I like reading the newspapers. Be it electronic or in paper form, this is one way I stay connected to the world (or at least this is what I think it is ^^)
Reading the newspaper doesn't only let you know more about the world as in THE world, it also allows you to know more about YOUR world. Sounds confusing? In simpler terms, besides providing information from all continents, it brings you news about your surroundings, the very environment that concerns you. Perhaps you might be thinking that this isn't such a great deal, or even a point worthy of your attention and thoughts, but take a look at these.
Japanese Elections.
Yes yes, we suppose half the world knows about how the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) has been in power for some half a century with only a break of 11 months from 1993-1994 and how its biggest rival, led by Mr Hatoyama, is ironically formed by defectors from the LDP. Reading the AP (Associated Press) reports online will give you an idea of how other countries view and want you to view Japan's political situation. Read Japan's national papers to gain a better idea of how they view the situation instead. A simple search on Yahoo! News will return several articles quoting interviewees' viewpoint that "While the DPJ is inexperienced, we would like to give them a chance..." and that "people have lost confidence in the LDP". I couldn't agree more, as these echo the political views of most of my Japanese (student) friends, who jokingly refer to the current PM as Mr Aho-Tarou ("idiot" in Japanese), or even Mr As-o (pronounced as ass-oh), a clever pun on the pronunciation of "asshole". Interestingly though, these do not seem to reflect the view of quite some Japanese friends of mine of a different age group, who are swayed by the LDP's stand that they are "best equipped to bring Japan out of the recession". Or if you would like to have another point of view, that is, most of my "young" Japanese friends don't really know the situation and they are merely following the views of the magazines and newspapers. So hooray for the DPJ, it looks like something is coming along the way for you.
What I find more interesting is how the news reflected in newspapers can deviate so much from the actual situation. Most reports reflect a rather one-sided view in which a point is over-emphasized. While figures such as "expected to win 2/3s of the seats" propose a exciting picture, or that "27% of the voters are undecided", I would really much prefer to know about how these people came to their conclusions. Something I don't really suppose I'll find in abundance in news reported by foreign countries :)
Singapore
A couple of months back, I read an article about how Singapore is N.Korea's 2nd largest trading partner, and recently, about how Singapore is supporting the UN resolution imposed against N.Korea for their missile tests. What a conflicting stand Singapore seems to be taking, don't you think, if it's based just on these reports? On one hand, it seems to paint a picture of a ruthless mercenary which operates based on profit; while on the other hand, it appears that righteousness and cooperation for the sake of the regional security seems to be the belief to be fighting for. More interestingly, I asked around most Singaporean friends and NONE, that's right, ZERO of them, knew about the former report. The reason given for this was that "it was not printed on the daily newspapers, nor was it reported on the news." That is not to say that we should accept news as it comes, because if the source is from a country with less-than-warm ties with Singapore, chances are it might just be the partial truth. On the other hand, this could reflect Singapore's tight control on press releases. As to what the truth is, frankly, I don't know it myself. The only thing I am certain is that I propose for people who do follow the news to open themselves to more channels while scrutinizing the sources. Remember, news can be discovered, and so can it be created.
Malaysia
I seem to be talking quite a bit on Southeast Asia today. Pardon me, it's just because recent happenings seem to have been circling around the region, especially rather saddening ones. I will provide a very simple summary a particular incident in Malaysia recently that has caught my eye.
Malaysian Muslims protested against the construction of a Hindu temple in the neighborhood, because it is comprised of a Muslim majority.
A disclaimer before I continue:
I am not against Muslims, and I happen to have Muslim friends who are really nice. I am just interested as to the wavering stands undertaken by the concerned parties in the incidents mentioned above. In other words, I wish to understand the motivations behind taking such actions.
Personally, I believe in religious freedom. What I would condemn, as the Malaysian authorities have already done, is the act of bringing a severed cow's head along to the protest(The cow is considered a sacred animal in Hinduism). While the claims may be valid, that the construction of a Hindu temple may cause discomfort to the residents, that very action disregards all religious sensitivity and is in a way, provoking a confrontation. Even when we do get into conflicts with our Muslim friends, it would be downright despicable to bring along a severed pig's head (The pig is considered unclean in Islam) as this will be insulting the roots of their belief, in turn insulting them as a person.
My point for writing this entry is such that people will read the newspapers more carefully, and to call for religious tolerance. I know people who have lived through fatal racial riots, some provoked by religious friction, and I really do not wish for any recurrences. Respect your friends. Respect those around you. Also, stop believing what is told to you blindly. Find out more, know that it is credible, and then, believe.
2009年8月30日日曜日
2009年8月25日火曜日
Back and hating it
Alright, haven't been blogging again. Don't blame me this time, cos I'm back home and I highly suspect I've developed depression (No, I'm not going to the Doc's cos all they want to do is leech and suck money from me, not quite to cure me).
