Friday, September 22, 2006

From outer space


Enter into my life, won't you?

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Day 3 at World Bank/IMF

Final day at Suntec was pretty fun. There was a forum on "youth and active citizenship" and a few of us, or maybe two of us, took the chance to ask some questions pertaining to transactional national identities, and civic vs civil engagement in Singapore. I did not know that one of the MPs, Penny Low for Punggol, was there. So what happened after that was a brief meet-the-people session between the Singaporean students and Penny Low. Well, think I won't say much here, but lets just say that it was pretty much in line with what you would expect.

Afternoon was pretty productive. We managed to work out some form of structure for an Asian regional form of civil society. Apparently these guys from all over Asia have been holding quarterly video conferences through the World Bank to address various regional problems. My understanding is that they are now improving this system to turn it from a talkshop into something more substantial. Honestly speaking, I am a bit skeptical of this whole thing. Partly because I think Singapore is dealing with some abstract sort of civil societal problems that is slightly different from the developing countries. So it was quite interesting when Bernise, this person who started Singapore International Youth Council (http://www.shoutsingapore.org/), asked Chelsea and I if we are interested in doing more advocacy work through her network. Edmund Twohill, who is Paul Twohill's bro, went one step further and asked if we want to consider to start something more political in nature through his other civil societal network, which I can't remember its name. I think it is good that such things do exist in Singapore. But I do have some reservations with taking part in them; maybe I'm just a bit jaded with too much talk about civil society in Singapore.

I tried to ask Penny for her opinion on what does citizenship means for me, and where do I draw the boundaries between a global citizen and a national citizen, if Singapore is indeed pushing for a global city. What does it mean for a Singaporean who serves two years of National Service and yet finds himself competing against foreign talents in searching for employment, with (undisclosed) statistics that a substantial percentage of the work force in Singapore are being taken up by foreigners. And why are we talking about citizenship when the nation is always articulated in terms of dollars and cents.

With all due respect, I don't think that her answers were conclusive. Later at night, we went to watch Singapore Dreaming. I think it is a film that raises more questions than answers about the choices that citizens have when the ideological structure of the day is one that is based on pragmatism and a neo-liberal economy.

It is back to school again tomorrow. The past three days have been quite an experience. It is quite a break from the drudgery of school life, and almost feels like I'm in a different country, since Suntec is somewhat isolated from the rest of Singapore. And this country-within-a-country contains people from all over the world, and are really serious about the politics of the day. The political theories that I learn in PS sort of springs alive during this period, and gave me some sort of conviction that one does not need to be a civil servant in order to understand the underlying mechanisms of our political culture. Mixing with fellow like-minded passionate people, taking nothing for granted in what people wants you to believe, and taking a dispassionate disengagement from people when emotions clouds the mind, are probably some ingredients in tearing down the political fabric of this world.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Day 2 at World Bank/IMF

Today wasn't as bourgeois as yesterday. All the discussions were held at the less glamorous CSO office at Suntec, and they were centered around youth developmental issues such as unemployment, labour migration, child labour etc etc. My mind switched off quite a bit when the Q&A session transpired into some grievance session. Somehow, I pity the world bank dude Emmanuel Jimenez, who led the research team for the World Development Report 2007. He admitted that he is faced with quite a good dosage of limitations when it comes to the allocation of resources from the World Bank to developing countries in the Third World. My own opinion is that most of these governments in these countries are plagued with corruption and a host of other internal problems, which further impedes the flow of money to the right target groups. Somehow I kind of empathize sincere policy makers who are trapped in not-so-sincere institutions; some problems are really beyond their capacity.

The past 2 days have been quite a crash course in international political economy. My rather simplistic assessment of the World Bank and the IMF is that the latter is the bad guy that pushes for global free trade, which I think favors the richer nations like the G7, and encourages more dumping and exploitation in the Third World, while the former is the good guy that tries to come up with policies to buffer the social problems that stem from the unbridled march of global capitalism. The Latin American School would argue that the World Bank is subsumed under the IMF, and thus offers more of a smoke screen to appease global civil society. I've decided not to be so cynical; too much cynicism breeds a sense of political alienation, because you become someone who distrusts every single institution, be it good or bad.

Interestingly, I had a pretty good chat with a prof from NUS soci department. For a while I thought he was some reporter, and I was in my politically correct mode in answering his questions. It was only later when I realized that he teaches human rights in NUS that I became less uptight. It is quite interesting how he advise me to pursue the road of academia, and then telling me that all great philosophers from Marx to Althusser have some sort of severe depression or personal problems. So I should either be prepared to be perpetually depressed or be a mediocre pseudo philosopher. Hmmm... I think being pseudo sounds good, at least I'll be more happy.

