Of H1N1, MJ, Stomp and English

As many of you would have known by now, my school has been in the spotlight recently for being the worse-infected H1N1 community-transmission cluster in sunny Singapore. There are now like 51 confirmed cases. Personally, I think that the entire H1N1 crap is just a big hoo-ha for world governments to show off how much their countries are prepared for a pandemic.

Most H1N1 cases are mild and are comparable to the common seasonal flu, which hits around this period. Also, the risk of people who may develop serious symptoms or lose their lives because of this virus are the same people who may die from the seasonal flu. Furthermore, people actually recover from it and vaccine are currently being produced to treat against it. Shouldn’t they focus on more critical issues like finding a cure for HIV or feeding the hungry when there’s a huge surplus of food that’s being wasted? Then again, I’m not a doctor, humanitarian or a government/UN/WHO official, so who am I to comment about this issue?

I just don’t want to be served a HQO (Home Quarantine Order), because it’s such a bloody waste of time. And if the school wants students to stay home and continue lessons for six hours a day, then they better have an incentive. Like daily grades that actually count towards the final module grade, perhaps?

The second “big” news that’s affecting the world right now is the passing of Michael Jackson. It was sudden and really took the world by surprise. In a way, it reminds me of how Elvis passed away. Although MJ did had a weird personality, he really contributed a lot. Not only to music, but also towards the world culture. For example, he is the first Western artiste to enter China. And when he passed, everyone that mattered released statements. From Justin Timberlake to Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Government of Japan (yes, they mentioned him on their morning press briefing a day after the announcing of his passing.)

Well, even if I wasn’t a fan of his music, but I cannot deny his contribution to humanity. So cheers to you, Michael.

And now, STOMP. Seriously, I think STOMP should close. It really shows how childish and jealous some Singaporeans can be. STOMPers, or so they call the web site’s registered members, post on every minor issue. The most common is what’s going on in the MRT trains, like people drinking plain water on the train (the article’s title was “Girl having picnic on train” or something like that). I mean c’mon, she wasn’t even eating a sweet. She was drinking plain water. Freaking H2O!

However, nothing IMO beats this article: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=76489. Really gives people the impression Singaporeans are dumb isn’t it? There’s a fine line between being attention-seeking and being socially responsible.

However, I do believe most Singaporeans are far more intelligent than them. We, not only the government, made this little island nation one of the strongest economies in the world. Look at our contributions, our inventions. So really, I think STOMP should close down. Stop these attention-seekers from spoiling the image of Singapore.

And last thing, English. Someone close to me told me that whenever he speaks to me, he feels stressed because he needs to use “perfect” English to speak to me. I’m not being show-offy or anything, but I do realize that I get alot of miscommunication problems when maintaining an online conversation with friends and family. Especially when they speak to me in Singlish.

There’s nothing wrong with Singlish. However, the sentence structure of Singlish, and words used in the sentences, make it so that every single sentence seems “rough”. The sentences sound like you want to pick a fight with someone. For me, I respond to people according to how they are feeling. I mean it’s not right to be sarcastic to a person who has just been hurt, can’t you?

And since it is difficult to know how the other party feels online, I analyze their sentences. And this is where miscommunication happens. I think the other party is either upset or angry because they use phrases like “what lah“. So I’m sorry to those who think I am very sensitive, it’s just that I prefer to respond towards a person’s feelings. And Singlish really makes it a difficult task to do so.