The life of busy bees

I read an interesting line up of conservation-related books, thanks to the birthday gifts I got from my thoughtful friend Ryuu who has good tastes in books. 

Ta-daa! The original book by Douglas Adams

The first book on "Last Chance to See" is recounted by the late Douglas Adams with a good dose of humour. It is the story of how he teamed up with zoologist Mark Carwadine in 1985 and they set off on an amazing expedition around the world in search of species on the brink of extinction. There was also a BBC radio documentary series on the same journey in 1989.

The book details their adventures looking for nine selected animals. Not only that, through Douglas' account, we meet many passionate conservationists working on the field (against the clock) to desperately save the last few animals in the wild.

The Aye-aye in Madagascar
The Komodo dragon on the island of Komodo in Indonesia
The Kakapo in New Zealand
The Mountain gorilla in Zaire
The Northern white rhinoceros in Zaire
The Yangtze River Dolphin in China
The Rodrigues fruit bat on the island of Rodrigues, Mauritius;
The Amazonian manatee in Brazil
The Juan Fernández fur seal on the Juan Fernández Islands, Chile

In Mark's epilogue to this book he says:

"Even so, the loss of a few species may seem almost irrelevant compared to the major environmental problems such as global warming or the destruction of the ozone layer. But while nature has considerable resilience, there is a limit to how far that can be stretched. No one knows how close to the limit we are getting. The darker it gets, the faster we're driving. 

There's one last reason for caring, and I believe that no other is necessary. It is certainly the reason why so many people have devoted their lives to protecting the likes of rhinos, parakeets, kakapos and dolphins. And it is simply this: the world would be a poorer, darker, lonelier place without them."

The second book on "The Last Chance to See" is a personal account of Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry who, once again, go to distant corners of the planet to follow up on the endangered animals following the initial expedition by Douglas Adams TWENTY years ago. The "then vs now" situations that this book highlights from a conservation point of view is incredible!

I read this book twice and I'm getting the itch to read it again. Some chapters in this book can move a reader to tears.

The most disturbing thing about extinctions at present is the rate at which they are happening. At the time this account was written, most of the animals had suffered massive decline in numbers. The White Rhino hit extinction in the wild during their time in the African continent following a rebel crossfire in Congo DRC. In this book too, we meet many dedicated conservationists working tirelessly in the midst of hardships and sometimes putting their own lives in danger to save the featured animals from extinction.

The book was such a moving, intelligent, thought-provoking, compassionate and humourous account of their incredible journey and a yet another stark reminder of the perils that natural environments and animals are facing as we move forward towards 'development'.

The next book in the reading list was late Gerald Durrell's The Corfu Trilogy.

Goodreads describes it as follows:

The Corfu Trilogy consists of the popular classic My Family and Other Animals and its delightful sequels, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods. All three books are set on the enchanted island of Corfu in the 1930s, and tell the story of the eccentric English family who moved there. For Gerald, the budding zoologist, Corfu was a natural paradise, teeming with strange birds and beasts that he could collect, watch and care for. But life was not without its problems - his family often objected to his animal-collecting activities, especially when the beasts wound up in the villa or - even worse - the fridge. With hilarious yet endearing portraits of his family and their many unusual hangers-on, The Corfu Trilogy also captures the beginnings of the author's lifelong love of animals. Recounted with immense humour and charm, this wonderful account of Corfu's natural history reveals a rare, magical childhood.

It's true, I was thoroughly fascinated by Gerry's mostly humorous account of his childhood in Greece (which starts about 7 years after the death of his father while they lived in India). In the past few months, through his vivid descriptions, I felt like I sat right next to that family of five watching all of them as they went on about their lives, had their dining-table conversations and interacted with their close friends and queer guests. Not only that, Gerry also takes the readers and his dogs on his animal observing and collecting expeditions around the Greek island of Corfu. With a perfect union of random life situations, geography, love from his family and friends, and encouragement from his mentor Dr. Theodore, Gerry grows up to be renown figure in the field of animal conservation. So when an engaging book like that ended, I was left feeling rather sad that it was over.

Who did what??

