how do i know stuff? simple.
(x-posted to my friendster blog - sorry friendster friends who have to see this twice!)
before this extremely long entry, a big shoutout to my girl, JESSICA TEE SIANG YEE/Jessie - you're 18 today bay-beh! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SEE! I'm cluttering my post with supah-large fonts just for you! happy 18 years young gorgeous, hope you're living it up in perth! ;)
on with the entry!
i was having a chat with my bestie, lisa, over the phone on her recent quiksilver surf/skate festival on the 22nd of april, and we were also discussing several other things. girls multitask at everything. that's why we never get off the phone - too many subjects crammed in.
anyhow, she mentioned shisha, and here's how it went.
lisa : we went to this shisha place.
me : it's not tobacco, right?
lisa : oh no, it's got more of a...hmm...
me : a fruity taste.
lisa : yeah, it does - hey, HOW DO YOU KNOW? it's not like you've tried it before, right?
me : i, uh, read.
lisa : right.
and then we proceeded to talk about green bikini tops and surf pools and how click five isn't all that great (duh) and felt heart paper clips before broaching the subject of clothing.
lisa : you know, there's this clothing store in australia called supre...
me : supre! they have gorgeous debim skirts! all frayed and ripped and stuff!
lisa : yeah, they're gorgeous - hey, HOW DO YOU KNOW? you've never been to australia!
me : i, uh, read.
lisa : what do you mean?
me : online communities post pictures of what they buy, and so i get to read about the brands and see the products.
lisa : goodness. how do you know these things, seriously?
me : i don't get to go out and do things much - but i make up for it by reading about it.
which is true. even if you can't drive (like me), am not sure about the bus schedule (like me), don't even bloody trust the public transport 'system' here (like me) or don't have the time or money to travel right now (like me), you can always read. read and read and read. that's how you know things.
i read extensively. i know that experience is the best thing, but hey, reading's the next best thing when you don't have access to the experience, right? a teacher once said (actually, quite a few teachers) that i was a very well read person. that is one compliment that i can't turn down because, well, it's so bloody true!
the breed of people who really, truly read is fast dying out. i know that there are some people (in my social circle as well as in the general group of people i hang out with) who really do delve into books - but how many are out there? i hate to think that malaysians on average read only about 2 books or 2 pages a year or something like that. that must mean that the person like me who reads about 12-17 books a month (if i'm damn rajin, 20) has her amount of books divided by the rest of the population; giving the rest of the world the impression that the only time malaysians pick up a book is when they have to study for the undang's test (for driving) and when they read their religious texts (the bible, the quran, and all those other holy books).
seriously, to those who don't read or don't really read - start doing so. it's not that hard. in an average day, i read my thesaurus, the star newspaper, whatever educational stuff i need to read to get my tuition work done, several blogs, and at least one book. of course, there are magazines that i buy such as Klue (a magazine for kl-ites, but quite useful as they have performing arts schedules and current events in the hub of the city), Cleo, Female, Reader's Digest, Times magazine (if i'm lucky), old editions of national geographic and even really, really old Reader's Digest. i love RD mags from the 1980's and backwards. I have issues dating back to the 1960's thanks to my auntie. they're really much better than the current editions.
'a waste of time'? how is reading a waste of time? when you read, you gain knowledge. or when you read as much fiction as i do, you gain a hell of a vocabulary/understanding of word play ;)
see - knowledge is priceless. time is gold. when you spend time to get knowledge, isn't it a fair trade? win win situation what. gold for priceless things wor! untung lah! at least you won't be floundering like a dying fish in front of your college professors, uni lecturers or jpa interviewers or whatever.
the reason why i'm posting this is because of the dismal english in this country, actually. i remember in my bio tuition a week or two ago, the tuition sir used this phrase 'science stuff etc etc will give rise to this state etc etc'. i was taking notes, and i wrote what he said without question as i understood it. the puterian girls understood it too, methinks. however, more than half the class, or i dare say three quarters of the class were like, wtf? give rise? a few of them asked me how to spell it, and i spelled it out for them. still, i guess they weren't really sure perhaps, because they asked the sir again, and he explained it out.
the state of english is worsening day by day, and there's a big hullabaloo all the time in the newspapers. don't the rakyat realize all they need is to bloody READ and, if the book they choose has some tough words, a good dictionary? just read, read, READ.
geez. the government should employ me to be their spokesperson for reading or something. they can pay me by allowing me to pick a book of MY CHOICE from mph/kinokuniya/popular/leading bookstores EVERYDAY for free! wahlau - 7 free books a week, talk about job perks! and since they overprice electronics here, they can throw in a 5th generation iPod into the deal. sweet.
and nilam programmes DO NOT HELP, because all you have to do is to go to the library, take out 20 books, copy down their synopsis and make up some bullshit about what you learned from the book. those who do it sincerely benefit from it - but how many do? sigh. much better to have book discussions/book reports like the ones they have in the US. that one you seriously cannot bull your way through, unless you get Cliff's notes (a point form of novels). but even then, you still have to read the cliff's notes to bluff your way through, right? sigh.
