http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5229060.stm

Thought that this is utterly hilarious and beyond logic. Wonder anyone would ever fall into THAT category *shrug*

Haven't been posting for quite a bit. The deadlines are immensely frightening. But I do want to share this interview (from The Sun) with Dr. Chandra Muzaffar. Although the context is Malaysian politics but I feel that some ideas do stretch beyond geography, ethnicity, time and religion. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=13612

The University of Singapore has announced that it will increase its fee by another 3%, 1 year after a previous increase. The reason? “High cost associated with teaching and related activities”. Naturally, there is a backlash from the student population and for good reason too.

1) The student union was not brought into discussion. In fact, the only time they knew about it was when the administrators told them about it point blank. So much for democracy and the union. Although I must applaud the union for responding quickly which resulted in a closed door dialogue with a panel from the student body.

2) While yes, university education is still considerably low compared to Australia, New Zealand or other popular destinations, but 2 increases within the space of 2 years is really stretching the students thin. Also, it shows how the administrators handle their budget. Did they not foresee the amount that they will incur if they build so and so or support so and so? Did the cost of teaching increase so drastically within 1 year?

3) There is little change in terms of "quality education". We’re still using the same old machines, classrooms etc. Note that with a drop in CAP (with effect since last year), a lot more students are taking honors. For instance, the Chemistry department alone records a total of 90 plus students in their honors year. My point is, now there are more students taking up modules which in turn means better use of resources. So how did costs increase?

4) As students, we just don’t see the reason to build fancy buildings when the old ones look just fine. For instance, the University Hall (which houses all administrative departments). I think the best feature of this building is its vast unused space. You can hardly see anyone going into or out of the place at any one time; which makes sense considering that there is student service centre which takes care of things like accommodation. Another example is the new campus in Bukit Timah. The catch is that I heard that only the Law students will be relocated. Coincidentally it is not one of the biggest faculties. Probably they need bigger moot courts. But seriously…

5) The attempt to pacify outbursts by announcing a dedication of 3 million dollars to bursaries and financial help fails miserably because only a few people will benefit from them. Besides, in order to qualify for the bursary, you need to take a 90% loan. Graduating in debt. Wonderful.

I have always thought that NUS didn’t care about its students. And I thought I was paranoid. Maybe I am right after all. My consolation? I’m going to graduate this year and won’t have to stand up to this kind of treatment any more.

2 weeks ago, my gender studies lecturer introduced a term which I found to be very profound: cultural relativism. It is a simple concept; that every person’s beliefs and actions are only meaningful in the context of his/her culture.

While I shared my new found knowledge with my friends, I wasn’t really surprised when there was some resistance. “If that were true, there would be no absolutes, no truth and everything is just relative”. I couldn’t agree more for what is THE truth? Who defines it? God? (I certainly don’t doubt it except that religious texts are not faxed from Heaven). Our leaders? (political, community or religious?) It wasn’t too long ago that superiority was defined by the color of our skin and homosexuality was a mental disorder. Although times are changing but we still have a long way to go as the Katrina incident showed.

Don’t get me wrong. While I am suddenly a new believer I am not apathetic. Neither am I a faddist. More open minded and tolerant more like it. I do agree though, it can be a difficult idea to digest. Does that mean that all principles are just figments of our psyche? That everything could and would crumble because they are not absolutes? Instead of pillars we now have will-o-wisps. There can then be neither wrong nor right… Scary thought… but it is time to rethink what is “natural” or “civilized” to us and to realize that such labels exist only within our own cultural imagination.

A friend of mine confided that he had suicidal thoughts. Nothing dramatic. Just grades. Concluding that since he’s spending so much time thinking about it, he abandoned the idea for another time.

I empathised. But I also reflected on the times that I wondered about death. Morbid curiosity. What could possibly be so bad such that living becomes so unbearable? Probably if the poor fellow happened to belong to an abusive father, later orphaned, bullied, disabled, with no exceptional talent and the only worry is where to get the next meal, I mused. No doubt such people do exist. Who am I to say that it is a remote possibility?

The point is: we are made of tougher stuff than we give ourselves credit for. There will definitely be ups and downs. And just like a sine curve the good times are just ahead. So there is no reason for us to throw our lives away. Don’t get me wrong; dying for one’s own God, country and family is a noble act of love but. planting bombs in trains to kill the innocent to make a statement is at best, extremely misguided. And jumping off a building because your high school sweetheart decides to dump you is downright stupid albeit sentimental.

Life is too short and precious for us to drown in misery. After a good cry we just have move on. By now, I can be accused of sitting on my high moral horse. Granted, I can never truly understand what some of you may go through even though I have my share of stormy days. One thing’s for sure though, you won’t find me swallowing sleeping pills, jumping off the roof/ bridge or slitting my wrists. I deserve better and so do you.

So, let us count our blessings and make the most out of life!

I was miffed when I read article featured in Digital Life (NST 31^st May 2005) regarding downloads/ piracy because it seems that the “giants” are victimized by ordinary consumers. I believe that the “download culture” is so rampant simply because we do not see (and hence appreciate) the value of the things we consume. For instance, we can bring ourselves to watch downloaded movies or pirated VCDs which have poor video quality but flock to cinemas to catch blockbusters like Lord of the Rings, the Matrix and Star Wars because “it is just different (experience)”. In fact, to some extent piracy is a means for us to cope with the lifestyles that are successfully fed to us by the entertainment industry. Rather than hauling everyone to jail or slap them with hefty fines, why don’t we tackle the motivation behind these acts of piracy which is fundamentally (though not exclusively) monetary in nature.

Sure, there are alternatives like Soundbuzz but until they become affordable (currently 10 songs are equivalent to buying an original album; so much for alternative), we cannot expect consumers to welcome them with open arms. Bundled software or limited movie tickets at lowered prices, encouraging consumers to buy second hand CDs or giving extra support for purchased goods are some positive methods to encourage people to go original. These can be found in basic marketing textbooks but where is the application?

Of course, attracting customers by aggressively lowering prices is unhealthy to businesses but it sure beats raising them on accounts of “increased costs”. As consumers, we are tired of such “excuses” because the very people that cite these reasons are experiencing increased profits. It is time for companies to show us some value. If something has got to give, I doubt that consumers will give in so easily.