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Take my Breath Away
Life is not measured by the breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
- Anon
Well this shock certainly took my breath away. I wish they would give us a warning or quota indication.
Mumble mumble.
The Day After, Despite Frantic Housekeeping:
Filed under: Personal, Technology, Picture, Humour
Monday, May 30, 2005
Remember
You stand on the train platform, head slightly tilted to catch sight of the approaching train. The train pulls in. A rush of wind pummets your face. You squint.
The windows of the train pass by in a rapid blur, fast at first but gradually slowing. Reflected in the glass: multitudes of strange, yet strangely familiar, faces. You see.
The train doors slide open with a mechanical whirr. Feets shuffle. The faces converge. You blend in with the crowd. Step into the train. The train is crowded- mutitudes of strange, yet strangely familiar, commuters. Among them, you stand.
With another whirr, the train begins to move. Picks up speed. Pulls away from the station. The commuters begin their ritual. Some nod to sleep. Some listen to iPods. Some read the papers. Others, a novel. Different faces, different lives. Strangely familiar, strangely similar rituals. You watch.
Before you, a bright orange row of seats. "Please give up your seat" a sticker reads (one woman, below it, sleeps). The faces you see are by turns inscrutable, bored, animated. Different expressions, different destinations, same train. Strange, yet strangely familiar, faces. What do they share? You wonder.
Who's a mother? Who's a lawyer? Who's a student rushing to school? Who's a father? Who's an executive? Who's a retiree with nowhere to go? Who's a lover? Who's a secretary? Who's a salesman wishing for more?
You remember. You remember.
You remember your childhood dreams. Of sailboats, the house by the sea. Of astronauts, that journey to the moon. Of planes, soaring in the sky. Of detectives, the diamond heist case. Of firemen, brave heroic acts.
Simple dreams. You remember.
The PA system blares. The sepulchral voice informs you that the next stop nears. Breaks your reverie. You mentally shake yourself. Scan the faces once more. Mother, lawyer, student, father, executive, retiree, lover, secretary, salesman. How many dreams have fallen by the wayside? How many forgotten? How many suddenly remembered, in a crowded train one Monday morning?
You remember.
Filed under: Personal, Musings
The windows of the train pass by in a rapid blur, fast at first but gradually slowing. Reflected in the glass: multitudes of strange, yet strangely familiar, faces. You see.
The train doors slide open with a mechanical whirr. Feets shuffle. The faces converge. You blend in with the crowd. Step into the train. The train is crowded- mutitudes of strange, yet strangely familiar, commuters. Among them, you stand.
With another whirr, the train begins to move. Picks up speed. Pulls away from the station. The commuters begin their ritual. Some nod to sleep. Some listen to iPods. Some read the papers. Others, a novel. Different faces, different lives. Strangely familiar, strangely similar rituals. You watch.
Before you, a bright orange row of seats. "Please give up your seat" a sticker reads (one woman, below it, sleeps). The faces you see are by turns inscrutable, bored, animated. Different expressions, different destinations, same train. Strange, yet strangely familiar, faces. What do they share? You wonder.
Who's a mother? Who's a lawyer? Who's a student rushing to school? Who's a father? Who's an executive? Who's a retiree with nowhere to go? Who's a lover? Who's a secretary? Who's a salesman wishing for more?
You remember. You remember.
You remember your childhood dreams. Of sailboats, the house by the sea. Of astronauts, that journey to the moon. Of planes, soaring in the sky. Of detectives, the diamond heist case. Of firemen, brave heroic acts.
Simple dreams. You remember.
The PA system blares. The sepulchral voice informs you that the next stop nears. Breaks your reverie. You mentally shake yourself. Scan the faces once more. Mother, lawyer, student, father, executive, retiree, lover, secretary, salesman. How many dreams have fallen by the wayside? How many forgotten? How many suddenly remembered, in a crowded train one Monday morning?
You remember.
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more, day by day,
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more, day by day,
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
- Christina Rossetti
Filed under: Personal, Musings
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Review: Jade Empire
I'm going to give in to the juvenile geek in me today and wax lyrical about Jade Empire, which in my opinion, is the best RPG on XBox today. XBox owners who do not own the game- get it. Get it now. Now.
Six Reasons Why Jade Empire Rocks:
1) Plot - JE has a plot that will beat the stuffing out of most movies in theatres now. A bunch of silly animals who break out of a zoo? Aliens from outer space? Two women who need psychiatric help? Men playing with long swords and possibly compensating for their lack of length in... nevermind.
Who needs those when you have a legend, deceit, betrayal, romance, action, suspense and the fate of an Empire unfolding on your TV screen?
Players can expect to be actively engaged in the storyline of JE. Like politicians' pasts, the deeper you dig, the more you uncover. The plot reveals itself slowly throughout the game, and many subplots will require that you work for them. To me, JE is the closest thing to a playable novel today, and the storyline will stay with me for quite a while.
Six Reasons Why Jade Empire Rocks:
1) Plot - JE has a plot that will beat the stuffing out of most movies in theatres now. A bunch of silly animals who break out of a zoo? Aliens from outer space? Two women who need psychiatric help? Men playing with long swords and possibly compensating for their lack of length in... nevermind.
Who needs those when you have a legend, deceit, betrayal, romance, action, suspense and the fate of an Empire unfolding on your TV screen?
Players can expect to be actively engaged in the storyline of JE. Like politicians' pasts, the deeper you dig, the more you uncover. The plot reveals itself slowly throughout the game, and many subplots will require that you work for them. To me, JE is the closest thing to a playable novel today, and the storyline will stay with me for quite a while.
Look, even superwoman needs to offload her dinner ok?
Can I help if I do it while breaking a little wind?
2) Dialogue/ Voice Acting - JE has some of the best voice acting I've heard. No funny accents or muffled speech. It's all SGEM-endorsed. The voice actors and actresses sound authentic and expressive, and budding linguists can even try their hand at deciphering a new language dubbed Tho Fan.
The dialogue and script is also of consistently high quality, and there's enough humour to crack you up... Don't miss the cook in Tien's Landing!
The dialogue and script is also of consistently high quality, and there's enough humour to crack you up... Don't miss the cook in Tien's Landing!
Neighbours from Hell... decked out in a tarzan loincloth.
And you thought your neighbours were bad.
3) Score - For a game, JE boasts a pretty impressive score that generously employs strings, woodwind, drums and cymbals with an Oriental flavour that suits the game to a T. Don't take my word for it... listen to the Jade Empire Theme (if it isn't, it bloody well should be) and turn up the volume:
Theme
(right-click and save as... this is the 3rd frigging mirror in 2 weeks!)
(right-click and save as... this is the 3rd frigging mirror in 2 weeks!)
Avid players of Jade Empire can find the music here. You might want to rip the wav files to mp3s though.
Update: The webpage which had the soundtrack previously has been taken down. Fortunately, Bioware's online store is retailing it, complete with exorbitant international shipping. Or you could content yourself with the main theme I have up there!
4) Graphics - See dust motes dance around you, bathed in the Empire's golden rays. Witness each blade of grass flutter in the wind, along with your sash. Experience the flight of water droplets and the fanning out of ripples as you tumble and fly over the stream. Marvel as your opponent spectacularly burn into a bah gwah crisp as you unleash your flame spell.
If you don't appreciate this level of beauty in a game, you either need a brain transplant or bifocals.
4) Graphics - See dust motes dance around you, bathed in the Empire's golden rays. Witness each blade of grass flutter in the wind, along with your sash. Experience the flight of water droplets and the fanning out of ripples as you tumble and fly over the stream. Marvel as your opponent spectacularly burn into a bah gwah crisp as you unleash your flame spell.
If you don't appreciate this level of beauty in a game, you either need a brain transplant or bifocals.
Err... I'm dressed like this cuz I wuz admirin'
the CGI! Honest!
5) Romance Subplots - With JE, you can try your hand at romance, whether you like the heterosexual variety or not. This subplot comes with a smooching scene (complete with the I'm-so-shy "under the eyelids" look from female characters) if you've played it the heterosexual way, and a black screen otherwise. I bet Dr. Balaji spoke to the game creators.
I realize romantic subplots in games have been done before, but I still get a kick out of pairing up my kickass heroine with the rascally rogue. Next time, who knows?
I realize romantic subplots in games have been done before, but I still get a kick out of pairing up my kickass heroine with the rascally rogue. Next time, who knows?
Your dashing hunk in service:
built like a bear and hung like a... er nevermind.
6) Fighting - Your character will leap, dodge, roll all over the screen as you gleefully sever body parts from hapless opponents. JE offers both cheesy skills and more balanced ones, so players can have it both ways.
Cheesy techniques will render opponents motionless for practically the entire battle, which sort of brings to mind the constituency elections in my neighbourhood - a total walkover.
The more adventurous player will find it fascinating to mix and match different balanced skills together during battles, amidst jumping around a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Lovers of gore and mayhem won't want to miss the harmonic combos, though they tend to make battles way too easy.
Hiiiiyyyahhh! Crouching Fox Leaping Player
Still here? Why are you not running to the store?
Filed under: Technology, Gaming, Picture
Friday, May 27, 2005
OSS = lOSS?
Forbes reports on the philosophy of Larry McVoy regarding Open Source Software.
The meat of the article boils down to this (the quotes are pieced together by me, and I've taken care not to mess with the context. Read the article to get the whole picture.) :
I've never been a huge fan of OSS (neither am I a huge fan of most 'big boys'), not for lofty reasons of innovation, but because I usually have to trawl the Internet for support and documentation. Take the introduction to Apache Struts for example:
Imagine coming into this website not knowing what the MVC pattern is (Gasp! Unforgiveable!). The API (non Javadoc version) isn't any better. This beans tags portion of the API, for example, nearly gave me heart failure back when I was attempting to learn Struts. They couldn't be more obscure and enigmatic if they tried.
