Yvonne Foong -

Who needs a fling when what you want is the whole fairytale: long walks on the beach, up-all-night conversations, and watching sunrises/sunsets in each other's arms. You're probably a picky dater who doesn't connect with just anyone. Sure a strong intellectual streak, loyalty, and a great sense of humor are terrific selling points. But if your dates can't savor romance like you do, it might be the perfect match you're dreaming of. You're hoping to find your other half, that one person who can finish your sentences, someone who really 'gets' your inner emotions. And until you find them, you probably don't mind flying solo every now and then. That's because deep down, you know that being with the wrong someone is just an obstacle to being with your one-and-only. So even as you're reading this and thinking about how to find them, know that somewhere out there, they're probably wondering the same about you. It's just a matter of time.

Congratulations, Yvonne! Your IQ score is 120 This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others. Your Intellectual Type is Insightful Linguist. This means you are highly intelligent and have the natural fluency of a writer and the visual and spatial strengths of an artist. Those skills contribute to your creative and expressive mind. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

Whether you know it or not, this is the role that is most in tune with who you are at your core. As a facilitator, you're admired for your thoughtful decision-making skills and sense of duty. You exude a quiet strength, and when others want something done right, you are often the one they turn to, even though you don't call attention to yourself, often preferring to work behind the scenes more than in visible leadership roles. You are a solid, dependable person with a keen mind for systems and can easily assess their accuracy and efficiency. Just watch out for your tendency to categorize everything — not everything is black and white — because it will cause you to miss out on the subtleties of life. As long as you're aware of how rigid you can be, your orderly, neat ways can help you be incredibly productive in this life, in part because you never feel compelled to be a slave to flash and/or trend.

Bring it on! You're not fazed by last-second get-togethers. Getting your friends together is more important than impressing them with perfectly planned parties. Fact is, you're laid back and resourceful enough to make any impromptu gathering work. No ice in the freezer? No fancy snacks? Who cares? You'll think of something. Whether it's a spontaneous cocktail party, or a backyard BBQ, you're at your best when you're bringing people together. Maybe it's the lively games you entertain them with. Maybe it's the hilarity of watching them strip down to bathing suits and take a running dive down the slip and slide. Or maybe it's just that when you're together with your friends, you can really take a load off and enjoy yourself. Who needs formal fetes and stuffy invites? You open your door and the good times just keep rolling in. So pick up the phone! Any time's a great time to call up your friends for a spontaneous bash! The food, fun, and perfectly chilled drinks are just a call away!

Their main centre have recently been shifted from Bandar Sunway to SS19, Subang Jaya. In one three-month periosd, they managed to rehome 30 puppies. Every adoptee is kept in check by visiting their homes occasionally.

Because this group is independant, they are in need of donations and gifts from the public. A wishlist can be found in their website. www.sprvmalaysia.com

Adopt an animal and safe a life. If you believe in karma, this will give you merits and you will reap the rewards of your kindness one day. Did you know, a dog's bark keep thieves away?

dizi Originally uploaded by Doey.

Only found out this morning that the mysterious person was ALAN! Gawd...why I never guessed so? Here's a gift from him.

I am surprised that he remembered my words. I just briefly told him about my interest in chinese flute. I also briefly commented about this china-made mat my mom have that's spoiled already. And guess what? He bought her a new one! He gave my dad chinese tea. He probably notice how devoted my dad is in serving the Gods. But the tea he bought is for drinking lar.

How thoughtful of the fella. So men do listen after all. LOL! Now my ex-collegemate, Kevin Tan is going to teach me how to play the dizi. Yay!

Voices of Youth is a website for young people who are interested in issues of human rights and development. Voices of Youth is particularly concerned with reaching and involving young people from developing countries, and youth who do not traditionally have a way to make their voices heard – or have access to the Internet. Voices of Youth also tries to attract young people who may not yet realize just how interesting and important child rights can be.

Other Links include: UNICEF

Save The Children

Free The Children

Children's Tumor Foundation

Years ago a young man traveled across a large continent and a large ocean to an island that his parents had once called home. There he was introduced to a new culture and a new language. This journey inspired him to delve deeper into his roots, to learn the language of that small island nation, and to make an impact on their culture. This young man was Alexander Wang or better known to his ardent fans and veterans of the Asian music industry as Wang Lee Hom.

Since bursting onto the Taiwanese music industry in 1995 with his debut album Love Rival Beethoven Wang Lee Hom has released a total of ten albums. Just last year, Lee Hom started his crusade in Japan with his first Japanese album Hear My Voice. Now after just coming back from Yun-Nan, where he immersed himself in the art of traditional Chinese music, Wang Lee Hom has returned bring with him a new album Shangri-La.

