28 September 2007

让位

你叫林亚英,今年72岁,祖籍潮州汕头。3岁时你父亲听家乡的人说南洋一带有一个叫做石叻坡的地方,那里遍地都是黄金,所以就远渡重洋先到了这里找份工作,养家糊口。5岁时你就跟随着母亲飘洋过海,来到了石叻坡这块南洋小岛上和父亲相会。时光飞逝,转眼间你长大成人,也找到了好归宿,生了3个儿子,1个女儿,算是挺有福气的了。如今,你早已升级成为了“祖母”,年轻时候那细致嫩滑的肌肤现在却粗糙不平,布满了深邃的皱纹,用星罗棋布来形容你皮肤上的黑斑、雀斑和老人斑一点也不夸张。年轻的时候你那原本乌黑亮丽的秀发如今却被岁月无情地染成了银白色,而你也开始驼了背,也患上了关节炎,行动之速度因此变得缓慢。虽然你的青春就这样被剥夺了,但是岁月对你身体上的摧残与蹂躏,反而为你增添了智者的气质,使你散发出和蔼慈祥的光芒。尽管72岁的你早已被新加坡(你也不知道曾几何时“石叻坡”已改名叫做“新加坡”)政府归为“乐龄人士”,即到了享乐的年龄的人,你却一点也不肯闲着。

2007年的这一天,你穿着灰色类似像旗袍的唐装,步履蹒跚地上了通往牛车水的62号巴士,想要到牛车水为即将娶老婆的小儿子买喜饼。你放眼望去,巴士上满满的都是乘客,已经没有空位给你坐。

* * *

你叫沈耀鹏,今年16岁,就读于新加坡一所顶尖男校。你天资聪颖,小学的时候你就凭着你的聪明伶俐,再加上一点点的努力与勤奋,便轻而易举地考上了这所数一数二的中学。可是,升上了中学后,你开始松懈怠惰了,放学回家后就只顾着打电动游戏,一直玩到三更半夜,结果忽略了功课,在课堂上又常因为前晚睡眠不足而打瞌睡。 也因为你每天忙着玩电脑游戏,以致你没有时间去整理书包,结果常常因为忘了带课本而惨遭挨骂。因此为了避免被老师骂,你就索性把每个科目的课本都放在书包里,从来也不整理,结果你的书包就比其他学生的大上了两、三倍。再加上你那1.78米,90公斤庞大的身形,若背着书包站在巴士上,你常常挡到了那些要下车的乘客的路,结果常常惹来歧视与厌烦的眼光。你也开始对他们鄙视你的眼光感到厌烦,因此下定决心要除掉身上的赘肉,目标为将目前的90公斤的体重减到70公斤。

2007年的这一天,你搭62号巴士回家,幸运地在巴士上找到了一个空位坐。不久,一位满头白发,驼着背,步伐缓慢的老婆婆上了车。这时车上已经没有空位,但是你却不愿将你的座位让给那老婆婆,因为你晓得若你一让位,就得站在巴士的走道上,就会挡到那些要下车的人的路,就会再引来他们歧视的眼光。你受够了那种眼神,因此你对老婆婆上车视而不见,宁可昧着良心,也不愿再面对那种伤人的眼神。

* * *

你叫徐玉珍,今年29岁,才刚刚结婚。先生吴国豪比你大2岁,是名保险业务员,而你和先生在同一家公司里上班,当秘书。因为要顺从你家婆的意思,所以国豪和你结婚后并没有搬出去住,建立属于你们俩的安乐窝,而是和家婆同住一个屋檐下。家婆原本就不赞成国豪和你交往,更不用说是国豪和你结婚呢。尽管现在已经是二十一世纪,但你家婆的思想仍旧古板、迷信。只不过你左眼下角有颗黑痣,家婆就认定你将来会克死国豪;再加上你的臀部不够大,家婆也就断定你无法为吴家生孩子,传宗接代,极力反对你们俩人的婚事。不过国豪仍然一意孤行,完全不顾他母亲的想法,家婆因此也拿他没办法。不过,自从你搬进国豪的家和家婆一起居住,家婆没有给过你好日子。你家婆常常有许多无理的要求,如:要你每天洗厕所、每天要你亲自烹调包含三菜一汤的晚餐、每天得将国豪小时候所赢得的奖杯统统抹干净。。。面对家婆的无理取闹和工作上压力之大,日子一久了,你和家婆难免会发生摩擦和冲突。

