The Send-Off
So todae was the send-off for 2 of my long-time friends, Xinyin & Judy, 2 cute babes on their way to the hallowed land of the US for their hard-earned work-and-travel program. My gosh, these peers of mine have actually graduated & enjoying the fruits of their labour.. on a journey to a land far away that has great promises in store for them. In perspective, i was part of a rather large send-off group, taking a break in the middle of my semester exams, recharging for my last struggles next week to complete my freshman year. Yeah, that made me feel rather small, but also engendered with a sense of hope and discovery, similar sentiments those 2 babes would be relishing on their long Pacific flight.
Well, the send-off was a rather simple one, not exactly a teary one, not exactly a grand one for they were only to be gone from our spatial comfort zone for 3 months. Somehow, the length of time away is a determinant of the magnitude of the departure, and perhaps thus the send-off. I sometimes wonder how this clashes with the propogated notion of a global village, of us only being a phone call away anywhere in the world, of the irrelevance of spatial distance.
Well actually i do kind of subscribe to the idea that spatial distance is irrelevant to human relations, but not exactly due to the amorphous phenomenon of globalization. Well the most important lesson ive learnt from taking 2 History modules in NUS is that we do not really live because we can feel our hearts beat or see our tummy in that too-tight t-shirt.
We live only in the memories of others, which is made more evident in the metaphor of death, where the departed only lives in our remembrance. Memory, though unobjective and a victim of emotion, is critical in dictating whether people in our lives actually live.
With relevance to myself, yeah i myself am leaving for North Carolina, USA in about 3 months' time, and will be gone for almost a year at least. Today's send-off was an eerie premonition of my own send-off. It seemed eerie to me as it felt like i was attending my own funeral, seeing most of my close friends there, who would most likely constitute my own fare-well if they were free then.
It seemed like a funeral, since if you didnt really make an impact on those around you, your memory in them would gradually die out like a drizzle, and only if you did matter to a certain part of their life and memory did you continue to live, whatever the spatial distance might be. A couple can be just right next to each other, holding hands and walking along town, yet if they weren't really actively re-constructing their memories of each other, they could be as dead as the brown leaves they strolled by, to each other.
It seems like a quirky dilemma, but i guess sometimes it's important to think about what it means to live, only through others? To die, only by perishing the thought that only the self matters?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
A POLITICS OF AESTHETICS?
The politics of aesthetics is concerned with the examination of the conflict between the established global aesthetic about what ‘good-looking’ means and the multivariate social forces that have risen to oppose such a global aesthetic. With relevance to globalization, the established global aesthetic on looking good is very much propagated by mass media and advertising. This is made possible by the advances in telecommunications and advertising that enable corporations to capture the imagination of millions globally about what it means to look good and to become beautiful by using its advertised products and/or lifestyle.
This established aesthetic is challenged and hence made possible due to sites of resistance which can be found globally and also utilize the same advances in telecommunications to resist and challenge it. A clear examination of the variations in tradition, culture, social norms and religion would enable one to determine the leverages in such a dichotomous political relationship both between states and within states.
GLOBALIZATION AS THE BADGE OF MODERNITY
The process of globalization has been deemed as the badge of modernity. The modern consumer is provided with an exorbitant range of choices of goods and services, whether real or not. The consumer has the choice to purchase and consume such goods and services in order to emulate the established global aesthetic of being beautiful. However, if one does not purchase or consume such goods and services for whatever reasons, one may be deemed as either going against progressive modernist standards or falling out of favour with the established global aesthetic of being beautiful.
In a sense, the consumption of such goods and services become cultural goods which one must possess in order to remain in acceptance by the established aesthetic order. One may not possess or consume such cultural goods for many reasons, some by choice while others by circumstance, both of which provide rich breeding sites of resistance against such a global aesthetic order. Post-modernists may reject such an established aesthetic order, perhaps deeming it a crass attempt by fashion industries to induce everyone to dress either like a Hollywood superstar or the lithe models on the catwalks of London, Paris and New York. While the majority of middle-class peoples in the Third World and even developed nations may not be able to purchase such cultural goods due to relative or absolute poverty, which is perhaps the main reason for the thriving trade in imitation goods.
UPROAR OVER BONE-THIN MODELS
Indeed, the recent uproar in fashion circles itself against using seemingly bone-thin, skeletal and underweight models is an example of global resistance to the established global aesthetic, what with fashion shows in Italy also following suit. This open secret of the high-class fashion industry to use lithe models has been widely documented and has been known to attract a cult following of teenage girls becoming anorexic and bulimic in attempts to emulate the bone-thin models who are often oppressed into maintaining their lithe figures. The reason why the revived debate has drawn so much attention within the industry and the media was that the self-imposed restriction against using lithe models came within the industry itself, from a high-class fashion show in Spain, attracting similar actions within the industry. This could be seen as a form of globalization-from-above, since it was initiated from the industry itself, a major player in the politics of aesthetics, and attracting other industry players to follow suit in its moralistic direction.
The fashion industry is indeed a major player in the politics of aesthetics, along with its fellow weight-loss, cosmetics industries and their mass advertising appendages. These three major industries thrive on making millions of people feel insecure about their bodies, which has become a powerful reflection of their identities and their self-confidence.
THE WEIGHT-LOSS SCAM
Through the use of models with ultra muscular and toned bodies, the weight-loss industry establishes them as the global aesthetic and induces millions to achieve bodies as toned as the models through the use of their advertised weight-loss goods and services. The cruel reality, as we all know, is that very few of us would actually attain such toned bodies in our lifetimes, whether we use the products or not. In fact, it would not be surprising to find that the advertising models themselves never once used the advertised products, but were simply head-hunted for the jobs because they already had very toned bodies.
However, such irresponsible advertising results in the endeavors of millions who buy not so much the product or advertised lifestyles, but into their own escapist dreams and fantasies about having a toned body. Capitalizing on this fact, weight-loss corporations have been known to be lax in controlling what chemicals and substances constitute their health products, resulting in products that are highly unhealthy while perhaps inducing short-term weight-loss through severe laxative effects. The Slim10 debacle in Singapore is a good case in point where there were many reports of adverse reactions experienced by local users, with the most serious resulting in liver complications and even failure.
Such obnoxious industries survive and continue to thrive as they capitalize on the individual’s entrapment in the global aesthetic of looking good. Corporations will never stop advertising such utopian lifestyles unless consumers demand for them to be banned, consumer demand being the raison de’tre for such superficial industries in the first place. Has globalization and modernity really accorded the consumer many new real choices?
HAS GLOBALIZATION ACCORDED REAL CHOICE?
The cruel truth remains that modernity has only succeeded in institutionalizing a certain false consciousness, where the consumer is led to believe that he/she can utilize the most advanced products from world-class pharmaceuticals to modify their bodies towards the established global aesthetic. What the consumer fails to see is the utopian nature of such an enterprise and how many irresponsible giant pharmaceuticals are profiting enormously by encouraging everyone to strive to be a copy of one another and shed their identity and self-confidence in the process.
SINGAPOREAN SLIM10 DEBACLE
The Singaporean authorities were surprisingly hush on the Slim10 issue, only issuing health warnings initially and banning the product’s sale eventually, with no legal action taken against the company. One wonders if this issue of liver failures upon consuming Slim10 had occurred in the US, it might have already resulted in multi-million dollar class-action lawsuits, yet in Singapore it provoked a surprisingly tame reaction from the authorities. Upon closer scrutiny, many giant pharmaceuticals have operations in Singapore, and it does not stretch the imagination much to understand that the authorities might have reservations towards prosecuting Slim10’s parent firm, for follow-up actions might threaten the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.
This lack in punitive action by the usually authoritarian and iron-fisted Singaporean authorities should not be misunderstood as fulfilling globalization’s critics which speak of a retreat in the sovereignty of the nation-state. As the Slim10 debacle did not threaten Singapore’s strategic interests, it was not in the authority’s interests to prosecute it as harshly as it might with say, drug trafficking. In fact, it would be more reasonable to argue that this was exemplary of a tacit cooperation between the industry and the nation-state. The Singaporean authorities and the pharmaceuticals industry both stood to gain much more if they kept the Slim10 debacle from the public’s view and negotiated back-door deals that would benefit both parties much more in the long term than a class-action suit would. As students of globalization, we must be critical in our outlook and not easily mistake state inaction as the retreat of the nation-state.
HYPERPOLARIZED ASSERTIONS OF A GLOBAL AESTHETIC
Sites of resistance have indeed been formed by the families and close ones of victims of irresponsible health products which proclaim to assist in helping one achieve the global aesthetic of looking good. However, on the other extreme, pro-anorexia groups have actually sprouted, especially in the US from 2001 to 2003. Such tightly-knit support groups encourage each other to ‘purify’ themselves through anorexia and even claim that it should not be stigmatized as an illness.
We have seen how the nature of good-looking is never static, and is always dependent on variants like socialization, culture and religion. In such tightly-knit groups, pro-anorexic individuals receive a high degree of social support and social acceptance for continuing their otherwise deviant acts of anorexia. The nature of good-looking is always in flux and being challenged by different groups. Despite the attempts and global exercises in asserting a global aesthetic, there will always be discordance over it, thus a politics of aesthetics. The discrepancies in the distribution of power often determines which asserted aesthetic takes prominence, at least for the duration of that power status quo and within the cultural and religious constraints of that social milieu.
The politics of aesthetics is concerned with the examination of the conflict between the established global aesthetic about what ‘good-looking’ means and the multivariate social forces that have risen to oppose such a global aesthetic. With relevance to globalization, the established global aesthetic on looking good is very much propagated by mass media and advertising. This is made possible by the advances in telecommunications and advertising that enable corporations to capture the imagination of millions globally about what it means to look good and to become beautiful by using its advertised products and/or lifestyle.
This established aesthetic is challenged and hence made possible due to sites of resistance which can be found globally and also utilize the same advances in telecommunications to resist and challenge it. A clear examination of the variations in tradition, culture, social norms and religion would enable one to determine the leverages in such a dichotomous political relationship both between states and within states.
GLOBALIZATION AS THE BADGE OF MODERNITY
The process of globalization has been deemed as the badge of modernity. The modern consumer is provided with an exorbitant range of choices of goods and services, whether real or not. The consumer has the choice to purchase and consume such goods and services in order to emulate the established global aesthetic of being beautiful. However, if one does not purchase or consume such goods and services for whatever reasons, one may be deemed as either going against progressive modernist standards or falling out of favour with the established global aesthetic of being beautiful.
