Scarred

I hate my clumsiness. Instead of walking with poise, I knock into tables and chairs or trip over lap top cables, bags and even my own foot. I don't recall having that many mishaps on skates.

Today marks a fresh scar on my knees when I tripped over ??? while jogging. The irritating thing is each time I fall, part of my sole peels off. My left Adidas is officially sole-less. Frig.

The Other

The debate is over and I only managed to read snippets of it in the papers. 377A stays. Interestingly, S 377A is probably the most well-known provision of the Penal Code now.

I feel rather indifferent to the result. As somebody pointed out, the government usually shuts both eyes when it comes to this matter and I can’t imagine they would be so ridiculous (or skillful) to catch every homosexual who has sex anyway. So gays are free to continue doing as they please.

I can understand why people are so reluctant to repeal S 377A. Having the prohibition written in black and white reaffirms society’s values and stand on this matter (never mind that it is rarely enforced). It’s like s 46 of the Women’s Charter which espouses that married couples should safeguard the interest of their union, care for their kids… Everyone knows that s 46 is not enforceable but the mere existence of it serves as a beacon to remind spouses how to behave. In that way, law reflects societal values and culture.

I appreciate that as a “traditional Asian society grounded in Confucian values” we are not ready to embrace homosexuality. Can you imagine your parents/grandparents NOT freaking out if you confess that you are gay? If S 377A is repealed, I can imagine floodgates opening and gays demanding for more rights in other areas such as same-sex marriage which is definitely unpalatable to many.

BUT we have to remember that our Penal Code, copied from the Indian Penal Code, is goodness know how old and the provisions reflect the values of society at that point of time in history. Even though S 377A was enacted later (hence the “A”), it is still a rather old provision. No one will deny that Singaporeans are more liberal and open minded now. No one now will claim that they don’t recognize fundamental human rights such as the right to equality. So isn’t there another solution other than to criminalize homosexual acts?

I’m neither pro-gay nor anti-gay. They can choose and live their lives however they wish. MYOB. However I believe that criminalizing such private acts is quite absurd. Imagine slapping a gay with a CRIMINAL record simply because he has sex with another gay in public (heterosexual couples are not punished for the same act)! It’s absurd to the point of being hilarious.

Why can’t they remove S 377A from the Penal Code and dump it in some other civil statute where at least the wrongdoing will not be an “offence”? Of course there are difficulties to this suggestion (replant the provision in which statute?). All I’m saying is that we should think of alternatives besides repealing/not repealing.

Prof Thio was especially engaged in this debate. I imagine that her diatribe was powerful (offensive??), cogent, witty and funny (like how her Public Law lectures usually are). But I didn’t understand why she argued that religion is not separate from public policy. Public policy is inevitably tied to politics and wasn’t it during Public Law lectures where we learnt that secular Singapore is careful to separate religion from politics?

Good day

Took Bus 30 today instead of the MRT because I needed to rest my legs. The new SBS buses are a vast improvement from the old ones – more leg space and seats are significantly inclined. I had forgotten how “scenic” the AYE-ECP route is (and the unparalleled view from the upper deck)

First, you’ll see Sentosa, cable cars and Vivo City. Next we’ll pass the through CBD. Then AYE will connect to the ECP flyover where there is a fantastic, unobstructed view of Singapore’s skyline, the NDP floating platform, the Esplanade, the construction of the IRs and the mouth of the Singapore River. The Singapore Flyer rises majestically on the other side. Honestly, it looks pretty impressive (it’s HUGE). Lastly, you’ll get a sneak peek of ECP before the bus exits the highway. Nice!

Presentation was yesterday. I thought we did well. Regardless, it’s a load off my mind. Fay braided my hair again (I have a current obsession with my hair) and found a few strands of white hair. I'M FREAKING OUT. Stress? Hereditary? Aging? Horrible.

I received a few comments. A couple of my friends said they couldn’t recognize me. One said I looked nice. Tuition kids said I looked “pretty” (something good from their mouths for once!) I concluded that it has to be the new hairdo and not my H&M blouse cos I wore it before without garnering any attention. Thanks again Fay!

Night school

I'm just glad that we managed to end 15 mins before the midnight surcharge kicked in. Taxi driver and I engaged in a stimulating conversation about company transparency and currency fluctuations (which warrants a little tip).

The school feels pretty safe at night. Block B is overly lit up (even going to the toilet alone is ok), security guards patrol the place and the entrance is locked from the outside after a certain time. The SCARY part was seeing classmates streaming out of classrooms at 10.30 pm after their piah-ing. Presentation aside, there is no way I will linger in sch till that late.

Here's part of The Group (deep in thought) in our new classrooms (where air-con automatically switches off at 9.15pm, not to save the earth, but faculty funds):


Oh but getting holed up in a classroom together for hours reveals many interesting tidbits about others like how a certain boy school (khaki shorts and epaulet) mandates their students to sing patriotic songs after the national anthem; a JC (voted to have the best uniform) which adopted a line from Robert Browning's poem for its school motto; and people from a certain JC (think of a smelly flower) who remained silent in our playful ribbing.

