Stop, and think. What have you done within this life? Have you completed everything you've ever wanted to do yet? Are you one step closer to your target in life at the end of every day?

If you said no to any of the questions above, you'd better live your life properly.

So quickly, we're already in the third month of 2005. Thats 25% of a year. 0.25% of a 100 year life span. How much have you completed during that 0.25% of ur life? Are you using your LIFE wisely?

Me? I'm moving towards my dream of becoming a professional magician every day. Practice, perform practice. %#^% studies. Useless sh!t. Life is too d@mn short for that #$^%^.

In this 0.25% of my life, I've been told 'next time la' too many times. $%&#$ it. I'm deciding once and for all. Life is too short to waste time waiting. Many a times I fine myself too shy to ask a girl out. Many a times, I find myself in front of her unable to say those three words. Many a times I find myself unable to accept reality.

From now on. I'm not going to waste time. I'm going to love what I do. Do what I love. Love whom I love. And go make love.

$%&%$^ life.

Signing off,
Death1988.

Hey man.. Cool it.. Don't neglect your studies man! I'm speaking from experience..

I nearly ended my studies just because of my love for Music. I was sec3 then. My family eventually got me back on track. Now i'm in poly, and i'm loving it! I mean, it was in poly that i learnt about Magic and SMC!

Becoming a pro magician is good.. Just let me share a little of myself..

My personal goal back then was to become a guitar pro. Eventually, i realised the sacrifices i had to make. Now, all i want is to have a stable, good job, and still do Magic and Music, even when i have kids. Sometimes, slacken a little on your goal of becoming a pro magician. You may find something else that may interest you..

On going after a girl: slow down a little. I was hot headed back in sec4. But i decided to relax on my 'chase'. Eventually, i did get attached in Poly Yr1 (to another girl). All i can say is, get to know the girl 1st. Pluck up some courage and just TALK to her! Understand her needs and wants. If her needs and wants (and hobbies too..) are not those you can tolerate, move on lah! There will b one that will eventually match you in every aspect.

Yupz.. That's about all i can say.. :)

I believe you just got ur O results? Where d'ya intend to go? :D

I already have a girlfriend. For now.
me wanna go TPJC, but I am led to believe this is impossible.

impossible is nothing
impossible = i m possible

Therefore 'I M possible' is nothing.
=I M not possible.
-------------------------
I = my life.
-------------------------
Sub equation 2 into equation 1.

My life am not possible.
= My life is not possible.
=Life sucks.

if life dun suck we would all fall off.. or was it earth..
take control of ur life.. i'll support wadeva decision u do.. juz make sure tats the step u wan to take in life

Pls lah. Nothing is impossible. U can go anywhere. Just believe that u can do it.. U can probationally get in (if i'm not wrong). If u think u can't get in, well, now's the time to start appealing. It works, cos i've seen friends appeal, and get in. Aiyah, just dump some money on the principal as a last resort lah.. <_<

I like that Justin. Nice one.

especially this -
'From now on. I'm not going to waste time. I'm going to love what I do. Do what I love. Love whom I love. And go make love.'

Do whatever the $@$# you want. But dont forget the risks invloved.

Eh Kevin, be more encouraging lah. Dun wanna hear of Justin in the news.. Enough deaths already.. (look at the family of 4) :(

I wun die. If I ever die. I'll drag along a number of girls I know. Trust me. And barney, this is NOT about schooling. Schooling is useless stuff.

Seriously, if anybody kills himself over a satirical picture, he DESERVED to die! Kekekekkee.... burr.

Just playing, y'all... and J: brighten up. Or I'll spam your inbox with gay porn. Maybe that will cheer you up.

-Kev

I have to say Kevin's post made me laugh out loud. :D

But seriously to the poster (Buaya), don't say fck off to studies. You still need basic qualifications, and right now 'O' levels are NOT enough. You need AT LEAST one step higher, be it an ITE Dip or a Poly Dip. If you decide to be a hero and do 'A' levels (like me), then you definitely need a degree. 'A' levels means squat. Ask those girls who just got their A results and can't find work before they enter university.

Do whatever you want in life. But always have Plan B, C, and D waiting. In this case, the paper qualification IS YOUR BACKUP PLAN. Get something to fall back on, then do what you want to do.

Being a Professional Magician is not easy. Doing sybils and shuffles is fine and dandy, but they will not guarantee you a meal or a place to sleep at night.

All young aspiring magicians take note : IT IS NOT EASY TO MAKE A LIVING.

This is REGARDLESS of what you want to work as. It is DIFFICULT to earn money. FULL STOP.

But having some paper qualifications makes it a bit easier. And when there is an option to make life a bit easier, I say take it. Regardless of where you go, JC, Poly, ITE, wherever. Just go somewhere and study.

