BOOMZ

Ever wondered how much of the message that the media is giving us might not be true?

Remember her?!

hint : BOOMZ/SHINGZ

yes, how can we not know the very famous, or rather infamous person in Singapore, Miss Ris Low.

Recently the local media really focused their attention onto this icon who was to be representing Singapore under the title of "Miss Singapore World". That was soon withdrawl under circumstances that found Miss Ris Low guilty of credit card fraud. At the same time her language use and pronunciation for english words were also under the scrutiny of the public because they felt that with her standard of english, it would not be appropriate for her to be an ambassador of Singapore.

After all the drama, Miss Ris Low was given a chance and placed under probation for her crimes, at the same time she told the public that she was suffering from a bipolar disorder hence that made her commit the crime.

How much of this is actually true?

Take a look at this video. This was the video that got everyone talking about her.
As you can see, her english was pretty bad in this video, creating new lingos that everyone just had to follow. Things like "Boomz" and "Preenz"

Despite these videos and news reports on how bad Miss Ris Low is, is she really as bad as how they portray her to be? Maybe they have taken out the other interlectual parts and only placed in the ugly side of her just to please the target market and attain maximum viewship. Perhaps there is just the other side of her that we all don't know of.

Suddenly everyone just harps on her negative side rather than a balance view on her, and even celebrities start to make spoofs out of her.




Just like this one! (Which I truely like) It was an promotional video for the upcoming comedy Phua Chu Kang.
As you can see, they just had to make fun of Miss Ris Low and adopted her speech.

Everyone now has their opinion of Miss Ris Low tainted, with thanks to the media, but have we all gotten the wrong idea?

One thing's for sure, I still do not see her in any positive light, and that Miss Ris Low seems to be enjoying herself with such media attention, hence appearing on more shows just to add on to the drama.

just like this one!



Good job on her part, just don't come crying when things get out of hand!

Peranakans.

Remember this popular local drama?
of course everyone remembers this. This show that had the highest ratings in recent history, the show that everyone is talking about.


It's none other than "The Little Nyonya"!

Yes yes, I know everyone loves it right?
However, there's one thing I just dont understand.
What exactly is the big hype about this programme that's got everybody talking about it?





The show just basically promotes the almost forgotten culture of these malay influenced chinese people, called Peranakans.


I would have to say that this show has definitely met its objectives of promoting this culture because now, peranakans have become overrated I would say. Thanks to this show, everyone now knows more about its culture and how people of their kind behave. Though this might be a good thing, allowing the culture to be widely known, but the media has been doing too much promoting about this culture that it has become mundane.

After the show was broadcasted, the media suddenly found an importance to follow up by creating other programmes that are inspired by this culture and emphasizing on how traditional this culture can be.

Take for example "Sayang Sayang"

Yes this show, it was aired right after The Little Nyonya. Once again another nyonya inspired programme. I wouldn't deny that I love this show, but because there are just too many nyonya shows that were airing at the same time, it kind of had me wondering if its all just too much.

If its just a taste of the culture, yes, it is actually quite refreshing, but too much of it, just spoils the whole outlook of things. Suddenly everyone in Singapore claim that they have Peranakan blood... and that their grandmother's great grandmother's father's mother was a Peranakan and what not. Also, the kebayas then became the trend that came together as a package with this culture. Suddenly there was this outburst of people wearing this for weddings and celebrations.(my aunt included)

I feel that if you are part of a culture, there's no need to announce to the world that you are one of them. Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean that you need to follow suit. It might be a sudden proud moment for you, just because you've finally found a place where you belong and maybe, just maybe, since that culture has become very popular with everyone, you might actually stand to gain a little more popularity and envy from others. Please, how much of that can you get? Soon everything would be a passe, and life will just return to normal. In the end, what's the whole basis of this hype? It will all be gone within a short span of time.

By the way, it is about time the media should stop emphasizing on the Peranakan culture before it gets too boring for all of us.

Relationships

Ever came across a situation where you think that your parents are being too naggy, being a pain, dont understand you, don't know you, and dont care about you?

I would not deny that I do have my "parent-fit" moment.

At that point of time, you would just think that your parents really don't care about you, and decide irrational decisions that could have been done your way. You yourself know what you are doing, but to them they just think you don't know whats best. There's a point in time where we all think to ourselves "how I wish i am a grown up, then i can make my own decisions without needing approval".

It gets so bad that we think that our parents do not love us as much as they should.What if all of these friction could be reduced by improving on the communication between both parent and child?

This is a sound clip taken from the previous american show, "The fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Rapping about how parents just dont understand.

Parents Just Dont Understand - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

The Asians are brought up with the culture of strict parenting, for instance when a parent decides, the child has to abide.

However, I feel that parents should start communicating with their children more in order to avoid such friction. Communication goes a long way, with communication there is a better understanding of the situation and the child could grasp the fact of why his/her parent is going against her idea. Explaining works, it is better than just scolding the child and expecting them to know the logic and the rationality of your actions.

Talking about situations before the child raises it would also help prepare the child on how to look at such situations and to consider the right decision.

A little bit of trust would also do the job, as everyone needs to go through a littl experimenting. Without experimenting, the child will never what it is like to experience situations. For example, clubbing. In most of our parents mind, it is the taboo word. To them its like taking drugs, or being wasted, or even being a delinquent. However, clubbing might not be as bad as they perceive. Letting the child experience it at least once would be good. At the same time it would be good for parents to talk them through and allow them to understand the advantages and disadvantages of it. The more parents resist the child's request, the more the child wants to rebel. When that happens, "parent-fit" comes into the picture. Parents should always have a little faith and trust with the child, by judging their character. When the child realises that their parents trust them, they would try to stick within boundaries. It is like reverse psychology in a way.

Increase the communication, reduce the friction! Families can get together better that way!

Entry 5 - Networking

Remember the times when we were young and facebook, twitter, IRC, blogs and what nots did not exist to our knowledge and the only thing we knew about was the TELEPHONE?

The world has really came a long way from a simple telephone to the many internet based communications available for us now. The question is, is it really as beneficial as we think it is?

Facebook, Msn, Blogs, and Twitter, it is a very good way to get some social networking, you can make friends with people you've never met, or you can enhance your friendship with someone you've just bumped into once. It's like a dream, a magical device that helps you overcome your weakness by hiding behind a screen.

Yes I don't deny that all of these wonderful inventions and creations have been very "life enriching" for me. I've made more friends and got to know others better. However with so much time spent on the computer, I have naturally forgotten how nice it is to spend time outdoors. I have forgotten that outdoor activities and social events like gatherings are actually a form of social networking too! At the same time I have been neglecting my family due to this compulsive internet usage. Gone were the days where watching tv or having dinners together were simple yet enjoyable.

However benficial these online social networking programmes are, sometimes problems do exist using these programmes. When we are talking through a screen, we would not know the tone of the person you are conversing with. The real thoughts and feelings might have been misintepreted by other party, thus leading to misunderstandings and broken friendships. In the end, how many real friends have you made through these programmes? Not many, I would say. Many would just be your everyday-on-the-surface-friends.

All these could be avoidable if everyone were to just conversed face-to-face or via telephone. I would give anything to be able to go back to the times where the telephone was my only way to get connected with my friends when I am not with them. Though it might not be as fun filled as what the online programmes offer, but at least I am able to hear the thoughts and feelings of my friends in real tone; through a closer communication method.