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Tuesday, May 03, 2011
GE 2011 Ramblings I must say, as a first-time voter, I’m really excited at voting and also at the results, what with 82 out of 87 seats being contested.
Now, a lot has been said online, and in the papers. People my age have also taken a keen interest in politics, when the last time they’ve ever cared about politics was during Sec 3-4’s social studies lessons.
What I urge voters, of all ages, is to think this through carefully. Think, because the decision you make will have an impact beyond the next five years. Do not take the peace, the stability, and the prosperity for granted. Make a well-informed decision, about who best is able to implement policies to help you, your children, and your grandchildren.
I have plenty of time for people willing to talk about their political views, but those who allow themselves to be influenced by whatever’s been written on websites like The Online Citizen, The New Temasek Review and hardwarezone’s eat-shit-drink-sleep-wank. Every website out there has a fucking agenda. Whether it is pro-PAP, pro-WP or pro-stitute, display some ability to discern, and more importantly, make up your own mind.
One hot topic for this GE is NSP's Nicole Seah. First and foremost I respect Ms Seah for standing up for what she believes in, and for going into politics at such a young age. But no, she does not speak for all young people – certainly not for me. I don’t agree with most of her party’s points. Listing problems are one thing, but is that all? Shortening NS, slashing the defence budget, these are proposals I am firmly against. It’s one thing blogging about politics; it’s another being able to excel in it. There’s a reason why the venerable Arseblogger isn’t slated to replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, or why Iain Macintosh isn’t the next Brian Clough. Being able to write well or speak well about something doesn’t mean you’re cut out for the job itself.
What I want are experienced and able people to run my constituency and my country, whether it be in the form of education credentials, or their track record. Would anyone seriously think, for one second, that Ms Seah holds a drop of wax to SM Goh? Don’t fucking kid me, for the love of god. If she was, or still is, really interested in being an MP, spend at least the next few years learning the tricks of the trade, from worthy mentors, learn the intricacies of being a politician. Show the determination, and fundamentally, the knowledge and the wisdom required of a politician. So what if you’re a fiery speaker? Hitler was a fiery speaker, we all knew how that went don’t we?
Another common theme is to vote for the opposition because they can be your “voice” in the parliament. Let me just say that, as a well-developed adult at 22 years old, I don’t need anyone to be my voice. I am my own voice. I can speak well for myself. I can stand up for my beliefs. Call me naive, but if I ever have anything to clarify, I’ll queue dutifully during the Meet the People Sessions and seek queries from my MP. I don’t need any opposition MP to be my voice. I don’t need parliament speakers to be my voice. Young Singaporeans have been criticized for being politically apathetic, and I don’t see how letting someone else be our voice is going to change any of that.
Expanding further on the “voice”, I urge Singaporeans to think, if their concerns are, if I may, voice-worthy. It’s easy to slate the government for the rising prices, but prices are rising everywhere. Read up on the instability in the Middle East, and the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Further, as a free market our prices are easily affected by global events, and it doesn’t take a quantum physicist to figure the past few years have been tumultuous, to say the least. Sure I think the government has areas to improve in, but the real problem doesn’t lie in whether there are problems, because there will always be. The real problem is deciding who is best able to solve these problems.
Will the PAP really turn a blind eye to its people’s sufferings? Will they implement unpopular policies knowing full well that it will turn the people against them, and give the opposition the upper hand? Crucially, are our personal interests above our country’s interests on the global stage?
My stand is this: it is so easy to point out the mistakes the government has made – just get on any random taxi and ask the driver what he thinks of the “gah-men”. It says a lot that taxi-drivers say by and large the same thing as most of the opposition, listing problems after problems but not offering practical solutions. Sure some policies are questionable, but let’s not get carried away. Even the best minds make mistakes.
For me, I still have faith in the current ruling party. I have seen no evidence that suggests otherwise. Maybe if I take time to read up on the finer points of the CPF policy, maybe when I finally buy a house, maybe when a foreign worker vies with me for my dream job, maybe then, I can connect with some of the problems the opposition is throwing up relentlessly.
As for now, I have faith in the party that guided my country during periods of instability, during times when other countries have faltered and never recovered, and more importantly, have thus far shown me – and I have seen plenty of examples – that, if you work hard and stop whining, if you dig deep and push yourself, then you can be sure the path ahead will be not be as difficult as some make it out to be.