Other stuff that I did today include watching the protestors protest, collecting a ton of free publications and trying to be dignified while stuffing all the good stuff inside my bag. I think I'll try to catch some more seminars at the Pan Pacific tomorrow; the free food there is nicer. =P

I really have quite a lot of school work piling up. Somehow school work seems less interesting when you are given a chance to peak into the complexity of social relations and global issues. I still need to work on my totally uninspiring essay on the question "Is Singapore a democracy?".. YAWN YAWN... maybe I should just submit a photo of the sunflowers next to the barb fences outside Suntec. A picture paints a thousand words.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Day 1 at IMF

I shall began my reflection for my first day at IMF with the following paraphrased passage from John Stott's "New Issues Facing Christians Today"

"There is a need to distinguish between 'social service' and 'social action'. Social action looks beyond persons to structures, beyond the rehabilitation of prison inmates to the reform of the prison system, beyond relieving human need to removing the causes of human need, beyond works of mercy to the quest for justice, beyond improving factory conditions to securing a more participatory role for the workers, beyond caring for the poor to improving - and when necessary transforming - the economic system and the political system, until it facilitates their liberation from poverty and oppression"

This short paragraph left the deepest impression on me during my super duper quiet time in Europe. It came back to me today during a series of discussions pertaining to the role of World Bank and civil society in addressing social issues like corruption, HIV, education for children etc etc.

The day actually started with a pretty lousy dampener. We were told, for pretty obvious and sensitive reasons, that our buddies from the various civil society organizations were not allowed to sit in with the press coverage following the release of the all-important World Development Report 2007. So the best that they could do was to let us watch the press coverage 'live' in the CSO office. Chelsea and I thought that it was really stupid to come all the way to Suntec to watch tv, and we decided to give it a miss and try our luck at other seminars at the Pan Pacific hotel. We were originally told that our security pass would not allow us to catch the seminars at the Pan Pacific ballrooms, so it was quite funny that somehow we cleared all the checkpoints (I think there were at least 3 of those checkpoints) before we reached our target. It was probably more funny to pretend to be rich and powerful among all the important-looking people at the jazz bar, and trying to order the cheapest drink while waiting for a seminar on "ASEAN integration" to start. We settled for a rose bud tea that costs 12 bucks.

But the quest to Pan Pacific proved to be pretty fruitful. Met some great academics and politicians like Rodolfo, Chan Heng Chee and Tommy Koh. Chan Heng Chee, by the way, is from our PS department and is now ambassador to US. Very motherly looking person, very very intelligent too.

We joined the main group after that for some informal meetings with some World Bank people, who are probably quite important, but I don't know what they do. One important-looking guy was pretty inspiring as he shares his views on youth engagement with civil society. One of his accounts with youths was this 'test' in which a professor, probably from some bible school, was supposed to deliver a speech on the Good Samaritan. However, he had to rush off for some important business, and told one of his students to speak on his behalf. So they purposely lay a sick and elderly man along the main path between the professor's office and the lecture hall, to see if the student will stop by to help the elderly man, or rush off to deliver his "Good Samaritan" lecture. The test was repeated twenty times and none stop by to help the elderly man.

Thoughts of the youth and tiertiary culture in SJSM kept coming to my mind during this point in time. And when we were back in NUS to further our discussions on the limitations of World Bank's outreach to the youth, I had a chance to talk to a civil society delegate from Bangladesh, who is disabled on his left leg but nonetheless is representating his organization that deals with social welfare services to disabled people in South Asia. Somehow, the conversation drifted to the political/civil society situation in Singapore, and I tried to share with him my views that are based on my relatively insignificant experiences with TWC2 and SIF. It is quite a humbling experience, in the sense that things that were significant mile stones in my uni life, such as fighting for migrant workers' rights and helping people in Sri Lanka, pales in comparison to what these folks do, who believe so wholeheartedly that it is possible to transform the world against all political and social and economic odds.

Mr Bangladesh began to share with me his vision for a more Asian-driven form of regional civil society to help the weak and the needy. His vision wasn't too far off from my Laotian-coffeeshop-cum-social-entrepreneur project. But his one sounds more strategic and possible for civil society in Singapore and ASEAN to thrive. I guess I'm not looking at these things from a Christian perspective yet; it is more about understanding the reality of the world, and the reality that is plaguing the apathy of youths in Singapore, and understanding the different ways and means to do something meaningful while I still have some sort of social capital in me, before I succumb to some strange social forces to conform to the not-so-real realities of life.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

my not-so-midlife crisis song

"Lord I Will Bow To You,
"To No Other God,
But You Alone
Lord I Will Worship You,
Nothing Hands Have Made But You Alone

I Will Lay Down My Idols,
And Thrones I Have Made
All That Has Taken My Heart
Lord I Will Bow To You,
To No Other God But You Alone"

It is pretty hard to utter the right words at times, especially when they are still in the process of being sorted out. Perhaps a song will do; a song that explains the disjuncture of heart and mind. So everyone is jumping onto the bandwagon, towards some sort of life, and some form of happiness. But I think there is nothing wrong to stop in the tracks, to ponder and tarry a bit with God. I know that He is good; that is the first principle, and everything will flow from there. Still, I think there is nothing wrong in missing the mark, not when I have missed the mark quite a couple of times. Things seem fine, and life goes on. And I probably will never know if I did miss the mark. Wrong tracks turn out right; right tracks turn out wrong. Life is such a mixture of strange things. I've no idea what is in store at the next turn. Sometimes it is easier to enter the rat race than to escape it. At least you can help the rats to find the Holy Cheese. Maybe that is the life of a tentmaker???

