Tuesday, June 27, 2006
失而复得的感动我家楼下有间杂货店。
还记得， 小时候， 每天早上， 我都会跟随在奶奶后面。
风雨不改的， 我们每天一定会到巴刹买菜。
不论是在去巴刹或回家的途中， 我们一定会经过这间杂货店。
杂货店的老板是对老夫妇。。。 以我当时的猜想， 他们的年龄应该七十有余吧。
他们就是这样， 每一天坚守着这间店。
店里的货物， 都是旧款式的。无论是笔、纸、玩具、家庭用具、鞋子等等， 都带着了昔日的风采。
有些货品还被层层的灰尘盖着呢。
这里看起来， 顾客并不多。
如果有顾客来光顾， 他们就不慌不忙地出来招呼他们。
如果没有顾客来光顾，他们就清闲地坐在店门口， 读着报纸。
两公婆以福建话向对方喊着， 因为他们的听觉已开始逐渐退化了。
他们没有山盟海誓， 没有每天的 “我爱你”， 也没有那恩爱的肢体表现。。。但是，在那听似粗鲁的喊叫，我隐隐约约地听到了他们对彼此的爱。。。 那就是老一辈夫妻之间所谓的 “爱”。
他们的儿子偶尔也会在店内出现， 但是不会是很平常。。。 可能一个星期一次吧。
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时间一年一年地过， 我也长大了。
我奶奶也在我中三那年去世了。
随着功课的负担越来越重， 和跟朋友去的地方也离家越来越远， 不知不觉地，我开始忽略了那我以前天天都去的地方。
有一次， 我又经过了那间杂货店。
一眨眼， 过了七八年了。
这次，老阿伯一个人，孤独的坐在店口。
“ Ah Pek!" 我对他笑了笑， 点了点头。
“阿弟oei.. jiak pah liao buay?" 他说。
我从他的声音中，仿佛听到了一些寂寞，一些无奈，但又参杂了对我深切却又简单的慰问。
“ Jiak Pah Liao! ”
看见他寂寞的身影，我本来想跟他多交谈几句，但又因为自己的福建话说得不好， 我笑着，便走开了。
那阿婆跑到哪儿去了啊？
难道。。。。？？？
就这样，每当我经过这间店时， 都是同样的情景， 同样的对话。
阿婆还是不在。
有时候，老阿伯的儿子会来帮忙看店。
可是，阿婆还是不在。
我想问，我却又不敢问。
我想，人生的无常就是如此吧。
首先是我奶奶， 过后便是她。
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上个星期二， 在下班的途中， 我突然很想吃咖喱面包， 我便到我家附近的面包店去买。
面包店在那间杂货店的隔壁。
走着走着，我走到那间杂货店。
“ eh, Ah Pek 呢？” 我想。
一个熟悉的身影从店内缓慢的走出来。
突然间，一股非常激动的情绪涌进了我的内心。。。
内心的泪似乎要冲破了我的眼眶。
“不可能的！”
我装着冷静，淡淡地对她笑了笑，点了点头。
那股失而复得的喜悦， 再加上童年种种的回忆， 我内心瞬时间充满了许许多多的感触。
希望您一直能身体健康， 阿婆。
lowtide blogged @
5:36 pm
Monday, June 19, 2006
The stupid media and the stupid YOUIn our daily lives, where do we get our information?
To most people, it's through television, radio, newspaper, magazines and the word of mouth.
And to a lesser extent, more and more people chose to get a more holistic feel of matters through the internet, where it is thought to be the place where information is without boundaries and nationalities, where information is delivered directly to the front of our eyes and ears, where information is raw and uncensored.
It is hailed as the 'new media'.
But the majority of the public still get information through the 'old media', which the few forms I've mentioned above, and it is readily available for you without you having to search high and low for it.
Want some news? Flip the newspapers and you'll find them.
Want some entertainment? Switch on the television and you'll get it.
(No gurantees when it comes to local television though =P)
Most people still depend on the 'old media' to get information, and what they see, hear, or even feel about matters of the world is through this old avenue.
Meaning, unless you made the effort to look for alternative sources of information, what you know is most possibly what the mass media tells you.
