QBB, we make good ghee

Thursday, November 23, 2006

In keeping with my new and unfair moniker of Queen Bitch, I have decided to bitch.

It was surprisingly difficult to settle on something to bitch about. But after discarding fat people (too politically incorrect), smelly people (ditto), stupid people (sekali people say I elitist), and irritating people (there isn't enough time in the world), I have narrowed it down to: people who are immigrant speakers of English.

Let me explain.

There are people who obviously can't string together a grammatical sentence, and then there are those who aren't strictly ungrammatical, but are puzzlingly dissonant. As I've been struggling to describe to fellow bitches, some people seem to speak like a storybook. The phrases are correct, but somehow, something is strangely off about the whole conversation. They can speak in complete sentences and still sound unnatural. These people are easy to identify but impossible to fault because, well, nothing is really wrong with what they say, except that they're not truly native to the language.

Somewhat more readily pinned down are people who, in an attempt to sound more intelligent and articulate, have clearly deliberately learned choice words to substitute for simpler and often better expressions.

These people say:

yours truly when they mean me or I, as in: "Please sign this application form and give it to yours truly"

yourself when they mean you, as in: "Will yourself also be applying for this credit card?"

be it when they mean either, as in: "You can call this number if you lose your card, be it here or overseas"

whom when they mean who as in: "This card is for people whom are big spenders"

whereby when they need any kind of conjunction, as in: "You can apply for this other card whereby you will get discounts at these places" or "I tripped on this banana skin whereby I fell down and hit my head so I can't speak English properly".

Okay I have to stop bitching now so I can go and play WoW before I kena bitched.

 posted by zyn :: 8:53 PM :: 3 Comments :: permalink


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the week in drinks

Sunday, November 19, 2006

It's been a very long week, and I'm not sure which were more tiring - the interminable days at work or the eventful nights out after (which were meant to make up for the stress in the office).

Monday I spent thinking about Sunday; Tuesday was Midori and campy, saccharine Taiwanese flick at T's place; Wednesday I was at work till midnight. Embarrassed myself at SICC on Thursday by bowling for the first time in years, and then - underdressed and, as it turned out, undercarred - went for drinks at the new Oosh in Dempsey. Nice place, totally like Rochester Park but with much, much, much better cars and, for some reason, very hot China women crying on the phone with their boyfriends ("ni wei she me zhe yang dui wo? wo si suan le!").

On a side note, why is it that Wine Network and Wine Company both close so early on weekdays?? Very bad business sense.

Friday was drinks with ANSA (haha) at Robertson Walk, a blast as usual; Saturday was drinks at Coco Latte (G&T&P = lethal). I really should rent a place at Pier @ Robertson. Hungover for three days in a row, I dragged myself out of bed this morning to go air pistol shooting at Safra Yishun (it's not as butch as it sounds), which was surprisingly fun, in no small part due to my new cargo pants. The whole thing brought me back to my air rifle days - I signed up for air rifle as an ECA back in the first three months of JC, a fact so little known that I question the veracity of my own memories of it. Anyway I think I shall go back and shoot more. Then maybe can get good enough to buy my own gun, so fun. Then can shoot birds outside my window. I hate birds.

High tea at Regent Hotel and then, finally, back home for a nice nice long-overdue nap.

But not before recording birthday wishes to the surprising number of people who are born in November! Veena, who has the world's best boyfriend; June, the gorgeous Cheena barbie, and Joyce, who is a very tactful person. :) May you all grow prettier and wiser without ever aging a day.

By the way - M Ravi assaulted in Hong Kong - true or not?

 posted by zyn :: 6:02 PM :: 4 Comments :: permalink


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he who cries wolf

Friday, November 17, 2006

damn pissed off. must record here in case friendly feelings surface towards this person later and in the spirit of amnesiac generosity i am actually *shudder* NICE to him.

also damn stressed. must cheer up with drinks later. and by buying shooting outfit tomorrow for sunday. yay reason to buy cargo pants!

 posted by zyn :: 5:30 PM :: 0 Comments :: permalink


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tua-ism

Thursday, November 16, 2006

This made me laugh out loud at the end of a horrid day, so not only is it worth linking to, it's worth replicating in full because I know some of you lazy bastards out there never click on links. I'm shamelessly plagarising from rambotan who in turn plagarised it from someone he didn't link to so I can't link to the original either. Anyway here it is - the genius that results from taking Singlish seriously:

