As for Chin’s charge that some local men in their 20s are too pre-occupied with “wealth and what they have on the outside”, Lin felt that this is necessary trait for “living in Singapore”.
Yahoo “News”.
- I’ve always wondered WTF has society degnerated into a purposeless cycle of eat.sleep.work, all for the sake of “wealth” and “prosperity”, camouflaged not-so-discreetly under the codename of “happiness”. I’ve these two RJ friends, who are so caught up in studying for their futures that I think sometimes they’ve truly lost the plot.
The Magicians, and The Magician King by Lev Grossman
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Read it if you haven’t already. Its not for everyone, I guess, based on the wide-field of opinions on both books, but it was for me.
“That was just the kind of thing he’d been waiting to happen to him his whole life. He practically expected that shit”.
Its not a piece of genius writing; the narrative style slips at points, sometimes feeling contrived into fitting in pop-cultural references and maintaining the realist mode. But the flashes of true Art appear in the form where the threads and strings of the book tapestry circle in relevation and inspiration. And this, along with the “thematic concerns” (and characterisations) of the book make it truly and sublimely special.
Some consider the novel’s main theme to be framed by Quentin’s declaration: ” Everybody wanted to be the hero of their own story”. But to me, the real truth of both books is that nothing really matters. Or alternatively, everything is pointless. I can’t describe this sense of almost-depressing understanding that seeped into me. But like everything else in my life, I pursue this in a self-destructive manner of dwelling and seeking. Which is the greatest irony of adventures; because to seek is to find, but to find is to lose. Similarly, “the hero pays the price”. And we all are the heroes of the adventure that is our life.
“Nothing like a brush with death to take your mind off your troubles”, Quentin says. I think it should be rephrased instead into: “Nothing like death to give you perspective. That Nothing. Really. Fucking. Matters.” Because at the end, when it all boils down to Truth and Reality, everything is fuck-all.
I realize that part of this whole foreign-talent-outsourcing debacle/hoo-haa is the unbridgeable gap between Singaporean’s priviledged expectations and the socio-economic realities of the working world.
For example, bus drivers, meter maids and FnB service staff. These are lowly paid, blue-collared jobs; in modern Singapore, where everyone is “educated” and instilled with a largely middle-class mentality, the burgeoning wave of eligible job-seekers will “naturally” stay away from such jobs. And yet, they cry foul when foreign “talents” (because do you really need talent to drive a bus?) are hired to fill these jobs.
From what I see, these aren’t replacements or “stealing” of Singaporean jobs. These are jobs that our priviledged Singaporean don’t want, and yet feel they have the right to complain that these jobs are being taken away.
Next time before you open your mouth to complain about the job scene in Singapore and how foreign talents are taking away such jobs, ask yourself whether you would take up such jobs in the first place. Hypocrisy much? Its all too easy to just blame the government for all your problems, even unrelated ones.
(Also; that is a slippery slope argument. Just because we outsource our blue-collared jobs does NOT mean we need to outsource our ministerial jobs. Thats just poor thinking.)
#Disclaimer: These apply for the younger generation of Singaporeans mostly. The blue-collared older generations are slowly (for lack of better words) dying out, figuratively and literally. Also, this discussion is pointed at blue-collared jobs; white-collared jobs are still up for debate (although personally, I think competition is good. But then again I have a secured future, so I could be biased and idealistic).
So
I just did a rough calculation on the number of works (poems/essays/books) we have for 1003 and its roughly 63 (what an evil number).
And out of this wicked number, for section A, 8 will be used (12.7% of total texts; there are also 3872894697 combinations), out of which, we have to choose 4 to identify, in terms of Author, Name of work, Historical Context and its relevance to both the Period and the larger significance of the text. If this is not rote learning at its worst, I don’t know what is. This is worth 40% of the paper; the other 60% goes to ONE essay question, out of 4 questions based on the different periods.
I honestly, honestly do not understand the point of having closed-book examinations for English (other than that it would defeat the purpose of having Section A, which is pointless anyway, so there). Our exams are supposed to be a test on our conceptual knowledge and application of essay skills, rhetoric and logical analysis/critical thinking. How is having to memorise and pore through tons of book, while hoping that what you studied WILL come out for the exams, an indication of Higher Learning?
And its not just that I’m really far behind in my readings for 1003; I feel the same way for those courses I’ve thoroughly read (like 1005), and even for American Literature last sem (even though I did well).