Fay and I craving for some distraction.


I don't know how she did it but Fay managed to plait a near perfect French braid with a few slick moves! I simply cannot perfect that braid no matter how many times I try (and the amount of hair plucked out in the process). Of course this will not be the last time I enlist her (free) help!

2 a.m.

"2am and the rain is falling..."

Though 2am rain is romanticized by Trademark's famous love song, I suppose there's nothing unusual about it raining at this time (just that we're usually asleep and oblivious to the weather). And there's nothing romantic about being awake at 2am, rushing to finish a presentation.

I feel too anxious to sleep. The tired-but-cannot-fall-asleep feeling. At least the night is cooled by the rain and mozzies are away. Night encourages introspection (when all is quiet and you're alone) and I feel my mind drifting into irrelevant thoughts. Productivity is dipping. Time to knock myself out.

Broke

I hate to admit that I have near zero discipline when it comes to shopping (broadly defined as buying clothes, books and frivolous stuff). Set out for town early today with the good intention of returning library books, buying bday cards and attending the Topshop sale preview for members. The sale was disappointingly limited (remnants of size 12s and 14s). I managed to sieve out a top (50% off) BUT FORGOT to use my Wisma cash vouchers to pay.

En route to Taka, I couldn't resist popping into Esprit for a quick look. Instead of getting a free camera pouch (fully redeemed), I walked out with a dress! Arrgghh. Feeling extremely guilty that my trip is not turning out the way it should, I headed to Taka without further distractions. Then I discovered that Kino is having a storewide 20% discount for members! I had to buy a book. Time to burn my loyalty cards!

Agitation aside, I'm pleased that I remembered to bring my eco-friendly shopping bag out. Plastic bag count today = zero! Felt a little self-conscious when other customers gave me weird looks when I refused a carrier but at least my shopping bag is genuine (and unique) and does not bear the words "I'm Not a Plastic Bag".

Hankering

I'm musing over when I succumbed to blogging after resisting it for years because (1) I cannot imagine baring my soul to the public and (2) I enjoy choosing and buying paper diaries too much to give it up. I reached a happy compromise of writing P & C stuff in my diary (like Betty who has diaries with different levels of P&C in case Veronica gets hold of one of them) and blogging about irrelevant thoughts and happenings. So I started this blog to reassure family and friends that I'm well (and alive) when I went MIA in Canada in June this year.

So why the quotidian blog name? Simply cos I lust to travel! Yeah I should be lucky to have visited many places but when is it ever enough when you're blessed/cursed with this irresistible, incurable, innate desire to explore new places?

I can't stop thinking of 2 places - Venice and Machu Picchu. It's really weird how coincidentally or otherwise, a couple of unrelated incidents sort of reaffirmed my desire to visit those places.

Venice: I always wanted to visit this supposedly most romantic city in Italy after missing it on my last visit. A couple of weeks ago, I watched a documentary on floods and they did a case study on Venice and how it is doomed to drown eventually. I have to visit Venice before it is finito! A couple of days ago, I was reminded of Venice again when I saw Des's envy-inducing pics of his Italian escapade (he takes pretty good pics of the architecture and scenery). With copyright permission obtained, here are some of his pics:


Machu Picchu: When Machu Picchu was nominated as one of the new Wonders of the World, I dismissed it as one of those over-hyped, overly crowded tourist spot (think Great Wall). A couple of weeks ago again, I met ZM on the bus. While in NYC on holiday, she and her bf decided to exploit cheap airfares to South America and embarked on a 4-day hike (Though I like the thought of luxurious hols, I miss trekking in dirt and mud. really.) up Peruvian mountains to reach the sacred Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. Imagine exploring lost Inca civilizations!! Last week, Arts Central featured a documentary on Peru. Lo and behold, the clip ended with a scale up Machu Picchu which looks exactly like a mystical lost world complete with swirling mist (I am reminded of one of my fav books: City of the Beast by Isabel Allende).


Arrgh. To cast all and take flight!

Windy heights

I love the smell of rain or rather, the smell that rain brings with it. The earthy, grassy scent of the natural flora. I imagine living in a meadow will smell like that. I wonder why such scents are only revealed when it rains (For an amazingly vivid and lush description of sensory pleasures, read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind).

Living on the highest floor sometimes feels like I'm living in a wind funnel cos we get so much wind blowing through the house (which is why I can smell the rain before it comes). And when it rains and we shut the windows, the howling outside intensifies. It gets quite creepy at night and I used to worry whether our house will get blown down. But since dust comes with the wind, we get alot of it too. Despite sweeping the floor everyday, I realize that battling dust is futile. Which is probably why I get so sneezy and hivey indoors.

