A so-called break. I still nevertheless took a somewhat "real" break by going back home and trying in vain to escape from all the hustle and bustle. Of course, 5 days of peace isn't really peace, but it felt like 5 years. Muahahaha...
Took a bus back from JB Larkin at 10.30am. What was so special about that day? First of all, there was in total 2 cases of tyre puncture! Think I am too fat already. haha... One happened to a Causeway Link bus on the way to Larkin. The bus continued slowly all the way. haha... i salute the bus driver. If not I wouldnt have been able to catch the my bus in time! Then I took this Triton bus.... somewhere just before Yong Peng, I heard another "boom!"...
Wahahaha.... another puncture. Luckily the exit to Yong Peng was just within 2 km. So the bus turned in and went to the mechanics to change tyre.
Thanks to all these delays, I reached home 3 hours behind the original schedule.
I should say that the last 5 days was quite well spent. Really had the luck to get a taste of the Ramly burger i've missed for 2 months... just the day before Puasa starts. (Cos Ramly stalls don't seem to operate during Puasa time, and Ramly burgers sold in mamak stalls in my area are relatively virtually inedible.)
So there goes my break. Initially didnt plan to go back. But was thinking, hell since it is a break, it should be a break.
Exactly 2 hours 57 minutes before I started penning this entry, a bloodless military coup took place in Bangkok, Thailand, while the Prime Minister Thaksin is in New York. After gaining control over the capitol city Bangkok and several surrounding provinces with no resistance, the military commander-in-chief announced the Military taking control over the government, revoking the Constitution drawn in 1997, and pledging loyalty to their King.
It seems, that the credibility of democracy is once again being tested in Thailand. Would it be eventually re-installed or would it be severely taken away from the people? No one could answer that for now I guess.
And what happens next? To imagine it happening to the country bordering the Northern part of my home is scary. While the world is meeting in Singapore for the International Monetary Fund summit, that brings the source of the news even nearer to the rest of the world. Would this bring about instability towards Thailand and also to the region?
Don't know why, but I particularly resent the comment made by certain people who seemed to have an underlying superiority complex in their subconscious mind. It seems to them that they are better than some others just because they are more used to what they have been thinking, and registers whatever they are not familiar with the word "weird".
First of all, I particularly resent those who made such comments:
"Oh, so you are Malaysian. No wonder. Your Mandarin has a particular 'slang'."
"哦，你是联邦人啊！难怪你讲的华语有‘腔调'...."
Now, I am not opposing the notion of having a 'slang' or '腔调' (they mean the same thing actually, one in English one in Chinese). What I resent is - such sentences are usually spoken with the underlying meaning that the Mandarin that is spoken by Malaysians (sometimes with particular reference to Peninsular Malaysians) is not the 'standard' one, AND the Mandarin that whoever-made-the-comment speaks is the 'standard' version. I would like to say that such a comment not only showed a superiority complex in such a person, but also blatant ignorance.
(To my Singaporean friends, I wrote this meaning no offence to you all. I am only referring to those who said those comments with ignorance and expressing my opinion. I apologize if I offended you in anyway.)
True, Mandarin spoken by Malaysians contain a certain slang, which is different from the standard Mandarin set by Beijing. However this does not mean that the Mandarin spoken by Singaporeans are very close to the standard as well. How so? Before I present my argument, please turn on the TV now and find a Taiwanese show, or drama, and watch.
Realize something? The Singaporean Mandarin actually sounds similar to the Taiwanese Mandarin.
Don't agree? Watch again.
Believe it or not, that's my opinion. This issue, if you ever try to see it at a different perspective, is a matter of dialect influence.
So, compare and contrast Malaysian Mandarin, Singaporean Mandarin, and Taiwanese Mandarin. (lol reminds me of my O Level Geography questions)
Let's talk about similarities first. All these 3 forms of Mandarin are most of the time influenced mainly by a dialect. For Malaysians - Cantonese (The Klang Valley and the Kinta Valley) , Hokkien (Penang, Northern Malaysia, Melaka, Klang) or Foochow (Sarawak), among which Cantonese is slightly more predominant I think. Of course, regional languages such as Malay and English exert to a certain degree of influence too. For Singaporeans it is mainly Hokkien and to some degree of English, and a minor influence from Malay. For Taiwanese, naturally it will be mainly Hokkien. Or maybe other indigenous languages or dialects. Pardon my ignorance. So my point is?
Whether you want to accept it or not, both Malaysians and Singaporeans speak Mandarin with 'a slang'.
Not convinced?
