ASTRONOMY 2008

Start:	Aug 16, '08 10:00a
End:	Aug 16, '08 5:00p

Dear fellow astronomer,

On behalf of SINGASTRO, the largest online astronomy forum in
Singapore, I am pleased to invite you to attend ASTRONOMY 2008 which
is to be held at the Singapore Art Museum (The Glass Hall) in
Singapore on the 16th of August, 2008 (Saturday). ASTRONOMY 2008 is a
full-day astronomy event and open to public (free admission) from the
hours of 10AM to 5PM. This event will feature a series of astronomy
talks ranging from astrophysics theories to practical astronomy, and
even an interactive workshop on astronomy imaging. There will also be
poster exhibits that will enlighten attendees on astronomy topics such
as the Solar System, to Deep Sky objects. The attendees will also be
treated to a collection of original astronomy images captured by our
local budding astrophotographers and around South East Asia. Other
interesting activities include a documentary screening on cosmology,
instant lucky draws, sun-gazing (viewing of the Sun with specialized
telescope instruments in Hydrogen Alpha, expect to see flares and
prominences on the sun!), the opportunity to view the largest
private-based telescope in South East Asia (bigger than the one at the
Science Center Observatory!), and many more!

For more information on ASTRONOMY 2008, please visit:
www.celestialportraits.com/a2008

Contact Person:
Mr Remus Chua (HP: 82333798, EMAIL: remuscj@gmail.com)


This event is brought to you by SINGASTRO.

Event sponsors:
Singapore National Academy of Sciences,
Institute of Physics Singapore
SINGASTRO

Thank you for your time in reading.

We look forward to your attendence!

Things I've Learned.....

I've learned
that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is be someone who can be loved.
The rest is up to them.

I've learned-
that no matter how much I care,
some people just don't care back.

I've learned-
that it takes years to build up trust,
and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned-
that it's not what you have in your life
but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned-
that you can get by on charm for about
fifteen minutes.
After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned-
that you shouldn't compare
yourself to the best others can do.

I've learned-
that you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned-
that it's taking me a long time
to become the person I want to be.

I've learned-
that you should always leave loved ones
with loving words. It may be the last
time you see them....

I've learned-
that you can keep going
long after you can't.

I've learned-
that we are responsible for what we do,
no matter how we feel.


I've learned-
that either you control your attitude
or it controls you.

I've learned-
that regardless of how hot and steamy
a relationship is at first, the passion fades
and there had better be something else to take
its place.

I've learned-
that heroes are the people
who do what has to be done
when it needs to be done,
regardless of the consequences.

I've learned
that money is a lousy way of keeping score..

I've learned-
that my best friend and I can do anything
or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned-
that sometimes the people you expect
to kick you when you're down
will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned-
that sometimes when I'm angry
I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me
the right to be cruel.

I've learned-
that true friendship continues to grow,
even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I've learned-
that just because someone doesn't love
you the way you want them to doesn't
mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned-
that maturity has more to do with
what types of experiences you've had
and what you've learned from them
and less to do with how many
birthdays you've celebrated.

I've learned-
that you should never tell a child
their dreams are unlikely or outlandish.
Few things are more humiliating, and what
a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I've learned-
that your family won't always be there for you.
It may seem funny, but people you aren't
related to can take care of you and love you
and teach you to trust people again. Families
aren't biological.

I've learned-
that no matter how good a friend is,
they're going to hurt you every once in a while
and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned-
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by
others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive
yourself.

I've learned-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken
the world doesn't stop for your grief.


I've learned-
that our background and circumstances
may have influenced who we are,
but we are responsible for who we
become.

I've learned-
that just because two people argue,
it doesn't mean they don't love each other
And just because they don't argue,
it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned-
that we don't have to change friends
if we understand that friends change.

I've learned-
that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a
secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned-
that two people can look at the exact same thing
and see something totally different

I've learned-
that your life can be changed in a matter of
hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned-
that even when you think you have no more
to give, when a friend cries out to you,
you will find the strength to help.

