On Why Singaporeans Hate Singapore (But Shouldn't)

Found this commentary via Reddit, and I have to say I agree, completely. The writer managed to crystallise many of the thoughts I've had regarding life in Singapore, including the faint annoyance that many locals don't seem to recognise or appreciate what they have.

In the accompanying comment section in r/Singapore (which, full disclosure, I usually avoid precisely because it is full of the appreciation-lacking sort), one redditor commented that the only thing they hate about Singapore is a weather. I... can get behind that, mostly. In a country with a largely consistent climate and a dearth of major natural disasters, 100% relative humidity is the price we all have to pay. On the other hand, that redditor clearly has never been to Melbourne.

Distracted Driving

This is kind of brilliant. It's a video summarising an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, about distractions which affect novice and experienced drivers.

 
Link to the original journal article.

The animators obviously had fun (love the brick joke with the ninjas), but what's more pertinent is that the study was presented in a manner which could be easily understood by anyone. I think it's important for journals to reach out to common man, because their staff actually understand the subject matter and know how to discuss it in an accurate manner (Dr Jeffrey Drazen, who narrated the above video, is actually the Editor-in-Chief of NEJM). Media such as reputable newspapers and news programs are better sources of scientific information that, say, certain celebrities who are not qualified to discuss vaccination, but may still unintentionally misrepresent facts or make exaggerated claims. While we're discussing it, science textbooks aren't perfect sources of information either. Especially the ones which present tongue maps as being accurate.

I'd like it if journals articles became more accessible to the public. Open access is a step in the right direction, and easy-to-understand summaries are helpful when the original article is too technical for a lay audience. Perhaps this is a maverick proposal, but I'd like secondary school students to have some experience reading real journal articles. I think it's important to expose students to the terse, specific style of scientific writing as early as possible, get them used to the idea of reading primary sources and not the rehashes presented in textbooks and newspapers, get them used to writing in a succinct yet informative manner. Maybe I'm overestimating the attention span of the typical student, but I only learned - properly learned - to write scientifically when I was doing my Honours degree, thanks to my supervisor's patient tutelage. What would have happened if my supervisor was less than ideal?

I guess I'm just sad that there's a substantial proportion of the population who lack the capability to keep up with the very cutting edge of science. Knowledge should be for everyone.

49!

Happy birthday Singapore! Only one more to the big 50!

This year's National Day Parade was great, fantastic performances all around. Last year I was stuck in a hotel room in Canberra without an Internet connection and missed the parade. I'd forgotten how stirring it is, watching the sheer energy of both the spectators and performers. For a short period of time, you truly feel connected with the rest of the country.

Brief digression here. I'd always felt something of an outsider. I'm not from one of the four main races of Singapore. My parents were both immigrants. Yet I don't belong to my supposed motherland either - I wasn't born there, I can barely construct a sentence my mother tongue, I don't identify with the typical attitudes of that nation. Perhaps that I why I cling so fiercely to the idea of being Singaporean. It is what I know, better than anything else. I speak fluent Singlish. I know most of the community songs. I can explain in excruciating detail what Total Defence is - I have the gold badge to prove it. I've spent most of my life here, and during the short periods of time I was elsewhere, I wasn't convinced that those were better places to live. Sure, perhaps I didn't quite fit as Singaporean in the beginning, but I am one now. And my hypothetical future children won't have problems fitting in. They'll be citizens of this country, through and through.

So, here's to Singapore. For a bit of nostalgia, the video below shows some images which would be familiar to my five year old self, and to anyone else who grew up here during the nineties.

Take a Breather

It seems that I've barely been back home, and now I'm off again. First post of the year, by the way. Are less blog posts a good thing? I can't tell. There's no real pattern to previous years, not one that I can see.

While at home I baked bread, made nasi lemak twice and successfully attempted what is possibly the most difficult of Viennese pastries - the apple strudel. (Recipe forthcoming once I write it up.) Also, in my absence my household had acquired a large flat-screen television, so I showed my appreciation by watching large quantities of Doctor Who on said television. (I eventually returned to procure seasons 1 and 3. I refuse to feel shame.) Have I had a productive holiday? I think so. I'll have you know that watching Doctor Who is hard work. (No it isn't.)

So, you know. One more year in Australia, if all goes well. It's going to be a tough year. I'll be constantly thinking about the fact that I'm leaving, not just my second home, but also my childhood, for good. I've been in school since 1995 (eighteen years ago!) and it'll be over soon, to be replaced by working life. It's a new era. I'm obliged to feel nervous, but you know, after that there's no more scheduled changes until retirement.

