Preference and Discrimination

Yesterday we were discussing the topic of preference and discrimination in class. I was recounting a story to Su and XP about how I was at a Suntec City toilet when this mother with her 4-year-old (thereabout) son was in the line. I overheard the boy saying something like “the flower one fatty bom bom” (I was wearing a shirt with flower prints that day.). Not only that, he went on saying “fatty bom bom, bom bom bom, bom bom bom …” as though it was amusing. Frankly speaking, it was amusing, even though I was the object of insult. I knew the boy was being rude, but I couldn’t be arsed to do anything about it. Because if I had said anything, it would have meant (1) I admit it was me, aka. I think I am a fatty bom bom myself; (2) I am being intolerant towards guileless young children; (3) I am generally a nasty person. So I ignored the child. His lack of manners obviously stems from something else. The mother did not stop him, which adequately shows how much respect SHE has for other people (i.e. me). So if I had tried to say anything, how would such a parent retaliate? Or deflect the accusation by feigning ignorance? Get me right, I am not condoning the act, but I took a step back and decided not to act because I gave the issue some thought: (1) this is ill upbringing, which is something I can’t be arsed to interfere with, because without insensitive asses like these, there are no GOOD people in this world (relatively, of course.) (2) A child with ill manners will never make it big in life anyway, so that’s good enough justice. (3) Stealing a quote from a friend, I only have endure this lousy attitude for 5 minutes, the child and his parents will have to endure it for a lifetime. Aw. So sad right? Now, don’t chide me for having vengeful thoughts and being mentally evil, that is my right as a thinking creature.

Anyway, back to the topic on preference and discrimination. At the end of the discussion we sort of came to an agreement that it’s a very thin line between what’s preference and what’s discrimination. The rationale is that, when you use a certain variable (e.g. physical attributes) as a basis to judge another variable (e.g. work performance), you are discriminating. For example, guy A abhors fat women. In being the boss of a radio station, he admits a twiggy DJ over a fat DJ,even though they both have equal qualifications. That is discrimination because size is not a relevant nor justified basis of rejection here. However, the tricky part comes when it’s choosing a romantic partner. if I said I preferred rich men, and so refuse to go out with this poor fella, is that discriminating? I don’t think the crux lies in whether the choice is rationally justifiable, but then again I’m not sure what makes it NOT a discrimination then. So there’s that thin line between preference and discrimination.

Two-word Meme

A bit overdue-ish, but stole this from Museditions. Some things might not sound coherent, since I’m typing this after only 2.5 hours of sleep.

The task is to complete a sentence based on each of the two words listed below.

I am: a woman, a man, a girl, a boy, all rolled into one.
I think: we can truly learn to be at ease with ourselves when we don’t will ourselves to disappear into the walls at a crowded place.
I know: that truth sometimes can hurt.
I have: all the material goods I need at the moment.
I wish: I have friends who share the same interests as me, or maybe I just am not looking in the right places.
I hate: my impatience when it comes to many things in life.
I miss: the smell of that out-of-production powder from Marks and Spencer.
I fear: not being able to somehow overcome my fears.
I hear: the whirring of my fan and I am greatful I have electricity.
I smell: like vanilla on most days.
I crave: watermelon lime freeze.
I search: for my calling in life.
I wonder: if there is indeed divine beings, did they make us flawed intentionally?
I regret: Not taking a certain phonology class.
I love: sitting at cafes on lazy afternoons and reading novels.
I ache: when I have to be apologetic about something.
I am not: high on life, and I don’t need to be.
I believe: I will see space programs going to another planet apart from Mars in my lifetime.
I dance: only when no one sees.
I sing: in the shower (sometimes).
I cry: soundlessly.
I fight: the temptation to spend all my money on frivolous nothings.
I win: friends with sincerity (mostly).
I lose: track of dates easily.
I never: buy a novel without some sort of discounts/offers.
I always: try to be on time.
I confuse: people when I tell jokes face-to-face. I’m just no good at that. People usually take 5 seconds to try to process the jokes I tell.
I listen: worse than I read.
I can usually be found: smiling. I think that’s one thing I do best.
I am scared: of not doing certain things and thereby wondering for the rest of my life what might have been.
I need: more money.
I am happy about: everything in my life at present.
I imagine: that I will accomplish all that I’ve set out to do.
I tag: whoever is interested.