The Tua
What is affectionately known to the Singaporean community as the Tua is a genuine social phenomenon of more-than-infrequent occurrence in the realm of interpersonal relations. It involves the failure to hold up one’s end of the bargain in a pre-arranged exchange. Most often, this is realized in agreements to meet and/or partake of a common activity. This often leaves the person on whom the tua is executed somewhat stranded, and can lead to irreparable rifts in friendships and/or permanent emotional scarring. It is of paramount importance to understand the different types of tuas that can be executed, in order to avoid falling victim to one of them; for often, a tua (or potential tua) can be identified even before its actual execution, and certain preventive – and sometimes retaliatory – measures can be taken to minimize its effect.

The Tua of (Unavoidable) Circumstances
This is the only tua in which the tua-ster is absolved of all blame – it is a tua which comes about not through any conscious choice on the part of the tua-ster. In other words, the tua-ster is forced, by extenuating circumstances beyond his control, to execute the dreaded tua! Some circumstances which are considered reasonable would include a death in the family or unfavorable weather conditions - although it is commonly accepted that what constitutes reasonable grounds for the tua is a subjective and touchy issue, and one which should be established upfront between friends. Unfortunately this is not a subject easily broached, and it is a pity that the limits to which one would accept reasonable grounds for tua can only be discovered by testing them.

The Tua of Greener Pastures
Let it be said that if a friend ever pulled the tua of Greener Pastures on you, it would be time to seriously re-evaluate your friendship. This particular tua involves the executing of the tua and the breaching of a agreed meeting for the reason that the opportunity to pursue a course of action that potentially yielded greater utility presented itself. In other words, something more interesting popped up. Persons with the emotional capacity to feel no remorse at committing the tua of Greener Pastures are dangerous persons with sick and twisted minds, and should be avoided at all costs.

The Tua of Poor Organisation
There are many different forms which the tua of Poor Organisation can take – as such this is a tua which one should be on an especial lookout for. Causes of this tua would include miscommunications, misinterpretations, an inability to commit to and confirm meeting times and places and other such very avoidable situations. It is also possible for the tua of Poor Organisation to be simultaneously inflicted on more than one person. In the simple two-party example, we can see how a failure to specify a meeting place can lead to both persons to be waiting for each other concurrently, each gradually coming under the impression that he/she had been tua-ed.

The Tua of Assumed Participation
This happens when the victim mistakenly assumes that the tua-ster has signified intent of participation, and is such let down when he/she indicates his/her true intent. Even though blame cannot be attributed to the tua-ster for creating such a situation, it would still be beneficial to all if potential tua-sters could avoid sending out mixed signals which could be easily misinterpreted.

The Domino-effect Tua
The Domino-effect tua is easily explained when you consider that each person has a set schedule, and once that set schedule is disrupted, it can be hard to get it back on track. This tua happens when the tua-ster has himself been tua-ed for a certain event, and thus decides, or is forced to, tua the next person that he is supposed to meet, God bless his poor unsuspecting soul. In the equilibrium situation, it follows that if someone is late to meet you by 20 minutes (thereby tua-ing you by 20 minutes), you will tua the next person you meet by 20 minutes – and so it follows ad infinitum, resulting in a Domino-effect tua.

The Snowball-effect Tua
This is an extended, more insidious version of the Domino-effect tua. The Snowball-effect tua operates on the same tit-for-tat principles as the Domino-effect tua; unfortunately in this tua there exists a multiplier in the conversion from tit to tat. This happens when the tua-ster is tua-ed by 20 minutes and subsequently tuas his next appointment by an hour. Why, you may ask? Unfortunately, no one can see into the perverse workings of the mind of the tua-ster, and that question may remain unanswered forever.

The In-Your-Face Tua
This is a particularly strange phenomenon even within the sociological structure of the tua, and happens when the tua-ster shows up for his intended meeting, but for some reason or another is unable to fulfill the duties expected of him. The tua-ster thereby shows up, but politely informs his victim that he is unable to accompany him/her, wherever they might have previously agreed upon. This is a particular difficult tua to foresee and thus prevent, and is also one in which the repercussions are worth discussion. On one hand, the victim still feels the full weight of the tua, yet on the other, he finds it impossible to blame the tua-ster and should perhaps even be grateful for his appearance. The feeling of not being able to blame someone or something for a tua is frustrating beyond description, which explains the dangerous nature of this particular one.

