The trouble with Facebook

The title for this post would have been 'Facebored' if not for the fact that BBC had used it before, in a television report several years back.

Back then, around 2009, it had already discounted Facebook (FB) as a site with limited offerings and predicted that users would get bored of it pretty soon.

Personally, I am already kinda bored with FB. Although I still log on to it daily, I spend less than 10 mins each time.

Yes, it is nice to keep in touch with your friends and loved ones, especially when everyone is too busy for anyone.

After a while, it's the 'same old, same old' day in, day out. Posting photos, poking, writing on walls for birthdays, sharing links for merchandise.

FB is about self-gratification and self-indulgence. Everyone trying to make everyone else envious of  the ramen/beef steak/ nasi lemak you had at Namba/Oxford Street/Chomp Chomp. Or the wild and happening party you had last night with beautiful hunks and babes, with endless bottles of Dom Perignon, JW Blue Label or Belvedere. Not to mention your new body kit/ rims/ spoiler on your BMW/Audi/Subaru.

Before you dismiss me as an old, balding geezer with thick spectacles and zero social life, I would like to clarify myself. I am as narcissistic as they come. I have tons of clothes, which takes my built-in, full length wardrobe have trouble containing. Self-indulgence is my best friend. I drink, eat, party and make merry at a time when my peers are taking their 5 year olds to Shicida Method every week. I trim my brows, work out and watch my diet. You get the drift.

Thus, I am more than qualified to comment on my own 'species'. Posting your fun photos on FB is normal. (No one posts photos of them crying on FB) However, doing it almost everyday is overdoing it. Everyone is in a competition to inflate their own egos. You take a step back and tell yourself, where is this going? Is there more depth in us?

People suffering from depression, or lack of self-confidence, should not visit FB at all. All this false images and conjured notions of happiness shatters your chance of recovery and sinks you lower. You drown in all this pretense, and probably you come out worse off.

As a student of sociology and communication, I feel that we should harness the power of social media for the good of society, instead of degrading to such hedonistic acts. Empower people through information.
The 2011 Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East was a great example, although I am not saying we should overthrow the government. We should share useful information, make society and its citizens more aware, more conscious and more thoughtful. Give a voice to the voiceless and stand for our rights.

A colleague told me about this Mr T, an editor of some magazine, with over 10,000 followers on Twitter, 'Famous' person, which I never heard about. I chuckled to myself, as he seems to be awestruck by this 'achievement'. 10k followers is nothing is you are not contributing to society. However, it seems to be the trend that many groups of young people are trying to come up with their own version of mini 'Hollywood'. Many of them like to blow their own trumpet with trivial 'achievements', and what better way than social media?


It's 2012. Singaporeans are still deem ungracious, selfish and ugly. Isn't it time that we alter that image? Aren't we a first-world, developed rich country, up there with Hong Kong, Japan and Korea? Our mentality and attitude needs alot of catching up.

Which is why I will do my part with my own FB account now, posting information worth sharing; political and social. I hope it will influence people around me to do the same, because one voice may be a whimper, a sea of accumulated voices is a loud roar.

Year-end traditions

My exams are finally over, while waiting frantically for the results, my mind is a blank on what to do next.

The logical sequence would be to brush up my resume, and begin my job hunt. However, I have been procrastinating, as usual.

Brought out my Japanese language books from under a heap of rubbish and began blowing the dust on the covers. While it is meant as a revision (5 years late), I realised I do not have the same level of concentration 5 years ago.

My mind wanders, just like the many times that I lay in bed at night, wide awake after a run.

I totally forgotten my annual tradition of writing Christmas cards to my dear friends (hand-written, and not e-cards) . Better tie a string around my finger.

Maybe I need to bring along a notebook everywhere I go, and jot down things which are important. Oh yeah, I need to remind myself to bring along the notebook too, better tie another string for that.

The list goes on. Before all my 10 fingers are used up, I would like to plant some of my thoughts in cyberspace.

With New Year's Day around the corner, I am going to write down my resolutions. While this tradition has been going on forever, fulfilling them had been getting tougher over the years.

I need to get more realistic. Thus, 2012's resolution would be more down-to-earth, hopefully I would fulfill them before apocalypse.

1) Include a vegetarian meal once a day - Inspire by one of my campmates, who has gone vegetarian, I feel the need to curb my carnivorous habits. However, I cannot do it all at once. Thus, the above statement would help me along. Hopefully it improves my health too.

