This entry in a textbook (supposedly named ATLAS - but nobody seems to know who is the publisher and where exactly is this book being used) has caused an uproar because of the offensive comment that 'Malays are generally the poorest group." A quick glance at comments left by angry Singaporeans in various websites reveals that in addition to the totally unnecessary comment about the Malay's economic condition (even if it can be supported by actual facts and statistics, as some people insisted), something else in that little bit of description has caught the attention of many Singaporeans. "the newer Mandarin-speakers are now well integrated". Every comment which referred to this line assumes that the 'newer Mandarin-speakers' refer to the PRC immigrants in recent years, and responded in disbelief that anyone could suggest that they are well integrated. 

The description is extremely misleading, but I am almost confident that the textbook wasn't referring to the PRC immigrants, but the Chinese immigrants who came to Singapore after the British founded modern Singapore (i.e. the forefathers of the vast majority of Singaporean Chinese). I say this because these 'newer Mandarin-speakers' are differentiated from the 'English-speaking Straits Chinese' who are obviously the Chinese who have assimilated into Southeast Asia long before (i.e. the Peranakans), hence it cannot be referring to the recent PRC immigrants. 

Why do I say that the description is misleading? Because many of these early immigrants are NOT 'Mandarin-speakers' - having come from the southern parts of China before Mandarin Chinese was established as the lingua franca when PRC was formally instilled as a country in 1949. The vast majority of these Chinese (my grandfather's generation) spoke little to no Mandarin. A very poorly written description indeed for what is supposed to be a textbook. 

But I am also alarmed at how the people who thought that the 'Mandarin-speakers' referred to the PRCs have such poor understanding of our country's history, and are so unacquainted with the idea of 'English-speaking Straits Chinese' versus the 'newer Chinese (NON-MANDARIN) immigrants'. We are a sad nation indeed.  

My raid team is no more

I really don't want my blog to degenerate into one where I just post my backpacking pictures, despite the fact that I have a backlog of travel photographs that cry out to be put on my blog because I have not been updating regularly. So, today I shall risk putting things out of chronological order and write about something else. I hope nobody feels disturbed at this lack of continuity.

I have been raiding in WoW for as long as I can remember (actually, only since about 2007). I found the perfect guild for myself in 2011, a primarily Singaporean guild (already not exclusively so) with rules and directions that are in alignment with my own. I had the best time raiding through Firelands and Dragon Soul, and tried heroic raiding for the first time. Unfortunately, by the time Mists of Pandaria come around I will be in London, and the time-difference between London and Singapore, together with my post-graduate classes schedule, prevent me from raiding with them anymore. I tried finding another raid team - but most of them suck, especially if you are raiding on an Oceanic server at European times. I had to resign to the fate that I will not be raiding properly for Mists of Pandaria, until one of the guild leaders told me that the guild is stating a new team which will be raiding on weekends. That would be perfect for me, since I have no lessons on weekends and I can wake up at unearthly hours just to raid at Singapore time.

Most people see WoW raiding as some geekish, otaku-like activity, but they have no idea how challenging (and social) it is to form a good raid team. As a council teacher I can see the parallels between council and raiding (and indeed any kind of activity that requires teamwork, commitment, leadership and strive for excellence). If I could I would make all the councillors raid on WoW as part of their leadership training. Teamwork is ultimate in raiding - that is the whole idea of bringing together 10/25/40 people to down a raid boss - precisely because there is no way you can down the boss on your own. Expertise and knowledge is essential - you don't down a boss by haphazardly flinging your spells at him. Each person in the raid has to perform their specific roles, and yet be flexible enough to react on the fly when something goes wrong. Different bosses require different strategies, and the strategy which works for one group might not work with another depending on the raid composition and skill level of your team. The raid leader needs to know the fight inside-out, and also the strength and weaknesses of the players, unless he is prepared to wipe 50 times on a boss for the whole night and end up with no loot. There is human resource management - you need to deploy your people accordingly. There is conflict management - how are you going to convince 25 other skilled players that your strategy is going to work and they should listen to you and not try something funny. There is lots of drama - we are all busy people with limited time on our hands, and yet we want to see new content, down challenging bosses, and get fat lewt (loot). You want commitment from your team - a raid is not going to get very far if people don't show up on time or turn up unprepared. You want effort from your team - where everyone make sure their gear/ gems/ enchants are in tip-top condition, where everyone puts out the maximum amount of dps/healing that they can, etc. And conversely the team wants reward - if the raid makes unsatisfactory progress or a player deems it to be a waste of his precious time, he can find another guild with a more competent leader. And when everyone in the team has different commitment levels, objectives and priorities, holding a team together becomes a real challenge for the raid leader.

And there is plenty of drama in our team. The raid leader is the girlfriend of our tank (sigh, any kind of romantic relationship spells disaster in a professional team when people don't know how to act professionally). Most of the people in the team has little serious raiding experience and it seems like I was the only one with heroic raiding background. The atmosphere of the team is also too casual for my own liking - it was a valuable experience for myself as well - Having been a fairly serious raider all along, what I have assumed all along to be basic expectations from raid members turn out to be something which they consider to be excessively stringent -.- Well since I am not the raid leader I can only go along with whatever she decided (I soon realize she seldom decides on anything) while I continue to subtly work my influence in the group haha.

