Series of Luck (and Unluckiness)

Ever wonder why are traffic lights in Singapore programmed in such a way that the moment you meet a red light at a junction, subsequently you will encounter red lights for almost all juntions with traffic lights for almost the rest of your journey?

Or when you meet a green light at a junction, it will always be the case for all junctions until your luck finally runs out and you meet your first red light, and the curse of the "meeting-red-lights-for-the-subsequent-juntions-you-passed-by-till-your-journey-ends" takes effect.

Sounds like life, eh?

When you are lucky, you are not just lucky for one particular event. Rather, you will be lucky for quite some time before your luck runs out eventually, so meanwhile you will experience a series of FORTUNATE event.

When your luck runs out, no way will you regain it anytime soon. Instead, you will encounter the one of your worst time of your life before your luck begins to pick up, thus meanwhile you will experience a series of UNFORTUNATE events. (Watch your back, maybe Lemony Snicket is behind you and planning his new book based on your, well, series of unfortunate event.



The best way to represent this is either a sine curve or a cosine curve. The maximum value will be the peak of your luckiness before your luck starts to deplete and your luck will never pick up again until it reaches your lowest point.

In relative terms, what worst can happen when you are at your lowest point? Similarly, what better can occur when you are at your prime?

So, when you are down, don't expect things to change for the better anytime soon. But you still need to have faith for things will change for the better eventually. Just like no matter how long I have to wait for that damn bus of mine to get home (852, that is), I will hang on because I know the bus will arrive no matter what (though it can be pretty annoying when two buses come at the same time.)

When you are at your peak, never be too complacent because for all you know, you are already on your way to your next lowest point of your life.

Everyday Politics and Alliance-Forming

VERY LONG POST AHEAD!!!

Believe it. Politics exist in our everyday lives and forming alliances with people is already part and parcel of our lives. To those out there who still believes that the world is rosy and life is like a bed of roses, think again. Just because you have not been pricked by the thorns of the roses when you toss and turn on your bed made of roses does that mean that the roses are de-thorned.

If you are already uncomfortable with me painting such a realistic (not necessarily pessimistic) picture of the world, you should read no further. Same applies if you are one of those who are emotionally and mentally undeveloped (i.e. immature, juvenile, childish). Stop reading whenever you feel like life is like some shitty hell, because it is not, just that it is not as cheery and bubbly as you would have imagined.

Another disclaimer: The following examples that I am going to use are some observations of mine. As entertainment critic Roger Ebert once said, "If you disagree with something I write, tell me so, argue with me, correct me--but don't tell me to shut up. That's not the American way." (I guess with the invasion of Americanisation and MacDonaldisation into Singapore, we also ought to follow the American way of doing things.) The examples that I am going to state are not meant to cause any further segregation or deepen the divide between groups of people. I will try to be implicit as possible, and as politically-correct and emtionally-sensitive as possible, but if that hinders my expression of ideas, I will not hesistate to be a little more explicit.

As inspired by last night's episode of "Survivor: Fiji", I am going to discuss about alliance-forming.

Initially at the Moto tribe, Alex, Boo, Edgardo, Lisi and Stacy formed a majority alliance. However, during a shuffle of tribe members in last night's episode, the alliance is broken when Alex and Edgardo had to switch to the opposing Ravu tribe while Boo and Lisi remained in their old tribe.

And Boo became worried. "This switch threw a couple of roadblocks into my million. My plan was tight," sighs Boo. "It's changed. It might come full circle, if things work out like I want; we'll see."

And Cassandra who was excluded in the alliance and who once felt vulnerable, decided to "swing" over and joined the newly-arrived three members: Yao Man, Michelle and Earl to form the new majority alliance of the Moto tribe.

Which brings me to my thesis: Never form an alliance too early. If you have to, make sure that your alliance is an OVERWHELMING majority. Not a 52% or 55% majority, but an overwhelming 80% majority at least.

Take Council as an example. There were people, guys from a particular school to be exact, who already friends before they even joined council, and hence an alliance among them is natural. This alliance soon grow bigger when each of the guys bring in their new friends they've made within 4 months in the new schooling environment or include new friends they've discovered after then have joined council. For simplicity sake, let's name this alliance Alliance A.

Alliance A was powerful. Initially, those excluded from the alliance can feel their presence. They easily consolidated their votes and put people from their alliance into position of powers and leadership. They were powerful and influential. People tried to enter the bloc, but was refused of access to it.

