4 days to home!!

1... 2... 3... 4... days to home!

Yeah! My FYP is finally close to be done here in the Philippines. Spending 4 weeks here is no joke. And I feel so much better after getting into the landfill yesterday.

It's not most ppl's idea of a happy day but seriously, being in the landfill yesterday really puts me so much at ease and relieve, after trying to get in for the past 4 weeks! I don't think anyone can understand the euphoria of being in the landfill other than my groupmates... haha.. and it was actually a lot better than expected, the smell is really not that bad and it was truly an eye-opener.

Thanks to all the Filipinos' help, support and cooperation, we are able to come so far. Just one more day of shoot for our last subject and it would be a nice wrap.

I'm just sad that I din have time to do touristy stuff like visiting the attractions, esp the beautiful churches. Who says u need to go to Europe for that? I guess I'll still be back in Phil but definitely 100% for play next time! It's a country with so much depth after getting to know it. And I feel ashamed for the stereotypes Singaporeans have about Filipinos.

Tata.. till i get back to Sg!!

HAPPY 2008!

greetings from Manila

Greetings from Manila!!

It's been a hell of a month... really..

Projects, exams, brother in UK, demise of my grandpa and now FYP in Philippines..

I can't believe the amt of things I'm going thru the past month alone, not to say the past year.

But I'm ok now in Philippines. Crossing fingers things will go well for my FYP and I have a grade A FYP.

Internet connection in Philippines is hard to come by unless in an internet cafe. Will try to post periodic updates when I have time.

Now to find more kidney donors and recipients.

4 jabs in a day

my arms are aching so much, it's distracting my concentration to study...

taking 4 jabs at a go is no joke.. all these in prep for the Philippines trip..

Hep A
Tetanus
Typhoid
Influenza

Woah.. feeling weak now.. as my body is fighting all these anti-bodies..

wonder if there's any side effects of having too many vaccinations...

now back to studying Media Law... headache!

long time no see

久しぶり！还就不见！long time no see!

well.. obviously many things happened during this time.. so much so that i totally forgot about the existence of my blog..

but the greatest of all is that my elder bro is leaving for UK next Tuesday for 1.5 years.. The last time someone was away was me.. on exchange but that was only for 5 months..

1.5 years... hmm.. seems long..

will i miss him?

happy day

Flight SGD02 has been a success so far and what i'm most happy about this production so far is not what i've achieved in terms of publicity but about getting the support from friends and family.

it's nice to have so many like-minded people share the passion to do theatre, but it's even better when you see people enjoy the performance, even though i'm not on stage performing. it's a kind of satisfaction that comes from the bottom of your heart.

i think it's also been years and years since my whole family had been to any of my performance. really glad they like the show, although maybe my dad less so, but still there are still bits that each one loves and i guess it's the strength of this 17 stories - everyone would be able to find something that they like. and for once, i am able to use this as a topic of conversation in my family.. think it beats everything.

well, i think getting people to take the first step is difficult but once u've impressed them enough, it's even a greater challenge to keep them interested and want to come back. at least now my family and friends know more about why i'm always missing in action, coming home so late and seemed so stressed out for the last couple of weeks. FYP with this theatre performance is quite a killer, plus there's still school work.

but for me, this mantra kind of always worked - 船到桥头自然直。there's no point worrying too much but take one step at a time and things would usually work themselves out.

publicity time!

today is the first day in more than a week that I can wake up at my own time... woot!

too much is happening but they can be summarized as below.


Come catch 紫飞机 at Play Den at the Arts House, 21st to 23rd Sept (that's next Fri to Sun). Well, can check out today's ST Life! for the write-up too!

Next up, catch this video!



It was on our website at http://thecolouredsky.com but there's some bandwidth issue there that restricts the hits on the video so it's now on the trusty youtube! Do spread it around, put on your blog, do anything you want! (It's my groupmates wish to make it the most watched video.. haha!!)

