The Bash

So strange… I was trying to find the Stomp thread that was started very recently about the college which drew tonnes of negative comments, but it wasn’t there anymore. Like I said in a previous post, the college should stop giving so many second chances and just issue a lawyer’s letter to them. It worked for those schools that did so. But of course, the student might be emotionally scarred.

https://akbywerk2.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/30-irony-incomplete-zzzz/

But I chanced upon the blog belonging to the fellow I commented on in that previous post who had his very own college ‘bash’, and this particular old post of his was bashing another school which I am familiar with. The Vice Principal and I had a chat about that particular string of incidents which irked that blogger, and that only reminded me of the contemporary difficulties of the people of my profession.

Ancestral Recall

It is back to the good old fashion typing in of the article for me since there is no website that carries this Straits Times article dated as ancient as the memory of your Preliminary Examinations.

The real King Macbeth, my ancestor
John McBeth
Aug 14, 2009

…the Bard subjected my clan to eternal scorn and ridicule.

As far as I can determine, the home truths are these: Born near Iverness in the western highlands, Macbeth was not the Thane of Cawdor, whose cute castle of the same name e wouldn’t have been caught dead in. We like our castles more rough and ready.

He did not kill King Duncan in bed, as Shakespeare has it in that travesty of a play, but in face-to-face combat in Pitgaveny…

Lady Macbeth, reputedly the daughter of Kenneth II of Scotland, was not at all wicked. Banquo and Macduff never existed. There were no witches and Birnam Wood…didn’t move anywhere.

Eighteen long years passed before Malcolm, Duncan’s son, took his revenge in Lumhanan, where Macbeth, 52, had stopped to quench his thirst at the village well after an exhausting retreat…

The mortally wounded king was beheaded on a stone…

The Scots tend to sneer at colonials like me who have this rather romantic attachment to their ancestral homeland, much as Africans react to African-Americans trying to make a connection to Africa.

But then, most of them do not have a king as their ancestor…an appalling number know very little themselves about the real story of Macbeth and his reputation as a wise monarch who had even undertaken a journey to Rome in 1050 to meet the Pope.

My forefather…escaped the English yolk by emigrating on the first pioneer boat from Scotland to New Zealand in October 1839.

He and his wife were, I believe, among the thousands of Scots displaced in the so-called Highland Clearances, which paved the way for London’s creation of large sheep and cattle estates in the first half of the 1800s.
…
Perhaps it is because of the passage of time, but it has been disturbing to note the almost total absence of my clan’s bluish tartan in local shops and the Scotland Tourist Board’s failure to even post signs of Macbeth historical significance.
…
…”He (SHakespeare) embellished and distorted everything,”…Scottish nationalism is still alive and well.
…
Local knowledge was in short supply…

Doing some preliminary research, I impetuously left a message on the official Duncan clan website complaining about the way it discussed Macbeth’s life and death in Shakespearean terms.

“I would hardly think a playwright as famous as Shakespeare, however historically inaccurate the play was or is, would demise the name of Macbeth,” shot back Clan Duncan Society chairman John Duncan of Skeltraw.

“Secondly,” he went on, a trifle testily, “‘Macbeth of Shakespearean fame’ is a reference to the Macbeth who actually was involved in the misfortunes of Duncan. There are many who would never make a connection.”

After a lifetime of people doing just that, I beg to differ. But instead of arguing, I sought his advice on how to plan my itinerary to include all things Macbeth. I never got a reply–then realised I was asking the wrong man.

Now, with my long-cherished mission to Scotland finally accomplished, all that remains for me to do is change mye-mail address to something more historically accurate.

thane.cawdor@gmail.com

* * *

I enjoyed reading–and typing–this article. Angry but witty. (That email address is real, by the way.) This is one clear case of how literature challenges history, to the extent that people celebrate fiction in the name of fact.

For some, roots are important. It is a matter of pride, worth, truth.

Is Hokkien my ‘mother tongue’? (ST, Sep 23, 2009) 
Alfian Sa’at

A LONG time ago, a Chinese man saw some Malays eating a fruit. It had a spiky shell, but its insides were filled with large seeds covered by yellow, buttery flesh. He had never seen (nor smelt!) a fruit like it in his native village in Fujian. What was the fruit called, he asked the Malays.

‘Durian,’ they replied – from the Malay word duri, meaning ‘thorn’. And so the Chinese man went back and told his friends about this new fruit. As the word spread, it became incorporated into Hokkien as loo lian.

Then one day, a new fruit made its appearance, native to South America. It was also green, with a spiky exterior. It was known as ‘soursop’ in English.

The Malays had a tendency to append the word belanda (meaning ‘Dutch’) to anything foreign that they had never seen before. Examples include kambing belanda (sheep), ayam belanda (turkey), kucing belanda (rabbit). So they called soursop durian belanda.

The Hokkiens, on the other hand, called it ang mo loo lian. Ang mo – roughly ‘Western’ – was also used for other edibles, like ang mo kio (tomato) and ang mo chai thou (carrot). The word ang mo loo lian carries traces of Hokkien’s contact with both Malay and the West.

The study of loan words has always fascinated me, for they give clues to the kinds of social interactions that occurred in the past. I sketched a scenario above of how a single word from one language entered another. But the process is much more complex than that, probably involving long-term, sustained contact. The chain of transmission might even involve an intermediary, such as the Straits Chinese (or Peranakans), whose Baba patois contains both Malay and Hokkien words.

