breaking of the MUSIC/}!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Zelig Demented

It has been an interesting weekend as I spent my Saturday night attending Michael Tan's 21st birthday celebrations. It was basically more of a talk-cock cum makan session as Michael forced most of the guests into some "saturated" bonding within their own cliques. (As Nelson puts it, the guests are treated like unwanted rubbish.) Hence, I treated the birthday celebrations like a reunion session with my fellow mates from the Commando Formation where we updated one another of the recent developments ever since our ORD date. Nothing radical has taken place in Hendon Camp, but a number of turnovers, incidents and investigations continue to pump some good source of "juice" to quench our thirst of the workings of the Commandos. (Yes. The Men's Health feature dominated the discussion.)

I got to hear alot of interesting stories about university life from my senior colleagues, which ranges from incessant projects, hermit professors to the "loss of academic touch". This lead to the comparison of the academic gap between the guys and gals where as one senior puts it, "Army destroyed my life. Army destroyed my brain." Somehow I now cannot imagine myself in university where I desperately attempt my pre-uni journey of refreshing myself with the precious two years of A Level knowledge. Zelig Demented by University? I don't know. I wonder what Michael Tan thinks about university and the larger society, especially when he starts reading the book I gave him for his 21st birthday. (Maybe he'll say "freak out lar, haha" and give me a seductive smirk.)

Today was a more demented day for me in comparison to the weekend. My beauty sleep was disrupted at half past seven when Gongshang Primary activated me (90mins' NTM) to relief an English teacher who was on medical leave today. I frantically rummaged my wardrobe for my formal attire and certificates while my mother hurried with breakfast. By the time I reached the school more horror came. I found myself a 2G teacher being in a 3G classroom. I mistakenly mistook a giant computer screen (they called it an "Interactive Board) for the traditional whiteboard. The whole class turned riotous and chaotic and I couldn't catch a word of what they were screaming until I penned my name on the "screen-board". They summoned the admin clerk to the classroom and I got chided for it. I cannot believe that a primary school has such a facility where even rich government colleges like Temasek JC do not possess. (TJC prefers Tablet PCs for the IP students' use.)

I was forced to tackle a subject I did not enjoy handling - English. (Yes, I didn't get a distinction for my General Paper, thank you very much.) This was more so when myself, the typical JC graduate have forgotten about the basic "theory of English" (I'm referring to grammar). This is normal considering that we forget what is an "adverb of place" or "present perfect continuous tense" truly means. This is due to our over-proficiency of our use of the English language that we overlook the importance of understanding the rationale and theory behind the structure of our language as we gradually get better year after year. Hence, I found myself at a difficulty explaining the reason behind the simple, subtle notes of language use; thus the demented feeling of myself.

I handled a primary four GEP class and a primary six mixed EM1/2 class. They are a very restless yet intellectual lot (for their age). Some complained that I was teaching too slow and hardly gave me a chance to comment on the questions and the rationale behind the correct answers. As a fellow teacher put it to me, "You underestimated the students." Their level of vocabulary, reason and initiative would put their lower secondary school seniors to shame.

Nevertheless this one-day stint has been a good experience for me as I realised the importance of strong personal leadership and confidence in myself when acting as a mentor. I'm not forceful nor authoritative enough. I dare compare a relief teacher to that of an officer cadet in the SAF. In the SAF, officer cadets are often accorded lower respect than a private despite receiving a higher allowance than the latter. So, it is right to say that a relief teacher is given lower respect, than let's say, a senior student? This is a question I have yet to find an answer to.

zeligdhilee breaking the MUSIC.
23:00

Friday, January 26, 2007

A busy Friday

It has been a busy Friday (as compared to a rather laidback week) and here I am blogging at library@orchard. Yes, I've a huge affection for libraries since it is the place I can both read and surf the internet at the same time. I'm badly broke today because I spent my money on presents for my mother and Michael Tan's birthday. Michael's birthday celebrations is tomorrow and I miss him very dearly. He was one of my closest buddies back in HQ Commando and he has that kind of aura that would make everybody's day. So, I got him something that will stimulate his subtle mind, since his voice and body are already well-defined. My mum's birthday will fall next week and I got her something good to boost her knowledge considering her passions towards anything natural or biological.