It pays to be a "No Man" sometimes.

Another good movie of Jim Carrey's

Usually, a blinding flash of lightning hits us a few moments before the accompanying roar of thunder. And just like that, sometimes, Shu's speech - the inability to say "NO", rather - precedes her thoughts associated with common sense. And so Shu ignorantly gets into all kinds of sticky situations. Once when she was lost in an industrial park, she readily accepted a lift in a lorry full of workers who she had never met before. When the gravity of the situation kicked in (riding in a lorry full of unknown men), she was already seated in the front seat of this lorry, answering away questions from the helpful driver who eventually did drop her at the gate of the place she was looking for. Another thing she is  brilliantly good at is saying "YES" when actually she wanted to say was "NO". Like today, she failed at turning down a dinner invitation from a chatty old senior colleague. When the thunder finally hit - the awkwardness of meeting a colleague outside work to chat about work ALONE - she panicked and desperately thought of means for damage control. Now she hopes that he will be hit by a temporary bout of dementia by next month and forget all about the invitation.

~ ~ ~

Singapore is a haven for foodies. And today, I have various raw ingredients suitable for a blog rojak.

The Urban Dictionary defines "rojak" as follows;

A delicacy in Singapore. Mixed with various ingredients. There are the Chinese Rojak, and the Indian Rojak. Different ethnic flavours come from different methods of mixing and different ingredients.
The Chinese version normally include a base of lemon sauce and a sweet gravy. Ingredients include fried fritters (Yew Char Kuay), Fried beancurd (Tau Pok), Beansprouts (tau gay), Pineapple (Ong Lai), Cucumber, Radish, and sprinkled with peanut crumbs.
The Indian flavour constitutes a melange of colourful fried foods, potato, fish cakes, and many more yummies! This rojak is normally accompanied with a sweet red coloured sauce.

~ ~ ~

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about the load of junk to-be-recycled we collected this month. On one hand it is a bit shocking to see that a 3-4 person household accumulated this much of recyclable junk in roughly a month, but on the other hand it is comforting to know that some of it went to a recycling plant instead of a landfill or an incinerator. 

    

                       Junk load on 1st February 2014                  Junk load on 19th February 2014

~ ~ ~ 

I like setting out to work in the crack of dawn. I've always loved the sense of calmness this time of the day brings. Apart from stars, there are less vehicles on the road, less people bustling about, the winds are cooler, bird calls are distinct and thoughts sound louder. I meet pensioners, joggers, security guards, cab drivers washing their cars at gas stations, students and working adults who, like me, start their day early. 

Vendors at the wet market starting their day early

~ ~ ~ 

Remote desktop connections leave me very amused. When I was a kid, I recall watching a TV show called Ghostwriter, where a group of kids communicated with a friendly ghost through mediums related to words and writing to solve mysteries. So the other day when the Notepad window below suddenly popped up while I was doing my work, I was immediately reminded of Ghostwriter. Also when I'm deeply involved in my work, I automatically assume that the computer monitor is an extension of my mind, so when "Ghostwriter" popped up at work, for a moment there I felt possessed!

It was just a colleague from the IT department who likes creeping up on people through remote desktop connections

~ ~ ~ 

My ongoing research into male behavioral patterns using specimens at work have shed light on some interesting areas. Though previously thought to be uncommon behaviour among these creatures, gossiping, expressing feelings and an affinity for drama have all been commonly observed. 

Scenario 1:

X: Do you have any air freshner with you?

Y: No, why?

X: The guy sitting in the neighboring cubical farts all the time and it's unbearable

Y: That's disgusting (giggles).

Scenario 2:

A: What does she do now?

B: She's working at a new company. And I heard she got divorced too.

A: Oh really?

B: Yeah...what happened?

Scenario 3:

G: Ever since you got transferred, I have really missed you man.

H: Yeah, I missed you too.

G: I should try to get you transferred back here.

Scenario 4:

Boss: DID HE JUST FART?? I heard it right through the wall!!

Shu: Yeah, I heard that too.

