hrm that article is real interesting. it makes me think that future human society will be reorganised like small agricultural communities, except it'll be more hydroponics farming than having to leave things up to the elements.. and then to generate electricity, they'll use sun wind water etc, but also maybe the energy human beings generate.. im not sure how we'll fly around though; how do biodiesel planes work?
and schools will teach their own main curriculum but exchange programs will take place more regularly.. im actually kinda thankful for the racial harmony nonsense we had. it's an ideal situation that racism doesnt exist but at least we're aware that it's something we have to fight.. some of my white friends talk like the situation doesnt exist, while some of my black friends can sometimes assert the inherent racism (like economic imbalance as if white trash didnt exist) they face, and then it can feel a bit divisive. but at least they talk about it. dangerously though, is the us versus them syndrome.
nyeh ok i dunno how i thought of this from tibet.. something to do with how people naturally tend to leave countrysides to go to cities for better lives which arent really better. and if the natural tendency is to leave agrarian lands and we want to give everyone equal opportunity in living out their chosen destinies, then we have to create societies that are self-sustaining in terms of energy and food/water/air needs!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
On Tibet
From today's ST forum, thought it made alot of sense to me:
Tibet's current violence smells of a Western agenda
DID TIBETANS RUN RIOT SPONTANEOUSLY?: Tibetan monks, nuns and activists protesting in neighbouring Nepal recently. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
THE violent riots in Tibet that occurred after more than 40 years of quiescence curiously coincides with the approach of the Beijing Olympics. It is difficult to believe that they were spontaneous and had no backing.
The Western media has been very effective in mobilising world opinion to condemn China. Even the restrained control by the Chinese authorities of the rioters who committed burning and killing was made to appear unjustified.
The central question is whether Tibet belongs to China. In 1246, Tibet was formally incorporated into the Mongol Empire which later became the Yuan Dynasty of China. Subsequent Chinese dynasties and governments have claimed Tibet to be part of China. In the Qing Dynasty, Chinese troops repeatedly entered Tibet to quell internal wars and dispel British-backed invasions. In 1907, Britain and Russia acknowledged Chinese suzerainty over Tibet.
In this unjust world where might is right, one can righteously say that China has no territorial right over Tibet. But by the same token, perhaps the Americans and the Australians should also leave their countries.
The title 'Dalai Lama' was bestowed by Mongolian ruler Altan Khan in 1578, and subsequent Dalai Lamas were derived from 'reincarnation'.
One of three Tibetans is a monk. The numerous monasteries own large areas of arable land and pastures and used to command thousands of unpaid farming serfs and slaves. With an overwhelming preoccupation in Buddhist religiosity, time had stood still in Tibet for several centuries. One would be hard pressed to find any trace of democracy, civil rights or social progress in that system by Western standards.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the communist government of China was high-handed and often brutal in dealing with Tibet, as it was to all other parts of China. In the past few decades, however, China has done much to modernise the province and benefit the Tibetans. Slavery has been abolished. All children can now have free secular education. Professions and occupations other than the restrictive traditional religious undertakings are now open to educated Tibetans. Living standards and life expectancy have improved greatly. With better health care, infant mortality has fallen. Improved communications with the construction of roads and a railway have spurred economic development.
Westerners seem to think that the traditional 'charming' social system of Tibet should continue undisturbed even though any respectable Western nation would be horrified to have such a system installed in its country. The Western media are obviously unable to appreciate the misery of living an impoverished life in a backward land.
Dr Ong Siew Chey
Tibet's current violence smells of a Western agenda
DID TIBETANS RUN RIOT SPONTANEOUSLY?: Tibetan monks, nuns and activists protesting in neighbouring Nepal recently. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
THE violent riots in Tibet that occurred after more than 40 years of quiescence curiously coincides with the approach of the Beijing Olympics. It is difficult to believe that they were spontaneous and had no backing.
The Western media has been very effective in mobilising world opinion to condemn China. Even the restrained control by the Chinese authorities of the rioters who committed burning and killing was made to appear unjustified.