2007年的这一天,你实在忍无可忍了,终于和家婆吵了起来。你再也无法忍受家婆的任性,于是就收拾了包袱,搭62号巴士回位于牛车水的娘家去。不久,坐在座位上的你看到了一位弯腰驼背,满头白发的老妇上了车。纵然巴士上已经没有了空位,但是你却不肯把位子让出来。因为还在气头上的你认为天底下的老妇都是一个样,都是蛮横、无理、霸道的。你认为天底下的老妇都不值得你把位子让给她坐,应该惩罚她们,让她们吃点苦,灭灭她们的锐气。于是,你发誓再也不把座位让给任何老妇人。

* * *

你叫王顺发,今年38岁,是62号巴士路线的车长。你当巴士司机已经有10年的经验,最常遇到的状况就是那些年轻力壮的人不肯让位给耄耋老人。换成是别的车长,对于这种司空见惯的事情,他们早就习以为常,也不愿再多费力气去要求车上那些“不自动”的乘客让位给上车的老人。可是,你就是不一样。尽管这么多年来,当你要求车上的乘客让位时常常碰一鼻子的灰,但是你的热心仍然没有熄灭。你心胸的宽广和你壮硕的身材成了正比,直到如今还依然有爱心地要求车上的乘客让出位子来。

2007年的这一天,一位穿着灰色唐装的老妇徐徐地上了车。你又和以往一样要求了车上的乘客让位给这位老太太。

* * *

你叫迈克•李,今年4岁,目前就读于幼稚园。

2007年的这一天,你放学了,和母亲搭乘了62号巴士回家去。途中,你看见身材魁梧的巴士车长站了起来,要求车上的乘客让位给那位刚刚上车的老婆婆。你记得刚刚上课时老师说过,若看到有老人上车而找不到位子坐时,我们就应该把位子给让出来,这才是一个好孩子该有的礼貌行为。你想响应车长的号召,把位子让给那位老婆婆,可是当你一站起来,你母亲就连忙把你拉下,还严厉地斥责你,怪你多事,有位子坐还不好好珍惜。你很懊恼,也感到很矛盾。你心想:让位不是一个好孩子该做的事吗?为什么妈妈不让我让位,还骂了我呢?

* * *

你叫珍妮芬•李,今年20岁,育有一个4岁的儿子。没错,你16岁就怀孕了。当时你年少轻狂,一场酒后乱性使你成为了未成年妈妈,你也因此被迫奉子成婚,嫁给了你完全不喜欢的男生,只因为那男生是你儿子的爹,只因为你儿子的出生证上需要填上他亲生父亲的名字。你的父母亲得知了你怀孕的消息后,坚决地反对你把这孽种给生下来,但是你却不忍心将你身体里的小生命给堕掉。因此你不顾家人的反对,不畏惧社会和世俗即将投予你的歧视的眼光,勇敢地把孩子生下来,带到这个世界上。但是,当你把孩子生下来后,父母亲又对你施压,要你把孩子送给别人领养,以避免亲戚邻居闲言闲语。最终,你好不容易说服父母亲让你把孩子抚养成人,因为这孩子毕竟是你的亲生骨肉,你不舍得把他寄托在别人的家庭里。

2007年的这一天,你接孩子回家。在乘搭62号巴士回家的路上,有位老婆婆上了车。你那有爱心的儿子站了起来想要让位,但是你却急忙制止他那么做。因为经历过了那么多的波折,你好不容易把孩子留在你身边,所以你要时时刻刻地陪伴在孩子的身边,不愿孩子离开你身边半步,不愿制造失去孩子的机会。你也要给孩子提供最好的一切,不愿看到孩子受苦。你担心孩子若在巴士上站着回家,他的脚会酸。你因为心疼他脚会酸,所以你就不让孩子把位子让出来。

* * *

你叫陈正强,今年45岁,目前待业中。说好听是“待业”,说白一点就是“失业”。你曾经在一家贸易公司当经理,但是3年前公司因为资金周转不灵,所以被迫重组业务,而你则不幸在公司的重组行动中被裁退了。之后,你一直不断地努力找寻一份工作来养家糊口,可是直到现在,你却仍然还找不到工作。原因很简单:那些雇主都嫌你年龄太大,亏孔子当年还说什么“三十而立,四十而不惑”。四十岁的人不应该是社会经验与见识丰富的一群吗?为什么现在的雇主却认为四十岁的人已经不中用了呢?而这时你老婆也向你提出离婚,因为她等你“东山再起”已经等得不耐烦了,她断定你不可能有再次崛起的一天,认为若继续跟你长相厮守,必然不会得到她想要的幸福。