More (sober) thoughts

I admit this; the field report draft was typed as the competition proceeded, so it was coherent. By the time i got home yesterday, I haven’t slept for 36 hours, and so was incapable of coherent thought, and so did not blog more in detail of what else had transpired at the competition.

Let me start by mentioning that the Game Master was none other than Dr. Robin Loon. So what happened was that M (as mentioned previously) and I were walking to get more tea, Dr. Seet met us and called us over to talk to him. He actually remembered my name, down to my surname. (I guess, then, the Happy Teachers’ Day and Happy Chinese New Year cards have not gone to waste.) So he asked me what I was doing, and upon knowing I’m going onto Year 4 in EL, he mentioned that he never sees me in the department. Like … I’m supposed to hang out in the department doing … ?

Anyway then Dr. Loon came over and he introduced us to Dr. Loon and the first thing Dr. Loon asked me was, “why not major [in Theatre Studies]?” I said I don’t know. Frankly speaking, I know quite very well why I didn’t. I hate group projects enough already, let alone having to put up a full-scale final year stage production. I might not have mentioned this, but I did get A- for my level 1 theatre module. My best grade that semester. I did struggle a bit deciding between English and Theatre. I liked both, but somehow English won me over. I decided to do English despite getting a B for my level 1, taking that step into the unknown. So looking at my grades now, I’d have to think I’m pretty lucky.

Then Dr. Loon asked me to take Dr. Seet’s other modules because it’s all fun. I took a couple, Theatre level 1 and that module about Singapore English Language Theatre. And then they said there’s still Marketing Theatre and the Arts. I promptly asked if there was group project, because that is just one thing that stops me from doing modules (except schedule clashes, of course.) He said there is, and I said I hate them.

But the bottomline of me recounting this is that I am very delighted and happy that they are such nice people. I don’t know, I’ve always felt that they are quite distant from students because they are too smart. You know, there are certain professors out that who cannot get close to students because not only that they are on a different wavelength, they are just so smart they have no choice but to treat us like babies when trying to teach us? Yes, that feeling. So now I know I can say Hi to two more lecturers when I hang out in the department. Maybe that’s one incentive for me to even want to step into the EL honours room.

The 24 Hour Playwriting Competition 2008 – Field Report

This year the competition is held at the Eurasian Community House at Ceylon Road, and we are very fortunate to have it in the hall, with tables! It felt entirely like going to a Chinese wedding banquet sitting at the 10-person round table lined with purple tablecloth. There is this group of teenagers who are so rah-rah and excited that they had their laptops out on the table before the event started. I told a neighbour that it looks like it’s part of some LAN Gaming competition or something, which that many snazzy laptops out on tables. I guess because of the round tables, I got to know other people.

There’s this lady M, who’s a drama teacher with the MOE from a secondary school. She asked me if I was part of the Youth category (I’m so flattered) and then I realized she’s five years my senior and in all sense of the word “senior”, she graduated from FASS with bachelor degree in English Language and Theatre Studies. Hurh-hurh. And apparently her batch of students are still in contact with Dr Seet, and they just had a gathering recently. Amazing.

And then there’s this guy A. For the past four years I’ve been in the competition, I see him each year without fail. Never really figured out his name, and this year I met him at the drinks station and made small talk. (I feel so pretentious when I make small talk with people, really.) So that’s that. The only reason why I remember him each year is that strange accent he sports, and because he looks way too young to be his age. Regulars might know who I’m talking about, huh.

This year we have got sponsor for cookies and cakes, by Crumbs Cupcakes.

Crumbs Cupcake

The uber yummy chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter topping.

(I apologize for the badly taken photos. My cell phone camera just ain’t up to it.)

