jeudi, novembre 10, 2005
probably a long post
i don't understand why people would want to lie in their questionnaire and then want to donate blood. shakes head. why are these people like that. not like they'll get killed or persecuted or thrown into jail. not like it's a genetic discrimination screening process. not like they have to donate blood to survive. why why why.
anyway donating blood is a way to check if you've got syphilis, HIV, Hep B or C. but don't do that.
Tabloids and trains (and weird characters)(and steven lim)
i forgot to blog about this yesterday actually. on the train back home, two women stood next to me, left and right. working women. both opened 晚报 (if chinese words too small: local chinese evening tabloids) to read. *inaudible sigh* i was trying to study for french test actually. but i peeked at what they were reading, since they opened it so wide. more ppl dying (so boring), more ppl getting ditched, sun yan zi's relationship falling apart (particularly big chuck, and the woman was reading it for a long time), and other misc etc. oui. then, .. then what.. i dunno what.
and then the woman on the right changed to Straits Times. ooh la la. impressive. so many papers. *glances*, hm, carrying a bag (shopping bag) full of papers, presumably Straits Times and the above-mentioned junk. why carry a bag to bring papers, ah well, but nvm. well read Straits Times, good improvement. she works at Hong Leong Finance too. she opens main section, flip flip flip flip. ?reading?. nvm. oh she stops. hm, what is she looking at. oh, some advertisement from Citibank. ... more flips. within no time, switches to Home section. flips considerably slower than just now. (at least she din spend as long on the trash paper as the other woman, but then she had more things to go through)
tabloids. what i noticed about it:
1. Almost every page has Colour! Straits Times is rather stingy on colour printing. i wish they use colours on the photos, since most of the pages are black words.
2. Assorted array of articles STREWN all over the pages. no clear layout, no orderly arrangement.
3. Many photos. with multicolour borders, like some kid having fun with MS Word in a sch project.
and what does that remind me of? Steven Lim's website. for those who don't know who he is, very good, you shouldn't know. he's the person who did some stripping thing on Singapore Idol and who solicits young girls for eyebrow shaping services at C.K.Tangs.
his website depicts somewhat the same arrangement as the tabloids. Surprisingly. hm. cool. and i was having an interesting discussion about his mental disposition with jx. hm. steven lim and william hung and perhaps related ppl.
oh and we saw him at his usual spot today, wearing a purple tank top and being a public nuisance. and first impression: flubbly fake muscle builder. oh my what a pathetic sentence. ok, er, person pretending to look like a hunk/body builder, and showing obvious signs of attempts at body building, but results are covered in generous proportions of energy-laden adipose tissues. what a loser at that. it's so horrible when you're trying to be someone you're not, and failing at that, and giving away that you're such a failure.
French (and Biodiversity) and Paris and Positive Discrimination
french test today. orals are always freaky. learning french, and the fun things about it, and reading about the stuff going on in Paris. heartache ah. wouldn't i be. sigh.
Biodiversity module. which spent the entire sem covering every living thing. and which humans were barely mentioned. the diversity of life has little space for humans. we are only but a little section, one little kind. there are so many others.
and one cannot help but always think how evolution and natural selection has "stopped" for humans. how we have created our own world and our own rules. (are we still actually subject to the old rules? hard to say for sure it seems) and how we try to have our morals ( are morals natural?) and how we try to help everyone, every single human being, how we try to be nice to everyone, how we want everyone to survive together. juxtaposing with the kill or be killed fundamentals of nature.
Paris, Paris. a few great articles in today's Straits Times, from the Review section (not surprisingly), a great great great respite from the factual boring reports of numbers of cars burnt. one titled "Why S'pore hums and Paris burns", seemingly attributed to International Herald Tribune. 2nd one "An underclass culture that spans the globe", New York Times Syndicate. 3rd one "Tackling the tricky question of integrating immigrants", Stratfor. and 4th one "Where dreams of a better life don't exist", New York Straits Times Syndicate.
big sigh on the things mentioned in there. they speak of how the unrest in Paris is not due to racial or colour discrimination, not a lot of things that people assume. but that it is due to the inability to assimilate the immigrant subgenerations into the French identity. of how France uses a model of no discrimination, where all are equal, totally equal, and one does not judge, discriminate or even separate out based on race. you cannot even do a census on the racial distribution, because everyone is just seen as French, and that's all. French. no Chinese, Malay, Indian, Hokkien, Teochew. sounds great, sounds equal and fair, but unofficially, people are discriminated against. harder to get jobs and things like that. and the children of these immigrants, are born and grown up in France all their lives. they associate themselves with France, with being French. and not with their skin colour, their old origins. they want to be French, to be recognised as such, to be accorded normal priviledges and respect as with the French-French. and that's where the unhappiness started.
