Does racial harmony exist in Singapore?
Our pledge reads, "regardless of race, language or religion", how true is that really? Disregarding the rest of the pledge(especially the 'building a democratic society' part), are Singaporeans really equal?
Its common to hear different races being referred to in degratory terms such as 'noisy malays/mats/minas', 'stinky indians/bangalas', 'filthy chinese pigs' etc. Don't believe me? Just take a taxi and watch what the driver tells you when you pass by places like Gelyang Surei, Chinatown or Little Indian. (provided that both you and the driver are of the same race and not of the race in the particular place.) Why?? I really don't get it. Aren't all races ultimately still human?
A lady I talked to told me that she disliked malays cos they always make alot of noise at her void decks, playing guiters, or feeding stray cats. I call that the kampung sprirt(yours truly was raised in a kampung for 10 yrs of my life btw :P) Another told me she dislike all forgein workers, especially those that are 'black' cos they always look at her in a perverted way(come on, even I am guilty of that at one time or the other if the gal is really hot!) and she was flashed by one of them before in broad daylight.(ok, that I don't do, but I wonder if she had been flashed by a chinese, would she had been so adverse to the chinese, being one herself?) A malay lady friend told me she dislike the chinese gals in her class because she feels that they look down on her.(thats called elitism, I experienced it too back in school, I don't think it was about the race.)
Coincidently, I realised that most if not all complains I heard came from ladies. I'm not sure if its because woman pay more attention to details(or petty) as compared to guys. You only need to cross a gal once and you will pay for it your whole life, I'm sure many guys can attest to that. :)
Damn, I wanted to write more but I really must resume mugging for my marketing paper on wed. Next entry after wed. Wish me luck :)
Doing NS might harm the ears and hands of a violinist
I saw this ST online forum letter titled
"Doing NS might harm the ears and hands of a violinist" yesterday. I can't help but add this.
"Serving NS might harm the brain of intelligent people"I kid you not.
Before entering the army, my IQ was rated at 198(really lah... or at least somewhere there, dun doubt :P), but after entering the army, it started dropping rapidly as I discovered to my horror, that you are not allowed to think! I can still hear my platoon sergeant screaming at me "Orders are meant to be followed, not to be questioned understand! you @!#$% recruit! Go run one round around the parade square!" Same thing happened throughout my whole army life, the advice from seniors was that when you questioned your superiors, it made them look bad even if you are right so you will be 'aimed'. Just do as they say, even if it is wrong, just wait for them to tell you how to correct it.
The motto then was "多做多错，少做少错，不做就不会错".
Roughly translated, it means "the more you do, the more errors there will be, the less you do, the less errors. If you do nothing, you will have no errors." I hate it, but I can't help agreeing that it really does work in the army. I just hope working life will not be like that. I would hate it if I have to muddle my way through life. I hoped NS haven't harmed my brain. At least not that much.
Movie Bloopers
This email has been making its round a couple of times and in case you have not seen it, its funny. :P
A watch! And all along I thought they told time from the sun.
Nice product placement ad...
A walkie talkie?
For non chinese readers, the word says 'aeroplane'
My personal favourite. Though I can't be sure if thats a blooper. Maybe they're just trying to be as close to life as possible.
No NS deferment for violinist Ike
Poor Ike. He will have to go thru NS like every other guy, and forgo what might be the best thing that ever happened to him. I have this to say to him. Blame Melvyn Tan. If not for him and the furore he caused with his famous $3000 fine for draft dodging, I dare say that Ike will have a much better chance of getting the deferment he craved.
To be fair, I believe no matter what the Ministry of Defence did, there will always still be people that will disagree with them. If the ministry allowed the deferment, no doubt there will be accusations that the Melvyn Tan incident has not caused the Ministry to 'wisen up', yet now that the Ministry decides to uphold its stance, people are accusing them instead of not being flexible, not contributing to Singapore's art scene. Its really a difficult job for them to perform.
Personally, I was one of those that was incensed by what Melvyn Tan did, and how lightly he got away with it. $3000, plus whatever it is that his parents managed to cough up as collateral to buy the blood, sweat and tears that I and thousands of other singaporean males have to put up with. It mocks the system in that those rich enough can just pay money as their way of 'national service'. No doubt coming back to serve the army might cause him to miss a chance of his lifetime, but many of us had our 'chance of a lifetime' taken away through national service, albeit not all of our 'chance of a lifetime' would make us world-reowned but I believe that was besides the point. For someone in the lower income class, their chance of a lifetime might have come in the form of a job offer for a stable job paying enough to lift the family out of the proverty trap. It might not mean anything much to rich asses like Melvyn nor does it make him famous, but can you not agree that it is that person's chance of a lifetime that might not come again at any other point of time? Why should another person be given preferential treatment just because he is richer, or precieved by the society to be more 'gifted' or smarter? It doesn't seem fair to me. I firmly believe that every individual should be treated equally regardless of race, language, religion, social class, or even his intelligence. As long as he is a Singaporean, he deserved to be treated as one.
