It might be about time I revisited this old entry. For a little recap, Israeli used massive air strikes in response to the breakdown of a ceasefire and incoming Palestianian rocket fire, killing a large number of the Hamas leadership in addition to large swathes of civilians.

The verdict is out on that one: the UN human rights council has endorsed a report accusing Israel and Hamas of war crimes in that same conflict. But that goes without saying, shouldn't it; firing on civilians (either way) is a surefire way to give you PR and HR problems.

But having spent a good 10 months now with the military, the Israeli response does seem like a more sensible option. While it might not solve any problems, it is important to send the message that nobody can hit at us and get away with it. Even though it might be an unnecessary waste of life, as a foreign policy it does drive home the point that striking at our own citizens will not be tolerated. That's the reason why these strikes are popular with Israelis: they feel the need to be protected, even if only by crushing retaliatory firepower instead of any kind of real missile shield, rather than being left by the government to suffer daily barrages of rockets from incontinent militants across the border. It also means that Hamas will eventually have to deal with discontent from Palestinian citizens who are tired of being bombed because of things their local heroes pulled off.

MID CHOI BENG YEN BENJAMIN c/o RSS ENDEAVOUR
MSTD 2/09 Midshipman Wing
OCS AFPN 1455 500
Upper Jurong Road #01-05
Singapore 638364

Hopefully this works. Anyway do drop me SMS now and then, I might be able to read them when I get to port. Emails, though, I am quite unlikely to be able to read until I get back.

I ran 10km in Macritchie today. It's the first time I have done so since last year, and I have hardly run anything above 5km since before the half marathon last year, so I'm surprised that I was still able to enjoy it without being breathless. My ankles ache, I need to get more used to trail running again. Running in combat boots might be a temporary solution to ease my ankles but it will look stupid and probably hurt my knees more in the medium-long term.

Someday I hope to do 2 rounds in Macritchie (around 21km, a half-marathon's worth on the trail). The Macritchie Double sounds like a catchy name for such a feat, it makes it sound like a burger. McSpicy Double, McRitchie Double. Mmmm, tasty.

I'm quite happy with my results. Thanks everyone who helped me with my econs, all the way up to the last hour on the day itself!

Finally I have decided to lock down everything (well, almost) in this journal to friends-only, in view of me joining the army soon, prospective employers googling to find my stuff, the rise of global terrorism and other unwelcome visitors. If you're Shuyuan or somebody I know without an LJ account, please create one. Comment here if you want me to add you as a friend on LJ!

Sometimes, when I have a quiet moment alone in the bus stop or on the bus, I think about how small our little island is. How despite the technology that lets us read about and even see in full colour glory all the news out there, we absorb and digest information in compact soundbites or textbites and file it away neatly in some corner of our brain. And how we then go on living our tidy little lives on this tidy little island.

So in the past few days while I've eaten and slept and gone to church and shopping and Siheng's house, perhaps 300 people died in the Gaza Strip. All this I know because of a neat little news article that appears printed in a paper, furnished with clipped photographs and headlines.

And so, from my comfortable armchair, I begin to make and offer judgements. Personally, really, I think it's a mess, and that Israel really shouldn't be making these massive airstrikes, even if most of the casualties are indeed hardened Hamas militants. Israel's goal is, apparently at least, to stop the rocket attacks on their citizens. This may indeed be achieved temporarily, but it won't deter fanatical Palestinian militants hungry for martyrdom forever. They'll call a truce, mourn and bury their dead, build more rockets, and start all over again. Killing a bunch of militants will just attract more to join their cause, and the belligerents' children and grandchildren will probably be blasting away at each other forever. Maybe. Likewise, for most of us, Hamas' unwillingness to unilaterally stop firing at Israeli towns seems irrational, given the enormous and disproportionate costs it inflicts on their people.