Alexander Wang’s path to becoming Wang Lee Hom was a long one. Born in Rochester, New York, in 1976 to immigrant parents, Alexander Wang was the normal kid on the block. His family was well off; his father a doctor and his mother a librarian. Since he was young Alex had shown a great love for music. At the age of 6 he started to learn how to play the violin. Though most Asian children are usually pushed by their parents to take up this past time, Alex’s case was different, he chose to pick up the violin through his own will, which helped to foster his love of music rather than suffocate it. In school, Alex was part of the choir, while at home he diligently continued to play the piano and the violin. At the age of 17, Alex had a startling encounter with the Asian world of music and he was not impressed. The album was Forgettable Waters by Andy Lau Lee Hom later told the press, when asked about the incident in 2000 by the Strait Times, “That was years ago, well, I didn't mean to say that everything he did was boring. It just sounded like all the ke-lian (pitiful) ballads! It's nothing personal.” While this incident seemed rather remote, it sparked an interest in Lee Hom. He wanted to revolutionize the Chinese music industry. A rather ambiguous goal for a 17 year old; however, a year later Alex composed a 570 paged Broadway play.

At this time Lee Hom had already given up on the violin. Later he said of his quitting, “I realized that even if I spent a lifetime practicing, I would not be better than the best violinists of this century. And when I see the 14-year-olds playing the violin so well, I questioned the contribution I would make as a violinist. I asked my violin teacher if I had the quality to be a good violinist. He said that if I asked that question, it meant that I was just not good enough.” Though he ceased going to violin lessons, Alex continued to learn other instruments, teaching himself to play the guitar an act that many Asian Americans would condemn as a waste of time and Alexander’s parents were no exception. “My heart was in music then, but whenever I brought up this topic my family would object, thus I felt sad without any goals. Therefore since my brother chose medicine, so should I, hence I followed my parents' wishes”, Lee Hom later would explain to “Characters” magazine in 1998. When the time came Alexander went to college, just like any other kid. At William’s College Lee Hom majored in medicine and minored in Asian Studies. However, despite his parents’ discouragement, Lee Hom’s passion for music continued to grow and flourish. He befriended music lovers like him and recorded demos.

Eventually one of his tapes ended up in the hands of a prestigious producer and at his uncles urging, Alexander recorded his first album Love Rival Beethoven. It was a critically acclaimed debut in Taiwan and Wang Lee Hom had finally arrived. With the success of his first album, Lee Hom was able to persuade his mother to allow him to switch his major in his second year of college. Lee Hom graduated college with honors while juggling a career in Taiwan. “I promised myself that whatever my outcome in the entertainment scene was, I must finish my studies. That is the reason why when my first album sold well, I continued to record a few more but only did promotions during my summer holidays, and hence people were still unfamiliar to me”, he said later of his slow rise to popularity. For his graduating thesis, Lee Hom wrote the musical 'The Bite that Burns', further establishing his command on music.

1999 saw Lee Hom pursuing his studies in music at Berklee College in Boston as a graduate student. Oversees, Lee Hom was enjoying more success as well. Since transferring over to Sony Music in 1998, Lee Hom released his album 6th album Impossible Missing You. Later in 1999, he release Revolution for which he won two Golden Melody Awards for Best Male Performer and Best Producer. Lee Hom was just 23 years old and became the youngest recipitant of the award.

When asked about his music style Lee Hom replied, “My training in jazz and classical music has probably influenced my style of music. But I’m not a Westerner coming in with my own brand of music and just singing it in Chinese. Chinese music has a style that needs to be learned.”

Lee Hom’s respect for this style and his pursuit in learning it this style has contributed greatly to his growing success. The reason Lee Hom has pursued this goal for much of his career is to give the Chinese music industry a sense of self identity. As he says to his fans in his new album Xin Zhong De Ri Yue or Shangri-La as it is pronounced in a dialect of Southern China. “Chinese pop music does not have a strong enough sonic identity. Instead of being purely karaoke driven, instead of covering or imitating other countries' popular songs, we can focus on developing our own sound, drawing from the rich resources that abound in Chinese culture.” Words that many Chinese, even Asian, music fans would heartily agree with, as the number of America influenced songs rises steadily drowning out the unique voice of Asia. The need for identity and a distinct sound is a problem in Asian music and has yet to be found. Lee Hom’s Shangri-La is the beginning of this evolution. Still carrying an R&B tone, the changes are evident in the usage of tradition tribal singing and traditional instruments taking center stage in most songs. It is more of an experimental album if anything, as Lee Hom slowly develops a sound for Chinese pop music.