In a sense, the consumption of such goods and services become cultural goods which one must possess in order to remain in acceptance by the established aesthetic order. One may not possess or consume such cultural goods for many reasons, some by choice while others by circumstance, both of which provide rich breeding sites of resistance against such a global aesthetic order. Post-modernists may reject such an established aesthetic order, perhaps deeming it a crass attempt by fashion industries to induce everyone to dress either like a Hollywood superstar or the lithe models on the catwalks of London, Paris and New York. While the majority of middle-class peoples in the Third World and even developed nations may not be able to purchase such cultural goods due to relative or absolute poverty, which is perhaps the main reason for the thriving trade in imitation goods.
UPROAR OVER BONE-THIN MODELS
Indeed, the recent uproar in fashion circles itself against using seemingly bone-thin, skeletal and underweight models is an example of global resistance to the established global aesthetic, what with fashion shows in Italy also following suit. This open secret of the high-class fashion industry to use lithe models has been widely documented and has been known to attract a cult following of teenage girls becoming anorexic and bulimic in attempts to emulate the bone-thin models who are often oppressed into maintaining their lithe figures. The reason why the revived debate has drawn so much attention within the industry and the media was that the self-imposed restriction against using lithe models came within the industry itself, from a high-class fashion show in Spain, attracting similar actions within the industry. This could be seen as a form of globalization-from-above, since it was initiated from the industry itself, a major player in the politics of aesthetics, and attracting other industry players to follow suit in its moralistic direction.
The fashion industry is indeed a major player in the politics of aesthetics, along with its fellow weight-loss, cosmetics industries and their mass advertising appendages. These three major industries thrive on making millions of people feel insecure about their bodies, which has become a powerful reflection of their identities and their self-confidence.
THE WEIGHT-LOSS SCAM
Through the use of models with ultra muscular and toned bodies, the weight-loss industry establishes them as the global aesthetic and induces millions to achieve bodies as toned as the models through the use of their advertised weight-loss goods and services. The cruel reality, as we all know, is that very few of us would actually attain such toned bodies in our lifetimes, whether we use the products or not. In fact, it would not be surprising to find that the advertising models themselves never once used the advertised products, but were simply head-hunted for the jobs because they already had very toned bodies.
However, such irresponsible advertising results in the endeavors of millions who buy not so much the product or advertised lifestyles, but into their own escapist dreams and fantasies about having a toned body. Capitalizing on this fact, weight-loss corporations have been known to be lax in controlling what chemicals and substances constitute their health products, resulting in products that are highly unhealthy while perhaps inducing short-term weight-loss through severe laxative effects. The Slim10 debacle in Singapore is a good case in point where there were many reports of adverse reactions experienced by local users, with the most serious resulting in liver complications and even failure.
Such obnoxious industries survive and continue to thrive as they capitalize on the individual’s entrapment in the global aesthetic of looking good. Corporations will never stop advertising such utopian lifestyles unless consumers demand for them to be banned, consumer demand being the raison de’tre for such superficial industries in the first place. Has globalization and modernity really accorded the consumer many new real choices?
HAS GLOBALIZATION ACCORDED REAL CHOICE?
The cruel truth remains that modernity has only succeeded in institutionalizing a certain false consciousness, where the consumer is led to believe that he/she can utilize the most advanced products from world-class pharmaceuticals to modify their bodies towards the established global aesthetic. What the consumer fails to see is the utopian nature of such an enterprise and how many irresponsible giant pharmaceuticals are profiting enormously by encouraging everyone to strive to be a copy of one another and shed their identity and self-confidence in the process.
SINGAPOREAN SLIM10 DEBACLE
The Singaporean authorities were surprisingly hush on the Slim10 issue, only issuing health warnings initially and banning the product’s sale eventually, with no legal action taken against the company. One wonders if this issue of liver failures upon consuming Slim10 had occurred in the US, it might have already resulted in multi-million dollar class-action lawsuits, yet in Singapore it provoked a surprisingly tame reaction from the authorities. Upon closer scrutiny, many giant pharmaceuticals have operations in Singapore, and it does not stretch the imagination much to understand that the authorities might have reservations towards prosecuting Slim10’s parent firm, for follow-up actions might threaten the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.
This lack in punitive action by the usually authoritarian and iron-fisted Singaporean authorities should not be misunderstood as fulfilling globalization’s critics which speak of a retreat in the sovereignty of the nation-state. As the Slim10 debacle did not threaten Singapore’s strategic interests, it was not in the authority’s interests to prosecute it as harshly as it might with say, drug trafficking. In fact, it would be more reasonable to argue that this was exemplary of a tacit cooperation between the industry and the nation-state. The Singaporean authorities and the pharmaceuticals industry both stood to gain much more if they kept the Slim10 debacle from the public’s view and negotiated back-door deals that would benefit both parties much more in the long term than a class-action suit would. As students of globalization, we must be critical in our outlook and not easily mistake state inaction as the retreat of the nation-state.
HYPERPOLARIZED ASSERTIONS OF A GLOBAL AESTHETIC
Sites of resistance have indeed been formed by the families and close ones of victims of irresponsible health products which proclaim to assist in helping one achieve the global aesthetic of looking good. However, on the other extreme, pro-anorexia groups have actually sprouted, especially in the US from 2001 to 2003. Such tightly-knit support groups encourage each other to ‘purify’ themselves through anorexia and even claim that it should not be stigmatized as an illness.
We have seen how the nature of good-looking is never static, and is always dependent on variants like socialization, culture and religion. In such tightly-knit groups, pro-anorexic individuals receive a high degree of social support and social acceptance for continuing their otherwise deviant acts of anorexia. The nature of good-looking is always in flux and being challenged by different groups. Despite the attempts and global exercises in asserting a global aesthetic, there will always be discordance over it, thus a politics of aesthetics. The discrepancies in the distribution of power often determines which asserted aesthetic takes prominence, at least for the duration of that power status quo and within the cultural and religious constraints of that social milieu.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
CARBON CREDITS-A DIRTY TRADE
Despite recent condemnation of the carbon credits scheme, especially with hypocritical grandstanding by Al Gore, I can understand how its structural nature is borne out of contemporary corporate globalization and how it may be the best short-term solution targeted at industries and the minority ultra-rich consumers like Al Gore.
Carbon credits were originally mooted as a way for Kyoto Protocol signatories to gradually reduce their carbon emissions. It allowed for heavily polluting industries to green their operations over time and in the meanwhile buy extra carbon credits from other Kyoto Protocol partners to compensate for exceeding its cap. This was viewed as mutually beneficial as developed nations could pay while taking time to clean up their industries, which takes time and political will, while developing nations received funds for modernizing their industries and silenced their complaints about the developed world contributing much more to accumulated and present pollution.
Although this cap-and-trade has not worked entirely due to lax controls and even its essence receives much flak for allowing rich nations to continue polluting with a clear conscience, we have to acknowledge this as a step forward in engaging industries and avoid a strictly moralistic stand that will get us nowhere in this corporate globalizing world. We have to come to the cruel understanding that only when the environment is regarded and traded as a commodity, will it figure as a commercial consideration. Before this development, environmental costs only appeared in a small section of economic textbooks under the sub-section of externalities, largely ignored by corporations. Only when there was money to be made in turning green (or at least appearing so), or potential costs incurred when not turning green did it figure in corporations’ business at all.
COMMODIFYING THE ENVIRONMENT
Just like labour and raw material, only when the environment is commoditized and politicized, will it receive serious attention from industries, a dominant player in determining the future of the environment, along with governments and the consumer. Recently carbon credits have received additional flak due to new variants like individual carbon offsetting, where individuals voluntarily pay an extra cost for their goods and services to a carbon trader who pledges to convert that sum to maintain a neutral carbon footprint. Indeed the lack of transparency is a cause for concern, but more importantly it allows ultra-rich consumers like Al Gore to continue with their lavish lifestyles of pollutive consumption without guilt. This effectively creates a huge barrier to reaching out to these rich consumers, who are the guiltiest of creating pollution but also the most capable of making a change, not by paying for their guilt but by actually changing their excessive lifestyles.
THE HAZE CASE STUDY
Indeed the environment has become heavily politicized in recent years, with many governments realizing that pollution knows no borders. However, the form of politicization has sometimes also revealed the tacit alliance between governments and industries. The haze affecting Singapore is a good case in point. Along with neighbours like Malaysia and Thailand, Singapore has faced serious air pollution problems which results in an annual haze for more than a decade. While Singapore has always been quick to put the blame on widespread slash-and-burn farming techniques in Indonesia, it has been remarkably silent on the heavily polluting major oil operations that are also sited in neigbouring Indonesian islands.
A scrutiny on Singapore as a major oil re-processing hub reveals that the same oil MNCs that operate on Indonesia also have hug investments and installations in Singapore. Thus it is not surprising that the Singapore government cannot afford to criticize its strategic crude oil corporate partners who also own polluting operations in Indonesia. Using the state-dominated media, the Singaporean government has been able to frame the blame for the haze solely on Indonesian slash-and-burn farmers who usually have no alternative cost-effective methods.
Despite recent condemnation of the carbon credits scheme, especially with hypocritical grandstanding by Al Gore, I can understand how its structural nature is borne out of contemporary corporate globalization and how it may be the best short-term solution targeted at industries and the minority ultra-rich consumers like Al Gore.
Carbon credits were originally mooted as a way for Kyoto Protocol signatories to gradually reduce their carbon emissions. It allowed for heavily polluting industries to green their operations over time and in the meanwhile buy extra carbon credits from other Kyoto Protocol partners to compensate for exceeding its cap. This was viewed as mutually beneficial as developed nations could pay while taking time to clean up their industries, which takes time and political will, while developing nations received funds for modernizing their industries and silenced their complaints about the developed world contributing much more to accumulated and present pollution.
Although this cap-and-trade has not worked entirely due to lax controls and even its essence receives much flak for allowing rich nations to continue polluting with a clear conscience, we have to acknowledge this as a step forward in engaging industries and avoid a strictly moralistic stand that will get us nowhere in this corporate globalizing world. We have to come to the cruel understanding that only when the environment is regarded and traded as a commodity, will it figure as a commercial consideration. Before this development, environmental costs only appeared in a small section of economic textbooks under the sub-section of externalities, largely ignored by corporations. Only when there was money to be made in turning green (or at least appearing so), or potential costs incurred when not turning green did it figure in corporations’ business at all.