Well first of all, almost every single word in Singaporean Mandarin is accented. Is this what is stipulated in a standard Mandarin grammar? If it is so, then I guess Chinese Language learners worldwide will be very tired learning the language.
In fact, no one actually speaks the 'perfect standard Mandarin'. The standardized version is although based mainly on Beijing dialect, it is not identical. For example, you don't actually end words with 'r' as in the Beijing dialect, rite?
And I don't know how many people actually will understand this. Actually a similar analogy can be drawn from the 'standard English'. When the Speak Good English Movement is being promoted, it has been emphasized that speaking good English is not about copying the way the British or American speak, but speaking in grammatically correct English, right? Although English is widely used across the globe, in every country different regional dialects exert a certain kind of influence. Thus in time the form of English would tend to distort from the standard form. Of course, by then you can't say who speaks a more 'standard' English rite? It's about variety and what makes that form more unique. Commonness is boring. And being different from one another does not need to mean which is superior and which is inferior. Can you see the parallel drawn from this analogy?
Have been living here for almost 7 years. And almost every now and then I will receive such comments. Please, it's enough!
Ok I don't put this as the title for the sake of putting it. Well, actually in a way it is. Haha nevermind if you can't get what I have said coz I have no idea what I have just said also. Anyway, had lots of fun today in the first session, after officially joining the fourth Campus CCA in my Undergraduate life.
(In case if you are interested, I became a sleeping member for my first official Campus CCA and quitted my third. The second one I don't know what word to use to describe and I don't wish to talk about it here and now. I know this sounds irresponsible of me especially for the third one but I am here telling myself and the rest: I am here to stay. Cos I think I have found where I belong.)
Anyway, it was a fun and educating session. Learnt about some history through some interesting introductory courses. Muahaha...
I am now taking a 6th module! It's called
ACA 1001 Introduction to Contemporary A Cappella
Features of the Module:
100% CA, no final paper.
There will be only 1 CA, which is a performance in a small group, at the end of the course.
Gosh, it'll be so fun! But guess will have to get to know my team members better first, then only it'll be funner! (Not funnel hor it's funneR)
First of all, I would like to wish YJ and OL a very happy birthday! Hope your wishes will all come true and may you be happy always no matter what! It is also fate that you 2 can be born on the same day! (Yes, they know each other, how nice rite?) So cherish your friendship and be good.
Muahaha... sound so old saying all these. Must clarify first that I am younger than them and they have just turned 22 only. Not that old afterall?
Anyways, yupz, in conjunction with this, this entry also marks the 200th post of my blog. Didn't realize that this will really last sooooo long. I know for 200 posts to span across hmm 17 months? Its nothing fantastic afterall, if you count the frequency of blogging.
Klar weiß ich, dass es eine Klischee ist, trotzdem will ich es laut reden:
Wirklich schnell vergeht die Zeit!
Bald kommt die fünfte Woche des fünften Semesters wieder. Und ich habe immer das Gefühl, dass ich noch nichts beginne, für alle der Testen vorzubereiten. Am Anfang des Semesters habe ich mir ganz klar verspricht, dieser Semester viel mehr fleißig zu lernen. Trotzdem sind vier Wochen schon vorbei, und ich habe nichts über dem Studium getan. Ich habe alles genug, nur Zeit habe ich immer nicht!
Ach ja, es gibt gar keinen Grund, dass ich dieses Blog plötzlich auf Deutsch schreibe. Einfach möchte ich mein Deutsch zu verbessern, deshalb muss ich viel sprechen und schreiben. Wenn ich jetzt nicht viel Chance, Deutsch zu sprechen, muss ich natürlich mehr Deutsch schreiben. Sonst, hier in diesem Entry. Aber ich muss schon ein bisschen vorsichtig sein, weil viele von meinen Freunden jetzt Deutsch lernen. Obwohl das ziemlich gut ist, auf einer anderen Perspektive ist das auch schlecht, weil ich jetzt kann nicht alle persönliche Geheimnisse auf Deutsch schreiben!
Am kommenden Mittwoch würde meine erste Treffen mit NUS Resonance anfangen, um mehr über A Cappella zu lernen. Darauf freue ich mich immer! Ich weiß auch gar nicht warum ich plötzlich so aufgeregt ist. Vielleicht habe ich endlich die Aktivität, zu die mein Herz eigentlich gehören und auch ist es was ich am liebsten mache. Ich kann schon nicht länger darauf warten!