Yes, if you the reader had just read the TODAY newspaper and had wondered whether your eyes were tricking you, fret not. Yes. My article appeared today, and you may wish to click on this link to read it. http://www.todayonline.com/articles/168110.asp I am pleased to note that the editor at least preserved the general flow and tone that I've intended to convey, except for some minor editing for language. The forum editors of TODAY are much better than their counterparts of the Straits Times when it comes to preserving the idea and the tone of readers' letters. When I first sent a letter to the Straits Times a long time ago, the Forum Department called me and asked for my guidance in the editing of my article. When it got published, some of the stuff that I wrote actually got deleted! TODAY's editors did not cut off any chunks of stuff away thankfully, even though they did not give me a call at all. Perfect. I think I should send more letters to TODAY than the Straits Times. :-)

Speaking about trans fats, I realised that I'm having a hard time trying to recall the meaning of cis-trans isomerism, let alone lipids. I wonder why we choose to talk about trans fats rather than cis fats. The main difference between cis and trans isomers lies in the position of the carbon groups (obviously), as you might want to read in this link. http://www.chemguide.co.uk/basicorg/isomerism/geometric.html
We learn from the website (yes! refreshed already!) that cis isomers have a net dipole moment (this is cancelled out in trans isomers) and hence possesses a higher boiling point, hence increasing their stability. So I am now left to wonder why we do not talk about cis fats when cis isomers are harder to break down than trans fats then. Well, I'm off to read the Wikipedia article about trans fats now.

By the way, please grab a copy of the latest issue of Men's Health if you have not done so. CPT Robin Lee, a Staff Officer of HQ Commando has made the front cover and is revered as the formation's finest metrosexual. It is a pity that they didn't make him pose topless cos' his body will really make the girls crazy and the guys......... I shall now take the opportunity to make a revelation related to him and myself today - he has a fetish for my earlobes and he'll seize every opportunity to touch it whenever we cross our paths in the office corridor (He is from Plans Branch while I was from the Operations Branch). He says that "pinching" my earlobes will help bring him some "good luck". I hope it has. For Honour and Glory!

zeligdhilee breaking the MUSIC.
17:25

Monday, January 15, 2007

Thoughts from the library

I'm now making use of the Wireless@SG service at the Marine Parade Community Library. It's quite a cool relief from the hot sun, which has been a nice relief from the long weekend's worth of heavy rains and floods in Thomson.

Went back to Chung Cheng last Saturday to meet up with my juniors in the band. They were having a reflection session on last year's concert (Variants III) where each section were given a piece of paper to pen down their feelings about the concert as well as their aims for this year's SYF. Very few alumni members came back and we were basically lazing and chatting among ourselves about our thoughts about the concert as well as about the latest developments of each other's lifestyles. Mr Wong kick-started the session with making us watch a video featuring some unorthodox displays put up by top Japanese bands to sustain and enhance the attention of the audience. That included dances, traditional instrument displays and even choreography similar to those you watch in 超级变变变. (Speaking about this, I am reminded of last year's 中正变变变. We were the national champions.) Somehow I cannot help but to imagine future alumni band performances where we will really do crazy, crazy stuff. Perhaps dressing up as the Joker will be a good start. It would also be great to try some non-western instruments on stage. For a percussionist, the Indian tabla would be challenging. Mallet percussionists would fall in love with the Indonesian gamelan or the African balafon.

Things have been rather boring for me. Somehow I am growing abit tired of reading that I have found myself an alternative interest - Sudoku. Dennis, if you're reading this, please don't laugh. Yes, I do remember the days when I'd come to your branch during lunchtime and play around with that REALLY THICK puzzle book of yours and then I'd disrupt your slumber just to find out whether I really got these numbers right. Solving the puzzle may take up alot of time but one thing I realised that one should not think too much about a certain box or number. Haha, somehow I have been wondering how I could solve my Maths problems back in JC (S Paper included) when I realise that I now have a problem recalling what I've learnt in A level statistics. This is horrible and I hope I do not need to touch that topic in university. Looking through my old notes and exercises is like looking at the annals of an alien in some faraway planet. Yes, my army mates do complain about my illegible handwriting in the Operations Log Book, but they've not seen anything worse.