Soon, the individuals who were left out felt vulnerable under the strong influence of Alliance A. They yearned for a companion, someone whom they can talk to. They began to empathise with each other's situation because all of them are in each other's shoes. This group of left-out individuals soon realise that all of them have something in common -- they are all the "negelcted" and the "forgotten". They soon, subconsciously, tapped on this common identity and united themselves, forming a new alliance, Alliance B. Such formation of alliance, I would say, is a circumstantial consequence. They only form an alliance because the others formed an alliance, which makes them feel left-out. Hence, in order to feel "included", they were "forced" by the situation that they were in to form an alliance.

Not long later, the tables have turned and Alliance A began to lose its influence. Perhaps it was a result of their self-destruction. Cracks appeared in Alliance A but was quickly mended, though the scars are still visible to the naked eye. People began to do things (or did not do things) that made the council lose her trust on them. Eventually, Alliance A collapsed after peaking in their influence in council and Alliance B began to receive some recognition from the ones up there, though Alliance B did not gain much control and influence from the breakdown of Alliance A.

Alliance A did attempt to salvage the situation through rationalisation by opening her doors to welcome those whom they have excluded for quite some time. However, those once left-behind are now comfortable with their own alliance that the offer for entrance to Alliance A was turned down, rather decisively I would reckon. Or perhaps those in Alliance B no longer see Alliance A as influential and powerful as before, so they concluded that it is not of their best interests to be mutinous and change their stand.

Alliance A then collapsed even further when some of their members were subjected to much scrutiny because of some of their acts. Alliance A defended their members and claimed that the ones up there were bias against them. This has caused quite a few of their members to mutined and joined the other alliance, making Alliance B now arguably the majority of council. As the saying goes, "power is nothing without control." It was all along an act of self-destruction, rather than the ones up there being subjective. As the Chinese saying goes, “人怕出名猪怕肥”, which roughly translates to one should fear of getting noticed, just like how a pig would fear of getting fat and eventually being slaughtered when people noticed how tasty such a fat pig would be. When Alliance A was formed, it was pretty much "on-the-radar". The ones up there noticed their existence and their influence. Due to its initial overwhelming influence, the ones up there had high expectations of them, only to be disappointed when they did not meet up to their standards and when members of the alliance did some things which are considered uncalled for.

Moral of the story: Never formed an alliance unless you are forced into one by circumstances. Alliance-forming would only attract unnecessary attention, which can eventually (directly or indirectly)cause the breakdown of your alliance and puts a black mark on your name. If you need/want to form an alliance, do ensure that it is of OVERWHELMING majority so that even with mutiny, your aliance can still be influential.

Next, take my class as an example. Initially, it was a class with majority of her students reading Chinese Literature. Only 9 read Physics. Despite only having one difference in the subject we are taking, the Physics student constantly feel left out. The Chinese Lit students often hang around together and although the class mingles well with each other, it was clear that the Chinese Lit people formed a group and got along better with each other than that with the Physics people.

Once again, the tables have turned when many of the Chinese Lit people are transferred out of the class due to various reasons. Substituting them are an influx of Physics people, and the demographics of the class just changed overnight. From a Chinese Lit-majority, my class is now a Physics-majority.

Many of them are uncomfortable with this drastic change in the class demographics and environment, and they eventually distant themselves from the class and choose to replicate the old envrionment and live in isolation within it, although some who were initially unhappy or not used to the change now accepts it and have gotten used to the change.

Some Chinese Lit students, turned off by the "isolationist policy" adopted by many Chinese Lit students, eventually broke off and became closer with the Physics people.

Although this divide in my class is covert and latent and has yet to caused much displeasure, it is still unhealthy for divides to exist in a system.

Moral of the Story: Never formed a clique or a group too early. You enver know when the tables will turn on you and never resume to its original state. If you need to form a group or a clique, make sure that it is of an OVERWHELMING majority, so that your clique can still function despite with mutiny or being hit by any other unforeseen circumstances.

In conclusion, never ever form an alliance unless under desperate situations or when the situation you are trapped in dictates you to form one or join one. If you ever need to form an alliance or a clique, do ensure that it is made up of an OVERWHELMING majority of the system you are in, so that any disruptions in your alliance can still ensure a smooth function of your alliance.

