FB

In a bid to feel productive, I am writing this blog post. It’s been a while since I last wrote anything and I realise that Facebook takes up a huge chunk of my time. It’s a little senseless if I think about it. The first thing that greets me when I log in is all the status updates of my 190 so-called friends. So-called because no one has that many friends. But I spend the first 15 mins just scrolling down and finding out what everyone else is (or is not doing). Plus there are those quizes that people take to know more about themselves. You would think that after all these years of being in your own skin, you would know yourself the best. But hey, a Facebook quiz is here to help you in your bid to increase the level of self-absorption. Me, I do that all the time. Number 1 is an interesting topic for a few years running now.

Then there are the games. The addictive games that takes about 2 minutes and pits your high score against all your so-called friends. It’s demanding, exhilarating and gets facebookers hooked until the wee hours of the morning. Its draw is not to be underestimated.

My favourite application, or rather function of Facebook is its ability to upload tons of pictures and for your to surf all your ‘friends’ pictures as well. Voyeuring at its best! What better way then to find out how your secondary classmates look 10 years since you’ve met. Read comments, comment yourself and it’s just amazing how the next time you looked at the clock, about 2 hours has whizzed by. Not to mention the event invitation function as well. Invitations ranging from social gatherings to wedding dinners can be done through Facebook.

Think. How often does one use the term Facebook in normal conversation? Has it become as ubiquitous as Google? And how many of us recall its sinister classist beginnings which restricted membership to college students only (or those that manage to get a college email)? Right now, your mother can be on Facebook and that is a disturbing prospect for many.

Facebook – the ultimate social website. This is not said in an attempt to advertise or to criticise. We share a complicated relationship, oh how I hate myself for loving you. It happens.

+_+

Living in a HDB flat means that occasionally I have funerals at my void decks. This particular void deck of mine doesn’t attract weddings, perhaps due to the numerous funerals. White setting means a christian funeral rite while gold, multi-colour wreaths together with chanting monks and smoke means a taoist or buddhist funeral. Either way, it puts life in perspective. How many of us get to see such death on a regular basis. And personally, I think it’s good to remind myself that one’s life span is only that 70 odd years and once it’s gone, it’s gone. One is reduced to a wooden box that will be reduced to ashes. Of course, famous celebrities’ death has the same effect, i.e. Michael Jackson’s death. One thinks, ‘wow, they die too eh? Maybe it’s not such a different world they live in after all.’ Death – the great constant. That’s why when Shulamite woman states in the bible that her love is as strong as death to King Solomon, it shows that she’s a woman with some faith in her love. To declare that her love is as unchanging, constant and certain as death takes conviction.

So that’s one of the benefits of living in a HDB flat, to be reminded of one’s mortality. Which I think most of us try to avoid. If not things become pretty meaningless. The thing is, it’s impossible to live life like you are going to die the next day, you can enjoy all you want and bathe in champagne for all anyone cares. But the issue is, what if one doesn’t die tmr. Then you’re stuck with the champagne bill and life for the living doesn’t become too fun after that.

And the other thing about living in a HDB flat is the term ‘heartlanders’. The term is derogatory to most Singaporeans. And I wonder whether the person who named the mall in Hougang the “Heartland Mall” feel like shooting himself or herself. What is the term supposed to connote anyway? A rural vs ‘I-live-at-The-Sail’ kind of city living? Its exact meaning eludes me. I understand that people judge other people according to their address and whatever district they live in. But if a heartlander means someone who lives in a HDB flat, that covers about 80% of Singaporeans. If it means the supposedly rural (read, poorer areas) of Singapore, the issue is where? If they mean a certain type of people, then why judge them by the type of estate that they owned, which is owned by a vast majority of Singaporeans? Its imprecise meaning irks me. Of course, there’s also a television program that has the term as its name, though I don’t think they were aware that it’s a not-so-nice term.

Anyhow, basically, life is short, go live it.

