Categories
Musings Singapore

1 Step Forward, 10 Steps Back

So once again, Singaporeans discuss homosexuality. However, this time round, it’s not a discussion about repealing Section 377A (which I still maintain is archaic and should be abolished), but about our very own Health Promotion Board posting a FAQ on sexuality, and touched specifically on issues / topics surrounding homosexuality.

Screenshot from HPB:

hpbscreenshot

 

Other than an obvious filter for gays/bisexuals (where are the lesbians in this FAQ?), I was rather glad to see this type of information being available online with a neutral stand. Taking a sample question on “How and when will I know if I’m gay or bisexual?” The answer that was provided is neutral and provides simple & good information. 

hpbscreenshot2

 

So we can now all look to the sky with tears running down our faces, thinking how much of a progress this is for our nation.

BUT OF COURSE, WHO AM I KIDDING?

A Minister of Parliament has to feel ‘disappointed’

A magic-wielding pastor is shocked and deeply upset

Online petitions to take down the FAQ

Online petition to restore the FAQ

And more discussions online as usual, since this is the internet.

At the end of the day, there really isn’t anything different whether you are homosexual or heterosexual. I don’t even care if you are into bestiality if that’s what floats your boat. (I do judge pedophiles very much)

In a way, I’m glad we are having this type of conversations or discussions, or even moving one step forward at all.

Personally, I see Singaporeans as rebelling teenagers to their archaic parent / government. Some teenagers rebel and fight because they can, and for no particular reason. Most teenagers fight back because they finally see that things are not the way their parents say they are, and they are refusing to just swallow everything that their parents say without questioning. They are finally coming into their own skin and very eager to cultivate their own personality and be themselves for the first time. Those who succeed at changing their parents go on to become strong men and women; those who fail simply slide back into their personal oblivion. Most of us, however, find a middle road and pick the battles that actually matter to us, and let some things go. I think we will get to see who we truly become in the next couple of decades. It took us 50 years to get to this stage, I do not expect us to grow up as a nation in one or two elections. I just hope to see progress before I leave this world.

Categories
Musings

9 years of blogging

Amazingly, it has been 9 years since my first blog post. The first time I wrote something and posted it for the world to see. The first time I’d shared my thoughts with people I don’t know, and will possibly never get to know. Isn’t it quite incredible? That there are people who are interested in what you say and your thoughts and opinions. I will always be thankful that even though I’m just a little voice in the world, the internet is big enough to accommodate me.

Happy birthday to the blogging me.

 

Categories
Drama

The Master’s Sun

My first impression of Korean dramas started with Autumn’s Fairy Tale back in 2000, which was the first show that was brought into Singapore. Now, I have never had any liking to tear jerking shows that basically have the main characters cry from episode 1 to the last episode. And the story is all love drama with terribly unfortunate characters. And this was what Autumn’s Fairy Tale & the next show brought in, Winter Sonata, was like.

It wasn’t till My Name Is Kim Sam Soon in 2005 which finally gave me a different view of Korean dramas. The show, albeit really good, was not enough to reverse the impact the earlier shows had on my aversion to Korean dramas. Until The Master’s Sun.

Imagine a horror romantic comedy with cheesy situations and corny lines. Throw in great acting, charming actors & actresses, intriguing cinematography; perfect recipe for a great prime time drama! If there’s one reason to watch this show, it’s the awesome acting by the main female lead. She’s cute, pathetic, funny all rolled into one neat little package. And she actually convinces me that she can see ghosts and there are really ‘people’ around her.

It’s only 16 episodes and will end on 2 October 2013, so go watch it online!!!

wR4nQ4D

Categories
Drama

Shomuni Returns!~

They are back! I really should pay more attention to Japanese dramas. Good thing I caught this while browsing a new streaming site.

shomuni2013

Categories
Interweb Musings 中文

再見了，我都不用的無名

無名要關啦。

wretch1

我記得無名開始紅起來的時候，我已經有了自己的部落格，這平台就都一直被遺忘著。記得當初開個無名也不過是因為要去看看吳青峰的網誌。只是看著看著也覺得無聊便漸漸遺忘這個地方。今天偶然得知無名終於要關閉了，就上去看看我以前的無名到底長什麼樣子。

最近的一封竟然是2008年！這期間發生了好多事情啊，真的是歲月不留人，轉眼5年就這樣子過去了。這5年我也成長了不少，但卻並沒有我希望的成長幅度。接下來的5年只好更加加油了。

wretch2

再見啦，無名。

Categories
Interweb Technology

I’m a registered Facebook Developer!

HAHAHA. Actually, all I wanted to do was to be able to auto publish my blog posts to Facebook, but the plugin I wanted to use requires me to create an app in Facebook. It was all surprisingly easy and I was done in a couple of minutes.

So now, this should work. 🙂

blog-facebook-developer

Categories
Technology

Apple releases new iPhone. Right.

Now everyone, yawn with me.

Apple’s just released their newest iPhone offering and hey! It’s nothing special! It looks the same, has the same specs and nothing groundbreaking.