The first crisis came when we were stuck on Horridon. And the cause for our lack of progress was very apparent - a dps monk who SUCKS. I mean really SUCK. I can put out more dps than him as a healer. On top of that, he DOES NOT RESPOND to feedback. He doesn't talk on vent, he doesn't type anything in raid chat (except for the occasional OK), he doesn't react when we ask him if he understood the fight. The whole idea of the Horridon fight is that we need to control the adds to prevent them from overwhelming us, and only take out the boss towards the end - but he would be on the boss from the start to the end despite whatever we have said. To me - he has to be kicked out of the team, as simple as that. If he puts in the effort to learn and improve, then I might give him a chance, but he freaking hell does not even respond to whatever we say. The raid leader and the tank were soft-hearted - but to me, I am not going to spend week after week wiping on Horridon just because some idiot refuses to co-operate. And if this goes on pretty soon nobody wants to raid with this team anymore. The problem kind of solved itself when the monk decides to quit raiding (NO I did not force him. He couldn't have known that I was rolling my eyes in front of my laptop everytime he does something wrong). We found someone new (and better) and moved on.

The second crisis came when I realized that people were not putting on their best enchants and gems on their gear! Two years ago this would have been common respect and courtesy for the rest of your team mates. I come to a raid as prepared as I can be to give my best - because I don't want to waste other people's time when we wipe. And if you are having trouble getting the stuff, the guild is ever ready to help with gold, crafting gear, cutting gems, selling you cheap enchants etc. Imagine my wrath when I realize one of the healers uses the best enchant for his dps weapon, but just a mediocre enchant for his healing weapon. And that our tank uses a cheap gem because he is too cheapskate to fork out the gold. This kind of behaviour would result in an immediate warning from the guild leader, and if you don't listen, you will be replaced. But gosh our own raid co-leader is doing it. And worst of all, they question a pug (pick-up-group, gamer's lingo for someone you 'picked up', i.e. not a regular team member, when you are short of people) and ridiculed him when he was not fully enchanted. Double standards!

I asked point-blank whether we are going to enforce this as a basic requirement, and it was a shock to me that some of them do not consider it to be a basic requirement. Fine, I said, then don't blame me when I don't reforge/enchant/gem correctly when I get a new piece of loot. And then about a month later, I realized that our tank (who is a pally) got the legendary cloak for his monk toon before his pally toon! The legendary cloak is a painstaking investment - one that only comes after months of grinding. The fact that he spends more effort on his alt to get the cloak just reeks of selfishness. You are making your team mates work harder in order to cover your ass - for the simple reason that you would rather keep the cloak for another character that you are playing. How do you expect me to give my best when the tank is doing this and the raid leader condones it? (to be continued ...)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

After my Scandinavian trip, I did whatever preparation I could for my dissertation, knowing very well that I will be missing for another 2.5 weeks in August - this time to the Balkans. I did wonder whether spending another 2.5 weeks travelling on top of the 2 weeks in Scandinavia was a wise decision, and me being me, despite whatever promises I made to finish as much of my dissertation as I could before I go off again, in all honesty I accomplished very little before the trip. Heck it, I told myself. It's the Balkans. With the colourful culture and sad history. And I am going to countries which most people cannot even pinpoint on the map (Neither can I before planning for the trip). The boost to my street cred is so enticing that I just cannot resist.

            And so I find myself in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Once part of the Venetian empire (hey, my favourite civilization now in Civ 5!). I have heard so much about Dubrovnik being the ultimate tourist spot in summer, where northern Europeans and Australians flock to to get their share of the sun, island hopping along the Adriatic Sea. That was all true. Each day numerous boats and ships of various sizes dump their tourists onto Dubrovnik. The old town part of Dubrovnik is choked full of tourists, both day and night. But that still does not hide the fact that Dubrovnik is a beautiful place. The uniformity as a result of the mud-coloured bricks used throughout the city, beautifully preserved buildings that still evokes the typical Venetian coastal city, and of course the most famous of it all, the City Walls of Dubrovnik.

         Unless you don't mind splurging exorbitant prices for your accommodation, you are likely to be staying far away from the Old City. I walked 30 minutes into the Old City every morning, a part of it being uphill. And the summer heat in Dubrovnik is enough to put any Singaporean to shame. My T-shirt was totally soaked with sweat and I changed them like thrice a day. Climbing and walking along the walls was a real challenge in the heat. (A complete round takes more than an hour). But the scenery is simply amazing, and my favourite photo is the last one up there. 

          After seeing Dubrovnik, I regretted not setting aside time for Split and Zagreb. But then for this trip Dubrovnik was really just a convenient place for me to fly into, my welcome mat into the veiled mysteries of the Balkan Peninsula. And so, I only allocated one day in Dubrovnik before I met up with the rest of my Road Trip fellow travellers, ready to visit the Southeastern  part of Europe, which has been so well-hidden away until recent history ...

The one with an inadequate introduction

The problem with not updating your blog regularly is that you need to do a fast-forward style recap of your life to keep up with some sense of continuity in the fragmented virtual reality that is your blog. Not that there is any need to do so, except for the tiny voice in your head which gnaws at your conscience every now and then.

        So, the last time I blogged was three days before I flew to Scandinavia. Wow, a lot has happened between then and now. Firstly, the Scandinavia trip itself of course. It was nice to see a part of Europe that has not been part of mainstream Western European culture (which bores me to tears that until now I cannot find the motivation to visit Italy, Germany or Spain - much to the disbelief of others when they know how much of Europe I've travelled to). Helsinki, disarmingly modest for a modern capital when you first arrive, exudes a certain charm which is not duplicatable in a big city. Unfortunately the amount of time I have as a masters student who have not finished his dissertation does not permit me to travel to the other areas of Finland, and I so want to see what Finland has to offer outside of Helsinki.

