Gone are the days when Singapore was a conservative country where kissing in a corner of a staircase was DEEPLY frowned upon, and hugging in public would subject one to public umbrage, wearing skimpy clothes made people think you weren't taught well.
Now, things are completely different. Kissing in buses and MRTs are everyday sights, people don't see anything wrong with showing their infatuation for each other in public areas, in fact, that's the norm now! Hugging in public is as disapproved of as someone who knocks into you while rushing elsewhere, the negative feelings are at most, a mild irritation thatgoes off almost immediately after it comes, young people even see not even the slightest wrong in it, and are the quickest to mimic the intimacy they see on the streets and in public. Nowadays, skimpy clothes are more common than "upright good clothes", short skirts that are sometimes not visible when a girl wears a slightly longer shirt, people tend to show more skin on top when in the past, baring of a bit more skin than usual would create a commotion, now, there is no reaction, it is in fact a tad boring, for everybody is baring here baring there.
Something not acceptable in the 1980-90s Singapore but of which i see on a regular basis is that of Passionate KISSING on public transport, teens are the most active participants of these public transport proclamation of love, they kiss and hug, and (sometimes touch)in front of like, fifty pairs of EYES. Nobody dared to even do that in a pitch black cinema, for they feared that while nobody saw them, the walls had eyes, now, however, its the case of the more the merrier, the more people witness their intimate scene, the more acomplished that act would be, for it should their appeal, someone who says Singapore is a conservative country should seriously start looking around and maybe board a train, maybe once those KISSES start flying in right in front of his eyes and many other roving ones. Maybe the reason why some still feel that Singapore is still as conservative is that we are all used to these sights,, and that the absence of it provides a sense of abnormality, and these further emphasises how much Singapore has evolved.
Like many other Asian countries, Singapore is a case of "good girl gone bad", and let's face it, Singapore has followed the world and thrown away its innocence, so its time to KISS goodbye to goody-two shoes image, I mean which country is still that"quiet good little girl"? It is now a rarity, so people who don't like these new influx of "bad behaviour" might have some getting used to to do, because there's no such thing as "goody two shoes" anymore, and at the rate the kisses are flying in at the moment in PUBLIC, there's no sign of it fading away.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Singaporeans do stand behind their country
Singaporeans would rather support other countries rather than support their own. Many feel that way, they feel Singaporeans don't feel much for their country and that they don't stand behind their country. I however, don't agree with that.
Look no further than sports. The Youth Olympic games would only have been a success because of the support Singaporeans have given to the YOG,locals actively sign up for the torch relay to support the YOG and to lend their support to this event, the enormous support in the torch relay alone where young and old lend their support and throw their weight behind the country to make this a success, this alone shows that Singaporeans do have feelings for their country and are willing to go the extra mile to help Singapore in anyway, evident from the large torch relay contingent, the enormous 20000 strong volunteer group, a commendable number given Singapore's small population. This crushes the stereotype that Singaporeans are nonchalant towards their country and don't give a hoot about their country and are just willing too sit comfortably in their own nest.
The support that Singaporeans give their own contry is also evident from how they give their all in supporting the local atheletes, at the recently concluded Table Tennis Championships, Local crowds cheered on Local paddler Isabelle Li during her gold medal match against China's Gu Yuting, while playing against Players from China was an uphill task and she failed to win in the end, Singaporeans gave their all in rooting for her, many shouting their voices hoarse, and those who didn't have clappers clapped till their hands were numb and red. Even in defeat, contrary to stereotype, that Singaporeans would just leave the competition venue because they felt there was nothing to watch for their players had lost, and since it was this way, they did not have to care, the Supporters instead gave Isabelle a rupturous applause and despite sore throats and swollen arms, once again aggravate the "injuries" by giving one last hurrah for Isabelle when she received her silver medal. Definitely not Singaporeans who don't care once they lose, and leave themselves out standing behind their country when they are on the losing ends. Singaporeans do support Singapore, not reluctantly, but with all their heart.
While it is true that Singaporeans do not give their support when asked to "MAKE SOME NOICE!", and thus casting the nation in an awkward light and shows Singaporeans to be unsupportive, it is forgivable as Singaporeans have been used to this, and admit it, we are naturally unreceptive.