The Pre-emptive Tua
This is a particularly useful tactic to prevent yourself from falling victim to a tua, and involves the tua-ing of the would-be tua-ster, before the actual execution of any tua. This normally involves the sensing of the potential for the tua, and thus nipping the problem in the bud by executing a tua of your own. The problem in this case would be the proneness to hypersensitivity, thereby negating an otherwise satisfying outcome for the sake of one which may not be so (the classic Prisoners’ Dilemma).

The list of tuas above may not be definitive, and they are by no means exhaustive. There exists the possibility of combo tuas (a particularly sinister force), eg a Snowball Pre-emptive Tua of Greener Pastures. A well known tua-ster has also been heard to say that all tuas can be reduced, by means of rhetoric and logic (read: flimsy excuses) to the tua of Unavoidable Circumstances. It is plain to see that our understanding of tuas is not only limited, but by definition can only be in retrospect. It is hoped that a greater awareness of the different types of tuas, as well as the conditions in which they occur, can lead to a world safer from the evil machinations of tua-sters.

 posted by zyn :: 12:26 AM :: 0 Comments :: permalink


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GST - Get Screwed Tomorrow

Monday, November 13, 2006

... when the news comes out that GST is going up to 7% next year. Then will come the rise in sin taxes in February. Cannot drink, cannot smoke, cannot eat out = every day go home play World of Warcraft.

Feb 17, 2006: Govt announces $2.6 billion Progress Package

Feb 27, 2006: Low Thia Khiang accuses Govt of repeatedly giving out money before elections, only to take it back immediately after

May 4, 2006: SDA warns in rally that GST rates and transport costs are likely to increase after elections

May 6, 2006: Polling Day

July 4, 2006: ComfortDelGro, Singapore's largest taxi operator, announces rise in cab fares

July 5, 2006: SMRT, Premier also raise cab fares

July 10, 2006: Trans-Cab raises cab fares

Aug 2, 2006: SMRT and SBS apply to raise bus and train fares

Nov 13, 2006: PM Lee Hsien Loong, in Parliament's first sitting since the elections, announces hike in GST to 7% next year


Logically speaking, I know our income taxes/transport fares are still very low compared to other countries. But however you phrase it, and however much you give out as lump sums to the poor, GST is still a regressive tax. And raising fares and taxes so close on the heels of the elections, so that it passes completely out of the memories of the electorate by the time the next Polling Day rolls around - that's just low.

Added: You know, I was okay with the first time they raised GST, in 2002, cos that was the first time since GST was introduced in 1994 and eight years is reasonable. But the 5 per cent kicked in only in 2004 - it's only been two years! Every two years raise 2% ah? Can die.

 posted by zyn :: 8:40 PM :: 3 Comments :: permalink


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selfpity

Thursday, November 09, 2006

I very seldom get sick, but whenever I do it always comes out of nowhere. Like right now, for instance, I don't know why I'm down with a cold. I haven't binged on alcohol in at least a week, or stayed out (that) late, or done anything remotely stressful or unhealthy. But all of a sudden, my nose started running yesterday and wouldn't stop.

If anything, I thought I'd get sick last week or the week before, when I was loading up on alcohol a few days in a row and then went off on my no-sleep trip to China and came back Sunday night and went to work the next day. But at that time it seemed no matter how little sleep I got or how much huang jiu I had, I was invincible. Like Dong Fang Bu Bai.

My theory is that all these virus-bacteria-infection thingies wait until you're complacent and then bam! they bring you down and laugh at your red nose and watery eyes. No, wait a minute, that's Mr VDB. :)

Anyway I have to go to work now and try to be productive. But I just want to say that I'm so glad the Democrats took back the House and, from the looks of it, the Senate. And I'm also glad that Spitzer is NY governor. And that Rumsfeld has been booted.