2007年的这一天,你毫无目标地搭乘了62号巴士。你顿时觉得好累好累,厌倦了目前的生活,不想再为了生活而生活,不想再为了工作而找份工作,不想再为了结婚而结婚。你暗忖:如果你有钱,你就不会搭巴士去兜风散心,而是驾着你的汽车,在路上驰骋着,把汽车的窗户摇下,享受着墙风吹过脸颊的感觉,似乎强风这么一刮,就能把你目前所遇到的烦恼统统给刮掉。你打了一个哈欠,把头靠在玻璃窗上,想要好好地睡一觉。不过,在闭上眼睛之前,你听到了车长要求乘客让位给一位刚刚上车的老太婆。你心想:管他呢! 我这一辈子都是在为别人而活,是时候过我想要过的生活了。本人现在困了,想睡觉,别来吵我!

* * *

你右手捶了捶隐隐作痛的右膝盖,左手抓着扶手,摇摇晃晃地站在巴士上,心里在想要为小儿子的婚礼买多少份喜饼,也在想什么时候才会有人让位给你这位老太婆坐。

* * *

1965 年的这一天,30岁的你和你先生一起搭62号巴士要到牛车水去为你那3个儿子和1个女儿添购新衣。途中,有一位白发苍苍的老妇上了车。她右手捶了捶隐隐作痛的右膝盖,左手抓着扶手,摇摇晃晃地站在巴士上,一直到了牛车水才在同一个车站和你们俩下车。

---终---

-- 2007年华韵文学奖优胜奖(小说组)

《海誓山盟》

曾经许下的
海誓山盟,刻在海岸边的岩石上。
任由岁月无情地风化,承诺
灰飞烟灭,变成沙。

而海岸线的变化,
是承载着多少刻骨铭心的回忆的
沙,被海风卷起带到另外一个海岸线
堆起另一座海誓山盟。

-- 2007年华韵文学奖二等奖(诗歌组)

25 September 2007

Prelims 2007

What is Prelims/Promos/Any major exam all about?

Ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!


-- From Fort Minor's "Remember The Name"

You need some luck, need not be so knowledgable in your subject (but still need to be somewhat informed about your subject), need some will power to get you through this excruciating period without succumbing to the evil distractions of leisure gadgets.

It is probably a fun-filled activity for a handful who are more familiar with their subjects than their parents and can obtain A grades, but to the most of us, examination is painful -- mentally and perhaps even physically.

But we certainly have got all reasons to remember examinations, for it is perhaps what that constitutes most of our memories as a uniform-wearing student in an institution which enforces discipline.

Or perhaps remember the name of the setter of that evil question.

Anyways, some scenes from the debrief of our Chem paper today:









People busying queueing up to beg for more marks... and ironically more than half of them who did that obtained the maximum grade one can possibly achieve -- the holy 'A' grade.

Our hunger for more marks is a bottomless pit. Or maybe I am just jealous?

But then again, based on previous experience, such "begging" for marks are usually futile. Students normally would not have a concrete case to earn more marks, and will only reaffirm the statement that human beings have unlimited wants.

It's like queueing up to buy TOTO, espeically during Chinese New Year when the jackpot prize can easily accumulate to more than SGD$10 million. They are queueing up for a piece of hope, which will be dashed for most of them.

Analysis of the cohort's performance for Chem Paper 3:


Analysis of the cohort's performance for Chem Paper 2:


Analysis of the cohort's performance for Chemistry on the whole:


Analysis of the cohort's performance for Math Paper on the whole:


Haha.. You shall inteprete the distribution of scores yourself. =)

23 September 2007

"The Invasion" Movie Review



Don't sleep.

Don't go home.

Don't trust anyone.

That's basically what the movie is about. But the poster-maker forgot to add another "Don't" to the list -- Don't watch this movie.

When what the title suggests is what you will get in a movie, it's either sleek simplicity or creativity-deficiency. The movie is -- surprise, surprise! -- about an invasion of our beloved planet which we, with much care, nurture it with untreated sewage, choking fumes and ever-breeding species that come in extreme sizes.

The movie depicts alien invasion in the form of virus, which somehow find their way onto a crashing spacecraft and begin infecting people when curious Americans went to touch the debris. A perfect example to illustrate the idiom "curiosity kills the cat". Didn't your mum warn you against touching unidentifiable objects?

There are far too many things left unexplained in the movie, and the plot moves on just because the scriptwriter assumed that certain things happen, and just take it that they just happen. Sounds like H2 Economics, doesn't it? For instance, how did those nasty virus hopped onto the spacecraft? How did the black man on the subway know how to deal with the infected ones? How did people even know what to do in order to escape being infected? How did Ben, Daniel Craig's role in the film, get infected?

