a sixth sense cannot make up for a complete lack of common sense
the resident
-best known as May Ching-
-09/01/1990-
-19 years 1.2 months-
-mugger/slacker/writer-
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Sunday, November 25, 2007, 5:58 pm
Christmas is here again.Technically, it's still November, so don't break out the fairy lights just yet. *smirks* Then why blog about Christmas?
I blog about Christmas because this insanely early article is to go with the insanely early Christmas carols already blaring through some stores.
Yesterday, I was about to enter the Watson's outlet at Westmall when something about the place alerted me. Maybe it was the prominently placed, leering Rudolph stuffed toys or the jolly Santas.
As a fortunate few know, I loathe the horrible celebration of commercialism that Christmas has become. It's not so much a celebration of the birth of Christ as a celebration of the birth of an excuse to spend money.
Anyway, it would have been a lot more tolerable if the carolling started at least in the month of December. Then I'd have ample time to prepare for the yearly assault of cheesy tunes about a red-nosed reindeer and his adventures as well as the decorations.
I love Christmas, actually. It's a seasonal thing that you hate initially but you eventually grow to get be fond of it. The snowmen, trees, snowflakes, presents... it's practically a whole frigging culture that's sprung up around a simple religious holiday!
It's always the music that gets to me first. Initially, ooh yes, it was charming, the warbling about snow and sleigh bells and Christmas trees, when you are about 5 years old and gormless. Not so when you're a teenager, listening to infinitely preferable music such as produced by the likes of Yellowcard and My Chemical Romance. Real music by real bands with expertly applied Goth eye makeup, not recycled tunes sung again and again in different voices.
Anyway, I endured what was supposed to be a pleasant shopping trip with evergreen favourites like 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!' and 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer' crooned by a male voice this time. At least he didn't attempt to put his own personal touch on it, I've heard a truly God-awful rap version combined with a children's choir of (I kid you not!) 'Turkey In The Straw'. (!)
Later at night, the News at 9 featured series of very interesting video clips regarding the mad rush of Americans into department stores to start their Christmas shopping. Apparently, according to the newscaster, it's a yearly phenomenon that the week after Thanksgiving is the unofficial start of Christmas shopping. The camera panned out to reveal hordes of bargain-minded people, fighting to get into the store and being shepherded into queues for the escalators by burly security guards. And all this madness, observed the newscaster dryly, was despite the gloomy economic forecast projected for America. Then again, that came up against the report that Apple was offering discounts on their Macbooks, iPods and iMacs, coupled with a happy pair walking away, arms full of Apple merchandise. It was no contest which had the most impact.
It's a fact that most elements of Christianity is borrowed from other religions, most notably, sun worship. Things like Sunday being the Sabbath, saints being depicted with halos, the general idea of God (all lifted from The Da Vinci Code, I freely admit) It's just a way of making a radical new religion more acceptable to the community. Consumerism has done exactly that, stealing the religion from Christmas and turning it into a festival of money. I mean, Coca-Cola was responsible for making Santa's suit red.
Here's to Christmas, 'tis the season to be jolly.
Labels: Christianity, christmas, shopping
Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 6:49 am
I'm back!Well, sort of, at any rate. I'm actually still in Malaysia, but I've moved further south another 400++ km to Kuala Lumpur, my ex-tramping ground.
Still on holiday mode, albeit heavy shopping mode.
I just got an iPod Nano 3rd generation! Yay! After months of toil (constantly arguing, begging and pleading), I have got my hands on the new iPod. The best part is that although it's the original version from Apple, not the pirated type, it only cost me S$267, not the projected price of S$350 from Harvey Norman in Singapore. *gales of evil laughter*
If you ask me, I think the exchange rates are screwed.
Been cut off from the online world until recently (ie. now) and hence am blogging happily, undisturbed by the outside, mundane world. As always, I'm not using my own laptop but some Sony Vaio beauty which looks brand spanking new. The keyboard is lovely to use, makes me feel very professional while blogging.
Today is actually an important day in Malaysia: the first day of SPM. For non-Malaysians, the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (loosely translated as Certificate of Education of Malaysia) is the Malaysian equivalent of Singapore's 'O'-Levels, only that they're taken at 17 years of age rather than 16. It's because of this charming little quirk that I am seated comfortably in Starbucks, typing away at this blog while my peers of the same age are scribbling away feverishly at little, compact desks in the examination hall. Of course, this means that the roles will be reversed next year, when I sit for my 'A'-Levels and they... do whatever the Malaysian education system has in store for them.
