It has been a long time...

It has been 3 months since I last blogged. I even almost forgot my password to this account.

It has been 3 short months of ups and downs. Of memories and events. Of transitions and continuations. Of hardwork. Of despair. Moments of joy. Lots of toil. Of swears. Of cheers. Of anguish. Of celebrations. Of politiking. Of good and bad.

Of understanding some people more. Friendships have been forged, established, and anchored more deeply than ever. But at the same time, this period of time has also seen the manifestation of differences. Geographic differences. Cultural differences. Philosophical and ideological differences. In other words, rifting has also occurred simultaneously.

Throughout these 1 and a 1/2 years, I have been observing and learning a lot. I have gained a better understanding of how society functions, of how dirty the game of politics can be played, of how lovers come and part, of how detructive complacency can be, of how powerful humility can be, of how criminal people can become.

I have noted how Singaporeans behave, sometimes by critically examining myself, and sometimes by allowing myself to be critically (but thankfully not harshly) examined by teachers. I have become more open to criticisms.

In the following part of this post, I will examine in depth (provided I have the stamina to continue writing) several events (or observations) which I feel were significant (to me) during the past 3 months. I shall be open, be critical and be honest.

1. The SLA Spatial Challenge
It wasn't easy. But I've learnt a lot. It was immediately after Ct1, it was sacrifice after sacrifice, sleepless nights, time spent browsing the library shelves for boring academic journals*, it was another PW all over again, albeit slightly more interesting to me.

*seriously, academic journals are not fun stuff. more on that next time

Imagine trying to get Russia and the United States to co-operate with each other during the height of the Cold War. That was the fundamental challenge to RJC Team 1.

To be brutally honest I shall say
a) certain team-mates were never the best of friends to start off with. b) the team lacked motivation to really work hard. c) not everyone contributed in equal amounts, yet everyone was there to busk themselves in the spotlight of honour and glory and credit.

That, I've learnt, is the nature of man.

When I saw how united the other teams from other schools are, I was envious of them. There was this bond present in them that wasn't with the Rafflesians. Maybe we highly-driven Raffesians couldn't care about anything else other than the prize at stake. Maybe that's the reason why we miss out on the intangibles of life.

2. MaPhiSing's Reunion
It would be apt at this point of time to explain and introduce MaPhiSing. MaPhiSing stands for Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore for short. MaPhiSing was a band of three friends who met each other during November last year, when they spent a week together in Germany studying environmentalism, under the annual "Bayer Young Environmental Envoy" "Field Trip to Germany" programme.

Somehow, these three young boys from South East Asia just had a special bond with each other, a bond which cannot be explained. The friendship which I share with Anthony from Malaysia and Renzo from the Philippines are what I call the intangibles of my life.

I realised that these two bright young international friends of mine were slightly different from my other Singaporean friends in terms of lifestyle, perspectives, mannerisms and attitudes.

Anthony Leong Zi Ping, 21, is a veterinary student from University Putra Malaysia. He is a top student in his form, and a very passionate animal lover. Despite the quotas and the explicit discriminatory bias admission policies of his nation's tertiary education system, he managed to secure a place in a Malaysian state university, and hence prove to the world that meritocracy still has its place in the rapidly-industrialising nation of Malaysia. Anthony is fluent in a plethora of languages, including English, Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, and Cantonese. He is the only son, and has 5 other siblings. Early this year, he led a team of like-minded friends and peers in organising the inaugural "A Week of Endangered Species" in his univeristy, which sucessfully engaged the student population there and brought to attention the plight of animals in this greed-infested world.

Ramon Lorenzo Luis Rosa Guinto, who recently celebrated his 20th birthday, is a cheerful extrovert. He is a medical student at the University of the Philippines Manila under the accelerated liberal arts/medicine degrees programme, which only admits the top 50 scorers at the university's entrance exams. Renzo could have pursued his education at Harvard or Yale, yet he chose to remain in the Philippines to fufill his ambitions to be a doctor. Renzo is currently serving as the vice-chairperson of his college's student council, and has organised festivals, staged musicals, cheorograhed dance, composed music and held talks for his peers. Renzo's ambition may to be a doctor, but he also aspires to be the president of Philippines in order to erradicate graft and improve the standard of living of millions of his countrymen. He has promised to employ HC to be his chief advisor for national issues should he be elected president.


