singzeon.

28 September 2012:

Alright, that's it for me.

I will be taking a soft hiatus from now till after O Levels. I would not be blogging anymore unless I have some urgent / pertinent issues that I want to express opinions.

TTFN.

25 September 2012:

Now that the results are out, it's time for a serious review.

Basically it means that I should just lock myself in the cupboard and weep for my unsatisfactory results. No lah of course not; I won't do that. (I prefer the toilet it's bigger and brighter.)

Today was a horrid day for me. Okay I feel slightly bad saying this cos I'm probably ignorant of how others have had it worse. Maybe to them what I'm experiencing isn't lousy at all.

Nevertheless ... I'm really very sad cos I still can't pass my combined humanities. I failed by 6%. That makes my grade a horrible E8, not even a D7.

Today I sort of begged the HOD to give me 2 more marks for Chinese. I needed it to get an A2. To her it wasn't as significant since (1) I didn't have a strong case and (2) she didn't think it mattered as much. But still not getting an A (at least A2) for Chinese is heart-breaking for me. I fell from 74.6% to 69.0% with the inclusion of a final portion.

I lost 8 marks because I didn't take the 'official viewpoint' of how things should be answered. But in all fairness, the HOD did explain to me and I really misinterpreted one question so I could not blame anyone for that. (All because of one word.)

Basically, I underperformed for this exam. All the subjects, I underperformed. That's very, very horrible. Strident steps need to be taken to solve this problem.

I 'promised' the HOD I would get an A1 for Higher Chinese during O Levels. I can't let her down this way.

I am still waiting for Mr S to return our class our essay scripts. We received it last Thursday actually but Ms C asked him to comment on it. I must say I'm not as impressed with his marking. Although yes I can't complain much cos teachers really are busy and they have to mark lots of scripts, why can't he just use the standard marking style that the department is using?

There is a reason why the English department standardises marking conventions such as 'sp' for spelling mistakes and 'g' for grammar mistakes. All he did was a few ticks, some circles and either single or double underlines. How do we know if it's good or bad?

He didn't leave any comments at the end, worst of all. I was really expecting a score above 20, so I really want to find out what went wrong. If he still doesn't give comments, I'll get Ms C to help me take a look. Even if she can't help me change my score (if I can), never mind at least I learn what's good or bad.

~

V and I were thinking of doing covers after O Levels. I wonder if it would materialise. She said that she used to do it with her sister. Hmm I think there's one Singapore sister duo doing that right. We'll see about that, V. I just hope if we really do it, we could agree on them songs cos apparently your taste and mine isn't exactly similar.

Moving on for JQ: I had no intention of accepting a niece but that was the only word I remembered. So oh well. And ... what is 'techy'? Hahah it was so scary stepping into the class, y'know. Your class couple stopped flirting the moment they saw me, and it was as if I was doing something wrong. And the girls at the left they stared. That experience was hair-raising.

TTFN.

22 September 2012:

無題因為雷住了

前幾天在巴士上，一名小學孩子：I'll try to do them pages by today. If I can't you'll understand though。

這麼對同學說。說完便下樓（雙層巴士）下了巴士。

語不雷人死不休。

她是洋孩——洋人的孩子。應該是加拿大或英國人吧，聽那口音絕不是美國的。

你想到什麽？我無語呀。第一次聽到此話，愣住。

她是在「軟威脅」同學說即使做不完也不能怪她嗎？還是在實話實說，同學本來善解人意？聽她這麼說，這應該不是個人功課而是專題作業吧。

她那同學的確沒說什麼點點頭罷。難道西方人是這麼個溝通方式？我這東方人還真沒瞧過吶。

～

其他消息方面，中國有個人因開日系車（Japanese car）被人打到腦漿流出來。當然車子也被打爛。

這是文明的中國人嗎？難道中國歷來實行的「國民教育」就是培育這種選擇暴力的激進分子嗎？難怪香港人這麼反對國民教育，我也會反對。

簡直是笑話。中國不斷求做文明人來領導亞洲（甚至全世界），但自己後院的問題多得是。就一個島權糾紛，不知多少人上街鬧事。

如果想香港那樣和平的遊行街頭，那還好，沒造成多少傷害。但你看看，中國人就砸日系車、日本店等等。

試問聰明的文明的中國人，你砸的那些店、那些車，駕的人又是誰？多半是自己中國同胞呀。你砸來做什麽？對日本非常不滿，難道砸店能立刻解決問題？

你若說抵制日本貨，那至少比較有效。這樣日本經濟的確受到影響，豈不更好？何必到處暴力呢？

文明哪兒去了。

難怪王赓武教授（我非常欣賞仰慕的歷史教授）就說到愛國意識的崛起（或維持）會危害國家的發展。中國就是切身的例子。

很多中國人對日本存有不滿。的確，日本人1937年幹下南京大屠殺實在可恥，無可厚非。

但是，怎麼日本攻略的其他地方城市如新加坡都沒那麼生氣呢？我們現在雖然與日本不至於稱兄道弟，但起碼有良好的外交關系。中國和日本的關系一直存在矛盾。

中國人不肯忘却以前。他們始終無法釋懷以前的丑惡事跡，拼命的想要想起讓自己生氣。我到中國時看看電視節目的安排，多半是戰爭片。裡頭肯定有日本鬼子和漢奸。日本鬼子必定會作惡多端十惡不赦，最後卻在英勇的中國人手中死掉。