COMMODIFYING THE ENVIRONMENT
Just like labour and raw material, only when the environment is commoditized and politicized, will it receive serious attention from industries, a dominant player in determining the future of the environment, along with governments and the consumer. Recently carbon credits have received additional flak due to new variants like individual carbon offsetting, where individuals voluntarily pay an extra cost for their goods and services to a carbon trader who pledges to convert that sum to maintain a neutral carbon footprint. Indeed the lack of transparency is a cause for concern, but more importantly it allows ultra-rich consumers like Al Gore to continue with their lavish lifestyles of pollutive consumption without guilt. This effectively creates a huge barrier to reaching out to these rich consumers, who are the guiltiest of creating pollution but also the most capable of making a change, not by paying for their guilt but by actually changing their excessive lifestyles.
THE HAZE CASE STUDY
Indeed the environment has become heavily politicized in recent years, with many governments realizing that pollution knows no borders. However, the form of politicization has sometimes also revealed the tacit alliance between governments and industries. The haze affecting Singapore is a good case in point. Along with neighbours like Malaysia and Thailand, Singapore has faced serious air pollution problems which results in an annual haze for more than a decade. While Singapore has always been quick to put the blame on widespread slash-and-burn farming techniques in Indonesia, it has been remarkably silent on the heavily polluting major oil operations that are also sited in neigbouring Indonesian islands.
A scrutiny on Singapore as a major oil re-processing hub reveals that the same oil MNCs that operate on Indonesia also have hug investments and installations in Singapore. Thus it is not surprising that the Singapore government cannot afford to criticize its strategic crude oil corporate partners who also own polluting operations in Indonesia. Using the state-dominated media, the Singaporean government has been able to frame the blame for the haze solely on Indonesian slash-and-burn farmers who usually have no alternative cost-effective methods.
This case study reveals how when huge capital investments are concerned, governments may not be willing to comment or act on environmentally harmful operations of MNCs. This tacit alliance between governments and industries is something we have to be critically aware of instead of hypocritically pointing the blame for the haze at Indonesian farmers and government just by reading the local tabloid. Indeed the Singaporean government has been successful in creating an informational and geopoltical haze that allows only a narrow non-critical perspective if one is careless when reading state material.
MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS
In the politics of a globalized environment, it is almost senseless to continue this finger-pointing that both developed and developing nations are both guilty of. What is more important is recognizing the major stakeholders, which are the governments, industries and the individual consumer, and formulating ways to actively engage them by convincing them of the mutual benefits.
Corporations being businesses that are strictly profit-oriented would see no need to incur extra costs by going green or appearing to do so. However, an emerging global civil society that feels the environmental costs like global warming and actively urges for green industry might induce corporations to at least profess its desire to go green or donate sums toward environmental efforts. In light of today’s globalized world where nation-states are limited in their ability to influence either corporations or consumers, an emerging global civil society that is environmentally conscious is more important than ever.
A more concrete way of really cranking up and greening the corporate machinery is when consumers actually desire and purchase green products. An example would be the Toyota Prius which has helped Toyota secure its market dominance. The Toyota Prius has proved to be the most commercially successful hybrid automobile that promises the individual’s ability to maintain a mobile lifestyle which is easy on the pocket while being environmentally friendly too. Indeed the initial costs of hybrid cars remain high due to the pioneering technology and the lack of competition, yet Toyota has identified that there is money to be made in this venture and has created a viable product, testimony of the possibility of greening consumerism.
MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS
In the politics of a globalized environment, it is almost senseless to continue this finger-pointing that both developed and developing nations are both guilty of. What is more important is recognizing the major stakeholders, which are the governments, industries and the individual consumer, and formulating ways to actively engage them by convincing them of the mutual benefits.
Corporations being businesses that are strictly profit-oriented would see no need to incur extra costs by going green or appearing to do so. However, an emerging global civil society that feels the environmental costs like global warming and actively urges for green industry might induce corporations to at least profess its desire to go green or donate sums toward environmental efforts. In light of today’s globalized world where nation-states are limited in their ability to influence either corporations or consumers, an emerging global civil society that is environmentally conscious is more important than ever.
A more concrete way of really cranking up and greening the corporate machinery is when consumers actually desire and purchase green products. An example would be the Toyota Prius which has helped Toyota secure its market dominance. The Toyota Prius has proved to be the most commercially successful hybrid automobile that promises the individual’s ability to maintain a mobile lifestyle which is easy on the pocket while being environmentally friendly too. Indeed the initial costs of hybrid cars remain high due to the pioneering technology and the lack of competition, yet Toyota has identified that there is money to be made in this venture and has created a viable product, testimony of the possibility of greening consumerism.
RETREAT OF THE NATION-STATE IN GLOBALIZED WORLD?
Despite the popular notion that nation-states have receded in importance and relevance in today’s globalized world, governments actually have a prime role to play, especially in providing incentives to attract green industries to set up their firms and research & development in their countries. Without these subsidies and provision of an encouraging and suitable infrastructure, most firms would not invest in high-risk, low-gain green business ventures at all. Governments can also strive to slap conservation taxes on water, power utilities, as has been done in Singapore. Although utilities are free to pass on the additional costs to consumers (and usually do so), indirectly a clear message is also sent to consumers; that excessive use of water and electricity carries increasing externalities and punitive costs. Taxes collected from such sources can also be re-channeled into national research & development into costly green technologies that may otherwise not be attempted due to the cost.
CONSUMER IS KING
At the core of the solution still lies the consumer, which has a much greater say in what and how a product is produced than he/she is made to believe. Individual consumers can so much more than the oft-cited mantra of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Individual consumers can make a huge difference by just saying no to certain products which are produced inefficiently or have been identified with a heavily-polluting manufacturing process. For example, the apparel industry is one area where almost all consumers can act to make a considerable difference. Rejecting crude-derived fabrics like Rayon and Lycra and other carbon-constituent artificial fabrics can help to reduce demand for crude oil to a certain extent. While it may be argued that our modern oil-guzzling transportation system will still consume oil as usual, lack of demand for its by-products may make it more expensive overall to process and sell oil.
Governments like the US may still myopically isolate themselves from the Kyoto Protocol, even Kyoto signatories themselves have at times failed to live up to their promises. Such globalization-from-above and formal politics of a globalized environment seem to have limited use and relevance to practical realities on the ground. An emerging global civil society that starts with concerned and aware individual consumers constantly urging industries and governments to clean up their act may be more useful in the short term. Such globalization-from-below forming a pragmatic politics of a globalized environment may better serve the needs of our ailing environment that requires urgent effort and cannot wait for inter-governmental sophistry and rhetoric to resolve their differences.
CONSUMER IS KING
Most democratic governments are voted in by its peoples, formed by individual consumers. Even dictatorial regimes require popular acquiescence to a certain extent. Industries and corporations require consumer demand before they decide to invest and produce. Without demand from the individual consumer, industries cannot survive in the long term. Overproduction has always been a nemesis to industries in this post-industrial age, which is very much the reason why giant pharmaceuticals can make astronomical profits only by existing in a closed and oligopolistic market protected by patent laws. Mass advertising can only secure a limited consumer base in today’s fickle consumer that is already speaking out against spamming and hard-selling.
THE CONSUMER-ENGINE OF CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION
The consumer is at the heart of industries and government, for the individual consumer justifies their continued existence and both players are willing to do almost anything to pander to the consumer’s voracious appetite and fickle changes. In a subtle sense, the individual consumer can be the dominant power in such a tripartite power relation, although the consumer is dominantly portrayed as a slave to magazine and industry prescriptions of what it means to look good and feel good. The consumer is the engine of globalization’s ugly corporate face.
It would indeed be in the interest of corporations to further capitalize on the global obsession with aesthetics to continue to create the impression that the consumer is in charge and in control. Yet subtly, industries do very much control the global politics of aesthetics by determining how people should dress, eat, even indulge in recreation. The corporation today sells products but advertises more of a pre-determined packaged lifestyle than a product.
A ‘GLOBAL’ VILLAGE?
Indeed, when we speak of globalization, we tend to imagine how the whole world is becoming more connected due to advancements in telecommunications and transport, the compressions of time and space. Building upon these infrastructure, we are painted a picture of global connectedness where global trade and capital flows invades all economies and nations. However, this totalizing tendency of globalization is exaggerated and even some scholars of globalization are guilty of this inaccuracy. We tend to forget that the dominant nature of this phase of globalization is one of information capitalism, where investments and capital-in-finance moves in search of markets which speak the language of globalization; Information technology and English to a certain extent.
If we scrutinize the post-Cold War dominant capital flows, they are mainly directed at previously untapped markets in Eastern Europe and Asia, and a further centralizing of capital in information technology sectors in established markets of the US, Western Europe and perhaps Japan. Indeed, there are large parts of humanity in South Asia, South America and Africa that is left out of this equation and in the new modes of participation in this ‘global’ economy. How could be speak of a ‘global village’ which is gradually developing a global identity when most Africans have only seen their thatched villages their whole lives and the closest thing to modernity they have witnessed are probably international food aid and wildlife documentary crews?
Indeed, there are certain ‘black holes’ in this age of information capitalism, certain sectors of humanity that are simply ignored in the global corporate map. The corporate face of globalization requires something or a people to exploit, however there are certain sectors of the globe which are just too poor to exploit, especially if the corporate engine continues to be fired by the demand and supply of luxury consumer goods. These people are systematically left out in this global exploitation, due to their complete irrelevance in a global economy that requires the acquisition of knowledge, especially IT knowledge. However, before we cheer at the notion that these poor peoples are at least spared this global exploitation, we need to understand that this is a changing reality, as even corporations have been alerted to this and have modified their nature to penetrate these last remaining markets.
PROFIT OFF THE POOR
When we talk about consumerism, it is usually in the context of individuals pursuing wants rather than needs, luxuries rather than necessities. It is usually within the context of purchasing cultural goods so that one may remain or scale the ladder of social mobility. However, the post-Cold War neo-liberal corporate machinery has been quick to capitalize on anything that can make profits, even if it is at the expense of profiteering off the poorest in the Third World through the capitalization on necessities.
The Bolivian water crisis of 2000 provides a good case study, and it must be understood amidst the post-Cold War neo-liberal streak of developing countries to adopt a privatization road map out of poverty. Bolivia, being the poorest South American nation, succumbed to the lures of privatizing its national assets, compounded by World Bank and IMF pressures to do so. The Bolivian government stood to gain from the retention of credit trust for continued international loans and from foreign capital flows that would have been impossible to attract without privatizing its state assets like its airlines and water utility.