        The overnight cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm was, surprisingly, a major highlight of this trip. I was of course rolling my eyes when I first saw TWO overnight cruises on the itinerary. I relented when I realized that even locals do it in order to make full use of the duty-free shopping that is found on the ship. I caved and submitted when I walked onto the ship. Shops. Food. Entertainment. Console games corner. Massages. Sauna. All neatly packaged together in a gigantic steel container which transverses the Baltic Sea. And since the locals do it with such fervour (it is like grocery shopping for some of them, and many don't even bother to alight when they reach the other port and instead continue to make use of the facilities found on the ship, returning home the next night), I can do it too without an ounce of shame as a tourist.

        Stockholm is definitely the biggest and grandest of the Scandinavian capitals, not surprising given its superiority in history. The old town is simply jaw-dropping. And the modern side of the town fits into the capital with such harmony. And then there is VASA - a shrine to the 17th century warship which sunk on the same day it left the Stockholm harbour, not even out in the sea, marvellously preserved as a result of the unique saline conditions of the brackish water.

        Copenhagen seems disappointingly plain after Stockholm, but that only lasts for a grand total of thirty minutes until you find yourself at the port area. Upon seeing the sails and boats impeccably lined up against the straight canals of the wharf, the fact that you are in a city which was once ruled by the Vikings dawned upon you.

And Copenhagen has lots of interesting bits thrown in as well. Tivoli Gardens, a retro theme park (or more accurately, a theme park built a long time ago and never renovated) , which reminds me a great deal of Teachers' Day planning with the 35th. Christiania, a neighbourhood in Copenhagen which rules themselves, and has become and enclave for bohemians, artists, and other people who feel that they do not fit into mainstream society.

The overnight cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo was a big disappointment. I blame the first cruise for raising my expectations so high that any other cruise was sure to disappoint. Suffice to say that I spent most of the time in my cabin sleeping and reading. Oslo itself didn't do much for me either. Having spent most of its history being part of Denmark, there is very little history or culture that it has accumulated for itself. The city hall (All Scandinavian cities seem to have these) is quite nice with its Communist-style mosaics though.

 

                 But then, what Norway is famous for is its fjords. The entire coastline of Norway is full of these inlets cut by the sea into mountain cliffs, forming a saw edge pattern if you examine the outline of the country on a map. I did a bit of hiking (and actually started to enjoy hiking - unbelievable!) and enjoyed the nature - and the cold breeze too! And it doesn't hurt that my hotel room is so comfy - there is a window right above the little alcove with the sofas and little table - allowing sunlight to shine in directly above you - a wonderful spot for reading! I need something like this in my own house ...

                 And this is where I realized what started off as a 'fast-forward recap' of my life in the last six months became a long drawn, picture-filled report of my Scandinavian trip. Like a bad GP student who realized his time is up and the main body of his essay has failed to achieve what its ambitious introduction has promised, I am going to write a hasty conclusion which does not do justice to the wonders of this trip. I can't believe I actually went to the extent of dragging out 3000+ photos from my phone (not just from the trip) into my laptop when I realized my descriptive powers fall short of bringing out the true beauty of Scandinavia. (Actually my photo-taking powers fall short too, but what else can I do at this point in time? =p) 

TRSS (Translation Research Summer School)

It costs a few hundred pounds. I had to drag myself out of bed every morning and made my way to UCL (By the end of the week I was wondering how on earth did I survive 6 years teaching in a Singapore school).   It took up 2 weeks of my summer holidays when I can be travelling or working on my dissertation. But this Summer School is probably going to be the highlight of my year in London.

First of all, I get to meet Mona Baker and Theo Hermans. No, they are not rock musicians, but the translation studies academic circle is so small that you basically know almost all of them. Not forgetting to mention Hephzibah Israel and Kathryn Batchelor, who I have never heard of before this program, but they blow my mind away all the same. The ease with which they explain and present sophisticated ideas and theories is so awe-inspiring.

And of course you get to meet fellow translation researchers from all over the world - Finland, Argentina, Mexico, Libya, Nigeria, Ukraine (of course there are more, but these are the more exotic ones haha). When you belong to a particular institution and you only talk to fellow classmates who all attend the same classes from the same few lecturers, sooner or later your perspectives become limited. This is where this summer school helped tremendously, listening to all the different issues which people from various language pairs and research interests are dabbling in. I certainly got a few inspirations for my dissertation and also my PhD research proposal, and I regret to say that they have provided my impetus and suggestion than my supervisor  (who is MIA and nobody knows what happened to him) ever did.

I have fewer than three months in London now, and out of which I will spend one month or even more travelling. There are so many places to visit and things to do, stuff which I have put off indefinitely, telling myself that I am living in London for one whole year and there was no rush. Clearly I cannot afford to do all of these things now and I need to be more selective. And I have not typed a single word for my 20,000 word dissertation, although I do have a drawer full of research articles and readings at various states of completion.

Flying off to Scandinavia in three days time! Wanderlust which I cannot restrain.

There is a post on FB about how a student, when asked in an exam to state a similarity between a bull and a lion after observing their pictures, was marked wrong when she answered that they are both mammals. The reasoning was that the question explicitly tests observation skills and the students are supposed to infer based on the picture and not based on their own general knowledge. Of course, angry parents denounced the question and expectedly people began commenting vociferously about the inflexible school system which we have in Singapore.

