So I listen to the radio......

On the way to school today, I was channel-surfing on my mobile phone radio......and this Spice Girl song was playing on Class 95 FM:

Goodbye, my friends --->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7C2_Do2yUI

Then I started to reminisce about the "good old days" when the "Spice Girls" and "Backstreet Boys" ruled the airwaves ahahaha...... on "Perfect 10 987 FM" no less.

I always thought that in Singapore, different radio stations target different niche audiences. Here's what I mean:

1) Gold 90.5 FM ---> Plays mostly oldies and targets the elder generation

2) Class 95 FM ---> Plays a mix of new and old radio hits, targets young adults and the working
crowd

3) Power 98 FM and Perfect 10 987FM ---> Plays the latest songs and targets mainly the
younger crowd

4) Lush 995 ---> For the sentosa crowd, the chill-out people and the....posers (jokes)

So, when I heard this song on Class 95FM... I realised that I could be getting......old.

Look at it this way. The songs that are playing on Gold 90.5FM (elvis prestley, beatles, englebert humperdinck etc.) now were the hottest hits during the 1950s and 1906s. Makes sense right?

So imagine when you start hearing Backstreet Boys' "I want it that way" on Gold 90.5FM...... haha I leave the imagination to you people...

Then perhaps 987FM would be the radio station that spends the most on purchasing the latest songs, whereas Gold 90.5 FM would just "kio" all the songs that the other stations are gonna stop playing on the airwaves. Makes sense too......right?

We shall see.

Haha...quite a random post.

~我是潮洲人~ and The Politically-Correct Post

Am thinking of whether to apply for the Ngee Ann Kongsi scholarship hahaha...... but they have this really really particular clause for students who wish to sign up......

"We only accept Teochew applicants, i.e. only applicant whose father is Teochew. We require applicant to attach a copy of his/her birth certificate for dialect group verification."

Wahaha... sounds good to me lol.

Actually this post is not about the scholarship, it's going to be on the identity of the Chinese community in Singapore. (Disclaimer: NOT a racist post or what... and forget about the RK House thing... it's NOT funny)

I believe that a very large majority of the Malays and Indians in Singapore still do speak their mother tongue; be it with their parents or their classmates/colleagues. I'm thinking that most of them should be quite proficient at the language, at least in the Singaporean context.

Now you look at the Chinese community. Hmm... Chinese "B"? Kids who are struggling to read and write Chinese. To me, the talk about how students reading Higher Chinese seem to develop a sense of elitism is not really 100% valid. Ok, I admit that even I myself took it out of personal pride, but I certainly didn't feel that I was superior to the other students who weren't taking Higher Chinese. Higher Chinese classes also provide an avenue for students who are interested and wish to know more about the language.

It seems that the Chinese language has taken a step back in the minds of present-day students. Many study for the sake of getting the language "over and done with". Even with the Chinese "B" syllabus, it seems that students are still struggling to grapple with the seemingly complex strokes and pronunciation of Chinese characters.

All the talk on the advantages of being bilingual doesn't seem to influence students to become more interested in Chinese. It's quite sad actually. especially when some even think that speaking Chinese is being "chink" or uncool.

Now now... I'm not being an extremist and demanding that all Chinese be proficient in the Chinese language (I think also a bit hard lah lol), but at least knowing how to speak it fluently would be good enough. Save the 俗语 or 成语. At least don't sputter like a broken engine when trying to form coherent sentences in Chinese wahaha~~~

Why do I say this? I just received an e-mail from my student volunteer in Taiwan, and the first question she ask was: "Can you speak Mandarin/Chinese? I heard that some students in Singapore do not speak Mandarin/Chinese".

Sian lor~ It's the "Jia Kan Tang" syndrome, the "Banana" effect... Yellow on the outside, White on the inside.

So to all the Chinese out there! At least try to learn a bit more about the language lah haha... then you can also lament about the decline of the use of Chinese language in ENGLISH... like me LOL.

2007 Reflections?

Nah... not going to do reflections... I think people should've read enough of those in other blogs...... So~ Today's topic is about 尴尬 vs 给面子.

Weird topic? I beg to differ lah... when was the last time you were invited (or received an sms from a friend) to attend an event...and there was an "air of awkwardness" when you arrived? Could be that you didn't know 99.9% of the people there (except the one that invited you)? Perhaps the event wasn't your cup of tea?

Received an sms from my friend, but it turned out to be his gf who was doing the messaging. It was an invitation to attend her 21st birthday. My first reaction was: "Eh? I'm actually invited?"

(Sidenote: My friend's gf is very quiet when she goes out with us, the "Marist" people. So we don't actually know her that well...... Maybe it's because we're too chinked out? hahaha......)

So, I did what most people would do in this situation. Wonder if the others received the invitation as well, and most importantly, if they would be attending the event. I asked around and managed to get a few "see first" or "haven reply yet" haha...... and then I decided to wait for a day before replying.

Later that night, before our regular DoTA session, I was chatting to "that friend" (let's call him C for convienience sake) over MSN. He was lamenting how no one had yet to reply to the original message that was sent. C said he was frustrated over how long people were taking to reply, to which I replied that it could be that they were still trying to see if the birthday party would fit into their daily schedule.

I guess it wouldn't be too nice to confirm immediately, and then not go at the last minute right?

C said that he would be more than happy to receive a "ok, but I'll re-confirm with you later" as a reply. A long debate over what constitutes "pang sey" (放飞机) continued...... but in the end we both realised why the replies were taking so long to come in......

"Eh? I'm actually invited?"

Although we weren't close with C's gf, but after receiving the sms, I guess we all had an "obligation" to attend the event, in order to 给面子 to C. However, we were also wondering WHO ELSE was attending the party as well... quite sian right if you realised that you were the only one going?

That could happen to me wahaha... Off to check who else is going...

A new beginning...

A cliche post title right? hahaha...... A new year, a new beginning. Watch this space for more rants, reflections, discussions and of course... my SEP trip to Taiwan!