a crappy entry.
written: 9:07 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 25, 2006

CNN.com: Singapore IMF activist ban slammed

A few salient excerpts:

"Enormous damage has been done and a lot of that damage is done to Singapore and self-inflicted. This could have been an opportunity for them to showcase to the world their development process," Wolfowitz said at a meeting with activists.

...

"These limits are ridiculous. Singapore is a developed country; it needs a developed perspective on citizens speaking up," said Haidy Ear-Dupuy of the NGO Forum on Cambodia. (emphasis added)

I'm glad they didn't buy the plastic superficiality of the sunflowers at Suntec City and the Mercedes taxis services at the airport, and whatever else the govt did to present a disgustingly sanitised and fake image of the country to the foreigners. Whenever we do something nice, it's never for the benefit of the citizens; it's always to put on a barely-disguised facade to trick foreigners into visiting this country and boost tourism revenue. It's a crock of shit, nothing more. I'm actually glad that the govt banned the activists because action speaks louder than the retarded Four Million Smiles campagin and its action shows that we're only a developed country on paper.

Since the govt only pays attention when it's internationally criticised, or when it's criticised by someone of substantial international standing, maybe it'd feel inclined now to wake up and smell the shit.

There is no freedom of speech in this country.

But I will not be cowered into silence.

**

On a more light-hearted note, my first driving lesson was simultaneously fun and scary. I didn't know AT ALL that I'd actually be driving, like, on my first lesson; I was under the impression that...I don't know what I thought I'd do, but for some reason I just didn't think that I'd drive. My instructor was this very nice Chinese woman who was more comfortable speaking in Chinese and so she was speaking Chinese throughout the whole thing. Sometimes I had to concentrate really hard to understand what she was saying, because 1) my Chinese sucks; and 2) there are things that you're not used to hearing in Chinese and so when you hear those things in Chinese you take a while to digest them and their meanings. Hence. I'm not a complete Chinese retard, okay? Thank you.

I killed (stalled?) the engine twice. When she taught me how to navigate sharp bends, hence bringing me out to the bigger circuit along with MANY OTHER CARS, I started to freak out. In fact, when she was teaching me how to use the first gear and move off, how to press the gas and clutch and brake pedals, I got a shock when she told me that she actually wanted me to move the car. So imagine my absolute terror when she was all, Okay, now we're going around this area and you're driving!

Oh shit. I can't brake properly, I don't know when to press the clutch pedal and when to release it, I don't know when to shift gears, and I don't know when to start turning the steering wheel.

But you know what? There was this one moment when I was in the second gear and wasn't pressing the gas pedal when the road in front of me was clear. I suddenly had this urge to gun the gas pedal and go real fast and have lots of fun!

I hate the stick. After the lesson ended and when I was walking out of the driving centre I felt like I couldn't feel in my left leg. But to be great, I must suffer, and for an international driving licence/the ability to drive in a country that's not Singapore which is VERY important to me, I must suffer, and so suffer I will.

Driving is kind of fun, but I'm still murky on the basic things. I'm really lousy at things like that. For starters, I can't multitask. Like when I was driving around the practice area in the driving centre, I could only concentrate on one action; I can't look at where I'm turning and remember that I'm supposed to turn the steering wheel.

I don't know how much sense this is making but in short, I'm super lousy.

For another, it's all so mechanical and I don't know why I'm doing the things I'm doing! Like what the hell is the clutch pedal for? If I don't know what it's for I wouldn't know when to press it and when not to press it; I can only fall back on dead memorising and even then my memory sucks a lot and I can't remember anything now oh no!

Have I mentioned that I hate the stick? 'Cause I do. Help!

Oh and my braking sucks. Like, a lot. My first few attempts were actually pretty good and the jerkiness was minimised. Subsequent attempts, especially those around the practice area? Total shit. I think the mark of a good driver is his ability to brake properly. If I lurch forward even slightly when the driver brakes, that driver sucks, plain and simple. So imagine my chagrin when I felt myself jerking forward whenever I braked. I'm very sad. Boo.

Anyway, I can't wait to get my licence!

Though I predict that it'd take more than two tries for that to happen.

**

And I thought Singapore's legal system was crappy enough.

**

I'm bracing myself for some major fangirl gushing over my latest male obsession.

Inhale. Exhale.

Here goes:

OMG I FOUND ISSA'S BLOG/PHOTO ALBUM!!!!11!!1

I didn't find it as much as I clicked on his message board at MTV Chinese where he provided the link in one of his posts. Anyway reading his blog was the most amount of Chinese I've read in quite a while and amazingly it wasn't that hard!

Okay what a stupid thing to say, but yeah. I like the song he put on his photo album but he didn't say what it is. Anyone knows who the song is by? I'm in desperate need of new CD's. I'd ask him but I'm too shy! And my Chinese sucks. I mean how do you say "who did that song on your photo album"? What is 'photo album' in Chinese? God my Chinese really sucks. Repeat like a mantra.

He's soooooo cute.

I DO NOT, however, like the fact that he put Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" or whatever on his blog's main page. How sad is that? He even said that he likes Justin T.'s album! Nooo! In fact, he likes Linkin Park and Hoobastank! NOOOO! Ϊʲô������! And James Blunt's You're Beautiful on the very main page - DOUBLE NOOOO!

But he's sooooo emo! And that picture - the background - is so Taipei. I'd say, OMG THAT'S LIKE MY STREET!, except most lanes look alike: uneven pavements, faded single yellow line, apartments jammed side-by-side. And there's no 'hui chun shang gu ke' on the lane where I used to live.

Gah he's so hot. Everyone should check out the pictures of him performing with his band. There's this picture where he's shirtless and all sweaty and it's soooo hot. I totally have a thing for guys who play in rock bands and aren't in NUS law school. Seriously.

Okay, I have nothing more to say.

**

I ordered an A&F shirt from an online store and it arrived today and it's waaaay too small. I feel fat just looking at it.

The Property assignment is damn hard. I'm still stuck trying to make sense of the first paragraph and trying to spot the issues. Sad to say I've forgotten most of what we did for the first half of the semester. Even worse, I keep thinking of Company when I read the super long hypo because it's about this business venture which is very Company and I hate Company so this is bad.

I did nothing again today. Great. Time to stop slacking.

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010