Goodbye 2004 and welcome 2005. Come to think about it, 2004 wasn't really a bad year for me. In fact, I had decent A level grades (for my standards and expectatons), I enjoyed life in the army, I enjoyed my time in Safsa, I got my driving license (yeah yeah...I know..lucky!!) and I enjoyed the December erm "holidays"? very much? Haha. Soo yeah. Even though 2004 was according to erm 91.3 Fm, 98.7, 98.0 and 93.8 to be a rather eventful year for bad stuff (think tsunamis, avian flu, bush re-election, coalition forces torturing helpless iraqi babes, arafat's death and the new strict anti piracy laws in Singapore dammit!)., it was still a pretty good year for me.

So what can I expect from 2005? Not much? Lets start off with a resolution. Hmm. Any ideas? Well I do have one. And its not to have a resolution.. I mean come on. For the past 4 years I have had resolutions and I have done nothing to ever come close to achieveing them. Well lets see. Last year it was to be a nice guy. Erm...well...I'm still that same old hypocrite who simply loves tormenting others at my expense:) 2 years back it was to have unshakable courage to jio girls. Well, 2 years later and I'm still single without a single girlfriend to my credit. How does THAT feel for a resolution? Want more? 3 years back, my resolution was to study hard. Yeap. I did and got a whooping 16 pts for O levels. Cool :)

Tsk tsk. Ouch. 27th December or somewhere near that, there was some earthquake that apparently measured 8.5 on the richer scale off the coast of Indonesia. According to the Straits Times, it was caused by a fault line between 2 plates whose names happen to slip my memory. Ok, so there was an earthquake and a tsunami that followed (you were expecting like what, calm seas??). Tsunamis ALWAYS follow an earthquake if the damned epicenter is in the middle of the ocean.. Ask any Japanese little boy. Anyways, lets see current death toll is about 100,000 and its expected to double given the expected rise in food poisoning and outbreaks of viruses. (What a great way to end a year and start a new one). And yes, I have a friend from camp whose simply obsessed with the death toll. Every 5 minutes he would go "Ian ian ian, do you know that the ddeath toll is currently (insert a number between 40000 to 80000)". Yes I do know! But the worse part is.......New Year celebrations were SCALRED back because of it. Apparenty, the reason is to mourne the victims. I mean thats total CRAP!! Right. Let me explain myself. Firstly, New Year celebrations in SIngapore are already getting more and more boring every year and now, Channal 5 cancelled the countdown and inserted some lame crappy show into its timeslot? I mean come on. Get real!! Ever wondered why your ratings are so horrid? You give your viewers crap and you expect them to watch?!?!?! K fine. And fireworks are cancelled?? Aww man. If there is one thing I look forward to every year its the fireworks. It makes noise! And its just right outside my house!! Fine! Even AFTER all the toned down celebrations, I still don't understand why this natural disaster is so overhyped!! I mean. Ok, Aceh is obviously the worst hit. 600,000 unaccounted for or something like that. But have you considered that they are in the midst of a civil war and the disaster actually stopped it dead in its tracks? Phuket partially destroyed? Welllll...considering the pollution caused by tourists, its probably about time to rebuild anyways. But the worst is the Army actually volunteering to send some of its troops overseas. I mean come on. Who wants to go? Its total "wayang" (acting)! Sending aid to your neighbours. A sign of goodwill. Come on. What can 100 personnel who do nothing everyday in Singapore do to help over there in Indonesia except become a liability for the real rescue workers. Sighz....

Alright. You can start calling me mean and inhuman and whatever. Yes I do know that we are extremely lucky that Singapore is sheltered by Malaysia and Indonesia. Well...as Miss Christina said, you could look at this disaster as a sort of human cleansing. Yeap. If coalition forces attack Iraq and ruin the lives of millions INTENTIONALLY and nobody can do a damn thing about it, whats a NATURAL disaster which does exactly the same thing except that its UNINTENTIONAL this time. Get my point? Haha. Anyways yes. I do realise I am pretty mean. Bah! Well its not like I want to be. New year every year is just so boring. New year celebrations at my uncle's house was much betetr than the christmas celebrations at my grandmather's house. Considering that it was my paternal side that is. Well, better but not much. Somehow, I simply feel uncomfortable in large events and I can't socialise well. Thats a boon really considering that I do need to socialise. Heck. But what do you say to all the faces whom you only see at most twice a year? Hi? And Bye? Sighzzz.

Anyways. To end it all, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2005 to everyone reading this. May your New Year start off on a bright note and may good things happen to you and hopefully me:) Please don't mind my ranting. I'm just bored and frustrated. Hope you guys understand. :)