If reading the official documentation doesn't help, then one turns to Google and begins trawling for relevant information in forums or web tutorials (Java Boutique is excellent by the way). Good luck to you too, if you ever need help desperately and post topics in forums just begging for someone to help you. It has never worked for me, not in time anyway. The concept of community support is fine and dandy, but expect to have to sift through useless replies and be prepared for a long wait.
I have to pick up JUnit extensions like DBUnit and HttpUnit during the internship, and am reliving the experience of :
FrustrationLevel myFrustrationLvl = new FrustrationLevel();
readOfficialDoc();
puke(True);
while (!projectDone) {
searchForums();
searchWebTuts();
trialAndErrorOnPC();
myFrustrationLvl.increment();
if (myFrustrationLvl.exceeds(CONSTANTS.MAX_TOLERANCE))
breakDownAndCry(True);
}
Not much fun, I assure you.
Granted, I haven't exactly tried the support provided by the 'big boys' so I may be biased. But at least most of the times, the library has relevant tomes of references on their products. Both the search engines for LINC and NLB laughed at me when I searched for DBUnit. This is not a fault of OSS for sure, but it's still an inconvience that some cannot put up with.
As for innovation, I think it can be achieved for a short while using the open source model, be it established firms or individuals who are doing the innovating. Whether or not innovation can be sustained in the long run, however, is fairly dubious. Like McVoy says:
Okay. Time for Microsoft to reward me for my subtle and backhanded endorsement.
Filed under: Article, Technology
The meat of the article boils down to this (the quotes are pieced together by me, and I've taken care not to mess with the context. Read the article to get the whole picture.) :
Linus Torvalds (of Linux fame)
"Open source actually builds on a base that works even without any commercial interest [which] is almost always secondary. The so-called 'big boys' come along only after the project has proven itself to be better than what those same big boys tried to do on their own. So don't fall into the trap of thinking that open source is dependent on the commercial interests."
Larry McVoy (of BitKeeper and Sun fame)
"Open source software is like handing you a doctor's bag and the architectural plans for a hospital and saying, 'Hey dude, if you have a heart attack, here are all the tools you need--and it's free'. I'd rather pay someone to take care of me.
The open source guys can scrape together enough resources to reverse engineer stuff. That's easy. It's way cheaper to reverse engineer something than to create something new. But if the world goes to 100% open source, innovation goes to zero.Try to name one significant thing--one innovative product--that has come out of Red Hat."
I've never been a huge fan of OSS (neither am I a huge fan of most 'big boys'), not for lofty reasons of innovation, but because I usually have to trawl the Internet for support and documentation. Take the introduction to Apache Struts for example:
Struts provides its own Controller component and integrates with other technologies to provide the Model and the View. For the Model, Struts can interact with standard data access technologies, like JDBC and EJB, as well as most any third-party packages, like Hibernate, iBATIS, or Object Relational Bridge. For the View, Struts works well with JavaServer Pages, including JSTL and JSF, as well as Velocity Templates, XSLT, and other presentation systems.
Imagine coming into this website not knowing what the MVC pattern is (Gasp! Unforgiveable!). The API (non Javadoc version) isn't any better. This beans tags portion of the API, for example, nearly gave me heart failure back when I was attempting to learn Struts. They couldn't be more obscure and enigmatic if they tried.
If reading the official documentation doesn't help, then one turns to Google and begins trawling for relevant information in forums or web tutorials (Java Boutique is excellent by the way). Good luck to you too, if you ever need help desperately and post topics in forums just begging for someone to help you. It has never worked for me, not in time anyway. The concept of community support is fine and dandy, but expect to have to sift through useless replies and be prepared for a long wait.
I have to pick up JUnit extensions like DBUnit and HttpUnit during the internship, and am reliving the experience of :
FrustrationLevel myFrustrationLvl = new FrustrationLevel();
readOfficialDoc();
puke(True);
while (!projectDone) {
searchForums();
searchWebTuts();
trialAndErrorOnPC();
myFrustrationLvl.increment();
if (myFrustrationLvl.exceeds(CONSTANTS.MAX_TOLERANCE))
breakDownAndCry(True);
}
Not much fun, I assure you.
Granted, I haven't exactly tried the support provided by the 'big boys' so I may be biased. But at least most of the times, the library has relevant tomes of references on their products. Both the search engines for LINC and NLB laughed at me when I searched for DBUnit. This is not a fault of OSS for sure, but it's still an inconvience that some cannot put up with.
As for innovation, I think it can be achieved for a short while using the open source model, be it established firms or individuals who are doing the innovating. Whether or not innovation can be sustained in the long run, however, is fairly dubious. Like McVoy says:
"It costs a huge amount of money to develop a single innovative software product. You have to have a business model that will let you recoup those costs. [..] Show me how to build a software-development house and fund it off open source revenue. My claim is it can't be done." "Hear hear.
Okay. Time for Microsoft to reward me for my subtle and backhanded endorsement.
Filed under: Article, Technology
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Erection Noises
Any live demonstrations huh?
Our town council is extremely considerate. They know such scintillating noises can be extremely distracting and hazardous to the blood pressure of those in the vicinity. So please, Mr. Contractor, lower your noise level.
You don't want to see this headline in the papers:
Contractor Fined for Failing to Minimize Noise during Erection
Filed under: Humour, Picture
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
A*STAR and Anarchy
On this rainy and dreary morning, a letter in the Forum section of ST woke me up. Its title read:
There! I thought. Someone has come forward to lambast a certain chairman for his high-handed tactics and dubious comments... and ST actually published the letter!
Right. If something is too good to be true, it probably isn't.
The letter was actually about The AcidFlask Incident. For those who have been hiding in a cave... on Pluto... and was totally comatose, AcidFlask was threatened with a libel lawsuit by the chairman of A*STAR, who wanted him to remove certain posts from his blog.
One matter to clarify:
Call me pedantic, but this makes a big difference.
Mr. Ho continues to write:
The larger issue here is not of veracity and truthfulness in speech or writing. To focus solely on this trivializes the debate and ignores the point that many are trying to make. Did Chris Choo not realize that there should be "a care for truth" when people speak or write? I don't think so. Ironically enough, Choo's original letter to the ST includes the phrase "missing the woods for the trees", which is what I feel Mr. Ho has done.
It is not merely speaking with "a care for truth" that determines how civil a society is- it is also important to gauge how we react to alleged misrepresentations of the truth. Do we litigate at the first opportunity available? Do we browbeat dissenters into submission? Do we withhold information from the public because libel cannot be repeated (I'm no lawyer, but Google turns out nothing on this)?
Litigation at the first possible opportunity is a knee-jerk reaction that is reminiscent of authoritarianism. Browbeating convinces nobody that your standpoint is right. Withholding information creates more ambiguity and robs the public of the ability to judge for themselves what was truthful and what was not, the effect of which is further exacerbated when the apology itself is more well-publicised by the agency than the specific reasons for litigation. The end result is that AcidFlask is unfairly associated with an entire letter on anarchy, even when Mr. Ho admits he is "not privy to the exchange" but still sees fit to insinuate who was in the wrong.
Innocent until proven guilty? Apparently not.
Finally, Mr. Ho writes:
There are many ways to raise a voice- decibels is but one measure. [full letter found in the comments of this post]
Filed under: Singapore, Politics
THE A*STAR SAGA
Anarchy if people speak without a care for truth
There! I thought. Someone has come forward to lambast a certain chairman for his high-handed tactics and dubious comments... and ST actually published the letter!
Right. If something is too good to be true, it probably isn't.
The letter was actually about The AcidFlask Incident. For those who have been hiding in a cave... on Pluto... and was totally comatose, AcidFlask was threatened with a libel lawsuit by the chairman of A*STAR, who wanted him to remove certain posts from his blog.
One matter to clarify:
As far as I know of, the libel lawsuit itself was the "opportunity" for AcidFlask to apologize and remove his posts. Mr. William Ho's letter appears to imply that the lawsuit threat came after a recalcitrant apology by AcidFlask, who was originally given an "opportunity", by means other than a lawsuit threat, to make an apology....it appears that he was given an opportunity to make an apology. The initial apology was considered inadequate by A*Star and the threat of a libel lawsuit persuaded him to make an unreserved apology.
Call me pedantic, but this makes a big difference.
Mr. Ho continues to write:
Freedom of expression must be accompanied by a responsibility to have your facts correct, and, if they are proven otherwise, to have the maturity to admit you are wrong, make an unreserved apology and move on.
It will be total anarchy if we have freedom of speech without the need to speak the truth. Every individual has a right to his opinion, but no individual has a right to be wrong in his facts.
The larger issue here is not of veracity and truthfulness in speech or writing. To focus solely on this trivializes the debate and ignores the point that many are trying to make. Did Chris Choo not realize that there should be "a care for truth" when people speak or write? I don't think so. Ironically enough, Choo's original letter to the ST includes the phrase "missing the woods for the trees", which is what I feel Mr. Ho has done.
It is not merely speaking with "a care for truth" that determines how civil a society is- it is also important to gauge how we react to alleged misrepresentations of the truth. Do we litigate at the first opportunity available? Do we browbeat dissenters into submission? Do we withhold information from the public because libel cannot be repeated (I'm no lawyer, but Google turns out nothing on this)?
Litigation at the first possible opportunity is a knee-jerk reaction that is reminiscent of authoritarianism. Browbeating convinces nobody that your standpoint is right. Withholding information creates more ambiguity and robs the public of the ability to judge for themselves what was truthful and what was not, the effect of which is further exacerbated when the apology itself is more well-publicised by the agency than the specific reasons for litigation. The end result is that AcidFlask is unfairly associated with an entire letter on anarchy, even when Mr. Ho admits he is "not privy to the exchange" but still sees fit to insinuate who was in the wrong.
