Pre-recorded

I discovered today that only NTU has the practice of pre-recording the examination instructions such as "You may start writing", or "Please stop writing, or "You may leave the hall now". Both SMU and NUS still use the live human voice.

Don't know why examiners can get so lazy. Even such things also want to pre-record. So you end up hearing the same guy, saying the same thing, at the same tone, with the same pitch, at the same speed. Makes everything so... sian, not that exams are not sian enough.

I was thinking of using the word 'boring', but there's something in the word 'sian' that 'boring' doesn't have. This sian-ness.

And then the examiners can still mess it up by playing the wrong voice recording. There was one exam when he played "You may leave the hall now" before the exam even began. Then he hurriedly rushed to the mic and say "Sorry sorry! You may not leave the hall yet!"

Haha, we laughed. I'm not sure if we laughed at the recording or we laughed at him.

Oh Bleach... Oh Ichigo...

I am getting a little sick of the disillusions that Bleach offers, especially through Ichigo.

No, you don't solve ALL your problems with Bankai. Real life doesn't work this way for goodness sake.

Oh, I got trapped. Bankai. Oh, I got chained up by some Kidou or weapon. Bankai. Oh, I got covered in sakura blade petals. Bankai. Oh, the enemy appeared (I'm not even saying they got into resurrection mode). Bankai. Oh, there's too many hollows. Bankai.

C'mon, Bankai is not the "solve-it-all" button, Ichigo. Get a little more creative than that, please. Your "Bankai + Getsuga Tenshou" move is getting too over-used already. I'm surprised that the enemies still fall for that kind of crap.

And whats with running around Hueco Mundo in a permanent Bankai mode? What are you trying to prove? And then you still get trashed.

I still remember the first time you opened your Bankai, Ichigo. I really loved it. It was AWESOME. But now... your Bankai is becoming like a Shikai, you know?

Its finally over... for now

Imagine the horror in my heart when I woke up this morning with the sun shining into my face. My paper was at 9am. I quickly fumbled around my pillows for my phone/alarm clock, praying real hard that I've not missed the divine hour.

"8.10AM"

Woh, I really thank God from my bed and jumped to my feet and quickly got ready for school. Somehow, I believe, I must have missed the ringing of the alarm or unconciously turned it off. Studying till 4am the night before knowing that you need to wake up at 6.30am is definitely not a very good idea.

Regardless, I got out of my house, went onto the main road and, lo and behold there's a cab coming right at me. God is really wonderful.

And its good that NTU is only 10 minutes away on the expressway, instead of the 1 hour journey on public transport. :D

Well, I am glad the 4 days exams marathon is finally over, leaving only 1 stray paper to finish next week.

I don't think I did really well though. Politics was pretty alright as chapters were spotted correctly, had to smoke through a question in communications, both literature papers feel a little risky, I think I bombed some questions.

Besides, I got back most of my term papers and ALL of them stared at me with a B+. A variation of problems such as form, presentation, source engagement and in-depth analysis plague all of them and I can only wonder where to start on correcting them.

Kind of a sucky feeling. I started off with such high hopes and I REALLY REALLY aimed and REALLY tried for that GPA of 4.0 and higher just so I can qualify for double majors. And now all these realities just seem to be setting down on me. Just what is wrong?

But then again, realities and its disappointments shouldn't stop us from setting our aims high. Man would never have landed on the moon if they believed that gravity was simply impossible to beat.

To end, I discovered today that the phrase "Please stop writing" has very weird effects on me. Its this feeling of happiness (that the paper is over and you can rest your hand) and this feeling of dread (that you might have missed something out or bombed a question).

Relive

Today I received a mailer from the green men. And it reads:

Are you still searching for a higher purpose? Do you miss being in a position where you can nurture and influence the lives of men under your charge? Do you want to leave the humdrum of society and be able to make a difference again?

Many of us truly appreciate the promise and romance of the Army only when it has become treasured memories. An Army career begets excitement and real challenges. It embodies pure leadership and management. Yet, it also provides opportunities - for further education, varying roles and appointments - to try on activities that you can only dream of doing, and more.