Boss: Giggles hysterically

Shu: *straight face, Shu, straight face* *dammit*

Shu: HAHAHAHA

The Cosmic Connection

A scene from The Lion King

Pumbaa   : Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?

Timon      : Pumbaa, I don't wonder; I know.

Pumbaa   : Oh. What are they?

Timon      : They're fireflies. Fireflies that, uh... got stuck up in that big bluish-black thing.

Pumbaa   : Oh, gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.

Timon      : Pumbaa, with you, everything's gas.

Recently, one of my colleagues was describing a camping trip at an African wildlife national park. I asked him to describe how beautiful the skies looked at night and he said with unwavering conviction that it was so magical that he even saw the light from the heavens shining down upon Earth.

Like Timon, Pumbaa and my colleague, everyone has their own interpretation for explaining the phenomenon that is the Universe. Even the world's popular religions have taken a stab at trying to explain our connection to the Universe. Every time I look up at the starry skies or stargaze through a telescope, I feel humbled by how insignificant and small I am in comparison to what lies beyond our field of vision, our current understanding of the Universe, the facts yet to be uncovered and the limits of our imagination. 

We humans are curious creatures burning with the desire to make sense of our surroundings. Century after century of this type of curiosity about the objects in the sky coupled with the collective wisdom of many Astronomers, Scientists, Physicists, Mathematicians, Astronomy today is a mind-boggling branch of Science that never ceases to amaze me.

The infographic below sums up the milestones in the history of Astronomy quite nicely.

Credit: Starmap

As I was sweeping through my Facebook news feed one day, I came to know of the visit of a famous Astrophysicist to Singapore (yes, the news feed does have its useful purposes). He was none other than the famous and charismatic Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson on a publicity tour with Ann Druyan, the wife of the late Carl Sagan to promote the upcoming TV series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. 

So on Valentine's day, I asked permission from my boss to have an extended lunch break to attend this event at my old university (I called in advance to check if they allowed alumni since the advertisement said students and staff only). My boss still suspects that I went on a Valentine's day lunch date with a guy, which was fine by me since it saved me the trouble of having to give a lengthy explanation of my fascination with Astronomy, a biography of the two distinguished guests and an introduction to the new TV series. I am still working on being chatty with my friendly boss who I thought was very kind to let me off during office hours, while turning down my offer to work late to make up for it. He asked a couple of indirect questions to determine where I might be going on my lunch break, none of which was a simple and direct "WHERE ARE YOU GOING, SHU?", so I missed that train of opportunity to give a fair explanation of my plans for the day. Sigh.

At the university, in my old faculty, hit by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and hunger pangs, I queued with many others to wait to get into the lecture hall. There was no time for lunch that day so I had to do with a tiny pack of chips. I found a nice spot in the centre of the hall and watched as the venue fill up until it could hold no more people. One of my old lecturers from an Astronomy-related module I did with much enthusiasm was also scurrying about the hall. I also noticed that compared to university students (which I was about 7-10 years ago), I was much better dressed now and ate less junk food and sweets in wrappers.

When it was nearly time for his arrival, I was feeling very excited and jittery, much like a child waiting for the starting act of a circus show. He was late though and the prolonged effect of adrenaline on a starved stomach was not exactly nice! But eventually, he arrived amidst the cheers and applause after we were treated to the season premiere of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey which airs in March. I was blown away by the visual effects and content that I had goose bumps for most of time and now I can't wait to catch it on TV in March. Perhaps I'll also try to dig up the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage series done by Carl Sagan in the 1980's.

Dr Tyson was so likeable and had the audience cheering and applauding ever so often! He was very friendly, extremely funny, intelligent and accomplished with stellar qualifications, yet there was no air of arrogance or superiority about him. He answered every question (the seemingly silly and the intelligent ones) from the students with the same enthusiasm and humour to impart whatever knowledge he had on the subject in the most understandable terms.

When it was over, I rushed back to office, had a cup of instant soup and resumed work. Overall, I thought that was a day well spent!