Let's take a look from a chronological point of view.
9 Aug
Arrive home. The only plus point is erm, I got to see my family. -end-
Cons? Thankfully, I didn't step out of my house until dinner...and I am appalled at what I saw. Bunch of people lacking in manners - kids running around and/or screaming cos they're not getting what they want; young girls and guys speaking crude tongues and thinking that's cool; violent girls hitting away at their friends and spewing vulgarities...the list goes on.
And...and...the food didn't taste good. After starving myself for some 26 hours, I finally mustered enough courage to swallow a plate of rice for dinner. You'll probably shrug and think little of that, but I personally find it amazing, considering I had 4-5 meals a day in Japan, with dinner being something like 3 bowls of rice with meat, soup, vegetables and egg. Oh, and a huge serving of tea.
May I also add that the air is pathetic, chemicals lurk in our drinking water (and the bottled water sold commercially; I even heard that the water we produce locally can be carcinogenic) and the food is extremely oily. Do we lack taste buds, hence the need for excessive flavoring, or are we simply unskilled in culinary chores?
10 Aug
It's a holiday!!! But I'm not too thrilled by anything.
11 Aug
School starts. FYP lectures start too. Not that I'm particularly turned off by that. But I certainly am turned off by the public. I simply do not understand - WHY IS IT SO NOISY HERE? (I am typing in CAPS because I am noisy).
The MRT (think of this as the metro) was simply deafening. We enjoy a fantastic melting pot culture here, which explains the multilingual dialogues happening all at once in the trains - English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, Humans, PSP, Earphones, Ipods, TVs...name it. Oh, and our highly competitive society is reflected here too, for everyone is competing to be the loudest (wait, you mean I'm mistaken bout this?) Interestingly, it also accurately reflects our society as to who the eventual winner is - I'm pretty certain the MRT announcements were blasted at 100000 decibels (Ok, I'm exaggerating). How else can you explain the migraine I experienced after that was blasted in my ear? I am inching towards deafness by the day. No, make that by the hour. Minute? Second? Bah. Don't even mention taking the bus, which hosts our favorite TVMobile - Introducing Noise into your lives.
Bah, I've run out of steam to sustain the chronological approach. Let me rant about one more thing - physical fitness tests.
Some may know, bout some don't, I've been experiencing acute pains in both my knees just from even prolonged sitting in the classroom. I'm talking bout 5-10 minutes here. Now consider this scenario - me running. No, it's no joke.
Moving on, I am also feeling pain in my left elbow, left wrist and right shoulder. Perhaps this is what you can call a pretty-f***ed up physical condition, and I think you are pretty darn right to say so, but the professionals don't seem to agree. Having consulted specialists for years and having consulted one more today, I've learned (again) that my bones and ligaments are probably all right. Thank you, I am relieved (honestly, I am). Now, I want to know the reason behind these pains I am getting daily, especially some unknown pains that have surfaced recently like that irritating 8/10 pain I get in my elbow and shoulder every morning; and how I can get around curing...oops, fixing them (since I've been told time and again that there is no medical evidence to show that it is a problem, thus I should not use the word 'cure').
"Your pains are probably due to your loose joints, which are probably genetic."
"OK...doesn't this mean it's gonna be a recurring problem? How can I fix this?"
"You can train up."
"I've tried doing so. In fact, for the 2 years or so that I was put on physiotherapy, it improved slightly at first and then the pain intensified and became even more unbearable. I also tried to train up, but I always end up in a lot of pain. What else should I do?"
"You can find a trainer, get a training regime and get fit."
*sighs in exasperation. shakes hand and exits room*
Perhaps modern science does have its limitations, cos it doesn't seem to be curing me. Perhaps there are administrative loopholes, cos there seem to be plenty of unfit personnel out there who are able to perform activities such as visiting the gym thrice a week to do weights and play basketball once a week. These people are unfit and are ineligible for physical fitness tests, but some others who are experiencing so much pain that they do not even run after the bus are fit enough to be thrown into the battlefront and ace the physical fitness tests.
Thanks to anyone who's willing to read through such a boring post full of rants.
I'm turning in, and while I won't be naive enough to hope for a better tomorrow (not over here, at least), but I'll hope for a faster tomorrow :)
Let's take a look from a chronological point of view.
9 Aug
Arrive home. The only plus point is erm, I got to see my family. -end-
Cons? Thankfully, I didn't step out of my house until dinner...and I am appalled at what I saw. Bunch of people lacking in manners - kids running around and/or screaming cos they're not getting what they want; young girls and guys speaking crude tongues and thinking that's cool; violent girls hitting away at their friends and spewing vulgarities...the list goes on.
