I've had a good mix around with my Singaporean friends and like I said the last time, I am always always fascinated with the dynamics of the school system in Singapore. I don't know if people think that I'm weird trying to analyze the schools, on how there's this general school loyalty (particularly if you are from AC) across the board. Whether they admit it or not, it's there. I also find that one of the first questions one Singaporean asks another (if they have just met) is which school they were from. I take it that Singapore is really that small, both physically and demographically. There's even one view going around that a Singaporean can tell which school you were from just by the way you act/behave. Ironically I have been doing it somewhat onto people but never really made the connection that there are some behavioural markers for a particular school. All of which are entirely fascinating to me. It's like I'm David Attenborough, studying the creatures of the wild except I'm not British and I don't look at the camera every now and then and say "Fascinating!"
Amidst all the profiling of Singaporeans, I also start to see how all of this come together to form their type of humour. Generally Singaporeans are quite sharp, able to pick out details whether it is inconsistencies that lead to the humourous bashing of words or action or intellectual flaws (however misguided they are about the topic) and humour tends to favour a lot on sarcasm and exaggeration. Waaaaaay more than us northern neighbours. However, I, on the other hand, love this kind of humour even as a kid. Unfortunately kids my age aren't really used to the whole sarcasm thing and exaggeration is more like a shorted out fuse than a huge explosion. Perhaps that it is because there's more exposure to English for the Singaporeans than us Malaysians in our early years. But I digress.
Then it got me thinking, how would I change if I lived in Singapore? Besides being in a particular school because of my behaviour (can't remember which school is that), I'm not sure what I would become. I think my mum would be glad because any other school in Singapore is better than the Malaysian schools combined. I will have more freedom to pursue some of the sports that I have been interested in since there are more resources available etc. I don't really care about that so much but I think as a person, the informal education and social interactions would actually play into my favour. Sure there are the downsides like pressured to do well every single time, going to army with this scrony body of mine, having to tolerate about the constant complaining etc. but it would be interesting to see how all these factors interact together to shape me as a person.
If given the chance to start all over again from a kid again, would I shift to Singapore? Short answer, no. Given what has happened to me over the years, I would be glad to go through the life I lived all over again. Sure I'm still that geeky guy no one really talks to in school unless they need to borrow my homework to copy just minutes before handing it in, have low self-confidence (strangely I think higher than what I have now), a bottle-up-my-emotions-and-store-it-in-the-deepest-darkest-corners-of-my-psyche person and have nothing really interesting going on ever but the few key people made me who I am today. And they are all teachers in school and college. No way will I give that up.
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There's been quite a funny talk going around the World Cup about an octopus named Paul who is in the business of predicting the future. And so far it has not been wrong but it has made some error in predictions before. The Germans are furious to know that their team lost along with a few other teams that would have no greater pleasure than seeing it dead on a stick.
Truth is, everyone likes to know about the future but everyone hates the psychic/soothsayer/prophet that pronounces doom upon them. In fact any business in predicting the future, essentially, will be a very strong love-hate relationship. For example, financial analysts, scientists particularly on climate and so on. And every single one of them will make mistakes in their predictions and people will hate them for it when it all goes wrong. But the point is not about the mistakes, it's about the reaction to the message of incoming doom.
Littered through out the Bible, messages of doom are plentiful because we have all continued our sinful lives. So in a sense, the people (or rather prophets, and Jesus himself) are in the business of predicting the future. Except it's never wrong. I repeat, never. How did all the people listening to these messages reacted? They ignored it or in Jesus' case, hate him for it, enough to kill. If a correct (but highly undesired) prediction by an octopus receives such heavy outrages, how much more do you think it will be like when God gives His judgment upon his people back then? Of course, analogies aren't perfect and there are miraculous exceptions to that (read Jonah). But interesting thought nonetheless. Coming from a spineless creature.
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