整天播映這種煽情的戲，你說能不生日本人的氣嗎？剛好碰到此次矛盾，哇，火山爆發啦！

嗨喲說了那麼多。無濟於事呀。

就這樣。

21 September 2012:

我要上天，笑傲江湖。

剛才我讀了《我要上天的那一晚》（以下簡稱《上天》）的劇本和導讀。劇本當然是郭寶崑寫的，導讀則是黃浩威負責。

一路讀來我覺得這個舞台劇好有趣呀。第一頁有注明最好演出的觀眾不超過300人，這樣才能與觀眾互動。現在沒有很多舞台劇注重互動了，最多就是偶爾提問觀眾一些問題。

這個舞台劇的道具組可有很多事做了。劇本寫著每名觀眾要分到一朵紙玫瑰花，而且之後還要準備神奇的藥丸（當然只拿些糖罷了），另外還要準備「我」畫的三張畫。

劇本中，「我」必須撕掉三張畫，所以舞台劇演幾回，劇組就得準備幾組畫。真佩服他們。不過我想他們並不覺得麻煩，因為這帶給觀眾一種特別的效果。

以上的第二張圖也就現實這出舞台劇如何重視觀眾互動。瞧一行「小王子一定要想法子誘使觀眾合作，說看不見他，否則戲無法演下去」。當然，我相信資深或隨機應變的演員必能靈機一動，讓小王子再變一次。到最後如果觀眾非常不合作，索性說句「再不行，我們不能走呀！」

實踐劇場最近要重演《上天》。不知道他們會不會照著這個版本，還是再進行一些改進。無論如何，我相信《上天》還是很好看的。

我實在佩服郭寶崑的能力。這麼一出舞台劇，其中的道理簡明易懂。主題也相當明顯，不像其他文學作品那樣深奧難懂。也許，這就是為何人們那麼喜歡他的作品啦。

～

這陣子，我一直在讀《笑傲江湖》（以下簡稱《笑傲》）。我買的那版本是小冊來的，所以有四本書。目前，我在第二本書啦。

這是我的第一次讀金庸的作品，更是第一次讀武俠小說。有人見我讀起武俠小說，說了句「武術的人，當然讀武俠小說呀」。這句話……我不知道如何判斷，似是似非。

讀到十二章了。前段時間我因為覺得故事枯燥乏味，把它擱在一邊。但現在我把它當罌粟，深深的上癮了。每天搭巴士回家時，就讀一張半回的故事。

別看它是武俠小說，但其實這裡頭也有很多值得分析的東西。文學的一些分析技巧若派上用場，想必能挖出很多東西。故事里的人物挺多的，像台灣劇一樣。但是每個人都有自己鮮明的性格特徵，不容易被弄亂。

不過我之前還是被弄亂了。因為裡頭提到好多個派系，每個派系有自己的龍頭，下面有幾個徒弟較出位，到後來亂了亂了。我便傳簡訊給ＺＱ，請她給我「指點指點」。沒想到她不約而同也在讀《笑傲》，太好了。

整個故事還有二十多章，要讀完還有一段時間。好吧希望我能快快讀完，然後好好地品味這個小說。

～

Today I bought Cooling-Off Day by Alfian Sa'at from the book dealer. I think Alfian is a very, very talented person. Talented may even be an understatement for him. It's sad though that he is Singapore's enfant terrible, so his projects don't really receive as much support. Nevertheless, this is partially what art is about: breaking boundaries slowly but steadily.

~

I am terribly upset with some actions of my friends. They don't know that their actions just make the relationship between her and I more and more awkward. I'm already trying to let everything settle down but they won't stop.

Yes they are trying to help me, in one way or another. But they don't seem to understand that I don't want to go for it anymore. Why do they still do such things? If it were months ago, I would have understood.

Now, I am just filled with annoyance. I obviously cannot chide them, cos then I think I'll lose them, but then they don't seem to (or are stubbornly ignoring) my hints. I really don't know what's the problem.

Why does everyone think that I would still be still trying on? 拿得起放的下: I tried and strived last time, so yes then I pushed on. Now I have 放下-ed, so I definitely would not try anything anymore.

Such a bother this is.

TTFN.

I am utterly disappointed at you.

20 September 2012:

Prelim results are out, some of them.

I can't say I'm unhappy with them, but yet obviously I'm not satisfied with the results I'm getting. There will be more results coming out in the following days, and I really don't want more disappointments.

My English grades worsened by around 3%. This to my parents is horrific and it cast my fate in stone that I shall get at most a B3 for O Levels. I can't say that this prediction is totally false, but I'm going to work hard and prove them wrong, to the best of my ability. I want to prove the notion that 'a C student can get an A eventually'.

Thus far, Chinese is the best subject for me. The compo grade I feared oh-so-much turned out not bad, I seriously don't know why. Personally I felt my compo was 'aimless' and 'pointless', I was writing as if blogging. My compre also improved slightly, but I'm upset with that a) b) question which I always got at least 3 marks for. This time, zero. 君子莫大乎與人為善. I checked Baidu and the answer given was what I wrote too, but apparently Ｗ老師 doesn't agree at all.

EMaths ... I expected the worst for paper 1, so my result came as a surprise. Yet when I started asking around, it didn't seem that fantastic already. Yes I know maths is a subject that people can score full marks in, but oh well not this time for me.

AMaths ... Mrs P alarmingly told me to revise more. According to T who helped me clarify, it was because I did not get my 'deserved A1 or A2'. This means I probably got a B3 or even B4. Maybe to others that is fantastic but sadly I can't say the same for me. I have been having tuition and achieving A1 or A2, so if I get a B this time it is a regression. That is not good, by any standard. I told my tuition teacher that AMaths would still be higher than EMaths, I hope she doesn't prove me wrong.

