Boomz

This has gone on for too long.

When I read the transcript of the interview in the papers, I thought, "Who made this Ah Lian Miss Singapore/ World?!" I joined conversations lamenting the decline of Singapore's standard of English. Finally, I decided to watch the youtube clip myself. I read the comments.

And I felt bad for the kid.

It seemed obvious to me that she was nervous beneath that facade of calm. Thrown into the spotlight suddenly, she did what everyone would do: try to appear better/ cooler/ hipper/ smarter than whom she thought she was. Furthermore, she was going to represent the country. Everyone's going to be looking at her, judging her. So she garbled some words. Her thoughts got mixed up. She thought it would be appropriate to give people some style tips.

She's the winner of a competition that people think are full of beautiful but brainless women. What did you expect her to say? "Yes, I won! I'm queen of the bimbos!" She's now a representative of the pageant and she will have to defend it as much as she can.

Is it enough to warrant revamping English lessons? No. But any attempt to improve is always good.

It appears that after you win something/ become known in this country, that's when the real judging begins. And from that moment on, the judging never stops.

What the situation surfaces is the ugly Singaporean trait of deriding others. This holier-than-thou mentality is something that is worse than speaking improper English. So her spoken ability isn't what we would expect from our pageant representative... some of her critics should also consult their grammar books. Somehow, unless you show that you have the clout to sue the pants off everybody, you're fair game for mud slingers.

If she met all the criteria to win the pageant, then the problem is with the criteria not the person. If language was not a significant criteria, then she should not be targeted because she can't pronounce words accurately. Does this mean that all beautiful women who can't speak proper English should only join the Miss Chinatown pageant?

If you asked me, I would agree that she should not have won. However, I also think that all the personal attacks were unnecessary.

Twisting the Knife

I read with disbelief that MediaCorp tied up with Mazda to have a 88 hour Drive-a-thon to benefit World Vision and the victims of Typhoon Morakot. Eight cars, I assume that they would be Mazdas, will be driving around to collect donations for the cause.

Obviously, more than one person, since there are three organisations involved, thought it would be a good idea to have these eight cars driving around for more than four days needlessly burning more fuel when donors could have just mailed them a cheque. They seem to have learnt nothing from Al Gore's lecture.

It sounds just too wayang and rah-rah for my taste. It would appear that someone wanted to make a point but just didn't think that the excessive burning of fuel is the cause for global warming and the climatic backlash.

So yeah, let's make 'em drive around a lil more so that we can show the victims of Morakot that although we are the cause of the deaths of their loved ones and the destruction of their homes, we are going to twist the knife a lil bit more because we are giving them money.

Watching Fish Die

It has been another one of those weeks. Hell, it hasn't even been a week yet...

Dad's friend gave him a couple of baby koi which he promptly put into my pond. One thing he didn't know was that when you buy koi, they are always packed in plastic bags with medicated water which kills parasites as a precaution so that you don't cross-infect ponds. The procedure is that you float that bag in the pond for half an hour then introduce the pond water into the bag for acclimatisation. Finally and most importantly, you take the new koi out of the bag and let it into the pond. The medicated water is disposed of as the chemicals will kill the benevolent bacteria in the pond. These new koi were gifts so they probably came with pond water with no medication. When the whole bag was emptied into my pond, the fuse to a time bomb was lit.

Being of the cheap variety, the colours weren't very nice on the new koi. Since they were still very young, they spent the next two days hiding in various corners before they finally joined my group of seven. It was at this time that I noticed a little red spot on one of my white koi.

In a day, my entire stock of seven were lying on their sides at the bottom of the pond while the two new ones merrily swam around. Occasionally, they would stir to life only to swim around crazily and flick against the sides of the pond. My first thought: Parasites!

The next logical thing was to medicate the whole pond which I did. Still it didn't prevent one of them from leaping from the water in the middle of the night and landing in the bushes where we found it the next day. The rest are still in a delicate state, either lying at the bottom or floating on top, gasping for air. It's painful to watch as they suffer.

It has been a difficult time. Everyday as I pass the pond on my way out, I naturally look in to check on them. Witnessing the suffering certainly does nothing to lift my spirits. This is repeated when I get home each day. It has been frustrating but no one expected this.

My instinct was to put down the ones that looked like they weren't going to make it. My mom who usually feeds them, prefers to dispose of them only when they are dead. Effectively giving them a fighting chance to recover. It's a difficult decision: Is it more compassionate to end the suffering or let the pain continue so that there is a chance of recovery, however remote?

Visit to LucasFilms, Singapore

It's an annual journey.

In the name of work, I spent a morning as a guest in an external organisation. This year, I went to LucasFilms Singapore.

There are no pictures as the studio guards its secrets zealously. We spent most of the morning in a screening room with their senior staff, listening to their presentation and asking questions.

What I loved was their work culture - similar to most new US organisations - focus on staff fun and creativity to solve problems.

