'Jiang Hua Yu'!!

Has it ever got this hot 9 years ago? I can’t remember feeling so drenched when I was in secondary school. The temperature is around 32-34 degrees over here, still acceptable for someone who has survived summer that hit 43 degrees before, but I’d rather be in the hot sun of Melbourne, because the freakin’ humidity here is killing me! Dark thunder clouds had been gathering every single day here, though rain is sparse. It’s during those times that the humidity hits the highest point, & it’s happening everyday here! Grandpa is gonna pay heaps for electricity bill this month coz I switch on virtually every single aircon in the house, 24 hrs/day!

Complaints aside, I was going to write a post on the discrimination against Chinese speakers in Singapore. Mom was telling me that every time she went to the doctors in Mt E, she always gets that you-can’t-speak-English-so-you-must-be-poor look from the English-only speaking nurses. For those non-sgeans, Mt E is a private hospital for the foreigners because they can’t get the cheaper treatment that the government provides at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). Therefore, it’s an expensive place to seek treatment. Lots of rich indos seek treatment there and most of them wouldn’t be able to speak English at all, so it’s a big surprise to me that the nurses hired there are so impolite to their largest contingent of customers. Someone really needs to tell them that RICH PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH! (Btw, I have to clarify here that my family is NOT rich. SG happens to be the nearest overseas location for us & my parents can’t be bothered going to cheaper but further places :). Why must we spend money in a place that treats us like 2nd grade customers when we provide the bulk of their income??

There has been a ‘Speak Mandarin’ campaign in SG for as long as I could remember, & it’s painfully obviously that it’s not working very well, judging by how the so-called ‘educated’ public view it. Large proportion of the new generation thinks that it is a language for the old (read: not hip) people, & they only learn it because it’s forced onto them since their P1 days. Few realize the beauty of the language, one that is so cultured that many of its words/phrases contain deeply entrenched meanings which could only be fathomed when analyzed properly. I’m not saying here that it’s better/superior to any language in the world, & that is never my intention. Every language in the world, Mandarin included, carries an aura of mystery & could never be explored/understood fully as it has evolved over time to become what it is today, assuming that it still survives.

I have to admit that when I was still a kid in Indo, I used to hate learning Mandarin very much because it clashed with my baddie training session everyday. It wasn’t an intense course, & my absence record was definitely way higher than the attendance. Needless to say, I didn’t get much out of it at that time. The only reason I learned was through listening to conversation on TV (SG’s Chan 8) & figuring out what the actors said by looking at their expression. Over time, this built up my command of the language as well as my repertoire of vocab. I also learned to analyse the proverbs by dissecting the words apart and learning them separately, before picturing and finally putting them together in my head.

I can’t say that I’m good at it yet, but I’m definitely much more interested and amazed by the language compared to a lot of my peers in secondary school, despite not taking it as my 2nd language then. For some reasons, I’ve always been interested in Chinese drama series, & I don’t mean the Taiwanese soapies or the usually crappy Singapore versions. It’s the ones produced in Mainland China that interests me the most.

Yes, that’s right. Some people call it downright boring, & some label it ‘as exciting as the water running down the tap’, but I find shows like Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, & Journey to the West so captivating that I’d stay up late just to watch them during obscene hours at night, when it’s shown on TV. These Chinese classics, in my opinion, definitely rank up there with the English’s own, for it teaches values like heroism, valor and bravery, as well as educating the billions of people around the world, not just the Chinese, that Mandarin and the Chinese culture is a force to be reckoned with, & it’s definitely at least on par with the supposedly more worshipped/illustrious Western culture.

Seems like I’m sidetracking too much here. My point is, SGeans have to start to realize the importance of Mandarin because it’s soon gonna be as needed as English in the future. They have to get rid of the mentality that it’s a 2nd language that they would only learn because they are forced by their teachers @ school. Government really has a big part to play on this, because despite the repeated urges from the PM, it appears that they have not really been pushing the campaign far enough. More effort is needed to further spread the message across. It’s gonna be a Chinese-filled world soon (if you still don’t think it is now), and as Russell Peters pointed out, ‘You can run and hide, but sooner or later we’re (or rather, they're) gonna hump you!’

SGeans..

I've been back for more than a month now, & I'm still not used to how people behave here..

It's funny how I've not noticed this before when I have stayed here for 5 years before. People here sure like to stare a lot, like they are all PIs or government spies sent out by the Nazis. In Melbourne, when you board a tram/train, no one would even take a look at you when you hop on. Over here, hundreds of prying eyes are upon the unfortunate person boarding the MRT/bus the moment s/he enters, ready to strike into his/her inner fear anytime and expose all the secrets within. It’s a sudden loss of privacy and personal space for someone who has just returned from overseas like me & I definitely don’t enjoy all the attention. Even if the government is campaigning for everyone to be extra alert due to the terrorism fear, it’s definitely too extreme and unwarranted for. Why can’t everyone just mind their own business and enjoy a moment of peace & solitude in their own little private space after a busy day ‘socializing’ @ work or school???