Relive your memorable experiences. Add on to it. Your gateway to a fulfilling and meaningful career has been opened to you once again.

I think some of them green people has been reading my blog.

But, no thanks.

And what romance is there in the Army... (sounds superbly, completely, badly, totally wrong)

And... 2 more papers.

Go. Go.

Star Gazing

Things you see when you go star-gazing at 5am:

1. Lots of aunties and uncles doing their jog/walk.

2. People going for work. (reminds me of army days)

3. Weird guy doing a "jog-on-the-spot" on a patch of grass.

4. Kay-Poh guy wondering why I was staring up the sky and stares with me as well.

5. 3 shooting stars

Didn't really get to see much of a shower, but 3 is pretty good considering the fact that I was at the park connector below my block. I'm a happy man. :D

I wasted all my 3 wishes though. Because all of them went "I wish I can see another shooting star."

Came back home to find a shocked dad who went to wake mum up and say that I just got back at 6.30am.

Mum's reaction: "HUH??"

Singapore Inter-University Mugging Conference starts on good note

SINGAPORE: Its time to get into some serious mugging at the Singapore Inter-University Mugging Conference as the event kicks off today, lasting till the end of the week.

The Singapore Inter-University Mugging Conference started today on a good note, with issues such as economics, communications, and Chess and Hearts strategies being discussed.

The event, hosted by Singapore Management University, seeks to discuss various topics and issues by bringing together representatives of the three main universities in Singapore - Singapore Management University (SMU), National University of Singapore (NUS), and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

In order to prepare for this high profile event, Group Study Rooms and benches were booked to allow the delegates some space and privacy to engage in the discussions. Security guards were also reminded to keep the delegates safe by patrolling the area and checking on the meeting venues after 10pm.

As a start to the conference, the delegates were treated to a spicy BBQ stingray dinner, a delicacy enjoyed by many people all over Singapore.

After the scrumptious dinner, the conference began with a discussion on the latest economic formulaes by the host delegates from SMU. The delegate from NTU then introduced certain Communication theories that could be relevant to the current social dynamics. This was followed by NUS's delegate's keynote address on the Korean gaming industry and how it affects communication and new media today. As a wrap up to today's conference, delegate from NUS introduced the latest strategies and theories to handle the problems faced at playing Chess and Hearts.

The conference will meet again later this week to discuss more issues as a preparation for the Final Exams happening in a week's time.

- Jellydrink

When Death comes stealing again

Its heartbreaking to hear news of death. Especially when its someone you know. Especially when its your friend. Especially when you are of the same age.

What is the worth of a life, however short it might be?

It's worth cannot be measured. And I'm not talking about the Christian values on "souls" and what not. Lets just leave that aside for now. There's more to Heaven and Hell when someone dies.

When someone dies, its not just "another dead guy". Its not just "Oh, he's in Heaven", or "He's in Hell" (although no one says such things). It's about the impact he made around him, the people he loved and loved him, the things he did and the things he could do.

Yes, he is not famous. He has not invented anything that is of great contribution to mankind. He is not your usual "great men".

But he's somebody's son. He's somebody's boyfriend. He's somebody's friend. He's somebody's buddy. He's somebody's somebody.

He shared happy times with us. He shared hard times with us. He shared jokes. He brought us laughter. He was as alive as anyone else could be.

And the most heartbreaking thing is the fact there's still so much left for him to do, but he's no longer here to do them.

Rest in peace, my friend. Its been great having you around.

I watched a movie today.

From Dead Poets Society, 1989 film written by Tom Schulman

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer: That you are here; that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?" - John Keating

"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life... to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Neil Perry. Original quote from Henry David Thoreau's Walden

"Sometimes the most beautiful poetry can be about simple things, like a cat or a flower or rain. Poetry can come from anything with the stuff of revelation in it. Just don't let your poems be ordinary." - John Keating

On bad handwriting, fan ti, jian ti, MSN and racial harmony

I don't remember when was the last time I wrote any chinese character. And now I am writing them on MSN, trying to help a malay friend with his chinese assignment. Yeah to bad handwriting, forgetting some words, remembering some, malay guy writing the complicated style (fan ti) and me writing the simple style (jian ti) and racial harmony.

