Would I or would I not?

That is the question!

It is not right to treat someone of a different nationality as a different species. It is morally wrong. Yet people these days still have 'segregation' and 'discrimination' and all sorts of racial divisions! A lot of these people have been brought up in a society that treats people of different races in ways unimaginable.

For example.

JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE BLACK, YOU HAVE TO BE LOOKED DOWN UPON, STEPPED ON AND ALLOWED TO MISTREATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BACK THEN?

It irks me to think that that back then, there were no laws restricting the mistreatment of black people. The white people in America even made the black people slaves to their own countrymen!!!

Seriously, there is no rhyme or reason as to why people are allowed to treat others so mercilessly just because they are of a different race. Black people are not dirty just because of their skin colour! On the contrary, some black people take showers more often than any white person does!

Having done some research, I have found out that the average IQ of different ethnic groups (which means it applies to everybody) increasese generally over the years. It is called the Flynn Effect.

Cash.
Credit Card.
Condo.
Car.
Country Club membership.

The 5C's. The very benchmark of many Singaporeans.

Why do so many Singaporeans set the 5C's as their lifetime goals?

Why is it that Singaporeans place wealth, fortune and any other materialistic items above anything else?

There are a few reasons behind this. There is the reason that today's society is very materialistic, pursuing dreams that are materialistic. Doing anything there is to do with materialism. That isn't much of a problem until people start going to extremes to acquire the wealth to attain the 5C's. Only then is it worrying.

However, even if people are doing honest work to acquire the 5C's, personally, I do not feel it is necessary to achieve the 5C's in life. Singaporeans, everybody actually, knows that what they truly want is not money, wealth and whatever materialistic things. They might think that they want all this when they do not have them, but...

Once they sit down, look around and admire their materialistic wealth and success, they will notice that they have no one beside them to enjoy it with them. I could relate this to a mid-life crisis but that is not the point. The point is: What is the point of being successful in a materialistic way if you can't enjoy with someone else?

You could be rich, famous, your face/name could be in Forbes Top 100 richest men/women... but you still would not have anybody beside you to share the wealth with.

You could be spending your entire life pursuing your materialistic dreams but in the end, you'd have been so caught up in your pursue of your materialistic dreams that you ignored and neglected all the people around you.

The end result?
A lot of hurt stirred up among the people around you. The pain that you cause, you have no idea about. The negligence that caused many things to happen to your loved ones, you had no idea of. The power of one dream is strong. Especially that of a materialistic one. It could drive you to do anything.
One such case is Venerable MingYi, the founder of the RenCi charity. He had used the funds that he acquired from the charity's fund-raising events to attain the 5C's. This was how terrible the power of his materialistic dreams were. He had used, manipulated people's kindness towards charities. He had used the hard-earned money meant to help THE POOR, SICK AND NEEDY. Does it sicken you not?

It is not wrong to want wealth. Petrol prices have been increasing, as there is a drop in the amount of fuel available. Food prices have been increasing because of the hard hit the economy received. If you do not want money, well, it's probably because you want to die.

If not, it means you want money and you, obviously, want to live. So the problem does not lie in 'wanting and getting money' as I have mentioned before. It lies in 'wanting and getting money in dirty, dishonest ways' and 'pursuing materialistic dreams to the extent that you neglect all who are around you'.

In conclusion, I do not think that the benchmark for Singaporeans should be the 5C's. Why?
Money, people say, is the root of all evil. And to attain the 5C's, you require money. It is alright to have money as I said before, just don't ge too close to it, or want to much of it.

Think of it this way... You don't need the 5C's to survive.
Just one. The cash.
The rest of the 4C's, you can forget all about as it will only make you fall deeper into the money pits...

What do people in Singapore think of other Singaporeans who go under the knife to get a better look or body?

They think that it is just all part of nature.

Singaporeans wouldn't normally think twice about undergoing cosmetic surgery to refine their looks. Even if they know that it is fake/unreal and the like, they still go for it.

Why?

Simply because today's society is very much based on appearances. Appearances mean almost everything in today's society.

If someone wants to get a job and the person is fighting with someone who is 'uglier' than him/her but has slightly better qualifications, the correct decision to be made by the boss would be to choose the one with higher qualifications that can bring up the company's worth. However, the boss would think that the one that looks nicer would be able to carry out his/her duties more efficiently.
Another problem is the over-exaggeration of the term 'personal grooming'. The term has been coined and brought to a much newer level in Singaporean society. In fact, during job interviews it is important to keep track of your personal grooming and show the interviewer that as interviewee, you are an aspiring one that is capable of the job.
However, to do this, you must first look good to create better first impressions. Sometimes, the interviewers just look out for the appearances and look at nothing beneath the skin. Especially not qualifications.

