Case of the suicide pact by 8 teens in S’pore: Seeking Attention or Delusional?

http://thecourtroom.stomp.com.sg/stomp/courtroom/case_of_the_day/248264/Teens_leader_said_theyd_die_and_return_to_save_the_world.html

When I first read this article about Ku Witaya and his suicide pact with the other boys, I thought to myself, “Siao.” which also means crazy. The collective culture of the 7 boys to their leader has been repeated in history before and is also much worse than what has happened here in Singapore. One fine example was Charles Manson and his group followers who generated a whole string of killings.

I then started to see what these 2 groups had in similarity that led them to perform such acts. It was the collectivist culture of the followers of these groups and complete surrender to the will of their leader. They were highly interdependent, were always ready to conform and be influenced by their leader, and were willing to sacrifice anything for the group.

The followers of these groups conform so passionately to the group that their actions become completely irrational. I find it hard to comprehend how a group of young teens can be led to believe and be influenced by video games and a friend whose reality has been twisted due to his strong belief in such things. They’ve practically given up every form of individuality they possess, not even stopping to think about what they’re doing, just following their leader’s ‘teachings’ about the coming of World War III and how they are going to stop the war by turning into “Slayers” after committing suicide.

The other boys were really lucky because the initial plan was to jump off the roof together from Ku Witaya’s apartment, but the roof access was locked, so they all went to Ku Witaya’s house to jump out the window. At this point 1 of the boys already backed out and went home. At the house, after Ku Witaya and another jumped off the very small window in his room, fear overcame the other boys and they also backed out of their foolish plan.

A collective culture is generally good if led in the right direction, but once delusion and strong belief in some disturbing and twisted philosophy sets in, disasters could happen. There are many different cults across the world that has formed through collectivism, and some most of them are not even sure of their own beliefs at all but they just choose to tag along. Do these people just want to feel like they belong to a group and believe in something because their lives are empty? Or are they truly delusional?

German men are ‘world’s worst lovers’ with English men in second place

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6241440/German-men-are-worlds-worst-lovers-with-English-men-in-second-place.html

A very interesting post I picked up over here from telegraph.co.uk. Just by looking at the list of world’s worst and best lovers from OnePoll.com, some women would have already subscribed to such stereotypes and have their perceptions altered about men from different countries. It might even go to a point where they would turn a man down in the Initiating stage of Knapp’s Model of relational development because he was of a certain nationality. Honestly, when I read this, I was wondering, what if he was a really nice guy? Would you still pick him? Women of this day and age can’t be that shallow right? If that were the case, wouldn’t the countries on the world’s worst lovers list suffer a drop in the number of marriages?

I wouldn’t disagree with the spokesperson from OnePoll.com who said ”These results are an eye-opener for thousands of men around the world and female travellers might judge potential new lovers by looking at these results.”, but we also have to realise that not every attribute on both lists applies to the men in those countries.

So if you were to answer a poll about Singaporean men or women as lovers, what would your answer be?

Here’s the of the world’s Worst and Best Lovers according to OnePoll.com

WORLD’S WORST LOVERS:

1. Germany (too smelly)

2. England (too lazy)

3. Sweden (too quick)

4. Holland (too dominating)

5. America (too rough)

6. Greece (too lovey-dovey)

7. Wales (too selfish)

8. Scotland (too loud)

9. Turkey (too sweaty)

10. Russia (too hairy)

WORLD’S BEST LOVERS

1. Spain

2. Brazil

3. Italy

4. France

5. Ireland

6. South Africa

7. Australia

8. New Zealand

9. Denmark

10. Canada

Old body, old soul.

Hey hey everybody!! Looks like after 3 very long discussions about the music industry, social integration and gambling, it’s about time for me to do a personal reflection.

Based on first impressions, most people would know me as a rocker, some would think I’m fierce and intimidating, and the rest wouldn’t even dare to approach me. So it’s true when I quote the saying “Don’t Judge a Book by its cover” For old friends in the COM101 class like Terence and Isaac, they have know me since I had the mushroom hairdo and they’ve somewhat witnessed my transformation into who I am today. Here’s a bunch of passport/IC photos that i have taken that shows how much i have changed over the years!