To me, the root of the problem is that it is difficult to state explicitly in the instructions what you want, especially when it is a question targetted at P3 students. The question is flawed, certainly, although I am not sure what is a better way to set the question given what the setter wants to test. What amused me more, though, was the insistence that this is a manifestation of our inflexible education system.

Examinations are necessarily inflexible. They are meant to be fair, impartial methods of assessment, where the same marks will be awarded to a particular answer regardless of who the marker is. Examinations have a place in any education system, and having inflexible examinations does not necessarily entail having an inflexible education system.  The problem is when the education system is so centred around examinations at the expense of other assessment methods, or even worse, at the expense of teaching and learning. That should be what we are concerned about, and not over particular questions in examinations, which are just there to help a teacher assess how much a student has learnt.

Far too often, the criticism goes on to comment about how our inflexible school system results in students who are not creative and that teachers do not teach students how to be creative. My first response to that would be: I am not sure if creativity can be taught and it can only be, at best, nurtured by allowing opportunities. My second response would be: I am not sure if Singaporean students are ready for creativity and less examination-centred education system. Just look at how PW turned out. To most Singaporeans, creativity is just a convenient excuse which they use whenever they are unhappy with the education system. Having a more tolerant and less rigid marking scheme does not really help to nurture creativity.  "GP teachers force us to write in a certain way! This inhibits my creativity!" I have heard this accusation far too often. All I can say is - creativity does not mean writing in any way that you deem fit. Academic writing has certain requirements which scholars and researchers all over the world adhere to, and for good reason. Writing a rambling, disorganised, irrelevant and poorly expressed essay is not being creative - it is simply an ineffective way of writing.

Another FB comment which caught my eye was this. "When I was in primary school, I wrote 'My age is nine years old' in a composition and my English teacher marked me wrong, crossing out my sentence in red and writing above it 'I am nine years old.' The English HOD of another school said that there was nothing wrong with my original sentence. My English teacher was just too rigid and inflexible."

Yes, there might be nothing grammatically wrong with "My age is nine years old", but I cannot imagine any circumstance where a native English speaker would use this sentence. Even if I were to ask you "What is your age?", it is very unlikely that the answer would be "My age is X years old." It is an unnatural construction which signals prominently the fact that the speaker is really not very good at using English naturally. It would be irresponsible of the English not to point this out to the student. Language learning is far more than not making grammatical errors and expressing meaning accurately, a concept which seems to have eluded the English HOD and the person who posted this comment.

Sitting in front of the counter in Mekong, my favourite Southeast Asian takeaway, waiting for my food to be ready. A group of three walked in and started ordering their food, three feet away from me.

"Hey, what's that?" one of them pointed to my pipa bag lying against the counter. It was one day before SOAS Music Day and I was lugging the pipa from SOAS home to practice.

"Oh, it's a pipa - erm ... a Chinese traditional musical instrument".

"Oooh show us what it is like!" The other two guys were also looking at my direction now.

I unzipped the top of the bag - exposing the carved head of the pipa with its unmistakably Oriental design.

"Shit, how cool is this?" the first guy commented to his friends. "Is it very old?"

"Hmmm.... the instrument has a long history - but this particular instrument is probably not that old"

"Is it made by hand?"

"Erm .... maybe the carving and the finishing? But most of it is probably machine made and mass produced." I feel like I am disappointing them by pointing out that the instrument is not a handmade relic from some ancient Chinese dynasty.

"Why don't you play us something?"

I hesitated.

"Come on! Show us!"

I decided I cannot afford to disappoint them further - so I took out the whole pipa and played a verse, without bothering to put on the artificial nails which will probably take me a good ten minutes. Dance of the Yi people - with its characteristic sliding notes evoking the Orient.

"Shit, how cool is this?!" the guy repeated.

"Ah - I recognise the sound. It sounds very Chinese or Japanese."

I smiled. The Vietnamese girl who took our orders has reappeared from the kitchen, realizing that there was a mini-recital happening in her small little takeaway shop.

"This is traditional music... yes? I am Italian. We love and respect our tradition too."

Our food orders are ready. I started to put the instrument back into its bag.

"Your playing was great - good luck and cheers!" The three of them smiled broadly at me before they collected their food and left the little shop.

Music is a wonderful way to connect with people. Much of my social life in London revolves around the SOAS Thai Music Society, the Silk and Bamboo Ensemble, and the community orchestra at St. Silas Church. In fact, many of my friends were musicians who had played and made music together with me in some point of my life, and I have joined more musical groups than I can count. Sadly my last few years working as a teacher prevents me from taking part in music as actively as I would have liked. I am sure it will not stay this way after I go back to Singapore.

I was wrong in my earlier post entitled "Nothing is more SOAS than this" - THIS is even more SOAS!!

Last month I talked about the disastrous picture, on exhibition in the SOAS Library, which was accused of being ethnocentric and conforming to Western exploitative view of coloured people. The whole incident became even more dramatic and began to caught the media's attention. And here you are - three SOAS undergraduates decided to show everyone what SOAS is about by putting up their own satirical response (taken at the SOAS rooftop Japanese garden before being photoshopped). They win my undying admiration.

