Sports - the eternal craze.

Mrs Nathan, grade this post :P.

First of all, to put this discussion into perspective, what has been the one thing that has survived through the ages, since early man's primitive age to today's modern, advanced age? Sports.
The existence of sports in our world is known by every single human being, young or old, rich or poor, male or female. Let's explore the force, the overwhelming force that compels us, the force behind sports.


What is sports? A pastime or hobby? A way to exercise? An avenue of destruction? Or perhaps the human instinct marshalled into a form accepted by the conventions of the time, given direction by its creators and set loose to forever roam the earth? It may be all of the above, and yet it may be none at all. Sports come in every conceivable manner, from cyber gaming (also a sport, by the way) to American football. We can easily see the great spectrum of sport's manifestations, and thus we must question, what exactly classifies a sport? Is it something that requires intense training, is it something that must always require competition to determine a winner? Maybe not the former, in some cases like recreational sports, but in our modern world, the latter is a given.


What is it about sports that has enabled it to stay "in" and not fade away like many other monuments, many other religions, even through hundreds and thousands of years? Is it the fact that it transcends race, religion, and the social ladder? Is it the fact that anyone and every one of us has an equal chance at making it big in sports? What about the chance to let loose on the field, to take it out on the ball, to take it out on the opposing team, to be completely yourself and not be penalised or punished? In today's society, we are forced to conform without knowing it, from birth. We are forced to be what society wants us to be. We are forced into a mold that shapes our life, right from the start to the very end, even at a funeral where certain conventions and rules must be followed. Therein lies the beauty of sports, the closest we are likely to get to true freedom.

In sports, there is always a winner, and then there is the loser. The spectators say: If winning isn't everything, then why do people keep score." The players say: Don't settle for anything less than the best." Lastly, the song was sung:"We are the champions, no time for losers." I must beg to differ from everything implied in the above three statements. Success has always been, is, and will always be the fruit of failure. Only by losing can we comprehend the nature of that we lack, the distance to our goal, and the taste of defeat. Inevitably, it is the last of the above three that spurs us on to greater heights for fear of that one taste. Thus I said sports is the closest we are likely to get to freedom, because of the simple fact that hurting others forms a liability to oneself, and in turn does not fit into the concept of freedom. In sports, one party will be hurt irregardless, and therefore it is the closest, but not quite there yet.

What is it about sports that has caused its flames to never die out? Is it because it has been the one thing that is constant in that it is not and never will be constant, and therefore can never been correctly and perfectly predicted? We may never know.

English Personal Commentary

Mrs Nathan please grade this post and this post only...!



In the recent discussion done with teammates Ting Wei, Sing Yee and Jiacheng, our group concluded that democracy was superior to communism in creating a stable country and society, for the various reasons listed in Ting Wei's blog, such as feasibility in real life and modern examples of both systems, as well as their individual advantages and disadvantages.

However, I still feel that, in my research, after reading about conservatism, I have to say that I see more future in conservatism. Firstly, when a people have been restrained from certain, shall we say, elements which may or may not be favourable to society, for example prostitution and tax rebates, the people will tend to think radically of these missing elements, so when the government happens to make a suggestion, even if it is in passing, the public will pounce on it like a pack of hungry hyenas on a deer. The reason for this is that since it is missing from their lives, it has been given an elevated position in society. It's just like in the case of a mischievous boy, if his mother tells him not to play computer games while she goes shopping, all the more he feels that doing this "forbidden act" has more "kick" as compared to, say, reading a book. Thus, if a government happens to suggest legalising prostitution, obviously men would be all for it, seeing that prostitution has always been illegal. As such, democracy is not able to bring across radical ideas in a controlled manner, causing more attention to the matter at hand than is good.

On the other hand, conservatism, "a political philosophy that tends to support the status quo and advocates change only in moderation", is a system where past merits of certain traditions or way of dealing with matters are not forgotten and preserves it in the modern society. In our currrent case study, conservatism would obviously weigh the pros and cons of legalising prostitution before even announcing the possibility of the government doing so, unlike Singapore and the Integrated Resorts. And yet, with the sole reason of large national income, Singapore's government overrode all the disadvantages to its people and went ahead despite the petition signed by many people. This is not to say that conservatism does not allow the public a degree of individual autonomy, but is a philosophy against radicalism of any sort, regardless of merit, for example the Singapore Integrated Resorts.

Switzerland provides the strongest example of modern direct democracy, as it exhibits the first two pillars at both the local and federal levels. In the past 120 years more than 240 initiatives have been put to referendum. The populace has been conservative, approving only about 10% of the initiatives put before them; in addition, they have often opted for a version of the initiative rewritten by government. But see here, this only works if the populace are rational and conservative, which brings us back to conservatism.

Conservatism is not a system which does not allow for radical changes, but incremental change, where, over a period of time, that radical effect can be achieved."it is with infinite caution that any man ought to venture upon pulling down an edifice which has answered in any tolerable degree for ages the common purposes of society."This embodies the spirit and reason for conservatism.

In the short-term, democracy may see more action or reap more benefits due to its free-for-all policy where radical actions are allowed, but in the long-term, there is bound to be some radical action that set forth unforeseen consequences and thus conservatism, which restricts any of the aforementioned radical action, is still better.

The escaped detainee-Mas Selamat Kastari-a national effort?

In my opinion, I think that this is not really an issue of national security , but more of a social issue. On one hand, Mas Selamat Kastari, being the leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah poses a very large threat to the community and our relatively peaceful nation of Singapore if he is left to his own ways. There are countless possibilities: he could, given time, gather his members and launch terrorist attacks such as suicide bombers or even plant booby traps to cause mayhem in crowded areas. That is, if we discount the public in helping out as well.

Right now, this wanted man has escaped and is currently still at large; we cannot deny this fact. What we can deny, however, is any possible escape route or glimmer of hope that shines for this criminal. As of now, he is completely cut off from the outside world, left without any resources whatsoever. Effectively, he is alone. If he were to be able to steal a cell phone, or even one dollar to make an international call, it would be tantamount to handing him a lifeline. Therefore, by upping our guard, not just one person, but the entire nation, we will be able to form an inescapable nationwide lock down. So what if he escaped from a detention center? Can he escape the eyes, ears and and noses of the nation's ultimate watchdogs, the citizens?

Mas Selamat's face has been pasted on every notice board in Singapore, sent to every mobile phone and every newspaper and news bulletin for the past few days. Normally, people (especially Singaporeans) would jump at receiving this much attention, but not him. It just means awareness has gone up another notch and there's nothing much he can do to stop this. Now, he cannot even go to a coffee-shop to order kopi-o.

With that in mind, I hope to appeal to all who read this blog (if any...) to bear in mind: keep a vigilant lookout for this man.

But we of course cannot overlook the media's part in this affair. Writers that write the newspaper articles, reporters that update the public periodically, and as Saturday's papers have written, media in other countries have also been alerted of Mas Selamat's escape. No matter what the world will think of Singapore, only the citizens know best.

Some photos to share

Me and Shihao at a "stinky" Tofu stall in Taiwan

My new boots bought in Taiwan. NIKE AIR!

Batting gloves and Yankee cap that my sis got for me in NY

My awesome nice colourful gloves bought in Taiwan! :P


SO MANY GLOVES! i want...

Photo with a team that RI Gryphons played against.


Me batting in Taiwan against Chung Cheng High. 1 triple and 1 single hit


Photo with Coach and the Sec 3 batch.




Da Zhong Zheng Zhi. No more!

Nice Engrish!

My double hit against Peicai last year.