and even more peculiarly, an explanation is offered as to why the heart of Paris remains relatively undisturbed. these teens identify with the areas they live in, they form groups, gangs, they conform to their authority, the gang authorities. they do not listen to parents, authorities, "outsiders". and they are attacking only where they live. their own areas. they protest against the symbols of unfairness, the cars, the gyms, hm. and unemployment in these areas is so high, up to 50%. and they live on state welfare.
one article compared France to USA, Canada and Australia. 3 counties who welcome immigrants, who need immigrants, who live on immigrants, and whose systems and national identity have been structured such that they can assimilate easily. The european countries and the EU are not the same, and they face problems like these. of integrating these immigrant communities, of discrimination, of sub-classes. so sad.
and the article comparing Singapore and Paris. i was very glad the author wrote out one thing: positive discrimination. it's something i have always felt very keenly, and which sometimes i feel rather vexed about. Singapore's policy is to recognise ("discriminate" as used in this expression) the different racial, ethnic, divisible groups in the multiracial society of Singapore. it recognises and promotes the different hertiages and encourages Tolerance and Harmony between the different groups. it actively seeks to balance and neutralise discriminatory actions. it imposes restrictions on HDB racial distributions. to create a more homogenous mix. all these cannot be done in France because they do not allow this kind of separation and pointing out of people. it's as if all Singaporeans can only be classified as Singaporeans. Singapore's policy, and all that talk about racial discrimination, introduced the concept into me. before it all, i don't feel racial discrimination. now it seems as if i am actively avoiding it. and it feels like such a ever-commanding presence. in a way, i feel the discrimination even more. i feel more like a Singaporean, like a human, and little as a Chinese, or even any dialect group. i also do not feel the difference of religious classification as keenly. Singapore's model has worked for Singapore. you do what you do because it is supposed to be right. perhaps it is better than leaving things to human nature?. perhaps people cannot naturally be nice and totally harmonious. Sedition Act, racist bloggers. sensitive muslim communities.
Singapore seems to assume the worst of people, and make rules to prevent that. we are too small for mistakes, too small for tolerance of errors and deviation. too fragile and young to question. a young fledging corporation can only try to build upon its newfound success, instead of being a well-rounded nation with time and allowance for the higher aspects of life.
i wish the Straits Times journalists would be the ones writing these kind of articles rather than recommending prom dresses and hairstylists.
probably a long post
HIV
i don't understand why people would want to lie in their questionnaire and then want to donate blood. shakes head. why are these people like that. not like they'll get killed or persecuted or thrown into jail. not like it's a genetic discrimination screening process. not like they have to donate blood to survive. why why why.
anyway donating blood is a way to check if you've got syphilis, HIV, Hep B or C. but don't do that.
Tabloids and trains (and weird characters)(and steven lim)
i forgot to blog about this yesterday actually. on the train back home, two women stood next to me, left and right. working women. both opened 晚报 (if chinese words too small: local chinese evening tabloids) to read. *inaudible sigh* i was trying to study for french test actually. but i peeked at what they were reading, since they opened it so wide. more ppl dying (so boring), more ppl getting ditched, sun yan zi's relationship falling apart (particularly big chuck, and the woman was reading it for a long time), and other misc etc. oui. then, .. then what.. i dunno what.
and then the woman on the right changed to Straits Times. ooh la la. impressive. so many papers. *glances*, hm, carrying a bag (shopping bag) full of papers, presumably Straits Times and the above-mentioned junk. why carry a bag to bring papers, ah well, but nvm. well read Straits Times, good improvement. she works at Hong Leong Finance too. she opens main section, flip flip flip flip. ?reading?. nvm. oh she stops. hm, what is she looking at. oh, some advertisement from Citibank. ... more flips. within no time, switches to Home section. flips considerably slower than just now. (at least she din spend as long on the trash paper as the other woman, but then she had more things to go through)
tabloids. what i noticed about it:
1. Almost every page has Colour! Straits Times is rather stingy on colour printing. i wish they use colours on the photos, since most of the pages are black words.
2. Assorted array of articles STREWN all over the pages. no clear layout, no orderly arrangement.
3. Many photos. with multicolour borders, like some kid having fun with MS Word in a sch project.
and what does that remind me of? Steven Lim's website. for those who don't know who he is, very good, you shouldn't know. he's the person who did some stripping thing on Singapore Idol and who solicits young girls for eyebrow shaping services at C.K.Tangs.
his website depicts somewhat the same arrangement as the tabloids. Surprisingly. hm. cool. and i was having an interesting discussion about his mental disposition with jx. hm. steven lim and william hung and perhaps related ppl.
oh and we saw him at his usual spot today, wearing a purple tank top and being a public nuisance. and first impression: flubbly fake muscle builder. oh my what a pathetic sentence. ok, er, person pretending to look like a hunk/body builder, and showing obvious signs of attempts at body building, but results are covered in generous proportions of energy-laden adipose tissues. what a loser at that. it's so horrible when you're trying to be someone you're not, and failing at that, and giving away that you're such a failure.