Well and we'll be returning to the Philippines again in October. It's be another enriching trip.. we have so much on our sleeves I don't think 9 days is going to be enough but well, it's still exciting.. tho LOTS of work!

-buried to my neck with work-

next phase

started work at radio chinese news again and it kinda felt weird. not an intern anymore.

it's familiar territory with familiar faces but the job seemed a little alien to me. i think i've just been bumming around and not using my brain too much lately that it took me really long to finish my story today. i would have finish it in half the time 2 months before but today i kinda just took my time to do it. plus after waking up pretty much as and when i like for the past month, i had to force myself to wake up before seven today. oh.. work! prelude to school!

school's starting next week. going for lessons and taking exams are kinda alien to me now. wonder how it would feel like to go back to the school environment where everything is about grades, studying and handing up school work. also seeing the people i haven't seen for 8 months now. the commuting will be sth new too since i've not secured a hall for myself. it is definitely a test to me being a good student.

but i'm really excited that my friends from NCCU are at NTU for exchange. to think that i was in their shoes 1.5 years ago. but it's just a really nice feeling to have friends coming from abroad and you know you could play host to, at least it's a nice feeling for me. hope they'll have a great exchange experience!

manning a different kind of hotline

i was manning a different kind of hotline tonight. a hotline that actually gives me a sense of satisfaction...

it is the SPD Charity Show hotline for more than $30 donation.

the hotline was really damn hot.. at least for my line, cause i think it's like one of those default ones that gets connected first before the rest

so for 3 hours i was happily taking down the amounts ppl wan to donate. $50, $100, $200, $500. and for once, everyone that called are nice ppl, cause they are ppl who want to make donations.. a very welcomed change from all the complain calls, prank calls, rubbish calls.

plus it feels good to know that thousands of dollars were pledged for a good cause just by me being there to answer the calls. for me the highest amount someone pledged was $500, about 3 of the calls. and i heard some other volunteer had a person pledging $5000. cool!

so this is the kind of hotline i want to man, even though i get ear ache after that.

the forbidden trade

recently went on a trip to the Philippines to check out their kidney trade.

it's my first time to the Philippines and going there as a documentary maker/researcher really showed us a different side of the society, coming face to face with the poorest strata. something tourists do not usually see.

well, we did not even have much time to do much of the touristy activities. then and again, whenever we asked the locals what is there to see in Manila, they tell us there's nothing. But i was very intrigued by the churches and cathedrals that dates back to it's Spanish Colonial rule days. Definitely places I would visit the next time I go.

So, we mainly visited the slums and some poorer provinces as these are the places with a larger cluster of kidney donors. As much as many would like to argue that they donate out of compassion for the sick, it's really the money they are after becos they are so poor, this US$2000-3000 is a sum they would nv be able to get by slugging their lives away. Of cos the actual amount that the recipient paid for the kidney transplant is way higher than the amount the donor gets, prob about 10 times the amount, and these goes to the hospital, doctors and the kidney agent.

Well, as with such situations, there are always the sob stories to be told and the fact is that of the many people we spoke to, donors themselves and people who knows donors, they expressed that none of them had their lives improved after the donation. So now they are back to square one, but without a kidney.

this is really an open secret in the Philippines and most people know of this becos of an expose journalistic news program done by Jessica Soho some time back. still, the trade is flourishing and the government even has an organisation to regulate the trade, in a bid to stop exploitation of the poor.

thinking back to the NKF saga, the amount of money they embezzled could have gotten so many patients in NKF new kidneys, not just from Philippines , but also China, India, Iran and also Turkey. well, i'm not asking everyone to go and buy a kidney now but it does seem like it's more economically viable to spend the money u'll spend the next 10 years on dialysis to buy a kidney, to get a new leash of life. (ok now i'm growing accustomed to the idea)

now for some photos..

A typical house in the slums at Baseco, Manila

Some of the better houses built by the numerous overseas NGOs giving aid there.

One of their main recreational activities...

A street in the slums...

The dump site is the kids' playground...

