Welcome to HHM Land!

I was reading a news article this morning about the impending legislation to be passed in Canada to eradicate the homeless on the streets. This new piece of legislation will help to clean up Vancouver and the surrounding areas of Whistler for the Winter Olympics in 2010.

Interestingly, the constitutional law in Canada do not differ that much from the constitutional law in Singapore, yet this same set of law yield different rights for the countries' citizens. In Canada, Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." This is similar to Section 9(1) of the Singapore Constitution which states that "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law."

Section 9 of the Canadian Charter also provides that "Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned." The content of the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned is enacted in Section 9(2), 9(3) and 9(4) of the Singapore Constitution. The articles in Section 9 provides that a citizen cannot be "unlawfully detained" and has a right to be informed of grounds of his arrest.

Section 15 of the Canadian Charter guarantees the equal protection of the law for citizens and is often termed the non-discrimination clause. A similar provision is found in Article 12 of the Singapore Constitution.

Even though the Canadian Charter and the Singapore Constitution contains similar clauses and rights to its citizens, it appears that the people of Canada enjoy far wider rights than the Singapore citizens. In Canada, a legislation to eradicate the homeless from the streets may not
withstand the test of constitutional rights governing fundamental liberties. This is primarily due to the wider construction of Section 1 in the Canadian Charter which "guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in [the Charter] subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". The phrase "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society" suggests that the Canadian constitutional rights may be moulded and changed according to the contemporary culture and norms of society. This phrase is not included in the Singapore Constitution. Thus, the interpretation of fundamental rights in Singapore is arguably narrower.

In reality, rights for the homeless people in Singapore have never been contested for. Law enforcement agencies in Singapore make quiet sweeps to get the homeless off the streets. The general public in Singapore have no notice of these operations and live their lives oblivious to the homeless.

Despite the broader content of the Canadian right enshrined in Section 1, there is a three staged test that has to be passed before a legislation can be constitutionally enacted. Firstly, the purpose of the legislation must be sufficiently important to society. Secondly, the law must adhere to the proportionality requirement. Thirdly, the law shall not minimally impair the rights guaranteed under the Charter. All in all, these requirements of the law are similar to the common law principles of justice which the Singapore Constitution is subject to. It will take human rights movements to test if the constitutional rights of Singapore citizens are really far narrower than that of the Canadians.

The Sonnet
Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer (DGLD)

Romantic, hopeful, and composed. You are the Sonnet. Get it? Composed?
Sonnets want Love and have high ideals about it. They’re conscientious people, caring & careful. You yourself have deep convictions, and you devote a lot of thought to romance and what it should be. This will frighten away most potential mates, but that’s okay, because you’re very choosy with your affections anyway. You’d absolutely refuse to date someone dumber than you, for instance.

Lovers who share your idealized perspective, or who are at least willing to totally throw themselves into a relationship, will be very, very happy with you. And you with them. You’re already selfless and compassionate, and with the right partner, there’s no doubt you can be sensual, even adventurously so.

You probably have lots of female friends, and they have a special soft spot for you. Babies do, too, at the tippy-top of their baby skulls.

Yesterday was Shu Hua's birthday so we went to the White Spot restaurant beside business school for dinner. The food was ok only. Being very Singaporean, I couldn't help remarking that the standard of pasta in Singapore is way higher. Very tactless, I know.

After that, we went to the Pit which is a pub in the Student Union Building (SUB). Its opened every night and lots of students go there for drinks and crazy partying. We were treated to beer which tasted ok. I only had 1/3 glass because I wanted to work on my assignment due on Thurs afterwards. It was a Monday night so the Pit was quite empty.

I finished my assignment this morning and realized that my head wasn't thinking straight last night. Its not because of the beer (yes, only 1/3 of a glass), it was because it was late and as you all know, i need lots of sleep.

I wanted to go for the Deep Water Aquasize class at 10.30am this morning. Guess what? One of the pipes in the indoor pool burst and they had to close down the indoor pool. All activities in the indoor pool have been suspended till Thurs, so I went to swim in the outdoor pool which was a nice change for once. Being out in the sun and seeing the blue water under the rays of the sun, I was reminded of swimming in my pool at home, floating on my back. ultimate enjoyment!

This entry requires everyone who's reading to reply on the tag board!