I am extremely proud that I am a SOASian. It is sliding down the university ranking charts. It is struggling to attract the brightest talents who make a beeline for Oxford and Cambridge. Its administration is one of the worst I have ever encountered. There are so many occasions where you will roll your eyes at the overwhelming stupidity of some people. But I am proud of the beliefs that we stand for and the shared interest and common belief that we hold in this special institution (although our views can be disparate and vary extremely). Maybe this sheds some light on why I am not particularly proud about Singapore (see previous post).

Can Singaporeans be as patriotic as the Malaysians?

My observation that Malaysians are exceedingly patriotic started way back in 2000 - my first year in NUS.

In Eusoff Hall, FASS and NUS Chinese Orchestra, there are many Chinese Malaysians. Why are there studying in NUS? Because they cannot get a place in their universities as a result of the pro-Malay Bumiputera policies in Malaysia. Are they upset with their country that they are being treated as second-class citizens and have to leave their hometowns to study in a foreign country? Not at all. I couldn't believe it. The Singaporeans who cannot get into local universities and have to resort to studying elsewhere would most probably be whining and complaining and blaming the government , despite what appears to be a purely meritocratic system with fair (well, as fair as can be) competition.

It is impossible not to be touched by what transpired during the elections period in Malaysia. Malaysians all over the world urging their fellow countrymen to return to Malaysia to vote. Malays, Chinese, Indians standing together to denounce racial politics played by the ruling government. The disappointment and desperation when the results were not what the people wanted. Malaysians from Singapore, Taiwan and Ireland (probably a lot more other places just that I am not aware of) showing their solidarity and support. Of course, there are irrational ramblings and insensible outbursts here and there, but from the many videos, pictures and stories found on the social media, it is difficult not to be moved by the heartfelt emotions that Malaysians have for their country.

I have always found Singaporean politics a disgrace. Despite the supposed "political awakening" in GE 2012, most of what transpired boils down to the same old thing - MONEY, JOBS, STANDARD OF LIVING. Every single issue under discussion leads back to this. Population growth and birth rate? In order to fuel our labour market. Influx of foreigners? Despite some feeble attempts to disguise this as a "our sociocultural fabric faces increasing tension" narrative, it is still largely a "they are taking over our jobs" argument. Democracy? Human rights? Ideals for a nation? Nah, Singaporeans have no time for such abstract notions.

I am not saying that such pragmatic concerns are not important. To a large extent I am able to be concerned about such pragmatically meaningless issues precisely because I am reasonably well-to-do and do not prioritize monetary issues. But one would expect that as Singaporeans become increasingly affluent, we would start to be more attuned about less worldly issues. As a result, the elections speeches are largely about housing estate upgrading.

I declare myself to be an unpatriotic Singaporean. There is very little about Singapore that I am proud of. Yes, my family is here, my friends are here, my memories are here, and life is a lot more convenient for me in Singapore because I am a citizen of this country. But this would be true no matter which country I happen to be born in? I served National Service, and think back fondly about the times through thick and thin with my platoon mates, but I will never bluff myself that I am defending Singapore. Yes, I know we have come a long way - we are economically advanced and politically stable, but unfortunately these are not things that I value as much. Other than this, what else do we have?

I do want to love my country. And honestly after teaching GP for six years, I have increasingly appreciated what our country has achieved as I became more aware of what other countries were unable to achieve. However, if one day Singapore is unable to sustain its economic progress (which in inevitable as our economy matures), can Singaporeans still find a reason to love Singapore? What is it about Malaysia that make Malaysians love their country so much, despite the blatant corruption, incompetent leadership and mediocre economic performance?

Is Singapore the most boring place to travel in Southeast Asia?

Scores of angry Singaporeans posting this on FB and rebutting the writer's comments about how Singapore is the most boring country to travel to. The comments page at the article itself is also full of incensed Singaporeans calling out the writer for her biasedness and over-generalisation.
http://voices.yahoo.com/five-reasons-not-travel-singapore-south-6691622.html?com=3&cat=16

What intrigues me was that the plus points of Singapore, which many Singaporeans hastened to enumerate in their defense of their beloved homeland, might be applicable if I were living in Singapore, but mean very little to me if I was a tourist. Cleanliness, safety, law and order, yes yes, but the chances of me being mugged or robbed or infected with a deadly virus is low when I am just visiting a city for a couple of days. And honestly, the sense of superiority (which I'm the first to admit that I used to have) that Singapore is better than Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta or Bangkok which most Singaporeans seem to have rears its ugly head. There is nothing wrong with feeling proud about the city which you live in, but to continue to think that these other cities are capitals of strife and pestilence is sheer ignorance.

The most common rebuttal I have seen is that the writer came to her conclusion after only spending two days in Singapore. I don't think that is a convincing rebuttal - there are many cities which I will dismiss entirely just by reading a tourist guidebook or spending half a day in. Come on, I am most likely to spend my first half of the day at the most important you-cannot-miss-this attraction, and if the best that the place can offer fails to satisfy me, what hope is there that I will change my mind after staying there for a longer period of time? And if I were to imagine that I am a tourist visiting Singapore, the country would fall exactly into this category. Casino? Theme Park? Sentosa? Zoo? Night Safari? (and I LOVE zoos). We are constantly fed with propaganda about how good our zoo and night safari are (and I think there are good grounds for these claims), but honestly I have been more impressed with some other zoos or aquariums which I have been to. While the landscape and the facilities might not be that impressive, at least the animals, which is the main highlight when you are visiting a zoo I think, look more alive. The animals in our zoo look kind of sad - grouchy and lethargic, not unlike Singaporeans ourselves!