Let's face it. People are lazy. We're curious to know what's happening around us, but yet we can't be too bothered to search for information. Hence, we turn to the mass media, in a view to get the information we desire.
And due to this innate laziness in us, we tend to readily accept whatever is presented to us by the mass media to us. Unless one breaks that innate laziness and starts the critical thinking process, our knowledge, our values and even our opinions, could be easily manipulated by the mass media, as the '
angles' which news are reported are to the discretion to the journalists, producers, and even editors.
The first stage of critical thinking should set in as we question the motive of the above-mentioned personnels in producing that piece of news article.
What would be the MOTIVE of the people involved in reporting that news article?
To report the truth? To uncover the side which people has never seen or pondered about before? To boost sales? For commercial purposes (i.e to please their sponsors)?
Second, when a news article is being presented to us, more often than not, it does not contain the WHOLE TRUTH.
The 'angles' which I mentioned a few sentences back could let the reader focus on certain parts of the news involved and neglect the others.
Example 1:
Straits Times June 8, 2006
Young doctor jailed eight months for possessing IceDownward spiral began when he experimented with gay sex and drugsBy Elena Chong
TAXI driver's son Adrian Yeo See Seng had a bright future as a doctor but the 27-year-old threw it all away when he experimented with sex and drugs.
A district court heard yesterday that he spiralled downwards after he started engaging in homosexual sex with strangers he met over the Internet, and taking drugs.
He was caught when a man he chatted with online invited him for a sex session with a third man at a Bencoolen Street hotel.
But the two strangers turned out to be undercover anti-narcotics officers who found drugs on Yeo when he arrived, and arrested him .....
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This article focuses on Adrian throwing his bright future away through the engagement of illegal activities, thus serving a warning to other bright young souls to think twice when they want to commit criminal acts.
Example 2:
From the Straits Times, June 6 2006
By Stephanie YapPASSING time in an Internet chatroom one night, Adrian Yeo met a man called Joe.
Over the following few days, Joe was quite persistent, sending him SMS messages asking if he had drugs, and if he wanted to meet up 'to have fun'.
According to Yeo's mitigation plea submitted in court, he refused the first few times.
Eventually, the 26-year-old trainee doctor gave in and met Joe, and another man, Jacob, at a Hotel 81, on April Fools Day this year.
When he arrived at the hotel, he got a nasty surprise. Both men turned out to be undercover Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers, who found 0.16g of methamphetamine on him.
Arrested for drug possession, Yeo was sentenced to eight months in jail on Wednesday.
The time in prison requires him to break a $400,000 five-year bond with the Government, and casts a shadow on his medical career.
CNB has often been known to employ the same methods it used to catch Yeo.
Said CNB spokesman Amelia Oh: 'CNB is aware that drug offenders use various means to conduct their illegal activities and have come across instances of some of them using the Internet to do so.
'Based on intelligence gathered and feedback received, CNB will monitor channels of information, including chatrooms, to detect and apprehend drug offenders.'
Unlike countries such as the United States and Canada, where evidence gathered through 'excessive' entrapment can be thrown out of court, evidence obtained through any method of entrapment is lawful in Singapore.
Entrapment is often used when the authorities know an individual is committing an offence, but cannot catch him in the act, said retired police detective Lionel de Souza.
'It can be difficult to catch a person red-handed even if you already have information that he is breaking the law. 'In the case of drug possession, you can invite him to meet you and hope he arrives with drugs,' he said.
However, Yeo's lawyer, Mr Kertar Singh, argued that CNB officers overstepped a boundary. 'Yes, the whole exercise is not illegal, but in all fairness what was done by CNB was not appropriate. 'They went into the chatline and lured people in by saying certain things.
An innocent, naive person might find himself in this kind of situation, then get caught,' he said.
According to Yeo's mitigation presented in court, he initially refused the undercover officer's requests to meet him. While he admitted to the officer he had drugs, he said they were for his own consumption only.
Yeo finally accepted an invitation to meet Joe and Joe's boyfriend for sex at the Bencoolen Street Hotel 81 on April 1. Joe told Yeo he had some Ecstasy,and asked if Yeo had drugs. Yeo said he would bring some.
While lawyers agree some entrapment is necessary for law enforcement, they say officers should not tempt an otherwise unwilling person to commit a crime.
