Today i will talk about children. Not dealing with children, HAVING them. Why? I'll explain later but time has allowed me to think and realise having a child is maybe, the greatest responsibility i can ever dream of.

Therefore, before any plans on having children i would go get a pet dog. Is a dog a substitute for a child? Perhaps. Will it teach me a thing or two about commitment? More than i can imagine. Few things are as humbling as picking up dog poo in public, in front of laughing kids. Oh, how i would then fantasise about feeding it to them. If anything, a dog will prepare me for a real child - one i won't absent mindedly leave behind in Cold Storage.

Cynics say pet owners are deranged, because they treat their pets like children. That's a gross misunderstanding, because i treat them better than children. And why shouldn't i? Unlike ungrateful teenagers, they won't find me embarassing, they don't live online, and they don't need to be packed off to study overseas, where they will inevitable squander away my savings on alcohol. Offsprings: 0, Pets: 1.

Why else is a doggie more fulfiling? Let me see. No desperate rush for enrolment into elitist schools, no dreadful father-son expectations, and no awkward conversations about teen pregnancies. Mostly because i can get it neutered anytime i want. But i digress. A pet satisfies and enriches life in curious ways. For once, i care about something other than breakfast.

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It has been settled. Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore. Malaysia must be devastated. First they lost the Pulau Tekong reclamation case and now we get the main island while they get Middle Rocks. ROCKS, i repeat. I can understand if the other side prefers to see it as a win-win situation but what irritates me is the comments made by their politicians. One said this will, '...prevent Singapore from acting unilaterally around those waters.'. Another said 'The Republic has lost this exclusivity.' (responding to fishermen's queries over their fishing rights.) Not that i'm arrogant because Singapore got Pedra Branca but can't they understand it is such comments that lead to animosity in the first place? I won't name who said them but why can't they just let this matter slowly fade into obscurity? Really now, maybe they need to get a pet cat or something.

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This is getting too long. I will talk more next week, including why i wanted to talk about kids. And just a friendly reminder, a tag board exists.