The central question is whether Tibet belongs to China. In 1246, Tibet was formally incorporated into the Mongol Empire which later became the Yuan Dynasty of China. Subsequent Chinese dynasties and governments have claimed Tibet to be part of China. In the Qing Dynasty, Chinese troops repeatedly entered Tibet to quell internal wars and dispel British-backed invasions. In 1907, Britain and Russia acknowledged Chinese suzerainty over Tibet.
In this unjust world where might is right, one can righteously say that China has no territorial right over Tibet. But by the same token, perhaps the Americans and the Australians should also leave their countries.
The title 'Dalai Lama' was bestowed by Mongolian ruler Altan Khan in 1578, and subsequent Dalai Lamas were derived from 'reincarnation'.
One of three Tibetans is a monk. The numerous monasteries own large areas of arable land and pastures and used to command thousands of unpaid farming serfs and slaves. With an overwhelming preoccupation in Buddhist religiosity, time had stood still in Tibet for several centuries. One would be hard pressed to find any trace of democracy, civil rights or social progress in that system by Western standards.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the communist government of China was high-handed and often brutal in dealing with Tibet, as it was to all other parts of China. In the past few decades, however, China has done much to modernise the province and benefit the Tibetans. Slavery has been abolished. All children can now have free secular education. Professions and occupations other than the restrictive traditional religious undertakings are now open to educated Tibetans. Living standards and life expectancy have improved greatly. With better health care, infant mortality has fallen. Improved communications with the construction of roads and a railway have spurred economic development.
Westerners seem to think that the traditional 'charming' social system of Tibet should continue undisturbed even though any respectable Western nation would be horrified to have such a system installed in its country. The Western media are obviously unable to appreciate the misery of living an impoverished life in a backward land.
Dr Ong Siew Chey
Sunday, April 6, 2008
don't know if anybody even watches the videos i post but, haha:
first 4 minutes sorta made me ^_^ after a LOUSY DAY blahblahbalbha
*edit : just to substantiate, it's not DUMB... and sorta mimicks like early 20s + 30s silent films plus ... okok i jus think there's a certain fun-profundity to it. HAHA. and it starts off with a suicide scene so if you're feelign suicidal this may be good for thee
*update: and please at least watch until 2:40 minute pointer in this one.... AFTER watching the first one. HAHAHA. you need only minimal chinese skills to understand it ^_^
Saturday, April 5, 2008
granny in the house
to B: i can tell how upset you are tt jon didn't get in, cos you mentioned in BOTH entries that you posted. Haha. I thought he was going to UK alr? But I guess he WOULD want to go to the US cos then you'd be nearer each other, but being in the UK already halves the distance between sg + US.
Also, US admissions is really strange I don't see why he should not have gotten in, except that maybe they'd rather have more of their OWN american students. we had a couple of //ha/r/va/rd students in n/u/s at some talk that day and i felt rather -_- that OUR own p/r/ofe/ssors were like being sycophant-ish to them, when some of them just looked spoilt and were checking their fac/e/book accounts while the speaker was speaking.
after which, our prof had this seminar/talk with /n/us/ students (just with us only) in which he was like, ohh you know i was talking to thoes /haarrrrvarrdd students and it's really okay if you guys DON't KNOW what you want to do next time you know, because, they didn't know either~!!! *himbo alert*
but yeaa i guess i sound like those sourgrapish people who like to bomb the elites, no different from raffles-bashers here in singapore. HAHAhA. but actually i think i hate my professor for saying that more than those students (since one of them actually asked a rather brilliant question, n i noted down immediately the sophistication of thought which thus increased my respect for that individual, though possibly not the institution).
but in any case, b is your call for art works just random? i painted something for lijun last year ! which is supposedly quite nice since it impressed some of HER dormpeople (okay one to be specific) so maybe you can ask her for a photo. artartart
parisbreakfasts (dot) blogspot (dot) com also has some.. but simple water colour paintings of food mostly. she gushes alot about macaroon.s i only discovered her today so no am not a long standing fan
to mak and lijun: HAHAHAHAHA stupid mak you just like to keep up appearances about being lj's nemesis right?
