Month: October 2002

*gasp* I can’t remember what happened between 2 am and 3 am…

by

Daylight savings has just started in Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and
Tasmania. Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia do not participate in daylight
savings. I thought it will start on the 28th this year, but it turned out to be the 27th. Bummer, I
just lost an hour. I suspected it when my computer clock showed 5:40 am but it was still dark
outside. Dawn usually comes at 5 am in spring. Oh well, the start of daylight savings mean we turn
our clocks forward 1 hour at 2 am to make it read 3 am. I always forget daylight savings time
though. I remember going to class one hour early when I was in Christchurch, NZ. I woke up and got
ready for school and wondered why my sister and my other housemates were still in bed. Only
realized what had happened when I went to my high school and found it all deserted and shit. It
happened to me the first time I came to Melbourne too…ended up going to class one hour late.
Heh.

Anyway, I saw this interesting thing happen in the Ampol gas station at the corner of Blackburn
Road and Ferntree Gully Road today. I was going to get some Chinese food from Yun Yun when I saw
three fire trucks pulled up at the gas station opposite with their lights flashing. At first I
thought it was a strike or something coz the trucks all had “Melbourne Fire Brigade Cost Cutting
Will Cost Lives” stickers all over the trucks. I went there to get some Diet Coke and saw four
firemen crowded around this big ass gas tank. The gas station attendant was very agitated and was
walking here and there, making phone calls and pulling up the chain to stop cars from driving in.
Turns out the the gas tank was leaking. I wish I had brought my camera along. It would be quite a
sight to see a gas station with the gas prices removed and the entrance and exits all chain up,
three fire trucks with the lights flashing and firemen crowded around the gas tank. I even thought
up a caption for it – “I don’t know what’s going on here…but I don’t want to be a part of it”.
Heh.

Link of the day: Boy band, but great music
[quantumlynx.com]

You’ve got to check this out. I don’t usually listen to music like this, but this one is pretty
good. Insightful lyrics too, especially the middle part.

Beer bong, beer bong…don’t drink too slow!

by

The semester has ended. I’ve handed in my last assignment today and I have one
more week till my first exam on the 1/11. In light of that, I’ve decided to celebrate (legally) by
having a couple of beers. I leave the illegal stuff for Mr. Foaf, my uhm…friend. No, I wasn’t
going to say alter ego, dammit. I’m not that far gone. =D Anyway, as I was walking to uni today, I
saw a lot of men in suits with ear pieces at the research department car park. Found out later from
the radio in the shuttle bus that Premier Steve Bracks was present at the Ceremony of Reflection
and Respect of the Monash shooting victims. I also heard that the shooting victims have been
awarded honors degree posthumously. A nice touch, that.

Anyway, I’ve finally been reviewed at The Weblog Review. Wendy [twodolla.org], the reviewer, gave me a 2.5/5.0. It’s
not a high score, but she’s honest in her review and she said some positive things too, so I
can’t help but feel pleased. Here’s the review in it’s entirety:

Huai’s a student in Melbourne who started up his weblog
in April of 2002. Since then, sixthseal.com has been very consistently updated with the happenings
of Huai.

The site’s design is very basic. There’s a light blue table on the left with the naviagation
portion of the menu, which is very simple to use. And to the right is the weblog. The main page
features a photo of the day (POTD) at the top of the page. It’s not exactly a photo of the day,
however, but more like a photo of the week. That’s not really a major concern of mine, but I could
certainly see how readers could get disappointed with the photo not being updated daily like one
would assume.

The majority of the entries are simple to read updates of what’s going on in Huai’s life – dorm
life, his social life, how his classes are going, etc. It’s fun to read through the progress of the
school year and the entertaining mishaps that get written about.

A nice touch to this weblog was the introduction of posting pictures from time to time. While the
POTD might not be updated on a regular basis, Huai does a good job of peppering in pictures that
he’s taken with his digital camera throughout a good portion of his entries. Doing that breaks up
the constant text and gives the readers something more than just words.

Is this a site I’d visit again? Personally, no. Is it one I’d suggest to those in college perhaps
experiencing the same thing that Huai is going through? Certainly. And I’d even go as far as saying
you should at least check it out once – perhaps you’ll find the connection that makes you want to
keep coming back.

This site was reviewed on 2002-10-20 by Wendy.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
Wendy felt that sixthseal.com deserved a rating of 2.5.