Here are some words that were borrowed from Hokkien into Malay: beca (trishaw), bihun (vermicelli), cat (paint), cincai (any old how), gua (I/me), guli (marbles), kentang (potato), kamceng (close), kuih (cake), kongsi (share), kuaci (melon seeds), teko (teapot), taugeh (bean sprout), tahu (beancurd) and tauke (boss). (Note that ‘c’ in Malay has the ‘ch’ sound.)

This linguistic exchange was a two-way process. Here are some Malay words that penetrated Hokkien: agak (guess or moderate), botak (bald), champur (mix), gadoh (fight), gaji (wages), jamban (toilet), kachiau (disturb), otang (owe/ debt), pakat (conspire), pasar (market), pitchia (break), salah (wrong), senget (crooked), sukak (like), tiam (quiet) and torlong (help).

There are even some Cantonese words that are now part of Malay parlance, such as pokai (broke or penniless) and samseng (gangster). Interestingly, it has been postulated that the word sam seng (three stars) was derived from the fact that recruits in the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army wore caps emblazoned with three stars, each representing one of the main races in Malaya: Malays, Chinese and Indians.

In the Singapore Armed Forces, one of the things all NSmen were told by their sergeants was that ‘over here, Hokkien is your mother tongue’. This was based on the stereotypes that Hokkien was a gendered, macho language, with the most pungent swear words.

But considering how Hokkien words have entered the Malay language, I have realised that there is a larger truth to that statement. It is like tracing a family tree and then discovering that I had a Hokkien great-great-great-greatgrandmother. As a matter of fact, since almost two-thirds of the Malay lexicon consist of borrowings, I definitely had Arabic and Indian (linguistic) ancestors too.

Malays have a saying: bahasa jiwa bangsa, ‘language is the soul of a race’. But there is a tension in the phrase. We tend to think of ‘race’ as something bounded and rigid. But ‘language’ does not have such impermeable borders. Words of various origins pass through open checkpoints, undergo shifts in meaning, and become naturalised over time.

Thus, as much as we may like to be essentialist about our race, we cannot escape from the hybridities already extant in our language. There is humility in the idea that no language is perfect on its own, and will borrow words to make up for its lack.

My Hokkien friends who travel overseas would often relate to me the sense of dislocation they feel when speaking to other Hokkien speakers. A friend who went to Taiwan, for example, was surprised to note that they did not understand what loti meant. Another friend shared a story about the nuances of pokai in Hong Kong.

At the end of the month, he moaned out loud at the office kam chi pokai le (‘I’m broke this time’) and all eyes turned on him. Pokai means ‘broke’ in Singapore. But in Hong Kong, pokai (literally, ‘cast out on the streets’) suggests something worse, like being destitute on the streets or being beaten up.

It is easy to interpret these instances as evidence that the Chinese in this part of the world have been ‘contaminated’ by other cultures. I happen to take the opposite view: The Nanyang Chinese have evolved an identity of their own, incorporating elements of other cultures. That this has been possible is a testament to their openness and curiosity.

Much ink (and tears) has been spilled on how the promotion of Mandarin here has resulted in what some have called the ‘cultural lobotomy’ of the Chinese community. In many ways, I sympathise with the late Kuo Pao Kun’s observation that Chinese Singaporeans are ‘cultural orphans’, snatched as they were from their biological southern Chinese bosoms and placed in the laps of Mandarin-speaking foster mothers.

A familiar lament is that the declining use of the southern Chinese languages has resulted in the estrangement between generations of Chinese Singaporeans. I would argue that it has also led to some estrangement among the various languages. I do not know if I should worry about the fact that the traffic of loan words has almost ceased between Malay and Mandarin.

It is premature to theorise that this is a symptom of less interaction among the races. After all, there is English to mediate our communications with one another. But the fact remains that I do not know of a single Malay word that has Mandarin origins.

Somehow, our forefathers, of various races, knew how to pakat against common enemies, were able to kongsi their resources, and in the process of all that champur, became kamcheng with one another. The product of their alliances, friendships and inter-marriages is reflected in the languages we have inherited.

To lose this legacy is to sever a vital connection not only to the historical origins of the Nanyang Chinese, but also to Singapore’s dynamic multicultural past.

The writer is a poet and playwright. He thanks Lai Chee Kien for his inputs. A longer version of this essay first appeared in The Online Citizen.

* * *

Alfian was also a relief teacher with the Ministry before being fired one month later for no clear reason. I’m not sure if the Ministry had followed up on that but I’m sure this is a guy who wants to get to the root of any problem. When uncertainty is rife, only time will tell.

Time Will Tell (TIME, Sep 21, 2009 online; Sep 28)
Nancy Gibbs

Every fall the professors at Beloit College publish their Mindset List, a dictionary of all the deeply ingrained cultural references that will make no sense to the bright-eyed students of the incoming class. It’s a kind of time travel, to remind us how far we’ve come. This year’s freshmen were typically born in 1991. That means, the authors explain, they have never used a card catalog to find a book; salsa has always outsold ketchup; women have always outnumbered men in college. There has always been blue Jell-O.

In 1991 we were fighting a war in Iraq, and still are; health care needed reforming, and still does. But before despairing that some things never change, consider how much has. In 1991 the world watched a black motorist named Rodney King be beaten by L.A. cops, all of whom were acquitted; a majority of whites still disapproved of interracial marriage. Ask yourself, Would the people we were then have voted for a mixed-race President and a black First Lady?

That year, apartheid was repealed, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Dow broke 3000. The next year, the first commercial text message was sent; now there are more transmitted every day than there are people on the planet. In the time it took for toddlers to turn into teenagers, we decoded the human genome and everyone got a cell phone, an iPod, a GPS and a DVR. As the head-spinning viral video “Did You Know” informs us, the top 10 jobs in demand in 2010 did not exist six years ago, so “we’re preparing kids for jobs that don’t yet exist using technologies we haven’t yet invented.”