and lijun ive been waiting for a xanga subscription of your turkey trip to come in and was rather worried that you're STILL in Turkey despite term having started? i thinkk?? and why did you two fight? I just received a postcard from Kelly, which has the acropolis on one side of it. What does it feel like to be in Singapore while people are everywhere? Love is really strong, since random thought but B expressed much more grief at Jon not getting into US unis whilst none that Granny didn't get anywhere! But this threatens to launch me back into my self-victimization cycle again
in other news, our dear /r/u/th gan has dropped out of uni and gone to work. and i had to meet the /v/ice/ dean cos she thought that /ru/th had some mental problem... which i wouldn't be so quick to dismiss actually. i don't know. ive mentioned this to lijun before so ..but i guess im in no position to judge. the /v/i/ce /de/an's a bit scary though... cos she's so.. "wanna be your friend". which is fine. but i also feel like she's "judging" me, especially since her interest in me positively spiked up when she realised that i was from "rj", and also "rgs". O_O.
i shall ignore such stupid labels and just go on with my life. lone ranger life. people here don't make friends you know. we're just lookign at each other everyday in class hoping everybody else does worse than you so that you can get an A, and i guess im not warranted to say that of everybody - and only me, since only I am inside me - but what more can you infer from people who
1) keep asking you if oyu've started on your essays
2) keep asking you if you've COMPLETEd your essays
3) if they can have a look at your essays (Which i did allow, briefly, but of course that stupid guy just wanted to pounce on the opportunity to make me "feel small", by making a big fuss about me NOT hAVING INCLUDED some stupid CRUCIAL argument related to my question.... what's with people + wanting to victimise others??!)
4) asking if they can PAY you to help them photocopy about 300 pages worth of required readings... -_-. By email.
and there's more I could list... and i wanna kaobei about how a/n/di always pangsehs me for lunch! but it's not her fault in the sense that she just can't handle time well....
but it really makes me wonder if I've become a "worser" person, cos last time people used to "gravitate" towards me cos i'm oh-so-funny and i still-am-sorta cos people always laugh at what i say in class, BUT.... it ends there.
i think they may be daunted by my "intellect". it's a bit bhb to say this. but you know what happened about the cat who jumped into my house and peed around? If you want to read about it click here : CLICK ON ME
so anyway we were analysing this short story in calss and there was a line about a black cat walking after a grey cat so one of my classmates mentioned it in order to support one of the points she was making and I just randomly said , "I hate cats."
and she actually looked at me and said, "oh sorry."
O_O.
and she's not the vv quiet and timid sort, she's this pretty indian girl who's very assertive, ac/j/c drama types, very outspoken with good diction...
it's abit much to allege that i've intimidated her.. but after she said sorry i found myself sputtering saying, "no it's not that..." but it's a bit irrelevant to bring up that incident in the middle of some literary analysis.
blahblahbalhba.
i really should get started on my essay
for those who don't already knwo, i actually have a gossip blog that has been having at least 1000 hits a day. Hurray. but it's not alot for a gossip blog. there's hongkong and taiwan news on it too :
(take out the slashes)
my/f//irst/gossip/blog [dot] wordp/ress [dot] com
yepp. leave a comment or something if you would so deign to .
oh yes and I have to reiterate that R//oy/s/t/on Ta/n pwns in terms of technical expertise, colour, prettiness.... BUT NOT STORYLINE. /8/8/1 was a long extended MTV ...very boring. Songs are nice but oookay lah. Ja/c/k Neo's I Not Stupid is still my favourite, better in terms of story i think. Maybe /Singapore D/reaming too but I'd have to watch it first to comment.
