Everyone's talking about digital and new media recently. Well, I guess it all attributes to the convenience of broadband, mobile network and wireless technology whatsoever.
Hence, it was just the right time to take up Digital Media Across Asia module. One obvious reason being that i can clear my Global and Regional Studies Elective. It is a big deal to me becos... i cant graduate without clearing this elective. The second reason was already mentioned- it is the in-thing now you know...
Plus, there is one more reason tat further spurs up my interests for this module. Because my prof for this subject- Prof Michael Netzley, is interesting and humourous. His lessons are engaging and fun in a way that it actually motivated me to read up 3 chapters of his readings before class. Now, I seriously seldom do that, except during exam period. Perhaps it is also because the required reference book, "Groundswell" by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, was informative yet reader friendly.
After 2 weeks of his class, I found that I had seriously under-rated the usefulness of digital media all these while. I had also thought that I was adept at using internet tools as well, until I attended the class. New digital tools such as RSS, technorati, google reader, del.icio.us, Plurk etc came into the picture and I was like, huh? What are they? I only know how to tickle frens or tag names in facebook. It was pretty overwhelming at first when prof demo to us step by step but I think, once you get started, it's hard to stop using them?
and I just discovered that Blogger is providing a new "Following" Feature. You get to feature your followers (your blog readers) on your blog and it is also linked with google reader. Woah... great addition. but dont get too excited yet, it is still in experimenting stage nw and will only be rolled out after few wks. But I got a feeling that it shd be ready before tat. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Baby Blues...
Just over friday, i had joined meilin, jessie and yuan hwa to visit my ex-colleague who has just given birth early this mth.. all of us were lamenting it was a pity that she wasnt eligible for the recent perks for longer maternity leave.. e garberment backdated the effective date for longer paid-maternity leave to 17 Aug instead of the original 1 Jan 2009. Still, she doesnt qualify as she gave birth on 1 Aug.gee.. wat a waste..
Recently, all over the news are abt the parenthood package. Yeah, doesnt concern me yet but I do have some opinions to point out. The National Day Rally had addressed the problem of Singapore suffering a low birth rate and that Singapore's population will be halved after 2070...
Firstly, this situation came as quite a surprise for me as I tot that i had seen quite a no of young couples who are pushing baby prams ard shopping centres... in fact, i know of 4 friends and relatives who are already mothers or prospective mothers. So how can it be that there is still low birth rate?
So moving a step fwd, one commonality is that most are just having one kid. Yes. Just one. It is found that "Singapore's current low fertility rate of 1.29 - one of the world's lowest - is well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per couple."
(Taken fr www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_261974.html)
Why is it so then? Some informal chats with my married frens had pointed out that their first child was pretty much a surprise or even a honey moon baby, so it wasnt exactly planned. in fact, this was the case for 3 out of 5 of my friends. They also commented that it was costly to have a child. In fact, costs already started way before they are born, check-up costs, baby necessities etc...after they are born, further monetary costs add on.
meanwhile, I read an article on Sat's straits times-"Want more babies? Allow surrogacy" by Andy Ho, a senior writer fr ST..
(http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Review/Others/STIStory_270883.html)
In his article, he had suggested that Parliament shd legalise surrogacy to boost birth rates. I cant help but think: does surrogacy help (at all) to the situation? Although in his article, he has already pointed out 2 primary concerns, i.e. the legal status of the child and status of the women involved, I find that there is still a heafty price tag that comes with it. That is, the emotions of all the parties involved, especially when this involves a decision that cannot be revoked.
What comes to mind is that:
- Although the mother may show greater concern for the baby considering the amt of efforts put in, there is still the lack of natural bond between the child and mother.
- The surrogate mother may have difficulties relinquishing the rights of the child
- for those instances where the surrogate mother is a close relative; such as in the recent case in Japan where the surrogate mother is also the grandmother, there is this complication of family ties
-whether the surrogate mother is using her own egg vs using an embryo from the mother and artificially inseminated with the father's sperm or using donated sperm
There could be other more issues that may not be obvious now...and my personal stance is that Singapore is just not ready for this. Just not yet.