This is the part where I appreciate Melbourne the most, especially after the not-so-new discovery above. I can spend some alone time walking down Swanston or Lygon St without anyone paying the slightest attention to me, or I can enjoy a hot café latte @ Border’s, reading the latest soccer magazine without anyone interrupting me. When it’s time to socialize, Lygon or Brunswick St offer seemingly unlimited excellent cafes (more than all the ones in Singapore combined!), tempting our taste buds with their amazing array of pastries, cakes, milkshakes, cold chocs, & gelati (yum!). Imagine my reaction when I went out with Sherise 3 weeks ago for dinner & finding out that the double scoop ice cream from Swensen’s cost a whoopin’ S$6.90 (compared to $3.90 @ Il Dolce!) & it wasn’t even that great at all! We ended up getting it anyway because our craving for ice-cream/gelati has reached the must-get-it-or-we-‘ll-go-nuts-!!! Level. Oh yeah did I also mention that the double scoop is actually only half scoop by Oz standard? I can barely see the ice cream on top of the cone when it was handed to me! What a bloody rip-off!

So peeps in Melb, esp. international students, gorge yourself with all the ‘cheap’ Il Dolce’s & Trampoline’s that you can get, before you realize it’s too late! *sigh*

Finally know why Melb is voted as world’s most liveable city now. It’s not huge or anything, but everything is so ‘in the right place’ that it doesn’t matter anymore… Hopefully I’ll be returning there before long, back to the 2nd place I call home..

Writing another post soon on SG’s ‘speak chinese’ campaign. ‘ave to catch my weekly Jacky Wu Zhong Xian variety show on TV now!

She called..

Felt relieved after hearing from her that day. Have to admit that I'm really sensitive towards these things and it was more like a vent of frustration that day rather than really doubting the friendship that we share. Another friend told me that I'm 'high maintenance' in this thing after reading my blog & I can't argue with that =)

Sometimes you just expect a lot more when you put in so much effort into something, & luckily for me this time it works.. No more complaints now.

........

No words could describe how I felt this morning..

I really thought we are good friends, even though we haven't known each other for that long at all. When you asked me out for the 1st time, for some reason I wouldn't mention here, I really thought I've found someone special, someone whom I could talk to other than my family and few close friends overseas.

You guided me through my own labyrinth, lighting my path towards finding my real self, which has almost been lost for good. I remember you said to me once, 'whenever you feel the need for someone to validate your existence, I will be here..'. That sentence from you has led me to believe in my own life again, when I was seriously questioning the meaning of it all.

I haven't heard from you for a long time, & I wonder why. I know you are busy with your stuff there, and that you are leading a life that I don't feature in currently. Interested in your life would be an understatement to how I feel now, because I really want to get involved in it again.

If you know who YOU are, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know how you are doing there. I know it's selfish of me, but only YOU ALONE could help me erase my shadow of doubt this time. I really don't want to think that I've again made the wrong 'investment', someone who I shouldn't even be putting my 'resources' into in the first place, because I've done that too many times...

Tired...

Lately I have been moving around quite a bit, staying alternately@ Indo & SG for like 2-4 days each & then moving on. My routines @ indo is quite different from sg, & I definitely sleep much later there. That makes me feel really tired by mid-day, but I can't do anything abt it.

I suspect my insomnia is acting up again, & it's probably because I'm moving ard too much that I have problem adjusting to the new place fast enuf. Instead of jetlag, i have ferrylag, if there is even such a thing. haha. I've always wanted to be a travelling exec so that I can visit places ard the world, from New York to Milan, from Barcelona to Shang Hai, from Tai Pei to SG, & finally making a stop at the beloved Melb & Sydney. Instead of getting jetlagged from going ard these places, i'm getting boatlagged from a 1 hr ferry between Batam & SG! Man this is such a disgrace!

Though the time difference between sg & indo is only 1 hr, it's enuf to cause some serious disruption to my body clock, & hence my sleepless nites. This is not gonna stop anytime soon though, coz I'll have to head back to Btm again tmr, 1 day after stepping my foot on SG. The next day I'll head back to my hometown (SLP) and will probably be in SG again next weekend, after which I'll head to Penang for Gordie's wedding! Can't wait!

There was a 1st year anniversary celebration @ my uncles' not-so-new-anymore hotel last night. It wasn't a huge event, more like a party for the employees than anything. There were a number of guests, & I estimate the final figure to be ard 200-250 pplz. Anws, it was quite fun to be there coz a lot of the employees were putting up quite a show by cross-dressing and showcasing their comedic talents. A few ppl really impressed me & I was surprised I could actually laugh at their indo jokes, coz I usually don't. There was also a really gd freestyler who had amazing footwork & it's really a big waste for him to be working as a valet in the hotel. Elsewhere in the world, he'd have a chance on making it big with his dance moves, but being where he is atm, i'm sure his main worry is more abt his survival.

This is what Indo's like, lots of people with potential but no one to help them achieve the highest honours they are capable of. It's such a waste sometimes to see some of the talents dissappear slowly, leaving them only with the 1 thing that they'll worry abt for the rest of their lives: survival. Everytime there is an adjustment in the prices for fuel and staple food, you can see a new wrinkle line forming on their forehead. There is simply no time to polish their 'bakat'. Indo is like a HUGE piece of infertile land with lots of seeds sprinkled on it. Nothing will ever grow out of the land if money keeps on going to the farmers' pockets without more money being put to fertilise the land.

I enjoyed myself that night watching the performances of these talented employees. Among them, I feel like i'm a person with limited talents, but yet seems to have much more luck for being born in a well-to-do family and hence able to pursue my dreams overseas. One of the my uncle's friends jokingly said that my bro (GM) and my uncles (directors) were definitely the people with the least talents in the hotel, & I agree with that assessment totally! We are just machines, programmed to come out with money-making ideas every single day. We've never really cared to fulfill ourselves internally, and this is what I'm going to change from now, if not for my family then at least for myself. I don't want to live in the money trap, because there is so much more outside that's a million times better.