One more thing, if you're talking about having sex, then just remember to wrap your buddy up. Child support payments will be impossible to meet if all you can do are magic tricks.

- Raoul

Justin I agree that schooling is useless.. But here, everyone talks about holding high degrees and diplomas and whatever there is to get... I know you dream about being a pro magician.. Me myself have dreams.. I dream to be a professional musician... But I know that it is not easy to get there.. The basics of education must be there..

This might be a down period of your life.. But remember, whatever challenges life throw to you, it is just for you to overcome. Never give in to obstacles easily..

And you're wrong. Nothing is impossible. the word impossible should not exist in your vocabulary..

This is not about schooling. This is about attitude towards life. What would the world be like if everyone thinks like you? A place full of sad depressed people? How would you like to be living in a place like that.

Stop wallowing in self pity and stand up, fight for your life. I've been through depression before. Its not easy but it is possible. Everything is possible. You just have to have confidence and believe in yourself.

... Raoul. Good advice and everything. I do have a plan B. I'm just setting my priorities right so... $%&%$ STUDIES! \

"Mummy! We go supermarket!"
Sees apples.
3 apple costs $ log(base8)64 dollars. How much apples can John buy with $8?

&%& that rubbish.

well, if you do want to become a pro magician, perhaps kien meng could help you out here :D

i'm not sure about everyone else, but i was brought up to think that i should become a professional or wither and die in poverty. and that to become a professional, either a) work really hard and get a good degree at the end of it all related to your aspiration or B) have rich parents. then i found out that this was total bullsh*d.

then i was introduced to the concept of balance. a balanced life. meaning both studies and recreation, perhaps some relaxed slacking now and then. this is the single most effective way of managing one's life, at least for me. sure, i am very passionate about this and that and stuff unrelated to schooling. but that does not give me the right to neglect my studies, or my personal life. although i can see you haven't neglected the latter :P

perhaps studies can make it easier to become a professional magician. people might see it as an edge over other full-time magicians who do not have the same qualifications as you do.

and before anyone says that whatever i've mentioned so far is total crap.. justin the best person you can consult is someone elder to you, who understands where you are coming from and knows how to handle your situation.

LoL. Are you implying yourself? :P

Anyways. I used to do that balanced thingy, now I don't. I think its more effective doing the do-or-die conept rather than the jack of all trades concept. Personal opinion too.

looks like there's a lot of advice pouring in already :blink:

haha. advice is advice, but i think ultimately the choice still remains with the person, because the life he has, belongs to him. if you never tried, how would you know? no one ever told you that walking on the same path with another life will result in the same conclusion. :) so, yepz, only buaYa will understand what he wants and control his life.

so best advice: do what you want!

lol. that seriously did not help. i'm just saying, take everyone's advice with a pinch of salt, cause ultimately,

only you can choose how to live your life :)

Education is the most basic thing you need to start a career even for a magician.

How would you interact with people if you don't know your basics? I say this from experience as I don't have much paper qualifications. I use to neglect my studies when I was young. Finding a job is difficult without papers in Singapore.

You are still young and maybe one day, you'll come to realise that studies is really important. Think of it as a challenge, only a couple years more of schooling and you're done.

Hey Justin. Dont' get overly depressive. I agree with you totally that schooling is a waste of time etc. But, if you take it as a challenge and try to overcome those irritating adversies and obstacles, it will be very satisfying.
And, perhaps, think of those little achievements you have here and there in your academic journey, and you would be greatly movitated to do well for the next test or whatever.
This works for me...

And, yeah. Do whatever you like. Indulgence in your dreams and fantasies. It's better to have a dream/goal than have none and live life aimlessly.

For me, I aspired to became a Metal Band's vocalist.

- Ling.

Cheer up. Life ain't that bad if you try to make it worthwhile. Do magic. Make yourself happy. Don't kill yourself, kill others. Vent some pent-up anger. Burn some cards.

Buaya.....something happened to you mate?
Why the sudden abbrasiveness towards education?
Wanna tell us what happened?

Education, as a concept, is essential for survival. You need to be and will be learning and re-learning and training and re-training (i.e. having an education) for the rest of your life if you hope to stay relevant in anyway. Even if you were to become a pro-magician, your education will carry on forever. If you are in something really fast moving like Info Tech, it is ESPECIALLY important B)

I think what you meant is going to school for something you have no passion for. Well, i believe you are at a stage of your formal education where you can choose certain direction that you want to take? Well, go ahead and choose the course that you are interested in. Learn the things you wanna be doing.
You wanna go pro and there's no "Diploma in Magic"?
There's a lot more to going pro than just doing effects beautifully. And there are a lot of course in Poly, JC, or Uni that can be very helpful to you going pro.
I imagine Marketting will come in very useful in promoting your act, or just general Business Administration to manage yourself. Learning Media Communications and Productions would help you plan your act and make your videos. Psychology will give you an edge over your specs and other magicians. Drama and theater will give you even more relevant skills. Mechanical Engineering will be extremely useful to help you build your own props and inventions, Machatronic will just take that even 1 more level up. I can go on forever....