anyhow, i'll end this now - but i'm in a 'blog it' mood nowadays, so yeah - more blog entries coming up! then i'll probably get lazy and stop blogging for another year. therefore, enjoy this mood while it lasts :)
26 April 2006 | Permalink
before this extremely long entry, a big shoutout to my girl, JESSICA TEE SIANG YEE/Jessie - you're 18 today bay-beh! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SEE! I'm cluttering my post with supah-large fonts just for you! happy 18 years young gorgeous, hope you're living it up in perth! ;)
on with the entry!
i was having a chat with my bestie, lisa, over the phone on her recent quiksilver surf/skate festival on the 22nd of april, and we were also discussing several other things. girls multitask at everything. that's why we never get off the phone - too many subjects crammed in.
anyhow, she mentioned shisha, and here's how it went.
lisa : we went to this shisha place.
me : it's not tobacco, right?
lisa : oh no, it's got more of a...hmm...
me : a fruity taste.
lisa : yeah, it does - hey, HOW DO YOU KNOW? it's not like you've tried it before, right?
me : i, uh, read.
lisa : right.
and then we proceeded to talk about green bikini tops and surf pools and how click five isn't all that great (duh) and felt heart paper clips before broaching the subject of clothing.
lisa : you know, there's this clothing store in australia called supre...
me : supre! they have gorgeous debim skirts! all frayed and ripped and stuff!
lisa : yeah, they're gorgeous - hey, HOW DO YOU KNOW? you've never been to australia!
me : i, uh, read.
lisa : what do you mean?
me : online communities post pictures of what they buy, and so i get to read about the brands and see the products.
lisa : goodness. how do you know these things, seriously?
me : i don't get to go out and do things much - but i make up for it by reading about it.
which is true. even if you can't drive (like me), am not sure about the bus schedule (like me), don't even bloody trust the public transport 'system' here (like me) or don't have the time or money to travel right now (like me), you can always read. read and read and read. that's how you know things.
i read extensively. i know that experience is the best thing, but hey, reading's the next best thing when you don't have access to the experience, right? a teacher once said (actually, quite a few teachers) that i was a very well read person. that is one compliment that i can't turn down because, well, it's so bloody true!
the breed of people who really, truly read is fast dying out. i know that there are some people (in my social circle as well as in the general group of people i hang out with) who really do delve into books - but how many are out there? i hate to think that malaysians on average read only about 2 books or 2 pages a year or something like that. that must mean that the person like me who reads about 12-17 books a month (if i'm damn rajin, 20) has her amount of books divided by the rest of the population; giving the rest of the world the impression that the only time malaysians pick up a book is when they have to study for the undang's test (for driving) and when they read their religious texts (the bible, the quran, and all those other holy books).
seriously, to those who don't read or don't really read - start doing so. it's not that hard. in an average day, i read my thesaurus, the star newspaper, whatever educational stuff i need to read to get my tuition work done, several blogs, and at least one book. of course, there are magazines that i buy such as Klue (a magazine for kl-ites, but quite useful as they have performing arts schedules and current events in the hub of the city), Cleo, Female, Reader's Digest, Times magazine (if i'm lucky), old editions of national geographic and even really, really old Reader's Digest. i love RD mags from the 1980's and backwards. I have issues dating back to the 1960's thanks to my auntie. they're really much better than the current editions.
'a waste of time'? how is reading a waste of time? when you read, you gain knowledge. or when you read as much fiction as i do, you gain a hell of a vocabulary/understanding of word play ;)
see - knowledge is priceless. time is gold. when you spend time to get knowledge, isn't it a fair trade? win win situation what. gold for priceless things wor! untung lah! at least you won't be floundering like a dying fish in front of your college professors, uni lecturers or jpa interviewers or whatever.
the reason why i'm posting this is because of the dismal english in this country, actually. i remember in my bio tuition a week or two ago, the tuition sir used this phrase 'science stuff etc etc will give rise to this state etc etc'. i was taking notes, and i wrote what he said without question as i understood it. the puterian girls understood it too, methinks. however, more than half the class, or i dare say three quarters of the class were like, wtf? give rise? a few of them asked me how to spell it, and i spelled it out for them. still, i guess they weren't really sure perhaps, because they asked the sir again, and he explained it out.
the state of english is worsening day by day, and there's a big hullabaloo all the time in the newspapers. don't the rakyat realize all they need is to bloody READ and, if the book they choose has some tough words, a good dictionary? just read, read, READ.
geez. the government should employ me to be their spokesperson for reading or something. they can pay me by allowing me to pick a book of MY CHOICE from mph/kinokuniya/popular/leading bookstores EVERYDAY for free! wahlau - 7 free books a week, talk about job perks! and since they overprice electronics here, they can throw in a 5th generation iPod into the deal. sweet.
and nilam programmes DO NOT HELP, because all you have to do is to go to the library, take out 20 books, copy down their synopsis and make up some bullshit about what you learned from the book. those who do it sincerely benefit from it - but how many do? sigh. much better to have book discussions/book reports like the ones they have in the US. that one you seriously cannot bull your way through, unless you get Cliff's notes (a point form of novels). but even then, you still have to read the cliff's notes to bluff your way through, right? sigh.
anyhow, i'll end this now - but i'm in a 'blog it' mood nowadays, so yeah - more blog entries coming up! then i'll probably get lazy and stop blogging for another year. therefore, enjoy this mood while it lasts :)
26 April 2006 | Permalink