And...and...the food didn't taste good. After starving myself for some 26 hours, I finally mustered enough courage to swallow a plate of rice for dinner. You'll probably shrug and think little of that, but I personally find it amazing, considering I had 4-5 meals a day in Japan, with dinner being something like 3 bowls of rice with meat, soup, vegetables and egg. Oh, and a huge serving of tea.
May I also add that the air is pathetic, chemicals lurk in our drinking water (and the bottled water sold commercially; I even heard that the water we produce locally can be carcinogenic) and the food is extremely oily. Do we lack taste buds, hence the need for excessive flavoring, or are we simply unskilled in culinary chores?
10 Aug
It's a holiday!!! But I'm not too thrilled by anything.
11 Aug
School starts. FYP lectures start too. Not that I'm particularly turned off by that. But I certainly am turned off by the public. I simply do not understand - WHY IS IT SO NOISY HERE? (I am typing in CAPS because I am noisy).
The MRT (think of this as the metro) was simply deafening. We enjoy a fantastic melting pot culture here, which explains the multilingual dialogues happening all at once in the trains - English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, Humans, PSP, Earphones, Ipods, TVs...name it. Oh, and our highly competitive society is reflected here too, for everyone is competing to be the loudest (wait, you mean I'm mistaken bout this?) Interestingly, it also accurately reflects our society as to who the eventual winner is - I'm pretty certain the MRT announcements were blasted at 100000 decibels (Ok, I'm exaggerating). How else can you explain the migraine I experienced after that was blasted in my ear? I am inching towards deafness by the day. No, make that by the hour. Minute? Second? Bah. Don't even mention taking the bus, which hosts our favorite TVMobile - Introducing Noise into your lives.
Bah, I've run out of steam to sustain the chronological approach. Let me rant about one more thing - physical fitness tests.
Some may know, bout some don't, I've been experiencing acute pains in both my knees just from even prolonged sitting in the classroom. I'm talking bout 5-10 minutes here. Now consider this scenario - me running. No, it's no joke.
Moving on, I am also feeling pain in my left elbow, left wrist and right shoulder. Perhaps this is what you can call a pretty-f***ed up physical condition, and I think you are pretty darn right to say so, but the professionals don't seem to agree. Having consulted specialists for years and having consulted one more today, I've learned (again) that my bones and ligaments are probably all right. Thank you, I am relieved (honestly, I am). Now, I want to know the reason behind these pains I am getting daily, especially some unknown pains that have surfaced recently like that irritating 8/10 pain I get in my elbow and shoulder every morning; and how I can get around curing...oops, fixing them (since I've been told time and again that there is no medical evidence to show that it is a problem, thus I should not use the word 'cure').
"Your pains are probably due to your loose joints, which are probably genetic."
"OK...doesn't this mean it's gonna be a recurring problem? How can I fix this?"
"You can train up."
"I've tried doing so. In fact, for the 2 years or so that I was put on physiotherapy, it improved slightly at first and then the pain intensified and became even more unbearable. I also tried to train up, but I always end up in a lot of pain. What else should I do?"
"You can find a trainer, get a training regime and get fit."
*sighs in exasperation. shakes hand and exits room*
Perhaps modern science does have its limitations, cos it doesn't seem to be curing me. Perhaps there are administrative loopholes, cos there seem to be plenty of unfit personnel out there who are able to perform activities such as visiting the gym thrice a week to do weights and play basketball once a week. These people are unfit and are ineligible for physical fitness tests, but some others who are experiencing so much pain that they do not even run after the bus are fit enough to be thrown into the battlefront and ace the physical fitness tests.
Thanks to anyone who's willing to read through such a boring post full of rants.
I'm turning in, and while I won't be naive enough to hope for a better tomorrow (not over here, at least), but I'll hope for a faster tomorrow :)
2009年8月4日火曜日
how long has it been?
yes, i suck. i know that. i should have updated this blog more often. not that i wouldn't like to, but i've been spending quite a bit of time working on my 8 reports to submit (boooooooooo).
its been almost 3 weeks since i last updated this site and i'm sorry to all my friends who bother to check it out. honestly!!
alright, let's move on to a short summary of what's been happening.
besides the usual PROJECTS, i've pretty much been preoccupied with KARAOKES. yes. u saw that. due to all those pressure i've stored up, i had no choice but to turn to karaokes for frequent stress-relieving sessions (cough cough, realli??). just in case u're wondering, i'm in a few karaoke circles, and i'm usually the youngest of them all o_O
now THAT's a huge contrast to the situation in sg whereby i'm usually the eldest...no intended implications though :p some examples of karaokes i've been to are...