2) Avoid buffets and overeating - If I were to die from one of the seven sins, it would definitely be gluttony. With my metabolism getting slower, I need to have smaller meals and not stuff myself. I hope I can do that.

3) Avoid foods that make my stomach feel uncomfortable - This is a long list, but just to give you an idea, they are: Chilli, coconut milk, deep-fried, milk, cheese, curry, nasi lemak, chicken rice...etc
This is up there for the obvious reasons. However, in Asian cuisines, they are hard to avoid, hopefully I can enjoy my food, without them.

I feel that this three resolutions are ones that I may have a high chance of fulfilling. You may wonder why are they all related to food and eating habits.

Well, as the saying goes, 'You are what you eat'. As I get older, it's about time to take it easy on my body and not work my organs too hard. I have seen how difficult it is to deal with diseases and illness, and how taxing it is for family members to provide care and support. I do not wish to be a burden.

Whatever may your resolutions be, I hope you too, can fulfill them!

With about two weeks left in 2011, I would like to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Revelations about my mom

I hate to say this but I don't really understand my mom, after knowing her for 31 years.

The fact that I did not stay with her for half my life may have contributed to my ignorance, but somehow it feels like an excuse.

Some of my posting about my mom still stands; she is a lazy, irresponsible, loud-mouthed, cynical and greedy person.

Although I am the oldest of her sons, I seem to be the least important; she only get my name right after calling my two brothers' names. She's also clueless to what I like to eat.

However, as my time spent with her increases this year, I have been constantly surprised by what she is capable of.

When my aunt was spending her remaining months with us, my mom took charge of nursing and caring for her,although she was complaining every bit of the way.

When my aunt passed away, my mom became the chief coordinator of the funeral, handling most of the administrative stuff; still complaining, of course.

These actions were a surprise coming from a person who refuse to work for years, when she is only still 50.

From the actions, I can sense her love for her youngest sibling, which propel her to take on huge responsibilities that she normally shirks from.

While I always felt that my sense of responsibility was never inherited from her, that difficult period saw her rose to the occasion and prove my hypothesis wrong. ( The cynical part is definitely from her, so too is the weak stomach and greedy appetite)

If life was like a comic book, she would be a reluctant heroine, only revealing her true self during times of crisis. (Although her portly figure would make her less than heroine material).

Recently, I picked up a Chinese-language book discarded by someone, and thought of reading myself. However, I never really had the time for it, so I pass it to my mom, as she is Chinese-educated.

She managed to surprise me again.

She never gone passed Secondary 2 when she was younger, and she is never the studying type. However the speed that she 'devoured' the book puts me and any other students younger than me to shame.

She concentrated on that book and almost finished it the next day, and I can tell she really enjoyed reading, maybe due to her interest in Chinese romance stories from last time.

I think no one in the family is so keen about reading than her. I find it a struggle to read a book in a week.

Talk about 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. I wondered if she never got married and had me at a young age, maybe life would be so different for her.

(She's still unable to get my name right the first time, but she's trying) :-)

4 months and counting...

It's been that long since my last post. Times flies, whether you are having fun or not.

Every school term presents new challenges, even though I am in my last semester of a draggy degree, new things still shock me once in a while.

This term was supposed to be the finishing line, but the stress of having to deal with two early and intensive modules totally drained me. I missed out one of the modules. Not only lessons, I also missed its deadlines. Without much choice, I had to withdraw from it. Therefore, I am stuck in school for another semester.

I guess everyday we face different challenges in life. The past few months had me experience all sorts of situations and dilemmas. I am predicting more to come at me.

Almost forgot there are many people who still read this, seldom updated blog. One day I bumped into Ms S, during a transit flight. She asked me, 'How are you?' For a moment there, I thought she was referring to me after my breakup with my ex-gf (she was her batchgirl). Senile me spaced out for a while...until I realised she reads my blog and was referring to my current break-up...

Still looking for another tenant to fill up the house, but I guess I am too choosy; must be girl, must be crew. Not many girls want a guy roommate, and not many of them like Sengkang...If I get another roommate, I have one less room to clean....hehe...

I got rid of Monday blues, because my favourite anime plays every Monday. Gintama is lotsa of nonsense and laughter, what everyone needs once a while. Not many know about this gem though.

Currently looking for another car after I crashed the last one. My friend tells me I shop like a girl; indecisive, distracted by many choices, cannot narrow down my choices. I beg to differ. I behave like an auntie in a market; always on the look out for cheap and value for money offer, yet want to buy something I like.

