Hmmm...
I know what my earlier entry can sound like.
I must highlight that I am not pro-Chinese.
I'm pro-Alien <-- But that's another story.
In a sense that I am not a 'Chinese prude'. <-- Saw this term in one of the comments.
Thought it's quite funny!!
FYI, I despise those Chinese prudes. You know those 华会 (Chinese Society/ECA) people? They like to sing soppy songs with their eyes closed and act in warped plays with the female protagonists always so immaculately perfect and heartbroken.
I was forced to watch this pathetic Chinese play back in JC. There were like 3 female leads. One of them was so sweet. Cannot remember the other 2 forgettable characters oredi. Anyway, the one I could remember... She was crying on a bench by a lamppost in her woollen sweater most of the time, because something uber devastating happened to her, e.g. she kena-ed leukemia or some shite like that. The sad scene had to be set in winter hor?!!! Got snow in the WTC auditorium somemore wor!! Wah lau!! Goose pimples attack!!! I was sitting in the front row somemore!! Cheebye!! PUI PUI PUI!!
Then in real life... these people are so damn plain, safe and boring. Passionate 个 Lan!! And they always kao peh kao bu about those kentangs or bananas who suck at Mandarin. Say the latter's Chinese lousy lah and had no moral values coz they were westernised and other shite. =_=
That's probably a manifestation of their insecurities with the English Language and the kind of attention the kentang sports studs and their chicks get in school. Nerd is nerd lah! Need to try so hard to product-differentiate meh?! Obviously not happy with oneself! Worse still, become so orhbeet!
Being good at the Chinese Language is one thing. <-- Not an easy feat!! But feeling morally superior about (1) being Chinese and (2) being good at the Chinese Language is another.
On the other hand, there are people (some of the Chinese race) who take shiteloads of pride to avoid anything Chinese and despise people who are cheena. =_=
ALL ARE EQUALLY PATHETIC!!!
*chants 大悲咒* <-- learn from 小 Beng one!! Hee hee hee!! =))
Thursday, September 08, 2005
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47 comments:
wah sometimes you are really 偏激 in your thinkings hor.... but then its your blog your life
I agree. You are very dogmatic and narrow-minded. Please reflect. Not everyone who does not share your POV "must die".
lol.
ok. i shall try my best to read the chinese posts. i'll most probably stop n stare for awhile. but it's what it takes to get my 'chinese memory' back.
and thank you. for the chinese posts.
p/s i didnt get C6 for chinese. i got B3. and my sickeningmean oldman chinese teacher actually said CONGRATs to me. hmpff.
BM you should write a script and send to jack neo(he likes to make movies about society) since you like to rant about government and office stuff.
Dear blinky
i kinda like your blog for quite a while and dun wanna comment to much. In fact i like you as a person for your dare of life. However, i'd hope you are not like the rest in cyberspace. I think it's fine to bitch and moan for we're but human, yet i've more faith for a person like you.
Hope to hear what you use to be. If i'm wrong, do rebuke.... :)
Regards
GingErbrEadman
Haha. Anonymous#7, Blinky is her cat.
Amithaba.
zhe bin
Of cos i know blinky is her kitty for i've been reading her blog. She's blinky's mummy or just plain BM cos this lady owns blinky. Nvm...
Ok, i'm stupid.... just to please you :)
GBM
same leh, got one time nail go into one of my rear tyre, then flat riao i dunno still carry 2 butties jalan jalan, knnccb! the tyre become spoil liao need to buy new one cos got crack line... tiu!!!
i once watched this chinese play called Yu3 Ji4 (Monsoon Season) starring Xiang Yun and a few other randoms. The story's setting actually did have some promise and it set in the 1960s during the chinese sch riots and how Xiang Yun and the male protangonist were student leaders of the civil disobedience movement. Yet all the crying, exagerated idiosyncrasies (typical of most chinese plays and hua4 ju4) and the ridiculous plot twist where the overaged Xiang Yun (playing the conservative Chinese helicopter high school student) actually got impregnated by the male lead was just too bizarre considering the nature of her role and that was enuf to put me off chinese plays for a long long time (though that POV was vindicated after i watched a pretty cool vcd recording of Nan Hai Shi Shan Lang).