Bio thus far is disappointing. Of course I can easily jump to the conclusion that 'I did okay considering I did not have the textbook' but that's half-cheating myself. I really expected myself to do much better this time. I think I was not thinking hard enough when doing the paper. People say bio is memorising and vomiting but I don't think it applied much this time. Questions were rather specific and some were new problems that we could only use context + given information. Nevertheless, if B can get 62 / 80, I don't see why I cannot. There is no other exam or test left so the only chance I can get to beat / level with B is the O Levels, the real deal.

Chemistry was a love-hate thing for me. I got 80% for MCQ, which is so-called not bad but of course I expected slightly higher. I just hope none are careless mistakes. As for the paper ... I think Mrs T would be very happy that I got the energy changes question fully correct! After all the lame mnemonics she gave, I did not let her down with this. But hmm I think she would still be unhappy with this result since she expects A1 from everyone I guess. It's time to look for her once again. (The sad thing about chemistry paper 2 is that I see many, many ticks but when you count the marks, it's less than 65%, which to me is sucky.)

Physics was neither a surprise nor disappointment since I stayed in the C5 range. But of course I am upset that I'm still not improving much. I improved for my mock paper by 7%, but sadly this would not spill over to the real prelim paper. The sad thing is my MCQ, 62.5% when others can get 90% or at least 70+%. I do not want a spoiler C to appear in my results slip next year (, if I can get As for the rest).

Nothing has been given out or announced for humanities so that's it so far. Tomorrow there should not be any other papers being given out since the periods are largely the same as today's, so I'll wait till Monday or Tuesday to know the rest. Talk about suspense.

TTFN.

Side note: if the girl I fancy hints to me for a stead after O Levels, there is little reason why I should hesitate.

19 September 2012:

Prelims are over.

Debriefs for the various papers start tomorrow in the form of normal lessons. On the one hand I'm very eager to receive my results, on the other I fear getting bad results.

Today the book seller came to the school again. He last came months ago and I bought 1Q84, Hunger Games and The Sense of an Ending. I bought The Black Swan from him this time, and plan to buy a few more.

I've finished the first book of 笑傲江湖, continuing with the second one now. The story isn't as boring as I felt it was previously. From a literature perspective there's lots to analyse about the characters and plot.

I recently started playing Pocket Planes again. I reset the game and started from scratch. It's also not as boring as I thought it was, which was why I deleted it at first. Thankfully my flights are longer now so I'm not playing that game evevry few minutes. I just need to check on them every half an hour.

TTFN.

17 September 2012:

Feeling 文縐縐 today; some poems to share.

《死水》——聞一多
這是一溝絕望的死水，
清風吹不起半點漪淪。
不如多扔些破銅爛鐵，
爽性潑你的剩菜殘羹。

也許銅的要綠城翡翠，
鐵罐上繡出幾瓣桃花；
再讓油膩織一層羅綺，
毒菌給他蒸出些雲霞。

讓死水酵成一溝綠酒，
漂滿了珍珠似的白沫；
小珠們笑聲變成大珠，
又被偷酒的花蚊咬破。

那麼一溝絕望的死水，
也就誇得上幾分鮮明。
如果青蛙耐不住寂寞，
又算死水叫出了歌聲。

這是一溝絕望的死水，
這裡斷不是沒得所在，
不如讓給醜惡來開墾，
看他造出個什麽世界。

《髒雪》——侯馬
她走出樓門的時候就是冬天
天上飄著新雪
地上堆著髒雪
她熱愛這漫天的雪花
也心痛兩隻光潔的腳丫

他與她獨處
感覺甜蜜
恨時光短暫

這有限的時辰
他沒有握她柔軟的小手
也顧不上聽她清澈的聲音

他在讀寫她的小說
他似乎留下這樣的印象：
他愛她的靈魂甚於肉體
或者說他對她肉體的愛緣於靈魂

小說卻是精彩
他禁不住放聲大笑
他笑一次
她就問一次
讀到哪兒了

啊
在漫天的雪花中
他踏著積雪離開
帶著他的情欲和……愛

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Television by Roald Dahl
The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set —
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink —
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and–
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole–
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks–
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start — oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

TTFN.

16 September 2012:

So considered wayang or not?

In small Singapore, not many issues get left out by people of the internet. Not long ago when William and Kate of United Kingdom visited our hot little red dot, people pounced on the 'wayang' aspect of the visit.

There were two photos: one showed an empty playground with no VIP around. The other showed a playground with old people doing taiji, children playing around, people doing silat while William and Kate were there. Tsk tsk so fake.

Wayang indeed; even MP Indranee Rajah agreed that it was 'an exhibition'. However, I think they method of doing it was not properly thought for. While William did ask and was told that old people don't normally do taiji in playgrounds, I too think it is too fake. (I think William may have felt that it was absurd for old people to do taiji at a kid's playground as well.)

Anyway ... I support 'wayang', not in a sarcastic sense anyhow. But of course, wayang has its limits. There is no need to be China-style or N Korea-style where everything is in perfection and extreme methods are used to guarantee a splendid display. I think our own Singaporean-style wayang should suffice.

I think Asians are generally show-offs. I think it's our culture to flaunt what we have, to show the best side of ourselves. Especially when it's to someone of higher ground than you, you try to show that 'hey, I'm fab too!'

