Brat Camp China

One day, your child will hate you... for life.

You do something which you think it's good for your child but in the end, is it really good? Is your child benefitting from it? Will it have any side effects? No time to think. You think it's good so you just force your child to go through it. Regret it when you realise it's too late?

Parents just like to send their child to various places to learn various things of their personal interest. But do they care about their child's interest? Or the parents are simply too lazy to think through it. You like piano because of Mozart doesn't mean your kid like piano. Child's interest neglected. The thing they want might not be of utmost important anymore because everything is decided by the parents in hierarchy ranking.

It's general. Specifically, I'm refering to the documentary Brat Camp China. Link to the official website airing it: http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/watch/program_details.aspx?id_program=1756

Children are being forced to attend the "walking school" by their cunning parents to re-form their child. Parents would lie to their child saying they are going for an outing but they are actually sending their child for hell. Parents also signed a form agreeing that the camp authorities can use any form of punishment on the children. Children as young as the tender age of 8 to 15, both boys and girls, are being forced to march a jaw-dropping distance of 800km. If you think route march in SAF is insane, spare a thought for the kid. Reform the kid?

Why not the parents go for training school on how to teach their kid? They are just trying to push the responsibility away of being an adult parents. In their mind, they are just not ready to have a child yet it's already too late. Who's fault is it? 养不严，父之过。

After going through all this hardship, tough punishments and insane treatment, do you think the child will be better? I don't think so. One day, your child will hate you... for life. For at least I will if I'm the victim of the camp. I will make sure my parents knows exactly what I've gone through. One day when they are old, I'll drive them to a remote forest and dump them there and provide them with meals. If they want me to take care of them, walk back 800km to find me. Perhaps then they will understand that love and discipline is not something to be forced off. It's something you teach and earn it.

Someone uploaded a video on YouTube on Brat Camp China. Go watch it if you are interested: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lUPDM6ljsE

China, a country full of surprises.

My cat

I have a pet.
It is a cat.
It is female.
Her name is Dawn.

Yes it's true, I have a pet cat living with me. She has been with me for about 5 years. Wonderful she is, terror she is too.

My younger brother brought her home one night while I was sleeping. Strangely, my mum didn't have any major objections. It's the first time we have a non-human living thing moving around our house. It's really a different and new experience. At first, we are really not used to it. We are afraid that we will accidentally stepped on it because it's too small. It's so small that she will slip through the hole on the door and wander outside.

That's one thing strange about this dear cat. She likes to wander outside the house along the corridor. She will hide among the bicycle parked outside the house, lie down in the drain to see whether she can fit in or not, roll on the cement floor, play with our neighbour's broom and many other strange actions. But, when she hears foot step sound of people coming down the stairs, she would then dash back home in the fastest possible speed. Yes, she's afraid of strangers. Strangely too, she won't leave us. Really.

There was once when we accidentally closed the door leaving her outside alone because we thought the cat is in the house. After about 10 minutes, we heard someone knocking (or banging) the door so I go take a look. No one. Looking down, it's Dawn, the cat. Amazingly, she knows how to "knock" the door wanting to come back home. Who say cat is stupid, they know alot of things too!

Not only cats know how to recognize their home, they know the time too. Or only my cat knows the time. After spending the whole day time sleeping, we will wake up at 10pm and bug us for food. Not early not late but 10pm. She also recognize some simple words such as "来" (lai - meaning come in chinese) and her name "Dawn". It's especially useful when she's hungry. Besides that, she can recognize everyone of us and know us well.

For example, when my grandma walks to her sleeping area with a chair, she knows that it's time to cut her paw's nail. When my mum walks into my room, she will immediately jumped down from the bed and sneak away because she knows that she's not allowed on my bed. If my father is at home, she won't dare to enter the master room. When some strangers (gas delivery man or someone whom she never seen before) knocks the door and/or enters the house, she will be hiding under the sofa peeking. Timid cat.

Once, we brought home another cat because it's hungry. After feeding her it with some cat food, an idea struck. Make the two cats befriend each other. The new cat (or say kitten) is more outgoing whereas my Dawn is damn aggressive. Dawn nearly scratched the little kitten for lucky we stop it in time. Maybe she's worried that we will abandon her for a new cat. How would we possibly do that, right?

After so many years, after so many trouble created by this cat, after so many innconvience caused by this cat, after so many times and moments, how could we abandon her? She's already part of our life, part of our family. Whenever we are taking family potrait, she must join us too!

Like people always ask, "what are you going to do if she dies". Other than crying and browsing through her photos and videos, I don't know how to handle dead cat. Should I bury her somewhere under a tree, leave her to rot in the open public, dump her down the rubbish chute, burn it or eat it. What's the proper way to handle it?

A PET IS NOT A TOY. If you own it, you have to be responsible for it for the rest of its life. It may be annoying, irritating, frustrating and time consuming but think of the first time you adopt it. Why did you choose to adopt it in the first place? Regret is too late an option.

I love my pet cat.

As a bonus, here's a little photo of my cat.

050586 anyone?

All my life, I have been searching for someone special. Someone who is born on 5^th May 1986 (monday). According to the lunar calendar, it's the 27^th of March (三月廿七).

For all the 050586 babies, I'm sure all our life, we have been waiting for this day: 050505 and it's very meaningful for us. First, the digit is damn nice. It's something not many people can get except those born on 5^th May. What makes it nicer is the year we are born in; 1986.

If you are observant, on the day 050505, the lunar date is the same as the date we are born (三月廿七). To be able to celebrate your English birthday on the same day as your lunar birthday, it's rare. It only happens about once every 19 years.

So far, the closest I've found is my NS friend, David, born on 5^th May 1987, one year younger than me. Another close one is my polytechnic friend, Bao Fa, born on 6^th May 1986, one day younger than me. Why no one from 050586?!

Calling all 050586 friends, leave your contact details here. Wanna have a great chat with all the 050586. If you have friends who are born on 050586, let them know.

Will I live to 050550?

See what I see

If you have watched "SAW IV", then you will be familiar with the title "see what I see". However, this entry is rated PG instead of R21 so it's not going to discuss about the movie.

Most of my friends would probably know that I love taking photographs of almost all the random things around me. Photography is my hobby but I'm not a pro at it. Taking photograph is just to remember the moment and let other see things from my point of view. That's what "see what I see" means. Put it simply, it's another way to "comprehend me" too.

The same scenery or thing can have many different view according to different photographers because each and everyone of us see things differently. For a sunset on the beach, some would rather capture a wide view of it featuring the sun, the sea and the sky. For me, I will take a few step into the sea and capture the seaside with its sunset glory. Things will soon get boring if everyone shoot it from the same angle. See what I see.

Too bad, I don't have a decent camera that allows me to snap that moment perfectly. Still trying to make do and squeeze out all the essence from my Nokia N95. Camera from N95 is good but can't be compared to a digital camera. Got to start saving seriously if I really want to buy a new camera.

Getting a good camera is a head start. Knowing how to use it is a plus. Photography, like any other course, is not easy to master. Starting out with learning the basic is easy but the road gets tougher. For example, you want to take a photo of spider resting on your nose or a photo of heavy downpour. Things might seem easy but it's sometimes hard to get the effect and result you visualise.

Visit my Flickr photo album to see what I see.