i concur with what u said about how the insecurities of the chinese educated manifests itself as a form of chinese chauvinism. my parents (who were both chinese educated) as well as my jc chinese teacher, seem to have some sorta persecution complex, and they often bitch about how marginalised they were during their time and how acts such as the shutting down of Nan Tah was systemically discriminatory against the chinese educated blah blah.
at the end of the day, proficiency in one more language, and an affinity to an additional culture, can only be an asset not a liability.
BM, I think you have a sick mind. Your thinking is very extreme. The many years of my education have not taught you to be a better person. You just like to condemn things around you; and PUI on things that you dislike. Your life must be miserable.
I suggest you focus on the good things in your life and try not to look the bad things. You will be healthier in this manner.
Good Luck.
PS: You are a very talented person. It is a waste that you are not channeling your energy to do better in life. You are wasting your talent. Sigh
I can empathise with their bitching about being marginalised as a result of system overhauls though.
Once upon a time our parents where given a choice of either being educated in English or in Chinese schools. Those who were educated in Mandarin, studied Math, Econs etc etc in Mandarin. English was learnt as a second language. However, by the time they graduated, the situation had changed. Jobs such as teaching, required an English medium - If you wanted to be Math teacher, you had to teach it in English, even though you had studied it via the Mandarin medium. Imagine, having to explain differentiation in English when the terms you learnt were in Mandarin!
So they go through with it, and are mocked by their students for poor pronunciation. I can't speak for others, but that's very likely to put me in a defensive mode if I were in their shoes.
We receive very conflicting signals about how the formal institutions value the Mother Tongue anyways. We have the Speak Mandarin campaigns... and a number of other symbolic measures, such as the streaming system into Higher Chinese and bonus point incentives for JC entry etc (aiyoh this one so problematic but don't feel like discussing now). But recently, they've yet again changed the policies, where entry into University is no longer affected by grades for AO level chinese. Translate: Yipee can pontang all the CL classes cos not counted anyways!
*shrugs*
anyways - for every soppy mandarin play/drama, there's a morose, self-indulgent english one. best thing is, they all sell damn well!
*shrugs*
Anyways, people are talking about Mandarin losing its place with Singaporean youth - but I really wonder how much truth there is in that. Just look at project Superstar. Look at which albums are the ones selling best. Look at which TV channels are most prolific.
*shrugs*
But how come ah, how come the sports studs and chicks seem to be invariably kentang? How come they are the ones that are cool? Who decided the definitions of coolness?
*zzz*
just noticed that this post received a barrage of negative feedback.
why arh? why isit rockson can kao beh kao bu about stuff and is glorified? but BM shouts out her candid thoughts, and is chastised?
Because Rockson complains about the system? The Gahmen? Abstract institutions? And BM complains about specific groups of people? People whom some readers identify themselves with/ sympathise with?
*shrug...zzzzzzzzzz*
BM, can you dont sawy from side to side? First, you write a post that conveys the impression (nevermind real or not) that you love Chinese and look down somewhat on those who cannot speak Chinese well. Then somehow, you become afraid that you will be "bombarded" for giving that impression. So in this post, you write the opposite, creating the impression (again, never mind real or not) that you dislike people who are too Chinese in thinking and behaviour. What's your problem, woman? You need to stand up to your beliefs and stick with it, not behaving like a politician -- attacking one side when you are with this group of "constituency people" and then attack the other side when you are with the other groups.
And please dont use the word Cheena. You can go ask your father or mother about it. This is a DEROGATORY term used especially by the Japanese to insult the Chinese during World War II, as someone has already pointed out to you. Of course you can write whatever you want on your blog, but I just want to let you know that I, as well as I am sure many others, are offended by your use of the word Cheena. This is especially so when unlike some young punk, you know full well of the meaning of this word. (Again, ask your parents if you do not. I dont have a chinese editor right now. But the hanyu pinyin is "Zhi1 Na4").
