We owe it to ourselves
Posted: July 2, 2010 by fievel in Labels: A life less ordinary, Epiphany, Life
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...to live an inspired existence...
Showing posts with label Epiphany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Epiphany. Show all posts
Lessons learnt from North Korea's world cup defeat against Brazil
Posted: June 16, 2010 by fievel in Labels: Epiphany, Life, Singapore
Being a Piscean, I'm given the legitimacy to be branded as one of the more idealistic and dreamy individuals around. Today I was watching the David vs Goliath world cup match of North Korea vs Brazil in a very Singaporean setting - a typical kopitiam with plenty of local lads all wound up with their world cup bets (passion for the sport/nationality can be best found in a more up-market locale such as an Irish pub or beer tavern in Orchard).
While I was just a bystander this world cup (I've sworn off my gambling luck a long time ago), I found it extremely interesting to observe both the match and the tense-yet-happy-go-lucky faces of my fellow night owls at the kopitiam, and feel like I've walked away with a few epiphanies. If you, the random visitor of my blog, are interested, my thoughts were as follows;
The North Koreans must have trained on Mt Everest or somewhere else of equal altitude for the World Cup for they ran as if they each had three lungs. However, they still lost in the end, albeit by a single goal margin. What lessons did I glean from the match?
1) Hard work.
I felt that the match was truly defining of real life, where we all hold jobs of equal responsibility, but each 'kind' with a drastically different set of odds, with the Asian almost seemingly doomed to have to work MUCH harder for the same buck. It's like that AngMoh boss or colleague that you have in your Singapore office. Does he/she do a lot less than you and yet lead a much more comfy life than you? Do you often bitch between your own local-kinds that they simply get away with it easy 'cos they are not Asian? Well, that's exactly how it's like on the world soccer pitch. But hey, as with the economic arena, the Asians are working harder and smarter and are starting to get a fair bit more results. Japan won Cameroon. South Korea beat Greece. Even the North Koreans had a real good fight against mighty Brazil! The world's imbalance is getting less skewed as the Asians start to work harder and harder.
2) Brazil still won in the end.
Some self help books preach this - "do your best and you have won". What a load of crap. Say, if one day you end up in dire straits in Singapore, would you smile to the heavens and say, "I did my best and that's good enough", and then roll over and die? I, the Author Almighty, feels very strongly (at least at this moment in time), that we have to ponder upon why the Brazilians still won in the end. I think the take-away here is that despite the super-human efforts in every tackle, every sprinted off-the-ball run, every shot-like passes, the North Koreans were approaching the game the wrong way. They were too mechanical. They forgot that the beautiful game, much like life, is more of an art, than a science. Flair, talent, the need to enjoy the game, told in the end. Everyone is capable of working hard, every single Brazilian player had to work harder than hard to even get into their national team in the first place. Singaporeans, much like the communist North Koreans, are under the impression that life is meant to be slogged away at in order for us to deserve anything good. That's why we are all so ever-willing to squeeze into that sardine carriage that we call public transport everyday, frowning yet accepting, and continue on the finite passage way of life. I feel it is difficult to say why it's wrong, but just like the match of Brazil vs North Korea, we all know it is much better to be playing it like the South Americans.
3) Gambling
Gambling is plain wrong. I saw a whole bunch of Singaporeans worried of Brazil not finishing at least 2 goals better than North Korea. Nobody at the kopitiam was supporting North Korea for the fact that they are an Asian team. Nobody was marveling at their superbly well-coordinated (albeit mechanic) teamwork. Nobody was happy basically. To describe their collective emotion aura, they were anxious when Brazil simply could not unlock North Korea's defense, they were on the edge when Brazil scored their first goal late in the game as they continued to pray for a second goal, they were relieved when Brazil took a 2-0 lead, but quickly got banished back to their usual cursing-swearing-disbelieving mode once North Korea clawed back a goal, and finally they looked tired and 'sian' and went home after the match ended 2-1, which probably meant most of them lost their bets on Brazil. Passion for the sport does not live in the kopitiam-dweller-Singaporean it seems.
I have a lot of ideas how all the above relates to some of my life goals and decisions, but I shall keep that to myself and let you the random visitor to my blog ponder upon yours.
