Dreaming of my dream house, with red bricks on a street
A rocking chair in the house, unvarnished and worn with scars
A pretty tea-set to share with my friends
A gramophone player and a collection of black vinyl records
Make sure that Erik Satie's 'Gymnopedie' is playing
As a golden retreiver lazes by the fire
-GoodNite-
Monday, April 14, 2008
Japan Fever...
So I've been having the Japan fever... ever since I came back in Jan. Hhehe... Basically, I'll have occasional Japanese food cravings for up to thrice per week. HAha.. doesn really help in management of my finances.
The whole world's (well, a literal term) is going to Japan! I'm basically waiting for next year (basically 12 months later) when I can go! Well, might as well make use of the free tix yeah. The home-stay programs on WWOOF look really good. HAha.. cheap way to stay in Japan for a longer period of time, yet not spend money. You get to see their way of life too! Well, besides the fact that you basically become a 'high-class' maid. I really dun mind...
In the meantime, came across a rather intriguing blog... dun tell me that i sound very free.
"An obstacle downstream propagates upstream. If you're not allowed to implement new ideas, you stop having them. And vice versa: when you can do whatever you want, you have more ideas about what to do." -Paul Graham-
The whole world's (well, a literal term) is going to Japan! I'm basically waiting for next year (basically 12 months later) when I can go! Well, might as well make use of the free tix yeah. The home-stay programs on WWOOF look really good. HAha.. cheap way to stay in Japan for a longer period of time, yet not spend money. You get to see their way of life too! Well, besides the fact that you basically become a 'high-class' maid. I really dun mind...
In the meantime, came across a rather intriguing blog... dun tell me that i sound very free.
"An obstacle downstream propagates upstream. If you're not allowed to implement new ideas, you stop having them. And vice versa: when you can do whatever you want, you have more ideas about what to do." -Paul Graham-
Saturday, April 12, 2008
the 2 types of people
so i cant sleep... as much as i've tried to. Having a splitting headache. I wonder if the splitting headache is causing a gush of ideas and thoughts or the other way around... I think too much literature-research and reading has made me 'over-analytical'. Well, 'over-analytical' in relative to my normal state of mind. So I'm randomly thinking of this.
There are 2 types of pple in this world (or rather in 'little Mr S.'): the procrastinator and the change-maker. Basically, the earlier 'talk' and the latter 'do'. The procrastinators or rather 'talkers' often identify sociological phenomenons and sensationalize them. Take for example the recent media interest and discussion over rising prices by 'little Mr S.'. This includes media interviewers with producers and consumers, in the form of discussions on how they cope with the rising costs. At the end of the day, it becomes a feature on 'where to find the $2 chicken rice in 'little Mr S.'. Otherwise, the recent survey on 'little Mr S.' service-standards (as reported on ST a while ago) is heavily criticized by locals on it's over-estimated results. This ends up with people calling into radio stations to criticize on 'poor' and 'rude' service at hawker centers, when they simply cant understand the concept of 'value-for-money'.
On the other hand, the change-makers act upon such procrastination. It is probably impossible not to find a trace of procrastination in these 'change-makers'. However, we would expect them to act upon procrastination. Or rather, procrastination may be a way of brain-mapping the action plan.
I've learnt that there is a limit to procrastination (well, probably not so for some pple aka 'friendly drivers of the pay-to-sit services'). I was(n probably still am) one of these procrastinators. It seems like procrastination is an inseparable form of identity as a member in 'little Mr S.'. Procrastination becomes plausible for everything in 'little Mr S.'. It has even become a social-process, an infectious and contagious one that is. I've come to grow tired of procrastinating. It started out as something 'intellectual' (yes, wishful thinking on my part). Then, I realize that I'm no different from the procrastinators in the rest of 'little Mr S.'.
So let us see what my wonderful NUS tertiary education has educated me in the last 2 years and 3 months. Sociology teaches me to procrastinate, Social Work teaches me to mediate a (social) problem, Psychology teaches me to act & solve. That probably explains why I'm a psychology major.
There are 2 types of pple in this world (or rather in 'little Mr S.'): the procrastinator and the change-maker. Basically, the earlier 'talk' and the latter 'do'. The procrastinators or rather 'talkers' often identify sociological phenomenons and sensationalize them. Take for example the recent media interest and discussion over rising prices by 'little Mr S.'. This includes media interviewers with producers and consumers, in the form of discussions on how they cope with the rising costs. At the end of the day, it becomes a feature on 'where to find the $2 chicken rice in 'little Mr S.'. Otherwise, the recent survey on 'little Mr S.' service-standards (as reported on ST a while ago) is heavily criticized by locals on it's over-estimated results. This ends up with people calling into radio stations to criticize on 'poor' and 'rude' service at hawker centers, when they simply cant understand the concept of 'value-for-money'.