General Paper Essay Two

"Commerce is the enemy of culture." Discuss

The tiny, landlocked nation of Bhutan is probably what a frequent traveller would describe as "shangri-la", a paradise on Earth untouched by the evil claws of modernisation and commercialisation. In this country bordering nepal, India and Bangladesh, the country's population of two million has never seen advertising billboard covered with neon light, never knew who or what Macdonald's is and never watched a single Hollywood blockbuster. Their life is simple and frugal, yet none of them complained. According to a recent survey conducted across more than one hundred countries, it was reflected that the people of Buutan were "extremely happy" and "extremely satisfied" with their traditional lifestyles and see no need for modernisation and commercialisation to take place in the country. This shows the success of the Bhutan's government's "closed-door policy", which rejects the entrance of big-brands and transnational corporations (TNCs) to set up factories, retail outlets and branches in Bhutan, on the basis that commercialisation erodes local culture. Some may argue that the rationale for such a policy is but a hasty generalisation. Yet upon closer inspection, one may indeed find that commerce is threatening the existence of local culture.

In Bhutan, not only are TNCs barred from entering the local market, upsetting and endangering the survival of local businesses, Western television channels, television programmes and movies are not allowed to be broadcast in the tiny Asian country. The reason behind this move, according to the local authorities, is that Western influence is too empowering and overwhelming, which people with innocent minds and people who have led long periods of simple life may find the appeal of western, liberal culture hard to resist. The local government also restricts the number of tourists visiting the country for sight-seeing. This is yet another of Bhutan's government's attempt to minimise the chances of locals getting into contact with foreigners, which, according to the government's slippery slope theory, will lead to locals being exposed to western cultures and influences, and eventually causing the locals to lose their traditional roots and values, posing serious social problems. The Bhutan's government's efforts have paid off. Local culture and traditions are well-preserved and people are living in contentment, with no request for the government to open her doors. The country enjoys low crime rates as the people know nothing about the (overly) liberal and rebellious western culture as often illustrated in Hollywood productions.

On the other side of the spectrum, we can see how the state of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) has her culture and traditions on the verge of extinction as a result of rapid commercialisation and modernisation. When the drills in Dubai struck oil beneath its sand dunes more than thirty years ago, it brought wealth and prosperity to this state of U.A.E. In the middle of the desert sprung out skyscrapers, tarred roads and highways, shopping malls and luxurious condominiums -- all are features of modernisation -- since Dubai began to export the oil she has discovered to the rest of the world. Yet, Dubai's transformation from a poor fishing village to one of the richest places on the planet comes with a hefty price. The locals, who were all of Benouin descendance, no longer live the traditional lifestyles which their forefathers used to live. They now live in posh apartments and bungalows instead of living in a mobile tent; they now feast on fast-food, French cuisines, or Chinese delicacies instead of eating barbequed camel meat and their traditional bread; they now travel in Jaguars instead of riding on camels. Even their traditional sport of camel-racing is given a modern twist -- automatic whips are installed on the humps of camels, which means that machines now replace man when it comes to whipping the camels in a camel race. With the discovery of oil, Dubai engages herself in trade and commerce. But at the same time, her connections with the outside world through commerce has displaced her own local culture with a modernised, commercialised and a globalised one. Now two-thirds of Dubai's population are foreginers. This simply shows how drastic the impacts of commerce are in eroding local culture.

Yet, it is not virtually impossible for commerce and culture to co-exist. Japan is a good example. Without a doubt, Japan is the world's leader when it comes to technological development. They are known for coming up with more advanced, more sophisticated state-of-the-art televisions, mobile phones, cameras, washing machines, refrigerators and many more. Japanese vehicle-makers like Nissan, Toyota and Honda never disappoint the world with their new and highly-sophisticated car models during each of their launches. Japan is also the world's first country to launch the Third-Generation communication network (3G network), which integrates phone call-making, video-conferencing and web-browsing together, bringing convenience to users. Despite all these overwhelming technological developments and breakthroughs, the Japanese did not abandon their culture and embrace modernisation totally. It is a common sight to see a middle-aged woman wearing a kimono while making use of her 3G-handphone to purchase groceries. The Japanese continue to wear their tradtional costumes during important and formal functions like weddings and funerals. Traditional celebrations like the "Shichi-Go-San" (Children's Day) and Adulthood Day are not forgotten. In both events, children under the age of tweleve and young adults who just turned twnety-one respectively are to vist local temples and participate in a series of rituals. Even the former Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, often visits the Yasukuni War Shrine to pay respect to the Japanese war victims, just like how locals still would pay respect to their ancestors at a shrine.

