Tomorrow will be the day.
First things first, to my regular visitors, please accept my apologies if I haven’t been dropping by your sites recently - or if I hadn’t commented on your entries for the past few days. I am absolutely dying here with too much trainings with the added need to keep up with my assignments. By Sunday - I promise.
So, tomorrow marks my very first step into the Bowling IVP Tournament. Will it make it or break me?
I’ve trained hard for this, and I am quite certain that I can maintain my usual 140-150 average. However, after checking out the competition during the Men’s singles held yesterday, I am suddenly struck with several thoughts of “What-ifs?”
The two SMU guys teams did very well, with the SMU girls team (Me and another three teammates) screaming our lungs out cheering for them. Out of all the bowling scores achieved by our male counterparts, almost 50% of the scores were 200 and above.
But yet, we still lost.
And all of a sudden, my 140-150 average seems so… meagre in comparision.
Furthermore, there was also the incident of the wrongly-sized shirts. Apparently, the shipment of team shirts for the SMU Bowling Team came in the wrong sizes, and most of the guys who were bowling in yesterday’s singles tournament had found themselves wearing a tight-fit tee.
One of my senior teammates realized that he had to change his style of bowling just to accomodate the tee - as he was afraid the sides of the tee would slit open if he wasn’t careful.
Naturally, since Alvina and I were in charge of the team shirts, we weren’t happy, and delivered a bunch of good words down the phone to the ears of the supplier.
That said, I hope tomorrow will be a better day.
Wish me all the best - with high scores. I am hoping for a miracle to suddenly take me adrift and bowl at least an average of 180. Is that ever possible?
At the moment, I feel like Chicken Little when he was called up to bat during the baseball scene.
“I will not let you down.“
I need more people to share their thoughts with me with regard to this issue. What do you feel about the issue as a whole? Are the laws in Singapore too strict? Or, did the man deserve to die?
If you have no idea of what I’m rambling about, read on.
If you wish to know my opinion on the whole matter, read on too.
You know, I’ve read so much about the Nguyen Tuong Van issue, but I couldn’t really be arsed to say anything much. Not until I came across this site which mentioned The boycott by an Australian uploading service website against Singapore by banning Singaporean users, as well as the comments left on the site that ignited the fire within me.
A message left on the website addressed to Singapore:
At dawn on December 2nd 2005, Singapore hanged a citizen of Australia, despite a plea for clemency from the United Nations. Whilst Putfile is not a human rights campaigning organization, we believe that if a country must have the death penalty, there is no need for it be barbaric. It is enough of a punishment, and a deterrent, to take someone’s life in a painless manner, without having to be barbaric about it. Putfile prefers to not continue to provide our free uploading service to a country that executes prisoners by hanging, a method of execution which can take up to six minutes to painfully execute the victim.
For this reason, we are at this time terminating all service to users from Singapore. We shall be happy to restore service following any positive move from the government of Singapore towards abolition of hanging as an execution method.
Goodbye Singapore,
Putfile
So, Singapore is going to change it’s laws because it’s citizens can no longer upload their files to Putfile? Right, you’re so right. Nice attempt, buddy. But it’s not going to work.
Several other countries carry out capital punishment via hanging as well, and actively invokes such punishments if required. Does this mean that these countries are going to banned too?
For the unitiated, I shall give a brief rundown on what’s been going on. An Australian man - Ngyen Tuong Van, has trafficked drugs into Singapore in a bid to repay the debt of his twin brother - a crime that calls for the harshest penalty in this country.
As long as you step foot into a particular country, you are to abide by their laws. It’s written everywhere. There are notices plastered around the landing points, and even on that piece of immigration card that you have to fill in. Nobody gives a hoot about which country you are from. The rules in this country are not the same as those in your homeland. This is a totally different place altogether. With a different culture, and with a different way of doing things.
You chose to enter this country and so, you are governed by the rules and regulations of Singapore. So, stop giving that bullshit that “I am a whatevercountry-ian, so your country’s laws don’t apply to me.”
It’s been in the constitution for several years that drug trafficking is a heavy crime and calls for very stiff penalties - in this case, capital punishment. The offender knew the law, as well as the consequences, and yet he still went about doing it.
All drug offenders, regardless of whether they are local, or immigrants, will be treated the same way. So the offender is from Australia. So what? And so Australia decides to hold a petition against the Singapore government from carrying out the execution, and all the blame goes on the government when they refuse to budge.
Who was the one who committed the crime in the first place? Nguyen Tuong Van. Fine, his intentions for trafficking drugs were so-called ‘good’. But it’s still a crime nonetheless. Should Singapore really cease the execution because of all these petitions and boycotting, it will simply be an indication that the government condones the act, and might even spur on even more drug trafficking occurrences because one offender got off lightly.
Despite my reservations about the Singapore government despite being a Singaporean myself, I feel a sense of pride for the government in this case because they’ve made the right decision. Let this be a wake-up call to all the other drug traffickers.
The offender may have been repentant, and realized his mistake. However, the deed has already been done. If he was a repentant person, he should have realized his mistake before he committed the crime. Excuses such as “this has been done out of desperation” or “the offender wasn’t thinking” would not suffice. This is a serious offence. If the majority of all of us can control what we do, and control our thoughts and actions even in times of adversity, there is no reason why this man cannot.
And we’re talking about a perfectly mentally-healthy person too.
Perhaps when I put myself in the shoes of an Australian who feels strongly against the hanging, it is understandable for you to feel so much for a fellow citizen. However, it is not within your power, neither is it in your right, to make changes to the laws and regulations of another country.
This is Singapore government you’re dealing with, not the government of your own country. Things are done differently. The government sets its rules, because it is in their right to do so, and have the final say in matters like the above. You don’t set the rules. It is not in your authority. Neither should you even think you have the right to do so, just because it concerns the life of a fellow citizen.