Cricket: An Obsession

Far away from home, a lot of us who have migrated to other corners of the globe still feel roughly the same about cricket as we did when we were children. The word "cricket" to me can instantly trigger warm and happy memories of sitting long hours in front of the television with family and friends watching 50-over matches, snacking on fried peanuts or murukku, occasionally having turn the antenna manually to catch better TV signals, staying up nights, religiously watching and critiquing the outcomes of nearly every ball, feeling despair when things don't look too good, leaping with joy when sixes are hit or wickets are taken, sometimes biting away nails in nervousness, ears saturated with the loud music of papare bands or feeling the urge to play a game of cricket in the backyard.

This year, I followed the finals with my primary/secondary school mates on Whatsapp (an instant messaging service on phones). It's almost like sitting in my old and familiar classroom - only we are nearly in our 30's now! It didn't matter we were watching and discussing a match happening Bangladesh from all the way in Sri Lanka, Singapore, USA, UK, Norway, Switzerland or UAE at the same time, we were eagerly hoping for a win.

Luckily for us, Sri Lanka emerged the T20 World Cup Cricket champions of 2014!

The best men that day!

Image source: ESPNCricinfo

Wait, did I mention Sri Lanka is a cricket-obsessed nation?

It was a very memorable and exhilarating day since it took 18 years to win a glorious title such as this for a second time. And during those 18 long years, Sri Lanka not only lost four Cricket World Cup finals, but the country itself overcame a civil war that spanned over two decades causing insufferable damage to human lives, trust, respect, property and more. In a way, the country is still struggling to heal from the aftermath of that war. Which is why this victory was a pleasant diversion from racial tensions.

The last time I had this feeling was in 1996 when I was 11 years old and Sri Lanka won the Cricket World Cup for the first time. Sadly, this game is probably the only thing that unites the people of different ages, religions, races, genders, occupations and social status on this island under one flag. It's only during a tense cricket match will all these people forget their differences and sit together in front of a television with great concentration to support the same cause without distinction. At other times, there still is much distrust, dissatisfaction, fear and hate bubbling just beneath the surface.

Kumar Sangakkara, who some regard as Sri Lanka's best cricketer of all time (also known for being an eloquent, talented and grounded leader), said it better in his MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture back in 2011:

".....But, while these would all be interesting topics, deep down inside me I wanted to share with you a story, the story of Sri Lanka's cricket, a journey that I am sure Colin would have enjoyed greatly because I don't believe any cricket-playing nation in the world today better highlights the potential of cricket to be more than just a game.

This lecture is all about the Spirit of the Game and in this regard the story of cricket in Sri Lanka is fascinating. Cricket in Sri Lanka is no longer just a sport: it is a shared passion that is a source of fun and a force for unity. It is a treasured sport that occupies a celebrated place in our society.

It is remarkable that in a very short period an alien game has become our national obsession, played and followed with almost fanatical passion and love. A game that brings the nation to a standstill; a sport so powerful it is capable of transcending war and politics. I therefore decided that tonight I would like to talk about the Spirit of Sri Lanka's cricket."

Another highlight to this match was that Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene - two of my favourite ex-captains/ cricket legends retired from the world of T20 cricket in style, despite being in good form. It was a good decision that'll make way for the younger generation of talent to move up the ranks.

The human race has engaged in various sports from the beginning of time. A sport has a great ability to merge human competitiveness with discipline and harmony. In an ideal world, instead of hate and violence, it builds character, unity and respect among the players. Often this constructive model projects outwards from the players in the field down to their supporters. Of course, we don't live in an ideal world and factors like human greed, corruption and political/financial interests have also fused itself with modern day sports.

While different sports bear significance to different countries, over time, this has often driven social change within its culture and its people. In some cases, it may have driven human rights reforms (or is it vice versa?) and we can now see non-discriminate participation from different races, genders and levels of physical abilities which in the distant past wasn't possible.

The Departures Terminal

And just like that, February creeped up upon us.

Shu was quite occupied the last few weeks in a string of social commitments, from playing host/ tour guide to a young traveller to bidding farewell to three friends who left the country to catching up with her closest pals. Meanwhile, she's also had a life-changing shift in her daily routine...