I'm almost ready to settle down. 2013, bring it on.

In Before 2013

Haa, I quite like this time of the year. Time is continuous, so the idea of it "ending" at predetermined points is silly and very human, but humans do make things up for a reason. For instance, we do a great deal of reflecting - what we've done before, what we'll do in the future, whether life exists only here or beyond what can be attributed to Earth - so it makes sense to have a stopping point, to sit down and think.

I think I've had a good year. I've been very calm all year, only the occasionally frothing rage at someone mucking up the database FOR THE THIRD TIME! But you know, it's been mostly mellow so far. I realise how good things have been when I look at others who haven't achieved the same stability. I'd like to step in and fix things for them, but there's only so much an outsider can do. Personal peace can only be achieved on your own, I think.

The world didn't end. I'm a bit disappointed, it might have been interesting.

David Wong, a columnist for Cracked, recently published an article which is well worth reading. (I'll also note that he's rather given to using profanity in his writing.) It would have been nice if this article had been around while I was an idiot teenager/adolescent, but I suppose I should be glad that I learnt those lessons without the help of an Internet writer. You kids and your newfangled technologies.

It's now half-past three. Time for some cake!

Earthquake Lounge

Blogger, why did you have to change the layout? Why?

Whinge finished. I'm sitting in a departure lounge in Kansai Airport. Every now and then an aeroplane lands, and the whole place shakes. It's like there's an earthquake every five minutes.

I've been in Japan for the past two weeks, first for a conference and then a short holiday. Japan is an interesting country. It's true, when they say that Japanese are extremely polite. It's not just the bowing and the greetings, but also the extreme care everyone takes to keep public spaces clean, and to keep services as efficient as possible.

I also understand why so many expatriates, in spite of living in Japan for some time, are unable to speak the language fluently. It is so easy to get by without understanding Japanese, because almost everyone is willing to accommodate a helpless foreigner. (Although I did learn to read katakana and hiragana before coming here - I didn't fancy being completely helpless!)

I loved the regions in the Kansai region I visited, especially Kyoto. I wish I had spent more time there. Tokyo wasn't bad, but I found I preferred the areas which had an old-fashioned feel, such Asakusa and the Imperial Palace gardens, rather than modern districts like Shibuya, Ginza and Akihabara. Maybe I just like temples and nature. Less than a day into my stay in Kyoto and it already felt like home.

I did get to see Mt. Fuji with my own eyes (and camera), and felt all the more privileged when I was later told that it is hard to see the mountain at this time of the year, since it tends to be covered up by clouds. I did indeed see Mt. Fuji covered up by clouds later in the day - it completely disappears from view. Amazing that such a large mountain can vanish just like that .

Anyway, photos may be forthcoming at some point. For now, I'll enjoy this shaking room.

And Sometimes, Dispassionately...

...they had to weed.

I remember preparing for my confirmation of candidature. I remember the sheer terror, that when you come into the room after the panel has convened, they'll tell you that you're not up to scratch. It doesn't matter that most students do get confirmed. You're always thinking you'll be the one who doesn't.

I remembered this today, sitting on the panel for another student, as the panel chair calmly informed her that she would not be confirmed.

The panel chair explained it to her, explained why, explained that the panel would re-convene in a few months and make a second decision, based on any further progress she had made. But looking at her face, I knew she hadn't heard a word after he had stated the panel's decision.

Confirmation of candidature happens after the student's first year. It's an assessment of whether a student appears to be able to handle another two or three years of a PhD course. Stopping someone from wasting a lot of effort on something they can't handle is a kindness, really. And if the title of Doctor is to mean something, it can only go to those who deserve it.

Not that it makes dropping the axe any easier.

Leap Day

Happy day which only comes once every four years! I'm sure that there are many superstitions associated with this day, even though it's added to the calendar for mere convenience.

Tomorrow is my PhD's anniversary as well, which is... less exciting. It's just another reminder that time is trickling away. There's never enough time, it seems, to find all the answers.

MMXII

Happy New Year!

According to certain people, the world ends this year. End of the year or no, I prefer to take a leaf from Pascal's book, and continue with the assumption that the world isn't going to end.

I tend to take some time and reflect, at the end of the year. Last year I was lonely, my life spinning out of my control, and I was unsure of what would happen to me. Last year's reflective entry had a tone of desperation which makes me wince now, because I can clearly see the mistakes I was making and they shouldn't have happened.