Came home from work today late at night feeling extra-epiphany-ish..Went to the kopitiam opposite my place for a cheap $5 Tiger beer by myself...with my ipod for accompaniment, which doesn't necessarily lose to human company sometimes.
The wife called me earlier, told me we just got balloted a 1400+ number in our queue for a public housing flat, for which there are only 400+ units available. It's not exactly unexpected and it's not exactly something that can dampen our Singapore not-exactly-a-dream dream any further anyway.
I don't know how all my random thoughts link up but sometimes they just come in waves, so much so I lose precious sleep over them. If I could record my thoughts graphically it'll probably strike an imaginary audience to resemble an episode of The Late Night Show with David Letterman, with a twist.
Before I took the first sip of my beer I was thinking, rather cleverly, that maybe I'll try something new tonight; rather than to analyse the same old questions about the decisions I have been struggling to make, maybe I'll analyse me, myself, as if I were outside of my own skin tonight. But of course that was just ambitious thinking. The beer straightened that weird notion out in no time.
Anyway, one thing I like about blogging is that it lets me record my thoughts down for future reference. But then more often than not, by the time I get down to it, what were earlier crystal-clear insights-of-the-century somehow just slip through my web of neurons or synapses or whatever they are called. Maybe it's finally time I go figure out twitter.
-random thought
Reading between the lines
Posted: February 1, 2010 by fievel in Labels: Epiphany, politics, SingaporeWhen Mah Bow Tan contested against Mr. Chiam See Tong for the Potong Pasir GRC back in 1984, Lee Kuan Yew brought up each of their academic records for comparison; obviously, Mah had better grades and that was played as a card to his advantage in that election, albeit still not a good enough reason for the electorate of Potong Pasir GRC to choose him.
More than 20 years later, Chiam See Tong fended off PAP's new contestants who along with stellar academic track records, even had the added wings of $2 shark fins soup and abalone porridge and not to mention, PAP's dangled carrots of upgrading funds for the constituency if they voted for PAP.
Yesterday, Straits Times featured an interesting post headlined "Mah blasts opposition", [see link], in which his apparent key message to the Tampines electorate was more or less to the effect of " vote for who you think can do more for you ". The deft little play here, however, was that there was this big photo of him giving out free money to a needy woman grinning away in a crowded event with many onlookers.
That photo should be available in the link I posted above, but should it have been taken off, here is the screen print.
"Pork barrel politics" is a term many critics of PAP had used before to describe the style of many of our incumbent politicians. If you don't know the term and are simply too frigging lazy to wiki it, fret not, here's the wiki link to "pork barrel".
I don't know how you, the Tampines resident, feel about this, but personally, I find the message I read between the lines here to be rather distasteful, though familiar. It didn't work in Potong Pasir but hey, who knows, it might just work in Tampines!
P.S. I think "who can do more for you" is a silly benchmark in choosing your future MPs because currently, it is more of a case of "who truly wants to do more for you" that matters.
P.S. I think "who can do more for you" is a silly benchmark in choosing your future MPs because currently, it is more of a case of "who truly wants to do more for you" that matters.
Just a random thought tonight.
I hope that our opposition politicians today can promise one thing, even if they cannot promise any other. That is, one day, when they have succeeded in taking over Singapore from the PAP, they will not forget the cause they started with. I hope all the opposition parties will make it a point to put it on records, that they will never, never ever, in the future, forget that they started off by fighting for true democracy, the only form of which there ever is. Do not become another bunch of animal farm's pigs.
Talking about a revolution
Posted: January 26, 2010 by fievel in Labels: Epiphany, Music, politics, SingaporeI've noticed in recent months that the mainstream media really have started to report in a very reactive manner.. They are always reacting to news which have already been published in alternative media...especially those from The Online Citizen and Temasek Review; I feel that this is the result of the continuous mass migration of readers to alternative media and no longer placing their trust in the mainstream media, hence "forcing their hands"...
Now that even our "mainstream" politician PM Lee is changing his stance and tact to the same ones as those of our opposition parties at the recent "Perspectives Forum", saying stuff previously unheard of in the PAP camp like - “Our own population is growing slowly, and we cannot indefinitely expand our workforce by importing more and more workers from abroad.” - I can finally sense the earth beneath Singapore's political scene shifting.