Sadly my memory doesn’t go that far, but as the photos go to show, I grew up, with MANY people mistaking for a girl. Which was really frustrating at that time, but now when my family and I look back on it, we just laugh about it.  I grew up in a stable family environment, playing games, having fun and bickering with my sister who is 3 years my senior. We’d really fight over everything, from where to sit, to the TV remote, and whatever else we couldn’t agree on. We were never really that close to each other in our younger years but that changed when tragedy struck the family.

My family was hit by a combination of things, stuff like serious illnesses and affairs and bad businesses which led to some slight financial difficulties (due to sensitivity of the subject I can’t share with you guys the details) You could say our life could be turned into some crazy Chinese drama serial. But this led to many years of suffering and pain for the family; this was when my sister and I really grew much closer to one another, because we could only confide in each other.

Those years of suffering really led me to grow up much faster than I should, resulting in me being called “Uncle” or “Old Man” because of my mindset and sometimes my behaviour. As the saying goes “If you stay in a place long enough, you become that place.” During my 2 years in the army, I found myself having good friends who were at least 15 years my senior. They taught me many things in life that they’ve gone through, especially about the mistakes they made; telling me not to repeat their faults; and they’d always have the answers to my problems. I guess this is where the saying proves true, where 2 years of being in a small unit full of people who are many years my senior have shapd me into an “Old soul” which I always somehow knew about because of the music I listened to (My friends were following the top 40s hits of today, but I went back in time all the way to the 60s and stayed there – in the glory days of Rock & Roll!) Look at this photo of one of my current bands, they’re all old enough to be my dad!

Hey guys! here’s an old poem I wrote last year when my friend asked me to imagine what it’d be like when we’re all a bunch of old fools at 50 – 60 years old .

Old Body, Old Soul – Jeremiah Maximus Lim

My hair turns white,
my breath is thin
Aching bones under saggy skin
A buck toothed smile
to that quirky child
who’s been trying to paint me all this while.
It fills my soul
my soul so old,
That feels older, than a thousand years old
I always wished that i would never age,
Cos this body has become a cage,
A rusty cage that feels so cold
And it is this old body,
and this old soul.

Money money money…. Makes us funny.

15% of gamblers studied found to have suicidal tendencies

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1007012/1/.html

Gambling and Depression, Interconnected?

“A lot of them suffer from concurrent depression, and because of depression they may have suicidal ideas.”
Dr Thomas Lee, consultant, Addiction Medicine Department, Institute of Mental Health

As you all may have read from the article, it appears that gambling addiction and depression which leads to suicidal thoughts may after all be interlinked. The article also raises the point that gambling addiction is difficult to diagnose because it is a hidden disorder.

So what really makes gambling addiction and the signs of depression that arise from it hard to diagnose? My guess would be the difficulty in reading their symptoms of both depression and addiction through their nonverbal communication.

I myself am not a big fan of gambling, but I’ve been inside a casino several times before just to accompany friends and family. Most gamblers probably don’t even know they are addicts.

Just last week, I was in Genting Highlands with 2 friends who couldn’t get stop playing on the jackpot machines there. The signs of addiction in the early stages were ever so present there and then. They kept convincing themselves that something big was coming, and they could “feel it” coming, and that was reason enough to carry on playing despite their fatigue and hunger. They were completely mesmerized by the flashing lights and multi-coloured reels of the machines. But they weren’t the only ones. I took the chance to observe the people at the tables and others who were sitting around. Everyone looked overcome with fatigue but it seemed to me that the moment they were engaged in a game, their eyes and faces were completely lit up, like as if they were fully rejuvenated. This is probably why it’s so hard to diagnose the depression on their faces because their signs of depression through non-verbal communication have been masked by the excitement of gambling.

The others, who were sitting around, were quickly falling asleep, and they looked like they haven’t slept in days, they were leaning against something and trying to sneak forty winks. They just seemed so desperate to be there even though they probably had rooms to sleep in at the hotel which was less than a 5 minute walk away.

I can almost imagine what it’s going to be like once the casinos are open in Singapore and such situations will probably be replicated, even with the safeguards set in place to prevent the situation of gambling addiction getting worse.