The other day I read this editorial in NYT and was struck by the fact that if you close your eyes - well, not literally, because then you can't read it, but you get what I mean - certain paragraphs are eerie echoes of Singapore politics. Like:

Republican leaders, particularly in the House, have developed toxic symptoms of an overconfident majority that has been too long in power. They methodically shut the opposition - and even the more moderate members of their own party - out of any role in the legislative process. Their only mission seems to be self-perpetuation.


Of course in Singapore this is status quo, but it's nice to know that people elsewhere in the world find it objectionable.

 posted by zyn :: 2:16 PM :: 2 Comments :: permalink


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the fourth commandment

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Today my parents celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary - or, as a friend of mine recently put it, their 26th year of "managing not to get divorced". So we all got dressed up and went to dinner at Lawry's (not that you really need to dress up to go to Lawry's, but hey, any excuse to wear my pretty gold heels), where we wolfed down bloody - and bloody overpriced - slabs of meat and some passable Bordeaux.

I don't usually talk about my parents much except to relate exaggerated horror stories of religious rites, so I thought I'd dedicate this entry to them, especially since I hope they never stumble upon this blog.

When I was growing up it seemed as though everyone I knew spent a lot of time complaining about their parents. I never really had anything to add to those discussions (at that time I was still obediently church-going and all). My parents aren't perfect, of course, but somehow they seemed to make their marriage work and weekend family dinners an event to look forward to, and because of that I never doubted that I could do the same one day. Spending time with my family often spoils me for other company; every one of them understands my sometimes oblique references without needing further explanation. My parents were also the only parents I knew who would embarrass their kids in public by smooching in shopping centres. My eyes have never quite been the same since.

Sometimes I wonder if they're really that happy, or if they've secretly soundproofed the master bedroom so we can't hear them throwing things at each other late at night.

In any case, my parents are the only people (aside from my editors) who show constant, genuine and in-depth interest in my work. My mum, in particular, is a non-stop source of story ideas. Many of them make me wonder if she really understands what it is I do ("Can you write about this woman who was rude to me in the shop today?"), but an equal number have actually turned into real stories.

My dad, on the other hand, is responsible for much of my life philosophies. Whenever I instinctively whip out my credit card to pay for a round of drinks, or refuse a ride home to avoid inconveniencing someone else, or volunteer for more work after a long day - that's what makes me my dad's daughter.

That I've turned out to be a romantic (but practical) sucker who genuinely trusts in the existence of unconditional love, however rare it may be (see, that's the practical side of me) - is, I think, a credit to my parents. (My prolix writing style complete with parentheses after every seven words, however, is entirely of my own creation.)

So here's to my mummy and daddy - for as long as they can have a happy life together two more years than I've been on this earth, I will always believe in love.

 posted by zyn :: 11:41 PM :: 4 Comments :: permalink


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noob question

Thursday, November 02, 2006

(Warning: Please don't waste any time reading this if you don't play WoW or if you're not from my guild and don't have a warrior character.)

Ok I need to respec because I'm the de facto MT of my guild (I know, what were they thinking, right?) and I'm Arms/Fury specced and have too few points in Protection.

But I can't decide whether to go full Prot or to keep my arms spec because, well, no Mortal Strike, boohoo.

So these are my options:

Arms/Prot, 31/5/15 - allows me to keep MS but I also get Defiance

Prot/Arms, 15/5/31 - all the Prot goodness and some practical arms stuff like Tactical Mastery and Anger Management

Prot/Fury, 5/15/31 - Prot with Last Stand, and I get to keep Blood Craze, Piercing Howl and Unbridled Wrath, which I've gotten quite fond of. But then I lose Tactical Mastery and Anger Management and that makes me feel insecure. I don't Charge a lot in instances so shouldn't be too bad though

I practically don't solo or PvP at all these days so I suppose I should probably go Prot all the way (*sob*). But then - Burning Crusade! Which, like the true geeks we are, we have preordered. Heeheehee. Man, I hope we remember that we ordered it when it finally arrives in Jan.

Anyway, help! (Especially Vincent, if you're there!)

 posted by zyn :: 2:30 AM :: 2 Comments :: permalink


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who's your daddy

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

I know this is really belated, as usual, but I want to say something about the whole Wee Shu Min debacle. And since I'm a late entrant into the market I shall take a different approach - and admit to being one of the probably five people in Singapore who sympathises with the girl.

