and elaboration about what I twittered

I was on a bus, and i overheard a bunch of people yakking away. They were talking about some Chinese trip they had, and they were proud that they didn't understand the Chinese menu. These kids had become so removed from their supposed Chinese culture there they were able to relate better to Japanese culture. And so, there led me to wonder about this state of culture and identity in Singapore. It led me to think about what exactly is Singapore culture about. Is it about this easy movement between different cultures? Or is that simply mean that there is no real Singapore culture? the kids were actually laughing about their inability to understand Chinese which was supposed to be their native tongue. have we become a society that disregards our traditions? Or are these traditions simply a burden to our present and future? I know that this polarity is probably an illusion because people do want certain aspects of their tradition. Maybe the question of Singapore identity doesn't really exist, maybe it is just a false conflict conjured by the ruling powers to make Singaporeans insecure about their own identity. Maybe it is just a ploy for Singaporeans to stay in Singapore and contribute to the ruling powers through this indoctrination of a crisis of identity. Maybe there is no need to even ask this question of identity. Maybe we can just let things be. And I shouldn't moralize about what people want to do with their lives and instead just tried to live my life as best as I can. I guess this is a decent resolution to the conflicts that I think exists in the Singapore identity and in society. This post-modernist thread of thinking has only recently came into being because of the class that I am attending right now. It has made me begin to think about the structures, concepts, and ideologies that exists in Singapore society. Why do I still feel this sense of obligation to this country that I don't seriously believe in? It is weird that I am even thinking like that. It is a stretch of the imagination to think that all of these conceptions of society, Nations, and the world are a development of the mind that has evolved and developed through many millennia and ages. could all of this be even real?

Not trying to sound existential angst-y, but just some of the funny thoughts going through my head.

Note this was done mostly by dictation using Mac speech Dictate

i dun wanna be emo no more

I guess all my bitchings about the heavy workload is just that - mere bitchings. I am more interested in other things actually, such as the fact that I unknowingly am assuming some form of acadmic leadership even though I'm not even fully at NUS. which is quite weird, considering there are all those 2nd and 3rd year people who are supposedly to be smarter, more experienced than me in these sort of things. What I think might happen when the actual term starts is that I am going to be some kind of leader in USP, guiding naive kids about the intellectual trends and the real world out there, bursting a lof of their bubbles that they brought with them from JC, and hopefully, to make the world seem a more cheerful place for those scarred with bad NS experiences. I guess thats what intellectual breadth is about - to be able to relate different things to different people, to talk to the arts people about science, to talk about the humanitites with the science dudes. Its a weird responsibility, but its there for a reason...

i never said what i thought about the Dark Knight movie, did i?

Still quite fresh from Dark Knight, I honestly thought that the movie was also about another but equally familiar story.

Imagine Joker as Evil personified, and the Batman like Jesus, and the story makes sense from another perspective. And Two-Face would represent something like the ordinary man.

The first half of the movie is actually rather predictable, where Joker creates mayhem, and people actually trying to do all the good they can to stop evil when they confront it. It is only when Harvey Dent becomes tempted by evil that he goes over to the dark side - sounds familiar, like the serpent tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden?

I mean, thats what I think.

So the rest of the movie unfolds, as Dent sinks deeper and deeper into the darkness, and it seems that all is lost, and in a way, it is. Dent/Two-Face dies, and the good guys barely win at the end of the day, but realise what happens? Batman sacrifices himself - his image, takes the fall for all the wrongs that Dent/Two-Face commits, because 'he can take it', because he wants Dent to be the symbol for all that is good, for the hope of Gotham. It kinda reminds me of the way, Jesus came down to die for all our sins so that we may all be redeemed back to God, to be who we are meant to be, just as what Batman thought that Harvey was meant to be for all of Gotham...

Yeah, its a bit weird to think of the move in this sense, but hey, it does make sense doesn't it? A tale of redemption in a different sense. the movie is just so full of these twisted ethics and angst, that i think i wanna try watching the movie again!...

this is arguably a terrible week

This week might be a terrible week because of a few reasons, or rather, 8k reasons.

It's because I have a 3k personal final assignment to write, a 5k group assignment to write, 1 group presentation, 1 individual presentation... And because I'm locked out of the weekend, I'll be left with only the weekdays. Highest priority is now the 5k group assignment, which I will write tomorrow through friday afternoon.

As for the Encounter... well... I know God is there for me, as He has shown it - a good, solid B for my first global politics assignment, good friends to work with, an A for the mid-term biodiversity... Overall, things aren't looking that bad, considering I'm a yr zero kid who foolishly took 2 special term USP modules...

Thank the Lord!

I have bitten off more than i can chew

Yes, I was so enthusiastic about NUS-USP that i plunged inside this special term and now i feel a little like drowning. yeah. this is how it feels, especially now that i'm trying to get the final politics module over and done with, which isn't easy at all. but i know He is here for me, so there isn't nothing to be worried about. maybe all of these is also good training too! who knows like how i might be able to translate all these experiences... 2 weeks left in this USP, and still so many things to do... afraid of going for encounter weekend, afraid of scheduling, afraid of so, so many things. i know i shouldn't fear, but just can't help thinking about all the bad things might possibly happen. take it as it comes. after all, USP is something droppable. But you know what, i'm going to stop thinking about these negative nonsense and just take these things as they come. He is in control after all.. so wth!

oh oh! a mac-tablet! damn! its only in the states

Found a mac-tablet! but alas its only available in the states, and it costs upwards of about 3000 sing. oh well. anyway... been... contented with life lately, except for the lack of running that i've been doing. other than that, things have been fine. starting an initiative to give tuition for upper sec/jc kids. USP has been fine. Things have been fine... Great friends, great people. Other than that, nothing much.

i know i haven't been blogging for a while

Ok. Its been like weeks... So far, the modules have been fine, the people are fine, learning to learn, picking up questions, learning to be sociable and all. I wish learning could be free - as in, freedom to learn whatever you want to learn, without the restraints and distortions of the darkness of human nature. The urge to get ahead and to disregard the competition, the negative drives - that all sucks, and forces me to be someone I don't like to become.

I believe in sharing, sharing knowledge, sharing emotions - to build people up, to learn from them as they learn from me, to build this spirit of cooperation and learning, for the sake of learning because there will always so much we don't know. But instead, ambition and drives get in the way, and selfless cooperation mutates into selfish competition. I pray it'll never be that way. Meanwhile, thank God for the people!