Innocent until proven guilty? Apparently not.
Finally, Mr. Ho writes:
Nothing lowers the level of conversation more than raising the voice.
There are many ways to raise a voice- decibels is but one measure. [full letter found in the comments of this post]
Filed under: Singapore, Politics
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
The Difference in an "A"
I received an alert email from the system administrator today. Part of it reads:
AdAware must be utterly crushed to be classified as an adware, which are their mortal enemies no less. Oh the irony.
Filed under: Humour, Technology
2) Spyware removal tool must be installed. We do not have an official spyware removal tool. I would recommend adware downloadable from www.lavasoft.com...
(emphasis mine)
AdAware must be utterly crushed to be classified as an adware, which are their mortal enemies no less. Oh the irony.
Filed under: Humour, Technology
Monday, May 23, 2005
ST and Ms. Chng
I have been getting lots of googles from people looking on more information on Ms. Chng Zhenzhi. For those interested in the original Sunday Times article where Ms. Chng's remarks originally appeared, you may get the photo archive (of the article, not the woman) by emailing me within the next seven days, until 30th May 2005. Yes. Limited time period offer only.
SingaporeInk has the relevant portion of the article from Sunday Times, 22nd May, in which Ms. Chng clarifies her words. Piecing and matching together what was written in the two articles can be quite a piece of work.
22nd May:
15th May:
"They" in the 15th May article appears to refer to Singapore males, and is in direct contradiction with her later words, since it obviously is a generalization which includes "every male scholar" she knows. "Minute things" and "private things" are also entirely different. I wouldn't use the former as a replacement term for the latter when I don't wish to "expatiate", but maybe that's just me. Furthermore "voic[ing] their opinions and displeasure" sounds like a euphemism for whining and complaining, which was the entire point of the 22nd May article.
22nd May:
15th May:
Although the 15th May article indeed provides no example that Ms. Chng cited to support her point, her words were nonetheless clearly a generalization. Perhaps she was quoted out of context, but it is rather hard to see how she can say what she said on 15th May and still claim to have "stated explicitly and repeatedly that [she] did not wish to generalise".
A victim of sensationalism by Sunday Times, or a woman who can't make up her mind and is backpeddaling? We may never know. Rereading the 15th May article, I remain convinced that Ms. Chng's words were not quoted entirely out of context, though I am extremely certain ST did some creative finangling of their own, in their inimitable journalistic style.
22nd May:
Quoted accurately? Maybe. But like what Jeff Gates said, "context, context, context".
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics
SingaporeInk has the relevant portion of the article from Sunday Times, 22nd May, in which Ms. Chng clarifies her words. Piecing and matching together what was written in the two articles can be quite a piece of work.
22nd May:
I said “they are fine until they enter national service”, in response to a question about whether I find Singapore men whiny. My point was that the only occasions I noticed whining was when they were talking about their national service experiences. When asked what they complained about, I said “minute things” as I did not wish to expatiate on what they had shared.
I did not imply that every male scholar I know has whined about national service. Nor did I say it was unacceptable for national servicemen to voice their opinions or displeasure.
15th May:
Once they enter NS, they complain a lot. I didn't know that guys could talk about the most minute things.
"They" in the 15th May article appears to refer to Singapore males, and is in direct contradiction with her later words, since it obviously is a generalization which includes "every male scholar" she knows. "Minute things" and "private things" are also entirely different. I wouldn't use the former as a replacement term for the latter when I don't wish to "expatiate", but maybe that's just me. Furthermore "voic[ing] their opinions and displeasure" sounds like a euphemism for whining and complaining, which was the entire point of the 22nd May article.
22nd May:
When asked if male scholars are easily bullied by female scholars, I said I did not have any example to justify such a statement. [...] I stated explicitly and repeatedly that I did not wish to generalise.
15th May:
It's quite obvious that the female scholars are more aggressive, Type-A, go-getting types, while the males are more soft-spoken and tend to be easily bullied by females.
Although the 15th May article indeed provides no example that Ms. Chng cited to support her point, her words were nonetheless clearly a generalization. Perhaps she was quoted out of context, but it is rather hard to see how she can say what she said on 15th May and still claim to have "stated explicitly and repeatedly that [she] did not wish to generalise".
A victim of sensationalism by Sunday Times, or a woman who can't make up her mind and is backpeddaling? We may never know. Rereading the 15th May article, I remain convinced that Ms. Chng's words were not quoted entirely out of context, though I am extremely certain ST did some creative finangling of their own, in their inimitable journalistic style.
22nd May:
Editor's Note: Ms Chng was quoted accurately by our reporter, and an A*Star official said as much in a conversation with the reporter after the remarks were published.
Quoted accurately? Maybe. But like what Jeff Gates said, "context, context, context".
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Olympus No More
My Olympus Camedia has gone bonkers. I think it's something to do with the lens, because all I'm seeing on the lcd screen is pink/ black/ blue noise. Take a shot, and it turns out like a funky seismograph resplendent with streaks of color.
Kinda prettee, except if it appears on your digicam screen
I've been trying to google the problem/ solution, and it seems I'm not the only one having this problem. That's not my camera model, and my camera hasn't "hung" or anything like that, but I went through practically the same sequence. The batteries died halfway through a shot and the whole camera froze. Swopped out the batteries and fed in new ones, and it whirred happily again. Four days later, this. Not feeling terribly happy about spending money to fix it (I maintained it so well too!), but then, I'm seldom thrilled at unplanned expenses.
Considering the cost of the camera ($500) and the (pathetic) number of photographs I've taken with it (100?), each photo costs about $5, minus the printing fees. I may just have earned myself the dubious honor of shooting the most costly amateur prints in Singapore.
What kind of stupid flaw is this anyway? Consider a mobile phone. Does it conk out on you totally if you're halfway on a call and the battery goes flat? No. What about a laptop? Does it self-destruct if the battery gets dry while you're using it? No. What about a car? No. The same concept apparently does not apply to my Camedia, since it's now deader than a jurassic dinosaur blast into orbit around Pluto.
Wherefore art thou...
...expatatlarge?
One of my favourite reads seems to have gone offline, after one last post (I believe) on Pharma Quackery.
Hm.
Forgot to pay domain/ hosting fees is it!?
One of my favourite reads seems to have gone offline, after one last post (I believe) on Pharma Quackery.
Hm.
Forgot to pay domain/ hosting fees is it!?
Friday, May 20, 2005
Look Who's Talking Now?
The Straits Times is amusing. It really is. 2 days after this:
we get this:
Well, I'll be! Could the use of Singlish here be an odious ploy to get closer to the hoi polloi reading the Life section? Never let it be said that ST is waffling! No! Other low-class papers waffle... not ST. It is Singapore's print bastion of anti-"demotive" English!
This must clearly be a typo. It's my civic duty to write to them and correct their costly Singlish. Yes I must. This is causing our economy to slow down to 2.5%-4.5% growth afterall. Can't let that happen.
Note: Excuse the lousy shots. My Camedia has conked out.
The (Alleged) Man Behind the Hike
Golden Village MD Kenneth Tan describes the cinema business as "thriving", while being complained of announcing a cinema ticket pricing hike despite a unanimous board decision to the contrary. This, everyone, is the alleged person responsible for the $8.50 we pay to watch a movie.
Although cinema and public transport is different in nature, it's refreshing to know that I'm paying more not because pricing has remained unchanged over blahblahblah years. Ah. Profits.
Oh by the way, I'm trying something new and the image below is mounted on a flash whiteboard (image courtesy of ST). Feel free to be creative and scribble on it. Although not a built-in function, screenshots are welcome. =) Be nice and don't diss the nice man. I mean it!
Like so:
Although cinema and public transport is different in nature, it's refreshing to know that I'm paying more not because pricing has remained unchanged over blahblahblah years. Ah. Profits.
Oh by the way, I'm trying something new and the image below is mounted on a flash whiteboard (image courtesy of ST). Feel free to be creative and scribble on it. Although not a built-in function, screenshots are welcome. =) Be nice and don't diss the nice man. I mean it!
Like so:
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
SGEM: The ST Salvo
Today's ST editorial ("High cost of Singlish", Straits Times, May 18, 2005) is a glowing tribute to the recently launched Speak Good English Movement (SGEM). It lauds the organizers for adopting an "educational approach" by convincing Singaporeans that "good English is an economic necessity".
Economic survival aside, the editorial argues against Singlish (Colloquial Singapore English or CSE) as a cultural identity in two ways:
A) CSE fails as a communication tool because non-Singaporeans and some Singaporeans do not understand it.
B) CSE is a "crippling identity", analogical to spitting and addiction, and should be consigned to history rather than adopted.
Using these two lines of arguments, they conclude that Singapore will be made the better if CSE is literally fined out of existence.
The editorial's arguments are problematic and, to use their own adjective, "juvenile". The first argument that CSE is unintelligible conveniently glosses over three pertinent facts. First of all, no single language, not even English, can claim to be understood by everyone in the world. This is a measure of our diversity, not a fault of CSE. Secondly, no single language, not even English, is understood by everyone in Singapore. Again, this is born out of our diversity, proudly touted by STB whenever it suits them. Going by these two criteria, no single language (save perhaps Mathematics) can be safely adopted as ST's favoured language. Finally, the point that all non-Singaporeans do not understand CSE is a gross misrepresentation. A large number of non-local English language authors have studied and used CSE in textbook illustrations and academics, showing a deeper understanding of CSE than most Singaporeans.
