Coke Wisdom

I didn’t have my glasses on.

The BF came with a cup of soft drink.

I took a sip and cringed.

I thought, “this is the worst tasting Coke in the world!”

“What is this?”

“Milo”

If that’s the case, it’s pretty good tasting Milo.

Where Have All the Smiles Gone?

Remember the four-million smiles campaign during the visit by IMF and World Bank Delegates in 2006? Why did it just disappear along with the departure of the delegates? Are Singaporeans only encouraged to smile when thousands of high-flying foreigners are here? Don’t we want to appear pleasant to the millions of tourists passing by Singapore, too? A third of the people you see in Singapore aren’t exactly Singaporeans, so why not smile for these foreigners? Why not smile for fellow Singaporeans?

What do you see when you squeeze into the MRT in the morning? People smiling? Nope, just people frowning and putting unhappy faces. People keep complaining that in the midst of a fast-paced life, overtiming at work, rising food and fuel prices they just don’t have the mood or the time to smile of just be happy and content. Almost everyone knows that the mind affects the body. But scientific research has proven that the body affects the mind too. In the way that when people put a smile on their face, their mood gets lifted too. So when you smile, maybe that cab-fare hike doesn’t seem so bad afterall.

I also think that happiness is intrinsic, it comes from within. If you’re a happy person, whatever happens in your life, you are still a happy person. I find that this TED talk by Matthieu Ricard (scientist turn tibetan buddhist monk, dubbed the happiest man on earth) particularly inspiring. Watch it, get inspired, and smile.

So Singapore, SMILE!

Belief-O-Matic

I’ve been reading this great Blog by Rima Fauzi, an Indonesian who lives in Brussels. She took the Belief-O-Matic quiz and attested its accuracy. So I decided to give it a try. I was born into a Catholic family and was Catholic educated. I myself was baptised as a Catholic while still an infant. However, our views of religion and spirituality is wider than and extends outside only Christianity. We keep an open mind and I would say we’re more spiritual than religious, although we still stick to Christianity as a rite. Anyways, here goes my result:

1. Mahayana Buddhism (100%)
2. Hinduism (95%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (86%)
4. Neo-Pagan (85%)
5. Liberal Quakers (84%)
6. Jainism (83%)
7. Reform Judaism (78%)
8. Sikhism (78%)
9. New Age (77%)
10. Bahá’í Faith (73%)
11. Theravada Buddhism (73%)
12. New Thought (71%)
13. Taoism (68%)
14. Scientology (65%)
15. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (65%)
16. Orthodox Judaism (64%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (59%)
18. Orthodox Quaker (58%)
19. Islam (56%)
20. Secular Humanism (44%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (34%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (33%)
23. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (33%)
24. Nontheist (26%)
25. Jehovah’s Witness (23%)
26. Eastern Orthodox (21%)
27. Roman Catholic (21%)

Out of the 27 religions the quiz compares my beliefs to, Roman Catholicism falls LAST on my list! Hahahah.. So sue me for being unchristian (or uncatholic) if you will.

You can click on *this* link to learn more about the beliefs listed above.