The general and the specific

If I took away anything from my legal anthropology class, it was the reminder not to generalize about people and their cultures since (1) I'm not an anthropologist and (2) I have not done any fieldwork to validate my generalizations. But it's unrealistically impossible for people not to generalize about others. And usually there's a spark of truth in generalizations.

Offhand, I can think of many instances where we generalize and stereotype: Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars; little girls are sugar and spice and all things nice and what are little boys made of? snipes and snails and puppy dogs tails; Singaporeans are kiasu and speak bad English; only cannot-make-it guys get mail order brides; law students are snooty etc etc etc.

On the way home, a Philippino man (very few foreign workers speak English and he sounded Philippino) asked me to figure out how to make an overseas call at a public phone. I was obviously clueless so I tried calling all the helplines listed on the card and endured the annoying automated phone directions. Finally, I saw the instructions glaring at me on the board in front and yay the guy managed to call home.

He was elated, shook my hand (his was very clammy) and thanked me profusely (seldom see a stranger behave like that). I walked off, bought something and walked past him again. Heard him whisper "hold on" and then he turned to me and started bowing and thanking me again.

Of course I felt the usual warm and fuzzy feeling after being thanked so much. I did my Good Deed of the day. Ok so I can't help but generalize (after hearing other testimonies) that Philippinos are a friendly bunch of people.

Tech attack

Blog update has been infrequent because I (1) discovered the addictiveness of Facebook (2) am buried oceans deep in my IT Law research which coincidentally deals with blog content regulation. There's simply too much technology in my life these days.

Not that I'm anti-modernity/technology. Facebook is a gem for digging out skeletons in your closet. A friend who left for Texas in P2 actually found me and we started this "Oh my goodness it's been so long! Do you remember..." conversation. I smell a primary school reunion some time soon. And I just discovered that my dad's print subscription to the Economist allows me to access thousands of archived articles online which is TOTALLY cool for research.

Then again, the IT law presentation is a bitch cos less than 2 weeks before the presentation and after a consultation with the prof, we had to reformulate our topic. Hence 6 hours was spent in school today anally debating the meaning of every single word and sentence structure. But I have to admit that it's stimulating to have 2 dean-listers and a master student in my group.

The thing is, the more I research on how blog content is regulated, the more I fear that I'm blogging about inappropriate stuff. Laws on privacy, anonymity and free speech are seriously lacking here and I think we're not even constitutionally protected for free speech. So how can I be sure that my content falls within the OB markers (which I'm unaware of until I researched for this project)? And do you know that we can blog about racial and religious stuff so long as we do not incite the public? No I didn't and I will continue to be a good old citizen, play safe and abstain from the so called "taboo" topics.

Rocky Road

You know a bus is vintage when it has no air-con and rattles like an Osim iDesire at the "all-body massage" mode. You know a bus is ancient when it jerks, clanks, bounce, jolt, shake, vibrate more than the balls in a Toto prediction machine.

The ancient 151 I took home yesterday was a nightmare. Each time the driver accelerates, you can see everyone bracing themselves for another round of earth-shattering jerks. I sincerely thought that the bus was going to lose a wheel, lose 2 wheels or split in half. The vibrations got so bad that I tried to minimize contact with any part of the bus. I lifted my legs off the ground, leaned forward and sat on the tip of my bottom.

Where's our world-class public transport?

Unfocused

I'm terribly distracted these days doing everything but what I should be doing. Like now. Legal Anthropology is cast aside for an entirely enthralling novel. There are few books that create epiphanic moments for their readers and unfortunately (for my legal anthro grade), this is one of them.

When reading a novel halfway, I like to flip to the beginning and read the reviews. Of course they only publish good reviews but some resonate more than the others.

“Extravagant, witty and dark, Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a sprawling campus novel, an intricate murder mystery, a coming-of-age tale and a sly satire of intellectualism and academia. Her prose is…vivid, erupting in a free-fall of wordplay, wise cracks, encyclopedia tidbits and a barrage of cultural references… Her enthusiasm for language is a delight.” – The Miami Herald

“A frisky, smarty-pants debut… an escapist extravaganza packed with literary and pop culture allusions, mischievous characterizations, erotic intrigue, murders and unstoppable narrative energy.”- Entertainment Weekly

“Pessl not only re-creates Holden [Caulfield], she goes one step further by meshing him with Hardy Boys… enlightening entertainment.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“If Valdimir Nabokov had created a female Holden Caulfield, he might have written this delightful fiction debut.” – The Dallas Morning News

“There is a voice here to like, part Huck Finn, part Holden Caulfield, part Fran Leibowitz, and part Nora Ephron.” – Harper’s Magazine

Observation: I am amazed that the author, at the age of 28, could have read so many books to quote them liberally throughout the novel. Also, Holden Caulfield has been mentioned umpteen times. Whenever a story has a young adult persona, reviewers will invariably make references to him. WHY? Catcher in the Rye is good and I can see why it has become a classic. But I didn’t particularly like Holden Caulfield even though I can empathize with him.