For someone who has voiced out the challenges of associating with extroverted friends, I ought to be more grateful for the bountiful opportunities that come while being in their association. One day while taking the bus with my colleague, I was introduced to a staff from the Human Resources department. Left to my own, I would have looked in the opposite direction of fellow passengers, plugged my earphones and gazed out of the window dreamily at the trees and clouds and people passing by. But on this day, I was forced to make an effort to socialise with the new acquaintance, during which time I learnt there was a company sponsored bus meant for expats working on special projects, about 7 bus stops away from my house. Soon after, I inquired further and got an exception to take it. This arrangement has given me not only financial savings and convenience, but also an extra 1.5 hours in the day equaling to an additional 9 hours in my week, which is pretty awesome! Now my routine looks like this:

5:00am - Wake up, have tea, make breakfast and get ready for work
5:55am - Leave the house and walk 2.5km to bus pick-up point while investigating celestial objects in the pre-dawn sky with Google Sky Map (or just take a quick 10-minute public bus ride if I don't feel like walking 3900 footsteps for exercise)
6:30am - Get into the company sponsored transport bus
7:00am - Arrive at work
5:00pm - Leave work
6:00pm - Arrive at home (on days without social commitments)
10:30pm - Go to bed (on days without social commitments)

The bearings of my office transport in relation to my apartment are (it's cooler to think of it this way):
Follow Venus until I pass 3 gas stations, then with Venus on my left, follow the Crux constellation until I arrive at a small white bus filled with sleepy zombies dressed in white coveralls.

 

Early morning notes: Venus and Saturn are in view these days, but Saturn's too far away to distinguish from other stars without a telescope. Venus, on the other hand, is hard to miss.

Hurrah!! Now my evenings are enriched with reading books, watching TV, playing games on the xbox, blogging and having home-cooked dinner. I even took out my dusty violin yesterday, tuned it using a phone app and attempted to play a few familiar tunes! My violin playing skills have degraded with time but it felt good to be reunited with the instrument.

~ ~ ~

Going to the same school for the first 15 years of my schooling life had its perks. I grew up with friends and teachers who were part of my life for extended periods of time, giving rise to several fulfilling friendships that I maintain to this day. Not only that, I've been lucky to have several mentors who took a special interest in teaching me, guiding me to better places and unknowingly shaping me to what I've become (apparently, a caterpillar who blogs when she is not working!).

I had a Mathematics teacher who taught me from Grade 6 all the way up to A/Ls. Her classes were very entertaining. When she was around, the boys in class got extra cheeky and brought out their comical sides. She was a short-haired, smart, upbeat, loud, eccentric, fun-loving, kind-hearted being with the gift of reaching out to children with various personalities, most notably, the ones with special needs like bullies, lost sheep, the troubled ones and the weird ones. She tutored many kids at her home for no cost just to help them pass exams and I benefited a lot from this kindness and generosity. I figure that her super power of reforming kids was that she gave them a chance to be heard before attempting to throw in any elderly advice. In return, these kids grew to trust her, respect her and allow themselves to be guided by her good advice. I still try to make time to visit her whenever I go home and it seems she hasn't aged a day! I suppose being with youngsters all the time keeps you young at heart.

I think being a teacher is a sort of investment. Apart from being able to change many lives for better and basking in the satisfaction of having done so, the "seeds" (which are the students, in this case) that germinate disperse far and wide, often creating waves of positive change themselves. The exceptional teachers will always be dearly remembered and have an army of grown up ex-students around the globe.

The young traveller I had to host was the daughter of this teacher. She was on a university semester break and was sent to Singapore by her mother who assumed that Shu could be trusted with the job of keeping an eye on her precious 23-year old. It was her first ever overseas trip. I prepared in advance for her arrival making lists of instructions for her to follow and stocking up on food supplies, taking her multitude of allergies into consideration. The only thing we could not get rid of completely was Ginger.

Thankfully, the girl was smart and independent and managed well on her own during the day. Every evening after work, for 5 days, I met her and took her around like it was my second job being a tour guide. One evening, I caught her high as a kite and awfully chatty (a lot chattier than her usual self). On inquiring further, I learnt that she had an eventful day where she met a roadside guitarist who had serenaded her with a beautiful song, met another traveller with whom she had a nice chat and then gone on to take a relaxing boat ride along the Singapore River to see the city's splendour by night. It brought back warm memories of my solo travels in Paris. Tiring as it was, this streak of touring around the prettier places of Singapore during Chinese New Year was a welcome change for me.