Gambling addiction and its interconnection with depression and possible suicidal tendencies are truly a cause for concern, but are the boosts to our economy through these Integrated Resorts worth risking the lives of such people and their families? Think about its impact on the people and the amount of social problems it is going to cause.

The long hard fight of Social integration

Government sets up S$10m fund to promote social integration

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090916/tap-337-government-sets-s-10m-fund-promo-231650b.html

With a rise in the amount of Permanent residents in Singapore within the past years, the government has finally seen a need for social integration to foster ‘bonds’ between PRs and our citizens. I understand the need for all of us in Singapore to break the language –based barriers to Communication, but are we really going to be able to completely remove our biasness and prejudices against these fellow residents of ours?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said: “The key thing now will, in fact, be the ground—up experience. Will people on the ground buy into this? Will they understand the need for this? Will they want to participate in these activities?”

“I’ve got no illusions; this is not something that can be solved in one day or one week, or even one year. It’s a long—term initiative.”

These questions above have really spawned a huge train of thought, and my belief is that this will only happen after a period of 5 years or more. The typical perception of PRs in Singapore has usually been negative due to our rigidity and failure to accept their cultures because we’re too comfortable living the way we are. Singaporeans tend to believe that they are “Atas” and this has created and additional obstacle to all these foreign nationals who have come here in search of a better life.

Take the social integration portrayed in the Film “Freedom Writers”. Set 2 years after the Rodney King riots in 1992, the film has showed us how the school was ‘ravaged’ when students of different races and cultural backgrounds were put together into the same school, with the hope that this would solve the problem of racial and ethnic segregation and integration problems especially after it’s aggravation by the riots.

We’re fortunate that we don’t have to experience anything like the Rodney King Riots, but successful social integration still requires a legion of very dedicated and determined people like Erin Gruwell, visionaries who are prepared to spend a lifetime in the classroom. Can we really find the same breed of people here in Singapore to drive us into overcoming our stereotypes and prejudices as well as all other language barriers into living with these people harmoniously?

Rock Band : The Beatles – Are new popular e-media such as music games more than just great fun?

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b142903_beatles_revolution_9-9-09.html

With the upcoming release of MTV’s Rock Band : The Beatles on the 9th of September 2009, I’m pretty sure that most of you are familiar with this ever popular hit game that has been the craze on most console gaming platforms like Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii since its first release in 2007.

But the real issue I’d like to address from this is the impact of music games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero on the music industry. Obviously, these games have become a new form of popular e-media within the past 2 years. Are the creation of such games purely for fun between peers? Or were they created with other intentions in mind?

I would agree to a certain extent that in the very aggressive business of computer games, Rock Band and Guitar Hero have been by far a huge success, generations of music greats and has-beens have been rediscovered and are ‘rejuvenated’, creating interest in their other musical works amongst the current generation and of course, boosting record sales.

Through these games, youths of today can get a glimpse of what the days of rock n’ roll sounded like since experiences such as seeing the Beatles live in concert are no longer possible. These games give them a small taste of what it might have been like to really watch the Beatles perform in the comfort of their own living room. Parents and even grandparents can enjoy such games like this together with them because it would seem all too familiar to the older generation. On top of this, music games are in a way better than games such as Grand Theft Auto and Saint’s Row 2 because games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero don’t promote sex, drugs and violence especially when the players are mainly kids who are 18 and below.

Although the games have boosted record sales, and is good harmless fun to play, the fact that music is reduced to 5 coloured buttons on a small plastic guitar has angered a lot of people and especially some musicians. Instead of thinking of the correct chords in the song, you’re thinking about jamming the buttons in correct order to gain points. Some musicians take offense to this and feel that it’s insulting to change, manipulate and strip down music to make it fit the framework of a videogame. This makes the music featured feel like a cheap substitute to the real thing and it distorts the artists’ work and vision. Because your attention is fixed on the screen when playing these games and your mind focused on hitting the right ‘colors’, the experience of listening to music and appreciating it has been completely changed.

So even if the games Rock Band and Guitar Hero have boosted record sales and sparked off a revival of old bands who have been labelled as “Legends”, are we really willing to compromise and cheapen the value of music appreciation?