In just under twelve hours or so Singapore will be plunged into darkness.
Ok that's almost certainly an impossibly inflated exaggeration, but i suppose from all the buzz that's been going around, Earth Hour this year will at the least probably be far more widely observed here than the last.
I'm somewhat ambivalent about it though. Granted that tomorrow at the scheduled time i will probably take a break from planning for next week's lessons and setting exam questions, but that will probably be as much me being lazy and unmotivated as anything else. I suppose beef with the whole event is that i am not too convinced about how much of a long-term effect this will have on the energy consumption habits of S'poreans. It seems pretty much like a touch-and-go sort of thing to me - kinda like a "hey let's all be cool and save the environment for one hour" and then after that go back to one's old ways. I'm not denying that the cool and hip factor is working to some extent, and yup, why not just milk it for all its worth. But as in all these campaign thingies, if there's no accompanying mindset change, then whatever relief to the environment that one hour of darkness can do will be nothing more than cosmetic.
Let's just say that i don't really have confidence in the average S'porean's resolve to take global climate change and our role in it more seriously. Not that we're alone in ultimately being pragmatically minded in our approach to environmental awareness, but there's much i feel i can justifiably take issue with in how S'poreans view the seriousness, or in their minds, lack of seriousness of the situation. While i suppose i can be thankful we're not a nation of Sarah Palins who continue to be in a sad state of denial on our role and responsibility when it comes to climate change, on the other hand, i would be thrilled if turning to CNG-powered passenger vehicles would not be considered an option only when pricing incentives and high gas costs came into play, or if people would voluntarily do away with plastic bags (even if they be biodegradable) every day and not only when you have to pay a ten cent fee.
Talking about lights, would the one hour of darkness make more than a dent to the overall pattern of energy consumption here? I'm thinking of the vegas (or make that hong kong- tackier still)-esque neon lights that front one of the nightclubs near my place, and the increasing number of brightly-lit facades in new or renovated buildings in town. Also the appalling golf course (like we needed another one) next to the Sheares bridge (which incidentally was built on a nice forested patch of reclaimed land) which at night is lit more brightly by floodlights than it is by the sun itself during the day. And the 24-hour ntuc at Jurong Point which is seriously overlit by at least 100% during all 24 hours of its operation every day of the week.
Some things in this world man, they don't make sense...
But still, as cheesy as it sounds to me, i will be "voting earth" tomorrow. And will try my best to do so on every day following tomorrow as well, and not stop. Wish that others would do the same.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
No Brainer
In the spirit of the oh-so-originally-named Budget Terminal and of course the $400,000 Marina Bay, should it come as any surprise that two of the winners to name the turns of the S'pore F1 circuit, more specifically the turn under the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and the turn near the Civilian War Memorial won with their chosen names being "Sheares" and "Memorial" respectively. Of course, they couldn't just name the bends as such, giving them what are only the most obvious names possible. No, they just had to hold a competition.
So much for encouraging creativity when the overall winner of the two grandstand tickets, a pit lane walk and a two-night stay at a trackside hotel did nothing more than stand at the turn in question, look heavenwards, see the bottom of the Sheares Bridge, think to himself "hey, that works", and then conjure up some smoke to justify the totally duh choice of name. If only all things in life were that easy, pay cut be damned...
Anyways, if things continue to follow this pattern, then i won't be surprised if the as-yet-unknown name of this mascot (which looks more like a Sun Wukong-esque monkey to me but apparently is a lion? I dunno) turns out to be something like Monyet/Singa, or why bother even with another language - monkey/lion.
So much for encouraging creativity when the overall winner of the two grandstand tickets, a pit lane walk and a two-night stay at a trackside hotel did nothing more than stand at the turn in question, look heavenwards, see the bottom of the Sheares Bridge, think to himself "hey, that works", and then conjure up some smoke to justify the totally duh choice of name. If only all things in life were that easy, pay cut be damned...
Anyways, if things continue to follow this pattern, then i won't be surprised if the as-yet-unknown name of this mascot (which looks more like a Sun Wukong-esque monkey to me but apparently is a lion? I dunno) turns out to be something like Monyet/Singa, or why bother even with another language - monkey/lion.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
looking beyond
Over the past week there've been three incidents involving the deaths of foreign students/former students here that have hit the news. It's given me something to think about on top of the lots of stuff that have been occupying my mind with practicum and all.
I must admit that i was hardly one to second-guess the local mainstream media's portrayal of the first incident (the stabbing cum alleged suicide at ntu). I just thought that, if not for the (thankfully) very strict gun laws here, it would be nothing more than akin to the many troubled-student-goes-on-shooting-rampage stories from places like the States and Finland that have popped up from time to time. In other words, i pretty much did nothing more than accept what was presented, what apparently were presented as facts.
Then i received an email from an Indonesian friend and former ntu student which suggested that things may not in fact have been as straightforward as they were presented to be. It included a forum response to the online ST article (re: post dated March 04, 2009 Wednesday, 09:40 PM) which i thought was a very sobering assessment of the portrayal of those involved in the incident and a justifiable questioning of the so-called facts that have been presented to the public, as well as the conclusions that we have drawn about them from what we have read and viewed. Like in the case of the second alleged suicide (interesting to note btw that this time they did at least make it clear that this was an alleged suicide - i don't recall the same being done for the first case, though maybe it was, and in my own reading of the story i conveniently discarded the word "alleged"), this time of a recent graduate and then-current staff of ntu, there are so many assumtions based at least in part of stereotypes that we tend to assign to foreign students methinks that perhaps are really less-than-helpful to say the least. At the least, i can only hope and pray that in whatever official/unofficial reviews that do take place in response to these incidents, colored preconceptions do not feature at all, and, specifically where Christian ministry to the international community in school campuses is concerned, that these incidents will serve as a good learning point when it comes to planning and preparation.