What stuck me was the requirement to be proficient at using both sides of your brain and the passion that their staff had for their job. The presenter showed us a photo of him as a teen, in a costume he made himself, as Luke Skywalker. Apparently, many in their organisation share similar devotion to their fave films. I had read previously about how everyone has a "bundle of passions" and how we should make our passions our jobs. At that time, I thought for a long time about what was in my bundle of passions. Now, I know. What are you so crazy about that you would spend hours doing it without any inkling of time?

There was also mention of how they would prefer to employ people with a sense of mischief and rule-benders/ breakers. These people tend to be more creative in their approach to problem-solving and are able to do so using the simplest of solutions. Our schools are apparently so rigid with our rules that it is difficult to inculcate creativity.

As a former rule-enforcer, it made me wonder: Are rules created by the more intelligent people to keep the less intelligent people in check?

Moving Away From A Nation of Absolutes

Been busy at work with a major project (major is relative - it's not the next Google, but it's close. No, it won't bring a lucrative bundle at the end). I don't talk about my work here so that's that. But that's also why there were no entries for a long time.

There was a time when people said we won't make it.

But we did.

We did it by becoming a nation of absolutes. We banned things and practices that some would call rights by rationalising critiques away. There was no grey area, the law is the law. We banned chewing gum, we enforced laws on littering, jay walking, etc. We created a nation full of obedient citizens. Whether they were inwardly obedient, we will never know but we can be sure there were those who believed in "you can do anything but don't get caught". Their impact was minimal as the majority would toe the line. Did that help us achieve what we have? Maybe.

I grew up during those years. Boy, do I miss them.

These days, we need foreign talent (or is it now called International Talents?). To make it less daunting for them and make them feel welcome, we need to give them time to blend in. When will they fully blend in? No one knows. Will they eventually learn to speak Channel 5 language? No idea. Anyway, some Singaporeans can't speak English well either. In the mean time, learn to accept their different culture and language.

Accept grey areas.

Let's forget that we needed multiple campaigns, policies and campaigns to ensure that four official races can live together. Do away with Racial Harmony Day? Yeah right. We're still working at it. Nobody would dare say it officially, but living together requires constant work. There will never be a day when we can say we "succeeded". We can say we have more peace and co-operation between races than others.

Let's have more races and cultures here but let's not force the English Language on them as the social glue like we did with the official four. They will probably try to gesticulate to communicate with one another and laugh it off if they fail. They won't misunderstand and try to kill one another.

I sound xenophobic. I'm not.

I acknowledge that eventually all cultures will no longer have geo-political boundaries. Every part of the world will have a little of each culture and race. Singapore will be one of these crossroads. I just have questions.

Will we be able to continue to thrive without enforcing a unifying language?

Will we survive not being a nation of absolutes?

Lazy Sunday, 19 July 2009.

17 July 2009 - Casual Friday

Rolex Seadweller Deepsea

15 July 2009

Panerai Base on a brown croc strap

Sinn in Context

For D,

In anticipation of October ;-)

The Rolex Seadweller Deepsea Review - a month on

It has been a month since I bought my DS. Since it was so difficult to get one, I promised myself then that I would wear it for a full month when I did get it. It wasn't difficult to want to put this on everyday. In fact, I didn't even take it off when I slept. The only times I took it off was when I wore the U Black to swim. No, it doesn't have a problem going in the water as it's rated to 3900 m. Since I have other watches serving as beaters, I wanted to keep this watch in pristine condition to go with my best clothes.

Timing:

It kept perfect time the whole month. Constantly +1 second faster than my control time (a synchronised quartz watch), it slowed to be spot on during the last time I left it on the table to go swimming. I must say that this is the best timing that I've had with my collection.

Size:

Despite what most people reported in the forums, nobody came up to me to ask if it was the new Seadweller. I've had people notice it though. It is actually the same size as my Panerais. On the wrist, it doesn't look that huge. Although it's the thickness of my PAM243 Submersible 1000m, it looks like a large chunk of metal because the Panerai has the crown lock etc. to distract the eye while the DS has clean solid lines which makes it look like... a chunk of metal.

Features - Crystal

The domed crystal is the thing that makes this watch a work of art. If it had a flat crystal like the Seadweller, it would feel too much like a tool watch. The only thing I wish they did was to multi-coat the crystal. The reflection off the dome makes it look like plexiglass - despite the general sentiments right now, I still think it looks cheap. If it had a coated crystal like the U Black, I think the DS would look magical.

Features - Bezel:

I can never be bored looking at the dial and bezel. The ceramic bezel gives off a shine that just catches the eye. It has a darker black than the Aluminium insert on the previous Seadweller and catches the light readily. The play of light on the serrated edge makes the watch twinkle.

Features - Bracelet:

The bracelet is to die for. The glide system is perfect for our climate. You know the days when your watch slides around on your wrist in the cold office so you tighten it but you feel like circulation is cut off to your hand when you are out in the hot sun during lunch? It will never happen with this watch.

Overall:

This will be one that I will keep in the collection for years to come... right alongside my PAM243 Sub.