However, the privatization scheme went awry when the water utility of Cochabamba city was privatized and almost immediately water prices were tripled. The poorest South Americans in this city were forced to pay almost a third of their meager monthly wages on a basic necessity like water. Indeed, local residents were also banned from collecting rainwater to produce potable water, ensuring the utility’s complete monopoly. Riots and demonstrations soon followed in 2000 which resulted in a violent clampdown by a complicit government, eager to protect its selfish gains by its partnership with the utility. Here, we witness how the two major players of industry and government can be complicit in their eagerness to make a profit, even at the expense of the millions of impoverished consumers, who require water to survive. Third World peoples being denied of even the basic right to produce and consume safe water; this is neo-liberal capitalism at its ugliest.
Indeed, industries have been flexible enough to capitalize on even necessities like water to make profits off the poorest peoples in the Third World, a situation also mirrored in the Nigerian context in Africa. Corporations have also been able to identify acquiescent governments to collectively oppress the poor consumer. This example may serve to weaken the argument that the consumer is at the heart of globalization’s corporate face. However, we must be mindful that this is an extreme case where the consumer is extremely disempowered, and it is indeed worthy of note that widespread popular protests did eventually force the Bolivian government to reluctantly break the contract with the foreign MNC, majority owned by a subsidiary of the US firm, Bechtel Corporation.
NEO-LIBERAL PROMISE OF GLOBALIZATION
The Bolivian water crisis is not an isolated crisis by itself. It is symbolic of the general failed promise of globalization to bring wealth to all who participate in its complex web of corporate relations. In stark contrast, it has furthered miseries and poverty in the Third World and in the Bolivian case has even robbed them of access to a basic necessity like safe water, something that most people in the developed world assume will flow out of their taps when they turn the faucet.
Under the guise of a responsible corporation that intends to revamp Cochabamba’s water grid and promising millions of follow-up capital investment, Bechtel has systematically robbed a poor people of their most basic rights to water and held its complicit government at ransom. It is made more abhorrent by the fact that it was supported by global institutions like the World Bank and IMF which preach neo-liberal privatization solutions and structural adjustments to the Third World. It is not hard for the average Bolivian to imagine a global conspiracy of epic proportions by the developed world to profit from exploiting the poor and disempowered. It is not hard for us to imagine how this tragedy of globalization and neo-liberal capitalism is repeatedly played out in different forms all across the Third World, which face a tricky choice of submitting to World Bank and IMF conditionality or face economic ruin and total irrelevance in the global economy.
Most democratic governments are voted in by its peoples, formed by individual consumers. Even dictatorial regimes require popular acquiescence to a certain extent. Industries and corporations require consumer demand before they decide to invest and produce. Without demand from the individual consumer, industries cannot survive in the long term. Overproduction has always been a nemesis to industries in this post-industrial age, which is very much the reason why giant pharmaceuticals can make astronomical profits only by existing in a closed and oligopolistic market protected by patent laws. Mass advertising can only secure a limited consumer base in today’s fickle consumer that is already speaking out against spamming and hard-selling.
THE CONSUMER-ENGINE OF CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION
The consumer is at the heart of industries and government, for the individual consumer justifies their continued existence and both players are willing to do almost anything to pander to the consumer’s voracious appetite and fickle changes. In a subtle sense, the individual consumer can be the dominant power in such a tripartite power relation, although the consumer is dominantly portrayed as a slave to magazine and industry prescriptions of what it means to look good and feel good. The consumer is the engine of globalization’s ugly corporate face.
It would indeed be in the interest of corporations to further capitalize on the global obsession with aesthetics to continue to create the impression that the consumer is in charge and in control. Yet subtly, industries do very much control the global politics of aesthetics by determining how people should dress, eat, even indulge in recreation. The corporation today sells products but advertises more of a pre-determined packaged lifestyle than a product.
A ‘GLOBAL’ VILLAGE?
Indeed, when we speak of globalization, we tend to imagine how the whole world is becoming more connected due to advancements in telecommunications and transport, the compressions of time and space. Building upon these infrastructure, we are painted a picture of global connectedness where global trade and capital flows invades all economies and nations. However, this totalizing tendency of globalization is exaggerated and even some scholars of globalization are guilty of this inaccuracy. We tend to forget that the dominant nature of this phase of globalization is one of information capitalism, where investments and capital-in-finance moves in search of markets which speak the language of globalization; Information technology and English to a certain extent.
If we scrutinize the post-Cold War dominant capital flows, they are mainly directed at previously untapped markets in Eastern Europe and Asia, and a further centralizing of capital in information technology sectors in established markets of the US, Western Europe and perhaps Japan. Indeed, there are large parts of humanity in South Asia, South America and Africa that is left out of this equation and in the new modes of participation in this ‘global’ economy. How could be speak of a ‘global village’ which is gradually developing a global identity when most Africans have only seen their thatched villages their whole lives and the closest thing to modernity they have witnessed are probably international food aid and wildlife documentary crews?
Indeed, there are certain ‘black holes’ in this age of information capitalism, certain sectors of humanity that are simply ignored in the global corporate map. The corporate face of globalization requires something or a people to exploit, however there are certain sectors of the globe which are just too poor to exploit, especially if the corporate engine continues to be fired by the demand and supply of luxury consumer goods. These people are systematically left out in this global exploitation, due to their complete irrelevance in a global economy that requires the acquisition of knowledge, especially IT knowledge. However, before we cheer at the notion that these poor peoples are at least spared this global exploitation, we need to understand that this is a changing reality, as even corporations have been alerted to this and have modified their nature to penetrate these last remaining markets.
PROFIT OFF THE POOR
When we talk about consumerism, it is usually in the context of individuals pursuing wants rather than needs, luxuries rather than necessities. It is usually within the context of purchasing cultural goods so that one may remain or scale the ladder of social mobility. However, the post-Cold War neo-liberal corporate machinery has been quick to capitalize on anything that can make profits, even if it is at the expense of profiteering off the poorest in the Third World through the capitalization on necessities.
The Bolivian water crisis of 2000 provides a good case study, and it must be understood amidst the post-Cold War neo-liberal streak of developing countries to adopt a privatization road map out of poverty. Bolivia, being the poorest South American nation, succumbed to the lures of privatizing its national assets, compounded by World Bank and IMF pressures to do so. The Bolivian government stood to gain from the retention of credit trust for continued international loans and from foreign capital flows that would have been impossible to attract without privatizing its state assets like its airlines and water utility.
However, the privatization scheme went awry when the water utility of Cochabamba city was privatized and almost immediately water prices were tripled. The poorest South Americans in this city were forced to pay almost a third of their meager monthly wages on a basic necessity like water. Indeed, local residents were also banned from collecting rainwater to produce potable water, ensuring the utility’s complete monopoly. Riots and demonstrations soon followed in 2000 which resulted in a violent clampdown by a complicit government, eager to protect its selfish gains by its partnership with the utility. Here, we witness how the two major players of industry and government can be complicit in their eagerness to make a profit, even at the expense of the millions of impoverished consumers, who require water to survive. Third World peoples being denied of even the basic right to produce and consume safe water; this is neo-liberal capitalism at its ugliest.
Indeed, industries have been flexible enough to capitalize on even necessities like water to make profits off the poorest peoples in the Third World, a situation also mirrored in the Nigerian context in Africa. Corporations have also been able to identify acquiescent governments to collectively oppress the poor consumer. This example may serve to weaken the argument that the consumer is at the heart of globalization’s corporate face. However, we must be mindful that this is an extreme case where the consumer is extremely disempowered, and it is indeed worthy of note that widespread popular protests did eventually force the Bolivian government to reluctantly break the contract with the foreign MNC, majority owned by a subsidiary of the US firm, Bechtel Corporation.
NEO-LIBERAL PROMISE OF GLOBALIZATION
The Bolivian water crisis is not an isolated crisis by itself. It is symbolic of the general failed promise of globalization to bring wealth to all who participate in its complex web of corporate relations. In stark contrast, it has furthered miseries and poverty in the Third World and in the Bolivian case has even robbed them of access to a basic necessity like safe water, something that most people in the developed world assume will flow out of their taps when they turn the faucet.
Under the guise of a responsible corporation that intends to revamp Cochabamba’s water grid and promising millions of follow-up capital investment, Bechtel has systematically robbed a poor people of their most basic rights to water and held its complicit government at ransom. It is made more abhorrent by the fact that it was supported by global institutions like the World Bank and IMF which preach neo-liberal privatization solutions and structural adjustments to the Third World. It is not hard for the average Bolivian to imagine a global conspiracy of epic proportions by the developed world to profit from exploiting the poor and disempowered. It is not hard for us to imagine how this tragedy of globalization and neo-liberal capitalism is repeatedly played out in different forms all across the Third World, which face a tricky choice of submitting to World Bank and IMF conditionality or face economic ruin and total irrelevance in the global economy.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Hurray for construction industry?
So the CNA news ticker read that there would be a huge boom for the construction industry this year and the following ones, almost $16-18 billion worth of contracts. But well of course, since we are rolling in the IRs and BFC.
Point to note is that these projects, though huge, are one-off projects that most likely would not be replicated for a long time. And from what i know, the industry has all along known about these projects as early as 2004, and would most likely have already budgeted it into their annual project forecast, with profits already estimated.
All that may not sound like a big deal, but it is exactly what is left out in that little harmless-looking news ticker that the CNA ran only a few days back. The focus is on the celebration of a renewed breath of life into the construction industry, a considerable industry in singapore that has experienced many highs and lows, and in recent years been beleagured by many problems.
My ire is that as long as the core structural problems of the industry are not sorted out and glossed over in this over-hyped construction 'boom', the same industrial problems will return to haunt us after the IRs are completed. How many more mega projects can you visualise packed into any of our remaining waterfronts or business districts?
Endemic problems of main contractors witholding payments or grants to subcontractors, one of the worst construction safety records in the world and above all the 'best-of-3-bids' system the state practises in handing out projects have worsened the problem of contractors under-bidding for projects and in turn delaying payments to sub-contractors. It is embarassing enough that some of our main infrastructural renewal and upgrading projects have been delayed time and again due to bankrupt construction companies.
Indeed we have made great strides with innovations like pre-fabricated materials, methods that will save on both material costs and the costs of a tigt labour market. But what industry watchers have observed to be the main problems do not exactly arise from rising labour and material costs.
In fact, it is the implementation of policies that seems sorely lacking. Yes indeed it is surprising that a usually strong-handed regime seems to be lacking in exactly one of its saving graces; that it is efficient, it delivers and is a professional business partner.
Indeed the efficiency seems to be crudely achieved with the bidding system, but the result seems to be a violation of the intent to get the best goods at the best price. Instead, we end up with the best price among the best under-cutters. This has been noted to spawn off many other industry-wide problems, all the way from the main contractor down to the sub-contractor and the hapless foreign worker.
