Swift and Decisive - Armour.



That's what you hear in army. That's my vocation. But nah, this blogpost is not dedicated to my life in army. I don't believe that there is anything worth spending brain cells on in army. And by that, I meant true blue army stuff. Its more of the Swift and Decisive I want to talk about, WITHOUT the Armour part of it.



Hmms. After some thought, I realised that I still need to talk about army afterall. But well, as a comparison. Swift and decisive - that seems like something very logical that we always try to achieve. I mean, who doesn't want to do things quickly so that they can get to rest? Both words have a connotation to speed, but swift seems to be a bit more brainless than decisive.



Swift - moving or capable of moving with great speed or velocity. In working sense, it just means to work in a very speedly manner.



Decisive - having the power or quality of deciding; putting an end to controversy; crucial or most important, and characterized by or displaying no or little hesitation. That means to be able to decide something in a very quick manner.



I feel that people in this world are swift, but yet not decisive. Many of us wants to do things quickly. When we are working, very often we realise that we are piled up with a lot of work. Many times, its very different things that require our attention. And when we want to clear it fast, as we fear that it would pile, we often get very skizophrenic and very disorganised when we are doing it. We will become, hence, very indecisive. That isn't the way to go about doing work.



People blame that on stress. What gives stress? Is it that large amount of work? Not really. You could always take it in stride. It is more the speed that we force ourselves to complete the work at, and the short time frame that our bosses or even ourselves enforce on us. That gives us stress. Thats why we are not able to complete the work properly! Why must you stress youself out then, you may ask. But thats thep roblem with our society - hectic lifestyle. Being swift is part of our life. But I would say that's not enough. You need to evolve to be decisive.



Decisiveness is on another dimension plane from being swift, intersecting only for the speed that they connotate for. Being decisive means that you are able to make a correct decision at split second. Ok, maybe that's too exggerated, but yeah, the general idea of being fast. Fast is not the curx, correct and proper is. Many people when they lead, they always say that you need to do this do that bla bla bla... in the times of emergency you need to react fast enough.... But very foten. you realise that they are the ones who feel lost at the moment urgency.

Be Decisive. Join the Army <---- That's crap. It isn't really decisive. But yes, you must be decisive.

left; 12:17 AM

Feeling good - that's something we all like. The nice and warmth that brings to our hearts when we feel good, about ourselves and about our environment.

Uhh, but now as I'm writing this entry, I'm not exactly feeling good. Stressed is the word I would use. But well, I would say that there are many ways to feel good. Often, its after something really terrible (or maybe I shouldn't use the word terrible, more like taxing and demanding) that we will feel good. Different people feel good in different ways.

Chatting about something often tells people what makes you feel good / bad. Its that thing that you talk about, the way you talk about it, and the tone you attach to the thing that tells people how you feel. There is a friend, he often love to talk happily about who has more freedom, who has less work to do. Basically - who is more slack. And he enjoys himself in that world. That shows what he really enjoys, and what he really feels good about isn't it?

He feels good about slacking. Ok, some of you may find that very queasy, but well thats alright! ITs very common! Everyone loves to slack! Who doesn't want to have nothing to do, nothing pressing on you, and you can enjoy whatever you like to? That's great life isn't it? But the problem is, You shouldn't indulge yourself in slacking. It is a good thing, you feel good about it. But think, is there something out there that will make you feel even better?

Peace comes after a storm, Sweetness comes after bitterness. You may have realised that often, we feel really good about something if we really put in hard work into it. Its that sense of achievement, that feeling that you had played an important and integral role in something great and successful. Its that respect people give you for doing something, its that image that you have crafted for yourself in others - the way people look at you differently (in a positive way of course). But often before we could reach that sweetness, the bitterness have already kicked us off the edge of the earth.

People tend to avoid bitterness, in other words hardship or something difficult. ITs ok. Naturally people want to enjoy more than work. Of course there are some people who work what they enjoy, but that's besides the point. People fear work, fear the trouble and the sacrifices that we have to make. The try to avoid it. Its just like the Berlin Wall. Sighting from the Eastern Bloc to the Western Bloc, one sees great future and prosperity. But, for fear of death, they avoid crossing it totally. They rather remain on the watching side of the Eastern Block. YET, they love the feeling of accomplishment. That's hard to achieve isn't it.