 Traditional Chinese music to depict the onset of a New Year

The famous Clark Quay of Singapore with its happening night life and traditional river boat rides

The young traveller had a memorable trip, overwhelmed by the contrast between the two countries and their cultures. She was mostly blown away by the skyscrapers, apartment buildings housing a large population, the variety of food, the mix of races, the sense of law, order and cleanliness of Singapore.

~ ~ ~ 

Earlier this week, I bid farewell to one of my housemates who moved on from Singapore to fulfil her long-term ambitions. We've had a very coincidental timeline of life events where, with no prior planning or discussion, we have found ourselves in the same location time and time again. I have come to think of her as my non-biological twin. 

Our coincidental timeline of life events

We met in pre-school and went on to be best friends in Grade 2. As far as I can remember in pre-school, she had the cutest short hair with lots and lots of tiny curls. We exchanged stickers and went swimming together and got picked up and dropped in school by our elder sisters (who coincidentally, were also classmates). I recall she was among the smartest and the most talented in class. She was also the fastest runner among all the girls and most of the boys! Then she had to leave the country with her family to Oman and unfortunately, we couldn't keep in touch. I also happened to leave to a new school for a year and a half, until I could take it no longer and begged my parents to let me go back to my old school. When I returned to my old school in Grade 4, 'lo and behold, there she arrived in the same class a few days later! Though we were separated into different classes, went on to have different friends and grew distinctly different personalities, we always acknowledged each other with much fondness.

There's another amusing conversation I recall in Grade 6 when girls in the class used to disappear for extended periods of time, one by one. In our country, they make a HUGE fuss over a girl's "coming of age". While the specific traditions for each race differs, the general theme for most races is that once she hits puberty, she will be immediately confined in a room in the most hush-hush tones (in some cases up to a month!), away from the eyes of males relatives and friends. During this time, she is fed with very specific food. Female friends would take turns to keep company to this poor, confused soul quarantined in a room, who constantly wonders what all this fuss is about. Meanwhile, the parents consult astrologers for auspicious times, get tailored suits, whitewash the house and prepare for a grand party to announce to everyone that she is now sexually mature (it's quite a disturbing thought if you asked me). When it is finally time for her to make a public appearance, she is presented very extravagantly to all her relatives and close friends of the family, who arrive with gifts like gold jewellery, cash for the savings account, material to sew dresses, kitchen utensils, etc (all being utterly useless gifts for a 12-year old girl). When I spoke to other friends about the experience, some say for them it was a quiet affair without any public announcements but I've also met others who had parties in the epic proportions of a mini-wedding.

Got a bit carried away there, explaining a peculiar tradition!

So yes, I vaguely recall the two of us having a conversation that went something to this effect (though I don't know if she remembers it in the same way or if we were not talking about the same thing!):

She may have noticed me handing over the letter of absence to my teacher...
Chuti: Were you absent?
Shu: Yes, for about 2 weeks.
Chuti: Hey, me too! I just got back.
Shu: Er... did you also?
Chuti: Yes! haha
Shu: Haha
Awkwardness engulfs us...

She left to another school shortly after the O/Ls, but we were delighted to meet again in university doing the same course. After graduation, she went to Dubai for work and when she returned to Singapore a few years later, I left to Dubai for work. A few years later when I returned to Singapore, unemployed, she welcomed me to her house and looked after me until I got on my own feet and we remained housemates until she left Singapore earlier this week.

She maintains a deep fascination for Egyptian history, dinosaurs, Garfield and fashion design

We saw eye-to-eye when it came to the special needs of introverts, being considerate for the benefit of those around us, being sensible and fair. I'll certainly miss having her around, but I'm inspired to see her actively pursuing her ambitions with much patience and determination! And who knows, we may even bump into each other again.

Good luck, Chuti! xx