Monday, May 16, 2011
Emo is Cool?
The new way to be cool is to be emo.
Showing that you're emo shows that you have many things to worry about. Only mature and busy people have THAT many things to worry about right? Being emo increases the likelihood of your friends mentioning you to other friends, read plainly, it increases your popularity =D. In fact, being emo is a direct way for you to know that you are popular, becasue your friends will accompany you in an in-depth manner. It is no wonder why being emo is such a trend in youths, because it reflects popularity. Is that all?
The bad is stronger than the good (something widely understood in psychology). Deep inside, people's subconscious instinct do not want to mix with people who are negative. Yet, they want to show sympathy. Hence, your emo popularity probably lasts the first few rounds and subsequently, it pisses people off (crudely speaking). Next, being emo is unhealthy. Do you see people celebrate depression like the way they celebrate happiness? So are you putting 'popularity' in front of health?
Incidentally, there's a very great series recently aired on Channel U titled 'Secret Garden' 《秘密花园》. It addresses the social stigma tied to mental illnesses and show how we should re-think such biases. A key lesson I learnt is this:
“每个人都有精神病，只要不影响日常生活那就不是问题”
'everyone is mentally ill, as long as it doesn't affect your daily life it is not a problem'
So why should we exaggerate our problems, and not look at those, perhaps existing in greater proportion, positive aspects of our lives?
A final quote from the show:
“我们的心灵就像个秘密花园，种下好的种子就会开出美丽的花，种下坏的种子就会变得很扎乱。”
"Inside us is a secret graden, planting good seeds produces beautiful flowers, bad ones will turn the garden messy."
Autumn fun:x 1:15 PM
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Being Cool
Having the latest IT gadget and the chickiest hairstyle is not cool enough. The coolest way to live your life now is to make it busy.
You have to fill your daily life up with work, with enrichment lessons, with appointments and with 'other stuffs to do' that you only have time left to eat and sleep. In fact skipping meals and sleep deprivation is cool too! You need to be a superhuman who is Jack of all trades and master at everything. Most importantly, just do something and NEVER tell people you are free.
Why? Being busy tell people that you're a high-achiever, and that they should not interrupt that. In fact it's a pretty good excuse for being slack sometimes. People who are busy hence receive recognition by peers, by teachers and by their bosses. Who doesn't want recognition and be popular? Hence to become popular now, you HAVE to be busy. It's alright if you're dying, you might even be better off sick, all the more popular you become.
But what are you really risking? What are you really pursuing? Why not just free up more time to really enjoy a good movie, have a really nice afternoon tea, go for a nice, relaxing swim, bathe in the sun, have a picnic with your family, have a good, quality sleep. Ain't life better off this way?
Sleep debt is nature's debt. You'll one day have to repay it. Good night.
Autumn fun:x 1:04 AM
Monday, February 28, 2011
Watching Movies Through Different Lenses
Lecturer ET shows us movies nearly every week for 10mins, and he'll always say, 'I respect all these directors and actors, they are able to bring out all the emotions so well...' So I adopted his 'emotional' lenses now whenever I watch movies, and it's true! Drawing on the example of Titanic, unarguably the best movie in the recent decades, you see the fear, sadness, desperation, relief of all the different people - it makes you think. Yes, good movies make you think.
Perhaps differently, through my own lenses, I understood a different aspect of Mr Bean's Holiday. Mr Bean is a very simple man, perhaps too simple for our time, but he shows how it is those simple things that make us most happy. Towards the end of the movie, he was so preoccupied by the fact that he saw the beach - his initial simple goal admist the going-ons of the world around him. If we get happiness from simple events like Mr Bean, wouldn't we have a happier life than feeling happy only when we achieve something great? Incidentally, we'd probably have had achieved much more along the way.
