累了

己经好远了
退也有一点累了
我们都不知道路有多远
走到何时才歇一歇
不如就现在吧
让我们都停下
但是在休息后
我们还不知道 继续走的理由
雨都停了 天都亮了
我们还不懂
这爱情路究竟 带我们到什么地方
是要持续仍旧珍惜
还是回到原地
如今此刻的我
的确是有一点疲倦

I’m Singaporean. Truly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

SINGAPORE!

It’s been a long time since I blogged about National Day. I felt the urge to blog about NDP 09 because it is the best I’ve ever seen and it has reaffirmed my commitment to the country.

Many of my friends know that I yearn to live elsewhere, maybe California, but I’m in fact very proud to be a Singaporean. I used to be, still am, and I’m pretty certain that I will be in many years to come. Nonetheless, does my desire to live elsewhere mean I do not cherish my roots here?

Get it right – I love to be a Singapore citizen but that doesn’t mean I have to live in Singapore as a testament of my loyalty. What then does it mean to be a Singaporean?

Queuing up/ signing up for the damn-hard-to-get NDP tickets? Saying the pledge just because we’re told to do so at 8.22pm on 9th Aug 2009? Or are we Singaporeans just by the very fact that we are born and bred here?

Yes, many Singaporeans have a list of things to lament about holding the PINK IC – CPF, ERP, HDB and MRT – but deep down, we still love Singapore…. right?

NDP 09’s committee invited famous bogger, Mr Brown, to blog about the parade behind-the-scenes. Despite his famously satirical commentaries on government policies and local issues, his contribution to Singapore is undisputed. He bridges the link between the government and the masses, in particular, those whose eyes are affixed onto the websphere all day long, otherwise known as the “online generation,” as well as the overseas Singaporeans. If not, why would Mr Brown be worthy enough to be part of the contingent for Singapore Day in London this year?

Consider this: If no one complains, would Singaporean youths know what’s going on (good or bad) in Singapore if we do not read the daily newspapers religiously?

No, online social media is the channel through which most youth learn about current affairs. If not for social media, would you have known about the ANA’s advert about Singapore:

Can’t understand? Offended by it, perhaps?

Watch this for the English subtitles:

Or…

Laugh at the Russians for twisting the legend of the Merlion?

“MERLION name was picked for a reason. It was inspired by the Asia-Pacific region – the origin of products which were a starting point in the company’s distribution business. The idea was to link the new name and ancient chronicles of inhabitants of the Indian Ocean’s islands. These chronicles mention a mythical character “half-fish, half-lion”, or Merlion – the guardian angel of Singapore.

One of the legends tells that ages ago a giant beast lived in the area, with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The beast was guarding the ancient Singapore. When Merlion saw an enemy, its eyes would lit up with red fire and burn the foe to ashes. Never ever has Merlion missed the danger. And one day, when the country was menaced by a terrible storm, the majestic creature came out of the sea and saved humans from inevitable peril, and the country – from inevitable destruction. People of Singapore still worship Merlion. To commemorate their savior, they have built the 37 meters high stone sculpture of the lion-fish.

All legends chant Merlion as a brave and reliable defender of the country and its people. We chose the name of Singapore’s legendary guardian MERLION as the symbol of power, reliability and unfailing duty.”

Source: http://www.merlion.ru/eng/about/why/

If you had laughed at these, you know you’re a Singaporean.

Some of us may complain about everything under the sun for our own benefit or… simply because it is in our culture to do so. Just complain. At least there’s a chance that things would improve, some would say. Some of us may be apathetic because we feel that we may not be able to change anything… but when asked for our opinion, we do have something to say about it. The truth is, we may not be well-rooted here in Singapore by the traditional yardsticks but we are expressing our love for Singapore and giving back to the society in a different way, be it intentional or not.

As I’ve mentioned, NDP 09 is the most successful thus far. This year’s theme “Reaching out, reaching up” was extremely well done. It ventured out into the heartlands, shopping centres, and even online through its website, all forms of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and through mouth – or rather words – of famous bloggers, Mr Brown and Cruz Teng. There were kids giving out some cards in the city to wish Singaporeans “Happy National Day” in advance. I do not recall so much hype leading up to the NDP in the past. I applaud the committee for that. They know what they’re doing and how to do it right.