Thus, on the overall Singaporeans do stand behind their country and are not reluctant supporters who think nothing of supporting their nation, but passionate people who have no qualmes of putting every little weight they have behind their nation.
Look no further than sports. The Youth Olympic games would only have been a success because of the support Singaporeans have given to the YOG,locals actively sign up for the torch relay to support the YOG and to lend their support to this event, the enormous support in the torch relay alone where young and old lend their support and throw their weight behind the country to make this a success, this alone shows that Singaporeans do have feelings for their country and are willing to go the extra mile to help Singapore in anyway, evident from the large torch relay contingent, the enormous 20000 strong volunteer group, a commendable number given Singapore's small population. This crushes the stereotype that Singaporeans are nonchalant towards their country and don't give a hoot about their country and are just willing too sit comfortably in their own nest.
The support that Singaporeans give their own contry is also evident from how they give their all in supporting the local atheletes, at the recently concluded Table Tennis Championships, Local crowds cheered on Local paddler Isabelle Li during her gold medal match against China's Gu Yuting, while playing against Players from China was an uphill task and she failed to win in the end, Singaporeans gave their all in rooting for her, many shouting their voices hoarse, and those who didn't have clappers clapped till their hands were numb and red. Even in defeat, contrary to stereotype, that Singaporeans would just leave the competition venue because they felt there was nothing to watch for their players had lost, and since it was this way, they did not have to care, the Supporters instead gave Isabelle a rupturous applause and despite sore throats and swollen arms, once again aggravate the "injuries" by giving one last hurrah for Isabelle when she received her silver medal. Definitely not Singaporeans who don't care once they lose, and leave themselves out standing behind their country when they are on the losing ends. Singaporeans do support Singapore, not reluctantly, but with all their heart.
While it is true that Singaporeans do not give their support when asked to "MAKE SOME NOICE!", and thus casting the nation in an awkward light and shows Singaporeans to be unsupportive, it is forgivable as Singaporeans have been used to this, and admit it, we are naturally unreceptive.
Thus, on the overall Singaporeans do stand behind their country and are not reluctant supporters who think nothing of supporting their nation, but passionate people who have no qualmes of putting every little weight they have behind their nation.
Its good to try hard, just don't try to hard.
In everything we do, it is a good thing to push ourselves to the limits, this way, we can soar to greate heights. In the field of sports, say swimming, for example, swimmers try hard and push themselves to the limits to achieve better times and beat themselves and their opponents for that coveted gold.
However, trying TOO hard could have its repercussions. A negative side to pushing yourself? Yes, if you do too much, things could backfire on you instead. Here's another example: This boy, who constantly achieves A* for his tests and examinations. However, he tries desperately to get that full and perfect marks, and in the end, because he put too much stress on himself, he ends up falling sick and as a result, does badly for his test.
By trying too hard to achieve goals that at that particular moment is beyond us, we put immense stress on ourselves to do much better than we have already achieved, often putting our body and mind through immense strain. This is something that we Singaporean students tend to feel these days. With intense competition, we constantly feel that we are not good enough, and sometimes set ambitious targets, sometimes too ambitious in order to be at the very top, and to reach this targets, we push and push AND push ourselves to achieve that "mission impossible", but, we are not robots nor are we immortals, and we do have a limit to our own personal capabilities and trying too hard to push through that could cause us to be burnt out, overly tired and weakened, and, many a times, we do not succeed, and this affects our morale, thus, pushing yourself too far would not only not have the benefits of bettering yourself that you expect, instead, you would be tired out and strained unneccessarily, which is not worth it considering the effort you put in, a final example I would give before concluding is about England footballer Joe Cole. Joe Cole has recently joined Liverpool F.C and has been very eager to prove himself, and there has been observations that he has been trying too hard, and this has backfired, in an attempt to prove himself, he volunteered to take a penalty and the strain of trying too hard to impress caused him to crack and he failed to score.
Finally, I would like to tell everybody that even though pushing and trying hard is good, remember not to overdo it, instead, do slow down and relax once in a while, this would recharge your batteries, while trying to hard would drain your energies swiftly and cause a meltdown. As the saying goes :"People rest to go further".
Its good to try hard, just dont try too hard.
