Just watched Food Inc.

I just watched Food Inc, the movie directed by Robert Kenner and one of the commentators was Michael Pollan. I was like, "Ooh, Michael Pollan!" because I've been wondering for ages if I should buy his book "Food rules".

As you probably know of my twice-a-week vegetarian diet already, you're probably not surprised I'm talking about food again. Unlike most Singaporeans who like to blog about good food finds in SG, I prefer to challenge my readers to think about what they eat. Previously I mildly advocated a vegetarian diet due to the immorality and bad economics of eating meat, or rather of the meat industry.

Food Inc is a documentary on more than that, it talks about other food crops such as corn and soy bean. Food is cheaper today than ever because of mass production. But as the movie goes, the cheap price comes as at a cost. They showed this Latin American family who eat burgers and fries all the time because it's cheap and it's mostly all they can afford. When they visit the supermarket, they just can't buy the healthy vegetables and fruits because they're so expensive. Compare $3 for a head of brocoli to 99 cents for a hamburger. And now the father suffers from diabetes and has to decide between paying for his medical bills or buying healthy food. Well, it's just one story but it does provide a lot of insight.

Now I have to formulate an argument for Ethics class using Food Inc as a starting point and finally applying it to Singapore. Any suggestions?

Fried Rice Paradise

The night before Joshua and I were to meet for a date on Thurs, I impulsively bought a pair of tickets on Sistic online. These were tickets to the musical Fried Rice Paradise for Thurs night, which would cost us a cool $160. [Didn't feel too guilty though, since Josh would pay for most of it. That's another story for another day.]

This Singaporean musical isn't too fabulous, it definitely will not hold a candle to the typical Broadway or West End musicals. But believe it or not, I will watch this again over Phantom of the Opera or most foreign productions. [And I have watched Phantom!] The musical is so fabulously Singaporean that I love it! I was laughing my ass off at so many lines. But of course, the ang moh many seats away was totally stone-faced.

The arts in Singapore are really awesome, just super gui only. [I'm waiting for something of equal brilliance to Pillowman, a psychological drama play I once caught.] If Singapore wants to see more of its people going to Esplanade and be willing to spend the penny, please subsidize students like 30-40% across all ticket categories. Then when we start working, we'll find it really natural to go to theatres. When I look at my parents who have both time and moolah, I realise going to theatres to catch comedy plays or musicals is seriously not in their consideration set at all.

Next up is the Law Musical staged by SMU Law students next Saturday! Yay!

Pick Up Your Visa/Masters Card Now!

Of all classes I'm taking right, the module called Ethics is the toughest. Tough not just because the prof is demanding, the articles we read and discussions held in class and the personal mental ruminating AFTER class makes my brain really tired. In this post, I'll like to highlight Peter Singer's article "Famine, Affluence, and Morality".

To any Christian friends out there who have heard about Singer, we most probably have heard his controversial philosophical arguments on animal rights and even the the suggestion of condoning infanticide. And also, of course, he's an atheist. But putting that all aside and just examining the 1971 article, I find very sound arguments as to why donation to international aid is a moral duty. Since Thursday, I've been telling myself to go donate online to the latest big news: the Pakistan Floods.

But I put off the donation until this evening when I came across the teenager's piano cover of We Are the World by Michael Jackson on Youtube. It moved me to take an action. After 15 minutes, I made a donation of USD$50 via the GreaterGood.org [If you're thinking of donating, please go to a trustworthy organization]

I totally urge everyone of you, who own at least one Visa or Masters or Amex card, to make a donation today. Although the Pakistan flood is not the only case of starvation, famine and poverty, it is the one that has raised the most media attention. There are other programs that you can make a donation to. The UN has recently announced that for some reason, international aid has stalled, leaving 6 million Pakistanis without food and shelter. That's because governments around the world are not giving enough. But don't wait for your government to give on your behalf, you can give today.

I'm Year Three

Give thanks

I want to give God all the glory and praise for bringing me through SMU thus far. It's been 2 awesome years at SMU, I've made a lot of friends both local and international, students and profs. God has also given me the opportunity to travel to St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Israel. Through the past two years, I've made a ton of mistakes, offended some and delighted many. For all my fellow undergrad friends, I hope you'll take time out to think and be glad at where you are.

Year 3 Sem 1

So the semester has started, and the first question I've been asking around as I see familiar faces is "How's your first week?" The responses and mood in SMU here has been great. No one's really psyched for school but people are generally glad to see old faces and make more friends. (I think)

The real highlight of this post is to introduce you to my Ethics module. Ethics and Social Responsibility is a "law" module and all SMU students must complete this course. My first impression of Ethics was shaped by a senior's comment that "it's a soft module", meaning no hard core materials. And my mindset towards to compulsory mod has been "How hard can Ethics be?" Well guys, freaking hard.

Consider the issue when BBC fired a radio presenter for her racist remarks on a private phone conversation to a taxi firm. The questions that this hard core ethics prof kept shooting were: Were her comments really racist? If I want to hire a nanny, would my preference for a Chinese nanny make me a racist? I'm looking for a Chinese girlfriend, does my preference make me a racist?

In another issue, how about the allocation of kidneys to patients? How do we really and fairly decide who gets the kidney, given that demand will always exceed supply? By what rules and can these rules be flexible?