For everyone, there’re three questions I urge you to think through before making your choice.
1. What problems do you have with the government that has affected your life
drastically, or to a measurable extent?
2. Are these problems solvable, or, harsh as it may sound, are they a result of
your own attitude/actions?
3. If your problems are indeed out of your control, WHO do you think is best
equipped to solve them?
For me, these are the three questions I will keep in mind come May 7. Rallies, posters, newspaper articles aside, are all meant to persuade to a certain extent. Keep a clear mind, don’t be carried away by the emotions, or the crowd, and think this through carefully.
I will bring this to a close with two sayings which I feel, are pertinent to the current situation.
First,
If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
And more importantly,
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
-John F Kennedy Make a comment | Permalink Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Technology Rants If you know me, then you know I'm not one to mince my words so here goes one of those usual blog rants that have typified my blogging style since I first created an account on blogger. Which reminds me - what am I doing on blogdrive? Another can of worms for another day. OK, admittedly I've been rather judgmental on As most of the people I follow are fellow students. And while it's become standard fare for SMU students to whine about their schedule, NTU students to whine about the PRCs in their school, and NUS students to whine about there being nothing to whine about, it gets under my skin when people call themselves "workaholics". First and foremost, studying doesn't really entail work. I know there's a "work" in schoolwork but so is there a "black" in Jack Black. And although I'm not quite sure what I'm driving at, my point is that you are not a workaholic just because you like to study, or study a lot. Studying is something we do to better ourselves, to ensure we are in a better position when finding a job - a job that allows us to do real work. Technically speaking studying is like eating a mushroom in And finally, I'd like to stress that I DO NOT think that the term "workaholic" has any positive connotation attached to it. I don't normally agree with Wikipedia, but in this case if Wikipedia was a guy I'd high five him, offer him my Chipster potato chips and some beer, for this: "Workaholism is not the same as working hard. Despite logging in an extraordinary amount of hours and sacrificing their health and loved ones for their jobs, workaholics are frequently ineffective employees." YEP. What gets under my skin most is that people can declare themselves workaholics yet seems so happy and merry about it. It'd be like someone going "HEY I'm addicted to pornography watch me go" or, in this time of unrest, "HEY I'm a terrorist. Boom!" and then expecting the world to credit them for their honesty. If you come out like that than expect to get battered. Which is exactly what I'm doing now. Ok next on the firing line, "reply to all"-ers. I'm sure you've experienced it before. Someone sends out a non-exclusive mass email and quickly, your inbox gets filled up by incessant replies of "OK", "Will Do", "I'll let you know after counting the number of T-Rex shaped poo my dog lets rip". Ok please. PLEASE stop doing that. Reply to all if it's a work email, if it requires correspondence with others, or if people really need to know your reply, otherwise their nipples will rot and Chuck Norris will apparate in front of them and roundhouse kick their necks. For Christ's sake nobody's really interested if you'd taken a piss before sending the reply. No one's going to get excited that you've read the latest notice about a new cleaning lady in the hostel, and you're certainly not getting a pat on the back and the latest Donnie Yen DVD for being the first to fucking reply. There's a reason why "reply" is above/on the left of "reply to all". There's a reason why I didn't send you the fucking email in the first place. And there's certainly a reason why the next time I see you I'd be tempted to perforate your face. And lastly, caps. I appreciate the dramatization effect that capital letters undoubtedly give. Stuff like "HOLY SHIT DONNIE YEN KICKED ASS" or " How irritating can it get when someone tweets 140 characters 20 times a day and caps half the time? It's makes me feel like putting their leg in a cement mixer, only instead of cement it is hot lava, so it cuts AND burns. See what I just did there? A useful three letter caps. Isn't that beautiful? Almost everything is good in moderation, other than Donnie Yen movies and Family Guy. Practice that and the world will be a better place. In sum, think before you say anything, think before you reply-to-all, and certainly think before you use upper-case like Amy Winehouse uses booze. Alright, I'm going to end with what how I always end these rants, however ironic it seems. PEACE. Make a comment | Permalink Monday, January 17, 2011
Thailand - Land of a thousand Touts OK, so I just got back from my second trip to Thailand.
