The Average Bear is a slightly restive civil servant living in Singapore. I quaff coffee, suppers, an eclectic range of books and nature documentaries^.

I like to say I have ethics by Enid Blyton and a physique by deep fried things, because it sounds good and I came up with it. And of course, there is a lot of truth in it.

This blog has been set up for several reasons, including some that emerged as reasons after the blog was started.

One, we all have an instinct to tell stories and to build things and relationships. A dear professor of mine once said that we all have an instinct to build, and I think that’s very true and very well put.

Second, and this is a reason someone gave me: it is supposed to help improve my writing. I do like to write, and I would like to think that I write well. What better way to guarantee that than to work at it and work at it.

Third, catharsis. This blog began on 7 August 2006 – and I may or may not have known this then – as a way to mark a new stage of my life. Okay, this sounds a little too dramatic, but it’s like this: there was a period, from junior college till the Christmas of 2005, during which I thought of this girl every day. Then, after that, I believe it was because she told me she was getting married, I didn’t. 7 August just happens to be a date that I associate with her.

Fourth, I am getting more and more convinced that I need to track the changes in my thinking and values and opinions. Why? So that I know. So that I can credit these changes with some meaning, with hindsight and context. (Heh – I think all this boils down to, is that I shall use this blog like a diary.)

^I am of course partial to those narrated by David Attenborough.