My point is, yes, I pity that Ike have to suffer for the mistakes of someone else. But then again, he really might just turn out like Melvyn Tan, we never know. In this case, I applaud the decision by the Ministry of Defence to preserve the idea of equity among all males
for once (remember the white horses?)
Tough luck Ike, but thats life, its never fair. They say army makes you a man, see, you are already starting to learn even before you are enlisted. :)
Piang! Lim Peh Kenna Tomorrowed.
Was wondering why I got a sudden spike of traffic today. Realised that I 'kena tomorrowed'(who came up with this term anyway?) as I was reading my daily newsfeed. So I did exactly what all the
hao lian self-respecting singaporeans will do, immediately looked for and added the 'kena tomorrowed' button to the site
for bragging rights to link back to the site to thank them for their
devious scheme to force me to link back to them support. Thank you. Really.
I must revise my views on young punks people
I've taken to a new hobby over the last couple of months, what I termed as 'blog-surfing'. I'll just click on a random blog and from there one of their random links and so on, until I find something interesting to read. I remembered reading
her blog some time back, and I remember being very impressed by her articulate thinking, although sometimes her england was too powderful and kinda made me lost in the midst of her bombastic vocabulary of words. She was in the news lately due to the largely published issue of her 'debate(?)' with a minister. It was only then did I realise that she is just 17 years old!
I'm a full 10 years older than her, and I doubt I can write like she do. My impression of 17 year olds' blogs revolve around having an irritating background music that you can't shut off, loud pink flashing background pictures, loads of act cute pictures taken with the cellphone and terms like 'darling', 'dar dar', 'lao gong', and normally the entries are TyPE iN aN iRriTatInG aNd dIfFiCuLt tO ReAd wAy LiKe TiS. I could not believe that a 17 year old young
punk kid can use words like 'authoritarianism' in a blog entry, takes an active interest in politics and current affairs, able to sieve through junk that we call the local media and come up with clear and articulate view, and most impressively, reads
John Lewis Gaddis!! Have I really been underestimating these young people all along??
I think back to what I was 10 years ago. Nowhere.close.at.all.
At 17, I was more concerned on where to go after school.
At 17, I was more concerned in breaking that street fighter record.
At 17, I was more concerned in being popular with girls.
At 17, I was more concerned in deciding which girl to date come weekend.
At 17, I was more concerned in getting myself yet another versace jeans.
At 17, I was more concerned in counting down to my 18 birthday so that i can
legally buy try alcohol and cigarettes.
I wish I was
so serious about current affairs 17 again... :(
Bored
Bored... Went job hunting online. Kinda fun. :D
Wasn't too eager to start working though. Had planned to enjoy my world cup and maybe take a long vacation before starting my job hunt. But looking at the jobs on offer makes me both keen yet fearful of getting a job. I love challenges, and every job looks like a challenge to me. I have no idea what field I wish to target even now, I'm so indecisive and tempted to try everything! Typical bloody gemini... Sent my resume to a 3 or 4 firms that looked too good to be missed, even though I will only graduate in July(provided I pass) and all the jobs required experiences. Hope I at least get a reply from at least a couple of them. Fingers crossed. :x
Change of address
Taking a break from mugging.... phew...
Didn't know that blogger allows you to change your address like that without having to create a whole new blog. Pretty cool I must say. But then the old address is just gone with no redirection to this new address. Doesn't really matter though, no one reads this shit anyway. :P
Following THAT maths paper, the rest of the papers so far had been ok. Undergone a scare though when I reached the exam hall and realised that I had forgotten to bring my calculator for my stats paper! My heart almost jumped out of my mouth right there and then! To make things worse, the paper was held at the Singapore Expo and not in school so I can't just go up to some random strangers and attempt to borrow from them, the people there are all going for the same paper and I dun think anyone is crazy enough to bring a spare calculator(although I know thats what my sis used to do, but then, she's a freak) and there are no bookshops or whatever there that was open at 9am in the morning. I seriously contemplated going to the nearest housing estates to knock on doors to see if anyone had a calculator that I could borrow, that was how desperate I was. Luckily, I remembered seeing a 7-11 there when I went the pick up my gal the other day and I thought I should try my luck there, even if they sell a simple non-scientific calculator that allowed me to do normal calculations would be better than nothing. Unfortunately, they dun. Luckily, when I asked the staff there whether they have any idea where I can get a calculator urgently as my exam is starting in like 10 mins time, one of them whipped out one and offered it to me! There are kind people in singapore after all!! I was so relieved. Even though the calculator couldn't perform certain functions that was required, it probably saved me from another disaster like THAT maths paper. At least I'm sure I'll pass this paper, though if I had my calculator along, I could probably be confident of scoring at least a B, but hey, I'm not complaining! It could have been so much worse!
