Sunday, November 14, 2004

Blah blah blah...

Sometimes I think that cockroaches are really poor things.

It is no fault of them that they are born a cockroach and yet people despite them. Poor things eh?

The occasional cockroach that dares to venture out into the kitchen is almost always met with hostility. Not to say that I welcome them with open arms but I do think it's a bit sad for them. Imagine having the whole world running after you with parangs everytime you step into the open. Think Osama bin Laden.

I just thought about the issue of being born. If the whole world is black, wouldn't there be racists against the white? In case you are wondering, I am NOT comparing minorities to cockroaches. And yes, Osama bin Laden IS a cockroach.

If you were born into an African-American family in the last century, you would probably be a slave or something. A black influential man was almost unheard of in those days. Why? They are the minority. Thankfully the situation is very much better today with people who are more tolerant of each other, although there are still cases of racism.

I think it's very hard to find places in Singapore where people live in racial harmony. Well, almost. I do know of Chinese friends who doesn't like people of other races but perhaps there?s nothing I can do about it. At the same time, I do have friends whose best friends are from other races!

This Caucasian wrote in recently to the Straits Times Forum complaining about the usage of "ang mo". Is it very wrong? As most people know by now, ang mo simply means red-haired literally. This is not very correct as we also know that Caucasians are not only red-headed but are also blonde, brunette and so on but let's not digress. Perhaps they should address their own usage of nigger who I'm sure isn't something polite.

A certain Mr. K. Rajamanikam also wrote in lamenting the lack of greetings for Deepavali.

He wrote about how the fishmonger at the wet market remembers to greet him with a simple Happy Deepavali whereas there wasn't even a sign at supermarkets like NTUC, Shop 'n' Save where he 'spends at least $1000 every year'

He also commented on how the Prime Minister has a greeting for all Indians in the Straits Times, et cetera.

Is it really necessary to write in to a national paper and discuss the absence of greetings?

I'm not really too sure about this. It might be of an issue for me but possibly big enough for him to bring up to the whole nation. Would I complain if there are no Chinese New Year decorations at NTUC which I spend 100 odd dollars every year? Would it matter to me if PM Lee didn't have greetings for me next year?

Call me rootless but I don't really think that I have a heritage and culture. It's a bit hard to imagine the CNY of the future whereby every family only have 2-3 kids. It'd be such a far cry from our days where we gather at our grandparents' place with 7-8 aunties and uncles and possibly 2 dozens worth of cousins.

For one thing, I'm completely hopeless at dialects. I can only sit and there and smile weakly whenever someone attempts to converse with me in dialect. I think I should just change the dialect group on my IC to N/A!

Ok, I think I'm really too bored. Why am I writing all these on a holiday? I should be out on the streets enjoying myself! Damn.

I'm really losing tracks of my days. I keep having the impression that yesterday was Sunday. I think my holiday is really too long! Haha!

I will actually be happy to go back to work on Tuesday!

And yes, Selamat Hari Raya to everyone!
fjozn at 1:27 PM