We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. - Kofi Annan
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics, Language
Economic survival aside, the editorial argues against Singlish (Colloquial Singapore English or CSE) as a cultural identity in two ways:
A) CSE fails as a communication tool because non-Singaporeans and some Singaporeans do not understand it.
B) CSE is a "crippling identity", analogical to spitting and addiction, and should be consigned to history rather than adopted.
Using these two lines of arguments, they conclude that Singapore will be made the better if CSE is literally fined out of existence.
The editorial's arguments are problematic and, to use their own adjective, "juvenile". The first argument that CSE is unintelligible conveniently glosses over three pertinent facts. First of all, no single language, not even English, can claim to be understood by everyone in the world. This is a measure of our diversity, not a fault of CSE. Secondly, no single language, not even English, is understood by everyone in Singapore. Again, this is born out of our diversity, proudly touted by STB whenever it suits them. Going by these two criteria, no single language (save perhaps Mathematics) can be safely adopted as ST's favoured language. Finally, the point that all non-Singaporeans do not understand CSE is a gross misrepresentation. A large number of non-local English language authors have studied and used CSE in textbook illustrations and academics, showing a deeper understanding of CSE than most Singaporeans.
Furthermore, in their zeal to paint CSE an unsavoury variant, ST also makes the mistake of generalizing Singaporeans as insipid simpletons who fail to realize that CSE cannot be used as a communication tool. Perhaps the editors should pay closer attention to blogs like mrbrown.com and myveryownglob to judge for themselves the level of misunderstanding that is obviously running rampant (ST does not have permission to quote this line out of context. I was being sarcastic, and sarcasm is a literary tool ST chooses to ignore all too often for its own convenience). We do not need a paper to tell us that a language cannot be understood among ourselves. Language is not garbage that must be collected by garbage collectors. Should a language become unintelligible among speakers, changes will be initiated regardless of ST's participation.
The second argument that ST raises rests on the assumption that CSE is a "crippling identity". This is purely subjective and of no import to most Singaporeans (do you buy ST for demonstrations of erudite thought processes?). Many bloggers for example, believe that ST is also a "crippling identity" of Singapore, and yet here it still is. The analogies (CSE to Singaporeans, addiction to drug addicts, spitting to Singapreans) are amusing, but serve no larger purpose other than to cloud the issue at hand. More unique identities can be raised (AmE to Americans, BrE to Britons, all-white to PAP, questionable to ST) but similarly do not really make an argument to eradicate CSE. This is simply because at the core of these analogies is a subjective judgement. Think all-white is pure? Then it's a usable identity. All-white reminds you of panty-liners? Then it's a crippling identity. What has this to do with SGEM and CSE, except that we now know certain ST editors think of CSE as panty-liners? There you go, you've been given a first-hand demonstration at the questionable value of analogical arguments.
Ultimately, English and CSE will have to come to terms. CSE is here to stay, something even ST admits it unwillingly. This should be the starting point of a SGEM. Globalisation is a fact and English is its medium now. Singaporeans have to speak and learn the language well, but in the words of Chinua Achebe, I hope we will not ever learn to use it like a native speaker and lose the ability of speaking CSE. Maybe one day in the distant future, if we are so fortunate, people all over the world will fully understand and be comfortable as I am in saying "You see there, got, got". [previous post on SGEM]
The second argument that ST raises rests on the assumption that CSE is a "crippling identity". This is purely subjective and of no import to most Singaporeans (do you buy ST for demonstrations of erudite thought processes?). Many bloggers for example, believe that ST is also a "crippling identity" of Singapore, and yet here it still is. The analogies (CSE to Singaporeans, addiction to drug addicts, spitting to Singapreans) are amusing, but serve no larger purpose other than to cloud the issue at hand. More unique identities can be raised (AmE to Americans, BrE to Britons, all-white to PAP, questionable to ST) but similarly do not really make an argument to eradicate CSE. This is simply because at the core of these analogies is a subjective judgement. Think all-white is pure? Then it's a usable identity. All-white reminds you of panty-liners? Then it's a crippling identity. What has this to do with SGEM and CSE, except that we now know certain ST editors think of CSE as panty-liners? There you go, you've been given a first-hand demonstration at the questionable value of analogical arguments.
Ultimately, English and CSE will have to come to terms. CSE is here to stay, something even ST admits it unwillingly. This should be the starting point of a SGEM. Globalisation is a fact and English is its medium now. Singaporeans have to speak and learn the language well, but in the words of Chinua Achebe, I hope we will not ever learn to use it like a native speaker and lose the ability of speaking CSE. Maybe one day in the distant future, if we are so fortunate, people all over the world will fully understand and be comfortable as I am in saying "You see there, got, got". [previous post on SGEM]
We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. - Kofi Annan
We must ensure that the global market is embedded in broadly shared values and practices that reflect global social needs, and that all the world's people share the benefits of globalization. - Kofi Annan
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics, Language
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Tykes on Train
On the oh-so-crowded train back from work today, I met a family of 4. The mother was handling her sons, the elder of which was clearly super active. He was bouncing up and down, knocking on the window pane, disturbing his somewhat traumatized younger brother and chattering like a veteran talkshow host at 200 words a minute. He even had his own catchphrase.
"Is it me?"
To which his mom will reply "Yes, it's you!", all the while beaming and bouncing the younger son on her lap.
Her grin was disarming.
It's rare that I see such unbridled laughter and joy on a mom's face, complete with two squabbling and lively kids. Had she yelled threats or spanked them, I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. What threw me off, really threw me off, was how genuinely she seemed to be enjoying her kids and their antics, even on a crowded train full of bleary-eyed commuters who find it all too easy to frown on an almost boisterous kid at the end of a workday.
The bond between mother and children was palpable enough to lift my spirits, and made me forget about reconfiguring, refactoring and synchronizing projects across three PCs.
Two stops away from my station, little bro informed his mom that he had to pee. Unperturbed and with the precision of a drill sergeant, the mom reached underneath her seat for a small backpack, single-handedly dug out a diaper, pulled little bro's shorts down and fastened on the diaper. All in the matter of seconds. This was when I realized the man beside the mom was the dad, for he was totally quiet and motionless up till now, even when the mom could use some help slapping on the diapers.
"I thought I told you to go to the toilet just now?!" He said sternly and clenched his jaws, frowning like a man who'd just realized he' d made edits on an out-of-date CVS code. "How come now need to urine again?!?"
"I went just now already..."
"Then you tell me why you need to urine again?"
"I don't know... But I really went just now..."
And in the distance, I swear I could hear Mr. Philip Yeo snap "Stop your whining boy!".
The mom smoothed things out quickly with enviable finesse and skill. Little bro, having performed his business and none the worse for wear, happily stuck his thumb into his mouth and poked his brother, who turned around and sprayed saliva over his nemesis, illiciting an indignant "Hey!" from the mom due to collateral damage.
Peace, then the grin again.
"Is it me?"
To which his mom will reply "Yes, it's you!", all the while beaming and bouncing the younger son on her lap.
Her grin was disarming.
It's rare that I see such unbridled laughter and joy on a mom's face, complete with two squabbling and lively kids. Had she yelled threats or spanked them, I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. What threw me off, really threw me off, was how genuinely she seemed to be enjoying her kids and their antics, even on a crowded train full of bleary-eyed commuters who find it all too easy to frown on an almost boisterous kid at the end of a workday.
The bond between mother and children was palpable enough to lift my spirits, and made me forget about reconfiguring, refactoring and synchronizing projects across three PCs.
Two stops away from my station, little bro informed his mom that he had to pee. Unperturbed and with the precision of a drill sergeant, the mom reached underneath her seat for a small backpack, single-handedly dug out a diaper, pulled little bro's shorts down and fastened on the diaper. All in the matter of seconds. This was when I realized the man beside the mom was the dad, for he was totally quiet and motionless up till now, even when the mom could use some help slapping on the diapers.
"I thought I told you to go to the toilet just now?!" He said sternly and clenched his jaws, frowning like a man who'd just realized he' d made edits on an out-of-date CVS code. "How come now need to urine again?!?"
"I went just now already..."
"Then you tell me why you need to urine again?"
"I don't know... But I really went just now..."
And in the distance, I swear I could hear Mr. Philip Yeo snap "Stop your whining boy!".
The mom smoothed things out quickly with enviable finesse and skill. Little bro, having performed his business and none the worse for wear, happily stuck his thumb into his mouth and poked his brother, who turned around and sprayed saliva over his nemesis, illiciting an indignant "Hey!" from the mom due to collateral damage.
Peace, then the grin again.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Twin Links
Link 1: CNET reports on university majors in game development (direct link to programme here).
According to the University of Denver, the curriculum aims to teach a mesh of programming, design and art skills and involves:
NUS has yet to catch on to this trend, which is purported to be similar to trend in the establishment of film schools. Considering how late a programme in Theatre Studies was introducted in NUS, I wouldn't be that all surprised if the degree in game development got introduced together with XBox 1440 (or XBox 4). There is hope though, since SOC is already offering a grand total of one module in game development, CS4213. Since the titles of the major (by DU) and the module (by NUS) are the same, it makes me wonder how useful CS4213 actually is, short (12 weeks compared to 4 years) as it is.
George Lucas should do something about this. I imagine that he commands enough clout with the government by opening Lucasfilm Animation Singapore.
Link 2: ZDNet pulls off a reversal and writes about the top 10 peeves of tech support. Very true, even though I've never officially been tech support.
According to the University of Denver, the curriculum aims to teach a mesh of programming, design and art skills and involves:
"Interactive graphics/animation programming, game design, computer audio design, drawing, sculpture, color theory, narrative storytelling, and critical game studies."
