It's just like that, Ma

Last night I religiously observed Earth Hour. Without a computer or a TV, I figured I'd sit out the hour in bed. Bad idea, I fell asleep only to wake up at 5am on a Sunday morning!

I admit, I am guilty of posting many of these in my early days of being a Facebook-er. But I think when you age on Facebook, you get better at saying things on your own rather than finding cards to express them or trying to look wise with borrowed sayings! Anyhow, I found this one and thought it was good food for thought.

The last time my mother visited me, she had several culture shocks. First of all, compared to home, Singapore is a lot safer and more peaceful. If you forget your wallet or phone in a cafe, chances are you will have it returned by the person who found it, whereas back home, a random stranger might be more than happy to snatch yours from your hands. Crime rates are very low here and it's not something I have taken for granted, because it really is a privilege. It's a very organised country; most things go like clockwork. Surprises rarely happen. Whether you are a woman or a man, it doesn't really matter what you wear or what you do with your free time. Nobody really cares or judges you for that. But back home, it's a closed up society. Everyone is interested in everyone else's business. Especially if you are a female, you have to behave in certain accepted ways for your own safety and survival. Being independent, different or expressive will most likely land you in trouble. When in public, one has to always watch over the shoulder and it can be quite stress-inducing. Here in Singapore, that is unnecessary so she was pleasantly surprised.

I had a hard time explaining to my mother why some people on the streets wore these and spectacles without lenses. (I used this image from Google Images to illustrate my point)

When shopping, she naturally multiplied everything by a 100 which gave a large figure in currency back home and it somewhat made a dent on the shopping experience. She also told me that while she was touring on her own, several strangers came to her aid and she was touched by the friendliness of the people here. The one thing which she could not stand and which I agree wholeheartedly is that a majority of people here don't have the good habit of closing their mouths when they yawn or cough. So being next to a sick person in a crowded bus or a train will most likely get you sick too. Let's not discuss bad breath here.

Another time she went to a famous shopping area and had seen a sign board that said "The Sex Shop".
Shu's mother: [with horror-stricken eyes] What happens in there??
Shu: Nothing Mama, it's just a shop selling toys for very old children. 

I spent my evening researching rock bands with the added input from Ryuu - who's bit of an expert on the subject. [After note: Ryuu refuses to be called even a bit of a Rock expert]. It's a very complex subject with so many types of rock (classic, punk, pop, cheese, glam, metal, and there's more!) within one genre, that it is almost too confusing to categorise them. I think I'll stop trying to figure out how to catergorise them at this point. I managed to listen to several new songs, re-discover a few old songs and even learn some new things:

• Britain was the beginning of the Rock Era - starting with legendary bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Beatles.
• I am not a huge fan of all classic rock bands. I'm just a rabid Queen fan. I just think they are pretty awesome - talented, unique, bold with experimenting with music (they played with pianos, they played with classical orchestras, they came up with songs ones like Bohemian Rhapsody and they really rocked the crowds) and their songs STILL play on popular radio stations. And I'll bite anyone who disagrees.

Music really is a universal language. This Beatles song caught my ears today and stuck.

 

A public holiday approaches us end of this week - yay!

Filling the voids

I have completed six months at work. Since I could not find a suitable picture on the internet to describe my interpersonal progress at work, I made an amateur attempt to draw it. 

No snails were harmed in the making of this picture

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People who have fallen into their perfect niche of a career are unmistakable. The doctor in my neighbourhood clinic is one of them. He sees a good number of sickly and depressed people per day and yet in all the times I have visited, he used scribbled up diagrams to explain more about my disease, even without me asking any questions. I have only visited him when I had the flu and so far, he's drawn my throat to tell me how infected my tonsils were and another time, he drew the cycle of events that follow a flu and how we can block certain points in order to prevent progression to the next symptom! He is so cheerful, kind and even generous with recommending the number of days to stay off work. I also noticed he uses very mild and minimal medicines to treat patients. My spirits are usually up a notch when I walk out of his consultation room. Not only that, I wonder why he charges a little less than what a government clinic does.

I should send him a postcard when I move out from this neighborhood.

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A new anti-rape bill was passed in India recently. This came about in response to the horrific gang rape case in December that attracted much local and international attention. If the case didn't get so much attention, I doubt the bill would have been passed by now. It's a small victory, really, because it's going to take a while before its effectiveness shows up in the statistics - during which time more victims will pay the price. It will take even longer to change the existing attitudes of a religious and conservative culture. This is true not just in India; it happens in every culture and every society where extremist religious/patriarchal views dominate and in cultures that are alien to the concept of gender equality.

On one side of the world there are women who lead relatively safe lives with equal opportunities in career and education. And on another side of the world there are men deciding that women need a male guardian's permission to travel, or that they are born to serve as sex slaves, or they don't need an education, or that they cant drive a car, or that they should be flogged for being raped  - and these men so sure in their 'righteous' beliefs just like we are certain the sky is blue. And most women in these unfortunate parts of the world, though unhappy, have it instilled in their minds that this is indeed their fate and that there is nothing better for them in this life. Fighting for their human rights is a risky move when even the national laws don't support them.