However, trying TOO hard could have its repercussions. A negative side to pushing yourself? Yes, if you do too much, things could backfire on you instead. Here's another example: This boy, who constantly achieves A* for his tests and examinations. However, he tries desperately to get that full and perfect marks, and in the end, because he put too much stress on himself, he ends up falling sick and as a result, does badly for his test.
By trying too hard to achieve goals that at that particular moment is beyond us, we put immense stress on ourselves to do much better than we have already achieved, often putting our body and mind through immense strain. This is something that we Singaporean students tend to feel these days. With intense competition, we constantly feel that we are not good enough, and sometimes set ambitious targets, sometimes too ambitious in order to be at the very top, and to reach this targets, we push and push AND push ourselves to achieve that "mission impossible", but, we are not robots nor are we immortals, and we do have a limit to our own personal capabilities and trying too hard to push through that could cause us to be burnt out, overly tired and weakened, and, many a times, we do not succeed, and this affects our morale, thus, pushing yourself too far would not only not have the benefits of bettering yourself that you expect, instead, you would be tired out and strained unneccessarily, which is not worth it considering the effort you put in, a final example I would give before concluding is about England footballer Joe Cole. Joe Cole has recently joined Liverpool F.C and has been very eager to prove himself, and there has been observations that he has been trying too hard, and this has backfired, in an attempt to prove himself, he volunteered to take a penalty and the strain of trying too hard to impress caused him to crack and he failed to score.
Finally, I would like to tell everybody that even though pushing and trying hard is good, remember not to overdo it, instead, do slow down and relax once in a while, this would recharge your batteries, while trying to hard would drain your energies swiftly and cause a meltdown. As the saying goes :"People rest to go further".
Its good to try hard, just dont try too hard.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
DIVING
Diving! What does this word remind you of, at the YOG? Big name youth divers like Tom Daley and Qiu Bo, perfoming exqusite dives and wowing crowds come to an ordinary person's mind. But tonight, in the mind of all soccer fans, it is not about that, but about diving, the way of feigning fouls.
Singapore vs Haiti.
Well, everybody knows the result by now dont they? Singapore lost 1-0, and as a Singaporean, I am gutted, maybe whatever I am going to say is biased, but still I have to say it out. Haiti played their hearts out tonight, and I was impressed by their industry, and willingness to harry their opponents and prevent them from getting into a steady passing rhythm. What was not so impressive was the tendency to crash down unto the floor despite minimum contact with the Singaporean players, one Haitian player even clutched his face, trying to portray pain, when in fact, throughout the whole match, he was not even touched in his face for the whole game, sportsmanship completely lacking. In the dying moments Haiti won a penalty,well the penalty was rightfully gained, but the reaction of the Haiti players was terrible, he theatrically collasped to the ground and banged his legs in pain, making medics come to him, and wasting time, only to be seen up and running moments later, and in the proccess wasting Singapore's precious time.
In wanting to win the match, Haiti resorted to unscrupulous means and even though they fought and played hard, i will remember them as cheaters, while they celebrate, we do not respect them, often, when you want to win, by hook or by crook, you would stray and give up your sportsmanship, and it is often by this little mistakes or over desire to win that takes away the respect people have for you, just look at Haiti, days ago, they were praised for being feisty and having the never-say-die spirit, after bouncing back from a 9-0 defeat to Bolivia, but now, my respect has turned into disgust, then they were losers, on the pitch, but winners off it, now they win on the pitch, but off it, they LOSE.
Singapore vs Haiti.
Well, everybody knows the result by now dont they? Singapore lost 1-0, and as a Singaporean, I am gutted, maybe whatever I am going to say is biased, but still I have to say it out. Haiti played their hearts out tonight, and I was impressed by their industry, and willingness to harry their opponents and prevent them from getting into a steady passing rhythm. What was not so impressive was the tendency to crash down unto the floor despite minimum contact with the Singaporean players, one Haitian player even clutched his face, trying to portray pain, when in fact, throughout the whole match, he was not even touched in his face for the whole game, sportsmanship completely lacking. In the dying moments Haiti won a penalty,well the penalty was rightfully gained, but the reaction of the Haiti players was terrible, he theatrically collasped to the ground and banged his legs in pain, making medics come to him, and wasting time, only to be seen up and running moments later, and in the proccess wasting Singapore's precious time.
