Capitalist "America", Socialist Korea

Capitalist "America", Socialist Korea?

Some 'interesting' video juxtaposing footages from American and North Korea. Well, food for thought.

I can never understand North Koreans, how they bow to 'the one' person there and think that he's the greatest of all. I once told someone that if I had a real death note, Kim Jong Il would be one name I want to put in it. But then, we cannot say the North Koreans are not happy. We'll nv know. Happiness is an elusive thing. We might say that they are happy with what they have because they do not know better, but at least they are happy. So what if we know better, it just makes us unhappy that we are not part of the 'better'.

thoughts on recent events

since today is my off day.. decide to post more.. haven't been motivated to post much..

recently, the newsroom received a feedback email from a public and we were discussing how accurate this feedback is and how we could improve based on the feedback.

then i heard my colleagues talking about the times where there was Mediaworks and how the competition changed the news values. The focus shifted to more local news, and when the didn't have enough or realised they miss out on sth, they were told to just copy from the papers by the management. On the TV side, they go all out to shoot accidents on the roads but in the end cause traffic jams and inconveniences, leading the police to ban such acts.

This somehow sounds like Taiwan media to me. Local, sensationalized news. Now that it's back to just Mediacorp, we are reevaluating what our stand is. Can go back to doing what we think is right and not be bogged down by what competitors do and trying to outdo them.

So i'm not an advocate of media competition. Not cut throat competition at least. But it seems like any form of competition eventually becomes cut throat, at least when it comes to news. But there is a need for drive for the media to shape up and improve. And i think the drive can come from the public's feedback and complains. And i realised that most do take feedback and complains pretty seriously.

So don't keep quiet and let the people know what needs improving! Just complaining under your breath is not going to change anything.

new skin, new begining?

i started this blog to update ppl and to chronicle the happenings during my exhange in Taiwan. It's been 1 year and 1 day since i first stepped into Taiwanese shores for my exchange. (meant to write this yesterday la.. so it's 1 day late :P) so in a sense, the new look is to commemorate the 1st anniversary of me going to Taiwan for exchange..

All i can say is that it was truly an eye-opener and i definitely did not regret going there.. and having been there and done that, i really wanna go out again, go out more.. nothing beats going out there and experiencing a different lifestyle. so anyone comtemplating exchange or whatever chance to go overseas, don't have to think so much, just go! but it's also important to go with an open mind...

this was me, a year and a day ago..

my first meal in Taiwan.. it's some beef house and the food there is delicious.. i rememeber it's just opposite 华视... do i look different?

life's differences

accountants are a blessed lot.. my ex-roomie is one.. they spend 3 yrs in school and get an honours degree and even before they graduate, prospective employers are fighting to get them.. seriously.. if you are an accountancy graduate, you are almost certainly secured employment by one of the big 4s.. as my ex-roomie puts it, the interviews with the big 4s are more of the company selling you their company and why you should choose them rather than you selling urself.. my roomie got selected by all 4 companies in the end..

and just when she thought she had made up her mind, one of the big 4s decided they want to offer her $200 more for her starting pay for her good results.. but she hasn't even graduated and do not know what honours classification she'll be getting.. anyway it seems like they are offering almost everyone this $200 more to lure them to the company..

now you see what i mean by accountants are a blessed lot.. the companies are FIGHTING for them.. wow.. what am i doing in the media industry where the starting pay is probably a good 1000 away from an accountant's.. hmm... and i even have to fork out money on my own to complete my FYP and accountants don't even need to do FYP..

then i remember.. i hate numbers and hate sitting in the office...

here comes the end of 2006.. welcome 2007..

i must say this year has gone by in a flash.. i guess it felt faster than ever cos i spent a good part of it overseas and time spent overseas juz feels like a dream now.. unreal..

and as usual i like to do those customary recaps at the end of the year.. what have i done? what have i learnt? what resolutions?

well, the greatest 'achievement' this year would definitely be going away for exchange in Taipei.. 5 whole months away from home.. Taiwan is like familiar, yet unfamiliar place.. we see so much of it on TV but still i dunno much abt the country beyond that..

but thru the exchange, i've definitely learnt more about myself, know what is truly independent (can't even go home for the weekends u know..), appreciate my friends, family and country more, tried many new things, got to know frens from HK and Taiwan, improved my Mandarin, travelled a good portion of Taiwan, understand Taiwan better, understand the importance of having a global outlook and many many more... it's quite a self-discovery process that I went thru and it was really an awesome experience.. of cos it was not 100% smooth-sailing and there were the down moments but I would still go for it again.. so i really really recommend anyone who has the chance to go out and see the world and Singapore from another angle..

other than the exchange, everything else that i did pales in comparison.. after settling into life back in Singapore, my life feels very much routinised.. going to school on weekdays, going to work on weekends.. it's so fun to be able to plan weekend getaways and round-the-island trips.. i simply adore planning my own trip cos the sense of satisfaction is so much better and also i would truly look forward to going on those trips.. there's always so much to do in Singapore that trips would get postponed and in the end cancelled.. argh!

life in yr 3 as an ebm-er has been pretty good so far.. i'm actually enjoying it.. but then u also know the importance of having good group mates, and learn to appreciate them when you actually find them... and also getting to know a lot of ppl that i hardly interact with before this.. CS is so small and yet i must say there are still a lot of ppl that i dun really know.. and now that we are divided into out divisions, it's quite hard to get to knoe those outside EBM liaoz..
then taking audio and video together is not as bad as i thought it would be.. i survived it and thought that my results are not too bad either.. next up is internship at mediacorp 958 and i pray hard that i'll be enjoying my time there..

2006 is indeed a fruitful year.. a year that is really relaxing for the first part and really busy for the second part.. i still can't believe that it's already the 31st and i'm going to start work in 3 days! bye 2006!

明けましておめでとうございます！　良い２００７年を！
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAVE A GOOD 2007 AHEAD!