On the other hand, the change-makers act upon such procrastination. It is probably impossible not to find a trace of procrastination in these 'change-makers'. However, we would expect them to act upon procrastination. Or rather, procrastination may be a way of brain-mapping the action plan.
I've learnt that there is a limit to procrastination (well, probably not so for some pple aka 'friendly drivers of the pay-to-sit services'). I was(n probably still am) one of these procrastinators. It seems like procrastination is an inseparable form of identity as a member in 'little Mr S.'. Procrastination becomes plausible for everything in 'little Mr S.'. It has even become a social-process, an infectious and contagious one that is. I've come to grow tired of procrastinating. It started out as something 'intellectual' (yes, wishful thinking on my part). Then, I realize that I'm no different from the procrastinators in the rest of 'little Mr S.'.
So let us see what my wonderful NUS tertiary education has educated me in the last 2 years and 3 months. Sociology teaches me to procrastinate, Social Work teaches me to mediate a (social) problem, Psychology teaches me to act & solve. That probably explains why I'm a psychology major.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
it's getting exciting...!
A long day in school.. again. Overslept and missed my 8-9am tutorial. hehe.. there goes my unblemished JS tutorial attendance... Then spent a whole of 2 hours crapping with lynn in the central lib. HAHa... her fren bumped into her, and made a remark which hit the nail on the wall, "Lynn, why you so free?".
Finally, almost done with all the assignments and tests! Left with the JS paper, which I'm yet to be done with 'cos of the other group member.. did i mention that i HATE groupwork. especially weird and lazy group members. I'm totally motivated to pull up my CAP this sem! hehhehe.. I sound like a spoilt kid. hee... waiting for 9 may!
Well, it's getting exciting. Pulled eu, fang & jer to join a social entrepreneurship competition as organized by CITIBANK and YMCA. We chose the VWO, ST Andrew Autism school and managed to meet up with the PIC yesterday. It was really an interesting meetup. They've basically added the muscles and nerves to our skeleton-outline (sorry if the analogy sucks). SO seriously, it's getting exciting. Eu was so hyped up after the meeting. hehe..
oh, called merla yesterday. Feels good to hear her voice. heeh... she reminded me that this is the 3rd time I'm saying that I'll go over. hehe... hope i'll be able to go over as planned! She mentioned about a S$1000 bamboo house, and I started thinking about growing vegetables and having a farm. haha... random.
Excited about starting the Research Assistant work tomorrow! (at the expense of my JS lecture. hehe)
Excited about attending the Hearing-Impaired service this saturday at FCBC!
Finally, almost done with all the assignments and tests! Left with the JS paper, which I'm yet to be done with 'cos of the other group member.. did i mention that i HATE groupwork. especially weird and lazy group members. I'm totally motivated to pull up my CAP this sem! hehhehe.. I sound like a spoilt kid. hee... waiting for 9 may!
Well, it's getting exciting. Pulled eu, fang & jer to join a social entrepreneurship competition as organized by CITIBANK and YMCA. We chose the VWO, ST Andrew Autism school and managed to meet up with the PIC yesterday. It was really an interesting meetup. They've basically added the muscles and nerves to our skeleton-outline (sorry if the analogy sucks). SO seriously, it's getting exciting. Eu was so hyped up after the meeting. hehe..
oh, called merla yesterday. Feels good to hear her voice. heeh... she reminded me that this is the 3rd time I'm saying that I'll go over. hehe... hope i'll be able to go over as planned! She mentioned about a S$1000 bamboo house, and I started thinking about growing vegetables and having a farm. haha... random.
Excited about starting the Research Assistant work tomorrow! (at the expense of my JS lecture. hehe)
Excited about attending the Hearing-Impaired service this saturday at FCBC!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Follow Through...
What does the phrase 'follow through' mean to you?
To me, this phrase pops up during tennis and golf. 'Follow through' is a term used during my swings, be it to get the tennis ball farther across the court, or to hit the little white ball up and high over the putting ground. It often starts with a back swing, followed by a good hard swing. However, when the follow through is lacking, the ball loses steam. A seemingly good start ends up with a ball at the same side of your court, or a ball barely making the 50m mark.
I guess follow through has always been applicable in our daily lives. Sometimes, we set our foot on the starting point. Only to realize that we've failed to reach the end-point at the end of the day. Otherwise, the 'swing' is accompanied by a half-hearted effort. A follow through becomes necessary for a good and pretty ending. I hope that I'd be able to practice this analogy in my life. Although following through can become so tiring, I'd like to 'grain it into my muscle' till it becomes a habit.
Talking about analogy, thanks to changjie for giving me a very interesting one as quoted from his CS prof. I'll remember about the 'black diamond slope'!