The awesome sunset at Baseco. It's a slums by the bay, so they get this beautiful sunset everyday.

Kids.. Lots of kids.. And they are instantly drawn to a camera when they see one.

More (and better) photos of the trip can found at our project website http://thecolouredsky.com/islawalangbato

nature trail

yet another person got killed by a falling branch. these days are filled with freak accidents.
actually there is probably quite a bit of these previously too, just that i did not pay attention to them.

anyway i was made to do a follow-up story on the killer branch incident at MacRitchie. i was tasked to go get some soundbites alone. upon reaching the carpark meant for those wanting to go for the Tree Top Walk, the only thing i saw was a dirt path (actually it was a nature trail la) leading towards the suspension bridge which was another 2.5km walk in amidst the trees. But the tot of going into the forest alone is quite scary and of cos i was paranoid that something might happen to me inside n prob no one else will know if i went in alone.

so i waited. and luckily a couple showed up juz 10 mins later wanting to walk the Tree Top Walk not knowing it's been close following the incident. good luck for me cos that way i get to have soundbites from them and also companion to go up the trail. Thanks Mr and Mrs Loke. You were really great company and we had a hearty chat the way up and down, which took abt 2 hours (of cos we stopped outside the Tree Top Walk and turned back)

it's these little things about meeting these people that make me like my job as a journalist.and it was my first nature trail walk in years, albeit in jeans and polo tee but luckily the weather was not too hot yesterday. and i nv knew there were so many nature trails in singapore if not for speaking to Mrs Loke.

along the way there were also many others who knew of the incident but we still gung-ho about going to the Tree Top Walk. i was too after seeing in but not being able to get in. Mr and Mrs Loke whom were my trekking buddies yesterday were nature lovers who've been to many other nature trails locally and overseas and had set foot on many other suspension bridges in the midst of the forests. cool. kind of rekindled my love for nature and to et close to the trees and animals, away from all the pollution and the concrete jungle.

i'll definitely be back to walk the Tree Top Walk. anyone gamed to come along? i'll remember to be extra careful of falling branches and run when it shows signs of going to rain tho.

The Tree Top Walk

I WANT TO COMPLAIN!!!

i'm in an incredibly bitchy mood since yesterday since i've attended the worst organised event and met the worst EVER PR since i've started my internship.. well which resulted in me filing an inaccurate report. totally pisses me off.

first the event started early at 8plus am (early by all journalist standards) and we went there to find out they prepare no press release, no fact sheet, NOTHING for any of us. insisted it's only going to be a doorstop and will provide info later.. me being the greenhorn thinks it's ok but my colleagues form a different desk can't take it and started bitching to the PR and she finally gave us ONE piece of fact sheet.

then when we ask the PR about the information provided, she cannot answer 9.5 out of 10 questions we pose. What bloody PR is that? her answer is always, 'I can check for you', 'I'll let you know later'. Redundant person altogether.

I'm particularly irritated by the PR cos the only thing she's excited about is talking the her GSS experience and how she was the one who sent her boss the email at midnight - cos she went shopping before that - and saying that's cos she has a life. all for work-life balance. HELLO! wake up your ideas. if she only has the same amount of fervour in getting me the right facts.

and trying to get facts and figures from her is like i'm trying to make things difficult for her. it's your job ok. so dun whine to me and pass sacarstic remarks at me. and it's ur job to handle the red tape in ur (governmental) organisation to get me the facts, not tell me there's nothing. on top of that she has the cheek to tell me things contrary to what the facts show. and i was stupid enough to take her word for it, well hence a report that was not accurate and different from what the rest of the media was reporting.

well it's also partly my fault for not consulting with my editor again when i got the contradicting figures.

still she totally spoilt my day. perhaps even my week.

the sort of people that works for the governmental organisations.

I've seen quite a few ppl posting these personality tests results on their blogs recently. well, so i decided to try them out too. maybe it's just me trying to find out what i'm really like. i thought this one is quite accurate, or rather i wish i really am what they said i am.

is this what you think of me too?