I don't want to number my posts anymore.

As usual, when I finish one essay, I like to blog.

So, yes I finally completed my politics term paper. I can't say its a very fantastic paper but I guess I am quite satisfied with it. In fact, I do not know if the essay came to a conclusion on its own or if I forced it to conclude because it is due in... 8 hours time.

Politics is pretty difficult to write, especially when you are trying to write about ONE aspect of it. As you write on one aspect, another one comes into mind and it just links and links and links and the whole essay becomes crazily clustered and clumsy. Besides that, you are never sure if you hit the nail right where it should be and you tell yourself, "maybe I need to write about this, and that, and this, and..." and by the time you write all that, you've probably strayed off your main thesis. I needed to reorganise my essay after I wrote it because it was in such a complete mess. But still nonetheless, I really thank God I finished it.

An "uncle" incident happened again yesterday.

I got into the lift to go to school and there was this mother/grandma/guardian with a little toddler.

"UNCLE!"

I was taken aback, but managed a smile anyway.

*in chinese* "He's not uncle lah, is KOR KOR. Is KOR KOR, okay?" *laughs politely*

*I managed to produce a smile*

At least the mother/grandma/guardian engaged in some sort of damage control.

And yeah, my laptop is running Windows 7! :D :D No big deal actually. It looks very much like Vista and isn't anymore convenient or user-friendly. Things do run a little faster now, but my battery life bleeds like free.

Okay, I want to sleep already.

Oh ya, I feel good about the comms studies test this morning. :D Staying up till 4am to study turns out to be pretty good decision!

Post no. 281

I know I should be doing my papers, but I DON'T WANT TO DO THEM!! Give me a break, I want to blog once in awhile as well.

I was listening to my dad singing on karaoke and was wondering what those lyrics in hokkien mean. Surely they must mean something because it just so happens to be the no.1 song for all uncles to sing (ask your dad if you don't believe me). So, I took the trouble to go online, found the lyrics in chinese (I can still read chinese! A little) and translated it into english so I can understand.

Here's what I produced :D Well, song first.



Song: I ASK SKY

Wind very angry, Rain also very angry
Angry that I got no courage~~
Love also gone, ?????
Think you think you don't know got what meaning
The four worlds listen, ?? got your information
My feelings and you tie till die die!!

I ASK SKY! I ASK SKY! ??????
To love you again, is like torture myself
I ASK SKY! I ASK SKY! ??????
Feel like forgetting quickly, somehow I got drunk for ten years
The rain outside the window, can say is men's tears
Don't want to face the reality and got drunk in dreams for ten years

~DRAMATIC MUSIC~

Wind very angry, Rain also very angry
Angry that I got no courage~~
Love also gone, ?????
Think you think you don't know got what meaning
The four worlds listen, ?? got your information
My feelings and you tie till die die!!

I ASK SKY! I ASK SKY! ??????
To love you again, is like torture myself
I ASK SKY! I ASK SKY! ??????
Feel like forgetting quickly, somehow I got drunk for ten years
The rain outside the window, can say is men's tears
Don't want to face the reality and got drunk in dreams for ten years

I ASK SKY! I ASK SKY! ??????
To love you again, is like torture myself
I ASK SKY! I ASK SKY! ??????
Feel like forgetting quickly, somehow I got drunk for ten years
The rain outside the window, can say is men's tears
Don't want to face the reality and got drunk in dreams for ten years

*END*

Post No. 280

Hey er... just wanna let everybody know that I am still alive... ack, what I am saying.

Well, I just completed my essay and thought its a good time to blog a little... considering that I do not know when exactly I will be able to blog next.

I feel very encouraged and at the same time disappointed when I received the results of my first graded assignment. Its just a little writing (nothing near being an essay) for my writing class, and I got an A-. That's the encouraging part. The disappointing part is this: I missed out on the A because of.... GRAMMATICAL ERRORS! Vomit blood. How could I still make grammatical mistakes at this level... why I was using inconsistent tenses, I do not know.