'I don't think officers should be encouraging people to commit offences. I'm very uncomfortable with that,' said Mr Peter Low, chairman of the Law Society'scriminal practice committee.
Mr Subhas Anandan, president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore, agreed. 'Of course, a certain degree of entrapment should be allowed, otherwise you can't catch crooks. But they mustn't cross the line.'
CNB did cross the line, in Mr Anandan's opinion, in a 2003 case in which insurance agent Teo Ya Lin was pressed by an undercover CNB officer to obtain an Ecstasy pill for him, promising to buy a big policy from her in return. Teo got him a pill, for which she was sentenced to six years and three months in jail.
'This girl had no intention of selling drugs until she was repeatedly persuaded by the officer. She would not under normal circumstances be a trafficker. The temptation is put forward,' said Mr Anandan.
The veteran defence lawyer, who has personally seen three cases of excessive entrapment in the past year, believes it is a growing problem. 'It has come to a stage where people are talking about it. I can't give figures offhand, but the number is enough to be a little bit scary,' he said.
The Association of Criminal Lawyers plans to put the entrapment issue to the Government in a paper it is preparing, which Mr Anandan estimates will be ready in a month or two.
Mr Low said the Law Society is not currently looking into the issue as it is working on capital punishment reform. 'However, entrapment law reform would be timely,' he said.
Both lawyers point out that entrapment laws were revised in 2001 in Britain, on which Singapore models its legal system.
In an October 2001 landmark case, the House of Lords ruled that it was 'simply not acceptable that the state, through its agents, should lure its citizens into committing acts forbidden by the law and then seek to prosecute them for doing so'.
The case involved Spencer Grant Looseley, who was approached several times by an undercover police officer who tried to get him to sell drugs.
Reform in Singapore may take a while yet, but Mr Anandan suggested in the meantime, judges can indicate in their verdict their dissatisfaction with the current entrapment laws, in the hope of inspiring legislative change.
'Parliament must do something. For the judiciary, their hands are tied as the law is very clear.'
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Well, although on the same matter, the author of this article chose to focus on the legal issues regarding the use of entrapment to entice people to commit crimes, then catch them.
One story, but two different angles.
So, it is very important for us to be able to look beyond the surface of information presented to us, and not just accept them readily without and thinking in the process.
What inspired me to write about this serious and dull matter?
Two things irked me.
First, well, I've heard people commenting about Stephanie Sun's performance in the Taiwanese Golden Melody Awards as 'horrible'.
Eager to know whether the comment are justified,
I went to see and hear her performance on youtube.From what I heard, it was not as bad as it was reported in the media.
She had just forgotten the last few words of the song 一路上有你, and went a bit shakey for a few parts of some songs.
What would the ever-reliable Taiwanese entertainment media report?
孙燕姿金曲奖演唱走音加忘词 砸了歌后招牌(图)It mainly focuses on the FEW WORDS she missed, and the FEW NOTES she sang a bit off.
What is the motive of this article? You should be clever enough to think about it.
Readers without a discerning minds will nod their head like fools, and totally agree with what was being reported.
So when they re-watch how she performed, the pre-conceived mindset of 她唱得很烂, will be deeply embeded in their obedient minds and their views would be skewed, according to how the mass media shapes it.
Through day by day, week by week, months by months and years by years of constant bombardment of the mass media's reporting, values are slowly formed and characters influenced subconsiously.
Second, I laughed when I saw
this article on the channelnewsasia website.
This is the most blatant pro-government news article I've seen, without being too obvious to the non-discerning public.
It focuses on how the higher mid-year bonus will help the poor families to cope with the rising costs, and how it would benefit them.
Noble indeed.
What about the people who are earning sky-high wages in the public sector?
This article coveniently ignores that fact.
Due to that, our ministers, MPs, SAF/Police Force/Civil Defence regulars etc, who are already damn well-paid, would once again get more incentives, in addition to their already-fat pay cheque.
Where do the money come from? What are the grounds on justifying the higher bonuses when the employer's CPF contribution rate is not yet restored? So is the economy doing good or bad?
Using the help it renders to the poor families to cover up for the greed of the people higher-ups is 'good' reporting indeed.