She's only 18 years old, after all, and when I myself was 18 - a good lifetime or so ago - I may very well have blogged about the same thing. In fact, it's not out of the question for me to blog about it even now, although I've since learned enough not to do so in such "brutal" language.

Here I should probably say that I honestly don't think I'm elitist. While I quite candidly confess that I avoid people whose intelligence I consider subpar (let's not argue about this again, philip), this isn't because I think I'm better than them, but simply because they don't interest me a whole lot. Much like the news that Stikfas is going to make Neon Genesis Evangelion figures doesn't interest people who grew up in the 1970s. (Heh heh, generational qie.)

But I completely understand how someone like Wee Shu Min would arrive at that line of thinking on her own and feel strongly enough about it to use such emotive words. I attended a number of so-called elite schools in my time, I suppose, and I do dimly remember some people impressing on us the fact that we were the future leaders of the country - at times, depending on the school, the world - and that we earned this role by besting our peers in a supposedly status-blind system of meritocracy (this deserves a whole other blog post on its own later). This came garnished by some sort of implication that everyone else simply wasn't good enough. Probably this was told to us with the intention of conveying that with great power comes great responsibility, but like all ADD-ed kids, we may have stopped listening after "great power".

So Wee Shu Min - in my opinion - over-villified. What I think really lies at the heart of the problem is her dad, who was clearly on MC the day they conducted "PR 101: What Not To Say To The Press". In what I (not grudgingly at all) concede was a great story, Wee Siew Kim did a Really Stupid Thing and stood by his daughter's "basic point". And then apologised for any discomfort that may have been caused by his apology, which seems to be the blanket strategy adopted by the MIW, likely explained at length in "PR 102: How To Apologise Without Really Being Sorry".

In any case, the whole episode throws up another interesting dimension: how liable, really, are we for what we say on our blogs? Everyone tells me bloggers who don't realise that everything they blog about is public are just stupid. But these people typically aren't bloggers themselves. The truth is, the process of blogging lends you the illusion of invulnerability. You're just typing words on a keyboard! You don't have an agenda! The screen doesn't react to your sentences! And when real live people respond to your posts, they usually do it via comments or email, which not only dulls the impact of the replies but allows you the convenience of deleting them.

Like most bloggers, I write for an audience. I don't know every single person who reads my blog by name and face, but I do have a general good idea of who my readers are. I know my blog is, by definition, public. But that doesn't mean that I have to stand by everything I say, especially if it was a long time ago and circumstances have changed since then. It also doesn't mean that I should re-edit all my entries once I no longer feel the same way about what I may have previously said. It's nice, sometimes, to make mistakes and say stupid things and be able to record it all down so you can look back ten years down the road and chuckle fondly and self-indulgently at your misconceptions.

Of course, every time I give out my URL to a new person, or my blog is linked by Tomorrow or another portal, I go back and read old entries to make sure I'm "safe", because something that may have been written in the heat of the moment months ago may now take on a totally different shine when lifted out of its original context. I may not necessarily change things, but it gives me a new perspective on what I wrote before and, in some way, helps make me more tolerant because it forces me to see my own point of view from someone else's eyes.

Answers to questions that usually come up at this point: yes, I could write a private diary instead, but I often air my opinions in public (and make them more extreme than they really are) so that someone can argue with me about them and better my understanding of the issues. Yes, complete freedom of speech - even in a blog - isn't desirable when it crosses the line and could potentially incite social instability (MIW's favourite phrase), but why is it that we're guilty of possible incitement until proven innocent, rather than the other way around?

Speaking of favourite phrases, c. was just remarking the other day that this has been a good year for political buzzphrases. "Get out of my elite uncaring face" has now joined the hallowed ranks of "mee siam mai ham", "bak chor mee", and "fix the opposition", among others.

And all this would never have come about without the Internet. Technology is slowly eroding our privacy, and Facebook and MySpace and Flickr have made it possible for photos of a bikini-clad Wee Shu Min to spark off the next round of bashing. Perhaps in the end technology is the great power, and we all need to learn how to use it more responsibly.

Okay lah all this was really just so I could plug this awesome video, made by my equally awesome friend, the brilliant and talented han. Which, I conclude, is the trick to quashing any elitist tendencies you have - just surround yourself with brilliant and talented friends.

 posted by zyn :: 1:02 AM :: 9 Comments :: permalink


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