But I don't know, i think im sick of the singaporean circle. it's an irrational claim you're thinking butbutbut... maybe i'll substantiate in time to come. I HATE MYSELF
Also, US admissions is really strange I don't see why he should not have gotten in, except that maybe they'd rather have more of their OWN american students. we had a couple of //ha/r/va/rd students in n/u/s at some talk that day and i felt rather -_- that OUR own p/r/ofe/ssors were like being sycophant-ish to them, when some of them just looked spoilt and were checking their fac/e/book accounts while the speaker was speaking.
after which, our prof had this seminar/talk with /n/us/ students (just with us only) in which he was like, ohh you know i was talking to thoes /haarrrrvarrdd students and it's really okay if you guys DON't KNOW what you want to do next time you know, because, they didn't know either~!!! *himbo alert*
but yeaa i guess i sound like those sourgrapish people who like to bomb the elites, no different from raffles-bashers here in singapore. HAHAhA. but actually i think i hate my professor for saying that more than those students (since one of them actually asked a rather brilliant question, n i noted down immediately the sophistication of thought which thus increased my respect for that individual, though possibly not the institution).
but in any case, b is your call for art works just random? i painted something for lijun last year ! which is supposedly quite nice since it impressed some of HER dormpeople (okay one to be specific) so maybe you can ask her for a photo. artartart
parisbreakfasts (dot) blogspot (dot) com also has some.. but simple water colour paintings of food mostly. she gushes alot about macaroon.s i only discovered her today so no am not a long standing fan
to mak and lijun: HAHAHAHAHA stupid mak you just like to keep up appearances about being lj's nemesis right?
and lijun ive been waiting for a xanga subscription of your turkey trip to come in and was rather worried that you're STILL in Turkey despite term having started? i thinkk?? and why did you two fight? I just received a postcard from Kelly, which has the acropolis on one side of it. What does it feel like to be in Singapore while people are everywhere? Love is really strong, since random thought but B expressed much more grief at Jon not getting into US unis whilst none that Granny didn't get anywhere! But this threatens to launch me back into my self-victimization cycle again
in other news, our dear /r/u/th gan has dropped out of uni and gone to work. and i had to meet the /v/ice/ dean cos she thought that /ru/th had some mental problem... which i wouldn't be so quick to dismiss actually. i don't know. ive mentioned this to lijun before so ..but i guess im in no position to judge. the /v/i/ce /de/an's a bit scary though... cos she's so.. "wanna be your friend". which is fine. but i also feel like she's "judging" me, especially since her interest in me positively spiked up when she realised that i was from "rj", and also "rgs". O_O.
i shall ignore such stupid labels and just go on with my life. lone ranger life. people here don't make friends you know. we're just lookign at each other everyday in class hoping everybody else does worse than you so that you can get an A, and i guess im not warranted to say that of everybody - and only me, since only I am inside me - but what more can you infer from people who
1) keep asking you if oyu've started on your essays
2) keep asking you if you've COMPLETEd your essays
3) if they can have a look at your essays (Which i did allow, briefly, but of course that stupid guy just wanted to pounce on the opportunity to make me "feel small", by making a big fuss about me NOT hAVING INCLUDED some stupid CRUCIAL argument related to my question.... what's with people + wanting to victimise others??!)
4) asking if they can PAY you to help them photocopy about 300 pages worth of required readings... -_-. By email.
and there's more I could list... and i wanna kaobei about how a/n/di always pangsehs me for lunch! but it's not her fault in the sense that she just can't handle time well....
but it really makes me wonder if I've become a "worser" person, cos last time people used to "gravitate" towards me cos i'm oh-so-funny and i still-am-sorta cos people always laugh at what i say in class, BUT.... it ends there.
i think they may be daunted by my "intellect". it's a bit bhb to say this. but you know what happened about the cat who jumped into my house and peed around? If you want to read about it click here : CLICK ON ME
so anyway we were analysing this short story in calss and there was a line about a black cat walking after a grey cat so one of my classmates mentioned it in order to support one of the points she was making and I just randomly said , "I hate cats."
and she actually looked at me and said, "oh sorry."
