tsewei’s blog

gargh!! so pissed, so stressed.

I just got back to Singapore two days ago. I found out that my old mobile phone line will expire, um, TOMORROW! yeah, I need a new mobile line, fast.

I didn’t want to have to rely on my cousin or friends who are PR or Singaporeans to help me sign up for an 8-digit number for me to yak on. Fine if I have to pay S$200 as deposit, AND have the access to International Direct Dialing (IDD) and international roaming blocked, just because I’m a foreign student here. I can live with that. No big deal.

But it’s totally something else when Starhub made it so difficult for me to apply for a new mobile line by being rigid, inflexible, and unconcerned. First, I cannot just sign up with any of their authorised dealers, so I had travel for an hour to Orchard Road to get that done. I thought it’s alright, just one hour wasted. Again, no big deal.

When I got there, they tell me I’d need my passport, foreign student pass, and proof of billing. Now the problem is, I don’t have any proof of billing. I don’t actually have ‘physical’ bills to pay when I’m here. The old mobile bill is sent to my cousin but deducted from my bank directly. Hostel fees I pay online. School fees: free. AND OCBC does not issue bank statements for my passbook savings account!! But I DO have my bank account, with money in there and etc, and by agreeing to pay electronically by GIRO system, they don’t even need to mail me my bill since it’ll be paid directly from my bank to them automatically each month!!

Sure, a proof of billing is just something to show that yes you do exist and live in this country and therefore can be tracked down if bills aren’t paid. I just cannot understand why they have to be so rigid and insist on having bank statements or my old bills (all of which do not exist) just so they can have my name, address, and some signs of money on the same piece of paper.

I offered to get my hall officer to certify that I am a resident here and my mailing address is blablabla, AND to get the bank personel to tell them that yes I do hold this account with an address that matches exactly the one on my foreign student pass, AND to get back to them asap when the bank can issue me a consolidated statement (problem is also my bank account hasn’t been active in the past 6 months coz I’ve been away!) Plus, I’m signing the contract to bill me electronically via GIRO, of which bills will certainly get paid automatically without me moving a single muscle! SO, why so persistent on the one single bit of paper??

I don’t get it. There ARE ways to confirm that I can be safely billed to such-and-such address, and I can always back this up by requesting the bank to issue a consolidated statement (after 20 transactions have been made) as soon as I can. Geez, it’s not like I’m even running away with their service without paying! They just refuse to budge from the fixed procedures without even first considering that there are other ways to verify the info and help me as their customer get what I came here today to purchase.

After all, this is suppose to be a commercially driven company, and getting businesses from customers should be of priority and thus follows the importance of helping customers as far as they can. But all I got was people who stick to bereaucracy and stick to one and only way of doing things without even wanting to help and consider other ways around it. In the end, they caused such frustration and hassle which could have been reduced if people were just a little more flexible. There is, after all, more than one way to reach to a final point.

Gargh!

Yup, the school holidays will be over really soon.

*sob*

Will have to start packing tomorrow ‘coz otherwise my parents will be bugging me about it the whole day. Ugh.

I was just having so much fun back in KL, and now it’s over?!?! *sigh*

But the new semester sounds interesting. Kinda excited about it at the same time (gee, what a nerdy thing to say, but oh what the hell). Haven’t operated a cam for so long and I kinda miss the studio.

Audition for my percussion class is on Monday! acks. Heard from a friend that I just need to sight read some music scores. I’ve no problem with sight reading music, but on an unfamiliar instrument?!?! eeecks. Hope it goes well ‘coz it’s going to be fun if I get that class teehee.. I mean, learn new instruments and earn 3 credit units for my general elective requirement? Sure thing! No exam too! whee..

I really don’t know what to expect for Year 3. I’ve finally hit the halfway mark of my uni education, so I guess I’m suppose to be half-competent in my field of studies? I dunno, I still don’t feel like I’ve learnt enough to be sufficiently skillful, and next sem in Jan2006 I’m suppose to start working as an intern/cheap-labour for some real company! No idea how that’s gonna happen, but I guess meanwhile video production and scriptwriting is going to keep me sufficiently happy and excited about school (minus the heavy workload - nothing to cheer for there) for this semester.

Gotta go brush the dust off my brain and get ready for classes!!
Ugh.

What an ending, but can’t say I didn’t expect it to be so.

Yup, I’ve just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And nope, I’m not about to divulge the ending or its contents here in case anyone who’s interested hasn’t read it. So please, no need to shut your eyes tight.

I wouldn’t say J.K. Rowling is a talented writer. Her prose style isn’t exactly beautiful, or anything special. I’m not those literary critics, but it is quite plain, really. I don’t read her books to slowly linger and enjoy the words she penned.