NUS has yet to catch on to this trend, which is purported to be similar to trend in the establishment of film schools. Considering how late a programme in Theatre Studies was introducted in NUS, I wouldn't be that all surprised if the degree in game development got introduced together with XBox 1440 (or XBox 4). There is hope though, since SOC is already offering a grand total of one module in game development, CS4213. Since the titles of the major (by DU) and the module (by NUS) are the same, it makes me wonder how useful CS4213 actually is, short (12 weeks compared to 4 years) as it is.
George Lucas should do something about this. I imagine that he commands enough clout with the government by opening Lucasfilm Animation Singapore.
Link 2: ZDNet pulls off a reversal and writes about the top 10 peeves of tech support. Very true, even though I've never officially been tech support.
4. Being treated like a user by tech support from another company.
I dread problems that result in a call to the manufacturer’s tech support department. I will experiment, read manuals, Google the error message, and sacrifice chickens on the keyboard before I will call a tech support number for a problem I can’t resolve. My pride simply can’t handle answering the most basic questions: Have you checked that the printer is in fact plugged in and turned on? ARRRGGGH. Get me out of here. Please, please, please, put me straight through to your highest support level because I can guarantee that I have tried everything you are going to suggest at least three times. Oh wait, never mind, the power strip was turned off….
See see? Next time I call tech support, I will make sure I report my line of work/ profession so that I am not asked stupid questions like "Are you sure you are running Windows XP?" (<- Singnet), humility be damned.
No, my laptop is sitting on my desk and not running anywhere!
Sunday, May 15, 2005
The Philip Yeo Fracas
My impression of Philip Yeo has dropped to a new low. By all accounts in the Straits Times, the man has a serious chip on his shoulder. All quotes below are from Straits Times May 15, 2005.
a) After musing about discriminating against Singapore males, he makes a half-hearted, reserved u-turn:
A week ago: "I don't want whining Singapore boys. They are not mature even though they have NS and are over 22 years old when they take up undergraduate studies."
May 7, 2005: "Maybe I should give more scholarships to non-Singaporeans who are bright, eager and hungry, and then help them get Singapore passports. The rest, I give to the A-level girls at 19 years old."
May 15, 2005: A*Star scholars are selected entirely on their merits. "I was pinpointing only the immature, whiny boys."
Either Straits Times has quoted him out of context (surprise surprise), or Mr. Yeo is slightly confused. When the chairman of the agency is considering excluding Singapore "boys", how is he going to select scholars "based entirely on their merits"? The reversal on May 15 does not clarify the matter, unless by merits Mr. Yeo means "certain Singaporeans without an out-hanging reproductive appendage".
b) On refuting arguments that paper qualifications aren't everything, Mr. Yeo again chooses to be sweeping in his examples, on top of seemingly contradicting his earlier views.
Nov 2002: "Would you want to be treated by a medical school dropout? Would you take a 'new' cancer drug developed by a biomedical sciences college dropout?"
In the same vein, I ask "Would you want to be treated by a brilliant biomedical researcher who boasts of a 'new' drug tried and tested illegally on humans without regard for testing safety?" It would be worrisome if the chairman of A*Star thinks the answer is yes.
Feb 1997: "I want brave young men and women who can ski, windsurf and jump from planes... We should not have first-class scholars looking like water lilies. If they come back all looking the same, like yellowish bookworms, then Singapore will become a library, not a nation."
If paper qualifications are everything, as Nov 2002 quote appears to suggest, then first-class scholars with first-class degress can have the personalities of water lilies or even Jabba the Hutt for all Mr. Yeo cares. Wanting scholars to be well-rounded is a tacit admission that paper qualifications are not everything, unless there are universities that award degrees on skiing, windsurfing and jumping from planes.
Want Arnold Schwarzenegger types? Then Singapore will become a Hollywood movie, not a nation.
c) His views on whining and whiners are amazingly paradoxical.
"Complain in a feeble or petulant way? That's not my style. When I see a problem, I define it. I speak out and fix it."
Since he clearly believes that "whining Singapore boys" are a problem, how does Mr. Yeo propose to fix it? By making broad and unproven claims about the problem to the national paper and musing aloud if he should exclude Singapore males from the A*Star scholarship selection process? Is that what is meant by speaking out and fixing the problem? Amazing logic. Maybe Mr. Yeo thinks differently, but I would classify this as a "hit and run", not much different from bond breakers who break their contracts rather than solve their scholarship problems.
Since it is Mr. Philip Yeo that I'm writing about, it will probably be apropos to add that all my judgements were based on the Straits Times article, which as far as I am concerned, may not be the most reliable source of information.
For example, the idiot paper mistook Singapore Ink as a blogger, although it is clear as day on the main page that it is a blog maintained by four writers. (update: Singapore Ink is irate) Not surprising then, how they can take an entire quote out of context, and make the "blogger" sound as sweeping as Mr. Yeo.
Straits Times then proceeded to quote a certain Ms. Chng Zhenzhi, who represents the female side of the sweeping argument trilogy. Her words are so full of holes and sweeping that I shan't even bother reproducing or countering them. I suspect "O" level candidates can rip holes into her arguments faster than Straits Times can quote their sources out of context. Perhaps she has been quoted out of context as well, although I doubt it, considering the length of her quotes. Since women scholars are purported to be problem solvers, perhaps Ms. Chng would like to solve this problem of post-NS whiners, rather than committing herself to sweeping statements that make a mockery of her public-funded education.
People tend to start spouting nonsense when they don't think before they say, when they don't realize that they don't automatically deserve credence just because of their upcoming admission to Harvard Medical School.
Update 1: News article quoting PM Lee as saying "We must consciously minimise the social distance between those at the top and the general population". Is this done by having "top" scholars and the Chairman of a scholarship agency declare approximately 1/2 the local population "whiners" and "wimps"?
"We dress down; we do not wear expensive designer suits; and we have our meals in hawker centres. We must maintain this informal tone in order to keep this an egalitarian society."
Maybe "we" shouldn't make sweeping statements or cast gender aspersions as well.
Update 2: Young PAP picks up the discussion.
Update 3: TalkingCock reports large increases in sex change operations.
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics
a) After musing about discriminating against Singapore males, he makes a half-hearted, reserved u-turn:
A week ago: "I don't want whining Singapore boys. They are not mature even though they have NS and are over 22 years old when they take up undergraduate studies."
May 7, 2005: "Maybe I should give more scholarships to non-Singaporeans who are bright, eager and hungry, and then help them get Singapore passports. The rest, I give to the A-level girls at 19 years old."
May 15, 2005: A*Star scholars are selected entirely on their merits. "I was pinpointing only the immature, whiny boys."
Either Straits Times has quoted him out of context (surprise surprise), or Mr. Yeo is slightly confused. When the chairman of the agency is considering excluding Singapore "boys", how is he going to select scholars "based entirely on their merits"? The reversal on May 15 does not clarify the matter, unless by merits Mr. Yeo means "certain Singaporeans without an out-hanging reproductive appendage".
b) On refuting arguments that paper qualifications aren't everything, Mr. Yeo again chooses to be sweeping in his examples, on top of seemingly contradicting his earlier views.
Nov 2002: "Would you want to be treated by a medical school dropout? Would you take a 'new' cancer drug developed by a biomedical sciences college dropout?"
In the same vein, I ask "Would you want to be treated by a brilliant biomedical researcher who boasts of a 'new' drug tried and tested illegally on humans without regard for testing safety?" It would be worrisome if the chairman of A*Star thinks the answer is yes.
Feb 1997: "I want brave young men and women who can ski, windsurf and jump from planes... We should not have first-class scholars looking like water lilies. If they come back all looking the same, like yellowish bookworms, then Singapore will become a library, not a nation."
If paper qualifications are everything, as Nov 2002 quote appears to suggest, then first-class scholars with first-class degress can have the personalities of water lilies or even Jabba the Hutt for all Mr. Yeo cares. Wanting scholars to be well-rounded is a tacit admission that paper qualifications are not everything, unless there are universities that award degrees on skiing, windsurfing and jumping from planes.
Want Arnold Schwarzenegger types? Then Singapore will become a Hollywood movie, not a nation.
c) His views on whining and whiners are amazingly paradoxical.
"Complain in a feeble or petulant way? That's not my style. When I see a problem, I define it. I speak out and fix it."
Since he clearly believes that "whining Singapore boys" are a problem, how does Mr. Yeo propose to fix it? By making broad and unproven claims about the problem to the national paper and musing aloud if he should exclude Singapore males from the A*Star scholarship selection process? Is that what is meant by speaking out and fixing the problem? Amazing logic. Maybe Mr. Yeo thinks differently, but I would classify this as a "hit and run", not much different from bond breakers who break their contracts rather than solve their scholarship problems.
Since it is Mr. Philip Yeo that I'm writing about, it will probably be apropos to add that all my judgements were based on the Straits Times article, which as far as I am concerned, may not be the most reliable source of information.
For example, the idiot paper mistook Singapore Ink as a blogger, although it is clear as day on the main page that it is a blog maintained by four writers. (update: Singapore Ink is irate) Not surprising then, how they can take an entire quote out of context, and make the "blogger" sound as sweeping as Mr. Yeo.
Straits Times then proceeded to quote a certain Ms. Chng Zhenzhi, who represents the female side of the sweeping argument trilogy. Her words are so full of holes and sweeping that I shan't even bother reproducing or countering them. I suspect "O" level candidates can rip holes into her arguments faster than Straits Times can quote their sources out of context. Perhaps she has been quoted out of context as well, although I doubt it, considering the length of her quotes. Since women scholars are purported to be problem solvers, perhaps Ms. Chng would like to solve this problem of post-NS whiners, rather than committing herself to sweeping statements that make a mockery of her public-funded education.
People tend to start spouting nonsense when they don't think before they say, when they don't realize that they don't automatically deserve credence just because of their upcoming admission to Harvard Medical School.