Then again, hindsight is always like that, isn't it?

This year, I pulled myself up, out of the morass I'd watered for myself. I learnt to accept myself, and to live, really live. I think I grew up more this year than I have before. I think this was the year I finally became an adult.

Last year I wrote that there's never any time. This year I realised that time isn't a commodity which needs to be spent.

I wonder what I will think next year?

To the new year.

Social Skills

You know those moments when there's another person nearby, and you figure you ought to say something, but simply can't think of something? And then the silence goes on while both of you try to find something to fill the space with, and it just gets worse and worse with every second.

Some people have the skills to deal with this. They just pull a conversation topic from... some other dimension, or something, and just like that, the tension eases. See, I can't do that. Every time I try, I end up babbling like a complete idiot.

Social skills. What are they?

Now, cashiers have the skills. At the shop where I get a bottle of apple-blackcurrant juice every now and then, there's a girl who always notices my nail-polish. I suspect she recognises me purely by my nails. Which is somewhat curious, because it's not as if the colours in my limited collection (light blue, metallic blue, apple-green, gold and lilac) are at all outré, but there you are.

Element Bending

Laughed. So. Hard.

Personally, I'd take up iron-bending, for the sake of being able to manipulate many common items and indirect power over magnetism. Carbon-bending's not so bad either, except it could get messy with organic materials. Silver, nickel and gold-bending would be useful if you wanted a steady job in the jewellery industry.

You know, I see good potential for a story here. A universe where everyone can control a few elements to the point where it's a commonplace part of everyday life. Then you'd have a few heroes who could perhaps have mastery over some of the more difficult (or short-lived) elements, and villains with specialist bending abilities... So many possibilities!

A Momentous Occasion

Today, I started writing my PhD thesis.

The end has begun!

On an entirely different note, while the MRT Rap is largely cringe-worthy, the chorus is good and catchy. The bilingual lyrics just gave it a touch of Singaporean flavour to a performance which was otherwise trying too hard to imitate American rappers.

We'll take the MRT
It's where you want to be
No need for ERP
Mari kita!

Let's take the MRT
Come in and ride with me
This is equality
Mari kita!

And I did enjoy the parade. I got shivers from the theme song and the main performance, which was heartfelt and genuine. OK, the puppets were creepy. But the rest was great.

(Did you notice at the end, when President Nathan was shaking hands with some of the performers, he said  something to Gurmit Singh who promptly burst out laughing and patted the president on the back? I really want to know what he said!)

How to Comfort a Guy

I don't know, how do you comfort a guy? This chap is the sort who stiffens up uncomfortably at the suggestion of a hug, so that's out. And, well, I don't want to keep asking him how he's doing because that would only remind him of the bad thing which happened to him in the first place. He is so very sad, but I don't know what I could do - either personally or by enlisting help from others - which would turn that around.  I'd like to show that I care, but not for the sake of showing that I care, if that makes sense.

Hmm, people are hard.

Just No

Ever been invited to something, and agreed to go, only to realise that they were only asking out of politeness and fully expected you to refuse?

So! Add that to the list of reasons why I hate lies of any shade. The seemingly harmless ones can be the most hurtful.

Gee, where did all that time go.

Easy Going

I don't worry as much as I used to. That's good, I suppose?

Things fall into place on their own.

Patrons of Truth

"You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right."

- xkcd

Scientific research is something of an idealistic profession. You're constantly testing your own observations of the reality around you, and you're always aware that you may have to re-evaluate your current explanation for any phenomena you may encounter. That means having an open mind, and while you must always be prepared to defend your own theories, you also have to be able to accept and account for conflicting observations from another person. In essence, you are never trying to prove yourself right, but rather trying to find out what the truth is, no matter how it may invert your beliefs.

Working in science as a job complicates things. Here, you are expected to produce results. Getting results does not necessarily mean accurately predicting the outcome of an experiment before doing it; it can also mean getting an unexpected result and then figuring out what it means, and then doing a second experiment to show that the revised theory is plausible. However, the whole figuring-out process is long and painful, taking shots in the dark, as it were, so most of us would like to be correct from the beginning.

That creates a lot of pressure to "get things to work." You have a theory that something should do something you expect, and so you spend months proving that it does, even while all your experiments methodically keep failing. And it is upsetting, because you have ownership over that theory - the need for it to be right, for you to prove it - although, technically, you should have no ownership. You are supposed to be impartially seeking the truth, and therefore should be prepared to discard unsupported theories.