You may refer to the links for more details on this topic:
Foreign wombs for hire, Aug 17 :
http://straitstimes.com/print/News/Home/Story/STIStory_268975.html
Woman gives birth to grandchild, Oct 15:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6052584.stm
Recently, all over the news are abt the parenthood package. Yeah, doesnt concern me yet but I do have some opinions to point out. The National Day Rally had addressed the problem of Singapore suffering a low birth rate and that Singapore's population will be halved after 2070...
Firstly, this situation came as quite a surprise for me as I tot that i had seen quite a no of young couples who are pushing baby prams ard shopping centres... in fact, i know of 4 friends and relatives who are already mothers or prospective mothers. So how can it be that there is still low birth rate?
So moving a step fwd, one commonality is that most are just having one kid. Yes. Just one. It is found that "Singapore's current low fertility rate of 1.29 - one of the world's lowest - is well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per couple."
(Taken fr www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_261974.html)
Why is it so then? Some informal chats with my married frens had pointed out that their first child was pretty much a surprise or even a honey moon baby, so it wasnt exactly planned. in fact, this was the case for 3 out of 5 of my friends. They also commented that it was costly to have a child. In fact, costs already started way before they are born, check-up costs, baby necessities etc...after they are born, further monetary costs add on.
meanwhile, I read an article on Sat's straits times-"Want more babies? Allow surrogacy" by Andy Ho, a senior writer fr ST..
(http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Review/Others/STIStory_270883.html)
In his article, he had suggested that Parliament shd legalise surrogacy to boost birth rates. I cant help but think: does surrogacy help (at all) to the situation? Although in his article, he has already pointed out 2 primary concerns, i.e. the legal status of the child and status of the women involved, I find that there is still a heafty price tag that comes with it. That is, the emotions of all the parties involved, especially when this involves a decision that cannot be revoked.
What comes to mind is that:
- Although the mother may show greater concern for the baby considering the amt of efforts put in, there is still the lack of natural bond between the child and mother.
- The surrogate mother may have difficulties relinquishing the rights of the child
- for those instances where the surrogate mother is a close relative; such as in the recent case in Japan where the surrogate mother is also the grandmother, there is this complication of family ties
-whether the surrogate mother is using her own egg vs using an embryo from the mother and artificially inseminated with the father's sperm or using donated sperm
There could be other more issues that may not be obvious now...and my personal stance is that Singapore is just not ready for this. Just not yet.
You may refer to the links for more details on this topic:
Foreign wombs for hire, Aug 17 :
http://straitstimes.com/print/News/Home/Story/STIStory_268975.html
Woman gives birth to grandchild, Oct 15:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6052584.stm
Monday, August 18, 2008
one of seven-deadly sins
here i am, in the GSR in sch...blogging abt my first post for the week. I just finished editing my internship report.. yes. finally...but not before i satisfied myself finishing episode 23 of Fated to Love you, aka, My Destiny...
A really unfashionable working class girl Chen Xin Yi has the desire to tie down her handsome boyfriend to be with her. Due to certain reasons, her boyfriend gets her to go on a love cruise and she started to ponder on how to lose her virginity and tie down her boyfriend. Xin Yi ended up taking cold medicine which made her drowsy and went into Ji Cun Xi's room. Cun Xi is the sole male heir to his family's company and has been in love with his girlfriend, Anna, for a long time. He planned to propose to Anna on the boat but she didn't turn up on the cruise. An island owner added drugs into Cun Xi's drink and Cun Xi became disorientated and returned to his own room. Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up having a one night stand. Xin Yi later finds out that she's pregnant and Cun Xi's grandmother forces them to get married. Will a couple forced to marry for the sake of their unborn child find love with each other?so yeah....i discovered that I had committed one deadly sin- Sloth..
I had promised myself to print out the class notes and timetable and submit report & evaluation form first.. and yet I 'chuck' them aside to fulfil my "lust" for the drama. Angeline angeline.. how can u do that again??