ONLY IN SINGAPORE --- only in Singapore is there this debate about Chinese versus English. Nobody else in the world works like that. If you go German, of course everybody regard the German language as their mother tongue and English is of course a foreign language. Full stop! Same for France -- french is of course the mother tongue. Do you need to argue about it? English is of course a foreign language. Again no need to argue. and so on for all race/countries in the world.
Only in this strange little red dot call Singapore are there debates of "I may be ethnically Chinese, but I speak English since birth. So which is my mother tongue -- Chinese or English"?
This meaningless debate in this insignificant little red dot is going to become even more intense because my previous informal survey shodws that NONE of my peers (many of whom are much much more Chinese in behaviour and style than me) are speaking to their little babies in Chinese. ZERO! From the day of birth, everyone is speaking to their little one in English. And I suspect even you, BM, after you have little BM a few yeas later, maybe you will also be speaking to them in English at home.
You know what is this kind of mentality called? In Jing Yong's novel, this is called the DOND FANG BU BAI mentality (to be elaborated in next post --- since I love giving long comments in other people's blog, rather than writing my own. hahahha)
NOBODY NEEDS TO BE APOLOGETIC ABOUT BEING A CHINESE PRUDE!
Do you see any French people being apologetic about being a French Prude? Why, there is even a french law that french goverment officials MUST speak in French everytime they make a public speech (eg. in a meeting with the United States President, eg. when addressing reporters from all over the world etc), even if their English is perfect!! Do you find that disgusting? I doubt so. In fact, we all admire the french for their enthusiasm in protecting their language in the face of this current trend of the English language taking over the world.
You need to have pride in your own language/culture first before others respect you. There is nothing wrong even if you are a language prude. Dont even need to sound apologetic even if you are. Most importantly, NO NEED TO CALL YOUR FELLOW CHINESE A ZHI1 NA4 JUST TO APPEASE SOME BANANAS!
(If you dont believe me that Cheena is an inappropriate word, try catching your parents by surprise by telling them the ideas that you wrote here -- and use the word ZHI1 Na4 while at it. I would be real surprise if they wont tell you that this is a derogatory word started by the japanese during its campaign to mobilise its people to slaughter the Chinese during Jia2 Wu3 war -- that's even before world war II).
笑傲江湖 : 东方不败 --- 武林称雄，挥剑自宫 (辟邪剑谱的第一道法诀)，
(To become the greatest in the world, the first procedure of this gongfu manual is: castrate yourself and be an eunuch)!
Jin Yong is regarded as a master in the field of Chinese literature not simply because he wrote 10 over novels. Anybody can do that. One of the interesting thing that he did is to incorporate some sarcasm and analogies into his novels to give some parallels to modern Chinese history. In the above book, he used this character 东方不败, as a fictional figure to represent Mao Ze Dong and the China under him. Mao and his gang decided that for China to become the greatest in the east, the Chinese need to abandon their chinese religion, chinese philosophy, and even the Chinese written characters (hanyu pinyin was originally intended to fully replace chinese characters). His 10 years of cultural revolution caused the destruction of temples and Buddhist statues, punishment and imprisonment of those that revered Confucian philosophy, change of the celebration of New Year to 1st Jan (thereby downgrading Chinese new year to "spring festival") etc. These Chinese philosophies, traditions and cultures are to a nation what balls / seed /testicles are to a man.
So, in his novel, Jin Yong is making this provoking question: if the price of becoming the never-defeated-man-of-the-east is that a man need to castrate himself and remove what makes a man a man, is it worth it?
(analogy: if the price of becoming the never-defeated-country-of-the-east is that a country need to "castrate" itself from its culture / tradition / philosophy, is it worth it?). And he answered the question himself by painting 东方不败 as "不男不女的妖异模样" (chapter 31 of that book).