By the way, I end this article with a small little note to the readers of Pui Sze's blog, a fellow ex Chung Cheng Student and ex-TJCian. This is what she wrote to me on her blog:

Sunday, January 07, 2007
To Zenon, or whatever your name is now:i know
you have the right to drop by any website in WWW and sorts. but, just get lost
and *uck off my blog. i got reliable sources that you are reading my blog and
when i knew that i was like "eeek."whatever you may say, but spare me from the
misery of knowing you reading my blog.so, shoo.PS@213907012007

To reply to this, yes I admit that I find your blog one of the most interesting and vivid in comparison to the blogs of my fellow peers. Yes, Ren Long asked me on MSN for the link to your blog because he simply wanted to read it. After all, both of you were in the same secondary school class. I know that Ren Long has been communicating with you very recently (and I'm not interested in any affairs concerning both of you) but I (and any Internet user) certainly do have the right to visit any website I wish so long as its author does not make an effort to restrict access to the world as you have acknowledged. In fact, this is the reality of the blogging fraternity where one has to be prepared to air one's thoughts openly to anyone reading it, being anonymous or not. So, if you do not want me to read it then I suggest that you do something to prevent me from reading it. And to Ren Long, please settle your affairs properly.

zeligdhilee breaking the MUSIC.
13:23

Friday, January 05, 2007

New Laptop, New Year.

I just received my Compaq Presario Laptop just this afternoon and this is the very first blog post to be written with this laptop. I'm very excited of the prospects of being connected wherever I am. I often tell my close friends of mine that blogging requires a level of inspiration similar to that required of a writer of a book, a poet, an artist, a musical composer and so on. Anything out there can inspire me to write at the instantaneous moment, and I cannot afford to wait till I return home at night to write my story. The inspiration, and more importantly, that instantaneous thought would have faded away and my intended message and emotion that I intend to portray will not be an accurate reflection of the day's events. The source of inspiration can be anything ranging from a still object to a close friend and so on....... Nevertheless, I hope that the increased mobility will allow me to be a better citizen of the Digital-Information Age who can contribute well to sustain the revolution against the established media. To kick start this process, I have a photojournal right below, in which all pictures were taken on the holiday of 2nd January 2007:

The above photographs were taken at the Citylink-Esplanade Underpass. They were drawn by a group of Indonesian cartoonists, and the sole event that inspired them to draw these murals was the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis when the Indonesian rupiah shedded 80% of its value. This plunged Indonesia into anarchy, where the endless tirade of protests from students and violence toppled the authoritarian and presumably corrupted Suharto administration. If you look very carefully at the topmost picture you'll see that the centre figure is wearing a T-shirt with the word "Reformasi" (Indonesian and Malay for 'Reform'). The artists' expressions and thoughts of the events of 1998 are expressed as seen in the murals above in which I interprete as very graphically traumatizing and destructive, judging from the strokes of the drawings. Yes, there was alot of destruction in Indonesia in 1998 and the rich Chinese were at the receiving end of it. In addition, the use of various cartoon-like figures yet portray a certain kind of utopia that these Indonesians were thinking of. Could it be either; mean that only divine or non-existent elements can solve the crisis of Indonesia; or; perhaps these cartoon characters symbolise the artists themselves, portraying them as wanting to tackle the crisis yet unable to do so in the real Indonesia, hence they can only do so in a 'fantasy' Indonesia?

I took these photographs along the basement corridor of the Esplanade. These pictures are one of a few exhibits exploring the name of our country, "Singapura" or Lion City. The exhibits which were assembled by a group of ITE students serves to explore the imagery of the lion's mane superimposed on all the other animals, for the lion has always been perceived as the 'king' of all animals. Somehow I suspect that the students were trying to depict the lion's mane as our government, where despite they ruled the country in an authoritarian, no-nonsense manner despite having a democratic outlook. The different animals portrayed in the exhibits must then have to be we, the fellow Singaporeans, where we are all resigned to the fate that no matter how much we complain, we know that nothing will change.

These exhibits can be seen at the main entrance or "Concourse", the gathering place for all visitors to mingle with their friends before heading off to watch their favourite performances at either the Concert Hall or Theatre. This time, I shall leave the interpretation of the images to you.

Such is the beauty of art.

The labels of these motifs were apparently done by Art students of Temasek JC. These budding TJCians use the motif of the traditional Malay kite to superimpose Indian floral designs. The message these TJCians wish to convey is that Racial Harmony brings about the integration of the diverse cultures and beliefs of each different ethnic group, something which should be strongly encouraged in this cosmopolitan state.

Views of the city from the roof terrace. The floating balls in the bottom-most picture are actually wishes and resolutions written by people of all walks of life to commemorate the starting of the new year.

The New Zelig of 2007. :-)

Even more wishes along the sidewalk, for those who do not feel like writing them on the white, floating balls, hoping that the wind will blow their wishes off to fulfill the mission in its contents.

And this was where I spent most of the hot, scorching afternoon. Reading up on music is a good break from the standard academic books, especially for a percussionist.

zeligdhilee breaking the MUSIC.
22:26