We have managed, rather gracefully, far more change than we predicted would come; it turns out that our past’s vision of the future was not visionary enough. This is often the case: reality puts prophecy to shame. “Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote,” declared Grover Cleveland in 1905. Harry Truman, in his 1950 State of the Union address to mark the midcentury, predicted that “our total national production 50 years from now will be four times as much as it is today.” It turned out to be more than 33 times as large. “It will be gone by June,” promised Variety in 1955 — talking about rock ‘n’ roll. “It will be years — not in my time — before a woman will become Prime Minister,” declared Margaret Thatcher in 1969.

Leaders rely on the future as a vaccine against the present. The Soviets have put a man in space? “I believe we should go to the moon,” President Kennedy announces. “I have a dream,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. declares as the world around him burns. Maybe the promise is realized, even surpassed; maybe it keeps receding, pulling us along. “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time,” Abraham Lincoln supposedly observed. Which is true for those in charge of creating it but maybe not for the rest of us. When we pause and look back, we get to see the past’s future, know how the story turned out. Did we rise to the occasion? Did we triumph? Did we blink?

The past’s power comes from experience, the lessons it dares us to dismiss on the grounds that maybe things will be different this time. The future’s power is born of experiment, and the endless grudge match between fear and hope. We are having a dozen simultaneous conversations right now about change: in our institutions, our culture, our treatment of the planet and of one another.

It’s tempting to just stand stock-still and squeeze your eyes shut and wait for the moment to pass, or else hoard canned goods and assume the worst. This has been an awfully ugly summer of argument, and you’d be forgiven for concluding that we’ve lost our will to face or fix anything. We’ll just dance with the devils we know, thank you. But if you look past Washington, past Wall Street, turn down the volume and go outside and walk around, you’ll find the parcels of grace, of ingenuity and enterprise — people riding change like a skateboard, speeding off a ramp, twisting, flipping, somehow landing with a rush of wind and wheels — and wonder that it somehow hasn’t killed us yet.

When members of the freshman class of 2027 look back at our future, what’s likely to surprise them most? Will they marvel that gays were once not allowed to marry — or that they ever were? That we waited while the planet warmed, or that we acted to save it? That we protected the poor, or empowered them, or ignored them? That we lived within our means, or beyond them? We’ll make our choices one day at a time, but our kids will judge our generation for what we generate, and what we leave undone.

* * *

For some, vendettas should be forgotten and a new history forged through the imagination of a shared future.

Turkey and Armenia: Thaw in a Century-Old Feud? (TIME, Sep 4, 2009 online; Sep 21)
Pelin Turgut

As ancient as Herodotus’ Histories, the waters of the Aras River today trace the Turkish-Armenian border, a messy, 20th century creation of broken bridges and shuttered rail tracks. In the shadow of snow-topped Mount Ararat, the river divides the villages of Halikisla, on the Turkish side, and Bagaran, on the Armenian. Once united, the villages are now separated by a stretch of water little wider than a double bed. Residents never meet, except to cast for trout under the watchful gaze of military guards, or to return an errant cow.

But one of Europe’s last closed frontiers may finally be reopening, marking the end of almost a century of animosity between the two countries that stems from the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish army. On Sept. 1, the two countries launched six weeks of negotiations aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations. The goal is for both parliaments to ratify a deal by Oct. 14. The border could then reopen by the end of the year.

There is much at stake. Securing the Caucasus region, which is veined with oil and gas pipelines, has become a priority for both Russia and the U.S. But history is a potent saboteur in this part of the world and talks have collapsed before under its weight. In 1915, the Ottoman Turkish army, fighting against Russia to maintain its territories, sent the region’s Armenian population on a “death march” toward Syria. Armenians say 1.5 million were killed in a genocide. Turkey rejects that term, maintaining that the expulsion was a wartime measure necessary to quash Armenian nationalists who sided with the Russians.

Armenian hard-liners criticize their government for not making Turkey’s recognition of the 1915 genocide a precondition for diplomatic talks. Instead, the new plan calls for the establishment of a commission to study historical records and promote dialogue. “It isn’t just history from a book, it is [about] our grandmothers,” says Alexander Iskandaryan, head of the Caucasus Institute. “It is part of our historical memory, and the reason why an Armenian diaspora exists … But, that doesn’t mean the border should be closed. The problems between two peoples will disappear as we continue to discuss.”

Turkey, for its part, has suspended its insistence that a solution to the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — over which Armenia and Azerbaijan are in dispute — precede any deal. Turks and Azeris are ethnic kin and Azeri gas and oil travels to the West via Turkey. Azerbaijan scuppered negotiations between Turkey and Armenia earlier this year by threatening to limit gas supplies if Ankara didn’t demand a settlement on Nagorno-Karabakh. This time, Turkey’s opposition parties are up in arms over what they say is a unilateral concession.

“Both Turkey and Armenia have taken a brave and statesmanlike step,” says Hugh Pope, analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. “Both will win if it succeeds.” For landlocked Armenia, an open border could mean huge economic gains. Ali Guvensoy, head of the chamber of commerce of Kars in eastern Turkey, estimates the regional economy could grow by 20%, a boon for the impoverished area. Opening the border will also bolster Turkey’s ambitions to become a political heavyweight in the region. “If successful, [the talks] could win back for Turkey much of its recently faded prestige as domestic reformer, as regional peacemaker and as a country seriously pushing forward with its accession process to the European Union,” says Pope.