Whatever it is. I am simply too addicted to this drama. It is such a damn touching drama. Currently it is ranked no.1 in Taiwan and response to the show was so overwhelming that they even added more episode to it.. Nw I am just awaiting final episode-24 to be broadcast on Thurs night... it might be silly that I got so hooked to this drama but I really cant resist those drama that bring together the elements of family ties, romantic atmosphere, artistic details, hilarious scenes and sad episodes....it even brought me to my tears several times...once again signaling my weakness for love....
Nw I feel so guilty to have tortured my laptop for nights to satisfy this desire.. hang on there lappie... it will be over soon.. =p
and by the way.. here are some photos that were overdue since fri...
I had promised myself to print out the class notes and timetable and submit report & evaluation form first.. and yet I 'chuck' them aside to fulfil my "lust" for the drama. Angeline angeline.. how can u do that again??
Whatever it is. I am simply too addicted to this drama. It is such a damn touching drama. Currently it is ranked no.1 in Taiwan and response to the show was so overwhelming that they even added more episode to it.. Nw I am just awaiting final episode-24 to be broadcast on Thurs night... it might be silly that I got so hooked to this drama but I really cant resist those drama that bring together the elements of family ties, romantic atmosphere, artistic details, hilarious scenes and sad episodes....it even brought me to my tears several times...once again signaling my weakness for love....
Nw I feel so guilty to have tortured my laptop for nights to satisfy this desire.. hang on there lappie... it will be over soon.. =p
and by the way.. here are some photos that were overdue since fri...
8Q sam-Singapore Art Museum's new space for contemporary art...
Looks as though SMU is part of the structure...The 8Q—Rate: School exhibition (16 August 2008 to 9 January 2009)
At the ground flr-this black (or shd i say green) chalk board house.I can recall those moments in pri sch where teachers still use white chalk to write on blackboard... and actually the white chalks do have other uses.. they are really good to hide any dirty stains on school shoes... xp
me and huilong took the chalks to vandalise the hse...and played tic-tac-toe...
She obediently promises, " yeah... I'll study"
and boy! take a look at this...
Also at level 1...
for the rest of the levels.. hee... will make it up after next visit...too crowded on fri..
For more info, refer http://www.nhb.gov.sg/SAM/8Q-Rate.htm
and we also went to have our desserts- rocher tau hway... under the moonlight...
and just saw these photos.. haaa... 2 little children here...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Lost in emotions.. =P
Last week was like a special week.. some sorta of magical..haa.. i mean, how often do you meet up with your primary school friends?
It all started when I met up for lunch with stephanie-my primary sch fren. She happened to spot me one morning and realised that we worked at the same bldg.. I was in my last wk in my internship and she just started work for few days.. wat a sweet way of unexpected destiny.
and great thanks for her enthusiasm...she started a thread of mails on msn within 24hrs to organize a mit up for initially "A Class 6B gathering" to become an "Anyone-from-Yumin-Pri-Sch-Welcomed" gathering.. ha...it was sorta surprising to have almost 13 of us to mit up that night at Big Splash...of cos credits go to Steph for her wonderful networking contacts and efforts to search thru Friendster and Facebook...
and what was even more magical was that most of us practically looked almost the same since our last mit up 3 years ago... perhaps some do look the same since primary 6- scary thoughts..
it was enjoyable during the mit up.. most of them are doing well... .haa..there's Mr Loi, our PE/Maths teacher-to-be, IT experts-steph and hongling, accounting guru-peishan, technician and "photographer"- Mr 'Lao-Yin', HR Pro-Miss Ping Guo Mei, property specialist-Miss Rita.. 'Beer Connoisseur'- Mr Vincent, Pet-expert Mr Panda.. and eh..forgot to ask what "Boss" Jionghong and Mr Yewen are doing..haa.