French (and Biodiversity) and Paris and Positive Discrimination
french test today. orals are always freaky. learning french, and the fun things about it, and reading about the stuff going on in Paris. heartache ah. wouldn't i be. sigh.
Biodiversity module. which spent the entire sem covering every living thing. and which humans were barely mentioned. the diversity of life has little space for humans. we are only but a little section, one little kind. there are so many others.
and one cannot help but always think how evolution and natural selection has "stopped" for humans. how we have created our own world and our own rules. (are we still actually subject to the old rules? hard to say for sure it seems) and how we try to have our morals ( are morals natural?) and how we try to help everyone, every single human being, how we try to be nice to everyone, how we want everyone to survive together. juxtaposing with the kill or be killed fundamentals of nature.
Paris, Paris. a few great articles in today's Straits Times, from the Review section (not surprisingly), a great great great respite from the factual boring reports of numbers of cars burnt. one titled "Why S'pore hums and Paris burns", seemingly attributed to International Herald Tribune. 2nd one "An underclass culture that spans the globe", New York Times Syndicate. 3rd one "Tackling the tricky question of integrating immigrants", Stratfor. and 4th one "Where dreams of a better life don't exist", New York Straits Times Syndicate.
big sigh on the things mentioned in there. they speak of how the unrest in Paris is not due to racial or colour discrimination, not a lot of things that people assume. but that it is due to the inability to assimilate the immigrant subgenerations into the French identity. of how France uses a model of no discrimination, where all are equal, totally equal, and one does not judge, discriminate or even separate out based on race. you cannot even do a census on the racial distribution, because everyone is just seen as French, and that's all. French. no Chinese, Malay, Indian, Hokkien, Teochew. sounds great, sounds equal and fair, but unofficially, people are discriminated against. harder to get jobs and things like that. and the children of these immigrants, are born and grown up in France all their lives. they associate themselves with France, with being French. and not with their skin colour, their old origins. they want to be French, to be recognised as such, to be accorded normal priviledges and respect as with the French-French. and that's where the unhappiness started.
and even more peculiarly, an explanation is offered as to why the heart of Paris remains relatively undisturbed. these teens identify with the areas they live in, they form groups, gangs, they conform to their authority, the gang authorities. they do not listen to parents, authorities, "outsiders". and they are attacking only where they live. their own areas. they protest against the symbols of unfairness, the cars, the gyms, hm. and unemployment in these areas is so high, up to 50%. and they live on state welfare.
one article compared France to USA, Canada and Australia. 3 counties who welcome immigrants, who need immigrants, who live on immigrants, and whose systems and national identity have been structured such that they can assimilate easily. The european countries and the EU are not the same, and they face problems like these. of integrating these immigrant communities, of discrimination, of sub-classes. so sad.
and the article comparing Singapore and Paris. i was very glad the author wrote out one thing: positive discrimination. it's something i have always felt very keenly, and which sometimes i feel rather vexed about. Singapore's policy is to recognise ("discriminate" as used in this expression) the different racial, ethnic, divisible groups in the multiracial society of Singapore. it recognises and promotes the different hertiages and encourages Tolerance and Harmony between the different groups. it actively seeks to balance and neutralise discriminatory actions. it imposes restrictions on HDB racial distributions. to create a more homogenous mix. all these cannot be done in France because they do not allow this kind of separation and pointing out of people. it's as if all Singaporeans can only be classified as Singaporeans. Singapore's policy, and all that talk about racial discrimination, introduced the concept into me. before it all, i don't feel racial discrimination. now it seems as if i am actively avoiding it. and it feels like such a ever-commanding presence. in a way, i feel the discrimination even more. i feel more like a Singaporean, like a human, and little as a Chinese, or even any dialect group. i also do not feel the difference of religious classification as keenly. Singapore's model has worked for Singapore. you do what you do because it is supposed to be right. perhaps it is better than leaving things to human nature?. perhaps people cannot naturally be nice and totally harmonious. Sedition Act, racist bloggers. sensitive muslim communities.
Singapore seems to assume the worst of people, and make rules to prevent that. we are too small for mistakes, too small for tolerance of errors and deviation. too fragile and young to question. a young fledging corporation can only try to build upon its newfound success, instead of being a well-rounded nation with time and allowance for the higher aspects of life.
i wish the Straits Times journalists would be the ones writing these kind of articles rather than recommending prom dresses and hairstylists.
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