Night Festival

Yesterday Chels suggested we visit the Singapore Night Festival, as she has seen her friends upload videos of the event online. After detours to collect my Yellow Ribbon Race pack (really, a race I’m not ready for now), we headed to the BBB area (Bugis Bras Basah) to catch the festival.

It was not our first time. We visited the Night Festival last year and it was not too bad last year, so I thought we could compare how this year’s event fares compared to the 2014 edition. Turns out it was quite an improvement. The event area felt bigger, with more exhibits spanning a larger floor area. But Singaporeans being Singaporeans, many people congregated where the food places were (basically SMU) so there were many, many people there. We didn’t seem to recall seeing so many people eating food in last year’s event.

But we were there for the lights. This year the National Museum had a light show on the façade of the building, just like last year. This year’s version was cuter though, with ‘anooki’ (the cartoon character that sounds too similar to the Minions in Despicable Me) bouncing off the building. We then went to Armenian Street, which was closed to public (just like last year). Very nice vibe, with the smell of beer and food hanging in the air. Reminded me of the festivals I’ve been to in the United States with performances and food everywhere. Much better than last year’s one… maybe because no food last year.

We visited the Peranakan Museum, ‘cos we visited that during last year’s festival, and left feeling not too impressed (there wasn’t anything related to the Night Fest as far as we knew). We then chanced into the Substation, where there was a ‘extra extra special film screening’ in the theatre, which turned out to be watching local dramas aired in the 1990s (when we were kids). Chelsea and I didn’t catch these shows before, but we stayed in the room for pretty long (around 90 mins). It was featuring a show called “Growing Up”, and was apparently quite a hit last time. There was also a lady inside (her name escapes me) giving viewers live commentary that seemed to be on a sexual tangent (too many suggestive statements!).

It was entertaining though!

Eventually left the place at 11+ pm which was waaaaay later than expected. But I guess it also showed how successful the event was? At least Chels and I were happy sitting in a dark room watching somehow-night-fest-related material (in an air con room… that may be actually be the real reason)!

My failed artwork with the light sticks hahahaha

Simisai also…

With the anooki

Selfie at Peranakan Museum!

The Year 4 Feel

Taking a double degree programme forces you to be behind your cohort, sooner or later. Unless you decide to drop the second degree early, you’ll soon face a semester taking modules with your “juniors”. Intake year makes no sense anymore.

For accounting students, this is particularly painful thanks to the large number of projects involved in the higher-level modules. But that’s a problem for the next semester because I’m doing 100% FASS modules this semester!

This semester is exciting because I’m taking some (what I think) difficult economics modules, such as EC3102 (Macroeconomics II; difficult because I didn’t take EC2102), EC3303 (I’ve lost touch with statistics since… DSC1007, which was all the way in Year 1 Sem 2), and EC3312 (‘cos many reviews state how difficult the module is). I’m also doing my Field Service Project in one semester, so that will really amp up the intensity of the FSP. With all the MCs added up, I’m overloading this semester again!

It has been week 2 already, but thanks to the National Day holiday on Monday, I felt like I just finished a proper week of school. Frankly, it’s not much. Without tutorials I have a 2 day week (and with tutorials, 3 day week), to the envy of my youngest sister who’s still in JC (all in good time…). I’m also taking an exposure module this semester – NM1101E, the new media exposure module. Taking the mod with De Wei, fellow Year 4 and Acct DDP student, should be great.

The year 4 feel has definitely kicked in. Walking around school, thinking that we are the oldest undergrads in the school (with the exception of rare Year 5 students) really make you look at the wide-eyed freshmen with some sense of envy. And probably vice versa too – they probably look to us as the seniors who have battled the bell curve for 3 years already, and who are on the cusp of entering the next phase of life, when they are just starting out with university. Would really love to go back to those more energetic days. Hahahaha. (But please spare me the painful business core modules like leadership and business communication, yucks)

So Week 2 is underway. Semester promises to fly past quickly because of my lack of school days and FSP. Case in point: Tomorrow is my last day for the week. So Week 2 is almost over.

Undergrad life is ending sooner and sooner.

Good Elitism

First day of school. Pretty ho-hum until Chelsea shared this letter to the Straits Times with me, written by a Raffles Institution graduate (I would imagine he’s 19 this year). He argues that elitism can be good for society, and gave reasons why he felt there’s no need to veer from the “well-trodden path”.

I read the letter in disbelief, thinking that this person really personifies the kind of stereotypical “elite” who graduates from RI/RJC. Thankfully, I know better as my friends in NUS Business who have graduated from RI are nowhere like this fella.