But this time, I think it was overdone. Maybe William and Kate could be brought to different places besides this playground. Such as ECP, kindergartens and some silat organisation. I know lots of old folk do taiji at East Coast Park; kids do play (genuinely) at kindergarten playgrounds; silat organisations practise silat without the awkwardness of a foreign environment.

Yes, it takes time. They need to travel more. But Singapore's a small place, it can't be that time-wasting. Besides, if William and Kate really wanted to see Singaporean life, I think going to such places would be more natural and worth it than a fake playground set-up.

I'm okay with the lion dance and performance items. That isn't really 'wayang', those are meant to be a show for people to watch. Those are specially performed. Those are 'natural', in their context. As for kids playing, old people doing taiji, people practising silat: those aren't very natural, especially in the hot afternoon.

~

I'm rather upset with that French and Italian and Irish magazine that decided to post pictures of Kate topless. That's her privacy, why are you invading on it?

The editors of them magazines claim that it's natural, normal, so why the fuss? How would you like it if you the editor had people printing your topless pictures without your consent, when they were taken without your consent?

William is still sore about Diana's death; there's no doubt about it. Diana died escaping French paparazzi, yet no one was held responsible and charged. This simply makes paparazzi more fearless. They would then be able to infringe on others' privacy while getting away.

Hence I fully support the royal family's decision of suing the magazines that publish such photos. I hope they get fined heavily by the judges.

This is different from Harry's misstep in America. That photo was taken by his friend. Which means that it was within his league, and not secretly taken. For that, I would not support if the royal family decides to sue anyone for that.

TTFN.

14 September 2012:

I forgot to bring my bio textbook home.

I planned so much to study bio during the weekend so that I would be very prepared for it on Monday. I even told CW that studying 23 chapters over 2 days instead of a few hours (at night) was much better.

I think many people were pleased that bio is on a Monday, so that the weekend can be used. After all, this is the last exam that needs to be 'studied'; there is nothing much to study for paper 1s.

Then me the idiot forgot to retrieve my bio textbook. I remember for history and physics but not for bio. I wonder if it was because my daily schedule was disrupted today. Normally I would head to the library and study. Before leaving, I would see my classroom and go take my textbook from inside.

Today I went with LJ to the concourse instead. We went there cos I had milo and it couldn't be brought in. I almost never bought milo. Yet today I suggested it out of the blue. What a cruel twist of fate this is.

I only remembered when I returned home. I saw the pile of textbooks and thought about it. I was very panicky after that. Even my notes are in school.

At home I only have two guidebooks, which are not very concise. The nearest other resource I have is the internet but then again I may not know what exactly is needed.

Ultimately I have no one to blame except myself. I am to blame for buying the milo out of impulse (which led to my forgetting to take the textbook) and for failing to check properly before I left school.

I feel very lost now. Even though bio is my best science, how am I to do well without the resources?

既來之，則安之。一切隨緣。

~

Today's commentary in Straits Times talked about hotlines between countries. Which was what I wrote in my essay. I wonder whether Mr T would read that commentary and find it coincidental.

~

I rather like philosophy. It calls for a sharp critique of tough questions: what is real? How do we know we exist? No wonder there's a saying that philosophers are 痟 (hokkien for crazy): whole day spent thinking 'absurd' questions.

Sociology, philosophy, Chinese, forensics ... I like these a lot but eventually one would be No. 1 and the rest, sideliners. Which shall it be?

TTFN.

13 September 2012:

Stone walls do not a prison make.

It's been ten years since Ah Kong passed away in 2002. He wrote many plays, but sadly I didn't get to read them when he was still alive.

I only found out about his works two years ago, when there was a re-run of 棺材太大洞太小. Not many people know about this play, I think. I mentioned it to LJ and LK just now and they were nonchalant about it.

It's really sad that with the decline of Chinese usage daily, the works of Ah Kong are not as popular anymore. Today Lianhe Zaobao carried an article about Ah Kong. He looked so dashing in his wedding photo with Ah Ma.

Very, very sadly I didn't watch 老九 earlier this year. It's a real, real regret. Instead, I watched the angmoh play Romeo and Juliet. (At least I enjoyed it.)

Ah Kong's plays transcend time. When I read his plays that were written decades ago, the themes still resonate with today's world. Such themes ... I don't think they would ever fall out of discussion.

Like she who has lost her cat, like he who couldn't park on certain days, like he who couldn't get buried ... These people, they are all around. You just probably don't realise their existence; you're too busy with yours.

Ah Kong was very familiar with the local cultural backdrop of Singapore. He knew the exact lingo that people would use, having himself experienced it. Could budding playwrights do that now? The lingo we speak of is diminishing with globalisation and the fact that youngsters are so Westernised they don't bother about 'lame' dialects or even Chinese.

Ah Kong died when he was 62. He died of liver cancer. What a sad end to Singapore's most prominent playwright, director and educator. Even Alfian Sa'at told his 'disciples' to read his works as learning materials. Ah Kong's works transcend the racial and religious divide.

Ah Kong is very 草根. He is never elaborate, except maybe when decorating the scene of a play. He was never extravagant or pompous. I don't think he would appreciate if people celebrated his anniversary in a very large-scale manner. He probably just wants to be remembered by his works and its impact.

And I think people would be glad to do that.

Are you bewildered by now? Who is this Ah Kong, and what big-shot is he? He is Kuo Pao Kun. He is not my biological Ah Kong, but oh I really feel so acquainted to him when I read his works. As his daughter Kuo Jian Hong said, her father is for everyone to 'share share' cos his works simply click with so many people, and everyone feels associated to him.