But all this speculative talk has probably been offered millions of times over by various armchair critics around the world, so this is nothing new. Sometimes I try to imagine it from the perspective of those involved instead. From the POV of a frustrated Israeli general who's tried negotiation and everything else but failed because of Hamas' stubborn refusal to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. From the POV of a politician of a country who has been fighting for her life since her inception, who cannot afford to let his nation be seen as weak or a pushover by hostile militants and external powers. From the POV of a Palestinian who has lost his family in a shower of bombs, and sees Israel as a bully who must not be submitted to.

And the answer is really that there are no answers, not that we can offer anyway. None of us are qualified, or even have enough information about the situation (as in ground experience, not neat textual summaries) to make any kind of judgement or condemnation on either side. And if we did have the first-hand experience, if we lived and breathed the life that goes on halfway around the globe, if we stepped out of our naivete, I'm not sure it would be for the better. It's a strange and troubling world we live in.

Perhaps, if our main goal in life is to be happy (which is frankly a perfectly reasonable goal), it's best after all to live and die in our own sheltered little bubble.

For a completely unplanned week it's turned out amazingly fun.

From Monday to Tuesday we watched Ip Man (an epic Chinese nationalist film, but recommended nonetheless), played Left 4 Dead in LAN shops, pool, foolsball, visited the SALT centre gym, met Mak for dinner.

Yesterday was Christmas eve. The rain in the morning foiled my plan to go and play tennis, so instead I met Shuyuan in Bishan library in the early afternoon (despite the fact that academic stuff is far off from my mind and will be for a while, I don't intend to let my mind rot in NS). Then I went, totally at random (actually it was Yingjie's idea), to catch Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (which I realised was NC-16 upon walking in, but it's actually not explicit at all). Considering that I had no idea what it was about, it turned out to be quite a good film. Although the entire film takes place over a single night, it was very well-paced and the subplots woven neatly. It's hard to describe really, you have to watch it to appreciate it. And then, following a brief but tasty dinner, we went for the Christmas Eve service. Followed it up this morning with the Christmas Day service.

It seems to be the first time I've never had to worry about presents, or cards, or feasts, or anything for that matter. Perhaps being just back from overseas means I haven't experienced the build-up in anticipation or the busyness that precedes a typical Christmas.

It's been simple, I guess, and definitely nothing fancy, but one of the best Christmas seasons I've had. One where I left my ambitions and worries at the doorstep (fortunately I'm not a planner of any event that falls in this period, or I might not be so stress-free). Instead, I feel a marvelous calm.

I wish a merry Christmas to you, and thanks to those who sent me cards.

P.S. Yingjie, your battlefield reports are overdue. Please report to the war council immediately.

I'm back from Australia (got back Friday night actually), and I had 8 wombats in my room yesterday (took a photo, but my SDcard reader's not functioning properly right now) but I gave one to Shuyuan already so there are only 7 left. I will begin distributing them soon.

Today I heard of a plot by lanyingjie and thallium_tl to play matchmaker and get me attached. But good luck with that because I have all of 3 weeks before I enter NS, which is 2 years long. After that is 4 years of uni, which may be overseas.

I'm in Wombatland now, will be returning on Friday night. We started in Perth and are driving south to explore the southwestern regions of Australia. I took lots of interesting photos and even found time to work on my university application essays in between. We aren't doing much in the way of adventure activities/tours, it's more of driving around to see natural formations and scenic spots and additional kayaking and running. I bought 4 wombat plushies already. Gosh, I need to control my spending.

Before flying to Australia I was with the MINDEF internship programme (technically it's more a camp than an internship, really) for 3 days. There was lots of good food (almost every meal a catered buffet) and the bus drove us right up to everything so we didn't get to walk much. Ironically enough the camp seems to be a highway to becoming fat. Some poor souls among us had to leave the camp early because they were enlisting on 11th/12th December, so they went straight from being guests to lowest-life-forms on Pulau Tekong. Overall it was quite worthwhile, and the food was so good that it deserves a second mention. Mmm.