STAR BLOGGERS

That was my initial reaction to seeing those ugly trunks worn by the Singapore waterpolo team in the Asian Games. And after an initial “cooling down period”, I looked at them and went “eee… why like that?” again.

Not for an unnamed Singapore official in Guangzhou. He/she told The New Paper that it looked “obscene”. Next, Carol Tan, the resilience and marketing division director at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts denied any involvement with the design of the trunks.

 Ms Tan said: “We would have told them that their design is inappropriate as we want elements of the Flag to be treated with dignity.”

 Not their fault.

 Quite predictably, when team manager Samuel Wong heard about the complaints, he said: “There was no question of being disrespectful to Singapore or to the national flag. We sincerely apologise if it has offended anyone.”

A remarkable show of national pride, but Mr Wong and Ms Tan can save their apologies for me. I may find the design ugly and funny, but it will take a much bigger and thicker crescent moon to offend me. Apparently, the majority of Singaporeans are perfectly OK with the trunks. Even those who objected to them only had issues with the crescent moon and not with the stars. I’m not sure how small they’ll have to make the crescent moon to please everybody, but the last thing we need is for some puritanical prig to stand up and condemn the harmless trunks. And let’s not make the crescent moon too small or it’ll look paedophilic.

 The trunks may look ugly and/or silly, but as a patriotic Singaporean, I’m not even going to say that they are ugly and/or silly. I’m going to say that they look great on our waterpolo team and all my support goes out to them. May they do our country proud and wear it over that unnamed official’s head after the match.

Dr Chan Joon Yee is a dentist and blogger who loves mountain climbing and backpacking. Self proclaimed to be a dreamer, rebel and maverick, he writes at http://www.newagedentists.com/

Jonathan Wong’s arrest for possession of child pornography, and the subsequent revelation of the fact that he is a recipient of a Ministry of Education (MOE) teaching scholarship, has set many wondering if scholarship selection processes are adequate or sufficiently all-encompassing. Allegations that Jonathan had been previously dealt with disciplinarily in high school for serious offences have further compounded opinions. The report, “References And Interviews Are Key To Scholarship Selection” (November 20, 2010 by Miss Ng Jing Yng, makes the salient point that disciplinary records should constitute an important element of the application process.

Realistically, it is virtually impossible to determine an individual’s character and integrity in spite of the psychometric assessments, interview processes or personal statements. The Public Service Commission’s (PSC) over-reliance on “teachers and principals” to assess a student’s behaviour over a period of time might be misplaced. References are often biased by schools and teachers’ relationships with the students, and the pertinent desire to increase the number of scholars produced; further, applicants have been trained to handle a plethora of interview situations so as to be perceived favourably; while conduct grades are hardly accurate determinants of an applicant’s personality and overall disposition. Even as an all-round evaluation remains a tall order for scholarship boards, including a review of one’s disciplinary history would definitely render the selection process slightly more wholesome and holistic.

This is particularly important for a teaching scholarship, since educators are expected to be exemplary individuals not just in teaching-learning per se, but also as role models – in character and values – for their students to emulate. Even if there are blemishes on the records, the key is not to pass judgement right away, but to ascertain whether the student has genuinely reflected upon the mistake and progressed. We are not expecting scholars to be perfect goody two shoes; but people who learn, grow and mature with time.

With this episode, as the scholarship boards seriously review their methodologies and include reviews of their applicants’ disciplinary records, Jonathan should be given a second chance. Undoubtedly, his teaching scholarship would be revoked as he potentially faces up to five years imprisonment, but the MOE should help facilitate his rehabilitation process together with his family and friends. Even as his actions should never be condoned, Jonathan should be allowed to repent and think upon his actions, and speedily move along a recovery process.

His offences with regard to child pornography would certainly serve as a stern warning for many in Singapore and around the world. However, if his rehabilitation process can be followed through respectfully, it would reflect well on Singapore and the MOE.

Kwek Jinyao is a 19-year-old NSF, formerly from Hwa Chong Junior College. As an activist on education issues, he blogs at http://guanyinmiao.wordpress.com/ He feels that only with constructive criticisms and self-evaluation would people progress and prosper.

The identity of Singapore from the eyes of the world

                   Your Singapore, Clean and Green. In Today’s newspaper article dated 4^th November 2010, on top of focusing on Singapore’s cleanliness and greenery, a tremendous amount of attention was also put in perspective regarding Singapore’s strong performance in attracting businesses. Over the years, Singapore’s tax friendly, low interest rate climate, and low corruption, has triggered an influx of foreigners coming to Singapore.  With an environment that encourages diverse culture to thrive and one that focus on the interconnectivity among people, it is essential for Singaporeans to be more prepared to compete at a global level. Skills are the validation of pre-success in Singapore.