The horrors of the Nicoll highway incident aside, I fervently await the industry and state to wake up from this giddying $16 billion bonanza and attempt to tackle the construction industry's criticla problems fast, before the money runs out and the party's over
So the CNA news ticker read that there would be a huge boom for the construction industry this year and the following ones, almost $16-18 billion worth of contracts. But well of course, since we are rolling in the IRs and BFC.
Point to note is that these projects, though huge, are one-off projects that most likely would not be replicated for a long time. And from what i know, the industry has all along known about these projects as early as 2004, and would most likely have already budgeted it into their annual project forecast, with profits already estimated.
All that may not sound like a big deal, but it is exactly what is left out in that little harmless-looking news ticker that the CNA ran only a few days back. The focus is on the celebration of a renewed breath of life into the construction industry, a considerable industry in singapore that has experienced many highs and lows, and in recent years been beleagured by many problems.
My ire is that as long as the core structural problems of the industry are not sorted out and glossed over in this over-hyped construction 'boom', the same industrial problems will return to haunt us after the IRs are completed. How many more mega projects can you visualise packed into any of our remaining waterfronts or business districts?
Endemic problems of main contractors witholding payments or grants to subcontractors, one of the worst construction safety records in the world and above all the 'best-of-3-bids' system the state practises in handing out projects have worsened the problem of contractors under-bidding for projects and in turn delaying payments to sub-contractors. It is embarassing enough that some of our main infrastructural renewal and upgrading projects have been delayed time and again due to bankrupt construction companies.
Indeed we have made great strides with innovations like pre-fabricated materials, methods that will save on both material costs and the costs of a tigt labour market. But what industry watchers have observed to be the main problems do not exactly arise from rising labour and material costs.
In fact, it is the implementation of policies that seems sorely lacking. Yes indeed it is surprising that a usually strong-handed regime seems to be lacking in exactly one of its saving graces; that it is efficient, it delivers and is a professional business partner.
Indeed the efficiency seems to be crudely achieved with the bidding system, but the result seems to be a violation of the intent to get the best goods at the best price. Instead, we end up with the best price among the best under-cutters. This has been noted to spawn off many other industry-wide problems, all the way from the main contractor down to the sub-contractor and the hapless foreign worker.
The horrors of the Nicoll highway incident aside, I fervently await the industry and state to wake up from this giddying $16 billion bonanza and attempt to tackle the construction industry's criticla problems fast, before the money runs out and the party's over
Saturday, October 21, 2006
A Civil Religion?
We tend to think of the state as a secular entity, and of religion as being of a divine form of beliefs. However, Rousseau has proposed the idea of a civil religion, which consists of the full set of political doctrines, historical narratives, exemplary figures, celebratory occasions and memorial rituals through which the state impresses itself upon the minds of its members, specially its youngest or newest members.
In Singapore today, most people do not think of social hierarchy rigidly, but quite the opposite. Most Singaporeans celebrate the alleged absence of social hierarchy. This is part of what sociologist Robert Bellah calls our civil religion (this term was first coined by Rousseau), a set of quasi-religious beliefs and practices that bind the population and justifies our way of life.
When we think of Singapore as a meritocracy, where everyone can realize the ‘Singaporean Dream’ (regardless of race, language or religion), as a place in which individualism and free enterprise ensures maximal benefit for all, we are giving voice to a certain Singaporean civil religion.
Paradoxically, however, our civil religion may also help to divert our attention from the inequalities that persist in our society. A strong belief in equal opportunity for all, may for instance, lead people to overlook the reality that the lack of opportunity remains in our society.
DE-CONSTRUCTION OF NDP?
In this post, I would like to cursorily de-construct the National Day Parade, a good manifestation of what is meant by Rousseau when he suggests a civil religion.
COLLECTIVE EFFERVESCENCE?
Apart from drawing one of the largest television audiences, the NDP generates a sense of what Durkheim (a sociologist who focused on the functionalist approach to studying social phenomena) would have called “collective effervescence”. That is, the NDP excites us by making feel like we belong to a community that is much larger than our individual selves. For 2-3 hours each year, Singaporeans who participate in the celebration (even by just watching on TV) transcend their everyday lives and experience intense enjoyment by sharing the sentiment and values of a larger collectivity. In their fervor, they banish thoughts of their own mortality (and also perhaps get over their regret over not booking a holiday in time and going overseas). They gain a glimpse of a prosperous future for themselves and their descendants as they immerse in institutions that will outlast them and ‘national’ achievements (like Team Singapore’s scaling of Mount Everest) that people will remember for generations to come.
This “collective effervescence” is one of the rare occasions where people actually come together and actually feel Singaporean. It is also probably the closest thing you could ever witness to four million smiles, I guess. The only other occasions when I feel Singaporean is when I spot fellow Singaporeans by the NTUC plastic bags they carry while shopping in Johor or when you see familiar faces while relaxing at the not-so-integrated resorts at Genting.
TOTEMS?
We designate certain objects as symbolizing the sacred, objects which Durkheim called totems. While spiritual religions may have overt items like statues, crosses and chalices as totems, civil religions similarly have their totems, though they may not be that overt, which is also why I think it is more insidious.
Using the case study of NDP, we can see many totems of civil religion.
We tend to think of the state as a secular entity, and of religion as being of a divine form of beliefs. However, Rousseau has proposed the idea of a civil religion, which consists of the full set of political doctrines, historical narratives, exemplary figures, celebratory occasions and memorial rituals through which the state impresses itself upon the minds of its members, specially its youngest or newest members.
In Singapore today, most people do not think of social hierarchy rigidly, but quite the opposite. Most Singaporeans celebrate the alleged absence of social hierarchy. This is part of what sociologist Robert Bellah calls our civil religion (this term was first coined by Rousseau), a set of quasi-religious beliefs and practices that bind the population and justifies our way of life.
When we think of Singapore as a meritocracy, where everyone can realize the ‘Singaporean Dream’ (regardless of race, language or religion), as a place in which individualism and free enterprise ensures maximal benefit for all, we are giving voice to a certain Singaporean civil religion.
Paradoxically, however, our civil religion may also help to divert our attention from the inequalities that persist in our society. A strong belief in equal opportunity for all, may for instance, lead people to overlook the reality that the lack of opportunity remains in our society.
DE-CONSTRUCTION OF NDP?
In this post, I would like to cursorily de-construct the National Day Parade, a good manifestation of what is meant by Rousseau when he suggests a civil religion.
COLLECTIVE EFFERVESCENCE?
Apart from drawing one of the largest television audiences, the NDP generates a sense of what Durkheim (a sociologist who focused on the functionalist approach to studying social phenomena) would have called “collective effervescence”. That is, the NDP excites us by making feel like we belong to a community that is much larger than our individual selves. For 2-3 hours each year, Singaporeans who participate in the celebration (even by just watching on TV) transcend their everyday lives and experience intense enjoyment by sharing the sentiment and values of a larger collectivity. In their fervor, they banish thoughts of their own mortality (and also perhaps get over their regret over not booking a holiday in time and going overseas). They gain a glimpse of a prosperous future for themselves and their descendants as they immerse in institutions that will outlast them and ‘national’ achievements (like Team Singapore’s scaling of Mount Everest) that people will remember for generations to come.
This “collective effervescence” is one of the rare occasions where people actually come together and actually feel Singaporean. It is also probably the closest thing you could ever witness to four million smiles, I guess. The only other occasions when I feel Singaporean is when I spot fellow Singaporeans by the NTUC plastic bags they carry while shopping in Johor or when you see familiar faces while relaxing at the not-so-integrated resorts at Genting.
TOTEMS?
We designate certain objects as symbolizing the sacred, objects which Durkheim called totems. While spiritual religions may have overt items like statues, crosses and chalices as totems, civil religions similarly have their totems, though they may not be that overt, which is also why I think it is more insidious.
Using the case study of NDP, we can see many totems of civil religion.
In this picture shown here, the obvious totems are the multitude of flags being used, not to mention the giant state flag used in the helicopter fly-past. But if you pay attention to the top left corner of the photo, you will notice an interesting phenomenon that that Parliament bloc is dressed in party colours of white, amidst a red fervent background of enthusiastic Singaporeans. Well we have all heard many unofficial explanations for this anomaly and I’m not about to dwell on them in this post.
I would like to offer something in line with this idea of a civil religion, where it almost seems as if the MPs have to deliberately dress differently from the rest of the madding to suggest notions of superiority. Indeed one can argue that it is just their party colours, but seriously, they look almost like the clergy, who have a religious duty to serve the masses. I used to be very puzzled why politics had anything to do with a national celebration, or nationalism. Now that I see Durkheim’s suggestion that such a religious belief in certain ideas functions like a social cement, yes it does seem that such a move helps to entrench certain ideas we have about certain groups and institutions. In short, we might be more inclined to accept our lot in life and the way things are, after we experience and complete such rituals.
By chance, I noticed this uncanny similarity also. I shall restrain myself from reading too much into it, but all I can say is that the Presidential drive-past it itself a totem, and is part of the many rigid rituals that characterizes the NDP. The rigid line-up of events, all synchronized to a perfect timing through countless rehearsals, combined with the many totems that are paraded throughout the NDP all work together to reinforce social solidarity. We suspend our everyday lives as we watch the whole ritual of NDP being enacted. The ritual heightens our experience of belonging to certain groups, which in turn panders to the theme for the year (a CMIO multi-racial family, forward-looking IT nation, etc), increases our respect for certain institutions, and strengthens our beliefs in certain ideas. These groups, institutions and ideas all transcend us, thus fulfilling the sacred nature of the event.
Indeed, there is much more about NDP to be de-constructed as a ritual. I myself, having served the last half of my NSF life working for NDP 2007 & struggling with its continued relevance to today’s society would definitely like to spend more time and effort researching into this area if my studies allow. I hope it has been intriguing to offer to conceptualize this idea of NDP as a civil religion.
Friday, September 15, 2006
"It s easy to imagine an infinite number of situations where the government might legitimately give out false information. It's an unfortunate reality that the issuance of incomplete information by government may sometimes be perceived as necessary to protect vital interests"
-Solicitor General Theodore Olson, whose wife Barbara was killed on September 11, 2001.
For those of you still very much convinced that the 9/11 attacks was definitely masterminded and executed by Al Qaeda, please spare a few minutes to look at this short documentary titled "Loose Change"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-guQaYgrWqI
-Solicitor General Theodore Olson, whose wife Barbara was killed on September 11, 2001.