1) normal solo karaoke
2) normal karaoke with normal people (5~6)
3) no-genre karaokes with erm, not-so-normal people (60~65 pax)
4) KOBUKURO-only karaoke with FANTASTIC people (~40 pax)
5) super high level karaoke with people who've been singing for years (~15 pax)
6) karaokes that offer vibrato sessions by pros (60~65 pax)
don't u think these sound awesome? especially for 4), whereby the focus aint so much on personal singing skills, but rather, harmonization. u just gotta try it to understand it. like a friend put it, "good harmonization by the other guy makes singing the song easier". i kinda agree with that, but i think it's beyond that. it's like when u sing alone, u are the lead and u paint the whole picture of the song. but when a good partner comes in...he more than makes up for what u lack and while u may be scoring 100 for the song usually, a good partner delicately helps u achieve a score of 120/100. i say delicately because a beautiful partnership will mean that there won't be any clashes while u sing together. for example, a good partnership can result in a realli strong and attractive voice to first make others stay mesmerized and want to listen on. following which, the hidden voice (harmonization) helps to make the singing more complete, in that one will not get tired of listening to you. my way of looking at it is like sushi. let's take for example, the ootoro (fatty tuna belly) sushi. by itself, ootoro is extremely sweet and melts in your mouth, leaving a lasting impression and its extremely high quality can make people save up to savor its heavenly taste. however, it will never taste so great without wasabi. the function of the wasabi is to clear away the oily feeling u get when u consume fatty foods, though as we all know, fish fats are good for us. pt is, the oily feeling makes u get sick of the food, so u can only consume a limited amount. thank goodness for the heavenly combination of wasasbi and ootoro though, because besides that functionality, wasabi also offers a refreshing fragrance that u simply cannot resist. its also really interesting to observe that wasabi alone is almost inedible for most people; while ootoro is fantastic by itself but no real gourmet will recommend for u to eat that ALONE. mmmmmmmmm
ok no more food talk. i don't even know how it got to food. perhaps it's cos Prof Ito of Kwansei Gakuin gave me a treat to really nice food tonight, and i'm getting kinda touched.
off to bed, i be. a fantastic new day awaits!
its been almost 3 weeks since i last updated this site and i'm sorry to all my friends who bother to check it out. honestly!!
alright, let's move on to a short summary of what's been happening.
besides the usual PROJECTS, i've pretty much been preoccupied with KARAOKES. yes. u saw that. due to all those pressure i've stored up, i had no choice but to turn to karaokes for frequent stress-relieving sessions (cough cough, realli??). just in case u're wondering, i'm in a few karaoke circles, and i'm usually the youngest of them all o_O
now THAT's a huge contrast to the situation in sg whereby i'm usually the eldest...no intended implications though :p some examples of karaokes i've been to are...
1) normal solo karaoke
2) normal karaoke with normal people (5~6)
3) no-genre karaokes with erm, not-so-normal people (60~65 pax)
4) KOBUKURO-only karaoke with FANTASTIC people (~40 pax)
5) super high level karaoke with people who've been singing for years (~15 pax)
6) karaokes that offer vibrato sessions by pros (60~65 pax)
don't u think these sound awesome? especially for 4), whereby the focus aint so much on personal singing skills, but rather, harmonization. u just gotta try it to understand it. like a friend put it, "good harmonization by the other guy makes singing the song easier". i kinda agree with that, but i think it's beyond that. it's like when u sing alone, u are the lead and u paint the whole picture of the song. but when a good partner comes in...he more than makes up for what u lack and while u may be scoring 100 for the song usually, a good partner delicately helps u achieve a score of 120/100. i say delicately because a beautiful partnership will mean that there won't be any clashes while u sing together. for example, a good partnership can result in a realli strong and attractive voice to first make others stay mesmerized and want to listen on. following which, the hidden voice (harmonization) helps to make the singing more complete, in that one will not get tired of listening to you. my way of looking at it is like sushi. let's take for example, the ootoro (fatty tuna belly) sushi. by itself, ootoro is extremely sweet and melts in your mouth, leaving a lasting impression and its extremely high quality can make people save up to savor its heavenly taste. however, it will never taste so great without wasabi. the function of the wasabi is to clear away the oily feeling u get when u consume fatty foods, though as we all know, fish fats are good for us. pt is, the oily feeling makes u get sick of the food, so u can only consume a limited amount. thank goodness for the heavenly combination of wasasbi and ootoro though, because besides that functionality, wasabi also offers a refreshing fragrance that u simply cannot resist. its also really interesting to observe that wasabi alone is almost inedible for most people; while ootoro is fantastic by itself but no real gourmet will recommend for u to eat that ALONE. mmmmmmmmm
ok no more food talk. i don't even know how it got to food. perhaps it's cos Prof Ito of Kwansei Gakuin gave me a treat to really nice food tonight, and i'm getting kinda touched.
off to bed, i be. a fantastic new day awaits!
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