So, before we take in any information, we should be discerning and think of the issues beyond the surface.
It's a stupid media game out there, but does it turn you into a stupid you?
lowtide blogged @
4:31 pm
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Classics again from Mr Brown!Bored at work, these two podcasts really perked me up.
I gurantee you will Chio Ga Pengz!
1) Smile and Speak Good EnglishThe first part was quite funny, but wait for the later part of the podcast.
I love the way that hokkien uncle spew vulgarities, presumably at the Prime Minister!
2) Tempted to break the lawWell, well, well, I love the fake-malay accent sial~!
Power la deh!
In case you don't know, this is a hit at the government policy of privatising the carpark fining and the police at enticing someone to commit a crime and then catching them later.
Killed two birds with one stone!
Classics.
lowtide blogged @
11:08 am
Thursday, June 15, 2006
心动-edFor some reason, I haven't really been able to wake up on time to work.. I'm not sure of the reason, but I feel kinda.. tired.
Plus with watching the World Cup at night around 9pm when I reach home only at 7.30pm everyday, it could take quite a toll on my tired body... I need more sleep!
It resulted in me taking cab to work on Monday and Wednesday.. broke.
And on Wednesday, while the cab was near to my workplace, the radio (love 97.2) played out a familiar song..
有多久没见你...
以为你在那里...
原来就住在我的心底..
陪伴着我的呼吸...
The sad tune of the beginning of the song, coupled with the very bare and powerful lyrics.. immediately brought my attention in.
Oh this song sounded so familiar..
有多远的距离..
以为..
闻不到你的气息..
谁知道你背影,
这么长
回头就看到你
Ooohhh the lyrics were so meaningful.. 瞬时间， 我陷入了这首歌的意境当中。
I began to indulge in the sadness of this song.
过去让它过去
来不及
从头喜欢你
白云缠绕着蓝天.. oh...
如果不能够永远都在一起
也至少给我们
So simple, yet so powerful.
However, upon listening to the last part of the chorus,
which is:
也至少给我们
怀念的勇气
拥抱的权利
好让你明白
我心动的痕迹
Unknowningly, it brought a smile to my face... something in the lyrics warmed my heart upon hearing these few sentences.
Hmm, strange, I never felt this way when I heard this song long ago..
Suddenly, I felt how powerful music can be when it connects to people.
Maybe it's time to take out my song book and start writing songs again.
lowtide blogged @
3:04 pm
Saturday, June 03, 2006
A view from the daily bus ride
Lenovo charters some buses that fetch its staff to work every morning.
So every morning, I will board the Bedok bus, and then embark on the slow journey to work.
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"Good evening, gentlemen."
"Good evening, Sir!"
"Now, I shall read out the RO to you guys."
"Reville.. 0650!"
"0650!"
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Alarm beeps..
Ah Boy is slowly regains his consiousness.. "Ah so fast?!?!?!? It feels like I've just slept!"
Meanwhile, the alarm gets louder and louder... "beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!!!!!!""
*gRoAnS*
Snooze activated. Snooze cancelled. Alarm off.
Ah boy sleeps again..
The struggles start.
"Oei wake up leh!!! Wake up earlier got more time to prepare! Come oN!!!!!"
" Don't want la, tired leh.. Let me sleep more lah.."
zZzZzZzzzzzZzzZZz..
Suddenly, Ah Boy wakes up, shocked.
"What time already!?!?!??!"
7.15. Phew.
He proceeds to perform his well-practiced drills.
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Every morning, I will board the bus in front of Giant at 8.05am, when we are supposed to reach my office in Lorong Chuan (Serangoon) at
9am.
Sian.
Then I will embark on a tour around the estates in the East, places which I'm so familiar with.
To most people, it could just be a simple ride.. Just look at the sceneries, and you'll reach the destination.
But to me, I tend to think a lot when I travel along the places.
People who know me will notice I tend to look intensively around at buildings, the people, the types of architecture when I go to new places, or when I engage on a bus ride.
I love to make observations about places and try to remember the differences in the 'almost everywhere is similiar' Singapore.
The ride starts.
The bus will travel somehow along the MRT line towards the East.
