Mr Bad Media Karma

A cursory peek into my fucked-up life. Rants and raves, musings and madness - come get your piece of me.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Bitten Hard

By the travel bug. To the point where I'm seriously considering squeezing in a small trip between now and school starting. But seriously, Singapore to Hanoi for 198 inclusive of tax (actually its exclusive but well, Tiger has these 'no tax and extra fees' promo right now, so what you see is what you get, if you can find the right dates)! Damn cheap. Carpe diem!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sunset

The holidays are almost over - how did I spend them? Not terribly productively, but I don't exactly regret that because I really needed to unwind and well, there's always next year ;-). After the Hong Kong trip, I'm actually very amenable to the idea of working there and uncharacteristically having the urge to brush up on my Mandarin. Rachel and I spoke precious little, and felt like idiots going around and not understanding what was being said to - and about? - us. Which must have struck them as strange because I suspect that many thought we were locals (someone even passed a leaflet as we walked past one of the Civic Party candidates who was just standing in Central during lunch break and speaking on the microphone to the streams of people walking by).

Watched X-Files with Marcus and his friend last night (his mum's company had extra tickets). The movie was actually good! Apart from a relatively minor paranormal aspect, it was more thriller than anything else. Which is good because I'm not a fan of UFO/alien themes. I tend to like movies which I go into without expectations, or with lowered expectations (think Transformers or Iron Man).

Headed to Wala later which was a 'law school minefield' (funnily enough his friend just graduated from NUS Law too...), where we met Marcus'...dad. It was like meet-the-Chins night or something, as we also met his mum and sister at the Cathay. The band playing was the same one Jin, Jorraine and I saw when we were supporting Steve at Gilman Village, they have a single out on radio now apparently. I don't listen to radio so I'll take their word for it. Not sure if it's 'Fiona' but they performed that one too.

Ran a buncha errands today (changed HK$ back to Sing, changed Sing to USD for big big end-of-year holiday, renewed gym membership, had a quickie workout) before meeting Cheryl at Nat Lib for The David Ives Project, a play by local under-25s primarily from AC and VJ, and starring one Jared Kok and one Andrea Loh. I felt that it got better as it progressed, but yeah Jared was very convincing as a washing machine loving lunatic and Andrea was hilarious as a... monkey. But I've learnt to never underestimate her - if the girl can be a barrister at Spinelli's for most of her Summer, she can do anything.

There were quite a number of law school peeps there, and we mingled for a bit before I left to meet my long-time-no-see friend in Orchard.

Meng. Who was indeed not dressed for town. But it was very nice to see him anyway, although it was for the shortest of times, after 10 whole months. As I said before, we'll try to have as much fun as can be had on this little island. Anyways, I need to go have supper now (I got home and then remembered that I had not had dinner, which is a very strange thing to forget, and shows you how preoccupied I've been).

Friday, July 25, 2008

So if you must falter, be wise

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Mmm Mmm Morton's!

Title says it all. Yesterday, met Jin and Rachel at the Oriental and we proceeded to the strangely located Morton's (its a small gazebo at the foot of the hotel atrium) for the Martini Happy Hour. We were, of course, there for the (free) steak sandwiches as much as the martinis, although those were great too - potent. The sandwiches? Mmm. Succulent, slightly raw strips of steak in between two slices of heavenly bread, drenched in a slightly spicy sauce and the... beef juice (which sounds so vulgar but that's what it is no?). Mouth-watering and really good value for money.

After enduring the occasionally curt service, lack of seating space, and a Siberian thermostat, we drove to the Singapore Flyer area nearby to have dinner at what might as well have been a world away - Popeye's. I stand by the bread biscuit, although it requires copious dashes of jam and liberal drizzles of honey to detract from the dryness of it al.

Rachel left to meet her friends and we milled around City Hall till Tim and Rohai were available. Settling down in Soup Spoon to general merriment, gossip and laughter.

I went into fantasy world for a little bit in Orchard and ended the day a bundle of different feelings I am unable to process.

Today was Batman with Gerald, Lena and Jeff - the movie was alright. It must be all the hype and buzz that tampered my actual experience. Heath Ledger was undoubtedly great, the Joker was diabolical (I was afraid of him), and the plot was engaging enough. I felt that it plodded on unnecessarily.

Which is something I don't have the luxury of doing tonight as I have to be at the airport by 6.30 in the morning. Yes my friends, the long-awaited and much-changed and talked about Hong Kong trip is here, and while it has turned out looking very different from what I conceived initially, I will make the most of it and Rachel and I will have a blast =). See you all in 5 days, or once I figure out how to get wireless.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

One Day

Did more traveling today than I have in a while...

Bukit Batok - rather pathetic return to the wheel after more than half a year. Instructor: 'frankly speaking, you need a lot more practice.' Me: 'I know.' (test date is 26 Sep, how?)