For those of you still very much convinced that the 9/11 attacks was definitely masterminded and executed by Al Qaeda, please spare a few minutes to look at this short documentary titled "Loose Change"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-guQaYgrWqI
Sunday, September 03, 2006
3 new diversions in life
1. My main duty and responsibility as an undergrad now, to mug. But well i guess it's in a way much better than during JC for at least 3/5th of what i'm doing now is what i really love to study. So yeah at least im not forced to take something im really allergic to like maths.
Really hope i can do decently well for my first term. Being VP of the 4.5 club is as good as being VP of fairyland. Yeah but i guess it's always good to have a high aspiration to look up to.
2. On a more serious note, yes i have been 'elected' as the Asst Honorary Gen-Sec of NUS Political Science Society. Though i got 'voted' in by default, nevertheless the fact remains that i will be busy with the tasks and responsibilities of being one of the 5 members of gthe managment cell.
To be honest i signed to run for appointment on a whim, but as i got into the groove of things, i realised this may really be the something new i want to try out at Uni. Yes it has been told to me how the internal politics ususally shreds up such small socieities easily, but nevertheless i hope i can hold my ground together with my counterpart. Let's just see how things go.
3. Together with a few of my friends and my former teacher who is still my teacher of Life, we have cobbled what is generally known as a political blog that is mainly grounded in issues concerning Singaporeans from all walks of life. Political or not, i guess we take a critical view of what happens to us as Singaporeans and freely express our views on this avenue.
If you ask on objectives, i guess our main desire is to promote a certain sense of political awareness and also to encourage our friends, family and acquaintances to get interested in at least politics at home, understanding the forces that shape our lives and the lives of our children in future.
SO yeah just jump in and visit the blog at www.meetthepeoplesession.blogspot.com
I've actually linked it on my blog also for easy access. Do feel free to be our worst critics and drop us comments on anything from warnings on OB markers (If they exist) to volunteering for website design! I really hope you have a peek before just branding it as 'just another political blog-wannabe'
1. My main duty and responsibility as an undergrad now, to mug. But well i guess it's in a way much better than during JC for at least 3/5th of what i'm doing now is what i really love to study. So yeah at least im not forced to take something im really allergic to like maths.
Really hope i can do decently well for my first term. Being VP of the 4.5 club is as good as being VP of fairyland. Yeah but i guess it's always good to have a high aspiration to look up to.
2. On a more serious note, yes i have been 'elected' as the Asst Honorary Gen-Sec of NUS Political Science Society. Though i got 'voted' in by default, nevertheless the fact remains that i will be busy with the tasks and responsibilities of being one of the 5 members of gthe managment cell.
To be honest i signed to run for appointment on a whim, but as i got into the groove of things, i realised this may really be the something new i want to try out at Uni. Yes it has been told to me how the internal politics ususally shreds up such small socieities easily, but nevertheless i hope i can hold my ground together with my counterpart. Let's just see how things go.
3. Together with a few of my friends and my former teacher who is still my teacher of Life, we have cobbled what is generally known as a political blog that is mainly grounded in issues concerning Singaporeans from all walks of life. Political or not, i guess we take a critical view of what happens to us as Singaporeans and freely express our views on this avenue.
If you ask on objectives, i guess our main desire is to promote a certain sense of political awareness and also to encourage our friends, family and acquaintances to get interested in at least politics at home, understanding the forces that shape our lives and the lives of our children in future.
SO yeah just jump in and visit the blog at www.meetthepeoplesession.blogspot.com
I've actually linked it on my blog also for easy access. Do feel free to be our worst critics and drop us comments on anything from warnings on OB markers (If they exist) to volunteering for website design! I really hope you have a peek before just branding it as 'just another political blog-wannabe'
Friday, August 25, 2006
After going through Arts Camp, Pre-camp, O-Week and Arts bashes I& II,
I guess i've had qte an eye feast..considering all the really beautiful and happening people
I see and meet during these FOPs.
Even among my OG and close friends...there are many cute girls and pretty ladies, so theres no escaping this daily drudgery of drugging my soul whenever i see them in sch.
Well, honest but narrow reflections aside, i guess what i want to sae is that im qte glad i made a realisation that i must look beyond superficial looks and feel-good stuff if im seriously looking for a soulmate.
To be brutally honest, yes i've succumbed just like any mortal to being attracted to people for their looks and stuff..but just glad that ikinda pulled myself back from the brink in time.
Guess im truly sober now and the drugging effects of superficiality have worn off on me.
What seems to attract me most about a lady now is her intellect,how we can connect at a deep level during conversations. we can talk bout anything under the sun, whether it be the current fashion trend for bags, local politics,macroeconomic policies, ethics or even Calvin and Hobbes my fav comic.
Such a lady is hard to come by i guess. Somehow, i've only been able to meet less than a handful ofladies like that in arts. Well some may argue that i've just been making the 'wrong' type of frenz..or that i havent been able to sieve through my prejudices to bring the friendship to a level where such intricacies are visible. Lets just say i've tried my best and i will treasure those few gems i've found in this vast ocean
I guess i've had qte an eye feast..considering all the really beautiful and happening people
I see and meet during these FOPs.
Even among my OG and close friends...there are many cute girls and pretty ladies, so theres no escaping this daily drudgery of drugging my soul whenever i see them in sch.
Well, honest but narrow reflections aside, i guess what i want to sae is that im qte glad i made a realisation that i must look beyond superficial looks and feel-good stuff if im seriously looking for a soulmate.
To be brutally honest, yes i've succumbed just like any mortal to being attracted to people for their looks and stuff..but just glad that ikinda pulled myself back from the brink in time.
Guess im truly sober now and the drugging effects of superficiality have worn off on me.
What seems to attract me most about a lady now is her intellect,how we can connect at a deep level during conversations. we can talk bout anything under the sun, whether it be the current fashion trend for bags, local politics,macroeconomic policies, ethics or even Calvin and Hobbes my fav comic.
Such a lady is hard to come by i guess. Somehow, i've only been able to meet less than a handful ofladies like that in arts. Well some may argue that i've just been making the 'wrong' type of frenz..or that i havent been able to sieve through my prejudices to bring the friendship to a level where such intricacies are visible. Lets just say i've tried my best and i will treasure those few gems i've found in this vast ocean
Monday, August 21, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Stairway To Heaven-Led Zeppelin
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Screen-based Existence
You wake up to ur hp alarm clock.
Morning news on the Telly.
Check Sms from previous nite.
Games & entertainment from ur PC
Working on lappy in school
Plugged into ur Ipod/MP3, wherever you go
Time to kill, movie to chill
Nowsadays, it does seem that almost every part of our life is bombarded by a digital screen. How we try to live out another existence through these digital screens. It's as if all these techno gizmos are an extension of our normal mortal selves.
Though it sometimes can be a little scary hairy mary to imagine how a puny digital screen attempts to encapsulate the whole of our being, our character. Guess thats how technology is sometimes perceived to be impersonal, especially when they are barrier-breaking and not yet widely accepted.
What an age it is to be living and breathing in now. When technology actually 'allows' one to be trapped in a digital existence. Perhaps it has been really successful at preventing us from playing a real game of soccer in the sun, with dirt and violence thrown in. Perhaps it has been really successful in preventing us from taking that dirty sweaty hike to experience a certain sunrise, the cool calm air, and above all the breathtaking scenery.
In a way i guess technology has allowed us to be complacent in our cement abodes, to try to take in experiences virtually. Indeed the leaps in technology has greatly improved the overall audio-visual experience we can get from digital outlets, but in how many instances can it beat the real thang?
I guess personally im the type who does not like to stay indoors for too long..i fact i react qte adversely to prolonged air-conditioning..i rather be out in the sun doing anything...whether its just for a simple dip to a leisurely hike to an excruciating game of soccer..
Really miss hiking and camping and outdoor cooking...haha
You wake up to ur hp alarm clock.
Morning news on the Telly.
Check Sms from previous nite.
Games & entertainment from ur PC
Working on lappy in school
Plugged into ur Ipod/MP3, wherever you go
Time to kill, movie to chill
Nowsadays, it does seem that almost every part of our life is bombarded by a digital screen. How we try to live out another existence through these digital screens. It's as if all these techno gizmos are an extension of our normal mortal selves.
Though it sometimes can be a little scary hairy mary to imagine how a puny digital screen attempts to encapsulate the whole of our being, our character. Guess thats how technology is sometimes perceived to be impersonal, especially when they are barrier-breaking and not yet widely accepted.
What an age it is to be living and breathing in now. When technology actually 'allows' one to be trapped in a digital existence. Perhaps it has been really successful at preventing us from playing a real game of soccer in the sun, with dirt and violence thrown in. Perhaps it has been really successful in preventing us from taking that dirty sweaty hike to experience a certain sunrise, the cool calm air, and above all the breathtaking scenery.
In a way i guess technology has allowed us to be complacent in our cement abodes, to try to take in experiences virtually. Indeed the leaps in technology has greatly improved the overall audio-visual experience we can get from digital outlets, but in how many instances can it beat the real thang?
I guess personally im the type who does not like to stay indoors for too long..i fact i react qte adversely to prolonged air-conditioning..i rather be out in the sun doing anything...whether its just for a simple dip to a leisurely hike to an excruciating game of soccer..
Really miss hiking and camping and outdoor cooking...haha
Saturday, July 08, 2006
I believe that
To Love is not to Posess
Sometimes u gotta set ur loved one and ur heart free to find true Love
Some say we should fight for our Love and for our Destiny
I guess i have done that before, with mixed results
At this point in Life, i've learned that sometimes
The greatest fight we have to put up with is
Ourself.
And that is one fight no one can help you with
A fight that you have to win.
Only after i won the greatest fight with myself did
I know how to win many other battles without a fight
Only then did i know how to set my heart free
To Love is not to Posess
Sometimes u gotta set ur loved one and ur heart free to find true Love
Some say we should fight for our Love and for our Destiny
I guess i have done that before, with mixed results
At this point in Life, i've learned that sometimes
The greatest fight we have to put up with is
Ourself.
And that is one fight no one can help you with
A fight that you have to win.
Only after i won the greatest fight with myself did
I know how to win many other battles without a fight
Only then did i know how to set my heart free
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Well if there's one thing i learned in life...
There ain't really such a thing as "The One"
I used to be qte a dreamer, qte a Romantic, qte absorbed in drama,
yes despite my usual cynic outlook
But nope that is not to say i'm not a believer in Fate
As much as i beleive in His great plan for me, i also feel that we are who we are
making the friends we make, indulging in encounters we have, all
also as a part of where the great ship of Fate steers us.