O_O.
and she's not the vv quiet and timid sort, she's this pretty indian girl who's very assertive, ac/j/c drama types, very outspoken with good diction...
it's abit much to allege that i've intimidated her.. but after she said sorry i found myself sputtering saying, "no it's not that..." but it's a bit irrelevant to bring up that incident in the middle of some literary analysis.
blahblahbalhba.
i really should get started on my essay
for those who don't already knwo, i actually have a gossip blog that has been having at least 1000 hits a day. Hurray. but it's not alot for a gossip blog. there's hongkong and taiwan news on it too :
(take out the slashes)
my/f//irst/gossip/blog [dot] wordp/ress [dot] com
yepp. leave a comment or something if you would so deign to .
oh yes and I have to reiterate that R//oy/s/t/on Ta/n pwns in terms of technical expertise, colour, prettiness.... BUT NOT STORYLINE. /8/8/1 was a long extended MTV ...very boring. Songs are nice but oookay lah. Ja/c/k Neo's I Not Stupid is still my favourite, better in terms of story i think. Maybe /Singapore D/reaming too but I'd have to watch it first to comment.
But I don't know, i think im sick of the singaporean circle. it's an irrational claim you're thinking butbutbut... maybe i'll substantiate in time to come. I HATE MYSELF
Friday, April 4, 2008
hey guys look its roy/sto/n i have a crush on him
hahaha no la jk but he's brilliant i think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AsQmycxxA0
write a script for him anyone?
speaking of which, will you be so generous as to send me some kind of art that you've been making? video, poems, pictures, photography, craft, movement? we might be on different continents but maybe we can formulate some kind of non-linguistic storytelling/discussion/dialogue. i'm thinking of all the things i wanna do in dance and i'd love if we could do something together
maybe this blog can be a feature
and how's life, how's organising events and such stuff
ps the boyfriend didnt get into y/a/le/st/anf/or/d =( sigh
hahaha no la jk but he's brilliant i think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AsQmycxxA0
write a script for him anyone?
speaking of which, will you be so generous as to send me some kind of art that you've been making? video, poems, pictures, photography, craft, movement? we might be on different continents but maybe we can formulate some kind of non-linguistic storytelling/discussion/dialogue. i'm thinking of all the things i wanna do in dance and i'd love if we could do something together
maybe this blog can be a feature
and how's life, how's organising events and such stuff
ps the boyfriend didnt get into y/a/le/st/anf/or/d =( sigh
Thursday, April 3, 2008
oh no i forgot about this for awhile! mak, if you dont want to do law forever, at least you'd have funding to go do a master's or phd in something else. as long as you dont make the dumbass decision of studying law in the usa.. hahaha. ;p sigh. does the imbalance of resources make you sad; i wish americans didnt create so much waste and i wish other people had more room to choose either the traditional lifestyle or contemporary lifestyle. like women in more repressive cultures. hrm.
anyway the boyfriend is still in europe travelling and he didnt get into either yale or stanford =( just as i had decided to do a second degree in comparative studies and hence do four years of uni. now i dunno what i want to do. or i do but the financial/timing considerations are quite important. bah.
as for tibet, all they want is greater autonomy. dont know much about their history, so i am not going to have an opinion about it. the dalai lama fascinates me though. apparently he asked a neuroscientist whether mentl activity like meditation can alter your mind, and they found that it's possible ten years after he asked that question. do you think it's the ability of cultural practices to alter the brain that makes people all so different? do you think a globalised world will make people more similar? doubt it but who knows how easily humnkind can forget our histories eh.
charmaine when is your bali trip? are you going to organise another one next year? i kinda want to do volunteer work for the rest of my life but then at the same time i question it - why must we teach them english? why can't we learn their language instead? isn't their lifestyle in a way richer than ours? isn't it imperialistic to go to a place where tradition (which is constantly evolving, although revolutions may not have taken place) has held on for longer than it has in europe/singapore/etc? how do we behave less as if we are doing them good and more as if we are repaying a debt? i dunno. the whole do-gooder thing makes sense to me on one level but on the other how it is carried out is important too. whether it's an exchange or a bashing-through-to-change. aiya but while i sit here and think about inconsequential things nothing gets done. dont you wish it were true that you can just meditate and radiate love to the world, and the world will be a better place?
ps have you guys done yoga before. if you find a good yoga teacher you shd try it out, heh. good yoga teachers demonstrate clearly and combine philosophy with movement and breath. it's kinda amazing i've been having far more bright-minded days cos of yoga. but maybe other things also la. meh.