Hall Hygiene 101
There are lots of good things about staying in Hall: friends, convenience, a semblance of privacy (although it really depends on where you stay. If you stay in the “prime” district, you don’t get any privacy at all. Well, at least you get privacy from your parents haha), and the list runneths on. But the absolute worst thing about Hall is the toilet (specifically the toilets, at Block 60, which is the prime district of Hall 12. And male, because I’ve been to the male ones) (Disclaimer: If you’re eating your dinner, or highly susceptible to disgust, please refrain from reading on)
The toilets are grossly filthy beyond compare. For example, someone once shitted in the toilet, outside the cubicle. Not inside, out-freaking-side. At all times, and I kid you not, all times, are the “thrones” being despoiled of its necessary functions by irresponsible and too-unhygienic people. People’s piddles (or pee, or wee, or urine. I just like the sound of people’s piddles haha.), fecal material and used toilet paper surround and encave the “thrones” without fail; my gag reflex is always being exercised. THIS IS A VERY STRESSFUL LIFE I LEAD, haha! I thought about it and I think the reasons boil down to:
(I) There are no urinals. As such, all the males are forced to use the same two “thrones” (two in each toilet).
(II) If any one person decides to be unhygienic, and pee all over the place, or refuse to flush the seats or do any other unspeakable deed, it could induce any subsequent pee-er to follow suit. The implied idea is that once its dirty, its dirty. Also, no one’s going to clean up someone else’s shit. So it piles on. (The worst times to be in Hall is over the weekend, when the cleaners don’t come in. That said, I really pity the mess-es they have to clean up)
(III) People take for granted that they’re not living at home anymore. This is seen especially in the pantries (in Block 60 again), where people often leave the place in a mess after whipping up their maggie mees. While I hate to be “racist” in any way, these occurences happen because of the foreigners, especially students from China. I’m not saying Singaporean students, or students from any country for that matter, do not dirty the pantries. Only that, it is always the students from China who leave the place in a mess. From the stained tables, the choked up sink, the overflowing dustbin or the litter of papaya seeds all over the floor. No one’s maid is there to clean up after them, and sometimes I think people conveniently forget that.
Perhaps its just my inner OCD acting up, but facing these things on a continuous basis can just get to you. Its like as if someone is actively doing these things to you, paying attention to the small details of gross unhygiene, such as not washing away their facial hair (pleaseee let it be facial hair) after shaving in the sink. LIKE OMG IS IT THAT HARD TO JUST PRESS THE TAP AFTER YOU SHAVE? The sinks are unfortunately very white, and any tiny strain of black hair is made extremely apparent. Especially when some people are just too damn hairy.
I do like to repeat that there are good points to staying in Hall, but if you want to stay in Hall and is a massive hygiene-freak (I’m not so massive, but almost there), you might want to reconsider. To reduce the odds of having such filth surround you, your best bet is always to try to get a room outside the prime districts, a.k.a. where people hardly hang out.
ALSO, after presenting a “very nice” pitch on the perks of staying in Hall, I would like to plead anyone who reads this: If you know any juniors coming to NTU this year who would like to stay in Hall and are good at sports (more importantly, Hockey or Floorball; but other sports are welcome too), please let me know! We would like to “rec” you or them in!
and that’s it! that’s the last of it. if you’d like to view them all in order, please click here.
If you’l like to know what it’s really about, well.. keep reading.
“The book you’ve just read, or are about to read, is really special. I wrote it for one person in particular and he’s someone that means a lot to me. I can safely say that if not for him, I couldn’t be where I am today. He’s a cool kid. He’s also my five-year-old self.
Isn’t that a bit sad, you might ask, giving something to yourself that took 17 years to afford? And I can’t argue with that. It is sad. But this is a sad book. Don’t get fooled by the cheery cutesy graphics. This is a really sad book - not sad in the way people dying is sad, but sad in the way a kiwi never learning how to fly is sad.
You see, it’s about how life is all to do with compromise. When you’re born, you compromise on being someplace better. You arrive with these dreams and wishes and ambitions that slowly crack at the edges as reality shows up and you have to grow up to grow up. You have to take care of your mom and dad, you have to make time for family, you have to do this and that, and in the blink of an eye you’re no longer young and have more veins on your ankles than laugh lines on your face to show for it. I’m not saying this because it’s a very bad thing. It’s not even a very good thing. What it is, is a very real thing.
That’s why I wanted to give this book to me. Not just to me, but to all the dreamers in the world, to show them what can happen if they’re not careful with their dreams, to get them to get their game faces on to fight for their corner of the world. It is a sad and short life we are given, and dreams aren’t always kind to timelines.”
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“What it is, is a very real thing.” - Perfectly, succintly drawn/said, Jon Chan! (Please take a look at this very talented artist, and his really provocative/relevant book-story!)
I totally feel this. There are so many real things, everyday, practical things that as children we would never think of, that slowly take the place of our dreams and hopes and ambitions. But the real world sets in, and our dreams slip away slowly, slowly. I don’t know whether its just cause we live in such a fast-paced, money-conscious society, but I know that I have to balance responsibility with idealism. Sometimes despite all our fighting, and sometimes we feel we’ve been fighting forever, we end up compromising. And real life is like that. Its not always cheery, sunny Hollywood, where you get what you want just cause you fight for what you want. Sometimes you fight, but life still knocks you down, things get in the way. Over and over again. And its oh so real.
