Little-Wonder.Net

14 October, 2003

Desperado

23:31:49 | School Life | writebacks (7)

Woe is me… I completely screwed up all the promotional exam papers despite 4 whole months of endless studying. Even though I had gone through almost every tutorial question for Physics at least 5 times, I left almost 40% of the Physics paper blank, accounting for almost 25-30 marks. The Chemistry paper today was also a disaster with tough questions popping out at my face each time I flipped through the pages. The time limit was also too short and despite thinking and writing as fast as I could, the Chemistry paper still had many unsightly blank spots when I handed it in. Mathematics was the only paper which went reasonably well as compared to the other two, overlooking the fact that I wrote utter rubbish for many questions in the Maths paper.

Currently, the chances of me getting retained in JC1 stands at 100.00%. No doubt about this. But I don’t want to get retained!

This is the outcome after spending a long period of time studying far before the promotional exams? Yesterday was the day where revision was most vigourous as I was glued to my notes from 10:30am all the way to 10:45pm. A twelve hour marathon! I entered the exam hall with all the info fresh in my mind. But one glance at the paper and every last bit of info was wiped out immediately, but I was not even nervous at all. It seems like a strange phenomenon which plagues every student who sits for an important exam. If this keeps on happening, there goes my hope of achieving straight As….

Two days ago, I tried searching for a method in which I can enable my brain to absorb as much information as possible. I had read from somewhere that the brain could think better if it is properly supplied with nutrients Thus, I studied on my bed with my head hanging over the edge for almost 45 minutes, thinking that making the blood rush to my head would supply it with more “nutrients”. The outcome? A whole hour of giddy spells…

This is what I call being desperate…

Oh well… at least the promotional exams are almost over. I am now counting on the Physics Paper 1 which I am sitting for this friday. 30 Multiple Choice Questions worth 60 marks in total. My Physics grade can be saved if I do well in this section. But if I mess up on this section again… the outcome should be quite obvious.

In the event that I do get retained, I am transferring out to a Polytechnic, immediately!

12 October, 2003

Overbearing Relatives

21:09:12 | Ranting | writebacks (11)

An incident which happened today made me come to the conclusion that personal relatives usually say the words which are most painful to one’s ears. They just do not know the right thing to say. Each time I enter my grandmother’s house, either my uncle(s) or my auntie(s) always feel as though it is their responsibility to tell me what is lacking in my appearance, personality and yadda yadda. Let me pose a question. Is having long hair a crime? So why are they always complaining that my hair is too long for their liking, my clothing are too bright to match their standards…etc? All these do not even matter much to me since I hardly care about how I look. So why am I always compared with others? External looks no longer count in today’s modern society. So why do they keep bothering about my appearance?

For goodness sake, nobody is perfect. If they want me to match up with their standards all the time, I suggest that they go and take a long hike, preferably one that lasts for 10 years. I am me, myself, with my own preferences and personality and it is high time that they accept that. If something like that is impossible, I suggest that they go and find some other cousin to pick on and leave me alone.

After Uncle Daniel passed that hurting comment about me today, I stormed out of the room and started to kao beh (Translation: nag and complain) at the rest of my relatives. This time, I have had it. I told them everything I had in my mind at that moment. About, how they are constantly passing hurtful comments about me and how they are always controlling me. No, this is not a cry for attention. I am someone who has to make my opinions known. Why should I always sit there, keeping mum all the time and suffering under the way they are constantly comparing me with others as well as making comments about me? I do not have to take this from them and it is definitely time that I put a stop to all these nonsense.

To make things worse, sometimes they even discuss about me even though I am right in front of them, as though I do not even exist.

Above all, this is the absolute worst time that my relatives have to do this. I was already extremely agitated during the day due to examination stress and thus, any incident no matter how slight can easily provoke me. And the fact that the Physics Promotional Exams are tomorrow isn’t helping at all.

I would be missing in action for the next 2 days as I have to continue revising for my upcoming papers. Having Physics tomorrow followed by Chemistry and Mathematics on Tuesday. After those two torturous days end, it would be time to smell the fresh air.

11 October, 2003

Irresponsible Foreign Worker Employers

00:37:46 | Ranting | writebacks (10)

Having a slight tummy-upset now, all thanks to that large chocolate soda which I had at Swensens just now. While my father gulped down the entire glass within seconds, I was unable to finish mine despite sipping for almost half an hour. Finally, I gave up and left the glass half-full. Hence and foremost, I thereby conclude that men have much bigger stomach space than women. Is this the main cause of the pot-belly trend scenario amongst men in Singapore? I doubt so.

So why does a large number of my male relatives have pot bellies? My Uncle D is a prime example, who has a stomach looking like an inflated spare tyre. His son, the famous David Tang (mentioned in this journal many times before) is starting to follow in his footsteps as well by developing a rather visible “pot belly” at the young age of 11. This seems to be a very worrying trend.

I really have a strong urge to lodge a report to the Ministry of Manpower regarding what I had seen taking place outside my bedroom window today. Take a good look at the following photographs. The first photograph on the left was taken today, while the second photograph was taken last Thursday. You should get the basic idea on what I am so worried about just by looking at these photographs.

This maid was actually climbing out of the window in order to do her cleaning! At least the photograph on the right taken last Thursday wasn’t that bad, considering the fact that there was a parapet wall in order to stablise her. But the photograph on the left taken today was certainly worse as she can easy fall off the window and break her skull. For some reason, her employer has yet to find out this problem, and I intend to make it known sooner or later. My parents and I are going to do something to tackle this problem before it gets worse.

Most foreign workers who engage in such a dangerous window-cleaning practices usually turn out to be Indonesian maids. Many cases reported in the local news regarding maids falling off high-storeyed buildings often involve Indonesian maids as well. I am having mixed feelings regarding what I should do about this. The best way out is to lodge a complaint with the MOM (Ministry Of Manpower), but this would mean that my relationship with my neighbour would turn sour. What a dilemma…