Oh right, there’s now a lower cost iPhone 5C aimed for the China market.. That’s it! C for China! How original! Awwww, there’s so many colours! No more having to decide between only black and white. Now I can haz pink, yellow, blue and green!

iphone5c

But why does these colours look so familiar??

Oh right! Because Nokia Lumia came out with colourful phones a million years ago! And to be honest, the UI is much better too.

windowsphone

Where’s the innovation in Apple’s products now? Where’s the anticipation and the excitement!?

Sigh

Categories
Musings Singapore

Pawnshops: Sign of the times or just bad spending habit?

Pawnshops hit paydirt as Southeast Asians sweat before pay day | Fox Business.

Sign of bad times? Maybe. I think there is a certain amount of living beyond your means and spending all you have instead of saving when times are good. Thus, when times fall bad, these people lose their ability to maintain their previous lifestyle. However, not being able to adjust immediately, the cab rides continue, the new clothes, expensive restaurants, specialty drinks instead of plain old water… Thus the spending remained high, while the income is not coming in like before.

I still believe that everyone needs to have cash savings that is 2-3 months of our monthly salary. If anything befalls us, like loss of employment etc and we lose a regular paycheck, we need to know that we can live the same way for 3 months, or stretch it out by a few more months if we watch our spending. Before we buy that expensive watch, have we stopped to think if we can afford to pay that if we lose our job tomorrow? Or when we buy that 2,000 dollar bag, do we stop to think if that cleans out our savings? Or if we whip out our credit card to pay for that manicure & pedicure package, are we spending money we don’t actually have? I ask, because folks who have things to pawn, obviously once had the ‘ability’ to purchase these items. I just question if that ability is real or an illusion.

With the credit card companies offering loans and all, or giving the consumers the ability to pay a large sum by installment (with a 5% fee), it is very easy for Singaporeans to get into the easy mentality that it is only a few hundred dollars a month, so it works out to be a small amount monthly. However, when there is no income, a few hundred dollars a month is a massive amount of money, in comparison.

Even though I’m not the most thrifty person in the world, and I do love my little indulges, I do make sure that I have a separate savings account that I transfer money to every single month as soon as my salary comes in. If I intend to travel to somewhere far, like Europe or USA, I draw up a budget, and save up for the balance. I admit, I fall off the bandwagon every now and then and spend a larger sum of money and deplete my funds a bit, but I very quickly replenish them.

I just hope that Singapore do not become like Taiwan, where a majority of the country’s citizens are drowning in debt.

 

Categories
Musings

Hurrumph

I got a bit annoyed when I saw this in my inbox.

Pandora, if you’re not opening your services up to my country, don’t send me this email! boohoo

Pandora

Categories
Interweb Musings Translations

Random JCNet Pride

I’m just randomly feeling proud of myself today. Not for my groundbreaking ability, but because I was, at some point in my life, involved in www.jay-chou.net. The people I have met and kept in touch from there is just incredible. There’s even a Whatsapp chat group now with some of the Singaporean JCNetters, and we go out every so often. I’m floored every time I think of what we have accomplished in and with JCNet.

Before anyone starts to think I must be this massive Jay Chou fan to even join a Jay Chou forum, I am not. A friend of mine was and she raved about how fun the forum was and how they don’t all just talk about Jay. So I decided I was going to try it out and see what it gives me. To my absolute joy, it was the best decision I ever made! There was camaraderie, it was fun and entertaining, and it taught me a whole lot about internet etiquette. I always smile when I remember how we would throw sarcastic remarks on trolls until they crash and burn. BURN!

This was how it looked like when I first joined, back in 2004.

jcnet2

Personally, the best thing that JCNet was known for is their news and translations. We had all the best translations of Jay’s lyrics for every single album, in Han Yu Pin Yin and English. Our translations went far and wide, pilfered left and right, all over the internet. Folks would email our web administrator and demand for the translations if we are a bit late. We were the first place folks who did not understand Mandarin came to as soon as Jay released a new album. We were known. 🙂

Translating lyrics was always hard work and it would never have happened if we didn’t have translators who were dedicated to what they were doing, even though it was entirely voluntary. I’m so proud to have been able to contribute to that team. All the lyrics translations you see on this blog were done by me, and posted on JCNet. Google the translation for 青花瓷, you’d still find my work all over the internet (Over 250,000 results by searching the first line of the English translation). This simple thing just makes me want to puff up my chest and walk with a smug smile on my face. It’s not a fantastic translation, but it was the best I could have done at that time. It’s something like a legacy that I’m leaving in the internet world.

Good things never seem to last, and when Jay stopped producing enough news-worthy albums and all the news and information we could find about him was really the same piece, recycled, the forum sort of died. Plus, most of us just, well, grew up. We were no longer University students with plenty of time on our hands. We graduated, got jobs, got married, had kids! Life outside of JCNet caught up and that phase of our lives just faded into non-existence.

This was just before it was taken down.

jcnet1

Now it’s just gone.

jcnet3

I’m a little sad, but it had its good times and I guess I’d rather have it go when it’s still good, than let it die a cold sorry death.