How else does one describe the sight of gigantic artificial Christmas trees gyrating slowly at the four corners of a traffic light junction? I found them mildly disturbing. I don't know if they're supposed to simulate trees swaying in the wind, but if they're moving because somebody thought that would add vibrancy to the Orchard Road Christmas scene, then that probably encapsulates the problem with this country.
We try so hard to keep up appearances. From a distance one may think the Huge green cones with the strips of baubles are tree-like, but on closer inspection there isn't even the semblance of branches or leaves. They're just very big inverted cones of green fabric with tacked-on coloured balls. And they're swaying ever so gently (not gracefully) in total asynchronicity (asynchronisation?) with the traffic that stops and starts past them, it's surreal.
I suppose natural trees won't dance. And I bet next year somebody will suggest that the artificial trees be made to sing too. In terms of tackiness, that ranks somewhere around those coin-operated plastic horses that I used to ride as a little boy.
If we really wanted to make it Christmassy, we'd get real trees. And we'd have bins around the trees for people to donate gifts to orphans. Because Christmas is about people and the sharing of life. It is not about trying to simulate life, no matter how clever our inventions and how real our simulations.
I like my machines to stay machines, like my trusty Palm Zire, my ageing Notebook, and La Voiture. You won't catch any of them being dressed up as anything natural. Ever.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Saturday, November 20, 2004
In The Wrong Lane
I have begun to keep track of the cars that cut in front of me without signalling. Over the past two days I have encountered one beemers and three merces. Unfortunately the only number I remember is 9748 because that's the beemer I flashed for cutting in. I shall do better next time and remember the whole license number.
What I would like to know is whether failure to signal is an act of negligence on the road. If I hit a car that cut suddenly into my lane without signalling, how much liability is on me and how much on the other driver? Maybe the road courtesy campaign might work better if some real punitive measures were put in place. It would also teach people to live with the consequences of their own actions, like if you miss a turn you go to the next U-turn and turn back instead of trying to cut across two lanes (and cut off the people in those lanes as a result).
I know it's hard to legislate courtesy. However, it seems odd that the people who drive luxury cars seem to have less of it on the roads. Perhaps rich people have no time to be courteous, or perhaps they get rich because they don't bother about being courteous, especially if it's to people who they don't see as being capable of conferring material or social advantage. This is probably unfair to a majority of rich people out there (seeing as I know a few decent ones myself) but it doesn't mean I can ignore the bad apples just because the rest of the barrel is good.
I guess that's the real failure of our education system:
"We readily inquire, 'Does he know Greek or Latin?' 'Can he write poetry and prose?' But what matters most is what we put last: 'Has he become better and wiser?'
"We ought to find out not who understands most but who understands best. We work merely to fill the memory, leaving the understanding and the sense of right and wrong empty."
- Michel de Montaigne,
Essays, Book I,
On Schoolmasters' learning
What I would like to know is whether failure to signal is an act of negligence on the road. If I hit a car that cut suddenly into my lane without signalling, how much liability is on me and how much on the other driver? Maybe the road courtesy campaign might work better if some real punitive measures were put in place. It would also teach people to live with the consequences of their own actions, like if you miss a turn you go to the next U-turn and turn back instead of trying to cut across two lanes (and cut off the people in those lanes as a result).
I know it's hard to legislate courtesy. However, it seems odd that the people who drive luxury cars seem to have less of it on the roads. Perhaps rich people have no time to be courteous, or perhaps they get rich because they don't bother about being courteous, especially if it's to people who they don't see as being capable of conferring material or social advantage. This is probably unfair to a majority of rich people out there (seeing as I know a few decent ones myself) but it doesn't mean I can ignore the bad apples just because the rest of the barrel is good.
I guess that's the real failure of our education system:
"We readily inquire, 'Does he know Greek or Latin?' 'Can he write poetry and prose?' But what matters most is what we put last: 'Has he become better and wiser?'
"We ought to find out not who understands most but who understands best. We work merely to fill the memory, leaving the understanding and the sense of right and wrong empty."
- Michel de Montaigne,
Essays, Book I,
On Schoolmasters' learning
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Letters and Flames
Letters
Dinner at G's new place on Thursday threw up a few ideas.
First was the concept of doing a "number one" or a "number two". I usually just call it "small business" and "big business", but I realised that people all over the world probably have their own euphemisms for the respective calls of nature, and that got me thinking further. I wonder what else we would call it. Perhaps a Brave New World fan would call the "little convenience" Chinese "doing a Delta". A slightly more direct way might simply be to "do a pi" or "do a sigma".
Which leads me to wonder about fraternity (and sorority) names, and why they use Greek letters. Is Singapore in reality run by the Pi Alpha Pi fraternity? Are they being opposed by the Sigma Delta Pi (led by Juan Cheeson?)
I shall try not to think about it too much the next time I drive down the Pi Iota Eta (or is it Epsilon?)
Flames
I saw the fires of Mordor on leaving G's place. I am fairly certain Tolkien saw something similar in his day. I still haven't figured out whether it's a refinery or an incinerator, but either way the flame at the top of a tower is a stark reminder of global warming and how much energy our modern lifestyle consumes.
Which should actually be an incentive to cut this post short and move on quickly, but some things are worth destroying the planet for.
Dinner at G's new place on Thursday threw up a few ideas.
First was the concept of doing a "number one" or a "number two". I usually just call it "small business" and "big business", but I realised that people all over the world probably have their own euphemisms for the respective calls of nature, and that got me thinking further. I wonder what else we would call it. Perhaps a Brave New World fan would call the "little convenience" Chinese "doing a Delta". A slightly more direct way might simply be to "do a pi" or "do a sigma".
Which leads me to wonder about fraternity (and sorority) names, and why they use Greek letters. Is Singapore in reality run by the Pi Alpha Pi fraternity? Are they being opposed by the Sigma Delta Pi (led by Juan Cheeson?)
I shall try not to think about it too much the next time I drive down the Pi Iota Eta (or is it Epsilon?)
Flames
I saw the fires of Mordor on leaving G's place. I am fairly certain Tolkien saw something similar in his day. I still haven't figured out whether it's a refinery or an incinerator, but either way the flame at the top of a tower is a stark reminder of global warming and how much energy our modern lifestyle consumes.
Which should actually be an incentive to cut this post short and move on quickly, but some things are worth destroying the planet for.
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