However, if one were to examine in details, one would be able to spot that commerce still affects local culture adversely in Japan. The traditional view that a man and a woman should wed upon the appropriate age is no longer taken seriously. Late marriages for both gender are very common in modern Japan, with more than half of the married couples tying the knot after thirty years old. As a consequence of late marriage and stressful careers brought about by commercialisation of Japan, the birth rate of Japan is declining at an alarming rate. Japan's low birth rate of 0.9 per couple (lowest in the world) is contradicting to the previously widely-held value that the more children a couple have, the more prosperous the family would be. The Japanese no longer believe in these values, which they deem to be outdated and not practical, for they now value their own businesses and careers, which are a by-product of commerce, above getting married and bearing children. This, therefore, led to an erosion of the japanese culture as a result of Japan's modernisation and commercialisation.

In a nutshell, commerce is a foe of culture. It is tough for both to co-exist harmoniously. The temptation of outside influences and culture brought about by commerce is too luring for one to resist. As the saying goes, "the grass is always greenr on the other side." It is, therefore, no wonder why people would tend to embrace outside culture brought in by commercialisation and forsake their own culture.

Content: 19/30
Language: 14/20
Total: 33/50

Comments: Terence, another fluent piece of writing from you. I love the fact that you have many specific examples in your essay. However, do ensure that your paragraphs do not become one which is ruled by examples. You need to discuss the arguments more. Relate your examples consistently to the points you are trying to make. I wish you had addressed the connotation of the term "enemy" in the question. A sensible stand to take is to argue that commerce and culture should have a complementary exsistence.

Stress...Not

Alarmingly, I am not feeling stressed out by this block test.

Like the eye of a storm, I feel unusually calm.

Following which, I will experience the destructive forces I suppose.

Globalisation

A force for economic growth, prosperity and democratic freedom? Or a force for environmental devatastion, exploitation of the developing worlds, and supression of human rights?

An irresistible and benign force for delivering economic prosperity to people? Or a source of all contemporary ills?

Man... I love such strong, emotive language... It would be lovely to use them in my General Paper essay, if possible.

Finally I've understood what the heck is globalisation and cleared all my doubts that I've accumulated for the past 2 months or so.

It's not that difficult afterall...

Anyways, block tests are just 2 days away.

灿烂的讣告

兀鹰盘旋在，
垂死的向日葵上。
帝王蝶默哀。

忠言逆耳

Recall that Gold 90.5 FM commercial some time back?

A father enrolled his son to a tennis course, hoping that one day his son will become the next Agassi. However, the tennis coach outrightly told this father that his son holds the tennis racquet like a dead fish instead of like Agassi and may not the next number 1 in tennis.

Yet, the father chose to operate in selective hearing mode and live in self-delusion. He heard the coach saying that his son "holds the racquet ... like Agassi" and "may ... be the enxt number 1 in tennis."

忠言逆耳，良药苦口。

Why do people only choose to listen to sugar-coated words which does nothing beneficial to your personal development except to make your body laden with glucose and guilt?

Why do people reject one's constructive criticism, albeit unpleasant, when the comments are meant for you to realise your faults and correct them before they snowball into a bigger tumour in your character and personality assessment?

I don't see what's wrong with Simon Cowell blatant comment of "You performed horribly" when a particular contestant from American Idol underperforms. If you suck, you suck. Why try to be discreet about it?

A local playwright once said, "If the play sucks, the audience should leave at any time when they think they cannot bear watching the play anymore instead of enduring it throughout and applause at the end when you don't mean it. By leaving the theatre halfway, the playwright would get the hint and correct his mistakes to produce even better plays in future."

Similarly, if someone has got constructive criticism for you, be it for your portfolio or personal development, you should magnanimously and graciously accept it with thanks, decide for yourself whether are the comments valid and whether you should heed the advice given.

Don't only restrict your ear-drums to only pick up the good news. It doesn't matter if you receive a lot of criticism -- it only means that people care for you and want the best out of you or that your works are worth evaluating. Learning from your mistakes and correct them to prevent history from repeating itself or to prevent a potential apocalypse from occuring.

Good news and praises will make your day. Bad news and criticisms will make you a better person.

Miracles

It's amazing how some people can miraculously appear for a particular important lesson in the middle of the day, and then vanished for the not-so-important lesson afterwards.

Or how people are nowhere to be found for P.E. and a lesson which teaches beyond curriculum knowledge, and yet surprisingly sprung out for an important tutorial conducted by a teacher who coincidentally is our Civics Tutor (a teacher with the role similar to that of a form teacher).