Update 1: News article quoting PM Lee as saying "We must consciously minimise the social distance between those at the top and the general population". Is this done by having "top" scholars and the Chairman of a scholarship agency declare approximately 1/2 the local population "whiners" and "wimps"?
"We dress down; we do not wear expensive designer suits; and we have our meals in hawker centres. We must maintain this informal tone in order to keep this an egalitarian society."
Maybe "we" shouldn't make sweeping statements or cast gender aspersions as well.
Update 2: Young PAP picks up the discussion.
Update 3: TalkingCock reports large increases in sex change operations.
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Speak Good English Movement: Gem or Sham?
The Speak Good English Movement has begun again, aiming to help Singaporeans "be more confident in using proper English so that they can be better understood".
PM Lee launched the campaign, encouraging Singaporeans to "consciously use full sentences, with proper sentence structure, at home, work and social gatherings".
I cringed while reading the report in Straits Times, not because I disagree with the need for Singaporeans to have a sound grasp of good English, but because I found the exclusive dichotomy set up between Standard English and Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) extremely objectionable.
Before going into that, these are the points in the article which I found objectionable:
a) "It is useful to speak proper English all the time than to speak sloppily most of the time and then switch to proper English on formal occasions."
There should not be a judgement call ("speak sloppily") associated to CSE. Show me a non-local who says all it requires is to master CSE in everyday speech is to speak sloppily, and I'll show you his knowledge of CSE is incomplete. This is probably a thinly-veiled attempt at elevating Standard English at the expense of CSE, which is underhanded if you ask me.
Furthermore, such switching between tongues is not very much different from switching from Mandarin to English since both languages have their own lexis and grammar. If bilinguals can switch between both with ease, then so can we switch between Standard English and CSE. Suggesting otherwise implies that everyone in the world should speak in one language only, since by that logic, it's far easier than having different languages getting in the fray. Yet this form of language nazism is clearly ludicrous.
b) PM Lee suggested that pop songs, hip hop or rap can be used as a medium for teaching English.
Many English hip hop or rap songs do not use Standard English, assuming we are using either standard American or British English as the standard. Many of such songs, if I am not wrong, are popularized by African Americans, who use their own brand of English. As an example, sample the lyrics from the song Do It Like Me by 50 cents:
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics, Language
PM Lee launched the campaign, encouraging Singaporeans to "consciously use full sentences, with proper sentence structure, at home, work and social gatherings".
I cringed while reading the report in Straits Times, not because I disagree with the need for Singaporeans to have a sound grasp of good English, but because I found the exclusive dichotomy set up between Standard English and Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) extremely objectionable.
Before going into that, these are the points in the article which I found objectionable:
a) "It is useful to speak proper English all the time than to speak sloppily most of the time and then switch to proper English on formal occasions."
There should not be a judgement call ("speak sloppily") associated to CSE. Show me a non-local who says all it requires is to master CSE in everyday speech is to speak sloppily, and I'll show you his knowledge of CSE is incomplete. This is probably a thinly-veiled attempt at elevating Standard English at the expense of CSE, which is underhanded if you ask me.
Furthermore, such switching between tongues is not very much different from switching from Mandarin to English since both languages have their own lexis and grammar. If bilinguals can switch between both with ease, then so can we switch between Standard English and CSE. Suggesting otherwise implies that everyone in the world should speak in one language only, since by that logic, it's far easier than having different languages getting in the fray. Yet this form of language nazism is clearly ludicrous.
b) PM Lee suggested that pop songs, hip hop or rap can be used as a medium for teaching English.
Many English hip hop or rap songs do not use Standard English, assuming we are using either standard American or British English as the standard. Many of such songs, if I am not wrong, are popularized by African Americans, who use their own brand of English. As an example, sample the lyrics from the song Do It Like Me by 50 cents:
You can walk like I do, and talk like me too
But nobody gon' rock with you
Cuz you can't do it like me, nah you can't do it like me
(Hold on a second homie, let's get this clear)
You can walk like I do, and talk like me too
But nobody gon' rock with you
Cuz you can't do it like me, cuz you can't do it like me
(Hold on a second homie, let's get this clear)
I don't quite think this was the sort of English PM Lee meant. On the other hand, altering these songs so that they contain purified English will mean they are no longer rap or hip hop. In attempting to teach proper English, it is an affrontery to others if we high-handedly whitewash their language and culture. I may be using an extreme example, but my point is that pop, hip hop and rap have their own forms of English, which may not be what PM Lee considers Standard English. Purist as this campaign is, it is therefore remarkably ironical if we destroy the original sense of rap and hop hop only to use them as vehicles of Standard English.
c) Singapore is not alone in pushing for the use of good English, he said. China, Korea and Thailand have launched ambitious plans to do so.
It should also be noted that the official working languages in China, Korea and Thailand are not English. Their plans to drive proper English usage therefore should be distinguished from Singapore's case. These countries do not have a strong incumbent English variant which they use as a daily tool of communication. Their plans to push for using good English may not involve elimination of a rich colloquial variant.
d) Foreigners find it difficult to understand Singlish. A Melbourne youth said Singaporeans in his school spoke "a strange type of English among themselves". It sounded like English, but he could not make out the meaning at all.
It may sound shocking to PM Lee and the Melbourne youth, but Australian English can similarly be hard on Singaporean ears: source
A banana bender, who was an ockish and lamb-brained larrikin, severely narked me when he threw a pervy wobbly and asked if I was a poofter. Strewth! I had the hoon's knackers a flaming kick and the alf didn't even put up a barney!
[translated to CSE]
This stupid and tih nao (pig brain) Queensland chao ah beng ah! KNNB say I ah gua you know? Really! I k him and dunno who ah gua! He run away, machiam dog like that!
[translated]
This Queensland resident, a boorish and stupid hoodlum, irritated me when he asked me if I was a homosexual. It's the truth! I kicked his testicles and he didn't fight back.
Does this mean that Australians should speaker "proper" English then? Obviously not.
Rather, it can be constructive for foreigners to try to adapt to the local surroundings. The Melbourne youth for example, could learn to pick up Singlish. It is not easy (in a way proving that CSE is not sloppy by any means), but it is not impossible. I don't expect people to speak a language I understand when I visit their countries- why should they expect us to speak in an English they are comfortable with? The whole point of traveling is to experience different cultures is it not? If one expects a foreign country to be totally similar to his own country, then one can bloody well stay at home.
e) American sitcoms could easily be broadcast and understood here. But local hits like PCK and Police and Thief are not exported as easily.
PLEASE LAH! PCK and Police and Thiefs are hits?! Speak proper English! They are misses! Anyway, if Singapore becomes the world power one day, I'm sure others will begin to understand PCK and Police and Thief. In the meantime, someone should make sure we become a world power with a film industry as glamorous as Hollywood, so that our "hits" can be exported.
Put succinctly, local TV productions are not exported easily because they mostly suck, not because they employ CSE. Remember Masters of the Seas? I'd like to see some one try to export that, proper English and all.
f) Singapore made an effort to use Hanyu Pinyin to ensure precise pronunciation for Chinese characters. The same could be done for teaching English.
It should be noted that Chinese is a logographic language. Without hanyu pinyin, there is no way to pronounce individual words. English is a phonographic language, and pronunciation operates differently from Chinese. Whereas Chinese words are tied with their hanyu pinyin representations, English words are not. Pronunciation is different even in UK and US, two stalwart standards of the English language. A "precise pronunciation" scheme for English therefore has a totally different set of problems when compared to hanyu pinyin.
Furthermore, even with the hanyu pinyin, Singapore Chinese pronunciation is still different from standard Chinese pronunciation. For example, the qing sheng (neutral tone) is often missing in Singaporean Chinese. This gives rise to ma1 ma1 instead of the proper ma1 ma. Having a precise pronunciation scheme hence neither guarantees that pronunciation is proper nor does it account for prosody.
In general, I am puzzled by PM Lee's insinuations that Standard Singapore English and Singlish cannot co-exist. I admit that Standard English has its pragmatic values when it comes to international communication. However, it is entirely possible for us to be proficient in both versions and switch them at will. As I've said, it is no different from learning two languages in school.
Rather than aiming at eradicating CSE, which in my opinion is a fruitless exercise, we could instead grant the fact that CSE and proper English can exist together, and start off from there. Standard English has little status in our markets ("Auntie, may I know how much 1kg of this type of fish costs?" vs "Ku Lui?" or "How Much?". Which is more efficient? The choice is clear.), hawker centers and void decks and will likely remain so. Instead of nuking CSE like house pests, perhaps policies makers could see how the CSE can work hand in hand with Standard English to generate synergy and generally raise awareness of the intricacies of Standard English.
Filed under: Singapore, News, Politics, Language
Friday, May 13, 2005
Xbox 360
Microsoft unveils the latest worst-kept secret in the gaming console market. Even before this official announcements, various leaks of Xbox 360 were already widely available. Despite Microsoft's assertion that the leaks were merely "rumors and speculations", the official announcement was somewhat anticlimatic and disappointing.
No information on next generation games was released and Microsoft would not confirm if current Xbox games will run on Xbox 360.
Associated Press
Having bought Xbox less than 6 months ago, this piece of news is utterly appalling. I always have the knack of choosing consoles that end their run faster than I can play their games. Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, Sega Dreamcast and now Xbox.
No backward compatibility? I'll just wait for Playstation 3. See if I care. Sniff.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The (Security) Turd Known as Tiger
Wired reports on Tiger OS's (Apple's current pride and joy) inability to allow users to uninstall potentially malicious widgets (little programs that run on the desktop), and even provides links to concept attacks that Tiger users should try. This must be the stupidest design flaw in my book (it's as if the Apple developers came from Pluto and had never heard of macro viruses, trojans and worms), and reinforces my belief that the more functionalities an OS has, the more security loopholes there are. Now that Apple is trying on more developer-friendly functionalities for size, let's see its users boast that it is more "secure".