In Kars, which lies on the border, there is little of the bitter nationalism that racks the capital. Locals recall a once lively trade in livestock from Armenia and textiles from Turkey. Work on renovating the cross-border rail lines is due to begin soon. Restoration of Armenian monuments at the ancient site of Ani is underway. “Once trade, human interaction and dialogue begin, finding common ground on more complicated issues will become easier,” says Aybars Gorgulu of the Istanbul think tank TESEV. It will take time for Turkey and Armenia to overcome decades of mutual distrust. But the announcement of new peace talks is the first step in a long overdue healing process.

Relations

“As Prof Yang, who became a Singaporean in 2004 after working here for 11 years, put it: ‘According to traditional Chinese teaching, the one who comes first is the master and the rest are guests. As a guest, there are rules for you: When the master welcomes you, you should pay due respect and be grateful. If you start to be picky and criticise this and that, the host won’t be happy.

‘I am not saying that one should not criticise, but rather that it should be done carefully. Otherwise the host will say, do not lay your finger on my rice.’

…If you don’t treat Singapore as home, Singapore won’t treat you as part of its family” – No guanxi please, we’re S’poreans in The Straits Times, Oct 9. 2009

“Dear Football Fans, We hear your roar of disappointment…We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for the support from all our sports group customers…Unfortunately, it came down to an enormously tough decision–ensuring that we continue to deliver the BPL to you at a reasonable price or risk losing the rights altogether…Our priority now is to listen to your concerns and we promise you that we will be responsive…it is both a challenge and an opportunity–an opportunity to demonstrate that we are committed…You have come to expect that of us and we will work hard at continuing to earn the right to serve you.” –Terry Clontz (CEO, Starhub) in a full page ad in ST, Oct 9, 2009

I always like the way Starhub digs at Singtel: it’s been like that since a decade or so ago (Singtel then followed up with an aesthetically similar full page ad). The implied message is that Singtel has been providing bad sales service. Starhub treasures their customers–but only if you belong to the ‘prestigious’ group of customers. Low-life like me would not even be pitied should you swap one telco for another for a better cellphone deal. Maybe if they pay me to say good things about them, I will change this paragraph and embed an ad here innocuously.

“The Straits Times understands that beauty product companies are suspected of having paid a female blogger here on two occasions to write glowingly about their products.” –Bloggers who get gifts or money may have to own up, in ST, Oct 12, 2009

I assure you, my readers, that I am not affiliated with Starhub, although I harbour the wish that Starhub, Starbucks will offer me big bucks to do so.

***
Oct 14, 2009
Play paints a hoax
Tara Tan

 

 

For 10 days, actress Nora Samosir convinced small groups of people that a mysterious artist, Huang Wei, who lived in Singapore in the 1950s, is a real person. The ‘proof’ of his existence lies in a series of paintings that were discovered recently in an old, abandoned home in Joo Chiat.

The twist? Despite the convincing portrait of the artist painted by the actress, complete with slideshows and personal anecdotes, the play, titled These Children Are Dead, is, well, just a play.

It was written by Kaylene Tan and staged at the Play Den at The Arts House for 10 nights from Oct 1. The production was directed by Ken Ikeda, an alias that Low Kee Hong, the general manager of the Singapore Arts Festival, uses for his stage work.

The paintings, which depicted maimed children, are actually the works of local living artist Alan Oei.

Reactions to the hoax were so strong that on most nights, there were audible gasps from the audience when the truth was revealed during the discussion that followed the performance.

Several audience members Life! spoke to said they felt a momentary sense of disappointment, betrayal and loss, which was followed by intrigue.

Librarian Susanne Clower, 39, who saw the play on Saturday, the last night of its run, says: ‘I was initially really disappointed and felt betrayed, but during the talkback session, I understood why they did it. But there is a tiny part of me that still wished I never knew the truth.’

Teacher Dawn Wong, 33, agreed.

She says: ‘I felt this huge sense of loss, like we lost a talent, whom we never had in the first place. I was so proud of this artist and would probably have gone around telling everyone about him. I felt quite gullible actually.’

Samosir, a veteran stage actress who is pursuing her master’s in theatre studies at the National University of Singapore, says: ‘One woman was so mad when she found out the truth that she said she wanted to hit me.

‘Others said they wished they did not know it was a lie, which really surprised me. It seems we believe what we want to believe. When a romantic idea is shattered, people still refuse to relinquish it.’

But why do it?

Ikeda says: ‘I don’t think we set out to trick people. It was more of a commentary on the idea of constructing history.’

The art of creating fiction which masquerades as truth is a trend in contemporary art practice. At the Venice Biennale in 2003, Malaysian artist Wong Hoy Cheong’s piece titled Re:Looking staged the fictional history of Malaysia colonising Austria.

In 2007, local art collective A Dose Of Light set up an exhibition titled Wu Xiao Kang (1979-2005), which was allegedly taken by a schizophrenic photographer who later killed himself.

Later, it was revealed that the photos were actually part of a ‘conceptual artwork’ to show viewers how schizophrenics experience the world. The pictures were taken by three photographers from the collective. They were supposed to be exhibited at the Month Of Photography festival but were yanked by the organisers after the revelation.

Ikeda says of his production: ‘It shows us how seductive history can be. Even after we revealed that it was fake, people still talked about Huang Wei and his works as if he existed. The thing about history is: What is recorded and what is not recorded frames a certain way of seeing.’

He says the play was about urging people to think and to question what they take as absolute truth.

‘One needs to be self-reflexive and be an independent thinker. What we read in the papers and in history books may not be the whole truth. But this believing of what seems like fact is something that happens every day, all over the world.’