Kent Ridge - lunch at some restaurant with a waiter on roller blades. Wishful and wistful thinking

Toa Payoh - books on HK from 'neighborhood library', which has plenty more options than the Nat Lib

Orchard - watching Jin being a teacher and writing plenty of 'see mes' and question marks on the papers of his hapless students, some of whom are damn lazy

City Hall - dinner with Jin, Rohai and Shu-ming, looking at photo shoots, laughing at model's comp cards, generally wishing I had the creative talent and style to be part of the fashion industry. Quote of the day from Shu-ming, while looking at comp cards: 'This one is ok, but she doesn't look high fashion... she looks this fashion'

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Heartlanders and Heartbreakers

I spent the weekend freelancing for a WDA roadshow in Toa Payoh, with the aim of encouraging older/less educated Singaporeans to upgrade their skills to advance their career. I didn't know what I was getting myself into - and it was really tiring - but I came out of those 2 days with a sombre new perspective of what many Singaporeans are going through.

On the first day, after spending the first few hours doing mindless 'clicking' (a rather primitive way to keep track of the number of people visiting the roadshow), I was asked to distribute flyers promoting the event. As if that was not enough, I had to wear - yes, wear - a billboard while doing so. Something I never, ever, thought I would do in my life. Jin summed it up nicely: 'who would have thought that Simon Huang, [insert various "achievements"], would be doing this?'

The only way I got through it without dying of humiliation was the knowledge that I was superior to these people (if you're expecting me to be all PC fuggedaboutit) in intellect, looks, dressing, and in just about every way imaginable. I'm not saying that I deserve to be on this planet more than they do, but let's call a spade a spade yeah?

In any case, what I witnessed was heartbreaking. When told what the event was about, many people simply remarked that they were too old to find work, or that even with upgraded skills, they were unable to find employment. It got worse the next day, when I was asked to do surveying instead (to get feedback from members of the public who had participated in the roadshow).

It was a terribly long 4-page survey, and when I asked for feedback on what could be improved, one of the most common responses was that there should be more employers present (there were several but I suspect many were just there in name, to attract a larger audience but not to really provide jobs to these people). MANY people were looking for jobs and the paucity of options at the roadshow (which was also being promoted as a venue with employers looking to hire) was disappointing to them.

Most of the 35 people I spoke to on the second day had no more than secondary or lower secondary education, and when asked about what their current occupation was, a couple even laughed sheepishly, as if embarrassed of what they were doing. I felt like telling them there was really nothing wrong with being a childcare teacher or a factory worker. One should never have to be ashamed of making an honest living.

And the terrible thing is that, many WERE already working and trying to upgrade their skills, but the system is still not working for them. One older woman was telling me that she was unable to sign up for the subsidized training (one needs to pay $65 instead of the alleged normal price of $650) because she had already been working in the industry for more than a year. Why should that be an impediment? When she told me that she had been a member of the union for 10 years and asked what the point of being a member was when she was unable to avail herself of these type of benefits, all I could do was wish her the best and say 'I hope you'll find a way to take the course', knowing full well that she would probably be unable to.

So the roadshow that was supposed to help these people sieved out many to begin with. While I think its better to have such events than none at all, they could really have had their audience in mind when planning - all the flyers were in English, as were all the signs on the various booths, and the DJ was blasting top 40 hits from Umbrella to Touch My Body. It all seemed well-intentioned but ill-conceived.

One aspect of the survey required them to state whether they agreed (from a scale of 1 to 5) with a series of statements, with the purpose of determining their attitudes to retraining and the like. Many were of the 'When I upgrade my skills, I am able to stay employable/find a job/adapt to changes at work' variety, and most people I spoke to either agreed or strongly agreed with the statements - I sincerely hope that they are not disappointed.

Of course there were lighter moments. For example, a women who used the survey to complain about the government, her rant ranging from the sort of 'dangerous' jobs they were offering Singaporeans to the fact that all the good jobs were being given to foreigners. When I asked what attracted her to the roadshow, her response was along the lines of 'I want to see how low the government wants Singaporeans to go'. And the icing on the cake? 'Eh you don't need my name right?' Classic Singaporean - complains only under the cover of anonymity.

What else what else? The lady who had to tell me repeatedly how she was taking a degree in tourism from TMIS, the old man who would say the most random things when I asked him the set list of survey questions, and milled around the event for several hours, later coming back to me to give an example of how something should have been done (as if I was the Minister-in-charge).

It was an unexpected and revealing weekend. And damn I'm tired of writing - so screwed when school starts, which is very soon =S

Monday, July 14, 2008

Uh Oh

Why do I always go for the unattainable?

This Can't B Good!

Friday, July 11, 2008

It Was Good

I took a risk and decided to 'live life' today, and it was so much more than I expected.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Days Would Blend Cause We Stayed Up All Night

I have a list of things-to-do during the holidays, and bar cycling at East Coast and Cafe Del Mar, the boxes have remained unchecked thus far. Karaoke with Jin, Cheryl and Sam was thwarted by other people who occupied all the rooms (small, medium AND large), and tennis yesterday was thwarted by, well, general laziness.