Or you can check it out here [theweblogreview.com]. Oh, and
my name is Huai Bin. You don’t truncate Chinese names like that. 🙂

Premium beer review
Beer #1 Witbier

frothy…had to catch the froth before it overflows from the neck of the
bottle
tastes urm, tasteless
very light beer taste
tastes like water actually
the head stays throughout the drinking session in the bottle
doesn’t dissipate
at 5.0 , gives a mild kick when downed on a semi full stomach
marketed as a premium (traditional belgian style – oh la di dah) beer
cost me A$11.99 for a 6 pack
the first bottle was agitated a little though
second bottle just had a nice gas escaping slowly and then a nice heady froth on top

Beer #2 Sapporo (Japanese Import)

frothed up something wicked when i opened it. no, i did not agitate it. it’s an easy to drink
and rather tasteless beer. i had it pretty chilled though. maybe a slight bitter aftertaste and
thats it. but don’t take my word for it, my tastebuds are screwed. the beer is easy to hold too.
slightly contoured (or is that tapered?) at the bottom, which fits the hand nicely. the shiny
aluminum conducts the cold nicely too. and there’s just something good about holding a large can of
beer. it’s twice the size of normal beer cans, and it holds 650 ml of 5% alcohol beer. i forgot
what i paid for it, but it isn’t cheap. its somewhere around A$7. take note that beer here is cheap
compared to Malaysia.

Beer #3 Redback

curses. i’ve already typed a review but accidentaly clicked no when it asked me whether i wanted
to save. anyway, i’m try to recall the best i can from my (foggy) memory. this local premium beer
(oh, la di dah) is made from malted wheat and brewed in matilda bay,western australia. it weighs in
at a dismal 4.7 % alcohol by volume. the 6-pakcs looks rather pretentious, with wood colored
packaging and stickers (with gothic writing, no less) over all the caps. it tastes strangely
“heavy” like milk or milo but did not have an objectionable taste or aftertaste. the beer seems
rather malty, but did not have a characteristic bite of malty beers. i’ve had malt milkshakes that
were much more bitter than this nice beer here. the heaviness is strangely pleasing and satisfying.
however, this thing here did not have a twist off cap. wtf? i thought twist off caps are standard
for local brewed beers. i tried twisting the cap off anyway, but that did not acheieve anything
other than give me bottle cap shaped grooves in my hand. i tried prying the cap off with my key,
but that’s going to take too long. luckily, i bought a nail clipper today and peering over, noticed
that it has a bottle opener. mmm…

Well….all that beer made me sprout this gem here:

Silencer® (9:45 PM) :
 u hungry?
sixthseal.com (9:46 PM) :
 nah i drank a lot of beer
burp

Naval gazing

by

What has this picture got to do with introspection you say?!? What has this picture got to do
with introspection you say?!??!?! Erm…well, it looks introspective.

I did not sleep at all last night in an effort to finish my ITPM and IE
deliverables, which was due today. I nearly went into a coma when I had a plate of char kueh tiaw
for lunch. I was loaded with coffee and by the end of the day I was tired and edgy. I kept nodding
off in the shuttle bus and had to keep re-reading a sentence from Darwin’s Radio, the book I’m
reading on my commute now. I just could not focus and promptly forgot the sentence as soon as I
read it. Heh. Well, sleep deprivation is probably not a good time for introspection, but I’ve
learnt two things about myself today. Actually, I’ve known it ages ago, but I’m going to ADDRESS
the problem starting from today. These are two things I would like to change:

I. A variation of the God complex

I tend to feel that I can meet unrealistic deadlines. I actually believe that
I can make impossible deadlines, because I usually do. Unfortunately, that does not happen all the
time. I need to think about whether it is possible before saying I can do it.

II. Pride

I do not like asking for help. I find myself trying to find solutions to every
problem by myself, and perhaps that is not the best way to do everything. I also tend to turn down
help even when I need it, preferring to go about doing my own things myself. Another “personal risk
list” that needs to be addressed.

Small steps, but it will help me in the long run. Hmm…but then I’ll probably
forget about it the next day. Heh. Oh well, writing about it is half the battle…or something. You
learn something new everyday. =D I don’t even know what I’m talking about, I am going to sleep now.
Well, damn, I was drafting out an insightful post in my mind when I was taking a shower and now
I’ve forgotten half of it. Huh?

It’s actually a prayer mat on a mattress wrapped with construction paper.
It has rice, some twigs, some leaves and I don’t know what the third bowl holds. Saw this on the
5th floor of B block when I had my client meeting just now. One of them public art
displays.

Thoughts about the Monash shooting and a Crown Casino terrorist attack warning (hoax?)

by

Ceremony of Reflection and Respect for the Monash
shooting victims [monash.edu.au]

Venue: Robert Blackwood Concert Hall (Building 2 on the Clayton campus)

Time: 11am on Friday 25 October, 2002.