Their chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter topping is fabulous. Do check them out. We were also provided with copious amounts of Subway soft-baked cookies. So we were well-supplied with sweets and drinks (tea, coffee, etc.) to keep us filled and happy.

The first stimulus is the starting line of the play, which goes, “I don’t know, it has always been like this.” I guess the oversensitive linguist in me just had to analyse the sentence. The cogs in my brain started cranking and analyzing the sentence is the only thing I did. No reason to start writing at that point, since everything’s DEFINITELY going to change after the other stimuli kick in. So I decided to wait, sit around, feast on cakes and cookies, play my DS Lite, and chill. Add to that list, secretly smirking at people who are frantically scribbling/typing away. Not that that’s anything wrong, just cute.

The second stimulus at 8pm was “Beijing”, the city. I wish you could have heard some of the groans in the hall from the fast writers and their sudden realization of misfit. I’m not gloating, seeing how I was like that 3 years ago.

The third stimulus at 12 midnight was a non-specific stimulus. What happened was that we were all given a piece of tissue paper, and were told to line up in front of the Game Master who proceeded to issue some fragrance blend. This, then, forms the 3^rd stimulus. Interesting huh.

The fourth stimulus at 8 am was too a non-specific stimulus. It involved us taking a 20-minute walk around the Joo Chiat area, seeing different types of architectures, like a mosque, a Chinese temple, Peranakan houses, old shop houses, and the President’s house (ok the last one is unintentional). We are free to identify and use any element of this walk in our play, but of course, it has to be recognizable. My partially shut down brain simply decided to bring my main character on such a walk to hunt for a famous biscuit shop.

The fifth and final stimulus is a specific stimulus, and it was Taxi Cab. It must be the modern car vehicle, it cannot be a tuk-tuk or rickshaw.

So at the end of 24 hours at the competition, and after 36 continuous hours of staying awake, I churned out a play called Smell of Rain, which is essentially a sappy romance, something that is very unlike me. Nonetheless it the easiest sort of play to write, especially when I just had my characters sit around and … chit-chat about random things.

So. There. The two days in a year I am rightfully a playwright.

Countdown to 24 Hour Playwriting Competition 2008

I’ll be leaving the house in about 4 hours’ time to report for this year’s Theatreworks’ 24 Hour Playwriting Competition held at the Eurasian Community House at Ceylon Road (near TKGS and TKSS), which is jointly organized by the Southeast CDC. Should be much fun. And for once, I will feel entirely safe writing about murderous Peranakan/Eurasian mothers-in-law over pots of curry. I don’t know if it’s just me, but does it seem to anyone else that there’s this inextricable link between the Eurasians and Peranakans in Singapore (apart from being the minority group)? I assume it’s got something to do with the colonial bootlicking and hence having Peranakan + British = Eurasian children. Long story, politically insensitive, so shall not elaborate here.

This year Angela won’t be joining me because … she must have bad memories of last year, and she missed the deadline for signing up. So it’s me alone again, just like the first time I took part in … 2005? It’s been a long time since then I suppose. Maybe this time round I should go chat up the children, just to freak them out or something.

So there, will be away for 24 hours to be PLAYWRIGHT till later afternoon tomorrow. My best guess is that hardly anyone will read this before I return with frontline news. If you do, comment below so that I know that there CAN be some time-sensitive posts around here.

A New Laptop

I got myself a new laptop. Indulgent, yes, since my previous Travelmate that has been with me for 3 years is working fine, just a tad slow and hot. Before I get scolded for wasting money, let me justify myself.

