Trees.

You know it's funny how people are generally drawn to natural things. Just look at the hype over organic products. Oh how women tell their friends that their cosmetics are made from organic material. I guess, in a way, we are drawn to nature.

Perhaps, it is the way nature has a calming effect on a person. Perhaps, we do feel that we are, after all, interconnected. We are apart yet a part of the ecosystem. If we go right down to the basics, from the largest whales to the smallest prions, we are all made of the same stuff. The same bases; purines and pyrimidines. Yet, we have evolved and deviated far from all other things natural. Our intelligence is one of our greatest gifts, then again, our greatest curse. We built civilisations. We built machinery. We are building our watery graves.

I just fluffed a whole lot of fluff...

Wrote a GP essay today.

A levels 2009 paper 1, question 2

‘Only educated people should have the right to vote in elections.’ What is your view?

Democracy is one of the most influential and pervasive form of governance in many First World societies today. The basis of democracy is by the people, for the people, the idea of majority rights. However, it has long been criticised. Democracy is seen to fail due to the irrational voter and the sheer lack of sufficient political education. Who should hold the votes then? There are those who say that the educated professionals have the greatest capacity to make the most pragmatic and informed decisions. However, the consequences are great should they be the only ones to hold the vote. It destroys the fundamentals of democracy; instead, it could well be oligarchy. It may cause a clear dichotomy between the bourgeois and proletariat and such fragmentation of society is damaging.

One of the common arguments put forth when justifying the move to allow the educated the only ones to hold the vote is the idea of the irrational voter. As put forth by American economist Milton Friedman, the idea is that the voter makes ill-informed choices that are normally driven by emotional or populist ideas. If we examine the two distinct education levels of society, the educated professionals are most definitely better equipped with the necessary tools to discern and rationalise. With education comes knowledge and with it comes awareness of issues. Educated individuals tend to have greater interest in politics as it appeals to their level of intellect. There is a higher propensity for an educated individual to sieve out what is pragmatic and best for the society as opposed to an uneducated individual who would probably go with populist measures. We can see this in African communities. One of the reasons for poverty in African communities is the lack of foresight; to a struggling person, short-term goals such as using aid money for farming mean much more than the potentially long-term benefits of education. Similarly, short-term populist policies that may appeal to the uneducated and many a times money is used as a carrot. As such, we can draw a lesson that circumstance and the lack of awareness may lead to decisions that might not be the best for society. However, as the educated few are smaller in a society, their votes are diluted. We can see this trend across nations with significantly more educated individuals as compared to those with lesser of such individuals. The governments of First World nations tend to fare better than those in the Third World be it economically or politically. On a superficial level, we can see that there is a close correlation between educated populations and how well a nation is doing. So, educated people should be the ones holding the votes because they are discerning and can decide for what is best for a nation.

However, this logic is flawed. Such a train of thought is an Orwellian utopia painted out in 1984. We increasingly see how long standing proponents of democracy face economic or political problems. Japan with her ever-changing leadership; the last one ending after nine months. The controversial Bush administration in handling foreign affairs; look at how many relationships turned sour over the course of five years in office. Ironically, these are countries close to the ideal democracy and with high education levels. What we need today is more then mere education, more than being teaching individuals skills for the workplace. We need to teach politics and discernment. We need to instil in populations the strong decisiveness of what is right from wrong. We have long preached about giving rights to individuals and that individuals should be free to exercise those rights. However, have we stopped to give individuals the necessary tools to exercise those rights effectively? Educated or not, the education received may well be irrelevant if what is taught does not address this aspect. Einstein once said that God does not play dice. Can you imagine how our physical world would be if things were merely random. We cannot afford to play dice with who governs us or generations preceding us will have a greater problem at hand. This is evident with the immense task ahead of the new Obama administration.