                   Being in Singapore for years since 1997, my friends had labelled me as a semi-product of Singapore. During some occasions, they even asked me whether I have developed the infamous “kiasuism”. I was delighted to see that the definition was found in the 1997 edition Australian Macquarie Dictionary. Kagda (1993) in Business Times refers kiasuism as the “negative complement of competitiveness”. Equipped with this unique Singaporean identity, it is even more so, necessary to inject foreign blood. This will exert Singaporeans to be collectively more driven to improve their skills in order to gain competitive advantage, not only among their peers to increase the overall performance level, but also over foreign talents.

                   Competition breeds commitment and willpower. These will eventually do Singaporeans good by having a healthy competition against foreigners, generally, in terms of universities and job placements.  2 weeks ago, Finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said that Singaporeans need to strive for “excellence instead of just being competent”. I think the same could be applied to foreigners. Foreigners would need to understand that in order to obtain and sustain a job in Singapore, one has to be exceptional. This is why foreigners’ formal denomination is called foreign talents.

                   Just about a week ago, Standard Chartered regional CEO, Ray Ferguson denounced his British citizenship to become a Singaporean. Reason being, Singapore “has become a talent magnet and international headquarter” for foreigners. He could be the word of mouth in delivering compelling messages to friends that Singapore is a good place to stay in. Through positive viral marketing, it could motivate foreigners to have a vested interest in venturing to Singapore. This could grow the economy of the country.

                   What makes us the way we are? Conventional answers could be due to the stress level and state of mind. Just like in economics, when the barriers of entry are lowered, competitors will find it easy to enter the market. The more competitors there are in the market, the more skill-savvy the other companies have to be – be innovative, be creative and stay on as a worthy opponent to new comers.

                   Overtime, I feel that Singaporeans do need to develop “resilience” as their identity, with the notion of persevering until the end of their goal under volatile business environment. While a foreigner like me, who has stayed in Singapore for almost 10 years now and experienced the life of studying and working, are now embracing Singapore as my home. It is still a perfect environment despite the harsh reality that obtaining and sustaining a work in Singapore is and will be challenging. However, if it does enlarge my capacity and expand my learning agility like the speed of a Mass Rapid Transit, I will be more than willing to take up the challenge and inject “kiasuism” elixir unto me as a driving force to build a better live for my family and contribute to Singapore’s Gross Domestic Income movement.

 Fletcher Luhur is a 24-year-old Chinese-Indonesian student pursuing after his 2^nd Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Management at the PSB Academy. In his free time, he fiddles with his Canon DSLR to capture shots of artistic moments.

Imagine….stepping into a shopping mall wanting to have a great time shopping and spending your hard-earned money but all you could get was rude customer service or going home empty handed because nothing fits.

Imagine…your biggest crush ever telling you I will have you as a girlfriend/boyfriend if you are slim. Imagine always walking with blisters…

Imagine being rejected at an interview just because
you are obese….

I have been obese almost all of my life. If I have my health booklet with me now, I will have scanned for you my records since I was a baby. Recently, there’s been lots of news that 1 in 10 Singaporeans are obese. How healthy exactly is Singaporeans perception of obesity? Is it as healthy as the slimming ads we all see every time we switch
on the TV, flip the papers, browse the magazines? Or is it as healthy as the sizes on the retail shelves? Mainstream media is a very powerful marketing tool. Have you ever seen any ads prominently on main stream media to advise the morbidly underweight to put on weight? Or any health centres encouraging you to take up their fitness package to keep fit and healthy as compared to slimming ads?

The key is to be healthy, is it not? The thing is “SLIM IS NOT NECESSARILY HEALTHY” likewise “OBESE IS NOT NECESSARILY UNHEALTHY”.

I do not deny the fact that obesity does have higher risks of getting heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc…BUT these can be improved/avoided with proper lifestyle and education. I am an example who was mildly diabetic but with proper diet control, I am in the healthy range now. Perhaps, instead of 1 in 10 Singaporeans are obese, why not 1 in 10 Singaporeans have a higher need to adopt a healthy lifestyle? Obesity, at times are not by choice, there are obese people who inherited obesity. We will be very soon, like the United States of America. For those of you who have watched “Supersize Me”, you will realise its only a matter of time that we have a fast food joint every time we turn a corner. Lifestyle choices that we make in our daily lives are a very big part of us. I have friends who are slim but unhealthy and friends who are obese but the doctors are amazed at how healthy they are.

We have stigmatised, many of us, obese people. Obesity means unhealthy, untidy, undesirable, undeserving… I, at least 50% overweight, since Secondary School, have excelled at work and school. I have always been the leader and never have let obesity be the obstacle. I have never let the excuse of “no clothes can fit me” or “I am obese” to bring me down at interviews. However, there’s still always this bit in me that resisted shopping and going out with slim
pretty girlfriends when I was younger. Stepping into a retail shop, before you could check on anything, the sales girl will tell me, “Sorry, don’t have your size.” or they won’t even bother serving me. Is that healthy? No, its not! It’s detrimental to my emotional health.