Many people tried to use unscrupulous means. Thats tantamount to tunnelling under the wall. Ok, the tunnels did succeed in bringing capable people over, but thats not the main point of arguement. Maybe it wasn't that good an example to use afterall. But the point is that many people want to try to wade their way past without the courage to face the obstacle. Thats a wrong mentality to face. You need that bitterness to fully enjoy the sweetness of success.

I don't like people who feel good in a negative way. Feeling good is something that you gain from achievement, and that I feel that is the greatest feeling - the feeling of success.

left; 3:25 AM

Concert No. 1

left; 11:25 PM

I believe in what I say, and what I think. I do, but I also realise that some people don't.

Debates is something that always amazes me. Debates - 2 teams deliberating over a topic that is ASSIGNED to them and taking a stand that is ASSIGNED to them. That made wonder, does the person say what he really believes in, or what he thought of at that moment? These topics are assigned to them, do they even have any stand that they take for the specific topic? The stand is assigned to them, do they even believe in what they are standing for. For one, I always believed that believe and think are very different things.

I always feel that you need to believe in what you say. To convince someone, you have to convince yourself, understand it and digest it first. Only in that way, will what you say out of your mouth be true from your mind, your own idea, your own thinking. And that you will practice what you preach. So what does that make good debators? - you may ask. I would say, they got to be the best liars in the world, if that stand they are taking is not what they truly believe in. I was never a great debator, for the topics debated were either not of my interest, or the side I'm speaking for is contrary to what I stand for. I can never convince people in what I do not believe. That is as good as asking me to tell a lie, and I am a bad liar.

I feel that there are more than countable number of people who do not believe in what they say. Thats tantamount to not doing what they preached. That I would say is one of the most lowly behaviour of humans. To lie to someone. Yes, in life you may need to lie, like telling a white lie. For the sake of people, for the good of someone else. But I would say that it is still detestable. You don't know what the person wants, so who are you to deny him of the truth? That is lowdown I would say.

I may have lied in my life. Maybe. But for one, I always do what I preach.

left; 8:07 AM

Remembering the good old days - I haven't heard anyone used that phrase in recent years.

That reminded me of something. Something that people are not really interested in nowadays, and that is to remember the past. Singapore is a city that is moving forward, mounting heights after heights. As we celebrate our 42nd year of independence, we celebrate with a sense of pride and glory, that we have transformed from a third world country to a first world country in less than half a century.

But little did many realise that, we had done that at a great price on our own culture and heritage. Ask yourself as you look around Singapore. We are like a metallic forest, a cosmopolitan city - true enough. But there are just these few things that we are losing, things that are unique to Singapore. Things are simply moving too fast, and to move at such a pace, we often have to sacrifice some things like culture. Let me ask you, that how many monumental things to Singapore have been taken down for the sake of development? The iconic Sentosa monorail is one good example. Yes it is slow, but it reminds us of the glory of Sentosa in the nineties. Its something that, when talking about Sentosa to a foreigner, I would say most Singaporeans would mention. Destroyed for what? The new IR and Sentosa Express.

Yes, I do know that Singapore is small and land is limited so we have to make the best out of what we have, but there are some things that, if we try, we can actually preserve it?

left; 7:56 AM

Camp life had been like living in turbulent waters recently. Lots of things happened.

I just wonder, why do people need drastic things to happen before they will come to realise that they had to do something else, or if they had did THAT other thing, things wouldn't have gone awry.

I don't know if its just Singaporeans or humans by nature. It always takes something really drastic to knock the idea into them. It always takes a higher authority to step in before things will be done properly. People don't have the realisation, and they don't have the positive kind of attitude. Careful, thoughtful and planned. If everyone did their part, did things properly, many a times things would have been fine, or things wouldn't have developed to an extent that it cannot be salvaged.