I disagree with his overall conclusion, to the extent where I feel like putting some of my thoughts down here. One of the things I’ve been concerned about in Singapore is education. I believe in the power of education, how it levels the playing field, giving those who may not be as well off a fair chance to excel in society. Of course, in recent years, there is a perception that this leveller effect has reduced, thanks to increasingly wealthier families being able to send their young kids to (increasingly) expensive (branded) tuition classes, and the protection the Integrated Programme offers to these “bright” young kids. As PSLE scores are used to enter top junior colleges, more and more are seeing the benefits of expensive tuition and how it can help to secure their 12-year-olds for university.

Looking beyond the obvious mistakes (i.e, Singapore never had an aspiration for equity – which is the quality of being fair and impartial, not everyone doing the best they can. Singapore did however have aspirations for equality), the undertones and underlying assumptions that he points out are extremely worrying. For instance, he associates doctors and lawyers as superior to everyone else, who does ‘menial tasks’. Ouch. He has also assumed that his RI principal had highlighted the pursuit of equality during his speech, which I couldn’t find. What I drew from the speech was how the school was becoming less diverse, and how they are attracting a certain group of Singaporeans (clearly the rich and the well-off).

Then the part that made me sigh.

It is a natural consequence that students from affluent backgrounds get into better schools because their parents are likely more well-heeled and can afford better-quality education for them.

A “natural” consequence. No, no, no. It is a man-made consequence, urged on by societal pressures and norms.

To be honest, he did make valid points. I agree with him stating how elitism is the ugly side of meritocracy. That’s perfectly true, because there has be to some form of differentiation when it comes to the whole concept of meritocracy. The concept of meritocracy in Singapore is important, but it is not faultless. This I agree.

Then, the twist.

But maybe that is not a fault at all. A natural consequence that stratifies society does have its own purpose for the well-educated, critical minds to mingle together to build Singapore up to greater heights. Intelligence is an asset; and we cannot allow ourselves to prioritise equality over intelligence and equity.

Another “natural” consequence. This paragraph was such a fine display of elitism it made me look away. But the last part was so bad, I read it all up:

RI is often touted as a factory for future leaders – why would we want to draw resources away from the nurturing of our future leaders, or worse still, level the playing field?

We should relook the way we go off the well-trodden path, and ensure that we do not shake up the status quo just for the sake of doing so.

(emphasis mine)

Wow, wow, wow. Look at that amazing conclusion.

Here is a guy who probably has the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. In this context, it is the “if the system benefits me, don’t fix it”. This is not the kind of leader we need in Singapore. This system worked for him because he has succeeded in entering Raffles Institution, which may or may not be a sign of intelligence (tuition – aided by parents’ financial ability – skews academic ability, which itself is a sign of, but not conclusive of, intelligence).

But does the system work for everyone? I beg to differ. There are many students out there who may be intelligent, but their parents may not be able to afford tuition. There are students who are gifted, but just not in math or science (I’m thankful for schools like the Sports School and SOTA to cater to students who are gifted in these ways). And there are the late bloomers, who may not be that academically able in primary school, but find ways to fight with the best. My friend David Hoe is one of them.

The system does not work for everyone. I’m glad there are efforts to change and improve the system. Such as NUS admitting students into its prestigious Medicine programme from madrasahs and polytechnics, and how more universities are being built to support the aspirations of a meritocratic society.

Unfortunately, I think the writer only recognises academic ability – at just the PSLE and then the GCE ‘A’ levels – as a benchmark for intelligence. And how the “intelligent” (in his definition) should be given the chance to “mingle” and build Singapore up to greater heights. As if our nation only depends on the work of our political leaders, as if building the nation is only reserved for the elite.

For all its flaws, I’m thankful The Straits Times has decided to publish this letter (albeit online only). It helps to illustrate Mr Chan Poh Meng’s (principal of RI) point in his speech:

Are we able, as a school, to help our students look beyond narrow class-based interests?

Clearly, Mr Chan has his work cut out for him!

Postnote: As an accounting student, I can’t help but think about how he perceives equity – or, in the accounting sense, net assets – as an important aspiration.

Golden Jubilee

The Golden Jubilee long weekend is finally over. What an exciting four days it has been – at least for me! It’s also the last few days before school resumes and life goes back to normal – I’ve really been relaxing too much these weeks!