After their farewell in Cologne, Germany, the trio remained friends, often communicating through email and chat, and even sms. During the last week of May, Maphising decided to meet again, this time in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, for a short week of reunion and holiday.

We visited attractions like Malaysia's Batu Caves (a solid example of a limestone cave, which is highly relevant to the Cambridge A level Physical Geography Syllabus), Kuala Selangor (one of only 2 places in the entire world to have natural fireflies amassed in significant numbers), and of course classic sites and sights like Melaka and the Petronas Towers. We met up with Ms Mei Choo from Bayer Malaysia and Ms Nisha from the New Straits Times (both of whom travelled together with us to Germany last year) for a wonderful Italian lunch.

We took a coach to Singapore, where the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari were must-see attractions. A tour of the city and Orchard followed, together with a day at Sentosa. We also met up with Ms Adelina and Ms Dorothy from Bayer Singapore (whom we also know), who treated us to a hearty seafood dinner.

And what have I learnt from this reunion/travel?

I've learnt that Singaporeans should do some soul-searching. I have observed that many Singaporeans, especially youth, are taking things for granted and getting complacent, cocky, arrogant, and sigh, disgusting. Let's note here that I am also Singaporean, that the previous statement came from me more as a form of admission rather than criticism.

Singaporeans should travel and read more. Singaporeans should develop a broader sense of the world. The world does not consist of only Singapore and Singaporeans. Why do I say this? I realised that many Singaporeans youths are very single-minded, and look down upon people from other nationalities. Walk past RJ, and you'll hear people critisizing workers from Bangladesh (calling them names like 'Bangla') and laughing at Filippino domestic workers (making fun of some maids here that do not look at the camera whike taking photos). This, in my opinion, only reflects on how immature and unworldly some Singaporeans are. Having travelled sparsely, read little, and having had little interactions with people from other nationalities (do you have a real friend from South america? What about a friend from Africa? From Europe?), some Singaporeans are just spoilt and overly proud. If Renzo and Anthony represent the youth in their countries, I will say that their countries have a more undertanding and more humble culture.


Singaporeans are becoming more complacent. Young or old, or whether you work for a certain Ministry which has recently had a hat-trick of falters or not. Singaporeans are takig things for granted, assuming that everything will be taken care of for them. I compare once again to my friends from Malaysia and Philippines. They are aware of the need to work hard for themselves, and for their futures. They hence have a spirit of tenacity in them, a fighting spirit, and a genuine care for the future of their countries. Some Singaporeans, on the other hand, believe their responsibilities end at the ballot box or the tax-forms. Singaporean youths indulge in political apathy, thinking it's cool to be so. Why even read the newspapers, some retort.


Singaporeans also are very boring people (as compared, once again, to my two friends). Everything is a routine for them: Primary school, do well in PSLE, Secondary school, JC or Poly, then Uni, then get a very secure 9 to 5 job. Retire at 60 plus, collect CPF, and enjoy life. Weekends? Either shopping or movies or go Sentosa play beach volleyball or do homework or do undone office work, or worse still, go clubbing, which I feel is a stupid activity altogether, because you pay money for noise and liver damage. This is the reason why Singaporeans lack creativity. Are we to be forever on the receiving end of trends? Are we not capable of producing new stuff? Look at our shops! They're all selling foreign products, designed by foreigners! And brainless teenage followers only know how to follow brands and trends. When will we ever be selling an idea to the world? Even newater isnt entirely created by Singaporeans, it's created by the more creative expats who reside in Singapore. We Singaporeans perhaps need to learn something from our foreigns friends, people who have imagination and creativity and who are not afraid to pursue their dreams.

We need change. We need Kennedys and Obamas, and we need them quick. We need to learn the strengths of our friends, just like how they would learn from us. But please, spare us the Chees.