get much sleep one the plane, barely an hour or two by my estimates and I couldn't sleep in the afternoon because I had to clean up my place and unpack. As a result I was damn tired at night and promptly went to sleep after setting my alarm. Small problem there, as bloody Australia is two hours ahead and I forgot to reset my phone and MP3 (yes my new X-FI comes with a speaker which means I've got one more alarm in my arsenal) I woke up two hours later than I wanted to which resulted in me missing my first class of the semester. And since the sudden change in climates is making me feel lethargic I decided to give my lecture in the evening a miss too and spend the whole day lazing around.

Idle Musings: The Replacement

Well sure enough no one stepped forward to return my missing Zen so I had no choice but to buy a new one. Already expecting this to happen due to my cynical view of society and life I already came up with alternatives and replacements for my missing MP3 and settled for a new one in the end. So I'm now saddled with a Zen X-FI, another Creative MP3. My main reason for going Creative is of course the price, which is much cheaper than comparable Apple or Sony models. Well as much as my credit is feeling the burn of having to shell out another $229 due to my momentary lapse of vigilance it has taught me a few valuable lessons. The first is that you can never be too careful with your things and the only way to prevent it from happening again is CONSTANT vigilance, if you're not sure about something check and double check again. The second one is that if you do this and still lose stuff then someone up there or somewhere has something against you, in which case good luck. And lastly the age old adage "shit happens". And here's a shout out to Morg, don't waste your money on an iPhone, look at how fast they churn out new models, first the iPhone, then iPhone 3G and now the 3Gs, it's a damn gimmick I tell you. Besides both your handphone and MP3 player are still new and in very good condition. Save that $879 (price from the Apple shop) for something else.