Hmm ich möchte eigentlich auch ein kleines Geheimnis hier aufschreiben. Ich finde, dass einige von meinen Freunden sehr komisch zu mir sind. Ich verstehe nicht, was für einen Fehler habe ich getan, aber sie sehen aus, sich auf der Geburtstagsparty für einen anderen Freund nicht so aufgeregt zu freuen. Niemand wusste, wann sein Geburtstag genau ist! Und niemand interessiere sich auch, um eine Party zu organisiert. Sigh, macht nichts, ich würde zu meiner Beste sehen, was ich tun kann.
Jetzt habe ich schon großen Hunger! Also, tschüss und auf Wiederschreiben.
Well I guess the title says it all ain't it? But someone had once said to me, that time can always be made. So the two words "No Time" will always be nothing better than an excuse. A cliched excuse indeed. Think it's particularly true especially in terms of commitments. No one would ever actually have "no time" for anything. It all depends on how willing he or she is in putting the effort to commit to something. And - commitment is something in my opinion very important especially in establishing a long-term reliability among friends. So it really depends on the individual. If one could see a low probability in commiting to something, I think a better solution would be not to VOW to commit to it right from the start.
Ah why do i start bragging about commitment all of a sudden. Haha... Maybe still couldn't forget how I felt lost and left alone last year but nevermind. It's all in the past already and I am opening a new chapter in my life! New academic year. New freshman. And a new Committee whose members share the same passion and motivation. Perhaps more haha.
Yes, time really flies. And this is my third year as an Undergraduate, my third year staying in Hall, and my seventh year staying away from home. Its really interesting at times in retrospecting what have been happening for the past few years, and tracing the way I grew up from 15 until now, turning 22 in slightly more than a month's time. A new resolution, eh?
Well I thought my 21st year of life would be a special and ever more exciting one to be, but it initially turns out to be just as ordinary as in the past. Call me a pessimist or whatever, but I personally think my teenage life is somewhat boring. Not active in sports for one, while other kids happily play around. Also became somewhat quiet after entering Secondary School... not used to the new surroundings? or need time to undergo the transition period?
I think sometimes it's about finding a place within the surrounding, in which you would feel a sense of belonging. Guess that is what kept me within a certain circle of speechlessness. I am not saying that I regret my secondary school life back then, at least I made a great number of friends nevertheless. Both before and after coming over to Singapore. Somehow managed to find a place for myself when I first came, and is more willing to explore out of my comfort zone to find out more about myself.
So when did I take the first step? Was still kind of lost in CHS (guess if you dunno what school is that. I am NOT gonna tell you. Muahaha). So got "cheated" into Chinese Literary and Drama Society. Actually I was indeed literally cheated coz that time still feel kinda lost, then was approached by this teacher to join. Didnt have any other ideas on other activities tho so was thinking why not? Didn't learn that much of stuffs anyway. Nevermind. The real first step was indeed during my JC days. Was kind of randomly dragged in by one of the seniors into an audition for Choir (still could remember vividly, in LT1. Yeah not going to say which JC as well). Imagine I did not have ANY singing background for the past 17 years of my life (back then, duh!) and suddenly got dragged into audition. So I just sang lor just to entertain them a bit. Never did I expect the senior (yeah I still know him) to tell me to come back for second round audition conducted by the Instructor. Haha.... yeah he is a famous one in Singapore. And so I went for the audition nevertheless... At the end? Ended up at Tenor. Stuck at Tenor for the rest of my singing years until now. Ok lah, I dont seem to have a choice either. No balls mah, voice range not low enough, so confirm Tenor. Actually my voice range itself isnt that wide, so...
Anyway, with JC Choir I sang for 2 years, naturally find it quite interesting enough thats why I stayed. So yaa daa yaa daa and continued until now.... with participation in Hall Choir, first try with Hall A Cappella, then a brief participation in Campus Choir (later chose not to stay coz I dun think I can commit. Sorry). Really enjoyed the time singing tho. Finally found something that I like in life? Perhaps. Organizing Amplitude raised my motivation and awareness even more. And now it culminates I guess - with a brand new start: went for Auditions for Campus A Cappella (called NUS Resonance) last 2 weeks and managed to get in at last! 2 gruesome auditions to go through and got in. Went for their Welcome Tea today, and only then I realized, how much fun I have been missing for the past 2 years. Again, got "cheated" into commiting too much for Hall for don't know what else other than making many great Hall friends in the end.
For now, at least I have found something that I have long yearned for, and never had I feel such a strong sense of belonging to the new group I have joined. Really want to enjoy my life with a bunch of new friends in Resonance!
