talk about variety in local media

i hate it during the national day season. all the local channels are hounded by pro-government stuff. in fact, media platforms beyond tv too. even the mrt screens break from those safety-guaranteed-plugs, movie trailers, blood-donation ads and such, to air the latest nation-loving mtvs with some spastic moves supposed to be adopted by all singaporeans during the national day celebrations. i’m glad i haven’t got to do those damned dances or what they call it since i’ve graduated from secondary school. for a month we’re bombarded by those irritating mtvs that just goes on and on and on, literally continuously.

then being a shopping-nation, retailers spend bombs to advertise on the national newspaper, telling the whole of singapore of their national-day promotions - just like any other retailer. as if they are so damn patriotic lor. admit it lah, they just wanna increase short-term revenues. but then again, i think they’re offering an option to people on national day who detest watching the national day parade on tv and would enjoy shopping in the predictably emptier orchard road when everyone’s out watching fireworks and the parade.

the fact that all the tv channels and radio stations broadcast the national day parade and the prime minister’s speech simultaneously really gets onto my nerves. what for have channel 5, channel 8, channe u, channelnewsasia, suria and kids central when all you are going to broadcast is the exact same thing at the exact same time?

and that’s not all. immediately after our oh-so-wise-and-humourous prime minister’s speech, the whole of singapore goes ga-ga. the newspapers go on and on about each segment of the speech, coming up with more articles and interviews about how singaporeans are going to benefit from it, and putting the whole damn speech in the newspapers. then everyone, i mean everyone, starts quoting from the bloody speech. the lecturers and tutors in school start yakking and yakking about the speech, with one particularly irritating lecturer (cum tutor) showing off his foresight about the service industry and how the prime minister shares his opinions (all with the i-told-you-so tone and look). everyone just goes “prime minister lee said…..prime minister lee said…..prime minister lee said……and lee zong li shuo…..” the last straw was when this tutorial presentation group ended with yet another quote from the prime minister’s speech.

damn it, i swear when i am financially stable i’m gonna get out of the country every national day. and when i’m rich enough i’ll make sure i go for a trip that lasts the whole of august.

symptoms of stress

i’m diagnosed with mild stress.

1) stayed up till after 2am on a weekday trying to do some readings for a tutorial on the following day. actually managed to wake up for the 8.30am tutorial. amazing.

2) spent 20 mins wondering why comprehensive survey results would be “invaluable” to a company. suddenly remember that invaluable is not the opposite of valuable, but that it is extremely valuable. is this the problem with the english language, or stress?

3) started to skip meals despite hunger because there’s more reading to be done than food to be eaten. drove my digestive system crazy.

4) marked out project discussions and tasks to be carried out everyday. organiser is running out of space.

5) found relief in cheap retail therapy at the convenient nanyang mini-mart and the ntu popular bookstore.

desperation.