Monday, January 01, 2007
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The start of a new year warrants a summary of the events of what has come to past, & so I have decided to post something on this blog.
But first of all, let me share my new year experience with you readers.
The ordinary was expected. Dinner with family friends at the Regent. Chinese food. A walk around town after the countdown. This new year however, was different.
Firstly, it is hard to ignore that as every child who has been attending the countless gatherings from way back matures, these special events (New Year's Day, Christmas...) lose their appeal to us. They become ordinary - just another gathering. I find this disheartening yet unavoidable.
Secondly, as we walked through town, from Regent all the way to Wisma Atria, I can say without a doubt that it was spooky. The streets were almost devoid of any kind of activity, besides the presence of police officers (in groups of three) posted approximately every 300 metres. I also managed to see police officers confronting people with snow sprays. What has new year come to? The spirit of new year in town has been destroyed, no thanks to the events of last new year, when cries of molestation sounded out in the papers. Oh what the hell. Anyway it seems as if the parties are over at vivo city and marina. Thank god for that, I hate muscling through crowds.
Thirdly, as much as we like to think that racial and religious harmony are wired into our brains, this is not the case at all. I encountered a group of "Bengs & Lians" who turned onto a single man from Bangladesh. They surrounded him and proceeded to spray him. They also chose this moment to call him "blackie", and to describe him with his foamed hair as "blackie with white hair with a black centre" (the black centre bit doesn't make sense to me). Lots of other people were talking about "Banglas" too. Is this acceptable behaviour? I don't think so.
Also, the widespread use of Singlish is starting to take its toll on me. Why can't people start speaking properly? The government obviously hasn't done its part. They have on one hand promoted the use of proper english through speak good english campaigns and on the other
encouraged the use of singlish through the media. PCK's "Don't pray pray", the stuff you hear on the radio stations, when is this nonsense going to stop? A Beng decided to flaunt his proficiency in Singlish by pronouncing "zero" as "CHEE-ROW". I shall stop talking anything else the "Beng" mentioned for the benefit of your IQs.
Finally, can someone please come up with something new to do during new year celebrations? Every year it's the same thing. It's either fireworks, balloon popping or god knows what like balloon sculpting? SOMEONE PLEASE COME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE.
Enough about this. 2007 kicked off sadly. I'm hoping this doesn't set the tone for the year.
| patty fought for sanity @ 12:52 PM|
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