After i heard about the pgp incident and read about it in the ST, i went googling for reports on what had happened from the American perspective. I came across articles like this one and again, based on my more or less wholehearted acceptance of what i had read in the ST report, figured that the American reports had conveniently left out details regarding how he had passed on cos they didn't want to talk about the drinking and pill-popping that were inferred by the ST report to be the cause of his death. I then found this rather strongly-worded indictment of the campus observer for their speculatory take on the incident (to their credit, they did at least publish and respond to it, though there's no indication of any amendments made to the original article, let alone an apology being made, since they stand by what they had reported). I'm no student of journalism so i can't pass judgement, but i can't help but wonder if the original report was influenced by stereotypes of Western exchange students as well - stuff like their gathering at the pgp foyer steps every wednesday night before heading en masse to town to go clubbing and coming back in shared cabs in the wee hours of thursday morning all liquored up, and then waking up late for class with an almighty hangover (yes i admit i've held that view myself, especially when i was staying there - though of course in itself there's nothing really wrong about that)... In retrospect, surely no one, be they a local or a foreigner is so one-dimensional and readable (i know i wasn't when i was on exchange), therein lying a big challenge to student ministry - how to see each person as unique and special (in God's eyes, and therefore as it should be in our eyes as well), beyond any albeit sometimes partially true generalizations that can be made about them.
I think of this also because in my second week of practicum i've come across some international students as well, who are incredibly diverse in their backgrounds and all, and also in their needs. Looking at some of them, i'd have to say that it's hardly a stretch to see what has happened in the aforementioned ntu cases possibly happening to them as well in the near or far future, if perhaps they find no one to unberden themselves to and receive the appropriate help from... It's quite a worrying thought...
I must admit that i was hardly one to second-guess the local mainstream media's portrayal of the first incident (the stabbing cum alleged suicide at ntu). I just thought that, if not for the (thankfully) very strict gun laws here, it would be nothing more than akin to the many troubled-student-goes-on-shooting-rampage stories from places like the States and Finland that have popped up from time to time. In other words, i pretty much did nothing more than accept what was presented, what apparently were presented as facts.
Then i received an email from an Indonesian friend and former ntu student which suggested that things may not in fact have been as straightforward as they were presented to be. It included a forum response to the online ST article (re: post dated March 04, 2009 Wednesday, 09:40 PM) which i thought was a very sobering assessment of the portrayal of those involved in the incident and a justifiable questioning of the so-called facts that have been presented to the public, as well as the conclusions that we have drawn about them from what we have read and viewed. Like in the case of the second alleged suicide (interesting to note btw that this time they did at least make it clear that this was an alleged suicide - i don't recall the same being done for the first case, though maybe it was, and in my own reading of the story i conveniently discarded the word "alleged"), this time of a recent graduate and then-current staff of ntu, there are so many assumtions based at least in part of stereotypes that we tend to assign to foreign students methinks that perhaps are really less-than-helpful to say the least. At the least, i can only hope and pray that in whatever official/unofficial reviews that do take place in response to these incidents, colored preconceptions do not feature at all, and, specifically where Christian ministry to the international community in school campuses is concerned, that these incidents will serve as a good learning point when it comes to planning and preparation.
After i heard about the pgp incident and read about it in the ST, i went googling for reports on what had happened from the American perspective. I came across articles like this one and again, based on my more or less wholehearted acceptance of what i had read in the ST report, figured that the American reports had conveniently left out details regarding how he had passed on cos they didn't want to talk about the drinking and pill-popping that were inferred by the ST report to be the cause of his death. I then found this rather strongly-worded indictment of the campus observer for their speculatory take on the incident (to their credit, they did at least publish and respond to it, though there's no indication of any amendments made to the original article, let alone an apology being made, since they stand by what they had reported). I'm no student of journalism so i can't pass judgement, but i can't help but wonder if the original report was influenced by stereotypes of Western exchange students as well - stuff like their gathering at the pgp foyer steps every wednesday night before heading en masse to town to go clubbing and coming back in shared cabs in the wee hours of thursday morning all liquored up, and then waking up late for class with an almighty hangover (yes i admit i've held that view myself, especially when i was staying there - though of course in itself there's nothing really wrong about that)... In retrospect, surely no one, be they a local or a foreigner is so one-dimensional and readable (i know i wasn't when i was on exchange), therein lying a big challenge to student ministry - how to see each person as unique and special (in God's eyes, and therefore as it should be in our eyes as well), beyond any albeit sometimes partially true generalizations that can be made about them.
I think of this also because in my second week of practicum i've come across some international students as well, who are incredibly diverse in their backgrounds and all, and also in their needs. Looking at some of them, i'd have to say that it's hardly a stretch to see what has happened in the aforementioned ntu cases possibly happening to them as well in the near or far future, if perhaps they find no one to unberden themselves to and receive the appropriate help from... It's quite a worrying thought...
Monday, March 02, 2009
1234
Well since yesterday we remember the 123rd, why not go one more number further. Anyways i thought that this was pretty cute.
And so is the original video upon which this was based. Feist kinda reminds me of a saner, more coherent version of Björk. Sway your hips like she does there at your own peril...
And so is the original video upon which this was based. Feist kinda reminds me of a saner, more coherent version of Björk. Sway your hips like she does there at your own peril...
Sunday, March 01, 2009
123
The best is yet to be,
But only now are you 123...
Happy birthday, absence makes the heart go fonder...
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