Nevermind the crazy questions that mess your head, the instructor is absolutely the craziest I've met in SMU. He raises his voice all the time, talks really fast, is rude, cynical, condescending and tells students to "shut up!" when someone tries to help another classmate answer his questions. I was writing down my thoughts and opinions when he said, "Anna, why are you writing? It's a waste of time. You just need to think." I went on to clarify before he could brush me off, "Are you telling me I cannot write in class [which is a matter of my own free will]?" Without the blink of an eye, he said, "Yes, you can't."

3 hours of mental attack is no freaking joke. So the question is, why aren't I deciding to drop this class? I'm really tempted to, but I've been complaining for a long time most mods in SMU bore me to death. This is the one course I've come across so far that will promise me an unforgettable learning experience (even if it's really bad) that I won't forget. So I'm gonna take some time to pray if I'm really going through with this module with the instructor.

To understand the kind of style the instructor teaches, you can watch the following video:

August is here

A few things have happened since the start of August. First up, I've quit my job! Nah, just kidding, my internship at SPH ended peacefully, with a wistful sigh, last Thursday. My time at MediaBoxOffice has been a fruitful one and I've much to thank God for during this period. Before I began internship, I prayed to God, "Please grant me favour in the sight of my boss and colleagues." And I believe I've made a couple of good friends at the company.

Secondly, on a mellower note, my dear grandfather from my Mum's side has gone home to be with the Lord. He was a man of few words. Having battled cancer since two years ago, overcoming and then fighting it again, my grandfather never complained, only in the recent months when it got a lot more painful. He always took comfort in God's grace and believed that everything was always in God control. And truly, everything still is. What gave us great comfort during this time of grief was the knowledge that we are only separated for a while, for we shall see him again when it is time to meet our Maker.

The coming week is the last of my summer hols 2010 before SMU's Year 3 starts for me. Year 3! It seems like yesterday that I attended orientation camp. Whoa, scary. No matter how fast time flies, it will always be my heart's desire to make sure my life counts for God. We can do many crazy things and yet still feel like an empty shell when the day ends.

After all the years of being a Christian and cell leader, I believe God is calling me to come back to the basics. And when I think about it, the basics of Christianity is having a really close relationship with God, so close that everything in your life just revolves around it. And now that I've come out to blog this, this is probably the direction of my life now. "having a really close relationship with God, so close that everything in your life just revolves around it"

Super Weekend, a small disappointment

Going Community, 24th July

2 months ago, I was asked to help in the marketing of Going Community. Going Community is a kick-start event to help our youths become more community-centred. Let's face it, we live very comfortable lives, and I live a super comfortable life. Ps Daniel decided that we should go out into the less fortunate community and spread some love, in this case for Going Community: clean one-room flats that elderly folks live in.

Lo and behold, after driving there from YOG training and a short choir practice, I found my cell members stranded at the void deck because the flat owner apparently is a very healthy old woman who cleans her flat regularly and she didn't want our help. So my friends and I were asked to clean equipment from the storeroom. To sum up 24th July's Going Community, I helped cleaned 1 chair and 10 colourful plastic balls. I reached there at 1.30pm, left at 2.30pm and had wasted 1.5 hours of parking coupons.

But to chip in a more positive note, only 2 cells were affected like that. The rest of the youths were cleaning flats. Before I left, one girl came down asking for more bleach and soap. So on a whole, people were blessed and that's more than enough.

The Island, 25th July

In celebrating our Youth Alive's annivarsary (there is no specific date, just the July-August period that marks our birthday), a youth-oriented service was held. In it, there were a youth band (called 365, which I have no idea why..) who led the praise and worship, a skit presentation and special speaker Chris Long from Malaysia. The school hall was very well-decorated. Who's in the full decor team, anyone knows? Well done, you guys!

The Skit. Well, I must say that there were some powerful lines in the skit that touched my heart. Potentially, the skit could have been a really powerful thriller drama. (To Royston, you wrote well) But, it felt like it was written like a movie script, where there are many scene changes. One scene can have 2 lines, which is like huh? But my biggest gripe is the technical errors such as microphones not working. Anyway, that can't be helped as without our own church building, we have to make do with what equipment we have.

So there you go, that was "Super Weekend"

Pastor Daniel just smsed me "Good thing are happening", as a result of this weekend. Despite my feelings, I sincerely hope so. Maybe God is just speaking to me about how I should treat everything with right attitude, or maybe how we need to have open spiritual eyes to see what He can see, that truly good things are happening.

P.S. I understand that perhaps some people may not take so well to this slightly negative review about the Super Weekend, especially since it's a church thing. (All church things SHOULD be rosy and well right?) But hey, I believe in saying what it is. Have a great week ahead!

Since 8th June..

Movies I've watched since 8th June: Despicable Me, Eclipse, Toy Story 3. Liked everything except Eclipse.

Working at SPHMBO: A lot of people ask me very seriously, "So Anna, what do you do at work?" I bet all interns hate this question. Don't you know that most interns don't do real work at work? But it's also because of work that I'm learning to use Excel more smartly (You have to learn the smart way otherwise all that data will crush you and kill your eyes), explore more online options and learn how office politics work. One of the challenges my boss threw at me was: "Anna, please find out how many buildings are there within 500 metres of Raffles Place MRT." Not only did I nail it, I also listed the offices in these buildings every 100m and categorized them. (That's why I know that law offices make up the biggest proportion of offices within 500m of Raffles Place) Ok, enough bragging...

Best day since 8th June: Spending one whole day with Josh. We went to the beach to sun tan and swim. Very the shiok ah.