So, maybe that's what Singapore and Singaporeans should ask ourselves: "if the price for us to leap from 3rd world country to 1st world, is that we need to "castrate" ourselves from all our Chinese/Malay/Tamil languages, culture, religion and philosophy (close down all Chinese schools, downgrade Chinese to 2nd/3rd language, shut down a Chinese university) and to adopt English language, culture, religion and philosophy (O-level fail english = no JC for you stupid idiots. GP fail = no ever dream of NUS), (a) is it worth it? (b) will that make us a castrated nation (in Jin Yong's analogy: a man who is no longer a man because he has castrated himself), 不男不女的妖异模样"???
Wiow -- I actually wrote a mini thesis on your web page! hahaha. Too bad it is not my original thesis. Someone else had analysed Jin Yong's work before. I read about it and am merely regurgitating it here. The application to Singapore's situation is my own original thoughts though (but I am sure plenty of intellectual Singaporeans and foreigners have talked about how Singapore has abandoned its own eastern roots in its attempt to become the undefeated country of the east)
I think what BM wanted to convey in the first post was that if you had the chance to learn Chinese, learn it well and keep up with it so as not to waste it. Even if it's by reading "simple" stuff like her Chinese entries here which I do. I also watch Chinese movies and Taiwanese TV shows and I'm in Australia so it's definitely a bigger effort for me.
She definitely did not put down those, whom for various reasons never got to learn it. And her point in *this* post was that snobbishness on both sides are to be discouraged.
Last thoughts on this matter: language is one thing and inner values are another. You don't have to speak Mandarin to still be a "Chinese", and vice-versa just because you speak Mandarin doesn't mean you are a true "Chinese".
Everyone put their flamethrowers down. ;)
Hahahaha nice one.
I wonder who is more pathetic, those that pen their thoughts and not force others to read them, or those that read said thoughts and then bombard the author when the line of thought isn't the same as theirs.
Let's face it, you anonymous(yea well, I take the trouble to type my "name" down so that doesn't count, and dammit I need a macro so I need not keep doing that) types say one thing, yet your actions suggest another. If don't like, then don't read lah, read liao KPKB for what? To give yourself that ego boost ah?
No offense hor, just penning my "thoughts" *grin*
BM said: "feeling morally superior about (1) being Chinese and (2) being good at the Chinese Language is another. <-- Deserves to die!!"
You are "quoting" out of context completely. The complete picture is: "feelling morally superior about (1) being a Chinese, COMPARED TO THOESE PEOPLE WHO are ETHNICALLY CHINESE AND YET ALWAYS LOOK DOWN ON FELLOW CHINESE SINGAPOREANS AND ALWAYS WISHED THAT THEY WERE BORN ANG MOH OR ONLY WANT TO FUCK ANG MONG (aka sarong party girl type), and (2) being good at the Chinese language COMPARED TO THOSE ETHNIC CHINESE SINGAPOREANS WHO LOOK DOWN ON FELLOW SINGAPOREANS WHO CAN ONLY SPEAK CHINESE BUT BROKEN ENGLISH (i.e. looking down on ah bengs and ah sohs etc)"
My words in capital letters put things in context because it is **only** to such people (that I wrote in capital letters), that such moral superiority is directed against -- which you can verify if you think hard enough of the CONTEXET in which such moral superiority is displayed. Indeed, such moral superiority, when directed at those whom I capitalised, not only does not deserved to die, but actually deserve your praise!!!! hahaha
To the "bo lang ai kua" anon above:
Both author and commentators are not pathetic. The former writes a blog and had it set up such that people can comment. The latter, whether anon or not, reads and then comment.
The pathetic one is the one who complains why the former writes, and why the latter comments. That is really KAO BEH KAO BU. Crying about the author (your Lao beh) and then crying about the commentators (your lao bu) !!!! Why dont you either write a blog for others to read (and to comment), or else comment on what you read, instead of crying about both author and comomentators!?!?!?
no offence too *even wider grin*
If it rocks your boat, yea I am pathetic.
Now back to your corner playing with your toys, shoo shoo.
When does one earn the right to feel morally superior to another being?
