Sunday, August 9, 2009 - 6:09 AM
CIP...for once
I never knew that I would be enjoing my time two days before National Day in Taman Jurong. Doing CIP. I had always stereotyped people who did CIP as a goody-goody two shoes and I could never see through its importance. That's because I never tried.A quick rewinding of what happedned on Friday. After the usual precautionary temperature taking in the morning, my class left for the Taman Jurong area at 8. We arrived promptly and after a quick hassle set out to work. Caijie split us up into groups of two and I went with Mark to collect the old newspapers. After a while, we stopped work and brought the papers to the collection points. There, we had a short but fufilling experience playing "newspaper-discus". The old papers came pouring in but a lot of us kept on going(Our dearest chairman gave me a hard time).
What I enjoyed about this trip was talking with the neighbours. Many of them were friendly, opening the doors and responding to our calls. Even if we did not collect newspapers from everyone, at least they were friendly towards us. There was this lady who even volunteered to give us newspapers when we met her in the lift lobby. Those that did not even answer our ringings of the doorbells made us quite touchy though. I particularly remember one neighbour who set a dog on us. Luckily, there was a fence that stopped it from jumping at us. Oh, that was really surprising. There was also an old lady who was dressing her half-naked kid at the doorway. Well, I obviously did not dare to collect any papers from them.
This time's CIP activity gave me a feelings of frustration and happiness. I am happy that I had contributed to helping kids in Taman Jurong. I feel frustrated because I could no longer do any work for the rest of the day because my fingers had grown sore. Just joking! New experiences and opportunities appear as we grow up. Old impressions are repainted when we try something different. I find the CIP this time fun. Perhaps it is because I like interacting with friendly adults and helping children. Trying new things can also be a very exciting activity. You never know how fun or dull something is unless you give it a try.
Saturday, August 8, 2009 - 4:23 AM
Courtesy and Kiasu~Another thought
Okay, after yesterday's post, I discussed this matter a little bit with my dad and he gave me a little food for thought. While he agreed that Singaporeans were genreally kiasu, he had a different view on the effects of being Kiasu. Instead of the usual pessimistic view on this sticky subject, my dad gave me a positive response. He said that being kiasu was what brought Singapore to what it is today. Thinking about it, I find myself with a silly grin. Looks like I forgot to look at the other side of the dime.
Think about it. When we are Kiasu, we do not want to lose out to others. Hence, when we see a country like say America being so advanced, we will not want to lose out to them and will instictively work towards improving ourselves to reach their standards. This attitude pushes us forward. It is probably what transfromed us from the backward fishing village to the modern metropolitan city of today. Never ending "Kiasuism". Wow.
Thursday, August 6, 2009 - 5:49 AM
Courtesy and Kiasu, A Singaporean Problem
Courtesy. I recall that years ago Singapore had a lion mascot promoting courteous behaviour among our people on buses and trains. It's purpose? To encouraged us to let the commutors inside the MRT and buses alight first before we entered. Nowadays, we see stickers featuring local celebrities being stuck within the buses and MRT carridges. It's purpose? To encouraged us to let the commutors inside the MRT and buses alight first before we entered. Different approaches. Same Idea. Does it work? The answer is obvious-No.
Why is it so hard to change the Singaporean mindset? Perhaps it's because of the deep values that has been ingrained into us ever since we have been born. It can be traced back to our forefathers. Our ancient ancestors. The first settlers of Singapore. The coolies. From what I've heard, they brought "kiasu", the Singaporean trait.
"Kiasu" can be good and bad. On the good side, it makes us competitive and we are pressured to scale greater heights to crush our rivals. On the bad side, like I said, I do not know where to begin. "Kiasu" leads to many problems in our society. It is also a large attributing factor of the lack of courtesy among us. Just think about. Isn't it because we Singaporeans are afraid of losing out to others and hence we are not willing to give others a chance first? Of course it is. In fact, this kind of attitude has already existed in our natures and is only amplified by our "Kiasu" community.
Which leads back courtesy. I think that no matter what kind of promotional cmapaign are held in Singapore, "Kiasu" and our lack of courtesy can never be resolved. There is only so much the government can do. They may be be able to convince one or two citizens but to change an entire population is merely wistful thinking. The campaigns can become more youth-oriented as the young population is mainly the aim of the government's cmapigns but besides making us smirk at adults making a fool of themselves, I don't think the youth of today would catch the point. We are much too self-centred and unmotivated to change our old habits.
In conclusion, I feel that even though the government is trying very hard to change the people's attitudes, it would be a very difficult task as it would practically trying to eradicate a part of Singaporean history.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - 3:22 AM
What is beauty?
What is beauty? It's quite hard to say. The word beauty is used in many contexts. Sometimesit is used to describe a person's appearance, sometimes it is used to describe objects whom you feel a special attachment to. For example, my sister always cries "They're beautiful!" when she observes flashy fireworks bursting in the night sky or when she finds a toy that she likes. Some people might say, "Wow, he's/she's beautiful!" when they see someone who stands out from the crowd. And believe me, I know an Ispark who does that all the time. The list of examples goes on and on because one can be beautiful in many aspects in life.
However, I define beauty as the inner purity of a person.
OKay, I admit it sounds a lot like something you would find in a ancient thick book featuring old literary pieces. But that is just what I think. Innner beauty is the perfection of the soul, where people are judged based on their attitudes and not their appearances. My views may be biased but I despise people who appear twisted and deliberately nasty to others.
Many people deem beauty as "what you see on the outside." I do not think that this is right. I mean, look at the world. There are many people who are not that much of lookers but have a gentle soul of an angel. True, beauty can be used to judge a person's ulterior appearance but more importantly, we must notice the person's interior appearance. "It's not always the outside's that is important, it's the inside that counts!"