But it is hard to be impartial when you are working for a salary, or when you are a student on a time-limit, and when you urgently need data to publish.

It is a tough thing to balance out. And once you've discovered something important, and have been acknowledged for it, it is even harder to accept conflicting evidence which may appear later. But you have to. As a scientist, you agree that seeking the reality of the truth matters more than receiving adulation over a lie.

If you don't, you aren't a scientist. You're an attention-seeker.

Counselling

It sucks.

I hate telling people my secrets.

I'm aware of the irony, thank you.

Things

Creative post title here.

I've decided to celebrate Pi Day on the day corresponding to the way we write dates here (22/7). So, pie in July and stuff. Hopefully I'll make a successful one this year.

On the other hand, I tried making macarons. Jeez, those things are finicky! One wrong step and they don't rise, or the "foot" doesn't form, or they crack. And because they're mostly sugar and egg white, they collapse in humidity very easily. It's understandable that they're so expensive, but I am determined to learn to make them.

I'm doing a little demonstrating (i.e. tutoring, but with LABS) for a while, mostly for experience than for wages. I find it's a lot easier with cooperative students. However, the disconnection between teaching students and training them to score well on quizzes, continues to bother me.

I've realised that I don't like being lied to in order to "make me feel better." It's always so much worse later on when the lie is discovered.

I haven't written any fictional works in a while. I suppose I should try again sometime. I used to enjoy it.

Facebook II

I think I know the attraction behind Facebook. It's sorta like having a blog, except with an actual, guaranteed audience (unless you have no friends). I think I'm starting to understand the Facebook culture, although it's still quite confusing to me.

Meh. I prefer talking to myself (and the small audience here) anyhow. Call me old-fashioned, and perhaps a little overwhelmed about losing control over the things people find out about me. I like having my secrets.

Update XXVIII: Food@Hawker Centre

It's surprising, the sort of things you can actually buy. Browsing a FairPrice Xpress outlet yielded bonito flakes (those delicious shavings used to garnish takoyaki and various other Japanese dishes), and starch balls which are most commonly found in bubble tea. Now that I think about it, takoyaki and bubble tea stall owners obviously get their ingredients from somewhere, but the general unavailability of these food preparations in the average grocery store makes them seem a little, well, magical.

And people wonder that while I subscribe to the traditionally feminine pursuit of shopping, my favoured retail therapy grounds are generally supermarkets. (I also like discount stores - there are always the strangest things.)

For most of the time I was home today (I also spent some time outside in the company of friends - even loners get lonely), I was at the center of a web, communication passing to me and from me and occasionally through me. I think I can honestly say that I have never sent so many emails in a single day. The heads of my lab would laugh, this must be business of usual for them, but for an underling like myself, such activity is rare. Usually I have, at most, two emails which require a response. Taking the position of some sort of operator is a strange, powerful feeling.

It is for this reason that I think I would enjoy being a secretary.

Lest I forget again, there is a very firm reason that I limit my consumption of ice kachang. Consuming the equivalent of a block of ice leaves one as equally cold as a person who just consumed a block of ice. Very, very cold. Air-conditioned food courts only make things worse.

On the subject of food courts, it occurs to me how superior they can be to restaurants. Cheaper, a wider variety of cuisines to choose from, and many of the newer ones are almost on par with a restaurant anyway. Take the Food Opera@ION Orchard (the at-sign modernhipcool thing is horrible why is it everywhere now). Excellent roti prata, even better fish curry, best Iced Milo made by a drinks stall, extremely reasonable price you'd have to go to Serangoon Road to match, elegant wooden furniture and decorative elements on the walls such that you can hardly believe you're eating in what amounts to a hawker centre. Robinsons doesn't give nearly as nice carrier bags as the ones they place your take-out in. And many of the newer shopping malls have comparable standards.

313@Somerset (the at-sign again why) also has a waitress who goes around in a Segway. Yes, around the food court. No, I don't know what she does that requires riding a Segway. Hopefully not delivery of drinks.

To change the subject completely, I have a new computer. My new personal assistant is a ThinkPad Edge, in sleek silver and glossy red. He's a last-season's Lenovo, but I have every confidence that he will handle the tasks I assign him, especially now that I engage in less gaming than I used to. He weighs a very portable 1.6 kg. His name is Magellan.

All I need is that (expensive!) laptop support I saw at IKEA, and my computing life will be complete.

This post has no point. But with this much verbosity, who needs Twitter?