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Wish list for the next week

36 hours in a day.
Multiple jimmies to be at different places simultaneously
More library book quotas
Ice cream
Sunshine!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Pseudo global jim

Met up with the rest of the nus students who are involved in the IMF this coming week. We are supposed to partner 12 asian youth leaders who would engage with us in some discussions following the launch of the 2007 World Developmental Report. If I'm not wrong, at least for our scope, we are focusing on youth citizenship and global civil societal movements. I think my assigned buddy is some activist from china. Hmmm.... china? activist?

In a way, I'm pretty thankful that I'm part of this huge nation-wide project (I'm pro-Singapore too!) in welcoming delegates to the land of the 4 million smiles. Yet in some other ways, it feels like Singapore has been converted into a disneyland. You be amazed at the huge amount of sunflowers that are spread over the whole Suntec! I suppose that is where a part of our 130 million bucks went to.

Anyway, I think I need to get a suit for IMF. Might as well, since it might come in handy next year. Heard that my IMF pass allows me to get pretty good discounts in orchard and city hall. Wow, will put that to good use before IMF ends.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

A Battered Tomorrow

haha... this is a pretty funny youtube for bored pol. sci. students (like me currently).

It's about the middle east!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH_1LlwLVqs&mode=related&search=

Monday, September 04, 2006

Week 4 ahead

Has been a pretty drifty week 3. I vaguely remembered I played xbox with moses and gang on thursday, and went to kinokuniya on friday to hunt for Machiavelli's "Art of War", and Clausewitz's "On War". Almost wanted to buy Sun Tzi's "Art of War" as well, but I think too much war theory will make me go crazy. Saturday was fun as I attended my NS friend's indian wedding. It was my first time going for an indian wedding and I thought it was cool to throw yellow rice at the newly wed couple (almost out of frustration because of the super long ceremony). Had a good time catching up with the guys, and I didn't even know that my "team foxtrot" junior is a year 2 soci major in usp and nus! He says that I always look clueless in nus. Core team meeting today was great, and I think it will be exciting months ahead under p. josh. Occasionally, I wonder how my role fits in with my ambiguous post-grad plans :S. Watched Tony Takitani later at night. How should I describe it in a sentence??? I think it reflects the life of a "herbert marcuse" type of one-dimensional man in a post-industrial jap society. Watch it if you are feeling lonely.... you'll feel worse! I still think it is a depressive show, though my friend will disagree.

Time for week 4 now. Shall try to clear 2000 words off my ISM. Writing essays can be pretty therapeutic =)

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Is that really You God?

Some of my friends probably know that I feel (I can't say that I'm convicted yet) that God has been urging me to take a year out to serve Him after I graduate. However, I've been bombarded by so much distractions in the past 3 weeks that I was asking myself if I had heard God correctly. I kept bumping into friends, seniors or professors who would advise and encourage me to consider the various opportunities in overseas post-grad studies, scholarships, and working in MFA, MINDEF blah blah blah, to the point that I was pretty convinced that maybe serving Him for a year was just a figment of my imagination.

It is quite strange and ironic that sue somehow reminded me of my 'calling' this week. And just this morning, over my sleepy quiet time, I prayed that God will help me find the resolve to have faith in Him. The 'test' came later at night, when I received an invitation letter from a high-power agency for a tea session. I guess most upper hons. students in my batch would have received it, and I was really quite tempted to sign up for the tea session. Besides, there is really no harm going for some high tea in a 5 star hotel. But I do know that one thing leads to another, and knowing myself, I probably would have been lured by the prospects of working there.

So, after a bit of a struggle in the kitchen, I finally threw the letter into the chute before my brain could register the email address that I was suppose to reply. I think my heart sank a little, cos there goes the opportunity of acquainting myself with a (really) high-paying job.

Allowance has been slightly tight in the past month; it took me a while to realize that I burned quite a hole in Europe. Tight allowance makes me ponder what it means to live a simple life for God. Mom has been asking what I want to do after I graduate. She is not a christian, so I find it hard just to find the right words to tell her what is really going through in my mind. So usually I just end up giving really lousy replies like "see how" or "I'm not thinking about it yet"; or I'll just become really quiet.

It is an ironic tragedy that the people that feature so much in my thoughts usually wither away in the realm of my self-censorship.

I think if I so decide to just go with the flow and get a job after I graduate, I would just honestly tell people that I lack the courage and faith to follow His calling, instead of mincing my words and say otherwise. Honesty is the least that I could do.