Anyway, I was... I would say irritated, irked, annoyed by someone (that I do not know) while I was going home this evening. This is what happened:

I reached the station, stood at the exit and prepared to get out of the train. As the door opened, there was this woman who stood in my way (I mean, this is something I see almost all the time, considering we are in Singapore).

And guess what?

She said "EXCUSE ME", and in an irritated tone somemore.

GRRRRR! EXCUSE ME?? Well, EXCUSE ME, woman, you are the one blocking MY way. Which part of "Please allow passengers to ALIGHT BEFORE BOARDING" do you not understand? Do you not understand what those lines and arrows in yellow on the floor mean???

EXCUSE ME??

I'm afraid Singaporean's courtesy level has reached a new low...

.... I should get some sleep now.

Post No. 279

I love what I found today. You may find the full article at here.

If Prince Hamlet came back from the dead, would his indecision be meaningful? If King Lear recovered, would we learn from his folly? And if Aerith were disinterred mere hours after her death, would her sacrifice have any importance? Square should be honored that the death of a character brings about this outcry. It is touching testament to the games' power: the characters are truly loved. And grief is a natural reaction to the death of a loved one. As is denial. Now, Square fans must proceed to the next stage: acceptance.

Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sun on ripened grain. I am the soothing, gentle rain.
When you awake in morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
- Anonymous

Post No. 278 (I'll praise You in this storm)

Went to polyclinic this afternoon and was declared "all clear", just that the swelling will take a couple of weeks to go away.

The injury to my lips made it difficult for me to speak, with it being swollen and all. So I didn't really talk much since the accident yesterday.

I went to prayer community in the evening and found it really difficult to worship due to the swollen lips. And then, God spoke to my heart.

Many a times, we face certain setbacks and difficulties and find it hard to worship God. I'm not speaking physically (which is so in my case), but mentally and spiritually as well. I mean, its only logical isn't it? What praises can we bring when things are not going so well?

But hold on a minute here. We are missing the point. We are not praising God for the sake of praising God. Not because we are happy or because things are going real smoothly for us. We are praising because HE IS GOD.

By refusing to praise God in our difficulties, we are not seeing the fact that God is actually sovereign over our trials. This means that God is in control of our trials. Remember how everytime Satan wanted to test Job, he had to go through God first? And God also makes sure that no trials is greater than that which we can bear. Whenever there's a trial, it is surely one that we can overcome, and in overcoming, strengthen our faith.

1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out, so that you can stand up under it."

Then you may ask, "if God is in control of our trials, why does He make us go through these trials and make us suffer?"

Well, there's a reason for everything God does. Its not just to make you suffer for no reason. God is not some sadistic person who rejoices in seeing His creation suffer. God loves us and what He does is for a purpose. I mentioned it earlier, it is to strengthen and validate our faith.

1 Peter 1:7 "These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."

No matter how hard our trials are, no matter how difficult life has become for us, know that God is in control and He is with us always. We can always look to Him for the support and comfort we need, wherever, whenever.

Matthew 28:20B "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So during worship today, I told God, "Its really difficult, God. Really difficult. I'm in no mood and my lips aren't helping much."

And He spoke to my heart, "Its alright. Its alright. I'm right here. I'm right here with you."

I worshipped. I praised. I wept.

Post No. 277

This is officially the 3rd time I have escaped from the clutches of death. All incidents having to do with cars. (its probably not good for me to get a class 3 licence at this rate)

It happened just 4 hours ago.

Its sickening. Sickening sickening sickening. Sickening to think that just before it happened, everybody was so carefree and relaxed and cheerful, having just completed a morning of training. I wish I knew. I so very wish I knew.

The right turn, someone mentioned there was a vehicle coming from the left side, I turned to see it coming right at us, I prayed it would miss us somehow, everything seemed to slow down around me, I looked as the vehicle slowly came into contact to my left side, "BANG!", the car tilted to the right and slammed back to the ground again, I went into a daze (the type whereby everything goes white around you and you hear this ringing sound in your ear), snapped out of it, things started to happen at normal speed again, picked up my spectacles, saw my friend unconcious, slapped her, still unconcious, "oh crap crap crap crap", I got myself out of the car and realised I would have been dead if not for God's blessing.