Perhaps the educated may choose the most effective government, however the consequences would be disastrous. What is the message sent to communities when the educated are the only ones voting? It essential strips the uneducated off the rights to decide from himself how he would be governed. It is effectively then, the educated ruling over the uneducated. May I also point out that the truth of the matter is that with higher education levels do we have greater earning power in today’s knowledge based economy. In other words, it may seem like hegemony of one social class over the other. We fragment a society and the consequence of that is worse as compared to a less than competent government. Governments may change to suit the people however; to reunite divided people is difficult. How long will it take before the highly educated rich South Koreans and the less educated poor North Koreans join hands once again? The fall of aristocracy in most societies has shown how clear divisions in society cannot thrive. Dividing the people may cause great social upheavals that could lead to wide spread violence. It would take immense amount of energy to quell such violence, especially so for a group of once free citizens. The loss of rights to vote is the loss of deciding what benefits and policies you can gain. It is like a parent losing control over her teenage child. It is beyond your ability to change the situation. Should we risk such a possibility just to allow the elite to lord over the rest and decide for what is the best? The Orwellian utopia is too great a risk to take. Let us learn from history not to commit such a mistake again.

Besides, if a democracy calls for the mandate of the people, then the elitist movement is against the very grain of modern democracy. The Greek democracy was to allow the elites to decide, however in our progressive society today, we cannot fall back on that system. In a nutshell, I have present to you how the idea that the educated can decide the best is essentially flawed. I have also shown you that the consequence of the implementation of an elitist system is a great cost on society.

My two cents worth. Heh.

Strange loneliness.

You know, it is weird that we have become so deeply dependent on technology that when we do lose touch of it, there seems to be a void. It takes a lost phone for me to find some peace. Some strange quiet. This eerie silence. Only up to lately, my head has been an endless buzz of white noise. It's like flipping between 2 radio stations. It is like rain drops on a zinc roof. Continuous and sustained. I guess this peace have helped me, inadvertently, achieve the much needed momentum I have been finding to get my studies back on track. Like a pendulum, it ticks and tocs to and fro, the only difference is that my pendulum gains speed. What is friction, what is gravity? It is but a void. Rubbish, bunk they exclaim but it makes perfect sense to me. Then again, I contradict for every time I think of my phone and money, I feel highly uneasy. Very much peeved. But the sounds of chimes, xylophones and electronic pianos fill my head once again. It's like the harmonics of a violin or guitar when you pluck. (try doing a quick light hit on your 12th fret whilst plucking the string. No? You're just not doing it right :p) Leaves you with that peace, that seemingly psychedelic feeling. Your eyes grow heavy and your worries slip away. Slumber may sometimes be the best temporal escape from worldly worries. Your conscious meets your unconscious. Soon after REM, you let the latter take over. Suppressed thoughts roam. The irony of humans is that, it does feel good when it hurts at times though you know it is a sick thought. It's just that, you become accustomed to it. You learn how to embrace hurt. It leaves you numb and that is sometimes much better than anything you would probably be feeling then. Numb, a void. Peace.

Deep well.

"Spanish Pavilion at the World Expo 2010"

I have been swamped. I am lost. Lagged behind. I just don't know where to start. I mean, yes it is sure easy to take a book and start revising. However, it has got to feel right for the information to be absorbed. The mid year examination results have been really depressing and after weeks of holiday, gaining what momentum I have lost has been a vail attempt. I really need to buck up. I need that spark again. Sometimes I wonder if I should regret. However, wallowing in self pity isn't going to solve anything. I am going to pick myself up and get back on the road to the university again. Until then, I shall ponder and let the cooped up stress all out. (Don't worry, I'm not going to throw bins into the squash court, yeah someone actually did that in school.) In case you are wondering what relevance does the image have to this post, well it was chosen initially because it looked nice to me but as I stare at it, some sense came out of it. Life is full of intricacies woven together and layered. You can either see it as beauty and marvel at it and not do a thing, you can decide that it would be too tough to navigate through it or you can decide that you'd reach for the light at the end of the labyrinth.

Holidays (compacted)

Shanghai

"On a boat cruising down Huang Pu Jiang"

Shanghai was great fun, t'was really an eye opener. The Chinese-chinese and Singaporean-chinese are so different. The way we behave, speak and even the sort of basic questions we'd ask. Yeah, I guess we have established that idea but to actually see the stark difference for yourself, now that is something else. We push, we shove when places are crowded. The Chinese-chinese however, have what I'd term as 'body slamming'. Having someone's belly rub you from behind isn't anything unusual in China. I guess with the great population, to get your way around, you have got to 'body slam'. To be heard, raise your voice. Things like that separate sg-chis and chi-chis.