Now many may wonder why this development has taken so long and has only gone so far. China has an extensive history, spanning several thousands of years; however, its history as a modernized region only covers some decades. In the rush to modernize, China simply copied the West, leaving behind most of its culture. And it song has suffered. Instead of modernizing its song, China left it behind in the dustbin, leaving it for the “older” generations. But imitation often leaves the imitator empty and Chinese pop music is just simply a shell with no culture or meaning behind it, which some musicians are now trying to fill.

Wang Lee Hom is one who has been pursuing this for years; however Chinese pop can not depend on him alone. There must be others for the foundation of Chinese pop to be firmly rooted. The reason why there are so few others is that there are so few singers that study music theory, let alone the music theory of both the East and the West. Even lee Hom had not completely mastered the usage of Eastern theory until Shangri-La; most of his songs prior to this album had a distinct Western flavor. Eastern music does in fact have to be re-learned by those that have already studied Western theory. It is played on a completely different scale, the pentatonic scale, which only contains five octaves. Western music has eight octaves in contrast. To make these two music types match and blend together to create a completely different genre is a daunting task, a revolution. Chinese pop has undergone several revolutions in the past few decades, the most prominent being led by, Jay Chou, another Sony Music creation, who retook the airwaves for Chinese singers. Four years later, Lee Hom wants another revolution, a much needed revolution. It will come slowly, taking years and maybe even decades to reach, but one day the East will rediscover the lost paradise in itself, Shangri-La.

But now, I hardly hear those stories again. The pro of it is,people probably came to realise that practicality comes first. But on the other side of the coin, they're most likely too busy to even dream about it.

How many women have I heard saying that they regret marrying, simply because being single is carefree? In this case, these women knows better than I do. They must be old and tired, you think? Well, part of them but some are just at the beginning. My mom used to tell me that men would do anything to win you over but once he has put that ring onto your finger, you'll become an item in the display shelf. I'd reply her that such women have just found the wrong men! LOL!

There goes a saying, Marriage to a women is the end of all worries but it's just the beginning for men. How wrong is that! I've known far too many women who have assisted their husband during the down times only to be treated unkindly when the fruits of their labour appear. Or worse still if it is the other way round.

I've been telling many people, love is more than just meet the eye, and heart. Loving someone is one and sharing your life with him is another. Many men thinks that being a housewife is the best job ever but little do they know that its a multi-task under the roof. And so many women are suffering from stress from such a situation and things get worse when their husbands does not see the problem to it and ridicule their wives.

So if you are thinking of committing further, think again...and again....and AGAIN! Is this the man who would share his everything with you in any possible situation? Is he worthy enough to stand the test of time? Is he stingy? Is he selfish? Is he considerate? Is he responsible? But often, you might be too blinded by love and infatuation to admit his flaws so ask a close friend who knows him well enough., but not any better than you ofcourse.

I've got a new email address YVONNEFOONG@LEEHOM.NET. I'd most likely use it for formal matters such as medical and educational purposes. But will they pass me as a crazy Lee Hom fan?

I do miss school for one reason. Friendships were probably more valuable and there was always enough time to sit around and gain some calories. I can understand the position that my friend is in because I have been in his shoes. He probably wakes up at 7am, gets ready to work and only returns at dawn of the moon for the final meal of the day. By time he adjusts himself to home-sweet-home mode, it's already time to call it a day and recuperate for tomorrow. Practically, the life of a working person is in the office.

I've seen this friend of mine transform from a nerdy and crappy teenage book-eater to whatever he is now. He's still in the midst of transformation so before final, I won't know who he really is. Maybe I will never know since we are under constant temperament until we exhale our last breath.

" Those who looks simple are more complicated than those who looks so "-Alicia Leong

My friend looks as plain as the skies above and as rooted as the Petronas Twin Towers, so much that those who knows little about him would pass him as someone in random. Little do they know that behind this plain facade lies a big blue print of the pyramids of Egypt that stores countless mysteries and well.. mummies.

Pardon me, I don't mean that he is to be avoided but he's not so simple either. Maybe.. just maybe, his extraordinary innerself was what intrigues me to remain a loyal friend all these while.

1. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
2. Philosophy; The Basics by Nigel Warburton

One being Introduction to Philosophy

And three further units from either Logic, Epistermology, Ethics, Modern Philosophy; "Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume"

There is also one book that caught my interest, it's entitled THINK by Simon Blackburn. A very fascinating book with an excellent style of composition. But at this stage, I am too dense to absorb everything in there and keep it for more than a slight moment once I put it aside. Hence, I decided that it'll be a future purchase when my intelligence heights. Here goes a rough excerpt from THINK's introduction.

It is embarrasing when philosophers and philosophy students alike are asked what we do for a living.