Also, for once, NDP was not dominated by those abstract mass displays which many Singaporeans can’t identify with… except for its aesthetics. This year’s line up was radically different. There were skits and significantly more song performances by local talents (other than the lip-synching combined school choir, but of course almost everyone else lip-synchs during NDP because they can’t afford to screw up). While Electrico’s “What do you see” isn’t as catchy and memorable as previous NDP songs, it’s definitely comparable to popular songs written by any US/UK band. That’s how they managed to connect with the youth of today. Catchy and folk-like NDP songs aren’t their thing, really.

Though I must say I prefer those folkish songs, especially Kit Chan’s “Home”=p

And of course, there was the “Pledge Moment” at 8.22pm. I heard the chime from home. I guess it came from Downtown East. But I didn’t recite the pledge. I just didn’t think that would make me less of a Singaporean. I’ve heard it being recited by my students in school but how many of them really know what they’ve committed themselves to? (And what’s the use of reciting it over and over again huh?) Do you think the Primary One kids know what a “democratic society” means? Come on, the origin of democracy (from the Greeks) is only taught in the Primary 5 English syllabus. That aside, I must say it’s a good movement. At least it offers youths who are matured enough to know what the pledge means the opportunity to reflect on what we had offered and what we have to offer to Singapore.

“Mean what you say,” the stage display read.

And no, you don’t have to craft a plan of how you can contribute to Singapore. You will probably do it naturally in one way or another. What the pledge moment aims to achieve is not so much as to remind you of what you SHOULD DO, but what you SHOULD NOT DO.

“regardless of race, language or religion”

Maybe

Got this from L=)

MAY BE…Maybe. . we were supposed to meet the
wrong people before meeting the right
one so that, when we finally meet the
right person, we will know how to be
grateful for that gift.

Maybe . . . it is true that we don’t
know what we have until we lose it,
but it is also true that we don’t know
what we have been missing until it
arrives.

Maybe . . . the brightest future will
always be based on a forgotten past;
after all, you can’t go on
successfully in life until you let go
of your past mistakes, failures and
heartaches.

Maybe . . you should hope for enough
happiness to make you sweet, enough
trials to make you strong, enough
sorrow to keep you human, and enough
hope to make you happy.

Maybe . . . the happiest of people
don’t necessarily have the best of
everything; they just make the most of
Everything that comes along their way.

Maybe .. . . the best kind of friend is
the kind you can sit on a porch and
swing with, never say a word, and then
walk away feeling like it was the best
Conversation you’ve ever had.

Maybe . . . happiness waits for all
those who cry, all those who hurt, all
those who have searched, and all those
who have tried, for only they can
appreciate the importance of all the
people who have touched their lives.

May be . . you should do something nice
for someone every single day, even if
it is simply to leave them alone.

Maybe . . . there are moments in life
when you miss someone — a parent, a
spouse, a friend, a child — so much
that you just want to pick them from
your dreams and hug them for real, so
that once they are around you
appreciate them more.

Maybe … giving someone all your love
is never an assurance that they will
love you back. Don’t expect love in
return; just wait for it to grow in
their heart; but, if it doesn’t, be
content that it grew in yours..

Maybe .. . . you should dream what you
want to dream; go where you want to
go, be what you want to be, because
you have only one life and one chance
to do all the things you dream of, and
want to do.

“Life is only travelled ONCE, Today’s MOMENT becomes Tomorrow’s MEMORY.
Enjoy every moment, good or bad, because the GIFT of LIFE is LIFE itself….”

On teaching

Kids write lines. Teachers gotta reflect too.

I took over an English class today and while it didn’t go quite well, I’m glad my kids had some fun.

Lesson no. 1: Save lesson materials in multiple locations. Thumbdrive (most unreliable, by the way because some computers simply do not detect it but still allow you to eject it safely. wtf.), email account(s), sharing folders of your organisation’s LAN, laptop, hard disk… and wherever you can think of. This isn’t a recommendation. It’s a MUST. You never know when you’ll encounter techincal glitches. It happens. Often.

Well, it has always been my policy to do so but somehow, I didn’t deem it important for today’s lesson. I blame it on my macbook which refused to connect to the school’s wireless network (Yes, there IS a wireless network in a primary school. For who, for what? I’ve no idea but as usual, I don’t question good things. hee.). That has no relation whatsoever to my failure to deliver the specially-crafted lesson to the class but that’s naturally the first line of defense mechanism that most people have – Blame it on someone or something else, other than yourself.

Maybe I was feeling jittery and restless before I can’t access Twitter, Facebook or my email accounts while all other Windows users were able to surf the net effortlessly while I tried (without much success of course) to renew, and renew…. and renew my IP address. Argh.