Damn...I have been saying this to my friends nearly 2 years ago when I first heard of PAP's intention to ramp population up to 6.5 million in our country.. Singapore cannot think she is Canada. Immigrating our way to GDP growth targets is such a juvenile and simple-minded strategy that I cannot for the life of me understand how it is possible these scholarly politicians could have not realized. I've also said to my friends before...hey, look, the Japanese and Germans will always be renowned for their automobiles, the Swiss for their watches (and recently Ricola sweets =P ), the Finnish for Nokia phones and Swedish for Ericsson phones and Volvo and Saab cars...heck even the Belgians for their chocolates - but what do we have? You might say, hey, look we were just a fishing village 50 yrs ago ok? Well I have news for you. Of the four "Asian dragons", the South Koreans now have Hyundai and Kia brands, the Taiwanese have successfully moved on from Original-Equipment-Manufacturing (OEM) days to becoming Own-Design-Manufacturers (ODM) and even more recently Own-Brand-Manufacturers (OBM) now..that's where we get brands like ASUS laptops, HTC phones...as for Hongkong, it is difficult to compare because of their peculiar proximity to China serving as its hinterland.
There are many more things Singapore could have established itself as, if there were better ideas coming out of our leadership. Ideas are free. But because the political scene has been stifled, and many industries are often semi-nationalized through Government-linked Corporates, we have sat on our bloody laurels themed after low-cost manufacturing and low-tax banking industry for waaay too long. What did we do when low-cost textile manufacturers shifted away to Shenzen in the late 80s and early 90s? We went to pursue low-cost manufacturing in other product areas...
It doesn't take a scholar to devise such simplistic economical cures. All it takes is some political competition for better ideas to start flowing...
What could we have been without PAP hovering over the nation as the one and only almighty power? We could be still a fishing village no doubt, but maybe today Singapore would be known the world over for being the best at high-tech fish-farming for example. We need to stop with the "le-long! le-long! cheap! cheap!" economic mindset of the past 50 years and play catch up with the rest of the world now. We need to start thinking more socialistic for the good of the poorer citizens and we need to start thinking more happiness and less dollars and cents. We need to have less speculation, more real growth, less social unfairness, less media policing, more critical thinking in school. We need to re-do so many things around here! It is long overdue and I am glad now any Singaporean with a brain and an internet-connection can have a voice to be heard!~
TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION - TRACY CHAPMAN
Don't you know you're talking about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Don't you know they're talking about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
Don't you know you're talking about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Poor people are gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people are gonna rise up
And take what's theirs
Don't you know you better run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run
Oh I said you better run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talking about a revolution
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talking about a revolution oh no
Talking about a revolution oh no
While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
Don't you know you're talking about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
And finally the tables are starting to turn
Talking about a revolution
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talking about a revolution oh no
Talking about a revolution oh no
Talking about a revolution oh no
I've just read the our "dear" President Nathan has just rejected the appeal for clemency on young Malaysian, Yong Vui Kong's death sentence.
If as a nation, Singapore's government can work with drug producing countries like Burma and infamous drug lords such as Lo Hsing Han and Steven Law, why is it that we cannot show just a bit of clemency for their lowly runners? Why shoot the messenger?
Singapore is as pretentious as a country gets.
For more info, read this, this and this.
Life is exactly like trading;
It's full of ups and downs.
The only certainty is uncertainty.
You'll never know where you'll end up eventually.
You can do nothing and pray for the best.
Or you can do all that you can, not knowing if it will truly make a difference in the end.
Blind Melon - Change
...we all need to some day...
Lyrics
I dont feel the suns comin out today
...we all need to some day...
Lyrics
I dont feel the suns comin out today
Its staying in, its gonna find another way.
As I sit here in this misery, I dontThink Ill ever see the sun from here.
And oh as I fade away,
Theyll all look at me and say,
and theyll say,
Hey look at him! Ill never live that way.
But thats okay
Theyre just afraid to change.
When you feel your life aint worth living
Youve got to stand up and
Take a look around you then a look way up to the sky.
And when your deepest thoughts are broken,
Keep on dreaming boy,
cause when you stop dreamin its time to die.
And as we all play parts of tomorrow,
Some ways will work and other ways well play.
But I know we all cant stay here forever,
So I want to write my words on the face of today.
And then theyll paint it
And oh as I fade away,
Theyll all look at me and theyll say,
Hey look at him and where he is these days.
When life is hard, you have to change.