Autumn fun:x 11:09 PM
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Frohes Neues Jahr
My greatest wish for the new year is to achieve German B1(.5) Level. =D
Autumn fun:x 7:56 PM
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
《妻子的诱惑》
在不知觉的情况下，我已经看《妻子的诱惑》这部扣人心弦的韩剧已有一年了，一共看了两遍。
看第一遍是断断续续，起初是被那紧凑的剧情给吸引了，再加上申爱丽那厚颜无耻一角与怜悯的具恩才默默的忍耐让人惊叹又感慨万分。
看第二遍时看得比较完整，也让我对这部剧作的剧组人员可说是敬佩不已。表面上的恶毒与复仇其实涵盖着很多人生中常遇到的抉择。狠毒的申爱丽愿望其实很简单，那就是要给唯一的孩子一个健全的家庭。虽然手段的确不对，但想想她小时候也是被抚养长大的，心中那渴望推动着她的心狠手辣，我们真的能怪她吗？恩才的复仇计划又反应了什么呢？很多时候我们都一再的忍耐，俗话“忍一时风平浪静，退一步海阔天空”，但有时你退得越多，别人就用更过分的手段伤害你，直到忍无可忍时，你会怎么做？
《妻子的诱惑》大结局也有值得我们学习的道理。筱希终于发觉她那么迫爱健佑其实是自私的，其实她只爱自己，要拥有她所想要拥有的，而她也发觉说其实当初她与健佑当兄妹时是最幸福的。这告诉了我们适可而止，知足常乐的意义。有时你要得更多，得到了并不代表你比没有时来的快乐。最后，在乔彬的葬礼上乔彬妈妈对恩才妈妈说了句：“当时你听说恩才死了也是那么的同步欲绝吗？这真是老天对我们的惩罚。”因此，我们真的需以一刻关怀的心对待别人，那么才能积德，当你碰到困难时也会有人为你伸出援手。
这真是我这生中看过最好的连续剧，在这里诚意推荐。
Autumn fun:x 12:52 AM
Thursday, November 11, 2010
金玉良言
During the last Geog of BO lecture, Prof Yeung stayed a while and talked to us. I am deeply heartened by what he said, "under the university system, there are ways to get a first class, but does it belong to you?" He was referring to people who work so hard for a first class, but are not happy doing their studies.
Whatever you do, you must enjoy it. Whatever you get, is your life.
Another motivating song lyric: 《专注》 by 增宝仪
出去是不曾走过的路口
和等待着被记载的香浓
打开了门外太冷的空气
会需要一个勇敢的笑容
有时候跌跌撞撞向前走
总是会发生难免的差错
来不及讲得太晚的对不起
会变成指出方向的星座
遇见了没有地图的迷宫
绕了一圈又回到了起点
就算是恐惧不只一点点
要稳住自己千万不能哭
Chinese is really a beautiful language. There is so much meaning in a word, making it so flexible - and interesting (and funny). Really miss those days when I could write better. Now they have all been synaptically pruned to focus on English.
Autumn fun:x 10:35 PM
Das Semester ist schon fast vorbei
It's been my chillest semester yet, and my happiest.
Oh wells perhaps the horoscopes were right, 2010 won't be a good year for our family.
Autumn fun:x 10:32 PM
Monday, September 20, 2010
Moving on
Recently have been thinking about my choices. But they have never been so close to my heart, although they haven't shown to be positive. So I've decided to stick with them.
To perk myself up, I listen to some motivating songs, and this came:
也曾风，也曾雨，也曾路过崎岖
也总是雨过天晴，挺心再继续
即使前方波涛汹涌，也别心灰意冷
信心让你我坚强，未来更灿烂
Autumn fun:x 12:26 PM
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Youth Olympic Games
On top of school, the one thing that really got me up and jumping this entire month is the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the Opening Ceremony Final Rehearsal. It was very moving to know that the world will be watching us, and get to know the life of a Singaporean. (There are five stars arising, out of the stormy seas...good depiction of SG and good encouragement for us to be positive in life)
When I watched the TV broadcast, I thought the Olympic Flame was very magical, like in a Harry Potter film. Of course, it was awesome when the Olympic flame ran past my house, and to follow the Games' action in places we're familiar with like Bishan, Toa Payoh, and NTU. And not forgetting a very nice theme song 'Everyone' - raise your hands for our generation, fly the flags of every nation...(and I got to see the singers live!)
In school I overheard some German exchange students speaking in German, and I felt very accomplished when I could understand parts of their conversation, and this motivates me to master the language, to be able to converse like them.
"Learning a language is not like learning a content subject where you memorise information. It exposes you to a new culture, and it changes your whole person."
- Frau Niemann (2010)
Autumn fun:x 1:56 PM
Friday, July 16, 2010
After Germany...
After Germany, I was in a state of denial - after all how could I bear to leave such a relaxed lifestyle and be back here, facing everything that I don't wish to. But its never good to disconnect yourself from reality.
But yes its a trip of a lifetime. In benefitted me in 3 ways:
1: I've always thought life is stressful here, and I was resigned to believe that life's such, but now I know it isn't.
2: I love my identity as a Chinese. I love SG food.
3: I love German kids =D
I started my teaching internship shortly after. School from the perspective of an educator is kind of different from that of a student. Lessons have to be prepared, yet students take that for granted (at least I did =D). Feeling all the bad karma coming back to haunt me. Yet, this second part of my holidays benefitted me too.
My new dream: to be a Chinese/English teacher in Germany =D
Autumn fun:x 7:48 PM
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Before My Immersion Ends
After our visit to a school in Germany, I admire the Deutsche Kinder life even more. I am liking Germany more and more and dreading my departure more and more, though I know I would really be glad when my plane lands in Changi.
This immersion is more fulfilling than expected. First my German did improve =D, second I got to pretend to be a German over here. Additionally, I made great friends here. So when immersion ends on Friday, I'd really be upset.
Ich liebe Deutschland!
Autumn fun:x 3:09 AM
