This changed when I entered NTU as a journalism student. I devoted my time to building a portfolio through recognised platforms such as the Nanyang Chronicle. When I went overseas to the University of Missouri for 1 semester, I busied myself with photography and writing. Blogging basically died as a personal hobby.

But today, I felt a sudden urge to blog. After a burning, exhausting semester for the 2nd half of 2010, I’m very emotionally drained. It had been a very unhappy December for me. My unhappinest in my whole life. Exams ended late. Final projects ran into serious trouble. Internship is having an early start. I had no time to recharge and reorganise my life. I had to rush to shop my office clothes, and I wasn’t even sure what to wear. Best of all, I fell very sick and lost a few kilograms. (Not that its bad either)

It was my worst Christmas. Ever. And I felt really tired. I can’t really complain to anyone either I guess. But let me have my space on the internet, and I will be fine.

I will blog about my year 2010 tomorrow. It had been my tradition to write a blog about the whole year. With the exception of a bad Christmas, 2010 had been a turning point in my life. There were many triumphs, minus the celebrations. But I will celebrate privately in my heart. =)

Alot of media coverage and aid has been given to poor people in Africa, India, Middle East and China. However, who helps the American poor? In a capitalistic society like US which values individual struggle, the poor are expected to pick themselves up on their own. The American government won’t lend a helping hand because (as we witnessed from the health care debate) they will be accused of being socialist, and that means political suicide.

Do other countries, especially the traditional big donors of aid, (Japan, Britain, China) see a need to help the poor in US like how they helped people in Africa etc? I believe not because they probably see no reason to help the richest country in the world, apart from some friendly, symbolic gestures like sending rescue teams during Hurricane Katrina. Furthermore, there are countries which are in deeper need of aid as a whole compared to the US.

If the US and foreign governments do not help poor Americans, who else could lend them a special hand when poor Americans are stuck in the cycle of poverty? That leaves the civil society, US media and also religious groups. However, some of the largest and richest churches in America, ironically, might not be so effective in helping the poor if their pastors keep demanding money from the congregation to build huge megachurch complexes, luxury cars and clothes for themselves.

Of course, you can argue that the more money you have, the more you can donate. It will be up to the media to keep a watch on whether these groups spend enough on helping the poor regardless of faith, in order to qualify for tax-exemption. In addition, civil society NGOs and the less money-minded religious groups have to play their part to help the poor too. Having less money doesn’t mean you cannot do an equally effective job.

There is also a danger of relying too much on religious groups to help the poor because it is too often mixed with proselytisation. Poor Americans of a particular faith may fare differently because the religious group they are affliated to might not be financially as strong. For example, Iraqi refugees in US might not get the same amount of help compared to Burmese and African refugees affliated to richer churches?

Whether these issues are true or not, I feel that being a poor person in America must be quite frustrating because your situation is often overlooked by foreign observers, who too often see America’s wealth but not the poverty within.

Detail:

I have a favourite pastime – surfing internet forums and comment boxes.

However, unlike some regulars on the forums, I seldom post anything. In fact, I am more of an observer rather than a debater that has the time and energy to last 100 posts.

Nonetheless, there is something alluring about reading the thoughts and feelings of the ordinary man on the street.

In the forums, many people feel that their opinion is independently reasoned and thought out, and feel deeply offended when people disagree with their opinion, because it hurts them inside.

The hurt is also aggravated by a deep illusion in life – the sense of a unique identity that creates the ego. In fact, what people perceive as their own independent opinion is not so independent actually.

In public opinion, certain lines of reasoning, when propagated through the mass media, spreads itself like a virus. People pick it up and often forget where they pick them up from. For example, the reasoning that ‘free speech creates chaos’ in Singapore is so prevalent that many people forgot the origins of that phrase. They use it from time to time and classify them as “personal opinion”.

However, when a personal opinion contains bits and phrases borrowed from the same, properly planned propaganda campaign, its not personal opinion anymore. You are brainwashed. This applies to many religious groups, MLM companies and political parties.

As hints of the General Elections increase, its also time for Singaporeans to wise up.

Of course, we can be assured everyone remembers where “boomz” and “shingz” came from. =)

Yong, the 22-year-old Malaysian who was caught for traffic drugs when he was 18, faces an impending death penalty as his lawyer M. Ravi and 3 others from London who flew in to help try to save his life. Arguing against them is the Attorney General Walter Woon who said that sparing Kong is a matter of policy to be debated in parliament, as the court’s job to carry out the will of the parliament. Reports can be found complied on this blog. A flyer can be found below:

I am not a lawyer but from my basic understanding of law, the society comes up with laws to serve as deterrence. Sentencing Yong Vui Kong isn’t going to solve the problem of the trafficker employing people of his age to smuggle drugs again and again because people like Kong, who is poor, unaware and desperate, can always be found in any society and tricked by drug smuggling rings.