Is it morally correct to feel proud to be Chinese? Is it then morally wrong to feel that you wish you were born a different race? Is it morally wrong to feel that you wish you were born a different sex? Is it morally wrong to wish that you were something you weren't? Eg. Sexier, Different coloured eyes, Blonde, ... Ang moh??
u should be ashamed of being a Chinese!
hahahah bm bashed by cheenas!!!!
mib, you forgot the "and" in the capitalised words that I wrote. You are therefore also "quoting out of context". It is NOT morally wrong to feel that yo wish you were born a different race. But it IS morally wrong to feel that you wish you were born a different race AND look down at people of your race AND make disgusting comments about people of your race AND etc etc. You should not leave out the "and" in my comment...
I think some readers have misunderstood BM's entry.
If i have interprete rightly, BM is writing against both xenocentrism and ethnocentrism.
This is nothing related to "ashamed of being a Chinese".
Rather, it's about a balance of being proud of one's heritage and at the same time, do not have any "superior" or "inferior" feeling.
"Is it then morally wrong to feel that you wish you were born a different race"
No, so long as you dont (publicly say that you) look down on my race.
"Is it morally wrong to feel that you wish you were born a different sex?"
No. But if you look down on a person's gender, then that's when that person has the right to retaliate by displaying "moral superiority" <--- whatever that means...
"Is it morally wrong to wish that you were something you weren't? Eg. Sexier, Different coloured eyes, Blonde, ... Ang moh??"
No. But if you look down on on other people's idea of sexiness, eye color, hair color, ethnicity, then that's when other people can display "moral superiority" over you....
CONTEXT! CONTEXT! CONTEXT!
"I wish I am an ang moh" is a different CONTEXT from "I wish I am an ang moh because you chinese are so stupid, so cheap, so...".
Uh, bingo. It was a rhetorical comment. Thanks for responding.
Passionate 个 Lan!!
I like that!
If i rememeber correctly, in 笑傲江湖... the hero 令胡冲 a free spirited and maverick-like character,
mastered "独孤九剑" and learnt that "无招胜有招", that if one follows blindly the swordplay passed down
from generation to generation, one would never overcome the inherent "weakness" in one's skill.
One should never forget to 饮水思源 or forget one's roots, but singapore is a multi-cultural society
and chinese(or any other) chauvinism has no place here.
Lastly given our "unique" circumstances,language or cultural biases undesirable as they be, will also be present.
The 华会pple in my college also very atas type,they also very 扮清高, speak in that posh posh accented chinese, hum and sing along the corridor, very wayang...
BUT, BUT BUT...they ARE passionate ok...I, ME, am the one that is safe, plain and boring ok, and in my experience, these pple are anything but...
they are bloody horny SWINGERS alright...heard so much of their passsionate swingers party which i was NEVER invited to, from a "highly reputable source within the organisation" heh heh... :)
Come on, they think chinese not horny one? who do you think wrote I-Ching???
i totally understand your sentiments about losing facility in the chinese language. i was schooled in chinese as a first language till the O's but i virtually stopped using chinese thereafter except to pepper english conversations with stock expressions. since i started working on prc transactions last year, i've had to painfully link up long unused chinese language synapses (and suffered the embarassment of inability to find the words or string together a grammatical sentence when in negotiations with chinese parties). having moved to hong kong recently, my handicap is all the more acute and i've really had to step up the relearning process. a chinese dictionary and a english/chinese dictionary are now my faithful desktop companions. while i echo your view that chinese is integral to who we are, i'll also add that it can be an invaluable skill for career advancement. use it or lose it? i also say.
of course, i can't post my maiden comment on your blog (or any blog, for that matter) without telling you that i derive much pleasure from your writings, be they thoughtful, sentimental or plain inane. ta.
Virgin Undergrad: I went to see Yu Ji and i had the same feeling as you. Front centre seat somemore... PUI!! That was the 1st and last. To add salt to it, just after the play ends, i think 1 month later, it's shown on National TV. %$^$# ... waste time waste money!!
China will rule the world again! Just you bloody ang moh pais watch and see!