1. This is my last chance to buy cheap laptops from the school. The laptop offers by the school is at least 20-30% cheaper than commercial listed prices, and not only that, it comes with expensive softwares like Office and the whole Adobe shebang.
2. My previous laptop IS problematic. It gets very very warm, and because of the metal alloy surface, I cannot type comfortably. And mind you, I already have a laptop cooler running beneath the laptop. And because of the heat, I try not to overload what I do on my computer, so I can’t do all the fun stuff like playing games lest the laptop overheats and fuses.
3. My previous laptop is too small. It has a 12.1 inch screen, though it has great portability, my eyes are strained most of the time. This time round I got a bigger 14.1 inch screen, which is much better for my failing eyesight.
4. This is a good investment of my vacation part-time job pay. Instead of spending it on frivolous things like shoes and clothes, and slowly seeing my money seep away from my bank surreptitiously, I know where my money is invested exactly. And in another sense, this laptop is a testimony of my vacation job.
5. I really wanted a new laptop so that I can play some games on. For example, Caesar IV, which takes a huge toll on my previous laptop with its awesome 3D graphics.

There, five excuses reasons to convince myself it’s money well-spent. You must be wondering which brand and model I acquired. Well, I bought an Acer laptop. Sure, I know of everyone’s opinions about Acer, about how you should never get it unless you have no choice, and how it’s really lousy, etc. Well, I’m not much of a crowd-follower as you know, and maybe there’s just that little tinge of Taurean stubbornness in me, so I just trusted my own intuition and rational thought. In my years of using laptops, and knowing people who use laptop, I’ve witnessed 2 Fujitsus and 1 HP crash and burn, and a couple more having fan screen failures, whereas my AcerS, the brand that is regarded to be shit by everyone else, exists. My sister’s very first laptop after she came out to work about 8-9 years ago is still around in good condition, and I’m sure it still runs, just that it has awful specs. And of course, how long a laptop lasts depends mostly on the user; I’m not the most careful kind of user (you know the sort who can keep the plastic protector on for 3 years), but I’m not abusive. So I reckon Acer is good for me, and I like this brand despite people’s perceptions of it. You’d think a company would play blind to these remarks from the market, wouldn’t you? Thinking they wouldn’t try to improve themselves after all that dissatisfaction. Besides, I’m not even sure people who told me Acer sucks have ever used an Acer for themselves. (Yes, I’m still trying to rationalise with myself over my choice.)

Anyway, I got the Acer Aspire 4930G, which has a Dolby Home Theatre sound system, CrystalBrite widescreen LCD (I loooovve the CrystalBrite screens), integrated webcam, dual-layer DVD drive, a good-enough for me graphics card, and that awesome gemstone-like slick-black exterior. I can’t ask for more.

Hong Kong (Part 3 of x)

So I’ve decided to stop procrastinating and blog a bit, seeing that I wouldn’t be around on the 2nd and 3rd of July August because … I’M GOING FOR THEATREWORKS’ 24 HOUR PLAYWRITING COMPETITION (again!) Some people ask me if I participate year after year to win, the answer is obviously not. I’m just there so that I can call myself a playwright for that 24 hours each year (complete with an ID badge to match.)

That aside, this is about my 3rd day in Hong Kong, which is the day we went to Ocean Park! I’ve always wanted to go to Ocean Park, despite them not owning a killer whale anymore. I’ve heard a lot about how fun it is, the rides and the shows, so I just had to see it for myself. Besides, no trip to Hong Kong is complete without a visit to Ocean Park, right?

We went to Ocean Park on a Friday and already it was infested with tourists. The park is smaller than I expected; yes, the hill in the middle of the park is impressive, but entirely useless except for a scary cable car ride.

KL and me at the 2nd park entrance.

We went on the rollercoaster, which had two 360 loops. The loops weren’t very high, and there wasn’t any steep drop from inclines, which makes it less scary, and consequently less exciting than I’ve hoped. We did not go on the mine train, which is a mini rollercoaster (that does not require those hugeass seat restraints), and apparently it’s faster and more fun than the rollercoaster. After the sorely disappointing rollercoaster ride, I decided I should go for the freefall ride, which Iooked really scary.