The Software Engineering paper was a breeze. I was worried that I might not have enough materials to bullshit my way through the 3 hr paper, but I ended up writing the most I ever did in an exam, and still managed to finish the paper with time to spare. Now thats something new~! 2 more papers to go till freedom!!!
Worst.Exam.Ever
Started my 1st paper of my final year today, and it was totally my worst.paper.ever. I can't recall the last time in all my years of taking exams that I actually felt like I was going to flunk the paper. !@$%#^&*^!!! and to think that I actually studied for it~!!!! what is going on! Topics that had NEVER EVER appeared in the exams before pop up in not one but two sect B questions, probably costing me a minimum of 10 points for nothing. Sect A qns are supposed to be the short and simple ones, but they are neither short, nor simple. I actually think I might fail this paper. Sux big time. All my hard work over the past 2 yrs would have gone to nought if I really failed this as it would practically ruin my shot at honours... knnbccb. I'll end up just like one of those people that failed multiple modules and end up with a degree without a honours. what was all my hard work for? why do I have to fall at the final hurdle?? totally demoralised for the rest of the papers now, wondered why I'm bothering to study anymore. Just scrap a pass in each and every one left will do. FUCK.
Polling Day
Cast my vote for the 1st time in my life today. After all the hype and emotional tug of war, it was a surprising underwhelming experience.
Lessons was not cancelled for my class today despite it supposingly being a bloody public holiday. So anyway, I only went to vote after I came back from class which was around 1pm. Accordingly to my parents, the queue was very long in the morning, apparently all the aunties and uncles are sibei kiasu and have nothing better to do so early morning go queue up and cast vote. Singaporeans really like to queue... -.-"
When I reached there at 1pm, I almost had trouble finding the place if it was not for the police cordon of the area. Place was pratically deserted save for a bored looking policeman and a couple of tables and chairs and the people manning them. I just handed over my polling card, and after checking my IC, asked me to proceed to counter 3. I was abit kaypoh and asked the uncle why must go until counter 3 when the rest of the counters are empty anyway(being the lazy bugger, I'll do anything to save walking a few steps :P) I was informed that my name list is under counter 3 so I have to get my ballot ticket there. At the counter, handed over my IC again and this time, a woman checked my IC against a list, crossed out my name, and passed it to the guy next to her. The guy then wrote my polling notification ticket number onto half of the ballet sheet, and tore the other half out for me. Before passing it to me though, he shouted across the table to another guy the serial number on my ballot sheet and my polling ticket who duly took down the information. Guess this is why many rumours abound that the ruling party can actually check your votes so that they know who voted against them etc. I guess it is really theoritically quite possible and easy if the party really wants to trace the party you vote, but then again, I dun see them wasting their resources on it while it reaps no direct benefits. After collecting the ballot ticket, I walked a couple of steps to the oddly shaped table to select the party of my choice, and walked back a couple of steps to drop the ticket into a flimsy looking cardboard box sitting on a chair, and that was it. The whole process took me less than 5 minutes.
Personal thoughts: I must say that the first time I saw the ballot box, I was rather shocked at its flimsy look. I've seen shopping centers with bigger and nicer boxes for lucky draws and they come with a lock. The boxes for the deciding the fate of a country looks like something you packed your tv set in, complete with the masking tape and all. Kinda wonder what would happen if it rains later when they transport the boxes to the counting station... those boxes sure doesnt look waterproof to me... another point of note is that, once I got the ballot paper, I was kinda left on my own. I supposed that was to allow me to mantain the secrecy of the vote, but somehow, I could have simply walked out without casting my vote. Wondered if they had security cameras there that could have seen me splashed all over the headline news though.. :D
Job done for the day, now we can only sit back and wait for the results. Hope I had made a difference today. :)
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Polling day tomorrow
Tommorrow is the day of where we cast our vote to determine the political party that will take us throught he next 4 years. It is a forgone conclusion as to who will win, but after years of apathy, at least this time, I have a say.