Well, it's not really Shanghai per se, but rather the other groups of Chinese that make their way to the world expo. One thing about the world expo is the clear demonstration of the great Chinese population. Imagine waiting for 2 hours under the summer sun (SH wasn't that warm, the air was chilly but the sun had no cloud cover so the UV rays are the cause of sun burns and the heat; 22degress thereabouts) just to enter the US pavilion. Well, Saudi Arabia's pavillion had the longest queue with a 6 hours waiting time because they were giving out diamond rings in their lucky draw. Japan was a good 3 hours. I did not bother waiting much and so along with Nad, Hai and Ken, we went to the lesser known (kecil) pavilions. North Korean... Iran (next to NK... *pause* I know right!)... Bangladesh... Kyrgyzstan (pretty ladies with nice eyes and nice llama wool toys)... Oh yar, being a Singaporean meant express queues to the Singapore pavilion. Now, every time we try to create something artsy fartsy, it ends up looking like a fruit. Esplanade = microphone = durian. Singapore pavilion = music box = rambutan. Not to forget a rooftop garden to end off the pavilion with. How very Punggol.

Bridging Minds

Bridging Minds programme was good fun. It was an extended 10 days of pure bliss upon returning to Singapore. Imagine 10 days of breakfast and lunch buffet at the Royal Plaza hotel (5 stars mind you) and having to stay in a nice room. (I fell off a treadmill whilst at the hotel and the darn thing had a touch screen display and so when I tried to stop the machine, I hit the speed up button, the rest is history and blood and pus) BM is this memorandum of understanding between Brunei and Singapore and both countries would send a delegation of 5 annually to meet up and discuss a given topic. The 10 would then stage a performance on stage which would be broadcasted on the television. This year, it was held in Singapore. It's like this debate-drama concept. Well, I got to meet the people behind the scenes at Mediacorp and even got to see some stars walking around. I remembered being at the broadcasting centre and saw Pierre Png. The girls were just gushing and swooning. Well, I'm not sure when this programme will air but it be on Okto. On a random note, I miss the BM team. Both team Singapore and Brunei. The cow, daal-lady, Japanese (who has an indian-cambodian accent), Ee Wei (girl who sleeps much), Lady Sha Sha, Alejandro, Chamreeup Swa,Guitar man, Faiz, Mr Michael (MOE dude who is responsible for your english syllabus), Ms Madhu (so motherly)... oh yar, the make up team.

NS check up

"Needles... Draw blood... Nah! Not too bad!"

I had to lock my iPhone in the locker provided because of the NO PHONES WITH CAMERA ruling. Walked up the cold stone steps towards the door. Every step was heavy, every step meant closer to the needle. Entered a room with not a single fami- wait, there he was, Boony, seated on number 4. I had to pull up my fringe using 10 spritz of water but in vail endeavour. The dude behind suffer a similar fate until *light bulb*, I had WAX! Used the miracle cream and unveiled my forehead *I really don't see why we have to for an NS picture which by the way, I look like a girl in*. Met up with Boony and went for the med check up. Whilst waiting, the dude with a problematic hair came by. Greeted and bam, there was new phy examination buddy. Urine test yeah that was fine, then... Jovi, "There was a dude shouting whilst having his blood drawn!" 0.0

Went for the test, closed my eyes and before I knew it. Over. Seriously, compared to the abrasion which I had from the treadmill, which by the way affected 4 spots on my body and the pus was all over the hotel room bed (poor chambermaid), wasn't as bad.

SH.

"Mulberry Elkington and yours truly"

Look! Elkington! I have finally got a new bag. Nice leather satchel. Mulberry Hilton has great service by the way. One thing annoying about the bag is that care is a pain in the neck. It is like having a child, so to speak.

In a matter of hours, I'd be on a plane to Shanghai. I a matter of hours, I'd be flying. In a matter of hours, I'd rediscover the Chinese culture. All that in a matter of hours and I have yet to pack! 0.0

?

"Mulberry Elkington"

"Loewe Amazona Satchel Messenger"

Pretty torn between the two. Both absolutely stunning. Dilemma.