:')

~

Today history and EMaths paper two ended uneventfully. Although I am sad that Stalin's Russia didn't come out for SBQ though, it was Hitler's Germany instead.

The first source indeed scared a lot of people.


How would we know the purpose of this source? It was so enigmatic, especially with that caption which made it worse. Some people were stuck on this that they wasted time, resulting in their essay unable to complete.

The essays were slightly tricky, I guess. For one, the (a) and (b) question were deliberately switched. But I don't think anyone got tricked. They just answered the question. But the question itself seemed a little tricky.

I argued that the leaders could have avoided worsening tensions since they had a direct hotline established after the Cuban Missile Crisis. They should have instead called and communicate with each other instead of practising brinkmanship. I hope such a weird argument would be accepted by whoever is marking.

EMaths paper two ... I completed with 8 minutes to spare and started folding origami. That's not to say it's easy though, it was tough indeed. I just rushed through it. Well but I'm quite sure in terms of percentage paper two would score better than paper one; that was horrific.

Tomorrow there's physics and AMaths. An 'analysis' did showed that the difficult topics such as plane geometry (geometrical proofs) and partial fractions had not appeared. The worst case would be partial fractions + integration. Kinematics is also not out yet, modulus too. But these two are not as tough, luckily. Area under the curve ... I hope it's not too difficult! Trigo graph came out, so not much trigo for paper two I guess.

TTFN.

I have heard of people who are selectively deaf. Now I have seen for myself people who are selectively blind.

12 September 2012:

Today forecast: happy with a dash of weird.

Chemistry paper was today. Last night I stayed till around 2330 to read through the textbook. Because there were 27 chapters (if you follow the school's textbook), it was simply too many so I took a risk and skipped the topics I felt I was okay at.

When I first opened the paper I saw the 'standard' question asking you to identify substances based on their properties. That calmed me down a little. Cos I know that out of the 5 (?) marks, I should at least get 3.

The two marks? Yeah, that was the one that I always have a problem answering. Whenever it comes to Particulate Model of Matter, I just can't memorise and remember the fixed phrases to use.

As for the rest of the paper, it was alright. Some occasional difficult ones here and there. But one 1-mark question gave me a small problem.


Looks familiar? (It's supposed to if you did chemistry just now.) The paper represented the benzene ring with another convention, the one with a ring inside. I was a little confused at first, cos I was quite sure that it was benzene.

I tried drawing it as above, but cos I forgot the C=C bonds were alternate, I drew everything as C=C and gave up. In the end I just C-C everything with the circle in it. I was still so worried that it was wrong or something like that. Luckily it was just different conventions.

~

It's history exam tomorrow! Can you sense the excitement in my voice? I'm not really sarcastic this time. I rather like history, especially when you contrast it to my utter dislike of geography.

We have 8 chapters that can be examinable. I've decided to only study chapters 3 to 5 and 8 to 9. I really hope tomorrow's SEQ would not be crazy and come out as chapter 2, 6 and 7.

Compared to studying for SS, history is more enjoyable and easier to handle. I realised that every chapter in history has a main event or highlight. For chapter 8 for example, it is about how Cold War started.

From there, you look back: why did Cold War start? Also, you look ahead: what happened after Cold War started? Here onwards, it's mainly breaking down into factors and cause & effects.

I really like studying Cold War. It is the last two chapters on our syllabus. Yet, I feel that it is the epitome of modern world history. Mr Y said that he studied Cold War too during JC, but in his time, it just ended. Can you imagine that ...?

According to him, Cold War will be taken out of the syllabus for JC history. The people at MOE think it's too difficult. LOL no! The case study of Japan is way more difficult (unless you just want to memorise blindly then everything's easy), and the lousy way the textbook lays out the content doesn't help.

I really wished they used China as the case study instead of Japan. It's more interesting and relateable. (Okay sorry to non-Chinese Singaporeans taking history too.) And at least the factors presented in the old-syllabus textbook is clearer for China.

Oh well, nothing to whine about. The syllabus is changing next year or next next, and I'd be chafed if China was placed back. Anyway.

Tonight I shall continue doing history. I just need to complete chapter 4 and 5 (and brush up 9 since I think it's important). Chapter 3 was completed just now; chapter 8 is more or less done. I really hope that tomorrow's history paper can be uneventful. Please give me a topic that I studied.

I wonder what will come out for SBQ. Unlike SS where local social issues can be used, history's SBQ is fixed. So it's either War in Europe, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crsis, Stalin's Russia or Hitler's Germany. KW and CMC were frequently practised before, so it's getting boring. Hopefully Russia comes out for SBQ.

TTFN.

To JQ: Yup it's 'nought', but not 'its'. #analme. Okay anyway I hope 令堂 is alright after the operation. And don't worry, you're still shorter than him. ;)

11 September 2012:

You came and read, but what do you think?

Two days ago I blogged about Our SG Conversation. My blog post was featured on The Singapore Daily, SingaporeSurf and shared on Senatus. Close to 880 people have read the article as a result.

I'm rather humbled by this. When I blogged about OSC two days ago I did not set out to get this featured or shared anywhere. I merely blogged my feelings and thoughts about this. This makes me wonder.

What do the 880 people think after reading this? Maybe, unknowing to me, they actually scoff and label me negatively. I hope not, though. The other blogs or websites featured on the above mentioned two sites were dedicated to current affairs and politics in Singapore. Else, they were news websites or opposition websites.

I don't know if I can call this an honour ... to be placed amongst such 'big-shot' websites. Anyway, this will not continue.

No lah I am not gonna stop blogging because of this. (That doesn't make sense.) What I mean would be, this after all is a personal blog, so not every article shall be all about current affairs.