Investments and its iffy-ness

Temasek Holdings sold its Barclays and Bank of America stakes, causing many to wonder what the hell it is doing. Yeah, what the hell is it doing?! That was my first reaction. I didn’t know their investment strategy except to see alongside the news (that they have sold the relevant stakes) a small article on how they have a very good transparent rating. Now, I’m no investor, but the amount of money lost is truly staggering. It was money to the tune of about S$4.6 billion. Now, to be honest, that much money doesn’t even mean anything to me. It is simply a figure, numbers thrown in the air. I do not know what a billion dollars look like, I cannot see how much money that is in my head. It could be the same number of atoms on a drop of ink on a page, but it still doesn’t mean anything.

Well, at least they are transparent, all Singaporeans now know exactly how much was lost.

It’s true that everything is much clearer with hindsight, and perhaps no one could have known that BOA wouldn’t be nationalised, which would greatly diminished the value of its stock. What would anyone do in TH position? Well, your guess is as good as mine and there is simply no way of foretelling the future. To me, it’s just another story concerning big dollars and hence newsworthy. It won’t increase or decrease my taxes. It won’t have a significant impact on anything that I do. Ergo, I’m not too bothered by it. It’s not apathy, it’s numbness.

Musings

It’s twelve noon and a cool draft is in the room. It’s nice being able to sit in front of my computer, listening to the sounds of life that are still about – the last train roaring back to wherever it came from, the occasional motorcycle and the buzz of the refrigerator. There I was, randomly surfing and wondering whether mr brown (no I’m not going to hyperlink him, that’s what google is for) is the only popular serious blogger we have in Singapore. I can think of many popular bloggers in Singapore, who blogs for a living but they’re entertainers and I find it hard to believe that they strike a deep chord in other people. Entertainment is entertainment ultimately and there may be substance to it, but that is rare.

Which makes me wonder why we haven’t got more serious bloggers to date? The region’s blogging scene seems quite active to me, including Malaysia and especially Korea where the approval or rather disapproval of the internet community is enough to make their artists commit suicide. Maybe Singaporeans are just lost in Facebook or Twitter and blogging actual paragraphs and detailing events and incidents is too much effort. But I find twittering slightly stupid. What is the point of me telling the world what I’m doing at 2.37pm in the afternoon? (1) who is interested in that sort of triviality? (2) A series of actions taken separately makes no sense in itself (3) I can think of better things to do with my time. But maybe I might be wrong and it’s like the haiku version of a poem, reduce it to 17 syllables and poetry will come out of it and blossom like a pretty flower in spring – simple and natural.

Hmm, somehow I doubt it.

Not that I mind Facebook. I think it’s a great tool to get hooked up to the rest of the 180 friends that I have and superpoke each other till kingdom come but sometimes, the idea of it eludes me. I’d rather spend time with a good friend or two then waste all that social energy on something that might or might not be able to reach another person. Surely we all have a limited amount of social energy, and once expended it will surely take time to be replenished. We are all disembodied commentators of uploaded photos with a profile picture. But hey, I think it’s convenient, fun and useful to amalgamate photos and commenting on them. It’s just that once the whole world started doing it I was a little perturbed. Once everyone gets on the bandwagon, it becomes the norm without question. And everytime when facebook tells me that I’d be granting access to the rest of my information once I clicked on an application, I would rather not have the application. Eventually, we all accepted it as the norm, regardless of whether they are your colleagues (or even your boss!). And so we surrender all our personal infomation, good thing I have not updated my records and details for the longest time.

On an altogether separate final note, I hope the economy will bounce back on its own two feet and I’ll stop feeling guilty for shopping.

Watchmen

Watchmen is a mixture of gore, slow-motion action scenes and cool CGI mixed into a three hour film that flies by as the body count in the movie increases. It’s got an M18 rating but honestly, some scenes were so ghastly that I wanted to gag at some parts of the show. Talk about a graphic novel, this will be it. It’s got bloodfest written all over it and though presented in a somewhat artistic manner, the sheer violence of the main characters and the comic book villains is nauseating. Although it seeks to be thought-provoking in a does-the-ends-justify-the-means kind of way, the point seems to be lost in the cool CGI and the action-packed sequences and yes, the blood or blood + water or just mashes of flesh and blood mixed together. And throughout the film, there’s a monotonous raspy voice as the narrator. Boy, you know from the beginning he’s not normal.