***
And here’s a first person recount of this episode of art masquerading as fact:

http://brainkids.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/the-romanticism-of-lies/

***

“We shouldn’t pay too much attention to the past.” –Chin Peng in ST, Oct 14, 2009 (Seems like a dangerous statement to me by a very dangerous character. I think it was a daring interview by Leslie Lopez.)

Ideas from TV

This is the post on the lingerng thoughts and keywords that ran through my head while I watched the two videos in class. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but the flow of the ideas has been reorganised here:

Entertainment
Dignity of the film-makers
The need for humans to find answers, creating cause-effect relationships
Fear
Witch-hunt
Leper
Freak
Morality/superstition/belief
Design
Discrimination
Festival
Ailments
Reality TV/talent-time
Art
History
Story

Consultation Booking Facility Now Available

http://akbywerk2.checkAppointments.com

That’s the place and you know the rules. An addition here is that you are now allowed to book up to 3x the consultation slots than before!

One thing to note is that on Wednesdays, there might be official meetings that can last till 3.30pm. We’ll scale the time downwards when that happens.

Second thing to note is that I need to recharge my battery from 11.30am-1.30pm typically so don’t book those slots!

Don’t have to worry about the three tags (Paper 1, Paper 2, Life) when you schedule the consultation. If you have no clue what you want to discuss, click “Life”.

Please report any flaws to me when you encounter them.

(My login: http://checkappointments.com/checkAppointments/index.html)

Sum of all

The sum of all is not usually representative of the quality of individuals. In this ‘last’ week of your college life, I dedicate this post to all 57 of you.

I’d also been seriously trying not to sound as if this was a testimonial or progress report. These are the sentiments I have for all of you, and if my words and deeds have been an open canvas for all to see and tell, this shall be the exhibition. But here’s a heartfelt comment for all: through these two years (thereabouts), the skills you learnt should make you a learned person. They are life skills–analysing and evaluating situations, people. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride!

(For those of you itching to do work, wait a day more!)

First a thank you to all those (actually, not many) whom I did not teach but have been following my blog!

Adeline: A careful thinker with tenacity! Great to have you in the class.

Yueting: Stop distracting me with your soft toys! A happy distraction in class, actually.

Nicole: Be confident in what you had done. Recapture past glories!

Lalida: Enjoyed the consultations we had had; intellectual and sharp. Keep it up and you will go the distance!

Zhe Han: Being lost is only temporary. Losing hope makes it permanent in time.

Xinyi: Will always remember the chocolate you passed to me during the previous consultation; it was my life-saver, literally; I needed “brain food”! Keep improving!

Ruijun: Driven; earnest; humble; a joy to teach! Have seen your confidence raised, so keep it going!  

Lina: You have the skills and knowledge, and you will have more if you keep it up. Keep a clear mind! Don’t be obsessed with K-stars. Mr K is here.

Xin Yee: Focus well in life and of course, be consistent.

Soo Mei: Like what you have done for your role in class and your role for yourself as a student; maintain your consistency and maturity in thought and writing!

Huimin: Extremely dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge; stay positive and wish you the best to come!

Perry: Diplomacy seems to be your forte right now, but keep working on it and you will be better. To be reticent in your bearing is half the battle won when you leave school.

Benjamin Lee: Be confident in your language; prepare yourself beyond what is adequate. Don’t be cowed to think that you can’t be better in anything.

Xue Ian: Find yourself; it takes time.

Gabriel: Modest and courteous–a truly positive addition to anyone’s life. Take care in all you do, what you write. You have the ability to be better in the language and that will play a vital role in your future endeavours.

Kenneth: A remarkable thinker exemplified in your writing and your consistency. The pride of peers. Very unlike Liverpool.

Weng Seng: Your tenacity and willingness to improve, coupled with your self-awareness, will make you a competitive soul in a soulless world after school. Your fluency in prose will further set you apart, but don’t lose sight of life.

Daniel: Your ability to synthesise information and your awareness of the environment is peerless, I think, though your laid-back attitude can give people the wrong impression. I will remember you as Carl’s Junior’s ‘Best’ Friend and not Hello Kitty’s ‘Boy’ Friend.

Ka Shing: A very down-to-earth person. Unpretentious. Unassuming. You’ve shown you can learn if you want to. You are an epitome of some of the reasons why we choose to remain in this career.

Yong Chee: You seem to find your footing recently, and if you revise all that have been taught, you will find more meaning in your learning that should help you stay the course.

Chin Juen: You will have it all if you are willing to compromise sometimes. Don’t lose sight of the goal, but don’t miss the scent of grass along the way. The most insignificant can offer the most refreshing whiff.

Surya: A thinker who is ready to share and lead. Your confidence was what stood you apart and you have to trust your ability more. World peace hasn’t been achieved in one day.

Ee Thai: Messages are everywhere and a successful artist observes and reinterpret for a world lost. This is a skill that was implicit in all our lessons, this is what is needed to do well. You can do it.

Bryan: Your optimisim along with the drive and zest in your being makes you a pleasant friend for those who are acquainted with you in and out of class, in and out of pitch. Don’t lose sight of the ground!

Chieh Shing: Be confident of yourself in all aspects of life and keep up your effort in trying to be better; you’ll need this in times of uncertainty!

Monica: A dutiful student who never fails to impress with the scope and depth of knowledge accumulated through hardwork and constant evaluation of the world around you. You know what confidence is, but don’t let confidence blind you.

Linqian: The most inspirational leader of people I have seen these couple of years. It is tiring, but you have the stamina to last the journey. Hope is there around you.