Too many loopholes + too many assumptions + too many things left unexplained = Illogical, trashy movie.

I totally have no idea what message is the movie trying to convey. Maybe the movie wasn't produced with any underlying agenda, and I was, perhaps, deceived by the Russian diplomat in the movie who initated a "philosophical" talk with Nicole Kidman over a dinner at a posh restaurant, and whose words were echoed again in Kidman's mind at the end of the movie. I mean, certainly there must be something to achieve should there be such a delibrate scene, but I really couldn't figure it out. The diplomat was going along the lines of people will will make mistakes no matter what, but in the movie, the people aren't really themselves, but have their minds manipulated by foreign creatures. *Shrugs*

Apparently, my friend Samuel was telling me to look out for overhead microphones that appeared in the movie at various scenes -- a good indicator of a lack of sincerity in producing the movie since there wasn't even a decent post-filiming editting done. No wonder it is such a trashy film.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the microphones, presumably distracted by Nicole Kidman's eyebags and dark rings -- a result of her lack of sleep (to prevent herself from mutating into an alien-controlled self)

Overall rating: 2.5 / 10

On a side note, PRELIM'S OVER!!! YAHOO!!!

17 September 2007

Prelim Chem Paper 2

I died during/for/on Hwa Chong 2007 C2 Preliminary Examinations H2 Chemistry Paper 2.

Amen. Amitabha. Allah.

501st post.

12 September 2007

500th Post.. and EARTHQUAKE!!

I initially planned to reserve my 500th post for something interesting, but never did I expect this thing to be SO INTERESTING.

For the first time in my life, I FELT EARTHQUAKE TREMORS!!!

I was lying down on the floor trying to listen FM 93.3 when I suddenly find myself "swaying". I felt "giddy", but a second later I realise that my giddiness was unlike my usual ones because I did not see "stars" at all. Being an avid and hardworking Geography student, I did consider the possibility of experiencing an earthquake tremor, but I quickly dismissed it as I thought it would be more likely for the "swaying" and the "giddiness" to be a result of my hallucination after immense exam stress.

But I could hear the windows in my room trembling (due to the travelling of the Primary Waves, aka P waves) and there seem to be some commotion going on outside my house. As I leaned against the windows in my room and looked out, I actually felt the floor shaking.

By induction, this has to be an earthquake tremor.

What is an earthquake?

The vibration, sometimes violent, of the Earth's crust that follows a release of energy that was stored as friction and prevented the smooth movement of rocks in the Earth's crust.


Wow. What an experience! And what a good incident to make it my 500th entry on this blog! But I certainly cannot imagine what is it like for those at the epicentre. The earthquake occured in Indonesia, with a magnitude of 8.0 measured on the Richter scale.

For your information, by the time the seismic waves reached Singapore, much of the energy has been lost and what we are experiencing now is probably equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 1.0. For every increment on the Richter scale, the amount of energy increases by 31.5 times. Hence, Indonesia was probably experiencing something around 31.5^8 times worse than us. You go do your geometric progression.

It's like practical session for Geography. I finally can apply what I have learnt, which is especially rare since living on this tiny island nation of Singapore means that you are sheltered and protected from first-hand experiencing of natural disasters.

Fortunately, the tremors did not last long. 1 minute of pseduo-giddiness and a 30-minute aftermath which involved discussing excitedly with your friends about the tremors you felt over MSN, it's back to preparation of prelims.

11 September 2007

Prelims

Having good academic grades is not everything. But without good academic grades, you are NOTHING!

Mug on, people!

03 September 2007

人生的命运

人生好比一出戏,命的好坏都在天。 别怨父母生错你,别怨社会不公平。


-- 《人生的命运》刘玲玲 演唱 881 OST

01 September 2007

Movie Review ("881" and "Rush Hour 3")



Probably the best local movie ever produced. 881 is not a tear-jerker on purpose, unlike Jack Neo's "I Not Stupid 2" in which I feel that much of his "touching scenes" were quite artificial and delibrate. It's what we call in Chinese Literaure 气氛渲染, to sensationalise (this is too strong a word to use to describe Jack Neo's movie, but I could not find a better adjective) the mood of the particular scene in order to achieve the kind of response and emotions that the movie producers want from the audience, i.e. to sympathise the boy who is to be caned and the boy whose father is dying, and hence to eventually cry.