It all started when I met up for lunch with stephanie-my primary sch fren. She happened to spot me one morning and realised that we worked at the same bldg.. I was in my last wk in my internship and she just started work for few days.. wat a sweet way of unexpected destiny.
and great thanks for her enthusiasm...she started a thread of mails on msn within 24hrs to organize a mit up for initially "A Class 6B gathering" to become an "Anyone-from-Yumin-Pri-Sch-Welcomed" gathering.. ha...it was sorta surprising to have almost 13 of us to mit up that night at Big Splash...of cos credits go to Steph for her wonderful networking contacts and efforts to search thru Friendster and Facebook...
and what was even more magical was that most of us practically looked almost the same since our last mit up 3 years ago... perhaps some do look the same since primary 6- scary thoughts..
it was enjoyable during the mit up.. most of them are doing well... .haa..there's Mr Loi, our PE/Maths teacher-to-be, IT experts-steph and hongling, accounting guru-peishan, technician and "photographer"- Mr 'Lao-Yin', HR Pro-Miss Ping Guo Mei, property specialist-Miss Rita.. 'Beer Connoisseur'- Mr Vincent, Pet-expert Mr Panda.. and eh..forgot to ask what "Boss" Jionghong and Mr Yewen are doing..haa.
it was hilarious when there was a little miscommunication in ordering drinks at old town coffee..haa..tat was like the climax of the nite man..
Yiying: "i want no. 100"
Vincent: " No.100? Hot rite?"
Yiying: "Yeah"
and when the drinks arrived... guess what? vincent had ordered a 100plus instead of the drink #100:white coffee...and it was yiying himself who gave the order sheet to the counter..haaa... (*shakes head)
To: Mr Yiying and Mr Vincent... this 100plus-miscommunication incident sure gonna be one of our future topic for next gathering...haa...
P.S: Pertaining my previous post...yes.. I registered myself to the window display competition and the deadline was extended to fri 1pm...which means.. i still got 3 days to prepare..I am still wondering how on earth did I persuaded myself to submit the registeration..
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Singapore Biennale 2008
Singapore Biennale and Club 21 are inviting entries for a Store Window Design Competition. Yeah.. it sounds so exciting which really tempts me. But honestly, I got so much hesitation. There are bound to be alot of design students who have more hands-on experiences, support from their teachers, team members. And for me to wait for advices from my prof- I figured out that it might take few wks to receive a reply...and well..the deadline to register is ahem... the coming Monday- 11 Aug. So talk about procrastination.
I don't even have the courage to register. "Participants — single or in a group of maximum 5 persons — can register for this competition by sending an email to education@singaporebiennale.org with the subject heading: Club 21 Competition Registration, with your name, school and contact number. An email will be sent to you with contest submission details. "
And if I really want to get my feet wet on this... I nd to produce the following by this weekend:
- Artwork proposal submissions in 3D or marker rendering should be mounted on an A2-size board and accompanied with a 50-word rationale.
Now, shall I flick a coin?
Friday, August 01, 2008
Shopaholic-in-training
I am supposed to collect some free 6-piece travel sets for myself and my sis from AHAVA at centerpoint.. and when I reached the store barely after lunch hrs, the sales asst announced to everyone in the store that it has been fully redeemed. What? today is only the first day out of 15 days for redemption lor.. Sian!
and my feet is aching now... from too much walking obviously... went somerset this noon and then went raffles place for lunch w sis and back to somerset and then to orchard... in this pair of flats...
and my feet is aching now... from too much walking obviously... went somerset this noon and then went raffles place for lunch w sis and back to somerset and then to orchard... in this pair of flats...
looks good, looks comfortable.
but no. it is not comfy at all... the insole is hard and the strap is loose. I nd to constantly grab the front of the flat with my feet in order to prevent it from flying off. and did i forgot to mention that it is also slippery? i almost slipped twice at a same spot.
but at least something to make my day... i managed to find a good buy from Tangs Studio while it is having sale between 30% and 70%!!!
Look at this gorgeous pair of black evening shoes which i bought at Tangs... I havent found any good occasion to wear it yet but I guess there will def be a chance to do so.. hee..
but at least something to make my day... i managed to find a good buy from Tangs Studio while it is having sale between 30% and 70%!!!
Look at this gorgeous pair of black evening shoes which i bought at Tangs... I havent found any good occasion to wear it yet but I guess there will def be a chance to do so.. hee..
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