Aah the start of the 6th month of 2015, how time flies!!
1. "Shangri-La shooting: Police identify man shot dead and 2 arrested - AsiaOne Jun 01, 2015
SINGAPORE - Police have identified the man who was shot dead yesterday (May 31) near Shangri-La hotel as Mohamed Taufik Azhar.
The 34-year-old was the driver of the vehicle that crashed through police barriers around the hotel early Sunday morning where top-level security summit was taking place, the police said in a statement on Monday morning.
The two other passengers in the car were identified as Mohamed Ismail, 31, and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, 26.
At 4.36 am on May 31, the three men in a Singapore-registered red Subaru Impreza had failed to stop at a security checkpoint along Ardmore Park.
Police said that the checkpoint was part of the security measures put in place to ensure vehicles and persons entering or approaching Shangri-La hotel are checked for dangerous weapons and explosives that could be used to harm persons attending the major security event. The Shangri-La Dialogue was attended by defence ministers and security chiefs from around the world.
When the subjects were asked to open the car boot, the driver accelerated the vehicle and crashed through barricades that was positioned some 250m from the venue of the Summit. According to police, he was driving "towards the police officers (and) in the direction of Shangri-La Hotel".
"Despite repeated warnings to stop, the vehicle continued to drive dangerously across the security checkpoint and headed towards the secured venue," said the police in the statement."
Wow! A scene straight out from Fast & Furious 7 or any other Hollywood or Bollywood actions thriller. Just that this ONE is REAL and one man actually were killed by a shot fired by Police officer(s) whose life/lives are under threat!!
Lessons for me are:
a. glad that it WAS NOT related to any terrorism! What a BIG relief!;
b. a case of 'at the wrong place wrong time' as they are supposedly only trafficking illegal drugs and NOT an imminent threat to the high ranking defence officers and officials participating in the famed Shangri-La Dialogue on securities matters!;
c. a shot of confidence, pun intended, in the efficiency and effectiveness of our police force in using lethal force WHEN they have to!! Good one!!
2. "The call of monkhood: Princeton degree, dating brought no joy - The Straits Times May 31, 2015
Growing up, Ms Ruby Pan wanted to be a writer. In her teens, she fell in love with the theatre and dreamt of being a playwright.She won a Public Service Commission teaching scholarship to study English literature at Princeton University in the United States, where she bagged prizes for a play and a collection of short stories she wrote.
She even got to perform a monologue she wrote at a show produced by the famous Royal Shakespeare Company in England. She thought she had done everything that was artistically fulfilling, but when she graduated in 2006, she felt no joy.
She says: "Instead, I felt burnt out, like I had run a very long race for no reason." Ms Pan, 31, who now goes by her ordained name, Thubten Damcho, was speaking over the telephone from Sravasti Abbey, a Tibetan Buddhist monastry in a forested area in Washington in the United States, where she now lives.
She learned how the Buddha was able to benefit others and :'That's what I want to do with my life! I wanted to follow in the Buddha's footsteps.
However, a two-week visit to Sravasti Abbey in 2010 to check out monastic life put her plans on hold. She was shocked to find that in between meditation sessions, the monastics' life was grounded in the menial work of unplugging toilets, moving logs and doing dishes as part of serving the community. She explains: "I realised that monastic life was not about having time for your own spiritual practice. Instead, you learn to put the community first, and do things you may not enjoy because they benefit others.
"This was a real challenge to my self-centred mind that's used to doing whatever I want, whenever I want to.
She quit her job two years ago and moved to the abbey in Washington, where, with her family's blessings, she got ordained. Her parents visited her once and she chats with them over Skype once every two weeks. Dad, 62, is a lecturer in mechanical engineering while mum, also 62, is a retired administrative executive. Her sister, 28, is a chemical engineer.
Among her main duties at the abbey are to edit and upload daily video teachings on YouTube. She also spends a few afternoons in the forest every week doing fire prevention work and cutting down dead trees and branches, an activity that took her "a while to get used to" but which she now enjoys. She feels her degree in English has not gone to waste. She says: "It helps me communicate my ideas clearly so that people understand and benefit from them."
She has no regrets about her chosen path: "People think monastic life is difficult because you have to give up your freedom and creature comforts. "On the contrary, it can be liberating because I do not have to figure out how to do my hair, what to wear, eat or buy."This frees up time for me to focus on transforming my mind and learning to be of benefit to others.""
A commendable journey for Ms Pan. Want to see that it ends well with her gaining happiness whatever happened subsequently!
Lessons for me are:
1. it can be easy but it will never be simple to DO IT!;
2. ultimately it is about YOU. The very PERSON himself or herself WHAT TYPE of life you want! Each life comes with the sequences you actions will dictate. There is NO free lunch!!;
3. human mind is so very difficult to comprehend its complexity and multiple dimensions. The thousands and one emotional ups and downs can be difficult to handle. YET, if one can steel its own mind and FOCUSED, the independent lifestyle can be attained together with gaining the biggest advantages for the less fortunate!
Monkhood has to be a very personal journey. NO ONE can force anyone to do this!!
