Monday, June 08, 2009
It's amazing how I've started to talk more to some of my geo mates in university after 2 years of taking the module. Maybe it's the fact that we won't be seeing each other so often when the new semester begins and deep down inside of me, I do wish that there's more to just attending lectures and tutorials. It's tough being a undergraduate in Singapore and everyone around you is just concerned with scoring good grades. How many times do we actually meet to catch up or grab a bite after a doing a project for example.
I'm not exactly the nicest guy you'll meet on the street but I can safely say it's good to know there are friends out there who do trust me. Take for example a random chat with a geo mate late in the middle of the night where she poured out her relationship problems. Of course, I like to assure that whatever she said stayed in that window. These female friends of mine in uni are actually pretty nice to me, always wanting to introduce me to their counterparts and helping me to widen my social circle. When you're awake at 3 or 4am in the morning, such talk online do sober you up abit. When school begins in August, I guess there's a part of me that wish there was still geography lessons with these great bunch of friends.
Never thought I would encounter such a disappointing scene on my way home from Expo last week. Picture this scene of an old lady with a trolley full of groceries and despite having a few vacant seats in the train, she decided to get up and stand near the end because she was afraid of blocking the passageway. Beside her was a teenage (15 to 17 years of age) boy who placed his tennis racket and bag on a vacant seat. I could just picture the pitiful look on her face for wanting to sit down but the boy carried on playing on his psp. Despite the countless stares at him from other passengers, he took no further notice of her. I could have pretended to go to sleep but you know I wouldn't survive the hour long train ride with a guilt trip. I got up and made sure I said loud enough for the boy to hear 'Please have my seat, I insist'. With that, I moved to another row of seats in the middle of the carriage.
The people around me in that particular carriage just started to gossip about the family background and character of that boy. It even got one of the passengers (a woman in her early 40s) pretty mad because she started to use her body to bang against the glass pane and hoping to irritate him. What she got was only angry stares from him. Even her husband asked her to give it up with a smile. At that point of time, I was feeling not angry but sorry for the boy. For all the education he's getting, he's a loser. If I were his teacher, I'll make sure he knows the simplest of courtesy of giving up his seat to someone who needs it.
It's a typical Singaporean mentality, I paid for my seat and my personal items deserved it too. A few stations later, perhaps knowing the public scrutiny was on him, he eventually gave up that vacant seat occupied by his bag and tennis racket to another auntie. Few of my friends working in Japan always tell me how polite the Japanese are and it's being shown in the way they board trains etc. It's going to be impossible for Singapore to go down that route in the near future but I'm sure there are a minority of us out there who still waits till all the passengers alight before I board the train. To be honest, Singapore is a relatively small country. Does it really hurt to even stand one hour from Jurong to Pasir Ris?
Results came out and it dipped abit from last semester but it's definitely still enough for me to get the stipend. I could give a thousand excuses that I didn't have enough time to prepare because of the '3 papers in 2 days' thingy but I'm sure there are others out there like me. My class rep is one such example. Honestly though, it's really tough and I'm glad I don't have to go through it over again. Soci was a big big disappointment and question 4 did destroy me. With no more geography to distract me, there's a bit more time to work on my PE modules. It took me 4 days to really make a sound decision after consulting the office, professors and seniors. Have decided to push back the day to take my general elective to semester 2. With 6 modules and 3 exam papers, I can't risk having an elective to distract me. Furthermore, anybody with common sense will tell you it's only sensible to take it in semester 2 when there's no exams and only 4 modules.
You know I'm glad that the newpaper did an article on soccer boots a couple of days back. It's about the nike mecurial vapour boots worn by Cristiano Ronaldo and Drogba. Nike did 'admit' that a player who wears those boots are sacrificing protection and safety for speed and control. Personally, I will never buy that model for soccer. After entering university, I've come to appreciate the advantages of wearing court shoes. It's all about the friction and protection. With that secured, you're able to go in for a challenge with less fear you're coming out of it injured. It's like I used to wonder why squash players always have to wear court shoes when track shoes will suffice. It all makes sense now. The friction you have could be the difference between sliding around the court or be on time to retrieve the dropshot.