SG50 Public Holiday – Black Knights / NUSSU Rag and Flag

On the special public holiday, I spent the first half of the day with my family because we wanted to catch the Republic of Singapore Air Force Black Knights aerial acrobatics team, which had planned a special acrobatic display for Singapore’s 50th birthday. After dropping my brother off at the Padang – and admiring the Padang site – my dad dropped us off at Gardens by the Bay where we slowly walked to the Marina Barrage.

The weather was not looking too good as 12pm (the start time) approached, and it started to rain just before 12pm. The start time was pushed back, then we were informed that it will be a partial show. Turns out it really wasn’t a very sophisticated show, just some flybys and simple tricks. Better than nothing though, but nothing like the actual planned performance.

In the afternoon and evening I spent an incredible 7 hours at the Float at Marina Bay for NUSSU Rag and Flag Day, thanks Heather and Ben for the last-minute ticket. It’s really the biggest rag day ever, with the floating platform nearly full (that’s around 20,000 people!). I remember the last time NUSSU had the rag and flag day outside was in 2010, at the Promontory. I thought it was a good idea to do it outside because that’s the whole point of rag day – to show appreciation to the public who have donated during flag day. If you have it in campus, the outreach is limited. Of course, cost concerns make it a lot more viable to have it in school as part of orientation.

But it’s a nice break thanks to (what I think) a huge budget increase due to NUS’s 110th anniversary, added on to SG50 celebrations. Good show, but just a bit long. Really enjoyed the Biz (i’m biased) and Medicine performances, they were superb. And these two performances got gold yet again – really the gold standard in this competition. Just feels like the bar is getting higher and higher every year.

After that, there were performances by Gentle Bones, The Sam Willows and Christina Grimmie. I know the first two, I don’t know who Christina Grimmie was (unbelievable right?). They were all good. Of course Christina is supposed to be better or something but I really think they are around the same in terms of goodness. (I think our local talent is up there too!)

We left slightly early ‘cos it was dragging way too long, we didn’t have proper dinner, and I think I’m getting a bit too old for this freshman stuff.

HAHAHA.

So grand, so majestic

Just a simple flypast

Clearly not the best weather

Saw this new floral clock in Gardens by the Bay, another SG50 thing

Waiting for show to start…

Skyline waking up…

Caught some fireworks thanks to the jubilee weekend too! Reminded me of NDP 2013

National Day Eve – Botanic Gardens

8 Aug would have been a typical Saturday. Met Letts and Sheng Kang in the afternoon for a long awaited catch-up. Following that, on a whim, decided to bring my mum and my youngest sister out to the Botanic Gardens for the SG50 concert. I heard that it was the Singapore Symphonic Orchestra performing so it would be nice to catch them out. Plus there will be The Sam Willows again!

Turns out we didn’t see either of those. What we did see (‘cos we didn’t stay there for too long) was quite a nice performance by the Singapore Lyric Opera and a whole bunch of people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Botanic Gardens so crowded before. The palm valley surrounding the Shaw Foundation stage was FULL of families, many dressed in red, with picnic mats. Very glad to see many young kids too – and they are not playing with any of the fancy iGadgets.

Must say I was very impressed with the performance put up by Lyric Opera. I don’t listen to this genre at all (opera music leh, I’m how old only). It was a nice evening, not too hot, with gentle breezes here and there. It was particularly nice after the sun went down so it was just great weather and great music. 🙂

We found a nice spot quite far away from the front but not too crowded

A lot of people hor?

National Day – Black Knights again + Many hours in Marina Bay

All the $$ spent since Aug 10 last year to commemorate SG50 will finally lead to its conclusion on 9 Aug. After breakfast with my family and dropping my bro at the Padang, we heard the Proclamation by LKY in the car over radio. I got goosebumps and felt a lump in my throat when the familiar – yet not so familiar – voice declared that Singapore shall forever be an independent and sovereign nation. Forever – it’s a scary word to use especially considering the circumstances surrounding separation. 50 years later, forever still rings true.

Spent the rest of the day with Chels. We took the free public transport to Bayfront and followed the sea of red towards Marina Barrage. Weather looks better today, and the Black Knights really, really delivered. Made the wait for them to strut their F16s worth it. They were just as good, if not better (probably better) than when I last saw them in the 2011 Singapore Airshow (those NS days…).

The most touching one was definitely the tribute flypast, and the scariest one was… well, there’s more than one. I found those manoeuvres that brought the planes close to each other particularly scary.