But I’d speed through the book for hours and hours, just to get to the end of the story. Because she’s a good story-teller. In fact, she spins one heck of a tale.

I admire her for the creativity (or innovation, as some people have accused her of adapting elements from elsewhere, whatever). As the story unfolds year after year, it attains more layers and grows in complexity. And the pace of stories have certainly increased. You can feel the last 2 books just rushing and running to reach the peak at the end.

But a lot of times, the book’s starting to have a bit of a blockbuster feel to it. Very on-the-surface kinda thing. All the attempts at carving more 3-dimentional characters and painting vivid emotions just didn’t quite make it. In the end, it’s really about wham bam slam, this happened, and that happened following it, and so on.

But I did enjoy the book. Tremendously. Not in the ‘wow such beautiful writing’ kinda way, but more of a ‘ohmygosh, what’s gonna happen next?’ kinda way. It’s like watching one of those summer blockbusters — hold on to your seats while you’re blown away by the antics and effects — but a brilliantly well-done one at that.

Now I shall wait patiently for the next (and last) installment.

And I’ve got more to say..
People who queued up at 7AM to get that book are insane and do not know the meaning of ‘enjoying one’s beauty sleep’. It wasn’t like a 1-day deal only, or that they’d get a special special book with special special SPECIAL ending or what not. I got the book right off the shelf when I decided to pop in at MPH one day. They must have ‘kena jampi’-ed (had a spell cast on them). And the book’s bloody expensive.

And I must say Snape is Rowling’s best creation. He is by far the most enigmatic character in the book, always keeping me guessing and second guessing and wondering again. And Alan Rickman plays him well in the movies. yay!

But all those teenager-y bits in the book drive me a bit nuts sometimes. Too much of it after a while. Can sense Rowling is trying too hard to hint that they are teens with raging hormones. Please, 16 going on 17? We’d figure as much ok?

But I do prefer the British word ’snog’ to the more common American cousin ‘kiss’. Heh.

And no, Going Potty in my title does not refer to “potty - A small pot for use as a toilet by an infant or young child” but “potty (adj. chiefly British) - Somewhat silly or crazy; addlebrained”, for my brain is in dire need of some proper rest now.

Good night.

I know I haven’t really blogged lately. Was it ’cause I was busy? Well, sorta. Lazy? Also a bit of that. But I think it’s got more to do with something else: I don’t know what my blog should be anymore.

I started this blog late last year as I was leaving on an exchange program so that I could keep family and friends updated on stuff that’s happening in my life. Things I’ve seen, what I do, etc, etc. But now that I’m back, I don’t quite know what I want to talk about anymore.

Sure, I can talk about my life: what I did today, yesterday, the day before that, and the days before THAT. After all a blog can be a personal journal. But a mere report on daily activities is sure going to be boring. There’s more to what goes on in my days that mere happenings that come and pass. The more exciting, interesting or meaningful part lies in the thoughts that go through my brains and the feelings that envelope me. But sadly, I don’t feel I can write these down all the time.

Which is why I feel a little frustrated. I am after all, in one way or another, writing about my life here. I want to remember what I feel and thought about certain things. Not just remember which movies I watched and what I ate when I hung out with so-and-so at xxx place. I want to write about things that truly affect my life. But I fall prey to self-censorship.

I’m afriad I would harm other’s feelings or expectations if I write certain things I thought. I’m afraid people would be judgemental of me because of whatever I choose to write. Some of the things that goes on are memorable but I stop myself from writing them down because of all these.

Which really frustrates me sometimes, because isn’t a journal, in whatever form, a record of a person’s life? What’s the point of writing one when the parts that mean something are left out?

So, I thought: “Maybe I should just write annonymously. Then I can write about anything without having to tread carefully and think whether it will affect the people close to me. No restrains.

But it makes no sense too. ‘Cause I’m still keeping this blog with part of its old purpose to inform family and friends about what goes on wherever I am, especially since I travel back and forth between Malaysia and Singapore all year round. But sometimes, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed when I can’t post certain stuff that means something to me, or just something that I’d like to write down for memory’s sake. Societal taboo, feelings of family and friends, etc etc, are all stopping that.

Some of you might say, the thing that’s really stopping me is myself. True — that’s why I said “self-censorship”. But my life isn’t just about me, but also about the people around me. What I do might affect others, which might also in turn affect me, and so on and so forth.

Sigh. That’s why I’ve been quiet these days. I’ll post again if something beyond the routine happens, but otherwise, I don’t think I’m in the mood to write more.