To me, this phrase pops up during tennis and golf. 'Follow through' is a term used during my swings, be it to get the tennis ball farther across the court, or to hit the little white ball up and high over the putting ground. It often starts with a back swing, followed by a good hard swing. However, when the follow through is lacking, the ball loses steam. A seemingly good start ends up with a ball at the same side of your court, or a ball barely making the 50m mark.
I guess follow through has always been applicable in our daily lives. Sometimes, we set our foot on the starting point. Only to realize that we've failed to reach the end-point at the end of the day. Otherwise, the 'swing' is accompanied by a half-hearted effort. A follow through becomes necessary for a good and pretty ending. I hope that I'd be able to practice this analogy in my life. Although following through can become so tiring, I'd like to 'grain it into my muscle' till it becomes a habit.
Talking about analogy, thanks to changjie for giving me a very interesting one as quoted from his CS prof. I'll remember about the 'black diamond slope'!
Friday, April 4, 2008
HAPPY day!
It was a rather weird day yesterday... weird in a good way! hhaha... its been a while since i've written such an upbeat post. Well, this couple of weeks have been good for me. Other than the fact that exams are coming soon, its been rather relaxing. Probably explains why i've put on my weight. I look horribly flabby in my beloved AX shirt... blah... so i ended up drinking 'TEA-0 minus sugar' for supper yesterday. Eu & co. failed to tempt me with those oily roti pratas. heheh... well, some updates!
1) bumped into Yen Lin during JS lecture. The JS lecture was surprisingly good. She introduced a few literatures by renowned Japanese novelist. One of my favorite is 'Higuchi Ichiyo', a feminist novelist in the Meiji Period. A more contemporary choice would be "Haruki Murakami'. Check out his documentary-novel based on the 1995 Sarin gas attack in Japan. Its refreshing to hear his perspectives on the rationality of the Aum cult versus the victimized general population.
2) Found a nice study spot in central lib which over-looks the main campus streets!Yes, took me 3 years to find it. hehhe.. Its nice to stare at the passing cars and admire the HUGE tree above the bus stop. Reminds me of the quiet times I had in McGill's library, tucked away in a remote spot.
3) Enjoying research for my JS term paper. Topic is on Japan's cultural globalization as seen through Japanese animation (anime). I must say, Prof Saito from Mcgill really intrigued me on the study of Japanese anime. He unwrapped Japanese animation in such an academic fashion, debunking my presumed-assumptions about anime as superficial and childish.
4)Receievd 2 As for my sociological papers! Well, one of which is a group assignment where we had to write a 500-word ethnography. So proud of Mo Kwan & Stanley! n of course, myself too. hehe.. i was rather surprised to realize that she gave us an A+ for it, considering it was rather slack work. hehe... Thoughts it only constitutes 5%, its still something to boost my ego i guess. hehe.. The other A went to my sociology term paper which consituted 20%! HAHa.. did it in like an afternoon... Thank God for giving me a boost of confidence for this module, when i was previously rather pessimistic about scoring for it!
5) Receievd 2 calls for part-time job interviews! One of which is an events company specializing in programmes for children (i.e. partys etc), the other is a tuition centre. Well, i'll have to see how it goes after interviews next week. Happy to receieve a forwarded email from school regarding recuitment of part time behavioral therpist by ISADD. Its kinda been what I'm thinking of lately. Best part, its on part-time basis! An encouragement after the rather upsetting tuition assignment event. Si will know what i mean...
6) Joined the newly set up tennis interest group for the first time this week. It was all right, except for the fact that the guys are rather stuck up... heheh... still enjoying playing tennis though! Enjoying my golf lessons as well. Been taking it for a month or so! It feels good to hit using the drive.
7) Went to 'sao mu' during qing ming jie on the previous Sat at CCK cemetery. All of us went, including my 2 aunties and even papa. Visited AUntie Julia, Gong-gong and popo. Miss my dear popo.... when she'd sit in front of the tv and doze off, and call me 'ah-mui'...
8) Papa was off last weekend. We had a family dinner. As usual, Papa's boasting about his travel experiences. hehe.. i guess it runs in the family. Had fusion-chinese food at SHangri-La. with courtesy from audrey's bonus:D
9) Mummy's b'day today... bought her favorite Yam cake from Angie's Choice...!
10) Cindy's cajoling at going to Sydney for a month this summer is really tempting! But do esn help considering my bank a/c is dying.... heheh.. considering going to Manila to visit Merla! Si's interested too! SO that's one short holiday for the
year. Planning n saving for BIG holidays next year!
1) bumped into Yen Lin during JS lecture. The JS lecture was surprisingly good. She introduced a few literatures by renowned Japanese novelist. One of my favorite is 'Higuchi Ichiyo', a feminist novelist in the Meiji Period. A more contemporary choice would be "Haruki Murakami'. Check out his documentary-novel based on the 1995 Sarin gas attack in Japan. Its refreshing to hear his perspectives on the rationality of the Aum cult versus the victimized general population.