How about that?

Why don’t most retail shops in Singapore carry sizes up to UK24, like in the United States? Does being Asian mean being smaller? I beg to differ. It’s super irritating to see signages at the selected few retail shops, that sell plus size clothes indicating that they have sizes for up to XXXXXXL…and I have to count how many X’s there are.
If one day, UK18 (XXXL) is equivalent to M size, that will make the current size S, XXXXXS, now you may start counting! Being plus size doesn’t mean that I have to wear black clothes, ugly designs, and clothes with no cutting. Instead, we have the need, like every other man or woman to dress up to the nines, wear stylish clothes that flaunt our curves, colours that make us happy. We have every right and every need.

Look at plus size actors and actresses in Hollywood. There they are, standing tall, bright and cheerful in pretty clothes and winning awards on the red carpet. Why so in Singapore that most plus size actors/actresses are being made comedian roles or being made a mockery of most of the time? Media…media…media…why does it have to be typecast this way? Tsk Tsk Tsk…Do you know that there are
obese people out there who can act, sing and dance really well?! I, for one, got praised for dancing most of the time and was a pretty good actress in my ELDDS days in non-comical roles! We should not live in stereotyped lives, lives that others made out for any kind of people. The media is simply the media, they do what they do, we
have to just accept that. And we in turn, do what we do.

The point is, after all, we are all human. Regardless of whether you are slim or obese, you only have one life in this world! Would you rather your life be wasted moping around or create and empower your own life and live it to the fullest?! If you are obese and you are at home, living in darkness and sadness, its time for you to accept the world as it is, and live your own life. Take the first step, be confident. It’s your life, no one has any control over it except yourself. If you are a non-obese person, always giving negative remarks, or perhaps, one of those sales persons at the retail shops, perhaps its time for you to accept us for who we are. We are no different from any other person except for the size. We may be obese but we are not necessarily unhealthy! Remember that.

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Erica Sim is the owner of Online shopping portal Big N Beautiful, providing clothes for plus size women and empowering them to be comfortable in their own skin. She blogs at http://bab.com.sg/blog/

Gone are the days of serenity in the heartland. With the recent murder of Darren Ng at Downtown East, Pasir Ris is no longer the safe haven that everyone makes it out to be. Yes, many of us Singaporeans are aware that the crime rates in Singapore are low, with murders happening very rarely. There is nothing shocking about that. However, what really got the entire nation gasping was the fact that the murder took place at the Ehub in Downtown East, a mall where throngs of people patronize daily. Violence is taking a public stand now. People are not afraid to kill others right before the eyes of the public. What is this world turning into? Tsk.

While reading the various articles, the only questions that kept screaming out were ‘What were the killers thinking?’ and ‘Have they not considered the consequences of their actions?’ What perturbed me the most about the murders was that those boys had the courage to kill Darren in front of parents and children and laugh it off. Did they spare a thought for the trauma that those poor, innocent kids could have in the years to come?

My mum was reading the papers and cursing the murderers with every breath. She wants them dead, and so did a lot of other people I know. No one could actually fathom how anyone of average intellectual capacity would do such a despicable act. The public outcry is apparent, and most people are for Darren. However, there are some who feel Darren’s death was imminent and that he ‘deserved it’. But seriously, who actually deserves to be killed for such trivial matters? If I had a penny for every time I stared at someone, I would be a millionaire by now.

So what will be a deserving form of punishment for the four murderers? Some people suggested a public hanging, slow slicing, and other nonsensical forms of torture. I’m definitely not going to consent to all those mentioned above as we Singaporeans are not barbaric. Initially, I was supportive of the idea of a death sentence. I was adamant to see the murderers pay for their mistakes with their lives. I hated them for causing so much pain. The court should spare them no leniency.

And then, things took a turn today.

After looking at the photos of Darren’s wake in The New Paper, it dawned on me that there could be four more wakes coming up, and four more sets of pictures of people weeping for four lives lost. We already know that their deaths will not bring Darren back. We definitely know that their deaths would bring more sorrow and pain. So why are we becoming the murderers now? Some people may scream that this is absurd and that the murder warrants a death sentence. However let’s look at the issue from this new perspective: – The guilt of having killed someone is enough to haunt them for life. Death is only just going to end it quicker for them.

I think they have already got what they deserved.

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Kenneth Teng is currently a first-year Business student at the Nanyang Technological University. He’s a closet introvert and a social butterfly, all at the same time. He blogs at http://www.omgitskennethteng.wordpress.com.