This is the freefall. It’s the 2nd tallest structure in the park, after the observation deck. According to the Ocean Park website, it is called the Abyss and it is 20 floors (185 feet) high. We did rise to the top, but we were only dropped about half way or a little more, so about 10-12 floors. Scary initially, especially when the drop first start and you can feel your butts leave the seat. Like an thrill ride it got really fun after you overcome that initial hesitation and fear. I nearly wanted to chicken out when I was in the queue and upon hearing all the screams! I myself had a great time screaming, something I haven’t had the opportunity to do since secondary school. The TKGS-trained scream - something not everyone can do, I suppose. I screamed while on the abyss, and KL turned and asked, “are you that scared?” and I replied, “actually not.”

The dolphin show as quite fun, I spent most of my time filming and capturing pictures just so I could share it with everyone. How sweet is that, eh?

Leaping dolphins. Although a little quite messy, but I thought this is quite an iconic shot. Here’s a short video I took that I uploaded to Youtube:

(When I have extra time to kill, I will put up the rest.)

The underwater world at the Ocean Park was … disgusting. They crammed too many ugly creatures in one tank that it’s just gross. All your grey and white sharks with hugeass monster stingrays and manta rays, with your stone fish, gigantic tuna and other similarly monochromatic creatures. Really ugly, I have to say. I guess i just have high standards when it comes to underwater world, since my country has the first and I think best underwater world in Southeast Asia.

Possibly majestic but really ugly, especially behind that horrible tinted glass.

That aside, the smaller fish in the individual tanks were far more pleasing. Cute little seahorses and puffer fish, colourful fish I can’t name and inverterbrates like squids and sea snails. When I was walking around, I overheard a few Hong Kong housewives commenting how a particular sea snail was good to “boaw1 tong1″ (boil in soup). So what my friend Sarah (who took an marine biology class - kickass kewl!) said about how Asians see sea creatures and think of food, and how tasty they’d be. I guess that’s how the Ocean Park can manage to promote conservation of marine creatures and sell barbecued squid at the same time.

The pandas at the Ocean Park were… panda-like, I suppose. You know, complete with the justified superstar I’m-damn-endangered-so-I-get-to-throw-tantrums attitude. Never liked pandas, and never will. I honestly won’t feel a thing if they went extinct tomorrow. Don’t give me that “but your kids will grow up not seeing a panda for themselves!” thing; because I grew up not seeing a dodo or a dinosaur and that doesn’t make me a less complete person. So there.

Despite my bad review of the Ocean Park (you can’t fault my high standards), I enjoyed myself there. Nevertheless, don’t make me go back there within the next five years, thank you.

Dior Product Launch

(Cross posted at Confessions of a Late-blooming Makeup Addict)

I’m certainly making a mountain out of a molehill here, but I am so excited. For being a regular poster on the Cozycot forum (click on the badge on the sidebar, please), I was invited to a special product launch by Dior cosmetics. It was an evening of food, demonstrations and product-testing. I’m really excited about being part of this event! (Ok, excited is not me, I get it.) Never been invited to events like this, this is a first (and I hope not the last), am being a noob at it, but who cares.

The make-up artist and the very pretty model.

Looking at the demonstration, I realised I have this thing for the artists’ hipbelt full of brushes. There must be like at least 25 brushes in there and somehow I am very stoked by that. She is very funny and friendly, great for our little intimate gathering of about 20 girls. (Yes, THAT exclusive!)

We each received a goody bag with product samples, including a sample-size Diorshow mascara, and fragrance vials. Very thoughtful, and great marketing.

The new range of products are beautiful, as with all Dior products. I especially fell in love with the following:

It’s a gradated eyeshadow compact that can double-up as a highlighter and emergency eyebrow powder. I especially love the croc skin hetchmarks. Beautiful, but would break my bank. The Fall collection is called Dandy Lady, according to the makeup artist, it’s about having a little spunk in being a lady - not entirely tomboy, nor entirely docile passive female. Althought I’m not sure I quite understand how the products are inspired by such a strong message.

We also saw the preview for the new mascara, Dior Iconic and it purports to be able to curl the lashes upon application. We got to try it out, and since I was already wearing mascara of my own, I applied one layer on top of my existing mascara and I can’t say I like what I saw. Perhaps the tube I tried from was slightly dried and clumpy, although my lashes were visibly lengthened, I don’t think I like it very much. Perhaps I should have removed my existing mascara before trying out, but that’s too much hassle.