I always believe that we must plan carefully before we do anything. Everything have to be accounted for properly, and that things must not be taken to lightly, especially in the aspects of safety. But I guess some people just believe that nothing will happen. Something must happen infront of them before they believe that it can, and it will really happen. Nicoll Highway is one good example. Same to SARS. People do not feel it unless it is already at its doorstep. 4 years ago during the SARS outbreak, everyone was really careful about themselves, their hygiene and everything. Now, when talked to about bird flu, they simply don't bother! Why? because the virus is thousands of kilometres away and they believe that they dont have wings powerful enough to fly themselves to Singapore.

That I beleive is one main factor why a lot of things go awry and out of hand. But what can be do? Most people are not pro-active and heck care by nature. Thats the root of the problems in humans. Money is not the root of all evil. Laziness and careless is.

left; 6:45 AM

Was listening to the new the other day. Singapore seems to be starting the anti-Singlish campagin. Maybe I'm foolish to think that Singapore would give up its speak good English campagin, but I thought that they have come to realise the importance of Singlish.

No, now they have confirmed that they don't.

They do not understand the importance of Singlish towards Singapore's society. Like any other great nation in the world, we need a language. A language common to ourselves is an important identity. Singlish fits in here very well. It is as important as national education in inculcating a sense of belonging to Singapore. So what if people don't understand us when we speak Singlish? You ask an American and a British to speak to each other, they are also unable to communicate with one tongue! American English and British English are 2 different dialects of English. So who shnould we follow? The mighty superpower of the world or the one great empire that the sun never sets? We can't be constantly talioring our policies to the world. Yes, Singapore is a small country, and our relationship with the rest of the world is the corestone to Singapore's survival in this harsh world. But Singlish is not a major issue here! So what stamp out Singlish? Singlish, in fact, like American English and British English are dialects of English. Okay dialect may not be a good word, for it makes the language a 'second class citizen' in the world of languanges. Just like how the government refers Hockkien, Teochew, Cantonese etc. as dialects of Mandrin when they are in fact independent languages. Aside from that, Singlish should still be recognised.

Singlish is an inseparable part of Singaporean's life, so much so that it affects the culture of Singapore. Why promote Rojak as Rojak and not mixed vegetable in prawn sauce, or roti prata as roti prata, and not Indian Pancake? Those alternate names sound hilarious, yes, and you also can say that those words are from another language. BUT, isn't Singlish a mixture of different languages? So why not?

I just feel that the language education in Singapore is a mistake. Yes, we should teach standard english and mandrin to the students, but at the same time we must make them realise that Singlish is an identification factor of Singaporeans. Its a trait, a trademark, a symbolism of Singapore. Why are most westerners able to distinguish between themselves? By the tongue that they speak. What differentiates us from mainland chinese, hongkong chinese, taiwan chinese - its Singlish.

The inability of the current generation to cope with standard English or/and Chinese is often loosely blamed upon the speaking of Singlish. That is a very wrong concept, in my opinion. The ability of a person to speak standard English and Chinese depends on the individual, whether he wants to put in the effort to study and master it, or he would rather just let it go. Speaking Singlish is not a problem. Latin Americans both speak Portugese and English, with Portugese being their native language. Why are they able to do so? Because the can code-switch. Singaporeans in this age are definitely more than capable of code switching - speaking standard English and Chinese in formal occasions, while speaking Singlish in a colloquial context.

Few years ago, I was in Cologne Bonn Airport. It was a busy day, and I was waiting with my dad for the flight back to Singapore. When we were in the departure hall, we saw a quarrel break out between a British and a Chinese. Apparently the British was claiming that the Chinese had an accomplice who cheated him of his money and escaped back to China. The Chinese claimed that he isn't from China, and that he did not know about this other guy. As an onlooker, I thought the British was right, as the man dressed similarly to a typical Chinaman. But, one of his replies told me otherwise. He said, "If I had cheated you of your money, I wouldn't be here already what. You really got the wrong person LA" That sentence was enough to tell me that he is a Singaporean. I helped to testify that he is a Singapore. After investigations, it was found that the British really made a mistake.

I know that the example i quoted isn't exactly the most direct one, but it is an example to show how important Singlish is as an identity to Singaporeans. Americans speak American English, British speak British English - so why Singaporeans cannot speak Singlish?

left; 10:49 AM