2) Found a nice study spot in central lib which over-looks the main campus streets!Yes, took me 3 years to find it. hehhe.. Its nice to stare at the passing cars and admire the HUGE tree above the bus stop. Reminds me of the quiet times I had in McGill's library, tucked away in a remote spot.
3) Enjoying research for my JS term paper. Topic is on Japan's cultural globalization as seen through Japanese animation (anime). I must say, Prof Saito from Mcgill really intrigued me on the study of Japanese anime. He unwrapped Japanese animation in such an academic fashion, debunking my presumed-assumptions about anime as superficial and childish.
4)Receievd 2 As for my sociological papers! Well, one of which is a group assignment where we had to write a 500-word ethnography. So proud of Mo Kwan & Stanley! n of course, myself too. hehe.. i was rather surprised to realize that she gave us an A+ for it, considering it was rather slack work. hehe... Thoughts it only constitutes 5%, its still something to boost my ego i guess. hehe.. The other A went to my sociology term paper which consituted 20%! HAHa.. did it in like an afternoon... Thank God for giving me a boost of confidence for this module, when i was previously rather pessimistic about scoring for it!
5) Receievd 2 calls for part-time job interviews! One of which is an events company specializing in programmes for children (i.e. partys etc), the other is a tuition centre. Well, i'll have to see how it goes after interviews next week. Happy to receieve a forwarded email from school regarding recuitment of part time behavioral therpist by ISADD. Its kinda been what I'm thinking of lately. Best part, its on part-time basis! An encouragement after the rather upsetting tuition assignment event. Si will know what i mean...
6) Joined the newly set up tennis interest group for the first time this week. It was all right, except for the fact that the guys are rather stuck up... heheh... still enjoying playing tennis though! Enjoying my golf lessons as well. Been taking it for a month or so! It feels good to hit using the drive.
7) Went to 'sao mu' during qing ming jie on the previous Sat at CCK cemetery. All of us went, including my 2 aunties and even papa. Visited AUntie Julia, Gong-gong and popo. Miss my dear popo.... when she'd sit in front of the tv and doze off, and call me 'ah-mui'...
8) Papa was off last weekend. We had a family dinner. As usual, Papa's boasting about his travel experiences. hehe.. i guess it runs in the family. Had fusion-chinese food at SHangri-La. with courtesy from audrey's bonus:D
9) Mummy's b'day today... bought her favorite Yam cake from Angie's Choice...!
10) Cindy's cajoling at going to Sydney for a month this summer is really tempting! But do esn help considering my bank a/c is dying.... heheh.. considering going to Manila to visit Merla! Si's interested too! SO that's one short holiday for the
year. Planning n saving for BIG holidays next year!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
emotional abuse/maltreatment
We did a presentation on child abuse recently, regarding child abuse in Singapore. The issue of an overshadowed focus on emotional abuse/maltreament research has been intruguing me lately, especially in the context of Singapore.
The only link i can make with emotional abuse/maltreatment amongst Singapore children, is the issue of education. Sociology englighten us on education as a process and venue of socializatin and patriotism propagondism; social work englightens education as an indirect prevention effort at social issues; psychology shows that education creates the product of cognitive and developmental changes in the individual. Speak to any Singaporean parent, they'd dish out terms like "Shichida method", "remedial lessons", "tuition" blah blah. Its pathetic to see how the child is de-humanized and objectified as a 'sponge'. Intentions of "putting the child's interests at heart' are increasingly blurred with selfish intentions as spurred by competition at all fronts. i.e. among parents, between schools, local vs foreign student.
Nevertheless, I must take my hat off Singapore's capaibility at making a topic of conversation over anything and everything. Topics never run dry, from your neighbour's inconsiderate stereo music, to the 'ang mohs' increasingly plaguing the little humble streets of Singapore.
The only link i can make with emotional abuse/maltreatment amongst Singapore children, is the issue of education. Sociology englighten us on education as a process and venue of socializatin and patriotism propagondism; social work englightens education as an indirect prevention effort at social issues; psychology shows that education creates the product of cognitive and developmental changes in the individual. Speak to any Singaporean parent, they'd dish out terms like "Shichida method", "remedial lessons", "tuition" blah blah. Its pathetic to see how the child is de-humanized and objectified as a 'sponge'. Intentions of "putting the child's interests at heart' are increasingly blurred with selfish intentions as spurred by competition at all fronts. i.e. among parents, between schools, local vs foreign student.
Nevertheless, I must take my hat off Singapore's capaibility at making a topic of conversation over anything and everything. Topics never run dry, from your neighbour's inconsiderate stereo music, to the 'ang mohs' increasingly plaguing the little humble streets of Singapore.
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