In this heady age where even
relationships become disposable to a certain extent
I think when two minds/hearts are able to come together and mingle
like two wisps of air forever chasing each other and wafting upwards
There is cause for applause and cheer
As knick-knacked as it may be, i guess we should forever treasure
this gaseous bind, whether it illuminates or it suffocates
i guess once again it's how both manouevre against the forces that be
that try to manipulate, castigate
Most imptly i guess both must make space for a foreign body
Only then can a venn union be made
For once we dwell in the well of love, we never do belong to ourselves
completely anymore.
There ain't really such a thing as "The One"
I used to be qte a dreamer, qte a Romantic, qte absorbed in drama,
yes despite my usual cynic outlook
But nope that is not to say i'm not a believer in Fate
As much as i beleive in His great plan for me, i also feel that we are who we are
making the friends we make, indulging in encounters we have, all
also as a part of where the great ship of Fate steers us.
In this heady age where even
relationships become disposable to a certain extent
I think when two minds/hearts are able to come together and mingle
like two wisps of air forever chasing each other and wafting upwards
There is cause for applause and cheer
As knick-knacked as it may be, i guess we should forever treasure
this gaseous bind, whether it illuminates or it suffocates
i guess once again it's how both manouevre against the forces that be
that try to manipulate, castigate
Most imptly i guess both must make space for a foreign body
Only then can a venn union be made
For once we dwell in the well of love, we never do belong to ourselves
completely anymore.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
The power of the Media. The power of suggestion
Every time i see the Adtrac clip which professes to showcase the "top 5 most-watched avertisements" in Singapore, i choke in disgust.
Take a minute to think about it:
1.DO you actually CHOOSE the advertisement you want to watch?
2.DO you actually switch channels primarily because you dunt like a certain ad, or conversely surf channels in search of your favourite ad?
3. DO you actually watch the ads anyway or do you instead take a pee break, snack break, pass the fruits, attempt to channel-surf without family protesting or check the latest 4D/TOTO results?
Rhetorical questions, i guess. Biased questioning, you may beckon.
But seriously, ithink it is more accurate to say that they are the 'top 5 advertisements that paid the top prices to be played right after most-watched TV PROGRAMMES'. And even that is only loosely based on the assumtion that viewers stay on the same channel even when their fav TV prog has lapsed into commercials.
The legitimacy of the Adtrac clip's claims are severely debatable, in my opinion. If you ask me, i see it as nothing more than a gimmick to give so-so advertisements more airtime and some sort of product differentiation. In short, it is nothing more than another thinly-disguised appendage of today's entertainment circle that has taken on such a commercial spirit.
Another trashy commercial apparatus that attempts to hoodwink those that are careless enough to slip into this make-belief and be further entrenched in this screen-based existence and experience.
Every time i see the Adtrac clip which professes to showcase the "top 5 most-watched avertisements" in Singapore, i choke in disgust.
Take a minute to think about it:
1.DO you actually CHOOSE the advertisement you want to watch?
2.DO you actually switch channels primarily because you dunt like a certain ad, or conversely surf channels in search of your favourite ad?
3. DO you actually watch the ads anyway or do you instead take a pee break, snack break, pass the fruits, attempt to channel-surf without family protesting or check the latest 4D/TOTO results?
Rhetorical questions, i guess. Biased questioning, you may beckon.
But seriously, ithink it is more accurate to say that they are the 'top 5 advertisements that paid the top prices to be played right after most-watched TV PROGRAMMES'. And even that is only loosely based on the assumtion that viewers stay on the same channel even when their fav TV prog has lapsed into commercials.
The legitimacy of the Adtrac clip's claims are severely debatable, in my opinion. If you ask me, i see it as nothing more than a gimmick to give so-so advertisements more airtime and some sort of product differentiation. In short, it is nothing more than another thinly-disguised appendage of today's entertainment circle that has taken on such a commercial spirit.
Another trashy commercial apparatus that attempts to hoodwink those that are careless enough to slip into this make-belief and be further entrenched in this screen-based existence and experience.
Monday, May 08, 2006
AWARENESS
Before this year's elections, i could be considered politically apathetic
Or worse, a political ignoramus.
I used to justify that most pple of my generation was like that, nothing wrong. And politics didnt really seem to affect my life.
SO i breezed through 21 years of consciousness thinking i was well-learned and educated, ready to go to NUS and do just what any teen of my educational profile would do.
Indeed, i could be considered well-educated, just educated enough for the State to feel comfortable with i guess.
21 years of my life, my knowledge of the local political scene and local politics were gleaned from the State paper, radio, television.
But it only took 5 minutes at a rally to break all that fairytale and what's-done-is-always-best-for-you myth.
And from then on all my five senses were opened, i should say i was slowly waking up from a very heavy sedation.
Imagine waking up in the middle of an operation, finding that the anaesthesia has worn off just enough for you to have consciousness. You dunt remember agreeing to the op, but protest is useless since They will insist it's in your best long-term interests anyway. These individuals in white, all too busy with their professional tasks to notice your consciousness and increased heart activity. Incision is imminent, yet all your struggles are in vain as you find there is still enough to curb almost all muscular movement. You watch as they bleed you a little to prepare for the main beef of it. You're hooked up, you need constant blood transfusions. You summon all the might left inside you to force a tear, maybe that will attract attention.
Now elections are over. Status quo maintained with gains for the opposition almost all over the island. one in three singaporeans have voted for an alternative. hopes this forces a re-think of mentality and strategy. now they have started the post-election mop-up machinery.
I feel qte drained and filled with a sense of helplessness, hopelessness. what kind of society are we living in, here in sunny singapore? so many incidences that hark back to an Orwellian society..its scary hairy.
Before this year's elections, i could be considered politically apathetic
Or worse, a political ignoramus.
I used to justify that most pple of my generation was like that, nothing wrong. And politics didnt really seem to affect my life.
SO i breezed through 21 years of consciousness thinking i was well-learned and educated, ready to go to NUS and do just what any teen of my educational profile would do.
Indeed, i could be considered well-educated, just educated enough for the State to feel comfortable with i guess.
21 years of my life, my knowledge of the local political scene and local politics were gleaned from the State paper, radio, television.
But it only took 5 minutes at a rally to break all that fairytale and what's-done-is-always-best-for-you myth.
And from then on all my five senses were opened, i should say i was slowly waking up from a very heavy sedation.
Imagine waking up in the middle of an operation, finding that the anaesthesia has worn off just enough for you to have consciousness. You dunt remember agreeing to the op, but protest is useless since They will insist it's in your best long-term interests anyway. These individuals in white, all too busy with their professional tasks to notice your consciousness and increased heart activity. Incision is imminent, yet all your struggles are in vain as you find there is still enough to curb almost all muscular movement. You watch as they bleed you a little to prepare for the main beef of it. You're hooked up, you need constant blood transfusions. You summon all the might left inside you to force a tear, maybe that will attract attention.
Now elections are over. Status quo maintained with gains for the opposition almost all over the island. one in three singaporeans have voted for an alternative. hopes this forces a re-think of mentality and strategy. now they have started the post-election mop-up machinery.
I feel qte drained and filled with a sense of helplessness, hopelessness. what kind of society are we living in, here in sunny singapore? so many incidences that hark back to an Orwellian society..its scary hairy.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Running
The month of March that's past went fast
And indeed it was quite a blast
It started off with my own 21st bdae
And ended off with a mass birthday celebration
Much is past and there have been qte a few developments in my life
New outlooks, renewed friendships, new opportunities, new dilemmas
Just went jogging with Edwin yesternite
Joined him on his rigorous exercise regime
A realisation that my sedentary lifestyle was poisoning me
Kickstarted this sudden urge to deny
myself from further procrastination, denial, inaction
I've always loved running..perhaps ever since i was drafted into my primary school track & field team
In my secondary school days, running was something i could no with so much ease
And running at Pandan reservoir gave me so much please
The fusion of personal fulfilment at being able to excel
And the sportsman's competitive drive
As i watch myself zooming past others
As i feel myself caressed by the deep blue sky and wafting clouds
as if the run was just between me and Mother Nature
Running with edwin was a whole new experience
I've never acually run with him before
And this time in an estate qte new yet familiar to me
Filled me with excitement
Though we didn't talk much
A certain chemistry and bonding existed
We just ran, through the neighbourhoods
Amidst the caressing night breeze
With passers-by and dogs looking on
We just kept running
Breathing's heavy, our chests thumping
The adrenaline kept us pounding
I started to realise an enchanting notion about pathways
Just as i was exploring new neighbourhoods on these paths
It mirrored my attempts at finding direction in life
Recently some new windows have opened in my life
Introducing me to avenues i never thought available for me
Some of them were always there for me, just that i never noticed
Never appreciated, never grabbed the opportunity
Indeed, some of these pathways of life are always there,
It is up to oneself to want to, and boldly choose to take them
To put trust in them to take me where i want
Just like how i put trust in Edwin to take me on a good run
Sometimes we need to trust in another to take us where we want
I ran considerably slower than usual yesterday
Besides the fact that i was qte out of shape,
I guess i was carying too much weight
More than the 1.5kg waterbag i was carrying,
I guess i had too much emotional baggage
I knew i was very distracted while running
Some dilemmas in my head, things that i thought would never bother me
And perhaps an opportunity at romance, my own fate to grab
I wasn't free-running like i usually did, without care and worries
Running somehow was a good way to sort out my thoughts
It emptied my soul of all other distractions of life
What remained were usually what were most important
What i should pay the most attention to and focus on
I jus kept running, not from my problems,
but to clear my soul in order to better get in touch with my inner self
After the run, though completely exhausted and broken,
I was much clearer about what i wanted
Sometimes it's not until the old mould is completely broken
Can we emerge anew and refreshed
Ready to take on any oncoming challenge
Next run's tomorrow.
