About Me (March 2003)

I am single, and terminally unemployable, which is why I run my own businesses. I read law and jurisprudence at UNSW in Sydney but never wanted to be a legal practitioner save for one brief spell at a community legal centre there and its accompanying lofty aspirations of being a humanitarian law specialist at the War Crimes Tribunal (for the record, I applied but was rejected on grounds that my academic record was not exactly what they were looking for).

I can't dance to save my life and one summer of salsa lessons serve only to provide my friends with the occasional freak show.

A substantial amount of my free time is spent reading obscure literature to do with the history of anywhere, anyone and anything. The last book I read is titled 'Longitude: The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time'. I don't expect anyone else to find that in the least interesting.

Since coming back to Singapore, I haven't had time to pursue my other obsession, which is Rugby Union, which I played weekly in Sydney for a club that hasn't won a match in two seasons, but which has given me a perverse satisfaction of sorts. I still follow the game, although I now can't list nursing my weekend injuries as a pastime. The other things sportswise would be kayaking, which I used to do more frequently, but the thought of going all the way to Pasir Ris to paddle across the channel to Ubin is a deterrent; and cricket, which is limited to watching highlights on television because I can't get enough interested people off soccer.

I enjoy movies. Anything with a quirk or twenty is good. And I collect DVDs of anything I consider quirky. Last couple of titles include 'the Man who wasn't there' and 'Tears of the black tiger: a classic Thai western'. As for actually going out to catch a film, I do so on occasion, and most of the time on Saturdays at midnight. I don't know why. Just turns out like that.

I like my coffee with a dollop of milk. Double macchiato. And I like cafes that serve them well, and there are only a handful. I must tell you of this new coffee cart that operates at the foyer of my office building. Best drop I've had since Sydney.

I enjoy food, and I would still enjoy wine were it more affordable. I'd still enjoy cooking as well if I had my own kitchen. I live at home with my parents, my sister, my brother, my brother-in-law, my nephew, his rabbit, my cat and her three new kittens.

I spend an inordinate number of hours on the computer and online as well. I do most of my work on the computer, and while I hate the word, I sometimes telecommute, which just means I am too lazy to go to work.

I get spectacularly bored at times, and not much holds my attention for long, so my friends tell me. I tend to chance my arm at things.

Dreams and aspirations, I still have many, even if some of them have been tempered by ill-fortune, bad timing and frequent lapses of sanity. I won't go into detail as yet, because to me they sound like one tired cliche after another.