The lighter side of things.
written: 10:33 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 09, 2009
1. MT (M@rk Tushne+) and his seeming fixation and earnest desire to understand this thing our government, not to mention other Southeast Asian governments, have called "Asian values". I was particularly amused because the last thing I read about the Asian values crap was about how it's faded from the public arena in the past decade. I was also amused because I, along with many like-minded people, have taken it as a given that the Asian values spiel is widely accepted to be nothing more than a clumsy attempt by soft authoritarian governments to dish out an excuse for their refusal to place limits on government - executive, that is, though it doesn't matter in Singapore - power. When MT seemed to genuinely want to understand where this Asian values bullshit fit in the spectrum of the many degrees of constitutionalism, I realised, with a hint of amusement, that it actually appears to be a viable political theory from the outside, according to someone who hasn't actually lived, or experienced, a government that purports to curtail individual freedom and reject it as "Western" and therefore bad, and in its place, claims that "Asian values" made them do it.
Pretty amusing. I half-wanted to say that Asian values doesn't actually exist and no one really cares about it anymore, case in point being one of my professors rejecting my paper proposal on Asian values because it's been done to death and he wasn't interested in reading it. Ha ha, right? Maybe if the question for the paper for this present course is broad enough, I might have the chance to do the Asian values paper that I wanted to do, but couldn't.
Then again, as usual, it wasn't like I had a solid outline anyway. And I'm also damn sick of this dead debate.
Still, class today was fun. The course is good. I genuinely feel like I'm actually learning things, like oh my god. The paper should be fun to write (omg I typed 'right').
2. For the first time in 10 years, my mom took the MRT today. HAHAHA. She had some massage session at Choa Chu Kang at the same time as my class and she didn't want to drive me all the way to school, so she made me drive her to the MRT station where she took the MRT to Choa Chu Kang, ALL BY HERSELF! Oh my god! My mom literally hasn't taken public transport in Singapore in at least 10 years. I've never, ever taken the bus with her in Singapore, and I don't even remember ever taking the MRT with her. My dad, yes, but not my mom.
I kept laughing at her and saying that she could take the car just in case she got lost, to which she glared at me and scolded me for talking rubbish. It really amused me though - greatly.
In other news:
1. I'm rushing this entry 'cause I want to watch the last set of Monfils v. Roddick. I know I said in the aftermath of Monfils' victory over Nadal that I wanted him to make the final, but now I want ARod to win. I want Federer vs. Roddick, just like old times!
2. I just watched the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Apart from realising 5 minutes into it that I'd watched it before, I thought it was an utterly stupid movie. The original, made in 1962, involved communists. This one involved...some crazy power-starved mother, an evil corporation, and I don't even know what else. It was utterly stupid, and the incestuous undertones that soon quickly became overtones between the Meryl Streep character and her son was DEEPLY disturbing. No fucking clue what the writers/director were trying to do with that crap. The movie is just a steaming pile of crap - no substance, just a brainless plot. I need to watch the original. I have a feeling I can guess how that one plays out, and I also have a feeling that it's a lot more real and meaningful than the rubbish remake.
Okay time for ARod/Pandy! (Pandy - so cute right? No idea why Roddick's called Pandy, but it's cute.)
ETA:
Yay Pandy won! Now waiting for Roger to step on court and demolish Murray so that I can have my own dream Federer/Roddick final!
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