Just my take on some stuff that is going on in Singapore

Recently I found myself drawn to the whole Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) saga. It's a battle between the current executive committee and the organization's former leaders. From what I see, the media has been diligently updating all Singaporeans who, like me, are drawn to this issue.

Interestingly, it was recently brought to my attention that there is a new reality show in Singapore. I am talking about S Factor. I don't know the exact details of the show (tried googling using a few keywords but didn't find much) but I gather that it is organized (or co-organized) by FHM where they get attractive ladies onto the program to do a debate (see the clip below).



Haha.. certain parts are hilarious, but some portions are just plain boring. Anyway, it got me thinking, are there any similarities between the AWARE saga and the debate in S Factor?

I hope that I do not come across as saying that the AWARE issue is something as trivial as the debate (my apologies to the ladies who have worked so hard to prepare for the debate) because I don't think that it is. Personally, I have experienced a divide in an organization that I call my family and I assure you that such incidents are never trivial to those who care about the organization. The severity of an issue is one thing. How that issue is tackled is another. I am talking about the latter over here.

As educated individuals, we are expected to justify our statements with evidences. But honestly speaking, how many of these statements can actually hold if they were to be really grilled down to every single last detail. Sometimes, we just add in something for convenience, to make the argument sound more justified.

Then there is the issue of personal attack. Sure, it is imperative that we focus on the facts, not the people. But let me assure you that it is not that difficult to touch someone's soft spot by just using the right "relevant facts". Haha... try me if you don't agree.

So if you ask me, kudos to the ladies on the S factor for being "authentic", a quality that is advocated by Tony Blair's former spokesperson. Here's an article on it. Haha... again, I hope that I do not offend anyone associating Susan Boyle with the ladies in S Factor. What that lady did was inspirational. But I was also very touched by the saxophone guy as well. Haha... but that's another story...

Another thought came to me. Is the media's diligent coverage of the AWARE saga partly due to the fact that a significant part of the educated community (those who read and/or watch the news) is "entertained" by it. If you ask me, S Factor probably has higher entertainment value than the AWARE saga. Xue Sha is just so cute, both in terms of her appearance and her speech. But for some reason (which I cannot explain), I probably will not watch another episode of S Factor but will continue to follow the news on AWARE. Seriously, it seems strange to me that I am more intrigued by the dispute between the ladies of AWARE rather than the fights between the FHM cover girls wannabes. Any theories as to why this is happening?

So back to the question that I had conveniently avoided answering. Are there any similarities between the two (AWARE and S Factor debate)? If anything, we should have learnt that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even for this question. I agree with Teo Chee Hean in that perhaps there is a better way to communicate and influence one another when there are disagreements (see article). Perhaps it's time for us to revisit Aristotle's Art of Persuasion and John Kotter's change managment. Something that I am inclined to do after I watch Xue Sha for one last time in the video clip above.

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Piano... The ladies' guitar

Over the years, I have come to realized that the guitar is generally a very effective instrument when it comes to charming the ladies. Recently, it dawned on me that the piano has a similar effect on guys. Hmm... or is it just me?

Singapore... My home and yours...

I was just listening to some of the old NDP songs and I was reminded that Singapore resulted from the toil of people from a dozen lands. Strangers when they first begun, but they came together to be one people and one nation. Unfortunately, we are not always receptive of our new citizens. Just saying that it is something that we should be thinking about. After all, a house that is divided cannot stand.

Whatever the case, we should all do our best and hopefully contribute back to the society that invested in us. I know that Singapore is pretty screwed up in more ways than one, but it will always be where I grew up.