Okay, take this for example. You have just met this person who looks really good. You are charmed by this person and you do everything the person tells you to do. However, you fail to realise that you are merely being manipulated bu this person and have fallen for the trap countless others have tripped into. This person may be sparkling on the outside but within is a dark, unsightly snake who only wishes to take advantage of you and when he is done, he would just sink his teeth into you in betrayal.
This kind of ulterior beauty can be tempting to many in this sad reality, but what is important is that we are able to see through a person's appearance and judge him or her by their attitude, no matter how ugly or attractive he or she is.
Monday, July 27, 2009 - 7:49 PM
H1N1 flu virus
Sitting here at home, I am quite bored. Yesterday I reached the trigger temperature of 37.9°C and was sent home before I could sit for my English class test. Just what I needed. Another missed test. What's worst, the doctor has given me a three day Medical Certificate(MC)which stated that I will not be able to attend th next three days of school, meaning I will be missing my make-up math, English, science and music(no complaints there) tests. Right now I am feeling OK am I really want to get back to school, but I have to follow the MC as stated in the SMB. It is really uncomfortable wearing the mask 24/7 and really inconvenient for my family members. Furthermore, I am quite worried that I had cuaght the H1N1 flu bug, although chances are quite slim.
The papers reported the fifth H1N1-related death yesterday. Apparently, a woman with leukaemia had passed away with underlying H1N1. Many others have been identified with the H1N1 flu virus and around 11 of them are in the Intensive Care Unit(ICU). The papers are saying that the flu virus in Singapore is still considered a mild one but nevertheless, they are warning us to go seek treatment early if any of us find ourselves with H1N1 symptoms.
I think that although H1N1-related deaths only occured to those with medical conditions, we should not take this as a lightly matter. In other countries, there have been many other deaths and the casulties do not all have medical conditions. It is important that in this epidemic that we keep ourselves clean and be wary of our own condition. Should we feel feverish, the clinic would be the immediate answer.
Monday, July 20, 2009 - 6:43 AM
Terrorism- An Unfotunate resurgence
Last weekend, two prominent hotels in Jakarta were bombed by terrorists. Casulties were immense. The pungent smell of death and blood was thick. It was very likely that the terrorist attacks were targeted were aimed at the Caucasions, because the bomb went off where a large group of powerful Caucasion executives were lunching. There has been many speculations over the reasons for the bombings. Experts believe that it may be due to the outcome of the recent presidential elections. The JI had been blamed for this terrible incident. I cannot help but think back to a few years ago, when one of the two hotels invovled was destroyed by a car bomb. The thing is, the government blamed the JI too. I am not standing up for the JI and I will never stand by their agendas. It's just that I thought that after the Mumbai attacks last November, they would have stepped up their precautions against terrorism. I hope that this would serve as an urgent wake-up call for the countries. This is not an individual responsibility, though. We, the citizens of a country, are responsible for our well-being. We cannot rely totally on a government... based on past events.
Many people say it's because of religon. Blinded devotion to a higher power. I personally feel that although religon is splendid in a sense that it gives people a motivation in life, those who don the unforgivable mask of a terrosist seem to claim religon as their driving force. I mean religon is OK and all but crossing between devotion and blind devotion is just senseless. No offence, but I am a free-thinker and do not understand the whole concept of the christians, muslims, catholics and the rest of them. People think, don't they? I can hardly bring myself to believe that anyone who devotes themself to religon lack the primary instinct to think for themselves. Terrorist who use religon as a reason for their actions are insulting the term "religon".
Terrorism often reveals itself suddenly and in an unexpected manner. It is impossible for us to stop every suicidal maniac or clear off every unidentified object. It is possible, however, for us to be on the alert every moment and keep an eye on our surroundings. "Be vigilant. Stay resilient." Out of Singapore's numeous cheesy quotes, I think that this one is quite sensible.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 - 7:51 AM
We never know and we never will
I was flipping through the newspapers on Monday. Normally, I would not even bother to open the Chinese newspaper but I was fortunate that I did. In an obscure section of the paper, I found an article related to Tae-Kwon-Do. Mildly interested, I scanned down the columns and to my surprise, found a pile of unpleasanties lumped together in a disturbing article.
It reported that the day before, the Singapore Tae-Kwon-Do Gymnasium had organized a competition for its members. In the very first opening match, a 15-year old green belt aimed a kick at a 17-year old blue belt's neck and knocked him out. The blue belt staggered, struggling to pull himself together. The next moment, he lay crumpled on the floor, under the sea of horrified spectators, unconcious. Since then, he has been in a coma and shows no sign of recovery.
Seeing this article, I fail to recognize why such a mishap would happen with the officials present at the incident. The only sensible reason would be that the referees were not clear of their delegated tasks. I mean, seriously speaking, the referees are in charge of the situation. They are responsible for the fouls commited by the competitors and it is their job to watch over the match and step in if necessary. However, it still did not prevent the accident. Perhaps the referees were complacent and, doubting that a big issue would arise, chose to stand aside to allow the participants to do as they please. They may not have anonounced the tournament rules beforehand or did not take their job seriously.
On that day itself, I was also taking part in a Tae-Kwon-Do tournament. I shudder to think what would happen if misfortune setteled itself in our midst. Luckily for me, I escaped unscathed, albeit some minor bruises. However, this has let me to realise that misfortune does not play by the same rules as we do. It does not have a fixed timetable to follow. It strikes anywhere and anytime. Most fail to make themselves impervious to the threat, due to the many flaws in human nature- Complacency, arrogance and so on. We must remain vigilant, even in the brightest of day, because we never know when tragedy might arrive in its black carridge, and we never will.
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