Hello!! How's everyone doing? I don't know who is reading, so please say hi on the tag board n let me know how u are! :)

I just finished week 2 of school. WOOF time is passing pretty fast. i have a few assignments every week. I signed up for the presentations n assignments which are due the first few weeks of school so that I won't have to struggle when i'm having mid term exams or towards the end of the term. And also I want to clear them so i can have time to play. Even then, I have at least one or two assignments to submit every week. Hence, I have been studying. ARGH i know im supposed to be slacking n relaxing, but its quite hard with all the assignments and homework to hand up.

A friend commented that it seems like I'm here to learn to cook rather than study. haha i know i've been cooking every meal. it saves a lot of money for me. i spend less than $20 a week on grocery which usually lasts me more than a week. i eat out on the weekends other than breakfast.

Other than studying n cooking, I've been trying to keep fit. My roommate Vivian (she's CBC = canadian born chinese) and I just went swimming together. She's really young. She's 17 or 18, and i'm so envious. But we can connect really well, so she must think that i'm 17 too. :P

I want to go running or jogging but the cold air is a huge barrier. I don't think i'll be able to run in the cold air. But there's always the gym downstairs (which only has 1 old threadmill) and the gym at the Aquatic centre. There is also a gym opposite where i stay but i have to pay membership fee of $25 for a term.

I'm thinking of going for Aquacize sessions at the Aquatic centre 2 times a week. The centre is 3 minutes walk away.They have it everyday and it costs $4/ session for UBC students. Not very expensive, and a good way for me not to be lazy. The huge plus is that it will probably help me achieve my goal (talk to me if u want to know more). haha

Classes have been fine. I'm taking this Logistics & Operations Management class. It's kind of like "getting to know my bf's future job" because that's the field Cal will be going into.

I had a presentation today and something happened to my co-presenter, so i presented alone. i felt super encouraged at the end cuz people whom i didnt know told me i did a good job :) this is one of the cultural differences that i've experienced. the canadians are not "face"-conscious. they don't feel awkward when they praise someone. something i can learn!

i also watch tv during breakfast, lunch n dinner. They have "without a trace" here! its what i watch a lot on hallmark about missing people cases, a bit like csi. the best thing, they have the show everyday!

My lower right wisdom tooth is growing and giving me hell. It started on Tues night when it started to hurt a little. On Wed, it became more swollen. This morning, it tortured me like crazy.

My mum is into msn-ing me and this is a snippet of our conversation.


meekeng says (11:53 AM):
When you got free time then?your wisdom tooth drop?

HHM~ says (11:54 AM):
no my wisdom tooth is growing
i have to go pluck it out

meekeng says (11:56 AM):
Dad said too cold , it dropped by itself?

HHM~ says (11:57 AM):
no its GROWING
haven dropped yet

HEllo!!

I don't know who is reading this but i decided to make an entry about something that popped into my head just now.

This Canadian exchange somewhat fulfils a hidden wish I've had since I was a child. I used to read lots of Enid Blyton books about American kids, American schools, the Thanksgiving, the Halloween. I also read a series called the Chalet School about a boarding school for girls on the Alps. The girls would have camp fires, toast marshmallows and sing camp songs with a fire in between them. The American and English movies had shown me a lifestyle different from my Singaporean lifestyle of hard core mugging.

Part of me grew up wishing that I could live like the children in the story books. The adventures they have, the different kind of lifestyle that they live. It dawned on me today that hey, I'm living it right now! I'm not exactly in a Boarding School, but I'm living in residences and that makes it kind of feel like Boarding School.

Next weekend, I will be heading up to Camp Capilano which is near Capilano River in North Vancouver, somewhere in between the mountains. I'm going there with the campus ministry here. There will be a camp fire and it's going to be like the Chalet School! I'm so excited!

Hello from Vancouver!

After a long hiatus, ok i shall blog. Here are some things i will spill about Vancouver and my one week here thus far.

1) Vancouver is an immigrant city. Its like mini-Asia. Its full of Asians, especially Chinese. I've met Japanese, Thai, Korean, etc. More than 50% of UBC students are Asians. I go to class and i feel like nobody knows that i'm an exchange student cuz i just blend in!

2) I almost died going up Grouse mountain yesterday. It was a 3 hours climb and the steps were super huge. Sometimes there were just rocks and i had to find my own footing up. It was so tiring on my calves that i had to rest every 5 mins. How embarrassing!!

3) Food is very expensive here, so i have to cook everyday. The cheapest thing i've found so far is banana. And also the dollar max store!! yes buddy, i found it :)

4) temperature and weather here varies. on a warm day, its around 20 deg. on a cold day, it can be 14 deg.