This hardware vs software observation can be seen everywhere. Heavily plastered and manicured Chinatown, totally deprived of any sign of cultural vitality - in short, a tourist trap. Fictitious, exaggerated, over-dramatized stories of the Merlion - itself a fabrication of the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board (come to think of it the Merlion is the perfect embodiment of tourism in Singapore - pretentious and unauthentic). Yes, I am aware that tourism boards all over the world need to create some kind of narrative (often warping historical reality to tinge the imagination), but Singapore is overdoing it. You feel like a child tearing open the exciting packaging, only to be ultimately disappointed at what lies inside.

I am also amused when people suggest that tourists should visit the heartlands which will show them what real Singapore is about. What exactly do these people have in mind when they say this? Go to a HDB estate and see aunties fighting one another for taxis? Schoolchildren dragging their tired bodies to tuition classes? Be amazed at the sheltered walkways and upgraded lifts which the government has built to entice the voters?

Of course I don't agree with everything the writer has said. We are not devoid of an arts scene, although our arts scene is not exactly thriving (even among Singaporeans) and seem too entwined with commercialization. Much of this arts scene is contemporary, and while I am personally engaged with contemporary art, this also means that you can find similar kinds of art all over the world, since contemporary art tends to focus on universal themes which are not unique to a country, unlike the more traditional art forms which had time to entrench themselves in a geographical location. Our museums, both historical and art, are extremely boring. I do blame the government because of its policies towards the arts - the obsession with big names and blockbusters instead of grooming home-grown talents, and the single-minded obsession with maths and science in the education system.

Neither do I deny that the writer is writing from the stereotypical perspective that "An Asian country should be cheap, quaint and culturally different". But then, this is clearly what ang moh tourists are looking for - why would they come to Singapore if it is expensive and unable to offer an experience which is different from what they would have back home? To ogle at our tight kebaya-clad stewardesses and enjoy the in-game entertainment when they are onboard a 12-hour SIA flight?

I think she has a valid point - articulating what most tourists want and not get when they are in Singapore, and it will be good if we learn from what she has to say. We don't have to agree wholeheartedly or demean ourselves to patronize the tourists, but to dismiss her article entirely because of nationalistic pride is foolish, and making us just as biased and uncritical as what many Singaporeans claimed the writer to be.

Nothing gets more SOAS than this

No, this is not a picture from my private collection. This was a picture which was part of the exhibition that is currently in display in the SOAS library.

And in true SOAS fashion: someone posted this picture on the SOAS FB group, saying that if these have been white children it would have been a case of child pornography, but because they are black it is somehow permissible. And predictably people started adding their views - how this is an epitome of Orientalism - White people selectively portraying non-White people as savage, raw, sexual, the "other" etc - and SOAS grads with rose-tinted glasses bemoaning how the standards of SOAS have fallen and how current students are apathetic to something like this which would have caused an uproar back when SOAS was a reputable institution, etc etc.

I do love SOAS and the intellectual discussions, but sometimes I am tired of how extreme some of these views are and how everything has to be seen through  the post colonial lens of Orientalism and regarded as exploitation by the white people. I know I'll be publicly lynched for this - and this blog post will serve as evidence that I am no better than the white people imposing their ideologies on the world.

"Oh, Southeast Asian Studies - Vietnamese to be exact."

Back in those days where FASS students chose 3 subjects in our first year and then later major in 2 out of these 3, it is customary when you meet a fellow FASS student for the first time to inquire about what his subjects are. And when it is obvious that the two of you share one of these majors (let's say you are in the same lecture or tutorial for an advanced class which only majors of that subject take), the inquiry process becomes easier because you only have to ask what is the other subject that he is majoring in.

When my potential project mate (when you sit next to someone for the first tutorial of the term, there is a good chance that you will end up doing a project with him. The amount of strategy involved in getting into a good project group deserves a dedicated separate post) said the above to me, I could barely contain my horror. (I have become far better at containing my horror after teaching for six years) Southeast Asian Studies? Yes I know this department existed - I saw it in the faculty handbook - but you mean there are actually people who major in it? They are like, only marginally better than the South Asian Studies (a new department set up when I was in first year - and after four years I don't think I met anyone who was from South Asian studies)?

I am rather ashamed that I used to have such a patronizing view towards Southeast Asia. I suspect many Singaporeans share this mentality. From young, we have all heard relatives or friends telling us horror stories of the level of civility and the state of hygiene in our neighbouring countries. And finally when your parents bring you there for the first time you get to experience it for yourself. Interesting countries and cultures, for sure, for undeniably DIFFERENT from Singapore. And by different, we usually mean INFERIOR.

I started backpacking in 2005 - and it should come as no surprise to anyone who knew me that my first destination was Japan. Followed by China, UK(London, Stonehenge, Cambridge, Bath), France (more or less just Paris), more of Japan, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, more of Japan, Turkey, and then some more of Japan. The distance between your backpacking destination and your home is directly proportional to the amount of bragging rights and street cred that you get. My first (only?) backpacking buddy whom I charged headlong into Japan with was hopelessly obsessed with Southeast Asia - having done a number of YEP (Has this term been made totally oblivious by the term OCIP?) - having visited Myanmar and Laos (of course, Thailand and Vietnam too, without saying, but there is a significant difference in exotic level). I might have made some dismissive comments back then, something along the lines of - "Southeast Asia? Sure, when I am old and cannot tahan long plane rides anymore I will go travelling in Southeast Asia."

