Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The past few months - Part 1.5 (an Interlude)

lunch time often turns to a real drag for me. mainly bcos of the blood that is drawn away from the brain to other parts of the body and thus, as in most cases, disabling the brain and causing it to function in a capacity other than its peak.

which brings me to an observation ive made in the past days/months.

it's not anything new actually. in fact it's my application of the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. observe below pyramid. click for a better view.



for those unfamiliar, a simplified explanation of maslow's states that human needs are arranged in the following hierarchy beginning from the most basic at the bottom. as the needs at each level are fulfilled, focus moves up towards the next level.

while i think it is notable that food and sex are at the bottom of the pyramid, my earlier bit on blood congregating in nooks and and crannies of the body other than the brain is not a direct correlation to the concept behind maslow's. it jus helped jog my memory alittle. incidentally, this proves that i am still capable of rational thought processes despite a lack of blood in the right area. albeit barely.

back to the subject.

crap. i forgot what i wanted to blog abt.

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Monday, February 25, 2008

The past few months - Part 1

i do realise the length of time that has passed since my last post. yet, i do not really understand why it is so. not that i have nothing to blog abt these days, in fact i have often found myself starting a post but only to abandon it after getting through the first para. an indication of writing fatigue? maybe, considering im writing tons at work. report after report which leaves me pretty fatigued from writing at each day's end.

then again, report writing is not like blogging. i have to be less expressive in reports. needless to say, it is less fun writing reports. so technically, i shld be blogging more to add some colour into my everyday life.

which is reason for this post and the time at which im typing this. at work. to get some colour in my life.

~ . ~

considering the length of time in between, i guess it's only right that i ruminate on events that have occurred these few months in my life and well, less importantly, in the world around me. inflation or the increased number of something seems to be the central theme in them all. ive decided to split things up so i get some writing time in as well as to make sure i get into some routine of writing again. like i said, i need some colour.

first off, in general view of my life, things have been swell. swelling too. 2008 started on a less than ideal note unfortunately. my ride got knocked by a cabby sometime last wk. wasn't severe. the front left corner of my bumper got dented when the blind fool reversed into me. i do remember a minor brush with another blind cabby last year as well. hopefully this is not going to become a yearly affair.

an interesting observation i made in the incident with the cabby though was the involvement of a mainland chinese man. or at least his own attempted involvement in my dispute with the cabby before i shot him down while he was jus about to jump off his diving board. i know chinese divers are good, but they shldn't be sticking their noses in any pool they see fit other than their own.

which brings me to the point of their increasing numbers in singapore. the mainland chinese i mean. not their divers. their divers are most welcome too. in fact where they shld be sticking their noses into if they want is our olympic medal dream.

my point behind all this is the effect of the increased number of mainland chinese coming onto our shores. don't get me wrong, i support their migrating efforts. i for one believe pple shld be moving ard more. globalisation is without doubt an eventuality. it has to happen. my concerns lie in the effects on society that this movement has.

singapore has been striving for years to cultivate a more gracious society. we want friendlier, more open, better socially adept, polite, courteous and considerate people. and things have been moving on the up and up. we have progressed. i do see a difference in the service provided by stores. a difference in the way people act on the street. i have even observed the considerate nature of the bus drivers towards elderly passengers. perhaps it is due to the passing of the generations that have caused this. each younger generation is noticeably better educated and more world-wise than the previous. i see it in my younger cousins and younger peers in uni. without a doubt, things are moving in a good direction somehow. at least in my opinion.

yet, with the influx of mainland chinese, there are times i get the sense that they might be diluting our efforts. the loud talking, the pushing and shoving in public places. to me, these are reflections of the calibre of social grace their society cultivates as a whole. but importantly, is that the kind of calibre we want

granted, those who have braved the obstacles to come to our little red dot are not the creme de la creme from chinese society but i do think they are by far not the bottom feeders. so the question here is, are our above bottom feeders the same in nature?

to view their actions positively would be to say they have the "get ahead" spirit. the "hunger to succeed". without hesitation i would applaud such tenacity but i do not condone uncouth demeanour. there is a balance to be struck. something which i do not doubt the mainland chinese would eventually obtain but when they do and how this affects our efforts to move forward in social graces is my concern.

still, to put things in another context. dilution of our social etiquette standards may not necessarily bring us below the average mark of the world in general. looking at things from a broader perspective, how many countries in the world are actually able to claim a high level of graciousness in their societies? so why shld we be so worried abt being hampered by the influx of behaviour that might possibly tarnish the work we have done to portray the right image?

in that light then i guess there is some consolation for taking a step backwards to gather the troops once more and move everyone forward together. which is what it shld be regardless come rain, sleet or snow isn't it?

till the next post. hopefully tonite?

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