Shi Mun: Your reservation must not hinder your ability. You have to trust your ink. What you put on canvas is up to your skill and talent too, so don’t dismiss them because, like all artists, the interpretation of life can be sophisticated but still relevant if well-explicated.

Benjamin Tan: A paragon of virtues. In a world of bias, language becomes an unwilling tool in discrimination. Don’t be defeated by that sucker punch.

Weiteng: A thinker who can be misunderstood, but the improvements you made in that department show you to be a good student not just in school but also in life.

Weijie: Honesty and humbleness are understated qualities you possess. Stand your own when you need to beyond the safe confines of school!

Poo Kwee: If you still doubt it, don’t. Your name is cool. Carry it confidently. Life has thrown you curve-balls but you have dealt with them all the same. Treat your friends well. You are the best audio-visual equipment helper there has been and this dedication has been seen in all you do when you are awake.

Junda: You don’t seem like one who gives up a fight, so stay the course and your buddies are all around you. Fight together!

Yaoxin: I think your GF (good friend) has had a really positive effect on you. But you already have in you what it takes to be a brilliant student in and beyond class. Recapture that confidence and work hard! Your philosophical outlook will then be fairly rewarded.

Aloysius: You know what is best for yourself but you have to know what is best for people around you too. You have improved as a person, and you have to keep improving. This is life.

Weiquan: Your handwriting reveals a profound side of you; you can be misunderstood. Recapture that old confidence in you but never be too self-absorbed.

Zhiyu: You must be able to stand on your own feet and take pride in the contributions you have made for yourself and others. You have beaten, not trodden, but that should make you a seasoned fighter. Victory isn’t half as sweet without defeats.

Wee Siong: Be consistent and remain hopeful. But these amount to nought if you don’t match it with hardwork. You have the intelligence. Be rewarded.

Pang Hian: It is a trying task to assimilate various schools of thought and come up with some technique that is coherent and powerful, but like all good pugilists, persevere in the art. You are down-to-earth, caring and diplomatic too–certainly the man of men when your stars are aligned. But leave nothing to chance and you can be that if you continue to love learning.

Derek: There is hope in the darkness in the depths of your heart. Seek your soul and the tomes and you will realise you have everything you need to do better in anything!

Roland: With a name that smacks of grandeur, your great intelligence and dedication to knowledge gives it worth. Persevere and recapture the past glories. The future is bright!

Qiao Qin: Enjoy life as much as the studies in life!

Verna: A quiet doer who is as supportive as you are willing. You exemplify the possibility of a leadership without pomp, leading by example. Be confident of what you have and stay composed in times of difficulty. You will ride the storm, like the sun the clouds!

Jermaine: Elegance meets substance. A good student you are, you have what it takes to conflate various methods to the subject in life, of life!

Xin Ling: An eager leader exceeding the expectation of your station. Maintain progress and the passion in life and learning!

Ruiyan: There is method in the blur. There’s something very likeable about you that is difficult to pinpoint, and this mysterious quality will put you in good stead in the path of life beyond school. Stay cute always.

Jia En: Your reticence ensures your survival in the jungle out there, but like Garfield, grin and smile and the world world laughs with you!

Tsu Wie: You have the bearing to do well in life after school. You are like gel that holds friends together; be down-to-earth even as you soar in future.

Xue En: Your quiet perseverence and dedication to learning will see you through difficult time, but don’t lose faith in your ability. You are a positive addition to any one’s life!

Shiting: You are not easily defeatable and your strong desire to do better makes you a tough cookie in life. Maintain that, but don;t forget to take a breather. Even cookies have chips sometimes!

Li Ting: Bag that result you deserve! Continue to work hard with your buddies.

Mei Qi: When it seems difficult, don’t believe in what you see. Stay composed as you have been and you will be better in time.

Chujun: As you seek new grounds, don’t forget your roots. There are truffles aplenty where you are right now. Stay true.

Wanyi: Your words have been extremely encouraging and it is a joy to know you! Living is about such simple pleasure around us and life’s surprises will reward you through the pressure that comes.

Jiong Hong: Your fate lies in your hands and you have shown, on so many occasions, how willing a student you are. Your perseverence will see you through, your intelligence will take you far, and your friends will remind you of who you are!

Iskandar: When the going gets tough, the tough gets Pooky. Don’t sweat the small stuff and you don’t. Chill.

Jing Yi: A man of grace, well dignified. Give and take, live and let live. But never compromise on your stature, your qualities.

1508: Simply a joy to have, the best form class I ever had!

All of you have been a great batch! All the best in life!

Immigrants

For people who think they are in for yet another salute or salvo, you’re at the wrong place!

With regard to the definition of “immigrants” in the recent essay, if you are able to show that the foreign/international workers are here to stay, then they may be more readily seen as immigrants than transient workers.

I’ve just finished marking the J1 essays on Dreams: “Any dream will do.” Do you agree? There have been some remarkable opening lines, although they seemed like they were regurgitation. As soon as I get the clearance, I may post the most earnest here to share.

Intro by Agnes Tan of 2409:

When people retire for the night each day, it is inevitable that some may have dreams, but the details of their dreams will most likely be forgotten when they open their eyes the next morning. Those dreams are virtual dreams. Dreams may, however, also mean one’s goal in life deemed unrealistic or unachievable. They are the dreams that stick to us till the day they are achieved or when we no longer dream of it. A country may also dream of the day they are free from colonial rule. The world may dream of eliminating the effects of global warming. Hence, I agree that “any dream will do” as long as it does not harm humanity, because having dreams, aspirations, goals gives one a reason to live, a reason to fight, a desire to succeed in life.