While my first trip - to Phuket - was more of sightseeing and entertainment,
shopping was a central idea for this Bangkok
trip, and, I must say, the objectives were well met. The Thais are genuinely one of the most courteous people
I've ever met. The shopkeepers feel embarrassed when they can't give you a
discount, except for one auntie who stormed away after I asked for a discount
and in the process lost 200 baht which she’d otherwise have earned if she’d
just stood still. Their courtesy was epitomised by a young man I ran into at
Chatuchak. He seemed to be running for his life from a few men in black jackets
while dragging a large trolley full of books. Even then, he said sorry to
everyone he brushed past. Unfortunately one idiotic tourist knocked over his
trolley and the men caught up with him. Doesn’t really pay to be nice eh? As you can from the title of my entry, and with all due
respect in the world, I honestly believe the Smiles in "Land of a Thousand
Smiles" can be replaced by the word "Touts". Anything that
requires more than the flexing of your fingers can be used by touts. From
taxis, tuk-tuk, to sweets. Yes, sweets. The kind that you can find at the
counter of any half-decent shop in Singapore.
I seriously think some Thais have found a way to sell their armpit hair. 3. Roads There is a Chinese saying that likens the dangers of roads
to that of a tiger’s mouth. If that is the case than the roads in Thailand
can be compared to the mouth of a hippopotamus – most powerful bite force
according to Discovery Channel yo(and btw I can’t believe I typed hippopotamus
without needing spell-check hahahahahahaha). I thought I’ve seen the worst in Malaysia,
where the cars seem to have no brake pedals. Thailand
is so much worse. The cars weave in and out of different lanes – if you can
even call them lanes because no one gives a fuck about the lines – like ants
scurrying back to their nests. It’s unbelievable. If they had to signal for
every time they filtered I don’t think their car batteries can last more than a
month. But the best part is that it perfectly complements their
courtesy. You rarely hear anyone sounding the horn, unless in the direst of
situations. If you hear it then it’d probably also be the last thing you’d
hear. So in conclusion Thailand was pretty awesome. Minus the touts, that is. And also it was my first trip with Jo and to be honest, I think we’re both very good tour partners. Sleep is the last thing on our minds, we’re always ready to go, ready to explore, adventurous yet conscientious, and more importantly, punctual with a capital P. Make a comment | Permalink Thursday, January 06, 2011
EPL NEW YEAR ROUND-UP EPL NEW YEAR ROUND-UP And so, in the blink of an eye, the Premier League season has reached its halfway mark. Your name must be Zlejko Petrovic for you to deny that this is arguably the most intriguing season in recent years, with surprises popping out like Koi Cafes in estates along the North-South line. We've seen invincible Chelsea slump to relegation form, a poor United side topping the table, and Arsenal sitting in second spot despite losing five games before the turn of the year.  "fuck off." "no you fuck off" Adding to the drama are moneybags City, featuring an all-star cast including the likes of Anyways, here's my take on the best and worst of the EPL so far. Ali Dia Award for Worst Signing: Joe Cole  "sir could you drop this card so I can try back-heeling it?" Cole won this hands down thanks to his sheer rotten luck, the kind you get after walking under a ladder 10 times and seeing a panther in your neighborhood park while taking a midnight jog, after having supper at Block 85. There is no doubting his once-prodigious talent, but this man is plain unlucky. Signing for Liverpool was supposed to give his faltering career another kick-start but now it looks a worse decision than the 10 Japanese who volunteered to fight Ip Man thinking they can kick some Chinese butt. Cole's Liverpool career got off to the worst possible start when he was sent off on his debut against Arsenal. Since then, it was all downhill. He got injured, never recovered fully, and when he does play, proceeds on a one-man mission to break the record for Most Number of Back-heels Attempted In A Match by back-heeling the ball 90% of the time. Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson then went public and said it wasn't his idea to sign Cole. With West Ham declaring their interest in Cole, his career may have come full circle, only this time it's an ugly, crooked circle down by a petulant toddler with his feet after his mom refused to get him the latest Optimus Prime figurine. Andrey Arshavin Award for Inpsired Signing: Cheick Tiote  I can explain... It was much harder coming to a decision than the previous category, but in the end I have to give it to the ludicrously-named Cheick Tiote. Sure David Silva is making the league look ridiculously easy (check out THIS goal against Blackpool), Yaya Toure is showing just how good Barcelona's attack is by being City's first-choice attacking midfielder despite playing as a defensive midfielder in Spain, while Peter Odemwingie has