But what does one expect at the Lalwani household? By the time I arrived, Jin and Jess were tucking into yummy home-cooked Laksa followed by yoghurt and ice-cream (which I requested for but was denied). Predictably, any inclinations to go down and play were thwarted after that, and we traded sport for lying around in Jin's room, reading and laughing at his student's essays - no sorry, compositions - and just indulging in what I suppose is termed 'chilling', although it just felt like good old sloth to me.

Had to leave for dinner with Jon Phay and Shaun, which was an exercise in conversation and laughter, areas where I obviously am in my element. We traded gossip like, I don't know, the US and Israel share snippets of information on Iran. Not quite an appropriate analogy but I let the news on CNN today filter into my brain.

After dinner and ice cream at J Co, I went down to Orchard to meet Jeff and we bused to Bukit Timah where the familiar faces of Tong, Gerald, Josh Ee and Lena waited at Liquid Room, where we have become regular fixtures every Wednesday.

I knew it would be a bad idea, but we went ahead with pool instead of LAN. I'm not going to bother describing how abysmal I was because you really have to be there to witness my talents. Let's just say that while attempting to hit my own ball, the white ball ended up going down, along with two of my opponent's striped ones. As my teammate, Tong was none too pleased.

LAN was extremely addictive. I pride myself on not being a slave to computer games or consoles, but last night (or rather early this morning) was an entirely different story. The prospect of casting spells and wielding power proved irresistible, even if it was in a virtual world. We didn't quite succeed but there's always a next time.

By the time we finished breakfast, it was already 6.30. It felt surreal to be looking for a taxi to whiz us home to our beds when the usual hive of morning activity was already in motion - small children with huge bags trudging to school, shops at the market opening, cars moving in the direction of the expressway and town.

The light of day was piercing through the cloudy sky by the time I finally crawled into bed around 7.30 (quite possibly one of the fastest 12 hours of my life - I had trouble accounting for time), which is usually a shade before when I would be waking up if I had lessons at 9. The beauty of the holidays indeed.

And that was my Wednesday. While half of my world was probably at Zouk, I was happily ensconced in the past, doing the same things with the same people from so many years ago - and you know what, it was tremendous fun.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Exhausted

I'm at the point of not caring, really.

Monday, July 07, 2008

For Jinesh

Things will get better in time.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Blind Ambition

I'm reading 'Front Row', a biography of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, and I thought this portion was especially revealing. It was about Anna's first meeting with Grace Mirabella, the previous Vogue editor who she would later replace.

The meeting didn't last long, possibly ten minutes max, before Mirabella's secretary summoned Mellen to come and pick up her visitor.

"I took Anna to the elevator, and I asked, 'How did it go? I so hope it went well!' And she said briskly, 'I'm not sure, but anyway, thank you, and good-bye.'"

The elevator door closed and she was gone

By the time Mellen got back to her office there was a message waiting for her from Mirabella to come to the inner sanctum forthwith. Such a summons from the usually easygoing editor in chief was a bad sign. The thought that raced through Mellon's mind was, "Oh, my God, not good. What could have happened?" When Mellen arrived, Grace recapped the brief interview, an event the very dramatic Mellen says she's never forgotten.

"At the end, Grace said to Anna, 'If you came to Vogue, what job would you like?' And Anna said, 'Well, actually, the job I would like is your job.'" Mirabella instantly terminated the discussion and had Anna ushered out. Mellen listened in stunned silence and then managed to utter a few words: "'Oh dear, Oh, God!' Grace was very displeased. Anna didn't have a chance with her."

Anna didn't get the gold ring this time, but it wouldn't be long before Mirabella's world would be turned upside down by the arrogant young woman she had quickly dispatched.


Fwah.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Why Don't You Just Slip And Fall Then?

And maybe even die? Once again, organ trading has sprung back into the headlines, and a Doctor wrote into Today opposing legalizing the sale of organs between willing buyers and sellers. Apart from the bare assertion that organ trading is 'dehumanizing', he supported his argument with a slippery slop theory - once we accept trading in kidneys and livers, we may one day accept trading in hearts and brains, even if this means the donor dies and makes what he calls the 'ultimate sacrifice'.

I don't know what to say to this really. Irresponsible fear mongering at its finest. Maybe it irritates me so because the whole slippery slopes nonsense was used in the 377A debates, but the idea that people still put forth this sort of argument and expect to be taken seriously is mind blowing.

Is it a matter of religion? Or adherence to tradition and just plain old resistance to change? I don't know but I don't like it one bit.

Looking For The Wrong Things In The Wrong Places

It just hit me. I'm not looking for mindless fun. I'm looking for something more. Which is why I am constantly disappointed. Because you don't find love in these places.