The Real You

Here is the analysis:

1. You've got great self-confidence and you're full of charm. Most guys who get to know you will be attracted to you. You are far from sweet and proper; your intriguing personality fascinates them. Most guys find it easy to fall for a girl like you. (ok the guy part is so not true)
2. You really care about other people's feelings and are quite serious about the issues that affect your life. You are sincere, and your concern for the well-being of others makes many people want to be your friend.
3. You are a bright, cheerful and bubbly person. You are thoughtful and considerate, and like to have fun. Everybody feels comfortable around you because of your pleasant nature. When you walk into a room, people's eyes are likely to be drawn to you because of your charm. (i doubt the last line tho)
   
4. Guys see you as being a thinker and a careful person. They will be really attracted to this quality in you, but you need to learn to speak your mind, otherwise people will find you too shy and quiet. Learn to relax and lighten up--it's okay to have fun sometimes. When you learn to develop your fun-loving side, guys are going to flock to your side.
   
5. Your boyfriend believes that you are a strong and independent person. Your confidence and cheerfulness make you an attractive person to be around, but sometimes you need to pay more attention to what other people, including your boyfriend, are thinking.

101 things to complete

It has been the busiest week for me on internship so far. PI report, court case, feature production, file live report... yesterday still got that whole water spout thing.

But mainly because of Singapore Arts Festival.

But I feel accomplished! Did my first feature by myself and also filed 2 pseudo live report from Padang yesterday, before and after the opening performance.

The opening performance was pretty good, just that I was too worried about my report when watching the show to enjoy it thoroughly.

Some sneak peeks to the show, 'Dreams in Flight':-

The first scene: Shadow play. Nothing very exciting to me, but still it was nicely done.

10 Spanish acrobats in a turning wheel. The wow factor comes from it being hung above the audience and that the wheel is roving all the time. I would love to be in that wheel actually.. like so fun.

The human net formed by 36 volunteers. Almost ended up as one of the volunteers but I was given too short a notice. I would love to hang from 40m high man.. so cool.. and perform for like almost 20,000 people in all. The view up there must be damn good! Now i a bit regret nv go and volunteer cos I tot it was too much commitment to perform for 3 nights and go for 2 days' training. Argh! Once in a lifetime leh.

Well Singaporeans' fav, fireworks brought an end to the performance. It was pretty nice but not THAT spectacular. But i was quite horrified when i got a reply from a public that he will be back today to watch the performance for the fireworks. *roll eyes* I think Singapore just need a Fireworks Festival and we will draw record number of audience.

Well, the show will still be on tonight and tomorrow night, 8pm, at Padang. And it's free so do catch it!

on death

i seem to be facing a lot of deaths recently.. in the news at least..

everyday there will bound to be some deaths in road accidents and what not.. latest being that fallen trees killed people.

well i guess we can still sometimes joke about it, like no deaths means not serious, means we don't need to do follow-up and dun need to report.

but when death occurs, means we have a story. it's really saddening but that's what news is about. and so far i have not been given the task to speak to the relatives/friends of the deceased but i do believe it's hard. more than hard, it's probably excruciating. knowing the kind of grief they are going through and yet we need to get them to talk, to tell us the story, to provide us with the sound bite. i don't know if it has anything to do with being unethical but at least it's not really compassionate. or rather i won't say we are not compassionate but we just need to get the job done. so the hope is that there will be less of such cases.

back to the fallen tree. all i can say is life is unpredictable. imagine you are trying to keep a healthy lifestyle so you can live longer, hence you go out and have morning jog everyday BUT you get hit by a fallen tree and just lose your life. how ironic.

i guess this is life.

busy like a bee

bzzzz... busy busy busy... pretty up sums up my life now

constantly worrying about one thing after another. my feature program, fyp, pi report, upcoming production... there is indeed much to keep me occupied these days.. perhaps a bit too much.