The month of March that's past went fast
And indeed it was quite a blast
It started off with my own 21st bdae
And ended off with a mass birthday celebration
Much is past and there have been qte a few developments in my life
New outlooks, renewed friendships, new opportunities, new dilemmas
Just went jogging with Edwin yesternite
Joined him on his rigorous exercise regime
A realisation that my sedentary lifestyle was poisoning me
Kickstarted this sudden urge to deny
myself from further procrastination, denial, inaction
I've always loved running..perhaps ever since i was drafted into my primary school track & field team
In my secondary school days, running was something i could no with so much ease
And running at Pandan reservoir gave me so much please
The fusion of personal fulfilment at being able to excel
And the sportsman's competitive drive
As i watch myself zooming past others
As i feel myself caressed by the deep blue sky and wafting clouds
as if the run was just between me and Mother Nature
Running with edwin was a whole new experience
I've never acually run with him before
And this time in an estate qte new yet familiar to me
Filled me with excitement
Though we didn't talk much
A certain chemistry and bonding existed
We just ran, through the neighbourhoods
Amidst the caressing night breeze
With passers-by and dogs looking on
We just kept running
Breathing's heavy, our chests thumping
The adrenaline kept us pounding
I started to realise an enchanting notion about pathways
Just as i was exploring new neighbourhoods on these paths
It mirrored my attempts at finding direction in life
Recently some new windows have opened in my life
Introducing me to avenues i never thought available for me
Some of them were always there for me, just that i never noticed
Never appreciated, never grabbed the opportunity
Indeed, some of these pathways of life are always there,
It is up to oneself to want to, and boldly choose to take them
To put trust in them to take me where i want
Just like how i put trust in Edwin to take me on a good run
Sometimes we need to trust in another to take us where we want
I ran considerably slower than usual yesterday
Besides the fact that i was qte out of shape,
I guess i was carying too much weight
More than the 1.5kg waterbag i was carrying,
I guess i had too much emotional baggage
I knew i was very distracted while running
Some dilemmas in my head, things that i thought would never bother me
And perhaps an opportunity at romance, my own fate to grab
I wasn't free-running like i usually did, without care and worries
Running somehow was a good way to sort out my thoughts
It emptied my soul of all other distractions of life
What remained were usually what were most important
What i should pay the most attention to and focus on
I jus kept running, not from my problems,
but to clear my soul in order to better get in touch with my inner self
After the run, though completely exhausted and broken,
I was much clearer about what i wanted
Sometimes it's not until the old mould is completely broken
Can we emerge anew and refreshed
Ready to take on any oncoming challenge
Next run's tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
As i approach my 21st Bdae, i'm not really sure what to feel
There's alot of hype bout the 21st bdae and i've experienced them 1st hand
After celebrating for a few friends who were early this year
Well i guess it's obvious by now that i'm somehow not that excited
About my very own 21st bade
Hmm..well for one i'm not the type that really emphasises alot
On my own bdae
I know it means alot to many of my friends so i do put in effort
To some of those closer to me, to make it really special for them
However when it comes to my own bdae, usually it just washes
Out like any other day
Sometimes my close friends remember and remind me of it before
I snap out of my mundane life
Most of the time i tell my frenz to keep it simple
Which is exactly what i prefer it to be
Which is what should happen for this one
Not that diff from any other bdae
If you ask me which of my bdaes i remember the best
Somehow i have vivid memories of one in sec3/sec4
Where my classmates gave me an adult magazine and
A shared card signed by most of the class
It's in my traeasure box of heartfelt gifts now
testimony to the little differences
i've made in some people's lives i guess
This 21st bade is kinda special also because it falls on
Ash Wednesday, a Catholic occassion which is
Actually kinda sorrowful and mournful
I could go on to explain how it heralds Lent but yeah
Basically it means that I need to go to Church at night
And that i should generally be in a reflective, meditative
Mood, no outward celebration i guess
Ok lah but i kinda find it significant cos
Ash Wednesday also reminds one of his mortality,
Of the Lord's great sacrifice of life for us,
Where "Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes"
Will be uttered in Church.
Somehow i can draw the link that it is an occassion similar to a bdae
It kinda reminds one that as we live in triumph of death
Every step we take is also a walk towards eventual death
Mortality
Both ocassions also encourage reflection on what one has
Done in life. Where i believe it matters more to count the
Differences you've made in people's lives than anything else
In life. Even ambition may be construed to be self-serving
As i walk along in life
I hope i will be constantly reminded of my mortality
Know what really matters in life
Live it to the fullest
And have close friends read my eulogy to all those whose grand lives
Have somehow been brushed by mine
There's alot of hype bout the 21st bdae and i've experienced them 1st hand
After celebrating for a few friends who were early this year
Well i guess it's obvious by now that i'm somehow not that excited
About my very own 21st bade
Hmm..well for one i'm not the type that really emphasises alot
On my own bdae
I know it means alot to many of my friends so i do put in effort
To some of those closer to me, to make it really special for them
However when it comes to my own bdae, usually it just washes
Out like any other day
Sometimes my close friends remember and remind me of it before
I snap out of my mundane life
Most of the time i tell my frenz to keep it simple
Which is exactly what i prefer it to be
Which is what should happen for this one
Not that diff from any other bdae
If you ask me which of my bdaes i remember the best
Somehow i have vivid memories of one in sec3/sec4
Where my classmates gave me an adult magazine and
A shared card signed by most of the class
It's in my traeasure box of heartfelt gifts now
testimony to the little differences
i've made in some people's lives i guess
This 21st bade is kinda special also because it falls on
Ash Wednesday, a Catholic occassion which is
Actually kinda sorrowful and mournful
I could go on to explain how it heralds Lent but yeah
Basically it means that I need to go to Church at night
And that i should generally be in a reflective, meditative
Mood, no outward celebration i guess
Ok lah but i kinda find it significant cos
Ash Wednesday also reminds one of his mortality,
Of the Lord's great sacrifice of life for us,
Where "Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes"
Will be uttered in Church.
Somehow i can draw the link that it is an occassion similar to a bdae
It kinda reminds one that as we live in triumph of death
Every step we take is also a walk towards eventual death
Mortality
Both ocassions also encourage reflection on what one has
Done in life. Where i believe it matters more to count the
Differences you've made in people's lives than anything else
In life. Even ambition may be construed to be self-serving
As i walk along in life
I hope i will be constantly reminded of my mortality
Know what really matters in life
Live it to the fullest
And have close friends read my eulogy to all those whose grand lives
Have somehow been brushed by mine
Sunday, February 26, 2006
I've come to realise that sometimes
We dunt really know our frenz well
Off the cuff, we may be able to name
Up to ten good friends that we have
And talk to frequently and consult
Regarding life's never-ending queries
Yet when we size things down, perhaps
Only a few of them know intimately about
Your life, your previous love lives, your current
Your ambition, your dreams, your family background
Your innermost thoughts that few would appreciate
Or understand with respect to who you are
Perhaps only a few know why you say things
The way you say it
Why you regard people
the way you do
Why you regard money
the way you do
Why you regard love
the way you do
Why you regard family
the way you do
Why you regard religion
the way you do
Why you regard image
the way you do
Perhaps only a few will respect and understand
You for being who you are
The same goes for our friends i guess
When we claim them to be our true frenz, gd frenz, best frenz,
How much do we actually know about them?
Some of our friends just get relegated to being old friends, past acquaintances
Once our social circles diverge, we dunt really seem to know much about them anymore
The little info that we garner about old frenz,
Through proxy frenz, through blogs, through brief MSN chats, thru mass smses
Would not suffice to paint a picture of our frenz life adequately
Many things in life may hold us back from approaching
Such frenz for dinner or a catch-up session
I only hope that i do not lose sight of those friendships i
Truly treasure and truly want to retain and develop
As i approach my 21st birthdae, may i be able to
Consolidate some of my life's expereiences
And have in my heart a firm web of friendships
That i know will help me thru life
And make me a stronger person
We dunt really know our frenz well
Off the cuff, we may be able to name
Up to ten good friends that we have
And talk to frequently and consult
Regarding life's never-ending queries
Yet when we size things down, perhaps
Only a few of them know intimately about
Your life, your previous love lives, your current
Your ambition, your dreams, your family background
Your innermost thoughts that few would appreciate
Or understand with respect to who you are
Perhaps only a few know why you say things
The way you say it
Why you regard people
the way you do
Why you regard money
the way you do
Why you regard love
the way you do
Why you regard family
the way you do
Why you regard religion
the way you do
Why you regard image
the way you do
Perhaps only a few will respect and understand
You for being who you are
The same goes for our friends i guess
When we claim them to be our true frenz, gd frenz, best frenz,
How much do we actually know about them?
Some of our friends just get relegated to being old friends, past acquaintances
Once our social circles diverge, we dunt really seem to know much about them anymore
The little info that we garner about old frenz,
Through proxy frenz, through blogs, through brief MSN chats, thru mass smses
Would not suffice to paint a picture of our frenz life adequately
Many things in life may hold us back from approaching
Such frenz for dinner or a catch-up session
I only hope that i do not lose sight of those friendships i
Truly treasure and truly want to retain and develop
As i approach my 21st birthdae, may i be able to
Consolidate some of my life's expereiences
And have in my heart a firm web of friendships
That i know will help me thru life
And make me a stronger person
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Recently i've been blogging alot
I'm not sure what it means,
Whether i'm too free, have more time to reflect, or probably plainly because i have too much angst now
One thing i know for sure is that my last leg of NSF life has really been screwed up
Nowadays in office, i truly feel that i'm wasting away my youth inside
That i'm not really contributing much
That i'm not being enriched by this NS experience
Maybe i shldnt expect too much
This is an Army life anyway, not school or work attachment
Oh yes its like an attachment in the sense that i pull long hours, am enslaved and underpaid,
And most of all i dutn really have much of a choice
Previously i would feel self-disppointment if i cldnt execute a task well
Nowadays i put in ZERO personal effort as a final scorn to something i believe in anymore
Also because i know personal effort isnt appreciated here
Only minor mistakes are magnified
I've tried to learn the way of Zen
But its either that im a bad student
Or that my job scope and exposure just doesnt allow that
Nevertheless, i choose to heck care
Call me names, Judge me like a Pharisee, say wateva u want
I've made my peace with Him
I believe i've done more than my fair share for this enterprise
And when personal queries out of concern are snubbed and rebuked
I know it's not worth it anymore
I'm not sure what it means,
Whether i'm too free, have more time to reflect, or probably plainly because i have too much angst now
One thing i know for sure is that my last leg of NSF life has really been screwed up
Nowadays in office, i truly feel that i'm wasting away my youth inside
That i'm not really contributing much
That i'm not being enriched by this NS experience
Maybe i shldnt expect too much
This is an Army life anyway, not school or work attachment
Oh yes its like an attachment in the sense that i pull long hours, am enslaved and underpaid,
And most of all i dutn really have much of a choice
Previously i would feel self-disppointment if i cldnt execute a task well
Nowadays i put in ZERO personal effort as a final scorn to something i believe in anymore
Also because i know personal effort isnt appreciated here
Only minor mistakes are magnified
I've tried to learn the way of Zen
But its either that im a bad student
Or that my job scope and exposure just doesnt allow that
Nevertheless, i choose to heck care
Call me names, Judge me like a Pharisee, say wateva u want
I've made my peace with Him
I believe i've done more than my fair share for this enterprise
And when personal queries out of concern are snubbed and rebuked
I know it's not worth it anymore
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