affirmed the theory that black players with corn-rolls adapt quickest to the league(think Malouda, Pienaar). There's also the latest irritating Dutchman in the Box called van Nistelrooy der Vaart. That said, Tiote gets the nod ahead of the rest – a result of his effectiveness in a Newcastle side who'd otherwise be struggling without him. Signed for a measly 4.2m, the Ivorian has Robert Langdon's ability of being in the right place at the right time, while also perfecting Eboue's trademark not-my-fault look, enabling him to get away with incessant fouling – a skill essential to all defensive players whilst completely lost on Darren Fletcher. His performance against Chelsea was arguably the best one-man show I've seen against the Blues. He protected the back-four superbly, shackled the in-form, corn-rolled Malouda, and made Mikel and Ramires look like  probably a goal Yes, I'm an Arsenal fan, hence the award name, but if you think I'm wrong then you are either a Sp*rs fan or William Gallas. Every season Arsenal will have a player starting the season on fire for about ten games before he gets Shawcross-ed/Taylor-ed/Smith-ed. This time however, Nasri has defied all odds and stayed fit while firing on all cylinders. I don't think I've seen a player with such close control in Arsenal colours since Dennis Bergkamp – and that is quite high praise. Nasri plays like he has the ability to nutmeg the circle on Teletubby Po's head while simultaneously helping Granny Mcphee put a thread through the eye of a needle. His goals have been top drawer stuff, the type Van der Vaart can only dream of. It seems like he's finally living up to the "New Zidane" Worst Player: Paulo Ferreira  manny pacquiao minus all that facial hair Quite how this man continues to make more money in a year than I'll ever make in a lifetime is beyond me. Seriously, Paulo fucking Ferreira has got to be the worst Chelsea player ever, and that's including reserves-king Winston Bograde and Mr Two Games Mineiro. I bet opponents secretly cream in their pants whenever they find Ferreira's name on the teamsheet, the same way Bendtner's name does. I really don't know what qualities Ferreira possesses besides the ability to look like a Pilipino. This is the guy that actually allowed Nedum Onuoha to skin him like Lionel Messi. Finally, it says a lot that people will always remember him for doing this: Best Manager: Owen Coyle  Fat Kaka A manager signing for his former club always spells "nostalgia", which is usually followed by "amicable parting" or "sacking" or "wrong move". That's not really the case with Coyle, who managed to do the equivalent of ridding Ugly Betty of her braces by transforming Bolton into an attractive footballing side. This is a side that was managed by Sam Allardyce and Gary Megson, two Neanderthals who knows as much about football as It's not just Coyle's tactical acumen though. He's also managed to revitalize Johan "Fat Kaka" Elmander, while making Kevin Davies realize there's more to football than just heading. The likes of Stuart Holden and Mark Davies have also been undergone the Coyle Effect and are not looking better players than before. Worst Manager: Roy Hodgson  my face is pretty small isn't it There is the ridiculous Gerrard Houllier, who is still insisting Villa have "turned the corner", and the toad-like relegation-cursed Avram Grant, but Hodgson takes the cake for possessing two qualities my Just when Liverpool thought they've seen the worst following the departure of Rafa Benitez, Hodgson showed up. See, there is a big difference between working with a club like Fulham and one like Liverpool. Roy Hodgson at Liverpool is like a level 5 Pidgey finding itself up against Lt Surge's thunderbolt-equipped Raichu. It's super effective – for Raichu, that is.   siao liao To compound matters, Hodgson has been stirring controversy off it, from criticizing Benitez and slamming his own players, to taking a swipe at arguably the best set of supporters in the world. He has blamed everyone including the milkman, but failed to look at the man at the helm of it all – himself. Someone get this man a god damn mirror. Mike Ashley Award for Biggest Boo-boo: Mike Ashley  I THINK they hate me here He sacked Chris Hughton, the man who took over a Newcastle side in ruins and guided them straight back into the Premier League – and employed Alan Pardew, the man who is best known for, well, nothing. There's never been an easier occasion to use "enough said". Enough said. Make a comment | Permalink Sunday, October 03, 2010