I mainly talk about things that interest me. It just happens that OSC was what interested me days ago. Scepticism still runs high, at least in cyberspace, about OSC. Well, it's up to the government to clear this scepticism. And you clear scepticism not by threats or empty promises but with real actions.

~

Enough of all that hype. (Maybe only I'm hyped.)

Anyway, today's AMaths paper passed without much difficulty. I still can't believe that I over-interpreted a simple 3 marks question and did a totally wrong method. And not to forget the careless mistake I made when everything else was alright.

Oh well, that's passed. AMaths paper 2 is on Friday, and EMaths paper 2 is on Thursday together with EHistory. EMaths paper 1 was horrible. And by horrible, I mean really horrible. I may have lost 20% of marks already, and what about those I did not even spot? I shall do better for EMaths paper 2.

Of course, I need to hurry and study for chemistry. 27 chapters studied over 1.5 years ... it's tomorrow or never. Okay lah still got O Levels. But tomorrow's prelims, and I want to use that as a litmus of my standard. I actually like chemistry and I know most of the concepts. But I always lose marks because of incorrect expression, which is nothing but infuriating.

I think for history I shall study authoritarian regimes and Cold War. I shall 'give up' on LoN and ToV and WWII. That should be enough to tide me over Thursday's paper. I need to find a way to cramp in some history tonight, besides studying chemistry.

Study well, all you taking prelims too.

TTFN.

9 September 2012:

I am surprised by two things regarding Our SG Conversation.

The government is gonna listen. That's what it says, and that's what Education Minister Heng Swee Keat is tasked to do with a committee of people that range from cabinet ministers and members of parliament to taxi drivers and 'ordinary people'.

Yesterday news broke regarding details of the committee. I had been very excited to see who the people would be.

Mr Heng, you have disappointed the people. Maybe not all, but some, like me.

I have seen the members of the Our SG Conversation (OSC) committee. They are:

1. Ms Cham Hui Fong: Assistant Secretary General, National Trade Union Congress (NTUC).
2. Mr Chan Chun Sing: Acting Minister, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).
3. Mr Stanley Chia: Managing Director, Envisage Education Pte Ltd.
4. Ms Chia Yong Yong: President, the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD).
5. Dr Noorul Fatha As'art: Assistant Director, Non-Communicable Disease Branch, Ministry of Health (MOH).
6. Mdm Halimah Yacob: Minister of State, MCYS.
7. Mr Heng Swee Keat: Minister for Education.
8. Mr Ismail Hussein: Head of Islamic Banking Unit, Maybank Singapore.
9. Ms Indranee Rajah: Member of Parliament (MP), Tanjong Pagar GRC.
10. Mr S Shaikh Ismail: manager of a multi-national consulting firm.
11. Ms Kuo Jian Hong: Artistic Director, Theatre Practice.
12. Ms Lee Huay Leng: Deputy Editor, Lianhe Zaobao.
13. Mr George Lim: Senior Counsel and Partner, Messrs Wee Tay & Lim.
14. Ms Lim Ru Ping: part-time artiste, Mediacorp.
15. Asst Prof. Mahdev Mohan: Law, Singapore Management University.
16. Mr Jeffery Oon: Audience and Editorial Lead, Yahoo! Asia.
17. Mr Thomas Pek: Managing Director, Tai Hua Food Industries Pte Ltd.
18. Ms Denise Phua: MP, Moulmein-Kallang GRC.
19. Mrs Jessie Phua: Chief de Mission, Team Singapore.
20. Ms Sim Ann: Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Law (MOL).
21. Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Acting Minister for Manpower; Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development.
22. Prof. Kenneth Tan: Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) and Associate Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (SOPP).
23. Ms Teng Zi Ying: student.
24. Mr Patrick Teo: Secretary, TransCab Operators' Association.
25. Mr Benett Theseira: President, Singapore Eurasian Association.
26. Mr Lawrence Wong: Senior Minister of State, MOE and Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA).

(Positions listed above are as of 9 September. For those with too many positions, I picked the most 'big-shot' one.)

Amongst the 26 people, 8 are MPs or cabinet ministers. At least another four are in companies that have some obvious relation to the government. Anyone missing? Yes. What happened to Janice Koh, Low Thia Kiang, Chen Show Mao and the rest?

I'm not pushing for opposition committee members for the sake of it. In fact, Janice Koh isn't even considered opposition; she is an NMP. But I want these people in there because I believe they bring about alternative voices.

Yes, the establishment may regard these alternative voices as noise. But no, sometimes it is these alternative voices that clear the mist shrouding everyone. As someone said before: "How do you think out of the box when you are born into the box?"

Almost all ruling party members (which have became MPs and/or ministers) or civil service high-rankers are moulded into technocratic bureaucrats. I shall not debate on whether it is better or not, but I can say that the committee needs more than that. Besides Mr Tan and Mr Chan, I may say that the remaining of the 8 may be more conservative.

That is not needed in this review. We of course should not be ultimately liberal and allow all sorts of populist measures, but I feel that if on a scale, the needle should deflect slightly towards liberal. Slightly.

I have seen countless exchanges where a certain policy or move is questioned. The question gets shot down with a standard template of government responses by the relevant authorities. I seriously suspect that the government has a computer system which selects, at random, what phrase to throw out as a response. Or maybe they get the press to help them.

On Saturday when I heard there was a taxi driver involved, I was rather optimistic about it. It turns out that he is the secretary of TransCab. He is no more a 'nobody'. To make this conversation as open and wide-ranging as possible, the people chosen need to be diverse. Yes, you pick a taxi driver. But what if he is already pro-establishment to begin with?