1. "Shangri-La shooting: Police identify man shot dead and 2 arrested - AsiaOne Jun 01, 2015
SINGAPORE - Police have identified the man who was shot dead yesterday (May 31) near Shangri-La hotel as Mohamed Taufik Azhar.
The 34-year-old was the driver of the vehicle that crashed through police barriers around the hotel early Sunday morning where top-level security summit was taking place, the police said in a statement on Monday morning.
The two other passengers in the car were identified as Mohamed Ismail, 31, and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, 26.
At 4.36 am on May 31, the three men in a Singapore-registered red Subaru Impreza had failed to stop at a security checkpoint along Ardmore Park.
Police said that the checkpoint was part of the security measures put in place to ensure vehicles and persons entering or approaching Shangri-La hotel are checked for dangerous weapons and explosives that could be used to harm persons attending the major security event. The Shangri-La Dialogue was attended by defence ministers and security chiefs from around the world.
When the subjects were asked to open the car boot, the driver accelerated the vehicle and crashed through barricades that was positioned some 250m from the venue of the Summit. According to police, he was driving "towards the police officers (and) in the direction of Shangri-La Hotel".
"Despite repeated warnings to stop, the vehicle continued to drive dangerously across the security checkpoint and headed towards the secured venue," said the police in the statement."
Wow! A scene straight out from Fast & Furious 7 or any other Hollywood or Bollywood actions thriller. Just that this ONE is REAL and one man actually were killed by a shot fired by Police officer(s) whose life/lives are under threat!!
Lessons for me are:
a. glad that it WAS NOT related to any terrorism! What a BIG relief!;
b. a case of 'at the wrong place wrong time' as they are supposedly only trafficking illegal drugs and NOT an imminent threat to the high ranking defence officers and officials participating in the famed Shangri-La Dialogue on securities matters!;
c. a shot of confidence, pun intended, in the efficiency and effectiveness of our police force in using lethal force WHEN they have to!! Good one!!
2. "The call of monkhood: Princeton degree, dating brought no joy - The Straits Times May 31, 2015
Growing up, Ms Ruby Pan wanted to be a writer. In her teens, she fell in love with the theatre and dreamt of being a playwright.She won a Public Service Commission teaching scholarship to study English literature at Princeton University in the United States, where she bagged prizes for a play and a collection of short stories she wrote.
She even got to perform a monologue she wrote at a show produced by the famous Royal Shakespeare Company in England. She thought she had done everything that was artistically fulfilling, but when she graduated in 2006, she felt no joy.
She says: "Instead, I felt burnt out, like I had run a very long race for no reason." Ms Pan, 31, who now goes by her ordained name, Thubten Damcho, was speaking over the telephone from Sravasti Abbey, a Tibetan Buddhist monastry in a forested area in Washington in the United States, where she now lives.
She learned how the Buddha was able to benefit others and :'That's what I want to do with my life! I wanted to follow in the Buddha's footsteps.
However, a two-week visit to Sravasti Abbey in 2010 to check out monastic life put her plans on hold. She was shocked to find that in between meditation sessions, the monastics' life was grounded in the menial work of unplugging toilets, moving logs and doing dishes as part of serving the community. She explains: "I realised that monastic life was not about having time for your own spiritual practice. Instead, you learn to put the community first, and do things you may not enjoy because they benefit others.
"This was a real challenge to my self-centred mind that's used to doing whatever I want, whenever I want to.
She quit her job two years ago and moved to the abbey in Washington, where, with her family's blessings, she got ordained. Her parents visited her once and she chats with them over Skype once every two weeks. Dad, 62, is a lecturer in mechanical engineering while mum, also 62, is a retired administrative executive. Her sister, 28, is a chemical engineer.
Among her main duties at the abbey are to edit and upload daily video teachings on YouTube. She also spends a few afternoons in the forest every week doing fire prevention work and cutting down dead trees and branches, an activity that took her "a while to get used to" but which she now enjoys. She feels her degree in English has not gone to waste. She says: "It helps me communicate my ideas clearly so that people understand and benefit from them."
She has no regrets about her chosen path: "People think monastic life is difficult because you have to give up your freedom and creature comforts. "On the contrary, it can be liberating because I do not have to figure out how to do my hair, what to wear, eat or buy."This frees up time for me to focus on transforming my mind and learning to be of benefit to others.""
A commendable journey for Ms Pan. Want to see that it ends well with her gaining happiness whatever happened subsequently!
Lessons for me are:
1. it can be easy but it will never be simple to DO IT!;
2. ultimately it is about YOU. The very PERSON himself or herself WHAT TYPE of life you want! Each life comes with the sequences you actions will dictate. There is NO free lunch!!;
3. human mind is so very difficult to comprehend its complexity and multiple dimensions. The thousands and one emotional ups and downs can be difficult to handle. YET, if one can steel its own mind and FOCUSED, the independent lifestyle can be attained together with gaining the biggest advantages for the less fortunate!
Monkhood has to be a very personal journey. NO ONE can force anyone to do this!!
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