I'm currently taking a short break from chem, 2 essay questions into the AJC Prelim paper (which is annoyingly easy,judging from papers 1 and 2, as well as the first 2 essay questions, one of which was my chem tutorial question, as compared to the TJ paper. Argh, sometimes I wonder what the TJ chem tutors are trying to do).
This week will be a hectic week, because the tutors have gone all crazy and have started giving us insane amounts of work to do. One entire chem paper 3, plus organic chem (NMR) exercises, plus bio paper 2 questions from just about all the other JCs in Singapore (not forgetting the stack on paper 3). VJC Econs DRQ questions... maths sums... Life doesn't seem to get easier, does it? It's times like these when you really just wanna cry out for the holidays. Yes, I am desperately looking forward to the holidays now. 7 more weeks. Soon. Soon and I shall be out of JC, and my 2 miserable years of looking like a very, very dead weed, plus my not-so-desirable class will soon be out of my face. Meanwhile, I gotta slog my last 7 weeks (more like 6, since the last week is peppered with 3-4 days breaks in between) out. Can't wait. The first thing I am going to do when the A Levels end would be to....SLEEP. Or maybe I'll go get myself that replacement backpack that I really need. It looks beyond horrible now.
During econs today, we had a mini discussion about the long overdue topic of racist bloggers in Singapore. I avoided talking about it because there is just no way both sides will give in. Firstly, being a blogger myself, I do feel as if it is an infringement of my privacy, as well as my right to think the way I do and express it. Plus, my point of view has always been that racism has ALWAYS existed in Singapore, with or without blogs. Just look at the way young Singaporean children are brought up. I was brought up by my parents to avoid Indians because according to them, Indians had some pretty undesirable traits which I shall not elaborate upon. I was also taught that Malays were ----------. Yup, I'm not going to insert the word, I am not about to end up as racist blogger number 4, maybe 5, since they are investigating another blogger. I eventually didn't grow up to be racist, considering my best friend in primary school was a young malay chap and that I was friendly with the Indian students in my secondary school, most of whom I am still on talking terms with. But it makes you wonder, if a person was brought up to be racist, chances are, you are still going to end up with a racist. Ain't it so? So yes, even without blogs, racism will still exist. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've heard horrible racist jokes made by my current classmates and I don't see that classmate getting the Sedition Act being thrown in his/her face. After all, that person did share the joke with at least 21 other people. Imagine the cascading effect (haha, something I remembered from bio!), 1 person tells 21, the 21 people each tell 10 others, and you get 210 people with the joke and the cycle goes on. Is that not just as vicious as using a blog? Maybe less, but still vicious. So why persecute racist bloggers when you can't do anything to wipe off the racist sentiments in society in general?
Suing every racist, suing every blogger in Singapore will not solve the problem. Ok, you may scare some into submission, but that person will still be a racist, albeit a quiet racist. What is being done here is not solving the problem, but rather masking it, is that what we want?
Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning racism. There is no reason for me to do that, I've been subjected to that myself for a good part of my childhood for having a particular facial feature of mine resemble a trademark of a minority race and I had to spent 9-12 years of my life hating the world for doing that to me. I was called awful names and truth be hold, I never did forgive my own family, and still don't, for participating in that effort to make me feel unwanted, which resulted in an attempt to run away from home with I was 8. This is not a joke. So yes, I acknowledge that racism can be painful. Take it from someone from the majority race that has been called the most derogratory names available for the minority race. If I felt that way, they probably feel 10 times worse. And yes, I do acknowledge that racism has no place in society, but it is an innate part of society which is almost impossible to remove. Try as you might, but it will always be around.
We live in a secular state, but are racial relations between the various races THAT FRAGILE? During the racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s, there were instances of Malays shielding Chinese, and vice versa. Are race relations now worse than then? If so, then it would truly be a shame. And then there's the issue of flaming teachers (if taken literally, it might be a funny sight, ok maybe because I have a sadistic streak). My stand has always been the view that this is something that has been doing on for AGES. Please don't tell me that teachers themselves never ever flamed their own teachers while they were schooling? True, the difference is that blogging it puts it in the spotlight, open for public viewership and comment. But for the school to suspend students over it? For the teachers to threaten students with lawsuits? What on earth have teacher-student relationships deteriorated to? No matter what you do, student bloggers will ALWAYS end up on the short end of the stick, unfortunately. Can't blog about this, can't blog about that, can't blog about that either. It's almost stifling to be in such a situation where everything becomes too sensitive to be talked about. I remember feeling very bemused about the sue-culture in a particular superpower of the world. It seems that it's starting to take root here in Singapore. Scary, ain't it? Well the next time I slip on a wet spot in school and break my leg, I'll just sue the school for leaving the ground wet then, heck, I'll even win. I myself find it particularly irritating if a teacher were to chance upon my blog in a search engine, what I write is essentially for people I want to read, to read, and this doesn't include teachers. It's no secret that I am unhappy about the way things are conducted in the school I attend and that I have less than flattering remarks about a good number of teachers. To make it come to such a point where the institution makes it impossible for me to put it out in a literary form, albeit with a lil exaggeration thrown in, makes me dislike the system even more. And you wonder why I want to be a "quitter" and not a "stayer". I read an interesting snippest earlier on. In Australia, some grafitti was found on a wall, and it read "ASIANS OUT". The next thing we knew, the message had very funnily been changed to "TAKE ASIANS OUT FOR LUNCH". It seems that the Australians seem to have a sense of humour, making the best out of their situation, instead of dialling triple nine to send the b@st@rd responsible for the racist grafitti message to jail, which we obviously would have done. No wonder we can be the butt of many jokes in the Western world, because we are indeed, a laughing stock. Kinda makes you go "hmmm..."
I see my short break has turned into a 50 minute break and I should probably get going. Cya
I'm a 3rd year student in what is probably the largest autonomous university in Singapore majoring in a Science-related subject (well it sorta IS SCIENCE). I'm known to be introverted, sarcastic (at times), funny when I rant (which isn't a good thing lol) and somewhat of a loner. I miss LA and would move there in a heartbeat :(
hahaha well said..
and...
gimme back my tagboard! ah...