I injured my lips and got some bruises, some went into a shock and sat in the car in a daze, and one friend got seriously injured (if you are reading this, please do pray for her). I called the ambulance and it felt forever before it came (it took only 10 minutes though).

I do not know what else to say. Everything felt so surreal. I am wishing it was a dream, a bad bad dream. I am wishing that I would wake up and realise its Monday 6am, and I would start to prepare myself to go training and I would remind the driver to take another route for lunch after training.

This is when one really wished he has a time travelling machine.

I know, I have to snap out of it. But it completely spoiled my mood for the day, not to mention the fact that I can't bring myself to start on my essays in this situation.

I have decided to bring my laptop to the HP service centre later. The 4 phone calls I had with 4 different indians from the HP help line did not help abit.

Post No. 276

"I have to get some sleep, I have to blog." I told myself to achieve these 2 today when I woke up for church this morning. And I did both.

Its the half way mark of the semester and I am really feeling the brunt from university. Mid-terms are over and things are only getting tougher.

What started off as a really relaxing term became increasingly difficult as weeks keep passing, readings start piling and assignments start streaming in. I'm still getting used to the system here, even though I am glad to say I no longer get lost in school anymore.

It's a system that places almost all responsibility of learning on the individual. And that I really need getting used to. YOU are the one who has to print your lecture notes and take down what the lecturer said. YOU are the one who have to kick off the discussion during tutorials, and if you don't, nothing is going to happen. YOU are the one who have to finish all your readings before class because the lecturer/tutor is not going to bother summarising the reading for you. YOU are the one who have to prepare yourself for your exams because there is not going to be tests or quizes or homework or anything of that sort, you go straight into your mid-term/term paper/assignments/exam and these are going to directly affect your grade (you don't have the time for ineffectual homework anyway).

But enough of school, now that recess week is here. I really appreciate it, this recess. There's reason why its not called a holiday (although technically it is). It's because, I'm sure every undergraduate knows, its a week whereby you (and you know you have to) catch up with all your readings and complete your assignments before the term resumes. And if you don't, you are going to have alot on your hands during the second half.

And that's what I am going to do. I am going to make sure I finish writing my lit essays, do up the draft for my politics term paper, do that twitter assignment and complete the readings for the start of school. While doing these, canoe training would also become more intensive. However, I am still not giving up hope that I will get to watch a movie (hopefully Time Traveller's Wife) or go out for a nice meal with friends. I am hopeful, I have to be.

BIG Create is over and I am glad I took a little breather from church activities in the light of heavy workload and the mid term. Despite the lack of much victory for my region's side, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. However, it won't be long before I get myself involved again.

My region is not doing well. I have to admit it. Things are not going effectively and I am not helping by folding my arms while standing on the sidelines. I had my reservations at first. I had issues with certain leaders whose lack of enthusiasm really affected me. Its disappointing sometimes, to see your region leaders treat their ministry so lightly and placing their priorities in the wrong places. I am not referring to everybody of course, just a few. Yes, its a personal issue and I have to get over it. And I promise I will.

Super Ocean Leagues closed just yesterday and I am glad my team finally won something. It was certainly a tight match at the volleyball men's finals against region D what with the score being at 25 - 20s for all 4 sets. Its been some time since I've been going for one of those 'voucher buffets' and I'm happy I'll be going for one.

I watched the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix 2009 on TV only just now and it brought back many memories from last year's race when I was there. I still remember waking up early to prepare ourselves and then going to the site, do our rehearsals and do our 'pseudo-patrols' just so we can get the chance to walk around and even watch the race from the grand stands. It was fun shopping even at those outrageously expensive stores that sell F1 t-shirts and souveniors, of which I spent at least $100 on. It was simply amazing to enjoy the sights and sounds of the carnival like a tourist even though we were there to do a job.