My life is in sync with my football team, Arsenal. Many important people left and new people have not established the same type of intimacy. Disastrous events happen one after another. Low confidence. Fortunately, both me and the team have sunken to the bottom, and are now on the way up. I hope it stays that way.

Exam period is in a month's time, I hope I do not have to wait for that long to be free to post again. I can nearly see cobwebs on my screen when I sign in to Blogger.

Looking forward beyond the exams, I would like to do many things, which had been on hold.
Firstly, the house warming. Everyone has been asking about it and I have to do a 'grand opening'. December seems like a good time.

Secondly, since I would be single and free, I would be able to train up on my running and fitness test. Need to join a gym to give myself additional reasons to train more than once a week.

Lastly, spending more time with my granny and my family. Since I lost the car, I have been constrained by work and travelling time. When I get the car, I would then be able to do just that. Hopefully I can take my late auntie's place as the pillar of my dysfunctional family.

Keeping my fingers-crossed, as things rarely go my way. Did anyone know I changed my name? My friend told me to 'publicize' it, as the more people call me by the new name, the better for me. Don't know whether true or not, but it's worth a try....

許檍綜

Recently, I met a colleague who told me he won the first prize in Toto before. That is a piece of news that made my day, suddenly I am a believer again.

There you go, my life summed up; studies, work, housework, anime, family, workout, football, Toto, car, partying and drinks. I wonder what is missing...guess I will figure out soon enough.

In Arsene I Trust

Something about my favourite manager Arsene Wenger of Arsenal Football Club.

Some may call him stingy, stubborn and in denial. Many hold him responsible for the decline of the club. Others want him to step down.

I have been a follower of Arsenal since Wenger started with the club. I saw how he transformed Arsenal Football Club, from good to great.

He has total control of many aspects of the club, because the board trusts him. Rightfully so.

Even as people call for his head, in the wake of the 8-2 thrashing by Man United, there are tons of reasons why the club needs him more than he needs the club. Fans should be grateful that he did not leave us for Madrid, the German and Japan national team, a few seasons back.

Below are contributions by him which I felt was vital to the progress of the club.

1) Being an economist, he championed the move for the Ashburton Grove project. The old Highbury could only accomodate about 38,000 fans, while the current stadium holds 60,000. Although it got the club into debt, it made sense that we were losing revenue by staying at Highbury. Anyway most of the debt had been repaid through planned repayments.

2) He brought in new training and nutrition techniques which helped aging players, like Tony Adams, improve and extend their playing careers. With the blend of English and foreign players, he got the best out of the team and secure silverware for subsequent seasons. Arsenal also qualified for Champions League every season for the past decade.

3) Achieving 'Invincibles', 49 games unbeaten, was no mean feat.

4) Using his economics knowledge, acumen for talent spotting and his faith in youth, Wenger brought a string of players who were mediocre and transformed them into legends. Nicholas Anelka was bought from PSG for $500,000 and sold for $23 million, Cesc earned us even more money. Dennis Bergkamp, Kanu, Vieira, Henry and Anelka, were having trouble fulfilling their potential at previous clubs. Wenger placed his faith in them and they all left as legends.

There are of course many more reasons but these few are proof that he is a great manager for Arsenal.

A few years ago, I was hooked to the football management game, Championship Manager.

While playing it, I realised that my transfer policy and principles in managing were very similar to Wenger.

I love bargain hunting, and look for players who were inexpensive, young and had great potential. Like Wenger, I do not keep players over 30 years old, as they had diminishing returns.

If I could, I would nurture young players and sell them when they became sought after, bagging a huge profit.

I would never field players who are not 100% fit, unless I was left without a choice.

I also didn't like to buy from the Premiership, because valuation of players were inflated.
My highest paid player earned about 90K-a-week (4 years ago).

Of course, my experiences in a fantasy game could not compare to Wenger's experience in the real game. However, I do understand his thought process, and his decisions that he made.

It is unfortunate that his players do not reward his faith with their loyalty. The high turnover in the squad meant that there was little opportunity for continuity. The manager's plan had to be revised constantly, due to the departures of core players. However, I believe that someone would always step up.

If he does go one day, it would be Arsenal's loss. I would probably follow him closely, in his next career choice.

True Arsenal fans would not give up hope on Wenger and his choices; they should understand him better than fair-weather fans.

To all Arsenal fans, stick to this motto: In Arsene We Trust

Let's look forward to an exciting season ahead!