it's come to the stage to write my pi report... a time to reflect on the past 4.5 months on the job and all i must say i've pretty much enjoyed every moment. maybe not the moments that i got scolded over the hotline for no rhyme or reason but every other moment had been pretty enjoyable. there was no sai gang for me (unless manning hotline counts), minimal overtime, no overworking, no being side-lined. got to try my hands on news from entertainment to government workplans and doing hotline reporting, pretty much everything there is. So i'm not really counting down to the end of the internship like many are and i know i will definitely miss the people there. i'm counting my lucky stars here.

anyway, just want to share some really moving moments that i experienced on saturday while i was out covering a yellow ribbon project event at changi prison. and what a coincidence, cheryl tan was there too. act we were the only 2 press there. so glad to see her cos otherwise i would really be quite out of place.

the prison had been a place i've wanted to visit and well without this internship i would probably not have the chance to. although we did not really get to see the living quarters of the inmates like i hoped to. still the event was a really touching one being that it was in conjunction of mother's day and the families of some of the inmates who took part in this cooking competition were allowed to haf lunch with them. and for most of them, it's the first time they get to see the inmates close up, without a piece of glass between them and they could feel and hug them. for many, it was just too emotional a moment when these inmates presented them with the mother's day cake and rose (of cos having a live band singing 'you raise me up' and the lights dimmed definitely put one in the mood)that they juz teared on the spot. and not juz mothers, many of the fathers broke out in tears too. it was such a heartwarming moment, yet heartbreaking at the same time. i think cheryl was in the brink of tears. and interviewing the families, i can somewhat feel the emotional trauma they go through having their children and family members in prison.

felt so much for the report that i did in the end. poor cheryl had her story axed as they could not show the faces and reveal the real names of the inmates. so we were the only one carrying the report! it was a very meaningful event just that i think there's a bit of media fatigue on the yellow ribbon project, hence the lack of coverage.

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.

admin professional's day

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day!

nv heard of this day? that's cos it's used to be called Secretaries' Day. And how come i know? That's cos I had to do a feature on this out of desperation cos we got no topic to do on..

Guess what? I was only told on Monday i had to do it.. so from contacting the people to arranging for interviews, to getting the programme out to be aired today, it took me less than 2 days.. Super stress.. and this is my first feature programme at 958 la..

To think that we all took like more than 2 months to do a 青青校园 program back in school. But of course this one did not have music or any kind of sound design and all.. and i dun even need to voice it myself.. but still.. it's for broadcast on 958 leh..

Welcome to the real world. Racing against time.

愚昧

was totally irritated by this hotline caller early in the morning yesterday

he's a 'serial caller' of sorts, whose name have been blacklisted in our 'list'

but what irritated me was his constant complain about CNA programs, and also the way he goes about doing it..

he called, i picked up

he goes on to complain, as if scolding me what he sees, as if we should just show what he wants to see.. and then he slams the phone.. like what the @#%^

but most of all, i'm irritated because he insisted the Virginia Tech killings is all but a domestic affair and CNA should not be giving so much coverage on it.

HELLO! please wake up! it's the greatest campus gunshot incident in history, it killed 33 people of various nationalities, there COULD be some Singaporeans there, the killer was suspected Asian (now confirm South Korean) and it questions US gun laws..

everyone around the world is interested to know.. if you are not interested then go away from the tele and stop complaining.. if you are disinterested in this, i dunno what you can be interested in.. other than dishing out complains..

wake up your ideas man!

20 and 2

20 and 2.. i'm 22..

no longer 20 and 1... i'm 22

birthday is essentially just like any other day in the year.. it's not like i grow another white hair on this day or grow an age ring around me like trees do (ha thankfully)..

still.. it has a special place in your heart, knowing it's your birthday.. that N years ago on this day you came to this world..

last year i was in Taiwan, away from home, away from my family..

this year i'm with my family around me.. it feels like it's been a long time..

my damn delicious bday cake from Hilton Hotel.. dun ask me why there are 3 orange 'balls' on the cake.. i also want to know why..

-20 and 2-