Extracts of the essay by Seah Jundi of 2909 (a different question):

Singapore often finds itself bending to accommodate the winds of change. Our littlered dot must once again transform to suit a world where globalisation is the supreme force, opening its doors for a wave of foreign brands, businesses and cultures to enter–all the better to survive in a world where the economy runs the country and the global economy in particular runs the small country. Globalisation…(I’m too tired to continue! Volunteers?)

Profit-maximising

Talk about “profit-maximising”.

The Mac in NYP had raised its prices! It used to be 40c cheaper than NTU; now, it’s the same. It can’t be that the price of patties and buns had risen because there is no apparent similar price hike across Singapore. So it must be the realisation that polytechnic students are not that poor, so they might as well try to earn as much as they can, granted that they also realise their supply-curve is inelastic.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie, the Yusof Ishak pie.

At least for Mac, there’s no discrimination involved so I feel less tortured. And the food is healthier than some other fare I wish I’d only just tasted and not swallowed. I still remembered the time I ate a S$6+ plate of greasy, charred mee goreng from an Indian stall at Yishun. To make things worse, I had to constantly remind them that I had ordered the dish during that short 30min wait. There weren’t many customers at that time. I never went back there again. It’s not the only time I or some other people I know had been discriminated by Indian stalls or stores in recent years.

Perhaps it’s a result of the rather discriminatory radio podcast done by Perfect 10 987FM’s The Muttons (Vernon A & Justin Ang) a few years ago?

Heard on the station a while ago this interview by The Muttons. It was a Ben & Jerry’s tie-in and this 16 year-old girl was interviewed while she was having her calorie-high ice-cream when she was asked if she would consider teaching as a career in the future because she has been coaching and teaching a few other students who are younger than her. Her reply was that she’d want to be a tutor. When the DJ clarified if she meant school teacher, she said, “No, I mean a private tutor. ‘Cuz that’s where the money is.”

On behalf of all my teacher-friends out there, I say a big thank-you to you! Sometimes it’s just not because of the money.

Are you feeling insecure? Tick, tick, tick, boomz!

I have been marking the essays, and I came across an example which made me recall on all the good old debates that are now relived all over again. It’s as if it’s never left. I don’t think it will ever leave Singapore.

The argument that Netspeak harms the fluency of the English language in Singapore (and other countries where EL is not the mother tongue) is here again. I reiterate that correlation has been mistaken as causation here. See, if Netspeak is blamed, why are we not blaming the subjects like Mathematics and Sciences? These two subjects, among others to various degrees, also can be blamed to cause a decline in EL. Students have been writing “ton” in their essays even when it is not used as an SI unit (eg: the ton of work to be done) instead of “tonnes”.

I think there are more “boomz” problems in the use of EL than this, beyond the domain of the classroom. But I probably am flogging a dead horse.

Non Sequitur Sep 29, 2009

This week that passed marked the death of a sharp-tongue writer, William Safire. I’m sure he had words for such linguistic insecurity. There must be tons of sins than that which was spoken/written here: “abuses of the English language”. (Strangely, the version of the report on the Straits Times Interactive is different from the print version. I thought more could be read out of the unseen from the latter. You usually don’t flog the corpse. See for yourself):

(Sep 29, 2009)

For the record, I don’t like Singapore to be bashed by foreigners (those who have not been here for long) because they may not fully comprehend the situation here.

In an Oct 2, 2009 report (No need for women to do NS, says PM Lee) by Dawn Tay in my paper–not my paper so don’t sue me–it was reported that:

“Dialogue participants suggested making NS mandatory for children of PRs to ensure a level playing field for all young people here.

But PM Lee rejected this, saying that doing so would scare away potential citizens. He added that each year, several hundred children of new Singaporeans and PRs elect to serve NS.”

It is rather obvious we live in a very practical society.

I was reminded that the Co-curricular Activity that I am interested in chairing next year is one that is strictly out of bound to me (and my generation). My stature didn’t matter, and it’s all “for my own good”, as it is usually deemed as the grave of the career.

Excluding chess funding (ST, Oct 3, 2009)

‘Sports council decision unfair.’ MR IGNATIUS LEONG: ‘At April’s Asean Education Ministers Meeting, the ministers noted that the Asean primary school sport olympiad was an excellent platform to build regional solidarity and friendships. This olympiad has had athletics, football, chess, badminton and table tennis. However, the Singapore Primary School Sports Council will not fund the chess team this year. Unlike previous years, the council decided to fund only the sports on its list. Its decision is unfair. Chess, like the other sports included in the olympiad, does much to develop young minds which is as important as developing young physiques. By funding all players participating in the olympiad, the council would treat all sports fairly, as it did in 2007 and last year. In both these years, the Singapore teams won medals. Moreover, it would play a part in achieving the goals set by Asean ministers.’

I think I might have to do this:

(Sep 29, 2009)

(Sep 30, 2009)

Cartoons can be so powerful that their effects can last a long time. If you do not mind the language of the following post on Amazon.com, you should be able to appreciate the significance of certain cartoon and its legacy. (Translated, previously banned publication is still now banned in some hyper-sensitive areas around the world, missing out the fact that there is now greater awareness of discriminatory issues in the world):

ridiculous!, November 5, 2007

By  anyonymous (America)