We then spent our time slowly moving to lunch (in Peach Garden noodle house in Gardens by the Bay), then slowly moving to MBS, slowly having coffee, and then slowly finding a spot to watch the parade. Slowly because everywhere was full of people. It’s quite scary. The number of people everywhere really reminds you of how dense Singapore is. A very good number also decked in red and white – it was as though the entire nation was going to watch the show at Padang. But of course, National Day is more than just for those lucky peeps who get tickets to watch the parade.

We ultimately got a spot (helped by nice Singaporeans who gave me some space while I waited for Chels from the toilet) that had a good view of the LED screen but a partially blocked view of fireworks. For me it was a bit of a pity but I would rather have watched the parade and the show. The mood was superb – everyone watching the show around us were really enthusiastic. Clapped, sang, waved the flags, etc. In ways the mood of the people around us is better than the NDP Chels and I caught back in 2013.

Other than the sombre LKY tribute, the rest of the parade and show was received with loud applause and cheers from the crowd. Every chapter of the show. During the 2 national anthems everyone sung with gusto. Likewise for the pledge. It’s a nice, heartwarming feeling.

Until the fireworks start, of course. Then we were presented with our blocked view.

Zzz.  (But it’s okay)

After the fireworks Chels and I decided to take our time to go back because we can imagine how crowded public transport would be. We initially wanted to head to Marina Bay MRT but turns out I wasn’t the only one with that idea. So we decided to eat at SGEatWithUs right at the Bay, before heading back. Slowly.

It was so glorious to see Marina Bay in red and white, both in the day and in night. Truly a national day to remember.

Selfie before show starts

Red red red

Same same but different from two days ago! My other shots were quite blur.

Happy us at Marina Barrage – our first time together here!

That red snake

2:45pm at MBS. Look at how crowded the waterfront is.

The Q on the right leads to the casinos 😉

This was around 4.30pm. Final spot – the best one I could find

Close, not too bad view of the parade!

After hours of adjustments and moving around, everyone in the bay has stopped moving and is watching the show!

The 50, distorted thanks to our location

Our city in red

My lone shot of fireworks, hahaha

10pm at Bayfront. 2 hours after the fireworks, still so crowded

The Day After – Sentosa

Today is the last day of the 4-day-long weekend. Tomorrow school would start. People who have went off to enjoy the long weekend overseas would come back, holiday over.

My family had decided to check out the sand sculptures at Sentosa’s Siloso Beach, especially since the exhibition is only on for the jubilee weekend. Enjoyed the sculptures a lot, very detailed work by the sculptors.

Then we checked out Fort Siloso through its new skywalk – great view. It was my first time ever at Fort Siloso because last time it was a paid attraction. Recently it was made free so my family took a look at it. Quite a cool and very historic location. Made me think about life during the war. It’s crazy how things change.

Aug 10, 2015 and Aug 9, 1965

Free cable car rides today, but 10 hr queues meant we had to settle for this

Looking down from Fort Siloso’s newest attraction

Beautiful Keppel

Seaview

Exploring the tunnels

Long long time ago…

A Thought

Today there was a special edition of the Straits Times on the 50th National Day (obviously). What caught my attention was this article by Rachel Chang, who’s around my age (a few years older). I agreed with the article, which reflected some thoughts from this Gen Y-er on expectations for the next 50 years.

But the success story of SG50 was unearned by my generation. We Instagrammed all the best moments from the long weekend, but understood only theoretically the journey that led to here.

We were born into a fast-moving current, buoyed along by the waves others made.

It will be SG100 that’s our tale to tell. And when I am 79, the story I hope my grandchildren will hear won’t be just one of success, of going from Third World to First.

It will also be about how we held together when things seemed to go backwards, if ever they do. About how our identity and resilience as a people were not contingent on growth and constant addition, but were able to withstand scarcity and subtraction – and strengthen through those periods.

So true, so true.

That’s exactly how I felt about celebrating this year’s golden jubilee as a young adult, just about to be thrust into the working world. Jubilant, proud, but feeling somewhat unworthy. Excited, yet nervous, to see how the future will unfold when we are the ones directly contributing to the Singapore story.

Jurong Bird Park

Three days ago, on Aug 5, Chels and I headed out on a little domestic tourism trip. To a place where I have not gone in at least 10 years. I really cannot remember when I last visited this little touristy spot in the west. Jurong Bird Park is probably one of the most old-school attractions around Singapore. Since it was still the holidays I thought it was a good idea to spend a day outside in a place we don’t normally go to.