However in Royston Tan's "881", the movie lets the audience feel for the characters instead of guiding us towards what they want us to feel. No dramatic use of background music to influence the audience's mood and no over-exaggerated and heavily-artificial tear-jerker plots. People are able to relate to "881" because of its down-to-earth themes, which people across all language, social status, backgrounds and even generations can comprehend.

We feel for the Papaya Sisters' plight because at some point in our lives we all have similiar experiences. Their passion and determination to sing is what that touched us because we may have encountered similiar instances before. How many times were our dreams crushed just because they do not conincide with that of our parents? I have a friend who is passionate about reading Chinese Literature, only to have her choice objected by her father who insisted that she must read Physics instead. Such a case is merely a tip of an iceberg in the Singaporean society.

How many times were our burning flames of passion extinguished by our ailing health or physical injuries? Athletes should be able to relate to this more so than the rest since many a times they may have aggrevated their old and/or current injuries during their training for the upcoming competition season, and are unable to compete for their school for glory just because their bodies are pushed to their limits and can go no further.

Regardless of which school you are from, how rich your parents are, what language you speak, what faith you have or even how many of your own birthdays have you celebrated, surely you must have encountered similiar incidents at some points in your life. Which is why we all can relate to the Papaya Sisters -- their stories are reflections of our own.

Of course, an added bonus in this movie would be the wide array of fabulous songs sung, which almost make the movie a musical. The songs are soothing to the ears and mood, and yet they are not some lullingly Zen music which you only use for your Yoga lessons or spa sessions. There is still some entertainment value in their music.

Also, just like most, if not all, made-in-Singapore movies, "881" incorporates some elements of meta-narrative in its storyline. The amount of meta-narrative in the movie is just sufficient to make the movie a little whacky for entertainment purposes, and fortunately Royston Tan did not overdo it lest the film becomes over-exaggerated and unrealistic.

The only flaw in this film would be the scene where The Durian Sisters start "shooting" laser beams from their plastic pointed breast-covers during a mini-duel between them and the Papaya Sisters. Feminist Audrey (my classmate) felt that this scene is demeaning to women, and I would agree with her, although I was guilty of laughing atthis scene when I watched the movie. It is indeed demeaning, but if you watch the movie with an open-mind, this meta-narrative scene should not nullify the great job that Royston Tan has come up with.

Overall Score: 9.5 / 10 0.5 mark deducted for the scene that demeans women.




As for "Rush Hour 3", I would strongly recommend to those who still has no clue what globalisation and its impacts are. It is truly a product of globalisation -- we have a Chinese and an African-American as the main characters of the film; movie was filmed in the States and Paris, France; the Chinese assassins spoke French while Chris Tucker utter some unidentifiable words from the Chinese language with a weird twang; and the Parisian cab-driver drinks Starbucks and puts on a New York Lakers cap.

Entertainment-wise, this fusion between Jackie Chan and Hollywood never failed to tickle my funny bone. Hilarious fighting scenes are peppered throughout the movie, albeit much less than before, a good indicator of Jackie Chan's ageing body is beginning to take its toil on him.

Witty dialouges are also a plus-point. Yet, before one can appreciate the humour in the dialouges, one must enter the theatre with an open-mind. The witty remarks made are often racist, crude and demeaning. There are attempts to incorporate current affairs into the film, like how the French driver refuse to drive Chris Tucker just because he's an American as he disagrees with the Iraq War. But in my opinion, it only results in crude humour.

In another scene, Chris Tucker rebutts Jackie Chan's statement that he is also a Black by saying that there is a height requirement, an indirect sarcasm to Asian's smaller built in comparison to the Americans. I may be able to laugh and accept this joke, but this statement has certainly sparked off a furore amongst the mainland Chinese who preceive it as an insult to their dignity.

All in all, I would say that the humour in this movie is very direct, in fact far too direct for many conservative Asians to accept. The movie delivers humour like Mohammed Ali's punches -- Pow! Pow! Pow! Straight right into your face and force you to laugh. We will find them funny in the beginning, but soon all these will only seem artificial.

Furthermore, there are too many loopholes in the storyline and too many details unaccounted for. Like, why must Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker lookfor Su-Yang's bag? What is in it? Initially, the main characters had to find the bag, but as the story evolves, they deviated from their original mission and ended up looking for "Shai-Shen". All in all, it was a unsynchronised and un-coordinated story line. It feels more like a movie that is aproduct of the scriptwriter's stream of consciousness.

Overall Score: 5 / 10 I'll pass it given that it still provides good entertainment, that is if you do not think too much about the movie when you are watching. Just enjoy the Hollywood effects.