Happiness is ....

....listening to your daughter playing happily......



....seeing your daughter's contented smile.....

Smart Tunnel - Nightmare Scenario

Just before the Smart tunnel opened earlier this year, I was chatting to a friend about it, and he told me that he would never use it because of the "Daylight" nightmare scenario. Daylight is a movie starring Sylvester Stallone which was about, you guessed it, a flooded tunnel.

I laughed off his fears, and thought the guys operating the tunnel had too much at stake letting that happen.

Well, guess I was wrong after all. On Tuesday 16 October 2007, the approach road to the tunnel flooded, raising the possibility of the "Daylight" scenario. What made the incident infuriating was the finger pointing after the fact, instead of showing concern and trying to find a solution.

I estimate that during peak hours, there's probably a good few hundred vehicles in the tunnel, and the real possibility of the nightmare scenario happening is too horrifying to contemplate.

Granted, the flooding happened to a cause external to the tunnel, but I would have expected the people involved to take the issue seriously and try to find a solution urgently rather than start the blame game. After all, not just the company involved, but the whole nation has a lot to lose should the unthinkable happen and lives are lost.

You'll Never Walk Alone

This morning on my way to work I heard Gerry and The Pacemakers version of the song again on my CD player, and felt compelled to look it up on Wikipedia. I've heard the song countless times ever since my younger brother told me it was Liverpool FC's song (as you can guess, he's a die hard fan), don't ask me why today of all days :)

You'll Never Walk Alone is one of those songs that seldom fails to stir the emotions of those who hear it, no matter whether its sung by singers with soaring vocals or hoarse football fans.

As mentioned in Wikipedia, the song as it was used in the musical Carousel was meant to comfort after the death of a character, which explains the mournful first part of the song. Later, the song segues into a defiant exhortation and shout of encouragement. By the time the singer reaches the line "And You'll Never Walk Alone" a myriad of emotions goes through the listener, and more often than not, tears flow freely.

The lyrics of the song also plays a big part in its power. They seem to apply to a lot of situations that most of us face every now and then, and listening to the song usually reminds us of the things we've been going through.

You can hear Gerry and The Pacemaker's version here, Ray Quinn's version here, and Jordin Sparks version here.




You'll Never Walk Alone

When you walk through the storm Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark

Walk on, through the wind
Walk on, through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

Desktop Peek

Ashlight tagged me into doing this recently. When she mentioned "no cheating", it was like being caught with a dirty house when friends suddenly popped by to visit :P


The background is a photo of the lake next to UTAR in Kampar, which I visited with some friends recently. As you can see, recently I've been too lazy to put all the downloaded files in their proper folders.