Anyway, back to the point. Which was…?

Ok, lesson no. 2: Prepare (200+100) %. In addition to basic 100% preparation for a lesson (what do you want to cover; how to make your lessons interesting; how to engage your kids in self-learning after school; preparing a script of what you want to say and how you want to say – trust me, it’s much more than what you think is necessary;), do the above stated in lesson no. 1 (another 100% – that’s effortful k?), and prepare to deliver your lesson without the computer (that would mean your lesson will be less interesting than it should have been; another 100%).

And mind you, all that just for an hour lesson. Imagine having to plan 20 lessons per week. There goes my life. Do not envy teachers who end school at 1.30pm. While it’s officially 6 hours of work per day, lesson preparation (not including marking and additional duties) probably take up the rest of the day…

Oh well, I shall not be too pessimistic at this point in time. Probably I’m just being too anal about how my lessons shall be like. Maybe 2 years down the road, I’ll just heck care and do away with lesson planning – ok, not all, just the script writing part perhaps. Maybe… I should just stop being a perfectionist and making sure that I’m infallible.

Lesson no. 3 (Contributed by Dr Schirmer and Dr Penney): What you’ve planned for one lesson is usually more than enough to cover 2-3 lessons; too idealistic time management, in other words. If you can’t finish a lesson, fret not. Continue what’s left the next lesson. Don’t ‘eat’ into other teachers’ lessons. That’s a no-no because the class will be scolded by the next teacher for returning to class late.

Lesson no. 4: Pray for better luck. Seriously. Not, I’m not actually. First, I don’t pray. Second, I don’t really believe in luck. Ok, there isn’t a lesson no. 4….

because I’ve to reach school before 7.15am tomorrow.

Class of 2009.

Congratulations to the Class of 2009 from the Psychology department=)

As George Bishop said, psychologists are in demand amidst the economic downturn. Ok, he didn’t exactly say that. What he said was: US of A has 1 psychologist for every 10,000 people while Singapore has 1 psychologist for every 130,000 people. A lot of room for growth.

Don’t. fret=p

I do not disagree on that but how many Singaporeans actually know what psychologists do? If they still think we “read minds”, listen to patients on black couches, and interact mostly with disillusioned people, who would seriously consider our importance in the wider society? Nonetheless, I’m optimistic that my fellow psychology majors will have a whole lot of things to offer to every part of the society=)

I can’t tell you how useful psychology is. I can only say that it changed my entire worldview. I no longer see the world as I did 4 years ago. I’m glad I took the gamble 4 years ago and I’ve no regrets.

Anyway, I’m still pretty amused by parts of the speech given by Edmund during the department’s graduation tea. He said ORDERED us to donate a significant portion of our first paycheck to charity. He emphasised that it wasn’t a suggestion. Neither was it a recommendation. He said we MUST do it… because if we do so, we will find it much easier to continue giving back to the society in future. Well said.

Will I do it? Hmm… Well, I guess I can buy lots of sweets for my pupils. haha.

P.S. I really liked Eisen’s valedictorian speech on Tuesday. Here’s the link to his speech: http://eisen.clockinkspiel.net/?p=1131

Hitler finds out Michael Jackson has died.

Damn hilarious!

Articles for sharing: What you always thought were true may not be true after all

Not gonna live forever: Why some teens behave recklessly

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1907750,00.html

Think positive? Think again

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_398470.html

Say “No to rape”

If you believe that marital rape should be made illegal in Singapore, please sign the petition.

First mobile post=)

I contemplated getting a digital camera from Japan that creates effects similar to those by a holga camera, i.e., out-of-focus, old-school colours.. But I didn’t get it as I had to save up for my grad trip… Fortunuately, I came across two very cool apps for my iPhone that do the trick – ToyCamera and QuadCamera! Here’re some shots I took of Olie:)

“Life and How to Survive It” by Adrain Tan

I chanced upon a facebook note with a transcript of the speech given by Mr. Adrian Tan – litigator by profession and author of the teen novel, The Teenage Textbook – at NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information’s convocation ceremony 2008.

Be inspired…
 
Life and How to Survive It

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honor and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practicing at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you..

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that ‘Learning is a lifelong process’ and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan , and tied with San Marino . It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armor against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term ‘Karoshi’, whic h means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are ‘making a living’. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan ‘Arbeit macht frei’ was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energize you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say ‘be loved’. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work.. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.