Thursday, March 29, 2007
Down with The Nation
Whilst I can't proclaim myself to be an avid Thaksin supporter (far from it, in fact!), I think The Nation has taking absurdity to new heights and set themselves well in the path to becoming a tabloid with their ludicrous caption competition.
Yesterday, I dropped in on the website and found a barrage of criticism for the ridiculous competition, which have all been deleted now. A little over a year ago, The Nation, which actively promoted freedom of press and opinion during the Sonthi (media mogul, not coup leader)- Thaksin battle for public air-time now is reduced to censoring and silencing its own critics!
It's true that overall, there is more critical public opinion against Thaksin, but a newspaper's role - especially one that used to pride itself on being an informative mouthpiece for intellectual writers - should be to stimulate critical public discussion, not be the ring leader in an attempt to bully an ousted prime minister.
Shame on you! A year ago you criticised Thaksin for shutting up his critics, and now you are doing the same to yours!
fon @ 12:34 PM link to post * *
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Geography afficionados, enjoy!
As I was searching for a map of the South-East Asian region, I stumbled upon this simple, yet addictive and educational game: worldmap
Enjoy.
fon @ 10:19 AM link to post * *
Turning points (a teardrop in the ocean)
I was sitting in Starbucks, diligently reading about the political evolution of the Republic of Korea, armed with a soothing soy cappuccino, when I got a call from Cristelle. She'd had a bit of an upsetting night with her boyfriend, and needed to talk. Later, when her sister joined (went for yummy lunch at Estellar), Cristelle says she consulted me because I'm level headed...
??! ??!
When did that happen?
I don't recall anyone EVER telling me I'm level headed.
Perhaps Cristelle was delirious.
At the same time as all this emotional violence is breaking out for other people, I'm finally feeling comfortable with the idea that I'm in a much more settled relationship myself. Admittedly, I was really struggling with the idea that Daeshy was going to leave Australia with me (a symptom of not knowing what I want? Commitment-phobia?) but I guess now I can't imagine it being any other way. So here's (fingers crossed) to no fighting... at least for a while :P
fon @ 6:26 AM link to post * *
Saturday, March 24, 2007
There's just no catching up with work...
... only with people, it seems. Here's something my upbringing just hasn't equipped me with:
Knowing a lot of people.
Seriously. You see, the international school crowd may have been cliquey (is that how you spell it?), but there were only a few of them. I wasn't a very cliquey sort of person, so I did have to hang around with different groups at different times... but... at the end of the day, a clique only survives in virtue of other cliques being around, so I guess what that meant in reality was that I did a lot of moving from one corner of the room to the next, given the tiny international school setting.
But here, I seem to know a lot of different categories of people which I try very hard to mix in social contexts, and with very limited success. And then there are the friends who I know just on a one-on-one basis.
So this week alone, there's been time made for
Song Yee (Belongs to MUISS etc group and NLC group)
Richard (no grouping)
Sakil (no grouping)
Steve, Annie, Eileen, P'Nootch and P'Foam ('corporate' group?)
Jess (Pretty Dulcie)
Tenzing, Kenny, Kelvin, Agnes (people I hang out with a lot)
Michael (no grouping)
Elvira (Spaghetti Tree)
and of course, my Daeshy.
And I'm wondering why I'm so behind on readings?
Point is, if I could just catch up with everyone in one go, that would be brilliant. Why can't everyone just get along? I'm getting tired of meeting up with people to the extent that I think I should become a hermit and renounce all of humanity so that I can study! It's not that I don't have fun catching up with people... it's that it's more fun than reading through files and files of PDFs. *whinge*
Last night, Daeshy dubbed my tendency to take pictures of strange things as my "Andy Warhol Urge"
What do I do with all those pictures that I take?
Well, I'll post a couple here... my favourites from the past month:
fon @ 2:00 PM link to post * *
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I feel...
...today
fon @ 6:47 AM link to post * *
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Magnation
This is so awesome... I'm sitting in Magnation right now (corner of Elizabeth and Collins)... wish I'd discovered it earlier - it has a HUGE collection of magazines and a cafe, comfortable seating inside and internet to boot! The staff are exceedingly friendly and knowledgeable... NICE :)
But... could find Asian Economist, which is a shame. I was just thinking that I'd like some not strictly academic magazine that provides me with a general overview of Asian current affairs before I delve into more specific research topics...
Oh, well... but the place is great :) Highly recommended!
fon @ 11:27 AM link to post * *
Friday, March 16, 2007
What are the benefits?
I received an invitation to become a golden key member in the post yesterday...
Is anyone a member who has reaped any tangible benefits from joining? Is it worth paying $93 for the piece of paper that recognizes your alleged academic prowess? I mean, isn't your transcript enough?
Seriously. What is the benefit of joining?
fon @ 9:20 AM link to post * *
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Poor, neglected blog :(
Last year, I whined about not having time for leisure reading...
Now I don't have time to update this site... and no time to eat properly :x
*sigh*
fon @ 10:33 AM link to post * *
Thursday, March 08, 2007
First 'real' day at uni
I feel so much better now that I've attended a class. First of all, I'm not the only one who's arrived late...
Secondly - it's great! All that reading I did doesn't feel like that much anymore because it's so interesting! There's only four of us in that class, and what a mix! One Chinese girl, one Australian girl, one Russian girl and myself. The leader of the unit is great, too! Very enthusiastic and helpful :) He even dropped me home after class, which was very kind.
I think I'll be enjoying my studies after all. I was certainly a little bit concerned about this last night.
It was also fun catching up with a few friends today... Alex and his housemate Jarrod gave me a lot of crap about how I now "look like a postgraduate" (which is about 30). And Michael provided company to the lonely task of studying :) [Hi Michael, if you are reading this]
Anyhow... I guess I should celebrate with a glass of wine [thanks Dood for providing me with a graduation present... and for the moral support yesterday evening when I was panicking about the amount of reading]...
... oh, and Sorry my dearest for being in such a crappy mood last night when you were all excited about finding a place to live.
Can't wait for class on Monday :)
fon @ 5:20 PM link to post * *
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Killing trees to improve human lives?
I've got more reading to do in two weeks of study than I had for a whole semester in undergraduate level! How did this happen??!
Units I finally enrolled for:
Community Development in a Globalised World (6 pts)
Public Policy (6 pts)
Contemporary Issues in Asia (12 pts)
My goal? I guess to be able to help others after I graduate. There are enough out there to help only themselves. I'd like to be able to give as much as I take.
fon @ 12:13 PM link to post * *
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Joined the masses...
One of my brother's ventures is being a Apple dealer... so, as his little sister, I naturally get some of the fall-out. So now I've got an i-Pod nano. Hmmm... :)
I caught up with Itt today (had yummy Japanese food), and then people-watched with P'Ant for a few hours outside Siam-Paragon. I really want to come back here soon... I got P'Ant to sign his new CD (Emotion Town - Simple) for me just in case he decides to forget me when he's famous! I've been assured that he won't, though :)
Itt's going to Hong Kong to work... guess I'll have a reason to travel there :) :) :)
I don't want to go back to Australia... but then I miss my Daeshious (good luck for your job interview tomorrow darling!). So I guess I do want to go back. But not for long. I'm ready to leave Australia already. But what to do?
fon @ 9:27 PM link to post * *