I've learned-
that credentials on the wall
do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned-
that the people you care about most in life
are taken from you too soon.

I've learned-
that it's hard to determine where to draw
the line between being nice and not hurting
people's feelings and standing up
for what you believe.

My Personality

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

3,500 years of the Sedition Act (Repost from Malaysiakini blog)

3,500 years of the Sedition Act
Sunday, 25 May 2008

It is clear that the Sedition Act can solve all our problems. The Sedition Act, properly and seriously implemented, would result in the entire world sharing just one religion. There would not be so many religions, which, today, are the source of most of the world’s problems.

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

There is an old law which many Malaysians do not realise still exists in this country. This law is called the Sedition Act. How old is this law, you may ask. Trust me, it is very, very old.

The Sedition Act was already around 3,000 or 3,500 years ago during the time of the Egyptian Pharaohs. At that time a man called Musa -- namesake of Musa Hitam, Musa Aman and Musa Hassan; who are all the exact opposite of the Musa of old Egypt -- received a message from God. And the message is that the Pharaoh is not God, as he believed he was, and Musa was to go tell him so.

Of course Musa was scared because he was aware of the Sedition Act and anyone who disputes that the Ruler of Egypt is God will be dealt with severely. So Musa asked God for permission to bring his brother along since his brother had the gift of the gab and was able to ‘spin’ just like the Bloggers of modern days. Knowing that a lot of spinning would be required to counter Pharaoh’s claim of divinity, God agreed and Musa and his brother then went and confronted the Pharaoh.

The Pharaoh asked Musa what are the credentials to become God. Musa then replied that God gives life and God takes life. The Pharaoh then sentenced Musa to death thereby ‘taking his life’. The Pharaoh then commuted the death sentence thereby ‘giving back’ Musa his life.

“So I have just taken life and given life,” argued the Pharaoh. “That means I am God.”

That was certainly a very smart move indeed. So what is the moral of this story? Simple. If the Internet and Blogs had been around 3,000 or 3,500 years ago, the Pharaoh would have been the King of Bloggers since he is the best spin-doctor in history.

But Musa insisted that the Pharaoh was not God and this resulted in the Pharaoh invoking the Sedition Act on him. Any act to make the people hate or turn against the Ruler is an act of sedition and punishable under the Sedition Act. However, Musa did not play fair. He skipped bail and escaped from Egypt and this resulted in the new nation of Israel being created. And, ever since, this has been the cause of great turmoil and countless deaths. If the Pharaoh has arrested Musa under the Sedition Act and had not allowed him bail then there would be no turmoil and chaos in this world today and we would all be living in a peaceful world, in particular in the Middle East.

Slightly over 2,000 years ago, another person by the name of Isa came along. This was Isa The Man not ISA the Internal Security Act. Isa too was seditious and he turned the people against the Rulers. Of course Isa was not really that successful because he only had about a dozen followers, not even enough to form an Umno branch, which requires more members than that. But the Ruler made the great mistake of making a martyr out of Isa and his support grew, until today where he has more than one billion followers.

That was certainly not a very smart move indeed. So what is the moral of this story? Simple. Never make a martyr of someone who commits the crime of sedition, as then his or her following will grow beyond controllable proportions.

1,400 years or so ago, another man came along. This man was called Muhammad (but he had only one Muhammad in his name, not like today where we have people with two Muhammads in their name). For ten years he tried turning the people against the Rulers of the tiny state called Mekah. Finally, the Mekah government could stand it no longer and they tried arresting Muhammad under the Sedition Act.

But Muhammad managed to escape to another small village called Medina. Within 12 years this village grew into a city and they managed to build a large army and then went back to Mekah to topple the government.

That was certainly a very smart move indeed. So what is the moral of this story? Simple. Never allow anyone who commits the crime of sedition to escape to another country, as he or she can then build up a large army and come back to topple the government.