Neither should you even think that boycotting the goods from Singapore, or even stigmatizing Singaporeans will spur the Singapore government into changing their laws, or undo the fact that Nguyen Tuong Van trafficked drugs.
Hate Singapore if you must. You’re simply standing on the side of the offender - one who chose to ignore the laws of another country. One who didn’t show the capability to differentiate between what is right and what’s wrong. One who was stupid enough to take such a huge risk as smuggling heroin into Singapore and thinking he wouldn’t get caught.
In fact, I am also rather miffed over the comments of some people, where they mentioned that Singapore is a first world country with very outdated laws. Okay, so Singapore is a very developed country. However, this does not mean that the types of crimes committed in the modern world or ancient world are different. Drug trafficking is an offence that has been around for many years, and is not just a modern-day problem.
Furthermore, what even gave you the idea of judging a country’s laws based on it’s current stage of development? They are two completely unrelated things altogether.
Singapore’s laws may be strict. But this is the main driving force behind the fact that Singapore has to lowest crime rate in the world. We, as Singaporeans, may disagree with their laws at times. However, we still live by the laws, and are still able to carry on our daily lives as per normal.
Imposing a law, and showing compassion for a person’s life, are two completely different issues. If we did show compassion for every single drug trafficker, our current legal/law system will completely crumble. Then, what do we even bother to have a legal system in place right from the very start?
The human right for life is one thing - the freedom of choice of whether one wants to live. However, this man threw away his right to live when he committed the crime. If he knows that drug trafficking holds a death penalty, he is already making a decision with regard to his life when he chose to commit the crime.
My suggestion is this. Obey the laws of your own country, as well as any other country you step into, and the government will leave you alone.
Misbehave at your own risk.
*Takes a deep breath*
Okay, I think I have said enough. Those are my thoughts on the whole issue. What do you (This ‘you’ is referring to you as the reader, no longer the imaginary ‘you’) think?
Sometimes I wonder, am I taking the correct path into the future? In fact, I don’t just ponder about the future, I am also thinking about the present.
Of Attitude and Personality
Look at me now, and look at me three years ago. What has changed? Aplenty. I’ve become more nitpicky, increasingly irritable, and overly sensitive. I start jumping onto people as soon as I become the least bit irritated, and I tend to harp on things that people say as well as what I’ve done wrong for the day.
Am I taking everything too seriously? The answer is obvious. I definitely need to lighten up.
I used to be a very cheerful girl. But now, I tend to be frowning and sulking most of the time.
My list of pet peeves has grown ever since I stepped into Junior College in 2003, and so I tend to get annoyed at the smallest things. When I say the “smallest things”, I really mean the tiny, nitty-gritty details. As a result, I see myself getting all grumpy and annoyed at least ten times a day.
Not good for mental health, I’d say.
Of course, this does not mean that I am going to liberalize myself fully. Although I am going to start taking most things with a pinch of salt, and try to find the humour in most unpleasant events, I am still not going to stand for certain things, especially those that challenge who I am as a person.
.
.
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And my dress sense. *Stares at a certain male friend who lives two blocks away.*
Of Avoidance and Pessimism
On a different note, I’ve also got to learn how to smile more, put my chin up, and face everything with optimism. Furthermore, I’ve need to be more sociable.
Sociable? You will ask. Some people are under the impression that I am extroverted and expressive. However, all that depends on the people I am with. I show my true self only to people who I am comfortable speaking to, including a handful of my new-found friends in SMU (particularly those in my LTB project group).
I’ve got to stop letting myself be intimidated by people around me, especially those I am less familiar with, and get out more. Anyway, it is always healthy to have your friends and loved ones around you.
Ah well, enough pondering and reflecting on my so-called “new personality”. Right now, I’ve got to start channelling all my energy into putting a smile on my face.
Of Careers and such
Current course: Degree in Information Systems. (Singapore Management University)
Is this what I want to do in the future? Sometimes I find myself pondering. Somehow, I just don’t see myself as the person who is stuck behind a desk on a 9-5 job every single weekday in an IT organization. Yes, I love programming and all those geeky IT stuff. But, do I want this as a career?
I was flipping through the brochures and course phamplets from the other two local universities in Singapore last night. Bioengineering, pharmacy, chemical engineering, architecture. The possibilities are endless.
So why did I restrict myself to just IT when I was selecting my course a few months back?
Early this year, all I wanted to do was to choose a course I was more familiar with. But now, all I want is a course with a little more pizzaz. I am seeking an exciting career. Something that keeps me on my feet and not stuck behind a desk all day long developing moss on my backside.
Unfortunately, it is too late for me to turn back now.
The best I can do at the moment is to be happy with what I already have, and probably seek a job in the tourism industry upon graduation.
Inferiority Complex
Sometimes, I take a look at other people, and all of a sudden I feel so small. I mean, some people are really high flyers. They have a definite direction to their future. They’re self-assured, independent and confident.
On the other hand, look at me. Someone who is still a child at heart, someone who is living for the present, and has mix feelings about what she wants for her future.
Look at the above two descriptions, and compare. Now you’ll understand why I feel like shite sometimes.
And the fact that high flyers tend to get all arrogant and preachy doesn’t make things any better.
My level of confidence is like the stock market. One moment, I feel as though I am on top of the world, with a sense of accomplishment. And the next moment, my ego is falling down at the speed of light and landing with a loud thud on the ground.
Ah well. Whatever. Optimism, baby. OPTIMISM.
And I’m not going to let myself live each day with rising stress levels. Furthermore, I am not going to let the expectations of other people, or society’s standards determine who I am.
I am BRENDA, and Brenda is me.
Wheeeeeeeeeee!