Normal is not what this film is. It’s not the normal superheroes movie and seeks to be the anti-superhero movie. It’s not just about the good bad-boys or the bad-good boys, but its about the disillusioned demi-god good bad guys that makes the cynical bad guys look good. All in all, it’s a cool movie and it is unpredictable (that is, if you haven’t read the graphic novel / its synopsis) shocking and absurd. The director definitely did not pull punches in this one, and each plot turn hits you in the face. I seldom cover my eyes and turn my face away in a movie but I did that a couple of times in this one.

Maybe I’m just squeamish. But the whole effect of the movie is unsettling – its raw, unbridled violence exhibited without qualms by the main characters and the elegance and efficiency of pure evil are all portrayed. All in all, this makes me uncomfortable. So if you want a feel-good movie on a Saturday evening, go catch something else. Leave this dark and brooding movie for another dark and gloomy day. There is definitely no good triumphing over the evil in this movie and it’s all about exploring the gray side – and I paraphrase the Comedian ” .. it’s all a practical joke, I thought I knew how the world works, but it’s all just a joke.”

Do catch the movie though. It makes good fodder for post-movie discussion.

my world

Another day, another weekend flies past at light speed. After the social activities, the festivities (I had a wedding dinner to attend), there’s only Sunday night left. The weekend seems way too short and Monday hearkens.The year’s going to end! Oh gosh, time flies. I’ll be right smack in my mid twenties. What am I going to do? How is my life going to turn out? How do I stave off the coming mid-life crisis by making the right decisions today and now?

I am the axis that my world revolves around. In technicolour, it revolves around. I need a disco ball in this world of mine.

Expression

I’ve always wondered what’s the point of expressing your feelings, especially negative ones when it doesn’t do any good, spreads that negative energy around the space you’re in and anyone within that radii and basically infects the people you’re with? I realised that one needs to do that in order to stay sane, so that the knot in your stomach will go away and that black ball of fury (or assorted other emotions) does not cause you to implode within. It is essential, so that one can get over that feeling and move on to other things. That’s why people need someone to talk to I suppose, they need that outlet to vent.

The futility of feelings, of communicating them when it doesn’t do a whit. The necessity of it nevertheless. The problem with logic is that the force of it is never quite as strong as feelings. One can understand logically, but it won’t cause the feelings to abate. Instead it adds to that sense of frustration, the frustration that one understands the other side but yet can’t help feeling the way one is and feeling smaller as a result. Ahh, the evil that empathy can do to oneself.

a completely superficial look at politics

Everyone knows that China is in trouble over Tibet with the international community. Except possibly China herself. As the up and coming superpower, it treats its sovereignty, rightly, as sovereign. And hence once Tibet is labelled as a national sovereignty issue, that’s it, case closed. The international community can disagree but hey, that’s their problem.

And there you have the whole Olympic torch route thing being changed and Chinese youths who are angry that their country has been treated so badly. They are mad that the one event they’ve been preparing for since the time it was announced 4 years ago is in jeopardy by this Tibet issue. They’ve been cleaning up the streets, building new spanking buildings, all spruced up for the Olympics and now at the eve of the event, there’s international disagreement as to the stance that China should take about Tibet. So the Chinese youths rant and rile on the forums online except that internationally, the impact is softened because the forums are in Chinese and only the Chinese understands.

Firstly, I think it’s strangely funny that the amount of Chinese national rage has been understated internationally due to the unfamiliarity with the Chinese language. But it’s understandable. Chinese is one of the hardest languages to learn and the youths in Singapore will attest to that fact. Especially if they hail from ACS and like-minded schools. But that’s an aside.

