observing people

After collecting stamps, looking for freebies, singing high-pitched songs and taking afternoon naps, I have yet another new hobby. That is, observing people. When I say "people", I am referring to anybody out there, not just those whom I know.

Like how China people behave on public transport, how iPhone users utilize their device like they survive on it instead of breathing in air or simply how people dress or eat.

When I see somebody, I will start thinking. His past, his background, why is he here? Sometimes, by imagining, I can end up getting some ideas/inspiration for writing articles/stories. So, I make it a habit to study people, people who live in the city.

For example, when I am strolling in a shopping mall on a weekday afternoon, I make it a point to observe the people there. Why are they shopping? What is their job? Maybe it's their day off? Or they are on night shift? Why did they choose to go there during their free time?

Sometimes, before I conclude things about a certain guy, I would end up studying another one within a minute. Even things like why is he buying a bag or why is she wearing sunglasses? My brain asks and answers on its own.

In fact, it's more of a habit than hobby.

Gerontocracy

I was reading a column in Lianhe Zaobao today and chanced upon a new word.

Gerontocracy: 老人政治 (Old people politics)

Lee Kuan Yew? Deng Xiaoping? Or how 'bout Mahathir?

According to Wikipedia, gerontocracy is defined as "a form of leadership common in communist states in which the length of one's service to the party is held to be the main qualification for leadership".

Of course, a  government of gerontocracy is better off than a kleptocracy or timocracy one. However, I reckon that a country will not prosper if it promotes such a form of rule.

The writer of the column mentioned that Singapore is a small country, hence, in order to develop, we must be up to date, remain energetic and robust. That is why we cannot have gerontocracy.

Somehow, he is trying to point out something obvious in a clear yet indirect manner. The writer did not really state the names but most people should be able to decipher the meaning of the whole article.

Go read it on your own to see if you can catch it.

ipad vs ipad

Interesting video. Chances are you will flinch during the part where you hear the "piak" sound.

My life has been rather routine for this week. Repeating the same things over and over again.

Morning. Check stock market. Surf political blogs and news sites. Check stock market again. Talk on the phone with some law firm's staff. Conduct business and company information searches.

Eat lunch at 1.30pm. I usually cannot tolerate my hunger until such a late hour but that does not happen when I am occupied with things to do.

Afternoon. Check stock market. Do a couple of bankruptcy searches. Check if there are any new updates to the political blogs. Attend meetings. Fax documents using a retarded fax machine.

Late afternoon. Continue reading the novel (or fanfic) that I have been following. Will get interrupted halfway if somebody calls me. Do some recording. Look for biscuits to eat.

Night. Check email. Play Fifa Online 2. Brainstorm for ideas. Sleep.

picture of the day

The 2011 General Elections will take place very very soon, most likely within 8 weeks' time. This is because the ruling PAP unveiled 3 new candidates, the first batch of newcomers to meet the press, yesterday.

You can expect two things to happen next. More new blood will be introduced by the PAP and the mainstream media (especially the newspapers) will continue to give full, extensive and wide coverage about them just like today's papers.

News about the 3 new candidates made headline news today, beating the Japan disaster and Libyan crisis to claim top spot in the printed media. In my opinion, I think such news deserves at most only third page from the front of the newspaper.

Now, how can we not label the state media as being biased towards the ruling party? No matter how they try to defend themselves as being free, independent and balanced, the people have eyes to see and judge by themselves.

We should be glad that we are living in a generation which consists of the Internet. The truly free and unbiased area for everyone to read two sides of a story

supermoon

In case you don't know, there was something known as "supermoon" last night. The moon came closest to earth in 18 years hence, the full moon on Saturday night was bigger and brigther than usual.

Here are some pictures of this so-called phenomenon although I can't seem to spot anything special about it.

Twitter is lame

Just when I thought my defunct Twitter account is officially a history in my online life, Vincent appeared out of nowhere to be one of my followers.

Of course, I didn't know about this via logging in to the microblogging site. An automated email was sent to my inbox informing me about this. I think I have so far logged in to Twitter only once this year.

Until today, almost two years since I created an account, I still don't understand the charm about Twitter. Why are there so many people using it?
Especially celebrities, it would be more ideal if they set up their own Facebook page instead of a Twitter account. In Facebook, one can easily add photos, notes and many other stuff on one single platform.

Moreover, the amount of Facebook users worldwide outnumbers those on Twitter so you can expect to get more people who will 'like" you on Zukerberg's innovation than "following" you on the bird website.

In a nutshell, Twitter is a lame thing. By the way, if you are wondering what is my Twitter username, don't bother, I won't tweet anyway.

Went to CMPB for my NS medical checkup this morning. Nothing interesting except that this is the first time I am seeing a doctor who is clad in green instead of white.

Oh and how can I not mention the legendary IQ test? The questions were not really as hard as what I expected but they do kill a lot of brain cells if you spent time to solve them.

That's all for today. I don't want to write a whole lot of useless details like some bloggers.

Tik Tok

It's the Jung sisters! Jessica and Krsytal in one of the SM Town concerts held in Seoul. Fantastic chemistry between the siblings.

Jap Saga

I am sure everybody knows what is going in Japan currently. However, the reactions of people (whom I know) after the disaster was simply retarded, at least on Facebook.

If you had login to Facebook in the last 48 hours, chances are you will see a friend posting links or videos of the tsunami which gulped down buildings and other constructions.

Then, they will add a comment or two which goes something like this "my deepest sympathy to the victims and their families of the Japan earthquake" or "oh, this is so sad!"

Seriously, if something like that happened to Anguilla, Gilbraltar or Norfolk Island, I bet that same bunch of people wouldn't give a damn about it. Obviously, all those so-called "condolences" on Facebook are just hypocritical acts.

People post links and make comments about the disaster because they want others to feel that they are up-to-date and are keeping a close eye on this international news. Sadly, their actions only disgust those who managed to see through them.

Here are some examples of what I mean. They are all my Facebook friends. Sorry but not apologetically, I have to backstab them at this blog.

Friend A mentioned that "it's heartwrenching" to witness this event. You have got to praise her for managing to use such an abstract word when she's already feeling the pain in her heart.

Easily, one can see that she did think for a moment before posting this, hence, showing that she isn't sincere in her comments. And what's with the Japan tour statement in the second line? Very Random.

Friend B is even worse. She is only concerned of her K-Pop idols. Shows how shallow human beings can be even at times like this

Friend C is the worst of all. She can even make use of the tragic events as a Facebook status of not being able to have a holiday in Japan.

Hello? People are struggling there and you are still happily in front of your computer typing your "fake-rantings" about cancelling a potential holiday trip?

As for me, I don't have to say anything about myself. Ren zai zuo, tian zai kan (Heaven is watching everything we do). You don't have to let people know if you've done a good deed.

Hope everybody can lend a helping hand and donate to charity. After all, made-in-Japan stuff has always been there when we need them. Electronics, automobiles, Pokemon, Beyblade and erm, Ayumi Hamazaki? Don't they all originate from Japan?