For some reason I cannot remember, I went to Cambodia with him in Dec 2009. The fact that the Angkor Wat, a UNESCO site,  is found within its confines, makes this a country deserving of consideration, even if I still wasn't particularly inclined towards Southeast Asia. I won't say that the Cambodia trip drastically transformed my view of Southeast Asia, but it certainly planted a seed in me, especially the fact that I knew next to nothing about how the Khmer Rouge (of course I have HEARD about it, I am a GP CHER you know. But it felt like something as mythical and enigmatic as the Southeast Asian Department in FASS in the year 2001) came about despite Cambodia being barely two hours away from Singapore.

And then I began to encounter more and more Southeast Asian Scholars. Of course 07S02 had many Malaysian and Indonesian scholars and it has never escaped me that they were relatively more well-informed than the Singaporean students. The influx of ASEAN scholars with the announcement of the new SAJC Hall, together with SSP/HSP classes and the greater number of 4H2 students, suddenly made the ASEAN students even more prominent. Then I taught 11S18, 11S17 and 12S18, and began to come into much closer contact with them, especially my 34th AHOF and the other Thai scholars. The seed planted in me during the Cambodian trip began to grow. And finally I made my way to Bangkok and Ayutthaya in Thailand, and then Hanoi, Halong and Sapa in Northern Vietnam.

Although I would love to proclaim that I am not as pragmatic-minded as my fellow countrymen, I have to admit that my choice of course for my Masters program was one which was underlined by such worldly concerns. I want to do something I am interested in (languages and cultures) but yet provides me with a decent opportunity to line my bank account. Hey, I was about to leave a stable well-paying job into an unknown universe fraught with uncertainty, don't judge me! On hindsight, I will definitely have taken a MA degree in Southeast Asian studies instead of Translation Studies (even though I do not regret doing this - it has been an eye-opening course which broadened my perspectives significantly too), but thankfully the fact that I am in an institution like SOAS allowed me to pursue my new found interest.

I audited classes in Southeast Asian Literature and Cultural Sociology. I got my hands on the reading list for the Postcolonial Southeast Asian Film classes which clashed with my compulsory Translation classes. I took Vietnamese at the Language Centre (Oh yes - there were enough students for the second part of the course to continue thankfully - starting next week!), continued my skype Thai lessons, and borrowed all kinds of books about Southeast Asia from the amazing library that SOAS has. And next week onwards I will have a real Cikgu teaching me Malay, and learning Chinese from me in return, both of which I am very excited about.

So what is it about Southeast Asia that has captured my undivided attention? That will be in another post, and hopefully this time it will not stay as a draft for more than a week. =p

与方块字的不解之缘

自中学毕业以后，就再也没有上过华文课， 也不再提笔写方块字了。曾经对汉语那么执著， 那么喜爱的我，竟然选择在高中不继续修读华文，而且整个改变过程一点都不扭捏， 从来不曾彷徨过，这一点回想起来还真有一点难以置信。 中学时期许久不见的朋友及同学，大概没有人会相信我不但在大学读的是英文的荣誉学位，甚至当了六年的英文老师（还可以昂然挺胸地说我是英文老师中的佼佼者，教的是令许多人止步的General Paper!) 。 这也称得上是曲折离奇的故事吧？

“春风雨化千秋业，浩气薪传圣母心。” 这么荡气回肠的一副对联，就挂在海星学府的大门。我是九三年开始在海星中学就读的，虽然当时华文的风气早已远不如从前，但我还是象搭上了最后一班列车似的，赶在华文风气还没完全没落之前，从学府里零零碎碎，点点滴滴不堪回首的记忆中，感受了一下华校 的气息。詹任存，苏君英，翁凉平老师当然功不可没，几位不曾放弃用方块字写作的学长及同学们的风范，也一直对我影响深远。高级华文成绩名列前茅固然不在话下，选修中华文学，在散文创作比赛中得奖数次，在百胜楼的书店里流连忘返，当时我确实认为，我这辈子应该是跟方块字脱离不了关系了。

“传薪阁”。淡初语言特选课程特别教室书卷味颇浓的名字，意外地竟无法对我产生任何作用。我记得当时还有着年少无知的血气方刚，觉得新加坡教育制度的中文水平太低，修读华文真的是一点意义也没有，深信即使不继续读下去，单靠我本身日常生活中与中文及中华文化的接触也就够了。 把华文放下以后，转眼就是十六年。这十六年里，当然偶尔还是会阅读中文书刊，但毕竟对中文还是逐渐生疏了。这期间我好像也不曾有过任何后悔或遗憾，尤其在圣初执教的时候，更是慢慢接受了许多新加坡人不会用中文的事实，久而久之也就习以为常。

十六年后又会选上翻译这门学科，可能的确我和方块字之间的情分未了。十六年前在文学课里学过的枯燥乏味的文学史，又以活灵活现的方式重新在我眼前上演。而我也没想到，我再一 次执著于遣词用字，再一次感叹于字里行间， 再一次沉醉于咬文嚼字，竟是在与炎黄子孙沾不上边的英国首都伦敦。

而这一次的重逢是意味着一段致死不渝的坚贞，还是暗示着另一次有缘无份的别离？我现在也说不准，但至少我会珍惜当下的久后重逢，细数当日被遗忘的情怀。

Halong Bay

Waiting for my night train to Sapa ... making use of the opportunity to write this entry.