Bermuda-triangulated for lessons which they deem as not important, and only make their presence known during lessons which they deem as important (such as lessons which will cover our syllabus, or give hints to the upcoming examinations).

God knows what they have been doing during their time of absence. But come to think of it, no prizes for guessing correctly what they have actually been doing when they delibrately and intentionally skipped lessons.

I remember one of my primary school classmates would miraculously fall sick nearing examination period -- a period when the focus of lessons are mainly on revision. Similarly, if you had known that this classmate has a mother who is a tuition teacher and she would buy one million and one assessment books for her child to practice his knowledge acquired, no prize for you for guessing correctly why my classmate would "fall sick".

Oh. I just remembered polyclinics are known to be lax in issuing ambiguous medical certificates to "patients". For just a nominal fee of $5.

In any case, my two dear friends don't even bother to produce that piece of certificate that acknowledges the fact that you are ill. They are whiz kids, child prodigies in the field of medical science who can self-diagnose.

Or just claim that they are present in school, and proposed the theory that the chances of two persons meeting is 1 out of 60 million squared when their whereabouts are questioned.

Amazingly, some of them are scholarship-holders, and potentially able to bag for themselves even more scholarships.

Don't you ever say that I am jealous of them, for I am not envious of their character and integrity.

Have respect for your teachers and peers, and you will get our respect.

All Good Things (Come To An End)

All Good Things (Come To An End) -- Nelly Furtado

Honestly what will become of me
don't like reality
It's way too clear to me
But really life is daily
We are what we don't see
Missed everything daydreaming

[Chorus:]
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Traveling I only stop at exits
Wondering if I'll stay
Young and restless
Living this way I stress less
I want to pull away when the dream dies
The pain sets it and I don't cry
I only feel gravity and I wonder why

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Well the dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could
Dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could
Die die die die die

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Well the dogs were barking at a new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon
And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day 'til the feeling went away
And the sky was falling on the clouds were dropping and
the rain forgot how to bring salvation
the dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon so that they could die.

巴士上的三个人，两个人

《巴士上的三个人，两个人》

当我把iPod耳机塞入耳朵时，我确定
我们是来自两个不同世界的人。

我坐在你的右边。
你坐在我的左边。

我们彼此认识，
但你只有在下车前才跟我说声：
“拜拜”

义务式的。

之间3公分的隔阂是赤道，
把你我分得一清二楚，没有商榷的余地。

他坐在你左边。
你坐在他右边。

你们彼此认识，
但你只有在下车前跟我说“拜拜”时，
没有跟他说话

无所谓的。

之间3公分的是无国籍的海域，
是共同的空间，距离是微不足道的，可忽略。

我独自沉浸在只属于自己的音乐世界里，
你们的谈笑声却不顾旁人侵犯了我的自由。

祝你幸福。

似曾相识

看见我的学弟学妹们，我看见了过去的我。

高中一年级的第一个学期（俗称“前三个月”英：First Three Months），我们是如此的放纵、猖狂、无忧无虑（其实这期间老师们也不间断地用作业与测验对我们进行疲劳轰炸，但是我们却不把这些当作一回事）。

我们曾经幼稚过，干下一些不符合实际年龄的事情。

但是到最后，我们的稚气被那排山倒海而来的作业与考试给磨钝了，剩下的世故、疲倦与对任何事情的“无所谓”态度。

或许，我们不该在那三个月里把所有的精力给花掉用完。

When I see people like Clement and Douglas, both from my junior class, I thought thta i saw myself. Their lameness, radicality and quirk sense of humour shares resemblance to my personality during the first three months when I was in J1. They flirted with boys AND girls, acted spastic in front of people and the camera, and had sharp wit -- all these I've done before when I was their age.

They are now like a reflection of myself. Surprisingly and narcistically, their persoanlities appealed to me. I appreciate their sense of humour and wit, cooed at their flirtings and spastic actions, and teased at all those "unnatural" positions they've posed in front of the camera.

Maybe all these are just my illusions. Perhaps all these are just derived because I yearn to re-live and re-experience the first three months again.

I don't deny. How I wish time goes backwards for me.

The days when we are truly "carefree"... how I wish to live it again.

And it especially hurts me to see how my juniors are experiencing the most wonderful time of their student life while I am outcasted in my own world of tutorials, lecture notes and graph-plotting.

I am jealous. Yes, I had my turn, so it's theirs now. But I still want more.

But I can't.