My dreams. I have been dreaming alot these days. I wish I could fulfil those dreams and I want to. But with the way things are right now, how am I going to ever start on them? I wish I had an answer. There are just simply so many uncertainties that every possible step is filled with doubts and questions. Actually, there is only one question (it goes like "To be or not to be", bah), and this question I dare not ask. I dare not risk destroying something wonderful for something that might be more beautiful. Oh, the dilemma!

Oh how I wish there was some sort of divine revelation for me. Like a booming voice from heaven that says "go for it!". Yet, I know its not going to be like that.

I contradict myself, I know I do.

Post No. 275

You reach the dead end, the cliff's edge. You spent everything in you. You find that you have run out of options. No where else to go, the situation seem hopeless. And then you hold on to that thin thread of faith, and step over the cliff's edge, the void, the unknown, the intangible. That's when you realise you have stepped right into a miracle.

Post No. 274

I went to the Army Open House 2009 and I truly enjoyed myself.

Tried to ask for at least 1 more person to come with me as I won myself a pair of tickets to ride the chinook but to no avail. Everybody was either too busy, simply not interested or just couldn't be bothered. Some even doubted that the chinook ride would be in the air, that it was just a stationary tour in the chinook on land. -_-"

Regardless, I went by myself anyway. Met up with some old friends from the unit and took some time to tour around as well. There was really ALOT to see and ALOT to do. The whole open house was so big that I couldn't visit all the areas. But I enjoyed myself nonetheless.

Chinook ride was superb. It was a first for me and I really loved it. As we approach the chinook, you can really feel the downwash (wind coming down from the helicopter's blades) and the heat from the exhaust. And then when it takes off, well, it was exhilarating. You can feel the chinook's every turn and rise and fall. Simply amazing. Putting it in words is simply doing the experience injustice, and I shall not try any further.

After the ride, I went on to visit the other exhibits. Met up with more old friends from the unit and messed around here and there. I asked alot ALOT of questions, like I'm some sort of tourist. I tried everything I could try and took pictures of almost everything I saw. I even tried the combat rations! Yes, I know its horrible. But the open house played a cheat. They went to heat up the rations and it turned out pretty nice. NOTE: WE DO NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO HEAT RATIONS WHEN IN JUNGLE. DO NOT BE TRICKED!

And then as I was touring some exhibits concerning BMT and asking some questions, the corporal asked me

"When are you going to enlist in the army?"

*Shocked* "Er? Er... soon.. soon...."

This became the joke of the day. A NSF Corporal asked a NSman 2nd Sergeant when he is going to enlist. But I shall not blame him, I did not wear my uniform, and most importantly, I look YOUNG! *maniacal laughter*

Oh, but I couldn't find the bomb disposal game! Doesn't matter.

Happy day :D :D

Post No. 273

God is humorous. I asked for something BIG to happen and I got recalled back to the army for a briefing.

Speaking of army, I am planning on going to the Army Open House 2009!!

Well, yes, I do miss the army a little, despite of all my complaints and whines about it. I miss the action, I miss the fact that I am doing stuff that not many people get to do. I miss all the gadgets and state-of-the-art technology. I miss the excitement one gets when something really HAPPEN.

Its quite exciting, really. It just becomes not so exciting when you have to go for a briefing on a school day, missing a lecture, 4 days before your examinations.

I just read Bryan's blog and realised he actually played a bomb disposal game in the Army Open House. I also want to play the bomb disposal game! I want to win a goodie bag too. :D :D

Post No. 272

2 different videos, from 2 different parts of the world, talking about the same issue.

Sometimes, in our fast paced and busy life, we might have forgotten how much our parents have done for us. Being caught up in our own successes, we feel that our parents just cannot keep up and we go on ahead, leaving them behind. But we never realise, our parents do not have to keep up. It is us who should keep them in mind and bring them along.

They have brought us up from when we were born, dependent and crawling, to become what we are today, independent and successful. Its not just a matter of days, or even months. Not even years. Its a matter of decades after decades before we can stand for ourselves. And yet, all these times, though we may have caused them to suffer or be in distress, they have not asked for anything in return. Isn't it only the right thing to do, to appreciate, if not repay this love and hard work put into us?

The love that our parents showed and still showing us is second only to God's.