In wanting to win the match, Haiti resorted to unscrupulous means and even though they fought and played hard, i will remember them as cheaters, while they celebrate, we do not respect them, often, when you want to win, by hook or by crook, you would stray and give up your sportsmanship, and it is often by this little mistakes or over desire to win that takes away the respect people have for you, just look at Haiti, days ago, they were praised for being feisty and having the never-say-die spirit, after bouncing back from a 9-0 defeat to Bolivia, but now, my respect has turned into disgust, then they were losers, on the pitch, but winners off it, now they win on the pitch, but off it, they LOSE.
Stop moaning, Show your support!
Woohoo! The Youth Olympic Games kicked off with a bang, with Sailor Darren Tan lighting the "lighthouse" at the floating platform. Fireworks galore at the opening ceremony, and the spinning fire continues to dazzle me. I expected a great YOG.
Well, in fact, that so far has been what I feel of the Games. A great gathering of youth talents around the world showing each other their mettle,the sight of future sporting legends being born in this games excites me. Then these group of people who are supposedly anti-YOG had to come and spoil the party. They proclaim that while the budget of the YOG has expanded to a hefty 300 million, the donations to charity are at just 92 million. Do you really say this when your country is making a great milestone in sporting and Olympic history? I would not, and, from my point of view, $92 million being set aside for charity is itself no small or negligible sum, and even though the budget of the Youth Olympic Games has indeed increased substantially, I do feel that the money spent has been worthwhile. Being an incorruptible country, I believe that the taxpayer's money has been concentrated into improving the facilities for the YOG, and not for the oficials own good,look at the facilities, Bishan Stadium has been installed with brand new stadium lights, the football fields have been relayered, into to meet world class standards, oh, and don't forget the Games Village, while it is at NTU, renovations still have to be done, the opening ceremony requires a lot of money too, fireworks, the boat escortin Amanda Lim onto the floating platform don't come cheap, and also the spinning fire-Lighthouse, did you think that was free? So don't moan so much about the YOG sucking up your money, this is an international event, and look at the result, the world is impressed, this, i feel is money well spent. The Anti-YOG said the spinning fire symbolised their money going up in steam, really creative I must say.
However, I do admit that the complains have not all gone unfounded, a volunteer posted on the internet pictures of less than desirable food given to them, however, ever since, the food has improved, and so, the praises and cheers are coming in.
Finally, going back to the title, stop maoaning, stop pinpointing the negative side, the YOG is a success, rather than complaining about this and that, SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!
Well, in fact, that so far has been what I feel of the Games. A great gathering of youth talents around the world showing each other their mettle,the sight of future sporting legends being born in this games excites me. Then these group of people who are supposedly anti-YOG had to come and spoil the party. They proclaim that while the budget of the YOG has expanded to a hefty 300 million, the donations to charity are at just 92 million. Do you really say this when your country is making a great milestone in sporting and Olympic history? I would not, and, from my point of view, $92 million being set aside for charity is itself no small or negligible sum, and even though the budget of the Youth Olympic Games has indeed increased substantially, I do feel that the money spent has been worthwhile. Being an incorruptible country, I believe that the taxpayer's money has been concentrated into improving the facilities for the YOG, and not for the oficials own good,look at the facilities, Bishan Stadium has been installed with brand new stadium lights, the football fields have been relayered, into to meet world class standards, oh, and don't forget the Games Village, while it is at NTU, renovations still have to be done, the opening ceremony requires a lot of money too, fireworks, the boat escortin Amanda Lim onto the floating platform don't come cheap, and also the spinning fire-Lighthouse, did you think that was free? So don't moan so much about the YOG sucking up your money, this is an international event, and look at the result, the world is impressed, this, i feel is money well spent. The Anti-YOG said the spinning fire symbolised their money going up in steam, really creative I must say.
However, I do admit that the complains have not all gone unfounded, a volunteer posted on the internet pictures of less than desirable food given to them, however, ever since, the food has improved, and so, the praises and cheers are coming in.
Finally, going back to the title, stop maoaning, stop pinpointing the negative side, the YOG is a success, rather than complaining about this and that, SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!
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