AHS bustop with bus no. 9, 31, 24 etc
--- Can't help but think of the days as an AHS student, when we would take bus from this bus stop when we want to go to Tampines, our favourite hangout. The familiar surroundings made me think back of the AHS days.
Then, the bus will pick up more staff from the Tanah Merah MRT bus stop, and travel to Simei.
Simei MRT bustop
-- First impression of the place is the numerous times we come here for lunch during our work in IBM building.. The images of our colleagues queuing up at the Sweet-talk bubble tea store suddenly comes in front of me.
-- Hmm, remembered that Yihao stays here, and Zhiqing as well... some random and vague memories of going to their houses came to my mind
-- Remembered once me, yingwei, mindy and some more people from 2A come here to sell tickets for some walk, something like the Simei-something walk... again vague memories.
-- Remembered once I came here to sell flags in one of our LEO saturdays, and I forgot which guy i came with.. is it Guoyuan?
Travelling along the Simei estate, I can't help but see how 'new' the place looks. It is very well-maintained, and the whole place is decorated with nice-looking plants amongst the blocks of flats. It looks a very cosy neighbourhood. Hats off to the PAP town councils, which mangaged the place pretty well.
Next, the bus will travel along the road in front of Yujia's house.
--- Some memories of 08/02's mahjong and gathering sessions come into mind
Then, it will travel up some expressway (i think it's the TPE) to Pasir Ris.
The flyover will pass by James' house
-- some memories of going to James' house come into mind.. dunno what we did there b4 though.
Upon entering Pasir Ris out of the expressway, a group of blue-coloured flats welcomes the bus. It looks rather familiar.. Is it where Jennifer's house is? I'm not totally sure, but I think it is.
-- remembered once we went her house.. (ONLY FOUR GUYS!) to do some project.. i only remember kianheng was there.. and chian rui perhaps..? My memory is failing me, rrgh.
Touring Pasir Ris, the flats are of a different structure. Here, I noticed the flats are smaller, more rigidly and 'squarely' aligned against one another, making the estates look cramped.. Same as Simei was the nice flora amongst the block of flats... the place has a very new and cosy feel as well.
-- I was wondering, where are the houses of lihui and wenyan? They are the few people I know to live in Pasir Ris
The bus then picks up the last group of staff at the Pasir MRT bus stop, and it turns into the TPE to go to the North-East.
Usually I doze off at this point, as the bus will be travelling smoothly to the destination.
However, nowadays the driver seems to prefer to go to Lorong Chuan via Hougang.
The bus will exit through the 'Hougang New Town' exit, and go right along Old Tampines road
-- suddenly I remember the time I took bus 72 with ben ng and weijian to go to ben ng's old house in hougang
Then, the bus will reach Hougang near Hougang CC, and the contrast between the two sides was rather clear. To my right were the blocks of flats carrying the yellow and red block plates, and to my left, the nicely furbished flats and the estate with nice plants decorating it.
-- the memory of me crazy enough to walk alone at night to see what's really like in the WP-held hougang makes me laugh
--can't help but feel a sense of sympathy for the residents of hougang, as the place is not as nice as what I saw in Simei and Pasir Ris.
Next, the bus will travel passby Kovan MRT station
-- i remembered the numerous times we came here to eat after our sessions of mahjong at Rayner's house
-- Hmm, Rayner, Weichern, thu huong and me at the Thai Express there. what was the occassion?
The bus will then go down to Serangoon, and and it passes by the Serangoon stadium.
-- Looking at the empty stadium, I can't help but remember the super duper large crowd in the WP's last rally there
-- The scenes of the crowd filling the whole stadium and the perimeter of it came alive again
-- The deafening roar of the crowd suddenly filled the stadium
Finally, it reaches the office and I'm ready to start work again.
What's the point of this post?
I dunno haha.
lowtide blogged @
9:06 pm
Thursday, June 01, 2006
High quality music on blogs!!!After doing some 'research' during work, finally!!!
If u notice the quality of the music when u load this blog, you'll be surprised.
Eh, isn't the quality much much better than the music on other blogs?
Yes, I've finally found a way to embed the media player on my blog, and stream near-cd quality music at the same time!!
No more restrictions from the selection lists from iwebtunes and iwebmusic!!!
Woohoo!
I'm a genius.
lowtide blogged @
8:27 pm