These examples of Musa, Isa and Muhammad have taught the world a thing or two. Firstly, never allow anyone to commit the crime of sedition. Secondly, sedition is not about punishing someone for lying. Sedition is about punishing someone who tells the truth. And that was demonstrated in Penang not too long ago when Marina Yusoff was found guilty of sedition for telling the truth -- yes, she proved that she had told the truth and had not lied. Marina Yusoff wrongly thought that if she could prove she was telling the truth she would escape punishment. Little did she realise that the Sedition Act does not punish you for lying. It punishes you for telling the truth. And Musa, Isa and Muhammad too told the truth so they are all rightfully guilty of sedition.

600 years or so ago, the English King decided to make it illegal to speak against the Ruler. God appoints Rulers as Rulers, argued the King, and to oppose the Ruler or speak ill of the Ruler is seditious and you can be arrested and your ears will be cut off. So many people who did not bodek the King were arrested and punished under the Sedition Act.

62 years ago, Malayans too started opposing the British Monarchy. They did not like the British proposal to form the Malayan Union. The Malays then got together and formed an amalgamation of the many Malay movements, societies and associations, which they called Umno. And through Umno the Malays began to make seditious statements in their many road-shows that criss-crossed the length and breadth of Malaya.

As the movement gained momentum and Umno started winning the support of the Malayan population, in 1948 the British introduced the Sedition Act, more than 500 years after it was introduced in England. That was of course 60 years ago but the Sedition Act did not achieve its purpose. Finally, in 1957, Malaya managed to gain independence from Britain in spite of the Sedition Act.

Today, the Sedition Act that was introduced to punish Malayans who speak against the British still remains. But there is no longer a British Colonial government ruling Malaya. Today, Malaya is Merdeka and is now called Malaysia. But the law that makes it a crime to speak ill of the British still remains even though no one speaks bad about the British any longer other than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years and who managed to get Margaret Thatcher’s knickers all twisted into knots.

Sigh….if the Pharaoh had been serious about the Sedition Act then there would be no Jews today. And if there were no Jews then there would be no Isa; so there would be no Christianity. And if the Mekah government too had been serious about the Sedition Act there would be no Islam today. And since there would be no Jews, Christians and Muslims, then all 26 million Malaysians would today still be Hindus, like they were more than 500 years ago. And since we would all be Hindus there would be no problems and therefore no need for Hindraf. And as there would be no Hindraf then Barisan Nasional would not have done so badly in the 8 March 2008 general election.

It is clear that the Sedition Act can solve all our problems. The Sedition Act, properly and seriously implemented, would result in the entire world sharing just one religion. There would not be so many religions, which, today, are the source of most of the world’s problems.

Malaysians must be able to look at the Sedition Act in this light. Against the backdrop of the Sedition Act being able to prevent the growth of new religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- which would result in world peace -- then the Sedition Act is good. But because the Rulers since 3,500 years ago failed to ensure that no one escapes the Sedition Act, today we have so many religions and that has divided the world and created a lot of conflicts that has resulted in so many deaths.

And remember, the Sedition Act is used to punish those who tell the truth, not those who lie. If they lie then there are so many other laws we can use against them.

Tung Chung Qing Dynasty Fort, Lantau Island, Hong Kong SAR

Tung Chung Fort, located on the northwestern part of Lantau island, was first built in the Song dynasty Shun Hei era (1174 - 1189) to combat pirates. The fort however, fell into disused and was used as a pirate's liar right by notable pirates such as Cheung Po Tsai, right up to its recovery and refurbishment by the Qing dynasyt. The current structure dates to the Qing dynasty. It was the naval headquarters of the Right Battalion of Dapeng. A carved granite slab above the entrance dates the Fort to 1832. The Qing abandoned the fort in 1898 when the New Territories was leased to Britain.

Travel Hong Kong - 16th - 19th May, 2008

Papa's Birthday '08 (PRIVATE)