I need to let go RIP Mrs Lee Kuan Yew I can't imagine the hurt that MM Lee feels, the sadness that will inevitably fill him in the coming weeks, months or even till his last breath. It was, like he said, "61 years of happiness". Condolences to the Lee family. This is so touching and, I know I sound ridiculous saying this, but I somehow can relate to him. MM Lee when asked about his wife last month: "My daughter fished out many old photographs for this piece she wrote in The Sunday Times and picked out a dozen or two dozen photographs from the digital copies which somebody had kept at Singapore Press Holdings. When I looked at the photographs, I thought how lucky I was. I had 61 years of happiness. "We've got to go some time. I'm not sure who's going first, whether she or me. So I told her, I've been looking at the marriage vows of the Christians: 'To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part.' I told her I would try and keep her company for as long as I could. She understood." Comment (1) | Permalink Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Taylor Swift - You're Not Sorry All this time I was wasting Hoping you would come around In life when you get a chance you must grab it. You may get a second chance but you will not get ten. This is the last time I will shed a tear, this is the last time I will let myself down. Make a comment | Permalink Monday, September 20, 2010
You're Not Sorry once in a while u find a song that hits the nail right on the head Make a comment | Permalink Wednesday, September 15, 2010
HK Drama While I was having dinner today, I caught some parts of a HK drama that Pung was watching. One scene caught my attention amidst devouring my mom's delicious fried rice. Basically what happened was this guy pissed this very angry woman off, he tries to apologise and says he'll do whatever it takes to make things right, very angry woman brings him to your typical chicken rice stall, grabs a thick slab of char siew and asks him to turn it raw. Then she grabs a roasted chicken and asks him to turn it into a live chicken. Her point was that some mistakes are irreversible and nothing you do can change the consequences. I'm quite sure that was her point because she said it in Mandarin after putting the aforesaid roasted chicken down and if you don't trust my translation at least my reading and lifting from the subtitles. Anyway It is an idea we are all familiar with, isn't it? Sometimes, saying/showing that you're sorry and adding the latest Marvel vs Capcom into the mix just isn't going to change anything. In secondary one I was introduced to the irreversible change that is burning sugar (I think) and some things in life are the same. If you put your leg on the MRT track you are going to get a mangled leg and no matter how apologetic you are you will never have a normal limb. If you take very long to remove your boots in NS you're going to have to accept that you'd probably have to bath last. And If you enjoyed "The Mist" and I find out I'm going to call you gay and nothing's going to convince me otherwise. Heh. My point? Exactly the same as the very angry lady. That some things are irreversible, be it a mental or physical change. Sometimes I wish I hadn't picked up the idea of irreversibility, sometimes I wish I was less uptight, sometimes I wished I was more magnanimous, but my values system make me and I risk losing who I am if I don't stick to them. Sure values must be adapted but as of now I do not see a need to change them - I do not see a need to change who I am. Sometimes you wish you have a time-traveling machine so you can go back in time to change the way things turn out. But this time even if I had that, so what? Will it change anything ultimately? In the grand scheme of things I think not. Gosh, I have to stop. Late night emo - especially when you're chionging an essay - is extremely unhealthy. Time to power through my last segment, take an "ass" break (my brothers read my blog la) and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Psychology quiz later. If you see this after 3.30pm you can still wish me luck - need all of it. Comment (1) | Permalink Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I'm going to be shameless Okay. I normally hate people who do this, I still do - I remember 2 faggots doing it back when we were in Secondary school pasting their gay blog all over forums - but I', going to have to engage in the kind of propaganda the world has not seen since Hitler ruled Germany. PLEASE VISIT MY COMS101 BLOG AT: http://siangyeesays.wordpress.com/ Okay the material is going to be as dry as the Gobi desert because it's for school and my tutor has the humour of a platypus, but I'm going to be graded, and according some random senior who was re-taking the module students will be marked down if their posts don't generate enough comments, so pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee help kk lubb lubb muackszzz XOXO. In the most hypocritical of conclusions, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do visit the blog and drop a comment. It takes only five minutes to read, another five minutes to type a comment/profanity/completely irrelevant sentence/tribute to Milla Jovovich so please help! Love you all - duh! Hahahahahahaha. Make a comment | Permalink
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ME xhps dhs SAJC june 13 1989 ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB stuff i've written Star? Awards, Top 5 Favourite Movies, John Tucker must Die?, What's Happening to the world?, Siang Yee's Ultimate Season 07/08 Player Review, Premier League 07/08 Review, Racism in Power Rangers, I LOVE Kevin Keegan to death. NOT., Arsenal, Real Mafia. Good Reads
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