Halong Bay was gorgeous. Despite my initial trepidation with signing up with a tour group, the group was actually pretty fun. There are a couple from Sydney, another couple from France, two Spanish friends travelling together, a group of 8 Irish students, and then (the only representatives from Asia) - a Taiwanese lady and me. There were two Japanese ladies on the bus journey to Halong with us, but they were on a day trip and joined a different group once we reached Halong City - much to my disappointment!

The Irish were rather boisterous and rude (but then it is probably because they are young college students rather than because they are Irish =p), but everyone else was great company. Of course everyone was sharing about their experiences in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, exchanging travel tips and recommending must-try-food. As usual, the Europeans couldn't understand why the Taiwanese lady or me are only travelling for 10 days and 7 days respectively ("So where are you going other than Vietnam? ... No? ... Flying back? ... Erm...I see...) while they are spending 2 - 4 weeks in the region.

Since touring Halong Bay largely involves sitting on the ship and getting various rocks pointed out to you, there was a lot of chatting involved. Just lying on the deck or on a reclining chair, enjoying the sun, the wind, the stars and the gorgeous view. It complete redefines what lepak means. Oh did some kayaking around the bay too (Canoeing  courses in Maris Stella prove to be so useful 17 years later). That and with all the trekking around the hills in the days to come means one thing - I exercise the most when I am backpacking in  another country lol.

Deafening car horns

I am no longer a teacher.

And I am in Hanoi right now. I am hungry and haven't eaten my dinner. But I feel obliged to type this post to fulfill my promise, even if it is to a monkey who will embrace his primitive roots in the jungles of Brunei soon.

My smartphone is too smart - keeps assuming I understand Vietnamese just because I am in Vietnam. The interface of my blog is all in Vietnamese now which does not help.

Well now that i am no longer a teacher and can actually talk about things outside of school - hopefully i will be able to revive this blog successfully. Hopefully this Hanoi trip can be a good start!

There are certainly a lot more Chinese and Koreans in Japan now. The main tourist areas commonly provide help in japanese, english, chinese and korean. Lots of adverts for chinese schools n lessons. But i am surprised that at the public bath i was at - there are more Chinese than Japanese.

And they are conspicious. Talking blatantly and loudly. Squeezing water from their towels on the floor directly. Making inappropriate jokes. Basically doing everything that will make a local squeal. Sure enough a japanese man near me was muttering under his breath and showing his disapproval.

I was so scared that they will talk to me in Chinese- forcing me to reply and give the game away. And the locals will then think i am an equally hopeless foreigner and associate me with them. Luckily they did not.

I did notice a Chinese speaking man who was also annoyed by these ill behaved Chinese. Turned out that he was Taiwanese lol. And then the taiwanese and the singaporean start talking to each other- and the japanese are probably none the wiser and think we are the same group as the Chinese. Ah the irony.

In japan!!

Here is something for someone who faithfully checks my blog even though i have not updated in months. And this poor person doesnt have whatsapp so i cannot talk to him with my free wifi in the hostel.

Past two days was more or less just orientating David to kyoto and tokyo - not the most exciting thing since i have been there so many times. Although dipping into an outdoor hot spring in the cold winter night spells SHIOK despite being surrounded by naked japanese men - both young and old, attractive and not. Of course onsens play an important part in any japan trip that i am involved in - and the one in my hotel in kyoto is just a boring plain one compared to the more exotic ones that i will be going to in the next few days, but still.

Now i am in fukuoka - kyushu, southern most of the four main islands, closer to Seoul than Tokyo, the starting point of my kyushu trip. And thanks to the easy access to free wifi nowadays i am spending more time on my ipad than my psp which was such a faithful companion on earlier trips. Which is also why i can blog about this on my ipad instead of fighting with other ppl at the hostel internet terminals or hunting down internet cafes. I am a digital

Age traveller!

For the longest time I have resisted updating my blog. My life is boring. The fact that I am stuck in a job with irregular working hours which forces me to give up many things I wanted makes me feel sad. If I blog, and all I can blog about is school and teaching, that only makes this fact all the more apparent in my face, which makes me even sadder.

So, yes, my life is a blank in my blog for the past few years. I make almost no mention of SAJC Student Council even though my life has largely revolved around it for the past 4 years. As much as I try to get out of it (and telling half the world..only to end up embarrassing myself in the end when I failed), I am still here. (when other newer teachers have come and gone)

Whatever it is ... probably will TRY to start blogging regularly from now on. Not necessarily for the two pesky brats, but for myself.

Sitting at the consultation benches waiting for students to print their InR...

JC2 boy sitting at the next bench bugging his maths tutor.

" Can you explain the integration by parts formula to me?"

( A levels Maths Paper 1 starts in 1 hour time)

* look of shock on maths tutor's face.....and then a look of resignation *

Totally unbelievable /faceslap/

Worn out from WoW

For the first time, I start to feel a little (just a little) sick of WoW. Don't get me wrong, throwing lightning bolts in the face of humanity's greatest evil and harnessing the power of nature to spam heals on my comrades is still fun, but with my guild being more or less defunct, there is just too much queueing and waiting for groups to form for my liking. And there is a limit to the number of times I want to level a toon to Lvl 80.

Also, the crazy PW period (WRs! OP dry-runs! InRs! Marking! Standardising!) means that I have to cut down on how much I play. And to my surprise.....I can survive.....not playing WoW for one whole week. Hee hee. See! How strong am I! * proud *