Well, I have no cause to be concerned, except to be kan chiongon behalf of my friends.
Yes, I intend to spend my holiday as lazily as possible until the NUS Science Focus workshops and the preparations for Orientation 1 next year kick in.
Labels: holiday, shopping, SPM
Friday, September 07, 2007, 10:35 pm
It's me again.At the end of a massive mugging week, I finally get the time and the mood to sit down and blog. Haha. This week was supoosed to be a one week holiday, our September holidays before Term 4.
HAHAHAHAHA.
Erm, what holidays? I went back to school EVERY day, from Monday to Friday, which is today, both for extra lessons and extreme mugging sessions. As a matter of fact, I'm now part of a very special gang: the Muggers' Gang.
Members: Me
Glennda
Hema
Zhe Yuan
Shi Yun
Tommy
and a host of others, but we are the regulars.
We met to plunk ourselves down at the PD block tables with our coffee, our notes and our (soon departed) motivation to study whenever we could. Lots of things happened during our cramming period, a particularly memorable incident involving Tommy and his lunch which I will not mention here.
The highlight of our mugging sessions was always lunch when we went out together and the massive gossiping that went on. How we do love our juicy chatter about everyone and everything. I tell you, nothing was sacred!
Today was more exciting than most other days, with the councillors that went to Yunnan coming back to school for a Chemistry lesson which was actually cancelled on short notice due to a miscommunication. Being true friends, they didn't spread the word about the cancelled lesson until the other councillors had already arrived at school. They certainly have their own unique way of having fun.
Cherie bought this leather pencilcase from Roxy on Desmy's behalf after they'd both been eyeing it since we went to Marina Square on Tuesday. The ah ma in me came out when I asked her how much it cost.
"$21???? So much for a piece of processed animal skin???!!!"
Yes, I don't like shopping. I simply don't see the fun in looking at or buying overpriced clothes and accessories which carry little else than a name. I mean, look at my own pencilcase. It was FOC with a Ngee Ann Polytechnic goodie bag and I got it three years ago. Heck, it's so well-used, the name of the school printed on the front wore off and it's now a neat, plain black pencilcase. I love it because it's so minimalist and practical, plus I've bimbofied it with some cool badges. However, it would be unfair for me to say I totally hate shopping. It's just that here in Singapore, the definition of shopping is different from what my Malaysian sisters and I used to do. 'Shopping' meant running to the MPH, Times, Popular, Borders or Kinokuniya the instant we set foot in the shopping centre and staying put for about five or six hours.
Hema went mad from all the studying stress and got Zhe Yuan and me to 'tattoo' her arm. She is now the self-proclaimed 'bad-ass gangster in JJ'. Don't mess with her! It reminded me of the split personality I developed in the period around the Common Test. Luckily, that evil persona that called herself Psycho Clean-and-Clear is safely imprisoned in the corner of my mind. She won't be getting out and taking over in quite a while, I'm sure. But then again, the stress from mugging for Promos might just be the chance she needs to escape. Ugh, the last time she escaped was terrible. She imprisoned me in that nasty little cage of hers and went around in my body, impersonating me. The cheek, pretending to be me!
Besides that, there was Hema's incessant singing of 'Rehab' by Amy Winehouse. To be precise, just part of the chorus. We kept tweaking the words to fit context just for the heck of it. It was practically a musical, man. At one point, the three of us, Glennda, Hema and I found ourselves standing beside the track and talking. The councillors had already left the school for some makan but we were still standing there after waving to them like goondus.
The weather was crazy today. There were two false alarm lightning warnings, after the second there was a shower of rain while the sun was still shining. Hema said that walking in that sort of rain can give one a headache, upon which we immediately began singing lyrics to that effect to the tune of 'Rehab'.
At the end of the day, we left the school at 7.30 pm for home. Yargh, I only managed to summarise one Bio chapter, do some Maths, some Chem, the GP TCA... but I still had a really good time this holiday.
Labels: muggers' gang, shopping, studying