I think it's great that you know what you wanna do. However, I would say you probably dun wanna close the door on all other options yet. You never know what's gonna come along and make you change your mind yet. B)

i didnt work hard when i in school too...

why i started magic is because whenever i see a magican doing magic, his power of speech is very good.. that is what i wan, so i hope to learn this "power of speech" by learning magic and watch video/live magic whether it's from SMC or DVD.

hey, what happen to you? <_<

some problem not able to solve? B)

BGR problem? B)

School result? B)

family problem? B)

O, yes what about your family memebrs? B)

do not take live easy, hander life with care. all the problem in life just a part of learning progcess. B)

look at the bright side of it, i know you are down now, go and get someone you trust to talk to or you might like to come out for a talk. B)

love magic huh ?

something which doesnt require any cards, dice or magic wand.

Just words from the one you love... words fill with thorns.. *BOOM* you will be dead and silent for min. 1 week without any mood... u feel u been curse... can't even do a simple DL in front of your friends.. all your magic kana expose.. u play 21pts with your friends, u always stuck at 16points when all your friends get "BanBan". You leave home for school and can end up in a bus with flat tyres and late for school with detention, lastly end up doing nothing but cleaning the classroom tables letting the girl u love deepy saw u... Of cos..with another guy beside her...

NOW... GO AND STUDY... earn lots monie... the root of all evil... once u get that MONIE, u are the world... girls come to you like melting metal... u can bent any spoon on this earth... u can do 5xDL and noone will notice the FXXKING BIG different with 1 card lift... U walk over the Great Wall of China and remove David.C name from the history book...


Really... study is VERY important..

Exactly what happened LV. LMAO. Nevermind things are different now. Today was a good day! And I still think studies is bad. BAD BAD!!! But yes. The loophole in the system is that anything we learn is not really useful. I even wrote about this rubbish to my teacher online and she agreed with me. LOL.

Heres what I wrote:

Hmmm... Ya know, I'm inclined to stop schooling, I've reached a point in studyihg that I don't see how will the knowledge be useful. I mean, Chemical Formulas and Nuclear Fission!? Lets try First Aid and Cooking shall we?

However, in the current society, these Diplomas and Degrees are a necessary evil. They give us status. A man who doesn't know how to dress and feed imself or take care of children is seen as 'better' than those that can do all those things, if he has a degree. Smethings wrong about that.

I still don't see the point in studying though. Most of the people who rake in the big bucks today, don't really earn because of the knowledge they attain in school, but because they risked moeny, placed effort, and had a little tinge of luck.

Sure, there are risks involved, but since when has there been none? How sure can anyone be the eople will still be interested in the Chinese we are studying now? How sure can we be that History, Literature or Geography will stretch into the future? The chances that they do are high, but definately not 100%. If a third world war between South Korea and the entire world broke out, we'll have priorities rather than studying world war three.

The Singapore education system is a total flop. What happens at each teaching session is that we get a student that has exactly the same amount of skills compared to the other students. Now tell me, how does this encourage the cretivity that rakes in the big bucks? Sigh.

I notice I am now not typing with response to your reply or my initial questions. So I shall stop here

The point of education is NOT JUST to rake in the big bucks mate, the point is Knowledge, general knowledge, holistic knowledge. And morality and humanity as well actually, but that's another story altogether...

True, subjects like History, Literature or Geography will probably not have direct connection with your future occupation. Nuclear Fusion will probably only remain relevant to the 0.01% who eventually becomes nuclear scientists.
But it's about giving everyone a chance to at least explore these subjects, some will geniunely like them and choose a profession in them. It's about accumulating and passing on human knowledge. It's giving everyone a chance to try their hands at a bit of everything so that they have a chance of finding their passion. Otherwise, at least it afford you the capability to have a conversation with someone other than what you do for a living.
Can you imagine how boring a person is if right from Primary 1, they are specifically trained to become a civil engineer? They will probably have no idea the difference between Venus and mound of venus, or know Shakespeare from Lee Kwan Yew. That will be a person very well trained in his job, but i can hardly call that being educated. This person could also be a natural poet which never had the chance to try it.
And Chinese, you have no idea how important and useful that is, ESPECIALLY if you plan to go into your own business, almost any business. People from Europe and US are paying BIG MONEY to learn a working, converstaional command of it, for very good reasons. You don't want to give up the natural advantage you have in that. B)