So what are the use of qualifications and studying hard if today's society looks out more for appearances/ first impressions than to actually assess a person properly and look at a person holistically.

Back to the main point.

An "Ugly Singaporean" would possess certain traits that makes him/her, well, ugly. The problem is, the traits might not be very accurate in discerning a person's 'ugliness'. As I wrote in the above, Singaporeans nowadays have their sights set on people not with qualifications but, more of people who make a good first impression through their appearances.

Then there is another type of ugliness which I regard as the type of ugliness Singaporeans, and the entire world while you're at it, should be based/assessed on. It is the ugliness of...
Humans. All humans. The deep, dark ugliness.

1) Hypocrites.

Well, actually that pretty much describes the world.
Everybody is a hypocrite. Aren't we?

The 'ugliness' of an "Ugly Singaporean" shoudl never be used to assess people. In fact if you asked me, a lot of people are seriously too jugdmental.

When I think of H1N1, I just think of it as a normal, seasonal kind of flu. It doesn't make much of a difference to me whether one gets the H1N1 flu virus or gets the seasonal flu virus.

This is because, basically, the H1N1 virus is not exactly killing many people. It's not killing enough people to make me worry, unlike the avian flu and dengue fever, we already have access to early-stage H1N1 medication. The only differences are that the H1N1 flu virus kills young people too (which actually sounds quite bad, doesn't it?), but that would mean they have weak immunity systems, because the H1N1 virus is targeted at killing those with low immunity.

The only reason why people are acting up such a fuss is because it is new. People feel insecure because it is new and not because it is deadly. If the deadliness of the H1N1 flu virus is comparable to the seasonal flu, then I do not see why they should kick up such a fuss over such a tiny thing.

My favourite poet is definitely Mr. Silverstein! Shel Silverstein that is. His poems are always witty and if you're looking for reading material that will make you laugh, look no further, read Shel Silverstein's poems.
His work has delighted many adults and children, what with his wit and humour found in the book, who wouldn't? He has made huge successes with his poems; his first published book of poems was titled "Where the Sidewalk Ends". His first book was a hit with adults and children. He was also a playwright, illustrator... and much more. His drawings are simple, yet interesting. He was and still is (immortalised in his poems) a popular children's author.

Shel Silverstein's books were not intended for children, yet he unconsciously became one of the world's most favourite children's authors. His success owes it all to his interesting thoughts and his childhood background.
When Shel Silverstein was a kid, he had hoped for something that a lot of Americans would dream for. He had hoped to become a baseball star or just someone who was good with the girls. Fortunately (or else we would not have his books today), he wasn't really good at baseball and he didn't know how to dance. This would mean the two things he previously was thinking of achieving, was just not fated to be for him.
Shel Silverstein was witty, it showed in his poems. That was another of the things that brought him fame and success. His ability to make readers feel the jumpiness and excitement in his poems was a trait of his writing that made readers come back for more. It was like getting high without taking drugs or doing anything illegal.
Shel Silverstein never thought he would become a hit with children in the world of books. His writing was witty, illustrated and sometimes, he just makes people wonder how he does it all. His thinking pattern was more or less revealed when he did an interview with some person. It went like:

Question: "Why do you have a beard?"
Shel: "I don't have a beard. It's just the light; it plays funny tricks."

Question: "How do you think your present image as world traveler, bawdy singer, etc. combines with your image as a writer of children's books?"
Shel: "I don't think about my image."

Question: "Do you admit that your songs and drawings have a certain amount of vulgarity in them?"
Shel: "No, but I hope they have a certain amount of realism in them."

Question: "Do you shave your head for effect or to be different, or to strike back at the long-haired styles of today?
Shel: "I don't explain my head."

You can see from his interviews that he is witty enough to make you want to read his books. He also expresses a kind of attitude that shows he is a man of very little words and he likes to work, not answering silly interview questions.
In conclusion, Shel Silverstein was a man who loved his work, so much that when he reached the age where girls were actually starting to hit on him, he wouldn't go for them. He is quoted as saying "By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn't rather make love, but the work has become a habit."

It depends actually. It depends on whether that something is true or not. If it's true and many people believe it, then it is. If it's fake but many people believe it, it's not true.

Of course, things are not that simple.

If you are the unknowing one...
Let's say that person A does not like person B and makes up some strange, untrue story to defame her. Person A happens to be a popular person in the student body of her school. So a lot of people believe her when she says that person B did this or that.
Then, there are the cynics. They start to ponder over the truth in person A's story. Perhaps some of them might be popular too. So they start dispelling the possible lies, explaining what is and not.
This would result in the confusion and indecision of the rest of the student body who have really actually no idea who to believe...

So is it true or not? Just because many people believe that something is true...
Well, no, obviously.