mingen is your program 3 or 4 years? i forget. what's everyone doing this july-aug-sept?
anyway the boyfriend is still in europe travelling and he didnt get into either yale or stanford =( just as i had decided to do a second degree in comparative studies and hence do four years of uni. now i dunno what i want to do. or i do but the financial/timing considerations are quite important. bah.
as for tibet, all they want is greater autonomy. dont know much about their history, so i am not going to have an opinion about it. the dalai lama fascinates me though. apparently he asked a neuroscientist whether mentl activity like meditation can alter your mind, and they found that it's possible ten years after he asked that question. do you think it's the ability of cultural practices to alter the brain that makes people all so different? do you think a globalised world will make people more similar? doubt it but who knows how easily humnkind can forget our histories eh.
charmaine when is your bali trip? are you going to organise another one next year? i kinda want to do volunteer work for the rest of my life but then at the same time i question it - why must we teach them english? why can't we learn their language instead? isn't their lifestyle in a way richer than ours? isn't it imperialistic to go to a place where tradition (which is constantly evolving, although revolutions may not have taken place) has held on for longer than it has in europe/singapore/etc? how do we behave less as if we are doing them good and more as if we are repaying a debt? i dunno. the whole do-gooder thing makes sense to me on one level but on the other how it is carried out is important too. whether it's an exchange or a bashing-through-to-change. aiya but while i sit here and think about inconsequential things nothing gets done. dont you wish it were true that you can just meditate and radiate love to the world, and the world will be a better place?
ps have you guys done yoga before. if you find a good yoga teacher you shd try it out, heh. good yoga teachers demonstrate clearly and combine philosophy with movement and breath. it's kinda amazing i've been having far more bright-minded days cos of yoga. but maybe other things also la. meh.
mingen is your program 3 or 4 years? i forget. what's everyone doing this july-aug-sept?
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
i didn't know there was a problem with dst - it was the last sunday of march per normal.
anyway, i thought i would never say this - particularly to pek lijun - but all sympathies at getting stuck in heathrow. that is, hands down, the worst airport in the world (and i've been to some nasty ones) and i wouldn't go near it if i could. sleeping in the airport is never fun haha.
darn i want to go to turkey too...maybe in summer.
ps. mingen i've added you!
anyway, i thought i would never say this - particularly to pek lijun - but all sympathies at getting stuck in heathrow. that is, hands down, the worst airport in the world (and i've been to some nasty ones) and i wouldn't go near it if i could. sleeping in the airport is never fun haha.
darn i want to go to turkey too...maybe in summer.
ps. mingen i've added you!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
OMG
ITS SO FUNNY THAT YOU SHOULD POST ABOUT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS COS IT SCREWED ME OVER TOO ---> I MISSED MY FLIGHT FROM ISTANBUL TO LONDON!!!!! AND BECAUSE OF THAT MISSED MY FLIGHT FROM LONDON TO BOSTON. AND ENDED UP STAYING AT HEATHROW AIRPORT OVERNIGHT *AGAIN* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AND I WAS (AM) HAVING STOMACH FLU (FROM TURKISH FOOD MAYBE)
CHOON! PHOTOS UP SOON! IT WAS SO FUN BUT JY AND I WERE BEING ABSOLUTELY HORRID TO EACH OTHER. BUT TURKEY WAS SO WONDERFUL IT CANCELLED OUT THE COMPANY HA HA HA.
CHOON! PHOTOS UP SOON! IT WAS SO FUN BUT JY AND I WERE BEING ABSOLUTELY HORRID TO EACH OTHER. BUT TURKEY WAS SO WONDERFUL IT CANCELLED OUT THE COMPANY HA HA HA.
Happy April Fools!! ha ha ha!
Richard Branson's budget airline carrier Virgin Blue advertised 'no chair fares' in which passengers paid half the normal ticket price to stand for the duration of a domestic flight.
The ads, which were run on the front page of newspapers, added that passengers would be entitled to a free calf massage for flights over two hours
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