According to a variety of sources, Little, Brown, the publisher of the Tintin series here in the U.S., will not be producing this complete boxed set because of protests both here and abroad (in the UK, particularly) regarding the racist nature of the title _Tintin in the Congo_. So, I have no further news as to when this is going to be published, other than to say that it will NOT be published as was originally intended (i.e., complete), but will be censored for the discriminating minds who assume that readers are, for the most part, ignorant boobs who know nothing about the history of European imperialist attitudes toward any non-white civilizations / cultures. Too bad. Tintin taught me so much about the world, intrigued me, made me want to learn more — and I did… I learned, for instance, that not all Belgian artists / novelists are color-blind hippies determined to save the world from itself. Some of them are just highly talented yet limited human beings, like myself, like any reader, conditioned by his context, and that we know appreciate more (though we don’t necessarily know more) about the world now than we did then. So let’s make sure that Whoopie Goldberg can’t just make a disclaimer in an introduction, and that the packaging can’t just be labelled ‘for the adult collector only’ or some such, and allow the consumer the right to buy whatever he / she likes. After all, Hitler’s rather bad book, _Mein Kampf_ continues to be published — without any indication that it’s at all rascist. Good going, Little, Brown. Let’s make sure that all cultural productions go through the rigorous filtration process introduced by other luminary seers as the various Czarist regimes in Russia, the Bush administration, and our parents: NO BAD THINGS ARE HAPPENING, EVER DID HAPPEN, AND EVER WILL HAPPEN. This is paradise on earth, buddy. So suck it up. Thank goodness Little, Brown (and the stunningly educated organizations / individuals behind this blatant censorship) know what’s better for me than I myself. The ignorant fool that I am — I almost didn’t realize that racism was abolished in our time, and forgot entirely what a dark era we only recently superceded! Congratulations. Brush everything under the rug. History teaches us nothing. But five stars, by the way, for the attempt to publish the complete Tintin for the FIRST TIME in the U.S., five stars for Herge for his talent, five stars for an attractive, uniform presentation, and a big offensive gesture towards Big Brother & Co.

ridiculous!, November 5, 2007

By  anyonymous (America)

According to a variety of sources, Little, Brown, the publisher of the Tintin series here in the U.S., will not be producing this complete boxed set because of protests both here and abroad (in the UK, particularly) regarding the racist nature of the title _Tintin in the Congo_. So, I have no further news as to when this is going to be published, other than to say that it will NOT be published as was originally intended (i.e., complete), but will be censored for the discriminating minds who assume that readers are, for the most part, ignorant boobs who know nothing about the history of European imperialist attitudes toward any non-white civilizations / cultures. Too bad. Tintin taught me so much about the world, intrigued me, made me want to learn more — and I did… I learned, for instance, that not all Belgian artists / novelists are color-blind hippies determined to save the world from itself. Some of them are just highly talented yet limited human beings, like myself, like any reader, conditioned by his context, and that we know appreciate more (though we don’t necessarily know more) about the world now than we did then. So let’s make sure that Whoopie Goldberg can’t just make a disclaimer in an introduction, and that the packaging can’t just be labelled ‘for the adult collector only’ or some such, and allow the consumer the right to buy whatever he / she likes. After all, Hitler’s rather bad book, _Mein Kampf_ continues to be published — without any indication that it’s at all rascist. Good going, Little, Brown. Let’s make sure that all cultural productions go through the rigorous filtration process introduced by other luminary seers as the various Czarist regimes in Russia, the Bush administration, and our parents: NO BAD THINGS ARE HAPPENING, EVER DID HAPPEN, AND EVER WILL HAPPEN. This is paradise on earth, buddy. So suck it up. Thank goodness Little, Brown (and the stunningly educated organizations / individuals behind this blatant censorship) know what’s better for me than I myself. The ignorant fool that I am — I almost didn’t realize that racism was abolished in our time, and forgot entirely what a dark era we only recently superceded! Congratulations. Brush everything under the rug. History teaches us nothing. But five stars, by the way, for the attempt to publish the complete Tintin for the FIRST TIME in the U.S., five stars for Herge for his talent, five stars for an attractive, uniform presentation, and a big offensive gesture towards Big Brother & Co.

Scrapped Notes

Found this among a pile of old notes. I do not remember which was the module to which it belongs, but the header reads “Introduction to Statistics for Honours Students, Graduate Students and Faculty in English Language: Case-Study on Use and Misuse of Statistics”. The author of the work was also not stated, although these two works were stated right at the beginning: “True, False, Whatever; Physicians are Putting a Stop to the Publication of Misleading Drugs Data” by Stacy Schultz, US News & World Report, September 17, 2001, p72-3; and “Scholarship, Authorship, and Accountability” by Frank Davidoff MD et al, Journal of the American Medical Association, 286, September 12, 2001, p1232-4.

I reproduce here the points that are easy to understand and remember. You will find them useful, and if you are to quote any of these evaulations, cite the name of the original authors instead of Mr K.

“In her book Tainted Truth: The Manipulation of Fact in America (Simon & Schuster, 1994), Cynthia Crossen showed that dangerous conflicts of interest can arise when corporations get involved in scientific research and publication. The US News article reports that major medical journals are now taking strong editorial stands against the influence that pharmaceutical companies exert over research and publication.

According to the study, 70 percent of the clinical drug trials conducted last year were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. An example of what can go wrong is provided by the case of Celebrex, a drug now widely used to treat arthritis. Its popularity stems in part from research reported in the JAMA. Results from a 6-month trial showed that the drug had fewer side effects than its competitiors. But as JAMA editor Catherine DeAngelis later learned, the company actually had 12 months worth of data, and the full data set did not support the findings that were published.

Withholding data from investigators is not the only kind of abuse identified here. In other cases, companies designed experiments without input from clinicians, lobbied for favorable interpretation of the resulting data, and then tried to block publication of findings that were unfavorable to their products. Of course, investigators are dependent on funding, so the pressure to go along with a sponsor’s wishes can be hard to ignore completely. But of this impedes scientific progress.”