For the not-so-technically inclined, this flaw is tantamount to not having an anus because you believe all the food you eat, whether good or not, will stay in your body forever. This obviously is not true. We do shit from day to day, and pass diarrhoea when we eat food gone bad. That's what your anus is for, all rude and smelly farting aside. Not having an uninstall function for widgets is therefore akin to not having an anus- a surefire way of ensuring that you/ the machine dies amidst exploding fumes of toxic waste. Not a good way to go, even though I must admit it'll befit Apple's line of OS.
Personally, I think Mac is destined to live a sad life of an airy-fairy OS, good only for the arty farty ("The Airies") and those who like their machine shells fancy ("The Fairies"... snicker). I wonder if it even registers a blip on the OS radar of techies. I don't think so, and Hunter Cressall certainly hopes not.
For the not-so-technically inclined, this flaw is tantamount to not having an anus because you believe all the food you eat, whether good or not, will stay in your body forever. This obviously is not true. We do shit from day to day, and pass diarrhoea when we eat food gone bad. That's what your anus is for, all rude and smelly farting aside. Not having an uninstall function for widgets is therefore akin to not having an anus- a surefire way of ensuring that you/ the machine dies amidst exploding fumes of toxic waste. Not a good way to go, even though I must admit it'll befit Apple's line of OS.
Personally, I think Mac is destined to live a sad life of an airy-fairy OS, good only for the arty farty ("The Airies") and those who like their machine shells fancy ("The Fairies"... snicker). I wonder if it even registers a blip on the OS radar of techies. I don't think so, and Hunter Cressall certainly hopes not.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Brain for the Lame
Saw this week's preview for Eye for a Guy 2. Literally choked and sputtered. Apparently, the producers got the amazingly original idea of introducing two new Guys midway into the show.
Someone better go tell them that this plot "twist" has already been used in a reality tv series, brought in locally by MediaCorp no less. Were the producers actually stupid enough to think that viewers won't realize that? Or perhaps they were confident that the two new guys will charm the brains out of viewers. Tough luck.
To add insult to injury, when the remaining guys found out about this earthshattering news, most of them had a-bomb-just-dropped-on-Nagasaki look rather than a gee-haven't-we-seen-this-somewhere look. Not very bright chaps, unless of course, they were demonstrating their disgust at the realization that two more competitors meant they had to stay in the awful series even longer. Perhaps the producers should charm some brains into the lame person responsible for this misguided series.
If they had to have a twist, how about something more original? Introduce two new female contestants lah! Or better yet, introduce two teens and have everyone break into Michael Jackson's "Childhood". That ought to make the guys pee their pants and maybe give the conceivably pathetic ratings a boost.
Someone better go tell them that this plot "twist" has already been used in a reality tv series, brought in locally by MediaCorp no less. Were the producers actually stupid enough to think that viewers won't realize that? Or perhaps they were confident that the two new guys will charm the brains out of viewers. Tough luck.
To add insult to injury, when the remaining guys found out about this earthshattering news, most of them had a-bomb-just-dropped-on-Nagasaki look rather than a gee-haven't-we-seen-this-somewhere look. Not very bright chaps, unless of course, they were demonstrating their disgust at the realization that two more competitors meant they had to stay in the awful series even longer. Perhaps the producers should charm some brains into the lame person responsible for this misguided series.
If they had to have a twist, how about something more original? Introduce two new female contestants lah! Or better yet, introduce two teens and have everyone break into Michael Jackson's "Childhood". That ought to make the guys pee their pants and maybe give the conceivably pathetic ratings a boost.
Why is it that..
I sleep from 11.30pm - 7am and still feel tired?
Have been trying to get up at 6am lately, so that I can go for short (very very very very short) runs in the morning.
It only took one morning for me to realize that I'd have to sleep at 8pm to achieve that. No way I'm going to run after work though. I might just shatter into 20,000 pieces and bother the cleaning people on the streets.
Conundrum, conundrum, thy name is exercise.
How should I incorporate exercise into daily activities?
a) Go for toilet breaks more often. ~2km if I can make 100 trips a day.
b) Go for tea breaks in the pantry more often. ~500m if I can make 25 trips a day. Added Bonus: Helps achieve (a) as well!
c) Climb stairs rather than take the lift. Since the office is 14 storeys up, this will likely eliminate any desire to work during the day. Hard to do anything when one's body is in a heap.
d) Substitute weight training with people pushing in the train stations. Liberally swing laptop and use the heavy case to annihilate pesky commuters who jostle with me. Trains biceps, triceps and shoulders. Added Bonus: Always wanted to maul that kiasu auntie who irritates the hell out of you? One extra reason why you should!
e) Wear long sleeves shirt, inner tee shirt, singlet and blazer for lunch in crowded hawker centre. Order the spiciest item to simulate a sauna environment. Added bonus: I'll stink so much that co-workers will stay clear of me, thereby ensuring no extra arrows after lunch.
Voila! No need to wake at 6am.
Have been trying to get up at 6am lately, so that I can go for short (very very very very short) runs in the morning.
It only took one morning for me to realize that I'd have to sleep at 8pm to achieve that. No way I'm going to run after work though. I might just shatter into 20,000 pieces and bother the cleaning people on the streets.
Conundrum, conundrum, thy name is exercise.
How should I incorporate exercise into daily activities?
a) Go for toilet breaks more often. ~2km if I can make 100 trips a day.
b) Go for tea breaks in the pantry more often. ~500m if I can make 25 trips a day. Added Bonus: Helps achieve (a) as well!
c) Climb stairs rather than take the lift. Since the office is 14 storeys up, this will likely eliminate any desire to work during the day. Hard to do anything when one's body is in a heap.
d) Substitute weight training with people pushing in the train stations. Liberally swing laptop and use the heavy case to annihilate pesky commuters who jostle with me. Trains biceps, triceps and shoulders. Added Bonus: Always wanted to maul that kiasu auntie who irritates the hell out of you? One extra reason why you should!
e) Wear long sleeves shirt, inner tee shirt, singlet and blazer for lunch in crowded hawker centre. Order the spiciest item to simulate a sauna environment. Added bonus: I'll stink so much that co-workers will stay clear of me, thereby ensuring no extra arrows after lunch.
Voila! No need to wake at 6am.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Intern Intrepid
What I learnt today:
a) CitiBank pays their interns about $1000 a month. I hope theyget worked to exhaustion learn a lot.
b) When in doubt of where your office tower is, do not head for first impressive tower you see when you exit from the train station. When you have my kind of luck, that tower is bound to be in the opposite direction you are supposed to head. And yes I was fully armed with a map. And no it wasn't my first time there and I didn't ask for directions. I wasn't lost- I detoured.
c) Smart Casual in most offices does not mean long sleeves. Long sleeves + hot weather + lunch = Sweaty Formal.
d) Lipton tea bags should not be steeped for more than 4 minutes in tiny plastic cups, unless you want your tea so strong that it'll make a dead man dance.
e) MRT trains are warzones at 6pm and there is no way SMRT is not turning a profit with that kind of commuter crowd. If they can't make a profit, then maybe they should let some other company run the trains, rather than whining about when the last fare hike was.
f) Blogging about how uneventful your first day was might just lead to a rude shock for the remaining of the internship.
a) CitiBank pays their interns about $1000 a month. I hope they
b) When in doubt of where your office tower is, do not head for first impressive tower you see when you exit from the train station. When you have my kind of luck, that tower is bound to be in the opposite direction you are supposed to head. And yes I was fully armed with a map. And no it wasn't my first time there and I didn't ask for directions. I wasn't lost- I detoured.
c) Smart Casual in most offices does not mean long sleeves. Long sleeves + hot weather + lunch = Sweaty Formal.
d) Lipton tea bags should not be steeped for more than 4 minutes in tiny plastic cups, unless you want your tea so strong that it'll make a dead man dance.
e) MRT trains are warzones at 6pm and there is no way SMRT is not turning a profit with that kind of commuter crowd. If they can't make a profit, then maybe they should let some other company run the trains, rather than whining about when the last fare hike was.
f) Blogging about how uneventful your first day was might just lead to a rude shock for the remaining of the internship.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Post-Exam well... Post
let
g = how good something is for you
f = how fun something is
then
f is inversely proportional to g
In other words, it was more fun blogging when I was not supposed to (during exams). Ironically, now that I spend less time in front of the laptop and am actually out there living like an ordinary human being, I actually find less stuff to blog about.
Which is ironic, considering you blog more when you are out there doing something worth blogging about no?
Anyway, the last three days have been a blur (a pock on the GEK1527 lecturers who was responsible for the finals! A POCK!). I’ve caught up on sleep, braved the scary crowds in Orchard and Suntec City and generally watched money flow away likepiss in the wind sand in the palm.
I’m guessing the internship, which begins in 10 hours time (can you hear me mourn?) will actually be good for my wallet. See above equation for how fun I’m finding the idea of beginning the internship 1 weekend after exams.
I’ve also realized that searching for HYP readings is very exciting. Every time I find out an article is not available in electronic format, my heart skips a beat. How am I to make to trip down to Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library when I stop work at 6pm and it closes at 7pm? Unfortunately, that means I have to make a trip down to NUS on a weekday. Ask me how much I enjoy that.
Bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep.
That’s how much.
In any event, I hope I won’t shame myself tomorrow. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had a nine hour work day.
Stay tuned.
g = how good something is for you
f = how fun something is
then
f is inversely proportional to g
In other words, it was more fun blogging when I was not supposed to (during exams). Ironically, now that I spend less time in front of the laptop and am actually out there living like an ordinary human being, I actually find less stuff to blog about.