Being a first time voter at the age of 27, I admit that I know close to nothing about the political situation in my very own backyard prior to the last couple of years. Like many other young voters like me, what we know of politics is only through the mainstream media, and some coffeeshop talk here and there. But I always remain indignant about the fact that estate upgrading was used as the carrot(or stick depending on how u see it) for voting the ruling party. I should know. I was in the infamous Cheng San ward that 'dared' to nearly vote out the PAP. Tension was high in my area that time, and although I was largely unaware of the facts, I remembered being pretty pissed at being threaten, by our very own govt no less. Alot of others probably felt the way I did, and it was reflected in the poll results. Cheng San ward duely ceased to existed in the next election, carved up and absorbed into larger GRCs respectively. I remembered being pretty shocked as I was due the vote in that election and I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing as a electoral boundrary redraw prior to every election. The 'independent' committee decisions, to this day, never convienced me of it independancy. How is it that they can lie to your face and say that their 'independent' decisions that always seem to coincide with the ruling party interests, when it is clear to everyone with one eye and half a brain that it obviously is not? Talk about transparency.
I really believe that the power of the internet comes into play alot this election. If not for the internet and great sites such as
sgrally and the unbeliveably insightful
yawining bread, would you have seen these pics in the mainstream media?
Attended rallies for the 1st time in my life. Its really quite an unbelievable experience. Totally electrifying. Granted, I only attended oppositions rallies, but my rationale was that the ruling party get to dominate 99% of all media and I get to see their speeches, arguments etc being splashed all over the papers and repeated in every news channel anyway while the oppositions hardly get much, if any air time. The opposition made some good points, one that especially caught my attention was the idea of WP chief Mr Low's idea to peg the ministers pay to the lowest 20% earners in singapore, with a multipication factor of 100. So if the low income earns $800 per mth, the minister gets $80,000 per mth. If the lowest income increases to $1000, the minister will get 100,000 per mth, similarly, if the lowest income drops, the ministers pay drop as well. This is to ensure that the minister will try their best to help the lower income families as it directly affects them as well. Similarly, his idea of asking the govt to make transport services a 'cost-recovery' service instead of a profit driven one also hits close to home, althought I have doubts on its similar calls for other areas such as power supply etc.
On the PAP side, I have not heard any issues or ideas coming from them other than their attempts to scandalise the James Gomez issue, the usual threats of non-estate upgrading with the added lift upgrades this time, and the usual 'look at our track record' vein.
On a whole, prior to polling day, I'm still not too sure it which is the party that best serves my needs. However, I will be asking the following question that I believe will aid my decision. Which party is truly more into serving me and my needs, rather than me serving them and their needs??
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Brain dead
If I do a single more question on integration, I think my head is gng to explode and I'll go into spasms.... the problem is, even after practicing so much, I'm still not totally getting it~! arghh...
At least I think I can safely say that I'm not gng to flunk it come exam time, but I really think its a bloody waste of my time to spend so much time and effort on it if I'm not gng to get an A or something out of it. I have not started on any of my other modules yet and I'm really hoping that I can get a set of great results this year to pull up my level of honours that was doomed by my disastrous first year results... sigh... really regret... Hope I dun end up with a 3rd class honours, it already sucks being a 2nd class citizen, imagine being one with a 3rd class honours in our
meritocracy elitism 1st class society.
Taking my mind off studies, exams and politics for a moment, I somehow came to realise what an asshole I am sometimes. I really think I have a split personality, how else can you explain the fact that I can be one moment someone who is so righteous and upright about what is right or wrong, black or white, with no grey areas, while a moment later, I can be the most unscruplous s.o.b that is not above lying, cheating or stealing so as to achieve my aims. Or have I really become so practical and pragmatic that I can on one hand hold a set of principles and beliefs while on the other hand, apply them flexibly, weighing the opportunity costs to see if it was worthwhile to hold my belief at that point of time? What have I become??? And I can come up with a 101 warpped reasons to justify my actions no less.
Somedays, I petrify even myself.
Think about it.
This caught my interest from an episode of 'Boston Legal', and I was thinking how it make sense in recent context.
“When the Nazis arrested the Communists,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Communist.
When they locked up the Social Democrats,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a Social Democrat.
When they arrested the trade unionists,
I said nothing; after all, I was not a trade unionist.
When they arrested the Jews, I said nothing; after all, I was not a Jew.
When they arrested me, there was no longer anyone who could protest.”
Martin Niemöller (1892—1984)
News you will never see in the local media
I'm getting more and more disillusioned with the level of reporting in the local media. Granted, I only read the Straits Time(daily), the NewPaper and CNA occasionally, but it is really during this election period that I can see how biased and the knack for narrow reporting that the singapore media is.
Think you will ever see coverage of the
Enernorth lawsuit, or the outcome if it is not 'desirable'? I'll be following it keenly, just not on the local media.