It also helps that the bird park has a 50% discount this month for Singaporeans. (#SG50 again)

Turns out Chelsea was at Gardens by the Bay earlier in the day, so it really was a day filled with exciting touristy activities for her. (And yes, there were a lot of tourists at the Gardens as well as the Bird Park)

After getting our tickets, we headed straight for the shows because they only have each show twice a day, and we were just in time for the last ones for the day. The first one we caught was the High Flyers show, which is probably the signature show at the park. It was wildly entertaining because there were just birds flying all around, with parrots making the weirdest human voices and birds flying through hoops and taking money from visitors’ hands. It’s quite entertaining. The part where I remember from my childhood was the last part when all the flamingos came out for photo-taking.

The bird taking the $ away!

Flamingos as promised

After that we didn’t really have time before the next show (called Kings of the Skies) at 4pm, so we just walked around and saw some flamingos and a chameleon! Pretty cool (for me), not so cool for Chels.

I thought the second show was a bit more boring than the first one because the venue was not sheltered, the presenter went into more technical parts of the show, and it featured mostly hunting birds so variety was limited. However it wasn’t sucky by any means – it was very cool to see eagles, falcons and other big birds flying overhead.

After that show we realised we didn’t really have time left to visit the park itself – we spent more than 90 minutes just watching shows! We headed to the breeding centre which was next to the Kings of the Skies performance venue where we saw little eggs being ‘incubated’, and tiny birds undergoing some form of transition before they are released into the cages.

That’s when we saw this very, very, very cute bird. I think it’s a macaw. It seemed to be very at ease with people so it looked as though it recognised us staring at it. So it did little poses, and unexpectedly moved closer to us by standing on the fence line separating it from other birds. And it came close to us! You can see the photos below. We couldn’t help. Too cute already.

The little incubator for little chicks

Clearly posing for us!

gETTING CLOSER

HELLO!

Us + posing macaw ❤

Then we realise that we only had one hour to see the rest of the attractions (park closes at 6pm)! Unreal. We boarded the tram (which replaced a ‘panorail’ monorail system) and headed to the first big attraction, which was the lory loft. Contained a whole BUNCH of colourful birds called lories that were able to fly around freely. Of course you can buy some sweetened nectar to feed the birds so they come to you ($3). Since there are probably tourists doing this touristy thing, you can get up close to birds by just standing around some tourists. Hahaha!

It was quite nice I think. A bit like the butterfly garden in Changi Airport. Just that it’s way easier to spot lories compared to butterflies, and that these birds are LOUD. I thought they got too loud at a point and decided to leave.

In the tram!

Lory feeding

Colourful little birds

Our next big stop was the waterfall. When I was young I remember learning that this waterfall was the highest indoor manmade waterfall in the world. Turns out the bird park now advertises it as the highest manmade waterfall ‘in an aviary’. Turns out they were overtaken by the cloud forest’s waterfall in Gardens by the Bay! (True Singaporean fashion, everything new must be number 1) Of course there were birds in this attraction too, and they were free-roaming as well. Quite cool to see the non-flying bird that looked like a peacock with punkish hair.

Us in front of Jurong Falls (hahah)

Punk and pretty blue bird

Soon it was time to catch the last tram, and off we went. Just before we left we checked out the penguin exhibit too. At the pick-up/taxi point, we saw many tourists waiting for taxis. Quite jialat cos they are stuck all the way in Jurong and not Marina Bay. Oh well!

Must say I really enjoyed the bird park despite being there for just a few hours. It’s really quite fascinating to visit these touristy places because these attractions are just nearby! Don’t need to take a flight to some foreign zoo when you have a few good ones here. Given the bird park’s age (it opened on 3 Jan 1971 ohmytian it’s really a pioneer generation attraction), it is in great shape.

Chels and I decided to drive up the nearby hill – Jurong Hill. It was my first time but Chels remembered going up there in the past with her parents. I didn’t even know that there was a hill! (The hill helped them with the waterfall by providing the cliff for the water to fall off) It’s quite cool because there was a park and an observation tower that allowed you to see into the distance (nothing much really, just Jurong Island and industrial areas). The park was interesting because there were many Tembusu trees, and many of them were planted by foreign dignitaries in the 1970s. Must be part of their itinerary when they visit then-still-developing Jurong. Quite interesting. It was at though the park was stuck in time. The trees grew, but I’m sure nothing much changed.

Didn’t know they had a Jurong Heritage Trail

Rounded at the top

One of the many VIP trees

The view out to Jurong

After that we had dinner! We went to Lorong Kilat ‘cos it’s near my place and I’ve never really explored the getting-quite-hip street. We had kimchi hotpot at Woorinara, and had dessert at Carpenter and Cook (finally!). Nice way to end the day 🙂