Which is ironic, considering you blog more when you are out there doing something worth blogging about no?
Anyway, the last three days have been a blur (a pock on the GEK1527 lecturers who was responsible for the finals! A POCK!). I’ve caught up on sleep, braved the scary crowds in Orchard and Suntec City and generally watched money flow away like
I’m guessing the internship, which begins in 10 hours time (can you hear me mourn?) will actually be good for my wallet. See above equation for how fun I’m finding the idea of beginning the internship 1 weekend after exams.
I’ve also realized that searching for HYP readings is very exciting. Every time I find out an article is not available in electronic format, my heart skips a beat. How am I to make to trip down to Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library when I stop work at 6pm and it closes at 7pm? Unfortunately, that means I have to make a trip down to NUS on a weekday. Ask me how much I enjoy that.
Bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep, bleep bleep.
That’s how much.
In any event, I hope I won’t shame myself tomorrow. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had a nine hour work day.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Farcical Open Book Exams
Compare:
Shit Stuff brought to 2 open book exams on same day
Rough estimate of stuff consulted for both exams
After 3 friggin' years in NUS, you'd think that I have grown smarter or at least become more experienced to realize that there is a) no time b) no chance for students to actually glance at the books, much less flip through them during an open book examination.
But no.
Every single open book examination, my kiasu, kiasee, kiaboh (respectively scared to lose, scared of death, scared of having nothing) traits rise to the fore and I lug entire semesters of readings and texts to the exam hall, knowing that 80% of the stuff I bring will be useless.
But better to be safe than sorry right?
Right.
Now I'm suffering from headache, armache (you try carting 8kg of materials from Tampines to Buona Vista, around campus, then from Buona Vista back to Tampines), backache and everywhereyoucanimagineache.
In the end, the books were only useful in whacking the talkative aunties beside me on the train, who wouldn't even let me die from pain, heat and exam misery peacefully.
If only I had the strength to lift and hurl my dictionary.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Don't Dig Your Nose
Irate ST reader writes (May 1, 2005):
- Do not tug on underwear, however surreptitiously (Might give others cooties when you shake hands)
- Do not pick teeth unless in isolated room (You think covering your mouth means others don't know you're playing with scraps of food?)
- Do not rub eyes (Conjunctivitis)
- Do not scratch armpits or groin (Disgusting, anti-social behaviour. Who knows when you last bathed?)
- Fingernails and toenails must be less than 3mm long (Germs)
With these signs, I can foresee an increase of 10% in tourist arrivals. Not because they are awed at our hygiene but because they want to see the joke for themselves. Now if we make all these dirty habits punishable by fines, we can probably hit a 30% increase. More fodder for firms manufacturing tourist t-shirts too.
However, I must point out that a society that needs signs to remind them to not tug at underwear in public is no more mature or modern than a society full of citizens who tug at their underwear in public. Less funny as well.
Some people are entirely too free to write such letters, as are others who blog about such letters. (I've already received death threats for blogging too much in the midst of exams!)
This is an earnest request... [to slew of authorities] to put up theWhy stop at those three? We should also put up signs that say:
following following three types of signs:
- Do not dig nose/ ears
- Do not spit
- Do not cough/ sneeze without covering mouth
... These irresponsible, anti-social and uncivilised habits and behaviour persist and have become part of our public culture.
... Until people are properly educated and start behaving more responsibly, we cannot really call our society mature and modern.
Let's not wait for an epidemic to occur...
- Do not tug on underwear, however surreptitiously (Might give others cooties when you shake hands)
- Do not pick teeth unless in isolated room (You think covering your mouth means others don't know you're playing with scraps of food?)
- Do not rub eyes (Conjunctivitis)
- Do not scratch armpits or groin (Disgusting, anti-social behaviour. Who knows when you last bathed?)
- Fingernails and toenails must be less than 3mm long (Germs)
With these signs, I can foresee an increase of 10% in tourist arrivals. Not because they are awed at our hygiene but because they want to see the joke for themselves. Now if we make all these dirty habits punishable by fines, we can probably hit a 30% increase. More fodder for firms manufacturing tourist t-shirts too.
However, I must point out that a society that needs signs to remind them to not tug at underwear in public is no more mature or modern than a society full of citizens who tug at their underwear in public. Less funny as well.
Some people are entirely too free to write such letters, as are others who blog about such letters. (I've already received death threats for blogging too much in the midst of exams!)
Monday, May 02, 2005
Electronic Paper Dolling
Fellow EL2111-er and blogger has fun with paper dolls (She in turn, got the link from another person...), courtesy of storTroopers.
Here's my version of Nadia Turner from American Idol IV:
Why choose her? Because I loved her rendition of "Power Of Love", originally performed by Ashley Cleveland. Still looking for the mp3... ... ... (hint hint)
Here's my version of Nadia Turner from American Idol IV:
Why choose her? Because I loved her rendition of "Power Of Love", originally performed by Ashley Cleveland. Still looking for the mp3... ... ... (hint hint)
Sunday, May 01, 2005
A Farewell
When I was young, I used to hate going to the nearby wet market. It was crowded, dirty, unhygienic and boring. People spat on the floor, shoved everyone else and generally made it a point to be curt. The food was served on hastily-wiped tables, and getting such a table on crowded weekends required great skill and coordination in the first place. I remember how the family would split up and comb the throng for empty seats. I remember how we’d park one person (usually me) in an empty seat first, the better to reserve the entire table when some other family has finished their meal.
I preferred fast food restaurants with their well-oiled efficiency, air-conditioned surroundings and unbeatable French Fries. I preferred the cool and organized supermarkets, where people queued up to pay, rather than yell and haggle over each others’ heads.
I wondered why anyone would bother going to wet markets, predicting that they would die out within the next two generations (I was wise for my age), because I couldn’t imagine that anyone from my generation will want to frequent the stalls in the wet markets, much less man them.
For years, I had to be dragged to the wet market during Sunday mornings. Sometimes, I’d invent excuses so that I could remain in the comfort of my own home, properly insulated from the madness and chaos. Yet, after trips overseas, the wet market was always the place to be. For $20, we could gorge ourselves on a wide variety of much-missed local fare. The crowd and buzz was sort of comforting too, and there was a familiarity in the way that people behaved. The yells, the friendly calls, the indignant stare from an annoyed auntie. Everything and everyone felt just inexorably right.
Today, the wet market ceased operations.
Oh it’d open again after renovations and the town council said it’ll be modernized. On the news, they promised that the stalls will be able to better compete with fast food restaurants and supermarkets. They were chirpy and upbeat, assured that the change will do the image of the wet market good and endear it to younger generations.
So why do I feel a sense of loss?
Could it be that this popular Chinese cooked food stall, which has a menu so variable that you literally cannot tell what will be available one hour later, will not be around when the wet market reopens? Or perhaps because the footage of the totally deserted wet market was in sharp contrast to the usually vibrant and chaotic scene that I’m used to. Or maybe it is the realization that the routine I’m used to, after trips abroad, will no longer be the same.
Sure the wet market will return. There’d be replacement stalls. The family will still split up and comb the throng for empty seats. We’d still park one person (usually my brother) in an empty seat first, the better to reserve the entire table when some other family finishes their meal.
But the bespectacled uncle and his quirky wife who cooks up a storm won’t be there anymore. The hastily-wiped and disfigured tables with crackling number tags will also be no more, replaced by formica tables with brand new tags. The many faces I’m used to seeing will no longer be there in the crowd, exchanging boisterous greetings.
The wet market may return. But in a sense, it is forever gone.
I preferred fast food restaurants with their well-oiled efficiency, air-conditioned surroundings and unbeatable French Fries. I preferred the cool and organized supermarkets, where people queued up to pay, rather than yell and haggle over each others’ heads.
I wondered why anyone would bother going to wet markets, predicting that they would die out within the next two generations (I was wise for my age), because I couldn’t imagine that anyone from my generation will want to frequent the stalls in the wet markets, much less man them.
For years, I had to be dragged to the wet market during Sunday mornings. Sometimes, I’d invent excuses so that I could remain in the comfort of my own home, properly insulated from the madness and chaos. Yet, after trips overseas, the wet market was always the place to be. For $20, we could gorge ourselves on a wide variety of much-missed local fare. The crowd and buzz was sort of comforting too, and there was a familiarity in the way that people behaved. The yells, the friendly calls, the indignant stare from an annoyed auntie. Everything and everyone felt just inexorably right.
Today, the wet market ceased operations.
Oh it’d open again after renovations and the town council said it’ll be modernized. On the news, they promised that the stalls will be able to better compete with fast food restaurants and supermarkets. They were chirpy and upbeat, assured that the change will do the image of the wet market good and endear it to younger generations.
So why do I feel a sense of loss?
Could it be that this popular Chinese cooked food stall, which has a menu so variable that you literally cannot tell what will be available one hour later, will not be around when the wet market reopens? Or perhaps because the footage of the totally deserted wet market was in sharp contrast to the usually vibrant and chaotic scene that I’m used to. Or maybe it is the realization that the routine I’m used to, after trips abroad, will no longer be the same.
Sure the wet market will return. There’d be replacement stalls. The family will still split up and comb the throng for empty seats. We’d still park one person (usually my brother) in an empty seat first, the better to reserve the entire table when some other family finishes their meal.
But the bespectacled uncle and his quirky wife who cooks up a storm won’t be there anymore. The hastily-wiped and disfigured tables with crackling number tags will also be no more, replaced by formica tables with brand new tags. The many faces I’m used to seeing will no longer be there in the crowd, exchanging boisterous greetings.
The wet market may return. But in a sense, it is forever gone.