The real issue is that China, in its national interests, should have taken a more diplomatic stance than to keep reiterating that it’s an ‘internal / national issue’. The problem is also that the Dalai Lama, being the Dalai Lama, has moral authority on his side. It may not be actual moral authority, but such authority is assumed. He appears on television with his kindly smile and mild mannered nature, donned in his religious robes, a perfect picture of conciliatory discussion. On the other hand, you have a Chinese official, decked out in his military outfit as he speaks to the reporters, a picture of austerity and high handedness. It’s not difficult to understand why the entire world did not even bother trying to see this story from China’s point of view. It became the big bully naturally. And no one questions why. The United States of America, in my humble opinion, should keep quiet(er) about it. Before one points out a speck in her brother’s eye, one should take out the plank in its own eye. Iraq is US plank. So it should shut up about it.

I may be trivialising the issue here. In fact, I know I am. The key point is that a healthy dose of diplomacy never did any country any harm. China should be seen to want to compromise on the issue of Tibet, even if it is not. Although that is form without substance, at least there will be a form. With that form, people can then address complaints and constructive criticisms will bring about the impetus needed for creating substance behind that form. First form, then substance. And no crowds will run amok.

Personal Hygiene (/public health)

Yes, I’m talking about personal hygiene. There I was having my dinner at a coffeeshop at Ang Mo Kio and I see this family of four by the walkway. They stopped and the mother decided to relieve the daughter at this bush. Let’s call it the peeing bush. Well, the daughter did what she was told to do and gladly relieved herself there. All the while I was having this really great porridge. Needless to say, the porridge became less savoury after I witnessed the incident.

I was amazed that such things still happen in Singapore. Singapore, the lauded first world country, Singapore, the clean and green garden city. What’s worse about the incident was how stupid and thoughtless the parents were. I mean, think about it, that girl was about 3 years old. And she’s a girl, so even if she can aim better than the kids her age, the chances are that she’ll make a mess. So although they were near the bush, most of the pee ended up on the walkway, and some of it on the mother’s pants because she was helping her daughter. And the father stands by the side and grins as if it’s all a joke.

I can’t see the funny side of it, and I’m quite appalled at the incident. It seems straight out of one of those horror stories in travel books about backward countries. And I didn’t understand why the parents made the kid pee there. I mean, there was a shopping centre, the vast AMK hub just 100 metres away. They have toilets, which comes with a flush and basins and clean water. And the family was quite well dressed. The kids were decked out in cute outfits and there they have their daughter peeing near the sidewalk.

Well, they walked away as if nothing happened, and there was no passer-bys who were shocked enough to stand and stare and chide them. So it was all fine and dandy. So the rest of the world continues as if nothing happens. You have pretty, dolled up young ladies stepping on the puddle of pee unknowingly, thinking perhaps that it’s just water or something. Oh boy, if they only know.

snippets

There are times when there’s a burst of inspiration and suddenly my fingers start having a life of their own at the keyboard and the words just flow out without me having even thought of them before. These are moments when I bang away at my keyboard and vent of all my frustrations and pent up emotion and let loose on the world exactly what I think about it. Not that it makes a difference to the world, the motive is purely selfish, I just need to say what I need to say.

First up, I think Joseph Heller is a genius. Too bad he died in 1999 because I’d really love to meet him. His books crack me up and the topics he focuses on are topics that are very close to my heart. His wit and humour makes reading on the train slightly embarrassing because there I’d be, in a corner of the train with stony faced people all around me and I’d suddenly start grinning and suppressing my laughter due to something funny I’ve read. Boy, I wish I can write like him. I’m reading God Knows, one of his lesser known books after Catch-22 and Closing Time, the sequel to it. It’s about the story of King David from a first person narrative. Funny as hell. I love all the biblical references and the life he injects into well-known stories.

Kinokuniya and Borders should have his entire collection (preferably all in the same series with similar covers that makes buying books and starting a collection so satisfying).

Ok, actually that’s all I have to say. It’s time to rest. The non-wakening period begins.