Hmm…the gunman is being charged in court and the 5 wounded are well on their way to recovery
so I guess it’s back to life as usual. It’s sad to think that two innocent students died though. I
actually saw the parents and sister (?) of one of the deceased today. They looked very sad, but I
didn’t know what I could say that would make them feel better so I just nodded at them. On the
other side of the coin, the gunman’s story seems unfortunate as well. He has an old mother to
support, and now that he’s in prison, what’s going to happen to her? And why didn’t he think of
that before he started shooting? The mind boggles. I heard stories that he’s under a lot of
pressure to do well in his presentation, and it’s quite a challenge considering he doesn’t know
English that well. I guess that can be pretty stressful, but hell, if every student started
shooting every time they’re stressed, I guess there won’t be any Monash students left, would there?
What he did was wrong, and yet, inexplicably sad.

You have received a message!
Pls forward:
For your safety dun go to crown these days
terrorist attack: a friend’s friend had found a wallet somewhere and he rang the owner and gave it
back to him, the owner of the wallet is from pakistan, then he thanked my friend’s friend and then
told them not to go to crown or any places which are these days as there will be something terrible
going to happen”

“Ths was written by a HK friend from eng. Just on the safe side dun go”

This is an ICQ message that’s been circling around lately. I got two of these from two totally
unrelated people (except they’re both Monash University students) within a 15 minute period. I
suspect it’s a hoax, but one can never be too careful these days. Just FYI.

Link: 7 deadly
weapons [heraldsun.news.com.au] (He even had a 9mm
Luger)

Link: Professor sings praises of
murdered uni duo [theage.com.au]

Link: Kung-fu instincts kick in as
shots fly [theage.com.au]

Link: Modest
hero’s instinct takes over [heraldsun.news.com.au]

…and the knee-jerk response:

Link: Howard to push for limited
ban on handguns [theage.com.au]

Link: National
push to restrict pistols [heraldsun.news.com.au]

It’s interesting to see that the gunman is said to be a member of the Melbourne Indoor Pistol Club [mipc.com.au]. I went there
earlier this year (read about it here [sixthseal.com] – 1/4
down the page) and it’s a pretty fun place where you can shoot with real handguns and live ammo.
They’re also an authorized Heckler and Kosh [hecklerkoch-usa.com] dealer. Check
it out if you’re interested.

More on the Monash University shooting

by

Well, it seems that newspaper sales go through the roof every time something
happens because I could not get a copy of The Age or the Herald Sun after 1 pm. The newsagents
seems to have sold out of those papers by midday. Anyway, here are a couple of links regarding the
incident:

Link: Police name
Monash shooting victims [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Shootings
suspect appears in court [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Monash gun
rampage [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Gunman was
a classmate [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Distressed
students face exams [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: ‘A quiet,
normal guy’ [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Students
ashen over new horror [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Heroes
prevent uni massacre [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Classes
resume at uni [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Your
views on the Monash Uni shooting (2) [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Your
views on the Monash Uni shooting (1) [heraldsun.news.com.au] (My view about 3/4 down the page)

Link: Kung fu fighter a modest
campus hero [theage.com.au]

Link: A sombre uni gets on with
life [theage.com.au]

Link: Reluctant hero returns to
work [theage.com.au]

Breaking news: Monash University Clayton Campus, Melbourne shooting

by

(Updated throughout the day)

Official Monash University statement
[monash.edu.au]

Monash shooting helpline: 03-9545 6961 or 03-9545 6579

Toll: 2 dead, 5 hospitalized (1 in critical condition).

Facts:

Image (c) Mario Borg/The Age

  • Gunman is Huan Yun Xiang, a fourth-year commerce honors student who has trouble with
    English.
  • He was supposed to give his final presentation in econometrics today.
  • He brought a revolver and a semi-automatic handgun instead.
  • He has been arrested and is in St Kilda police station.
  • Read this [theage.com.au]
    to understand his possible motives. It’s sad, really. But what he did was wrong.

This will be updated throughout the day. Please refresh for latest news.

Link: Man held over uni
killings [theage.com.au]

Link: Pressure builds in the Ming
Wing [theage.com.au]

Link: Talented loner who struggled
in class [theage.com.au]

Link: ‘They were screaming, there’s
a gunman on the loose’ [theage.com.au]

Link: Where it happened
[theage.com.au]

Update: Shooter Identity (Source: Halls Direct Connect server chat room) –
Unverified Verified

<Carve2> Okay, official info to follow, I have a friend who was in that class
<Carve2> On the shooting
<Carve2> Honours Econometrics class, student in class had a total of 6 handguns and opened
fire on his classmates
<killuminati> so it wasn’t an outsider?
<Carve2> Apparently stressed out over a presentation he had that day
<Carve2> no, it was a student
<killuminati> icic
<killuminati> thats a bit harsh…shooting up the class over a presentation
<Carve2> The other students basically overwhelmed him and held him till police arrived
<The_Great_S@t@n> is your friend doing OK?
<Carve2> Yeah, he’s fine, just a bit shook up, as you would be!
<The_Great_S@t@n> yeah….. one of my mates doing honours with the guys in the class, he
went and visited some of the injured people, says one guy got shot through both knees, he’ll be OK
eventually he says, and a girl who got shot through the cheek, he didn’t get too see her
though.
<The_Great_S@t@n> Did anyone go to the information session @ 6pm?
<Carve2> No, was tutoring
<The_Great_S@t@n> the policeman said there were 4 guns, and one of the deceased was an
international student, otherwise just calmed everyone down, said Monash was probably the best
Victorian Uni when it comes to security.