Can it at least be more fun and interesting than just passing tests? Maybe. Probably. Nobody liked it too much when doing it. For that we can only look to the educators hoping against hope that they can do something about it. OR, become a teacher and be one that make a difference ;)
Yes, the paper chase mentality is the unfortunate by-product of the education system. Unfortunately, there isn't a significantly better model, Yes, it's getting scarily cut-throat competitive, i seriously worry about the kinda childhood my children will have sometimes. Well, maybe you can take up education as your major someday and come up with a system that will save our children and children's children B) Don't just complain about it, if you believe in it, at least TRY to make a difference in it B)

I dunno where your teacher is coming from, but diplomas and degrees are NOT supposed to make you an incomplete goon who cannot cook for your children. They are SUPPOSED to make you better at what you wanna do.
Status/social positions/5Cs/I'm-better-than-you/etcetc affects only those who subscribes to it.
Make no mistake about it.
You CANNOT do without money.
You CANNOT make a difference without money.
You CANNOT survive without money.
Money is VERY VERY IMPORTANT.
But it is not the most important thing. And you don't have to let it rule your life.

I should stop nagging now B)

Excuse me har.....i really CANNOT resist this. B)

Money is NOT the root of all evil.
THE LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil. 1Tim 6:10 if you must know ;) B)
I hear someone said you can have NO MONEY at all but still have a lot of love for it. Or you can make lotsa money but not have the love for it.
I think that makes a lot of sense B)

I like money. I think money is very useful :)

But if you still find it evil, please let me help you, give it all to me :g: :!!:

I agree on this part.. Imagine starting a business presentation with a simple trick that develops into your actual presentation.. People will actually go WOW.

Aspire far..

This thought occured to me long ago.. Would u rather be doing tricks in front of 2-3 people on the street or store, or would u rather do it in front of 100 to 200 people who are acutally sitting there because they have to? I picked the latter. That's why i want to be a teacher/ lecturer next time. (btw, i'm only 19) :g:

I mean, if u can teach AND do some magic, i bet all your students will go WOW.

P.S. anyone know of a school teacher who also does magic? haha.. :off:

I'm going to really sound very WEIRD, but I still believe in happiness, love, and friendship being the purpouses of life, not morality, knowledge and wisdom.

And, while money may not equal to happiness, love nor friendship, it sure is a catalyst in the process of attaining them.

lol, ur having ur mid-life crisis early! anyway, yea, i felt the same as u b4. not knowing what i wanted to do, not knowing how useful my time is spent in sch, etc.

anyway, everything here is my truest beliefs.

but, even if u want to be a professional magician, i think education will definitely get u further. lets put things in context, firstly, i think all performers must be able to communicate well and reach the audience.

speaking is the most common way to communicate, and a performer who cannot speak properly when required to is boring and irritating (cos u cant listen properly). surely some of u have experienced this b4?

unless u are very effective in using body language or something, speaking skills is important all the time. making people want to hear u, getting heard and presenting yourself as a confident performer.

education also helps to develop thinking skills as it trains the mind.

even as a professional magician, u CAN go further. (eg. setting up an event planning company) and to go into business, education will prove useful.

well, i dun believe u cannot cope with ur studies, so just keep going. :)

On the contary Gordie, on the contary.

precisely, knowing what u are gonna to do, u can decide how education can benefit u in achieving that.

(unless u decided it doesnt)

Awwwww......so sweet.......you are gonna grow up to be a snag :wub: B)

Btw, i said the purpose of EDUCATION is knowledge and humanity, not the purpose of LIFE ;) B)

isn't education a long drawn-out process to teach one how to earn money? :lol:

nah, i'm just kidding.

Education does not just present to you knowledge and humanity. it offers you the ability to ponder the purpose of life, at least in some contexts (mostly Literature i guess).

which reminds me. why are Geography and History considered humanities subjects? (do not reply to this question unless you want the thread to go off topic -_- )

Ponder about the meaning of life? Philosophy is the way to go!

Morphine, my mistake.

Where's the 'kill yourself' picture! I miss it!

Omg buaYa, from listening to the usual stuff you say when we hang out, i didn't realise you had such valuable insights into life. =P But it's funny that you should bring this subject up, because just a few days back I had my first real experience of associating with ITE guys. Then I discovered that the world is not full of the JC-style people. - . - Guess what...my ITE friends believe JC people can't actually do anything. I totally agree with you and them that the education we have in school right now is 99% useless bull. It's likely to be irrelevant to our career. Sure it gives us general knowledge, knowledge that stays with me for a week at most before it gets flushed out of my mind to make space for some other one-week knowledge.
I hate our education system. But excelling in it buys me my qualifications and the only way out of a life stuck with doing some sh** I'm not interested in, because like it or not, qualifications make you a winner in society.
Still, we're all entitled to create whatever mess we want in our lives. Just make sure we live with no regrets.

Hahahaha .. it's just like "I learn intergration but am i going to use it in my work as an engineer next time ?"