We ended the product launch with a group photo, which I will try to get my hands on. Not sure if they are going to post it up anywhere. It was an interesting experience. I got to meet some nice girls from my forum, had fun eating samosas and petite sandwiches, and had fun getting my hands dirty with cosmetics.

Back from Hong Kong

I am back from Hong Kong in one piece!

Detailed blogging tomorrow when I feel like it, just a quick one now before I unpack. Now let me whine a bit.

Contrary to what everyone assumes I would do in Hong Kong, I did NOT go on a crazy shopping spree. I sincerely have no idea where I spent my money for my loot is minimal. I only acquired a pair of long linen pants, a cotton sleeveless blouse, a scarf and a bangle from H&M, a straw bag and two pairs of earrings from Argyle Centre, a pair of slippers and a pair of Birkenstock wannabes from Baleno and a pair of New Balance running shoes. I did not buy any make-up items. So I have no idea where the rest of my money went. Probably down my stomach, and spent on random souvenir items. And transport.

I had an OK time in Hong Kong, having a lot of time to myself to walk about and see stuff. But I think some people feel that I could have stayed there for a shorter period of time if I cut out my museum visits and random days when I have nothing to do. Which is something I might agree with; if not for some prior (mis)conceptions of the amount of things I had wanted to do there, I could have better planned my trip and save on my hotel stay. Alas, all is over, so please just stop telling me so-and-so got a 5D4N trip to Hong Kong for $3 or something.

I had a brilliant itinerary planned out, but somehow it just didn’t materialize. I gave The Peak and Central a miss because I just didn’t feel like travelling to places after day 3. Maybe it’s because somehow it was decided, 18 hours before my flight, that I should go to Ocean Park on Friday instead of Monday like I planned, so the flow just wasn’t there anymore. Or maybe it’s because I assumed it was going to be rainy there so I brought my not-so-confortable yet waterproof shoes so I was stricken with numerous blisters and a strained ligament so I couldn’t walk around as much as I wanted. Or rather, I walked too much too fast the first few days of my trip I ran out of steam by day 3.

But then I can’t possibly say I had a bad time in Hong Kong. I visited museums and had a great time there. This is not something typical people would typically do in a typical Hong Kong trip. I did most of the things I set out to do, so I’m somewhat appeased. (I think I will be further appeased when I chuck those blister-giving shoes from the 13th storey.) I can’t say I have regrets for this trip, because having regrets simply means I didn’t try hard enough. I’m back home with certain good memories, and I think that’s all that matters.

Lastly, I don’t think I’d be returning to Hong Kong within the next five years. There simply isn’t anything that makes me want to go back badly. On the other hand, I think I will go back to Macau at least once more before this decade is over. That place is beautiful for most parts, and I’d really want to go to the different casinos.

My favourite activity

My favourite activity is to sit in Starbucks (or any cafe for the matter) with a cup of soy latte (or chai, or tea) and read novels. It’s a time for me to immerse myself in the plot, be it a murder in Aristotelian Athens, or a wild-goose chase for an ancient relic, or simply a plot where nothing much happens. It’s bliss to me. To just wile away time in my own world, occasionally watching the world go by … nothing makes me happier than this. When I read, I am often oblivious to the world, and I think there’s no better way to get away from the tosh of everyday life.

A couple of years ago before there was free Wifi at Starbucks, I’d see more books on tables than laptops, and it would bemuse me to no end trying to snoop at people’s book choices. Nowadays, I see more laptops on tables, leeching off the power supply at Starbucks, and I feel rather disappointed at not being about to look at what people are reading. This other day I was at Starbucks and I saw that one lady holding Atwood’s The Blind Assassin and I felt this insane urge to tell her that’s a good book. Alas, since I am not a socialising creature, I kept my silence and continued to read my murder mystery.

I really look forward to my next Starbucks reading outing.