Link: Herald
Sun: Your views on the Monash Uni shooting [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Calls for
handgun ban [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Howard
‘not’ to blame: NUS [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Monash
rampage visits more terror on Australians [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Students
no longer invulnerable after Monash shooting [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Fed govt
policies to blame for shootings: NUS [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Update: There will be a counselor available all day in the MRS Theatre for all Halls of
Residence residents who needs it.

Update: The cell phone lines are clogged for a couple of hours following the shooting due to
everyone calling at once, but it’s okay now.

There was an announcement over the halls PA system this morning, requesting that we do not go to
the university because there has been an incident. It seems that there has been a shooting at the
campus and the gunman is still at large. Well, being a curious sort, I headed down myself to see.
Everyone at the university is rather hard pressed for information, but from several reports I’ve
heard, it seems that there has been a shooting at the Robert Menzies building. 5 people
were shot (Update: 8 people were shot) (Update: 7
people were shot) Update: 10 people were shot – 2 people are confirmed dead, 5
people are in the hospital and 3 more are injured. The unidentified gunman apparently walked
into either a tutorial or a lecture (conflicting reports) and opened fire. There
was a guy beside me who was actually in the tute, but he didn’t see the gunman coz he was facing
the other way. Next thing he knew, everyone was running out and there was this girl with blood all
over her saying “Help me”. Hmm…there seems to be a lot of school shootings, but not that many uni
shootings. It’s a media circus at the Clayton campus right now. I counted 5 news helicopters and 2
fixed wing planes circling the campus. I still don’t know what happened to the gunman at this point
(Update: Gunman was overpowered by other students and has been arrested. He’s being held at the
Glen Waverley police station), but the campus is crawling with police and the Menzies building
has been cordoned off. The police have been talking to everyone around the area. I didn’t stay for
long coz I only got 3 hours of sleep last night but the media is camped out in front of the Law
faculty, awaiting a police statement. Check The Age [theage.com.au] and Herald Sun [heraldsun.news.com.au] for breaking
news. (Update: Seems to be gang related, the victims and the gunman are all
Asian) {Update: The shooting seems indiscriminate)

Students around the crime scene and a couple of early news people.

The media interviewing some students.

More news people behind the police tape. I was standing on the Law Faculty walkway when I took
this.

The media talking to a police spokesman.

The forensics department being escorted past the cordon.

A guy in the Menzies building. The news people started snapping pics of him when he poked his
head out, so I did too. Heh. Note: This is not a hostage situation, it’s a shooting. Another rumor
going around is that it’s a terrorist related bombing or shooting. It’s not.

A detective walking towards the crime scene.

The air ambulance that evacuated one of the guys who was shot in the stomach.

Crime scene investigators heading into the building.

Oh, and do you know why all those people at these type of incidents all look so grim-assed?
Accounting for different personality types, it’s pretty obvious that not everyone is going to be
looking sad or scared. The reason?

News photographer: “Okay, I’m going to take a photo of you people now. Please don’t smile and
look serious.”

There you go.

Update:

Link: Students
tackled uni gunman [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Monash
helpline numbers revised [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Photo gallery: Monash Shooting
[theage.com.au]

Link: Shocked:
Premier Steve Bracks [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Some
thought security announcements were a joke [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Police rule
out terror as cause of Monash attack [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Leaders
mourn more young lives lost [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Counselling
services set up at Monash Uni [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Uni
shootings suspect showed no emotion: witness [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Police ask
students to reassure their families [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Man kills
two, injures five at Monash Uni [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Students
tell of confusion after university shootings [heraldsun.news.com.au]

Link: Where the shooting happened
[theage.com.au]

Link: Two dead, five injured in
Monash Uni shooting [theage.com.au]

Link: Two dead, eight injured in
Monash Uni shooting [theage.com.au]

Call your loved ones if you’re a student at Monash University to tell them you’re okay.
Otherwise:

From the article:

Police have released two phone numbers for family and friends of Monash University students to
call for information about the fatal shootings.

The numbers are (03) 9545 6961 and (03) 9545 6575.