An article that was shared by a friend of mine stated that every rapist is someone's son. It explores how parents have the opportunities to change the course of life events in a male child that may lead to a fateful decision like rape. I don't think parents bringing up sons in environments where gender equality and respect for all differences are encouraged and practiced need to worry much. It's the other parents who have a greater role to play in the lives of the sons they bring up.

Today we are musically inspired

Had I been born a ten years earlier, I might have caught Queen live in concert!

*note to self* Attend a live Rock concert. And hurry, before the last of the Classic Rock bands perform their final world tours.

Journey is performing live here today. I'm not a big fan of the band, only because I have not actively listened to their tracks growing up except for "Don't Stop Believing" after hearing a Glee cover and falling in love with it. But I have to admit, they sound Great! Perhaps artistes these days, in their great numbers and with bountiful opportunities to arrive at fame, have to work harder to have lasting fame because there just is too much competition and too many channels to address. Back then before the 90's, it was a simpler affair - if a Rock band had exceptional talent and toured around a lot, most likely they'll get their immortal fame because unlike now, the audiences were not spoilt for choices when listening to music. They were likely to listen to the same limited collection of good songs which would then be etched in their souls. Now our playlists grow and change so fast that it's easy to forget even a good song in a matter of days. Quite unfair to the extremely talented artistes these days, I suppose. And back then, musicians needed mostly exceptional talent and stamina to go on. Now, budding musicians need business and social networks, media channels, sophisticated equipment, an entourage of performers.... Oh and fame doesn't necessarily co-relate to talent.

Our musical pursuits made us really hungry after work so we made a colourful home-cooked meal!

Run away, vegetable haters!

My mother was extremely supportive of my recycling efforts when she visited me. She went the extra miles to throw every piece of trash that was recyclable into my special trash bag during her stay. So it brought me much joy to see the biggest haul of weekly junk during one of the weeks she was here. I'm also quite touched that my housemates continue to support the cause in their own ways. Since we began separating the recyclable from the non-recyclable junk, the number of trash bags thrown down the chute to the public disposal system has vastly reduced.

A record week of junk haul for Shu!

Time to log off. Do support Earth Hour on Saturday, 23rd March 2013 from 08:30pm to 09:30pm. It's a good gesture to be part of a global effort for a global cause.

After a brief hiatus

Hello everyone!

Since my system has not downloaded its thoughts into writing in a long while, be warned, this post may not make much sense.

Psychology is perhaps a great choice of study. Even without generous research grants, laboratories or guinea pigs, plenty of field studies and theories can be formulated by just quietly looking around.

Social formalities can be confusing sometimes. There are hugs only and one-cheeked kisses and two-cheeked kisses and loud ones and quiet ones and ones inclusive of a hug and even "sniff" kisses where I come from. Basically, elderly people just sniff your cheeks and no one seems to question why it's done. But yeah, sometimes, Shuri gets all confused in the moment with these various options and ends up thinking later "Oh, I should have done this instead of that!"

In a moment of vain curiosity, Shu decided that curls would be an interesting change to her otherwise messy hair. She reasoned that getting curls through a salon would mean that the hair would be a "uniform mess" as opposed Shu's natural hair which is a "non-uniform mess". After braving through nearly two hours of chemical exposure and heat *shudders*, she was given a tutorial on how to maintain these curls. But she forgot most of it by the time she reached home and the next day she went to work as usual after a shower to realise that in place of the curls that were there on the head when she left the salon, was an afro! Slowly, she's learning to manage things with the techniques taught by the hairstylist.

Shu, you stupid girl.

Many weeks ago, two of my childhood buddies and their mother visited Singapore, while my mother was visiting me as well. My mother was practically their mother too, since we all grew up like siblings in the same house from the time we were aged 7 to around 18! So meeting them after goodness knows how many long years, was like a family reunion and it was really fun! Ahhhhh... we laughed and talked so much while visiting all the famous attractions of Singapore.

I even hosted a dinner party for my closest friends while my mother was here (something I rarely do)! I had many panic attacks, wondering how Friend X from Star Z on universe B would get along with Friend F from Planet T in Nebula K or what they would talk with Friend A from Constellation Q on Cluster V. But it turns out, humans are generally sociable creatures, and I worried for nothing (as usual).

Incidentally, I had a good three weeks with my mother and I think we were both able to mend the bonds that were somewhat strained by the long years apart. I do miss her and the family often.

My typical month has four types of weeks:
Week 1 - gets paid - lives like Royalty
Week 2 - lives like an average white collar worker
Week 3 - lives like a peasant
Week 4 - lives like a beggar

And the cycle repeats itself.

I'm coming down with a flu bug, so I'd better stop rambling and go sleep.