on noise pollution.

the last three weeks, my void deck has seen an endless stream of activity. public karaoke contests, buddhist funerals, taoist funerals, malay percussion jamming sessions, and pretty much anything that involves noise that would raise the dead.

let me be absolutely clear - i have no intention of offending any members of any which community pocket. the vendetta i have is against public nuisances, not a race or religion. to paraphrase the great mj, it don't matter if you're black, white, yellow, brown or orange (if you're into the jersey shore skin cancer sporting look), keep it the fuck down.

i realize at this point that i'm sounding quite mean and insensitive, but be reasonable. the way things have been going, you'd think my block was the only one in singapore that had a bloody lobby. how would you feel if your estate was subjected to a near month of non-stop mardi gras? nothing against people being happy (or sad) too loud, but isn't that what community centers are built for? funerals and weddings, fine. but karaoke singing from 8 am to 10 pm at night?

COME THE FUCK ON.

perhaps i'm overreacting, but i've just about had it with these public disturbances. why people can't be a little more considerate is beyond me. is it really necessary for everything to be at full volume? for someone who works from home a lot, you can see how this would affect others like myself when we can't fucking hear ourselves think, let alone be productive.

in a society that is so diverse in race and religion, i think more sensitivity is required here than just the bare minimum. i know this issue has been done to death, but i still feel the need to say that regardless of how important these events are, the noise you create isn't just affecting you. it's not an enclosed area so please, try to be considerate.

with all the amy cheong hullabaloo came a wave of singaporeans stepping up and criticizing her insensitivity, and it was great to see. however, when it comes to the point where these finger pointers become noise makers themselves, it's disappointing that no one has actually said anything about prevention being better than cure. i think you see where i'm going with this.

so after all that's been said and done, here it is: after my short hiatus, i think this important enough to mention here, in hope that whoever reads this finds it in their heart to see that the world would be a much better place if we were all a little more gracious, considerate and accountable. my words may be hard for some to swallow, but it's really all in the name of love. acceptance, unlike tolerance, comes when people of different cultures present themselves in a manner that is cohesive with their surrounding environment. similarly, there is a time and place for everything. again, i say this with all the love in the world: take your shouting matches, singing competitions, skateboarding practices and excited screaming badminton-playing children somewhere else.

NOT. WELCOME. HERE.

remember, all the love in the world.

now you know you know it.

while i've pretty much been in my hole working my ass off, the world outside my little cave has been thriving on without me. what i've come to learn over the last few days is truly disturbing. kindly view exhibit a:

even to my some of you who may not be from singapore would see that this is obviously offensive. i note this and whole-heartedly agree. as some of you know, i am dating a member of the here targeted muslim/malay community. this does nothing to ease the irritation and discomfort with the remarks so off-handedly cast by miss cheong and miss tan.

of course, singaporeans everywhere are enraged that some fool would be so callous in a multi-racial society such as ours. again, i feel no different. how we dealt with this information, however, is a totally separate matter.

over the last two days, cheong has lost her job due to her insensitivity, and her company's eagerness to prove they aren't all bigots. BOTH tan and cheong alike have been flamed like crazy over the likes of facebook and twitter. (observation: more chinese people are sticking up for their malay compatriots than angry malay people demanding cheong and tan's heads.) up till now i've merely provided information, but the real question here is, how much of this anger is necessary?

to be honest, while the racial and religious aspect of our culture here is a sensitive one, people sometimes take it too far. while cheong and tan have obviously crossed a line here, it's a fact that we are all offensive at one point or another, be it a personal attack or a blanket judgement on a whole community.

take me, a 22 year old with a multi-racial social circle. i readily admit that i haze my friends about their race, among other things, from time to time (those that are comfortable enough in their own skin, of course. i'm not completely tactless.), much like they make fun of my chinky-ness. this does not mean that we discriminate, it's just a manifestation of our opinions projected in a sometimes offensive manner. while that is nothing to condone, it's not something to overreact about.

at this point, most of you are wondering if i think that being overtly expressive, ala cheong/tan, is okayy. the answer is, of course, no. but to be publicly persecuted as such, to the point of causing someone's loss of income, is a bit too much. some of you may argue that by posting such comments on such an accessible platform, they're asking for it. just a thought: no one asks to lose their job, or for a break up, or for their candy dropping on the floor. bad things happen, but some of them we happen to have control of.

what i am so trying so desperately to say is that, people, get real. there are always going to be idiots who are going to be opinionated. what i believe the solution to be is simple. just ignore them. these are obviously cries for attention, so why enhance their drab lives by giving it to them? our very hope in telling these morons off are that they will stop feeling this way. much like a parent tells a child to be an engineer rather than the next britney spears.

lesson:

a fool may be worthy of his namesake,

but he still deserves his dreams

and reserves his right to his opinions.

ahh well.

another way to look at it, i suppose, is that nothing more can be done. let's just hope they have the good sense not to reproduce. of course, seeing idiots are what they are, they probably don't know not to do that.

parting thought:

probably the most repulsive woman ever.

i hardly ever blog like this, but here goes.

 

meet shirley phelps roper, a woman so vile there are no words that could do her message justice. one of the key leaders in WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH, which preaches not just that homosexuality is wrong, but openly tells the world that homosexuals themselves should be killed. i cannot believe this woman. she's motherfucking incredible. take a look.

unfuckingbelievable much?

i've been trying hard to keep from swearing too much on this blog but people like that just make me so angry! mother of GOD. and the worst thing is i can't stop now, because her insanity is just morbidly fascinating.

the anchorman got it right when he said she should be ashamed of herself. talk about forcing unwanted things around someone's throat, shirley, you're doing it right.

and so are you michael moore!

as an additional titbit, as in wikipedia:

"She is married to Brent D. Roper. They have 11 children. In a 2007 UK documentary by Welsh personality Keith Allen, in which Phelps-Roper and some of her children agreed to appear, Phelps-Roper is shown admitting on camera that her oldest son was born out of wedlock. Allen found hypocritical Phelps-Roper's vocal condemnation on strangers having sexual congress outside of marriage while she herself was guilty of the same. According to Kansas City's The Pitch, Phelps-Roper doesn't deny that her son Sam, who was later adopted by Brent Roper, was born out of wedlock but refuses to reveal the identity of his biological father."

like, wow.