Even after Yong dies, teens like Yong who are caught smugging drugs will always be caught again and again, and they will pay the price for simply ‘ignorance”. They will die again and again. Furthermore, being 18 doesn’t mean he has the awareness of the majority of 18 year-olds in society who know about death penalty for drugs. There is a difference between a person committing the crime knowing of the consequences and a person not knowing of the consequences. We should not hasten to punish both of them with the same penalty.

However, I think for all the valiant efforts of his lawyers and Yong’s remarkable turn for the better (he changed into a much better person while in prison), he might still die. He faces two huge obstacles – Lee Kuan Yew’s support for the death penalty and an obedient, apathetic population who see death penalty as a magic solution to solve problems in society. These two alone will stall any parliamentary debate to change the death penalty.

The worst part of this whole episode is, there is little public discussion on this whole issue. Readers are more concerned about whacking Jack Neo than saving Yong’s life.

The room where our lectures are held, inside Lee Hills.

Class has just ended and students stayed back to discuss photo editing with one another.

It is a sleepy Monday morning but many still turned up. While many would be feeling sleepy, Starbucks coffee helps alot.

The teacher-assistant, Vivian (left).

She is always with us during lab lessons where we would learn adobe bridge, photoshop, indesign, sound slides and many other cool stuff. Lab sessions are in the late Monday evening (groan), so I am always yawning… …

Simin wondering why I am taking photographs while having a conversation with Jonathan on the right.

He is a masters student like many others in this class. Many of them spent many years doing photography and photoshop and they are really good.

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David Rees, our photojournalism teacher (right). He is a mentor with great wisdom. They say a picture says a thousand words but I believe David could say more than that. In this photo, he is discussing photo editing with Melissa (left), one of my classmates.

As in every crisis, there are always victims and opportunists. The hardest hit of them all is definitely Jack’s family. My heart goes out to his children and I hope that (given the immaturity of schoolchildren) they do not have to endure any jeering and ostracisation in class. This is something which even the teachers and parents cannot stop because it happens so discretely. I wish Jack’s 4 children all the best and that they will come out stronger after this issue.

While this scandal might probably spell an end to Jack’s career in the film and TV industry, its a golden opportunity for City Harvest Church to recruit an elite member from the media ‘gate of influence’. I’m sure Pastor K could recruit Jack into his media productions team, using his expertise to make humorous, evangelistic films to harvest more souls.

Fallen out of grace from the media industry, Jack Neo could find a new fan base in the CHC 30k strong economy. At the same time, he could treat his service to God as repentance for his sins. Perhaps he could make films like:

Money No Enough 3 (CHC is always needing money anyway)

God No Enough (since CHC members depend on God for everything)

Music No Enough (since CHC holds their services like pop concerts)

Members No Enough (since CHC is obsessed with membership growth)

Of course, Jack Neo has to be thankful that Christians today do not take Leviticus 20:10 literally (‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death), even though CHC”s statements of faith mentions that “The scriptures are infallible, inerrant and the sole and final authority for all matters of faith and conduct.“ So he better watch out! Interpretations change with time.

Nonetheless, Bibles verses do not change much with time. Leviticus 20:10 only mentions another man’s wife. Since Wendy Chong is not married anyway, maybe Jack Neo has not committed any sin at all, at least in the biblical sense. Apart from seeking forgiveness from his wife and children, he could be innocent in terms of his own religion, unlike the homosexuals, pro-choice activists, evolutionists and other infidels. In other words, I am probably more sinful than Jack Neo and my readers now deserve an apology from me.

To all my readers, I’m sorry!!!

I took public transportation in Singapore for granted, complaining about the crowded MRTs and buses during peak hour.

Deep in the American midwest, I learnt to appreciate what I had back at home. In the small town of Columbia, public buses come every one hour, and the bus stops (except for the ones on campus), don’t have shelters.

Reporting was quite difficult without a car, and many times, I had walk for long periods on the snow and cold. Maybe in a tropical country, its good because walking allows you to experience more things on the streets. However, when its -5 to -8 degrees, hardly anyone walks on the streets, and the news is often hidden inside the seemingly innocent buildings.

To survive, you need a good knowledge of the town, especially:

1) Places where people congregate (churches, bars, performing stages, sports arenas)

2) Sites of unusual activity.

3) BUS STOPS

Many Americans here own a car, and driving is the most common form (and some cases, the only form) of transport. In fact, I believe about 3 out of 4 American journalism students here own a car so they can drive around campus. Nonetheless, the remaining quarter, like me, are still able to make do. I believe its possible to report great stories, but just a little time consuming. However, my photojournalism teacher, David Rees, still gave the car-less students some words for comfort - you are able to take better pictures on foot, then being stuck in a car.

Honest Emotion:

The crowd at the Mizzou Arena, where the Tigers (as the Mizzou sports team is called), plays against Iowa. I took a picture of this guy called Roberts Klang (right), and had a short interview with him. The US college spirit is awesome.

Interaction:

A off-campus housing fair at Mizzou Memorial Union. Two salesmen dress up as characters from the Wizard of Oz to attract customers. One of them, Karl (right), finds it quite funny, and I managed to capture his amused, skeptical expression. =P When I talked to him later, he admits he is here just for the free stuff.