Well, I am heartened that Ms Kuo is on the committee. (It's not only because I like Theatre Practice a lot.) I am heartened because I feel that the arts community is being heard. I hope that Ms Kuo can use this chance and push for a greater appreciation of the arts, which is what I want to see as Singapore's future.

As for the rest, I am unable to comment, since I don't know much about them. Of course, they have bulging portfolios, at least according to the Our SG Conversation website, from which I obtained the names and positions above.

Mr Heng was asked about the exclusion of bloggers and opposition members. He says that this not a partisan exercise, that's why they were not included. I reacted mildly to this, but I am quite sure another storm is brewing in online forums everywhere over this remark of his.

As with DPM Teo's slip in logic, here comes another by Mr Heng. Precisely since this is a bipartisan exercise, therefore you should include members of both parties to join in. After all, Workers' Party does have six MPs.

I really cannot fathom Mr Heng's logic. Of course, it is unlikely that any changes would be done to the committee members, unless somehow a miracle appears (i.e. people are way too angry) and someone from the Workers' Party gets included. Even NMPs deserve inclusion, I feel.

To detractors of the ruling party, this must have been perfect fodder to hurl vitriol at them. The government has been preaching inclusiveness, yet it excludes opposition members and NMPs. Unless they rejected the offer, otherwise this shows exactly how bipartisan the government is. (They are not, if you don't understand sarcasm.)

Y'know from Mr Heng's statement "this is not a partisan exercise", I can infer that Mr Heng implies alternative voices would only impede the progress of the conversation by being partisan. I rather disagree to that. Judging from the way ruling party members determine what is partisan, it is normally when you object their viewpoint.

I took a brief peek at some online forums. The word 'wayang' appears many times, including other negative and crude comments about this exercise.

~

Chua Mui Hoong's commentary surprised me. She is liberal by all standards, in today's article. I used to think that she toed the government's line very well, since her commentaries often reflected government viewpoints perfectly. Even last year after GE2011, her commentaries calling for change were very mild.

Today was different. The subheading already stood out. It implied that the government used to treat us as 'lower beings'. Now, they are beginning to see us as equals, albeit that have the task of leading us.

I really wonder if this is a one-time press liberalisation or an editorial slip? Anyhow, I was even more surprised that she 'scolded' the government about the lack of opposition members. She used the word 'disappointed', which is a strong word in diplomatic jargon.

On online forums, people exposed that she and her sister Chua Lee Hoong used to work at Internal Security Department of Ministry for Home Affairs. Yes, the one where 'Marxist conspirators' were detained under ISA. Hmm.

People have been berating her calling her all kinds of nasty things. I found an article 4 years ago by her sister. That really was very pro-government, judging by how it scolded (yes, scolded) netizens just because they called for a minister to resign then. Well, the minister was demoted in the end, after the elections last year. So you scold what scold?

I hope that Chua Mui Hoong's commentaries will continue to be thought-provoking and not so much of pro-establishment. Hopefully, mainstream press would be more liberal over the years, as DPM Shanmugaratnam has observed.

(There was a theory that online chatter in forums are so vicious because mainstream press is so diluted and controlled, that people 'retaliate' online. Maybe it's true?)

Anyway, let this conversation be a conversation, not a monologue.

TTFN.

8 September 2012:

Prelims are resuming and I don't have time.

I'm very worried for social studies. Studying for social studies reminds me of how I studied for geography during lower secondary. Basically, that meant not studying. Social studies is similar to geography in the sense that a lot of memorisation is needed.

6 September 2012:

"Heaven is here, where Juliet lives."

Yesterday I watched Romeo and Juliet, a CCHMS production. I finally met my goal of watching at least one play a year. Although this isn't those 'professional' kind in theatres, but I feel it's comparable to those.

I have never read the story before, so at some parts I couldn't understand the play well. Luckily I read a comic of R&J before (I think it was FoxTrot) so I could catch the main parts of it.

LJ takes C Lit, so to him the story was unfamiliar too. It didn't help that the cast spoke very fast. I think it was because they had only 2 hours, and they had to act out Acts 1 to 4. (I heard they omitted some scenes, though.) Sadly some of them couldn't perform well when speaking fast. They become incoherent and it just sounds like blabbering.

According to KL who watched the W!LD RICE production of R&J, the latter production took around three hours. This was so that they could speak faster and get the 'feeling' out. Nevertheless, it was a nice play, and a rather professional and well-done one at that.

There were five (or six) kissing scenes in the play. The audience went 'OMG' at the first one, but by the fifth or sixth one they simply went 'meh'. (Obviously they didn't literally voice out, lah.) The last few kisses were fast and looked fake, sadly. That was the part where Romeo had to part Juliet, or the other way around.

After Juliet's death and Romeo's death and Juliet's second death, there were kisses each time. But those looked like CPR, in my opinion. I kept laughing at not-so-funny parts, which made YJ look at me in surprise. Especially the two 'you don't say' parts: "I'm hurt!" "She's dead!"

I sat next to the bookstore auntie during the play. She was so hilarious. When the play first started, some calefare came out to hammer notices on a prop wall. They banged and banged. Suddenly the auntie burst out: 要爛了啦！

The audience in front of my row turned around, saw the auntie, and started laughing. I think they all understood that she was so 'innocent'. I told her that it was probably a deliberate effect.