What is wrong with Chinese being passionate with their love for their mother tongue?
BM, you are such a loser!
You are just a lau lian at heart, trying to act as a kentang-wannabe lah! Wake up lah! Your ang mo suxs!
C_F_L_L_N : Come on, they think chinese not horny one? who do you think wrote I-Ching???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching
Having read the book before i fail to see what the I-Ching has to do with sex. Then again if you are horny enough anything you read make you think of sex. Perhaps the book you are thinking of is the Jin Ping Mei?
Wah.. tat's not fair lor.. I have been in a "like to sing soppy songs with their eyes closed and act in disgustingly warped plays" Chinese (Drama) Club since secondary school and was President during Sec and JC...
But I am:
- NOT nerdy (see my pic on my blog.. haha)
- NOT warped
- I dun kao pei tat others cheena no good..
- ended up being an english writer
:) Dun yi zhu gan da fan zheng chuan ren *acts smug because that I know this chinese phrase*
wah seh so many long-winded comments...scary.
Oh God, BM, you've just opened a bad-ass can of worms. Look at what's happening. It's readers vs readers vs BM. Best of it all is, issues are being confused and nothing is read in context for the full meaning.
Readers, please just respect each other's POV instead of attacking each other's comments. BM has every right to say what she wants (and I do agree with her post). Afterall, this is HER Blog.
懂得中文不一定會給你帶來好處, 這是因人而異. 但我敢肯定絕無弊處!
allo all boy boy and ger ger. Wah its been a long time since i see such action .I am an Ah pek(old fart).Firstly , i must say , aaa has taken most words out of my mouth. Secondly,it sadden me to see that the younger generation like yourself , BM ,have lost your soul in the world of materialism. Everything is about being cool,looking good,being well liked,praises freedom,being"its my life,its my blog,i can say what i like" Ignorance and having a big ego ,dont go well together.
" The pen is mightier than the sword" Speaks of the substance written,not how flowery its being delivered.
However, i have always enjoyed your blog, though not always agreeing to your perceptions of life, love, attitude.But this time round , i had to say something. Cause this entry have packaged you as being "very shallow".
Lastly, having said the above, its part and parcel of growing up and its part of life.Should you choose not to take heed of what was said , Then you are building a well around yourself. Hope you take it in good faith.. good luck
Nabuaycheebye, hoot ahhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!
lao auntie versus china ah peh! who win?
I know which play... damn stupid tear jerker type... but... I was in it ;P a small role as a siao char bor... quite sian actually but I know some plays that are definitely NOT like that, wanna watch?
Hello. I'm probably one of the people in the first group you've written about (those who join the Chinese Society, study Chinese and generally are good at the language itself.)
I'll just like to defend Chinese drama first, because it's a pet peeve of my friends who are also in the same cca that most plays are written this way. The scriptwriters in our cca and in the arts scene in Singapore do attempt to write thoughtful quality plays. If you have a bad impression of Chinese drama, it's probably because you've never watched a good play. Don't give up on it yet. Perhaps you haven't found the gems.
As for the second part of your entry, I am one of those who bitch about kentangs all the time. Not because I feel they're giving up Chinese moral values or anything, but because of the loss of Chinese. I've had discussions with friends who feel similarly upset by the cuts in the Chinese syllabus. It's more of a painful loss of a language we love and have chosen to pursue. Personally, it saddens me to see that the beauty of Chinese is hardly ever appreciated, and with the dumbing down of Chinese here, it's quite likely most will never get to appreciate it at its very best. (eg. Dream of A Red Chamber being taken out of the A Level Higher Chinese syllabus at H2 standard.) This is the loss that most of us bemoan. In fact, we're not all Chinese chauvinists. We speak Singlish and English too, and we don't feel morally superior at all.
There are times I really wish the kentang bunch and the pro-chinese bunch would resolve their differences. Most of us are unhappy with the kentangs, but not because they can't speak Chinese. We're unhappy because they don't want to appreciate Chinese. There's no personal attack involved.
Just wanted to clarify things.
woah so many cheena kui
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