The hammering of notices went on at least five more times. During one other time, she did not shout anymore, but turned to me and asked "他們blu-tack不夠啊？" I didn't know to laugh or to cry. She was so 'innocent' watching the play.

The VP and Mr P came to watch the play, he with his wife. The couple were both from CLEP, and she is currently under Mr L. Yes, our former principal. (It's as if everyone's linked with everyone in MOE.) I wonder why the VP did not bring her husband along.

It was rather funny yesterday cos I met the VP twice in less than two hours. She asked where to eat amidst the first meet and I recommended her Ah Siao Bak Kut Teh or Punngol Nasi Lemak or Eng Seah Wanton Mee, along Tanjong Katong Road. In the end, an hour later, we met at Old Airport Road and she ate with the bunch of us.

Side note about the VP. She seems very strict and inaccessible, but in actual fact she's not, lah. She kept using a Malaysian accent yesterday which was amusing, but weird at the same time. And how she advised G not to crack her knuckles else 'when a man buys a big-big diamond for you it can't fit'. I think G was shell-shocked at that.

... Whenever I see her now I remember all my chemistry definitions. No lah not exactly, but well at least I perk up. I hope I do well for chemistry this prelims, can't disappoint her and Ms A. And my class has to retain the No.1 in chemistry again.

Back to R&J. The male lead, Romeo, I knew him from young. (I'm not trying to 攀親帶故 here okay.) He was from the same tuition as I when I was in primary four; he was primary three then. His twin brother went to Temasek Secondary, sadly. Well actually it's not bad else it can be quite confusing; I used to mix the both of them up.

It was a surprise for me when I saw him in CCHMS. It was awkward since I changed tuition a year or so later and did not meet him anymore. At the start we would wave, but that slowly reduced. Of course, he has his own bunch of friends which treats him very well, so naturally this acquaintance would rank lowly.

Recently I talked to him regarding R&J and I found that he is still as amicable as ever. He hasn't changed much, just grown a lot in the years. I sort of broke a promise cos I said I would buy tickets from him if I could watch. In the end I paid together with KL at their booth in the canteen. But okay lah, in the end I did watch it, and I don't think he has many tickets to sell being the lead; it was for ticketing committee to handle. At least I didn't disappoint him by promising to go but not turning up.

I was very 欣慰 after the show. 他長大了。 Okay lah, we all have. But to see him from a small boy become the main lead where he flaunts his charisma and talent ... That was touching. Although I didn't do anything to help him, but well it's such a good thing seeing his progress.

He isn't the naturally drama kind of person. I was very surprised when I heard that he was the main lead. Not because I 看不起 him, but it's because I didn't expect him to do drama. I thought at most he would rather take backstage roles. But no, he proved my perception wrong. He did a great job as male lead, a fantastic one.

I hope this shot at R&J has triggered his passion for drama and he can participate in future dramas or plays. (In fact, in terms of personality, I think he wins J. It's only the skill he needs catching up on.)

TTFN.

2 September 2012:

Here's a personality test I found.

This test will tell you what character you have. Think of a number from 1 to 5. Click on that number below to see your results. It must be your first instinct!

1
2
3
4
5

Yup, that's your character all right. Do you agree with it? I guess yes?

Now, check out other options.

...

Feeling cheated, aren't you? This is a classic experiment that some professor did a few years ago. He got a classroom of students (around teenage) to read their horoscopes and were asked whether they agreed or not.

Most said yeah, their horoscope was very accurate. Then he revealed that the whole classroom, regardless of zodiac sign, received the same sentences. Basically, those sentences applied to almost everyone in the room.

I'm not criticising horoscopes outright, but I'm rather sceptical of it. I find those who religiously follow horoscopes a little foolish. Maybe people of different zodiac signs do have different traits, but I'm sure not all horoscopes accurately point that out.

In fact, if you were to get a logician to analyse the statements made, most statements are actually fallacies of a kind. They will apply to almost everyone. Of course, another possibility is confirmation bias. People generally tend to believe something when told that it will be the case. ("The horoscope says today's unlucky? Yeah no wonder I [...]!")

I hope I've proven my point. Again, I'm not totally trashing horoscopes, but I'm suspicious of most of them. Especially if I feel strongly for at least 2 other zodiac signs.

TTFN.

Disclaimer: Yes horoscopes are different from personality tests, since horoscopes are based on zodiac signs and personality tests on character traits. But to some extent they work the same way for the same function.

1 September 2012:

Одна разглагольствования, одного комплимента.

I don't like how some people just like to ignore messages that they regard as not important. Please, everyone's busy. There is a reason why I sent the message.

I'm past the age where I sent nonsensical messages for the fun of it, so yes, it's important. People say technology eases communication but it also makes people take for granted this ease. If you are to choose at your beck and call who to answer and who not, alright, I shall know better not to correspond with you anymore.

It's not the first time; so I don't think I'm over-reacting. There are countless cases thus far, and I'm not pleased with it. Don't blame me if next time you find I'm not informing you of anything, or if we simply drift apart. I tried, tried hard, but you don't reciprocate.

~

I'm very entertained by this Youtube user: terencetch2. I almost immediately subscribed after listening to his first video, and I normally don't. Not even for 'popular' Youtubers like Dee Kosh or Noah Yap. I personally think the latter's has not much standard, anyway. But good for him that's he's acting in Jack Neo's latest movie.

terencetch2 is from Dunman High and is 18 this year. Well, luckily, he's not a nerd. He'll be taking A Levels soon, so sadly his videos will not be many in the next months. Oh well after that I bet there'll be more.

And there you have it. Один разглагольствования, одного комплимента.

TTFN.