A gl0bAl fenomenen: dclin3 in IQ
5 May 2008, 11:50 pm. 25 Comments. Filed under Rants.
If tertiary students these days have difficulty not abbreviating every one-and-a-half words they type, what type of people do you suppose will eventually govern our country? Imagine our government authorities doing just that. Imagine legal rules governing our actions sntnsing theifs 2 3 mths imprisenmt.
We don't even have to go that far. Just imagining someone who has 1% text abbreviations in their reports and remaining in a respectable job position is a joke—at least in the current world.
Don't try to argue that (immensely) abbreviated writing is cool, quick, efficient, etc. It simply displays a lower level of your intellectual capacity.
Don't try to argue either, that 1337 and immature tYpInG lYk d1s is oh-so-sexy. They simply are nothing but stupid. I don't need to have to read at three words per minute due to your under-developed brain. And it's not because I'm the one with a low level of reading ability either. If five year old kids are being taught in primary how to spell words the correct way, then surely you need to upgrade your IQ if you tYp3 L1k3 aN iD10t after a whole decade of schooling.
Feel free to use "standard" abbreviations/acronyms such as uni, HTML, Mr, MSN because they are, agreed, consensual and standard.
I also understand how some abbreviations have grown to exist in our mainstream communications as a result of instant messaging e.g. lol, lmao, asl. Fine. They're also standard. (And because I use them too, of course.)
N im nt gona deny d fact tht abbrs sav char usage in txt msgs evn if—I don't personally use them.
Bt u srsly mk urslf luk lyk a dUmBaSs in comparison with someone else who can actually type and spell.
If you actually found the annoying abbreviated writing in this post easier to read than the rest of my writing, you might like to consult a doctor regarding your mental capabilities (or lack thereof). And I may have to finally recognise the fact that this powerful wave of backwardness will no doubt take over the world by 2030 and drown out the bare remnants of human intelligence. In which case, Amen.
New view on beauty
3 May 2008, 11:30 pm. 3 Comments. Filed under Miscellaneous, Rants.
Last year, I looked down on fake cake faces. This year, I have begun to bow to the magnificent powers of professional make-up and Adobe Photoshop.
When you cut off a model/celebrity's access to godly photographing/photo-editing skills and knock off their powders, how many of them still look so stunningly mouth-gapingly attractive?
What's physical beauty nowadays? Fake eyelashes, fake boobs, million-dollar noses and what else? It's because you can't see at first instance into the inner content contained within this outer shell that physical appearances do matter so much to a certain extent. Pretty people do receive extra benefits. People often (at least) begin with treating good-looking people better. And hence, I've changed my views.
With the latest make-up technology, it makes no difference in the end whether the person had natural beauty initially or not. It is time to recognise that superficial beauty prevails over natural beauty at least in the short-term. It is time to succumb to routine face-caking and eye-painting sessions.
You know what? I don't like this world. Because I can't spare enough money for a full set of Chanel and Christian Dior make-up equipment, laser treatments and regular beauty therapy. So I'll just have to live with my flawed shell and get used to unfair treatment. Bottom-line: Money = Beauty. Once again, money makes the world go 'round dammit.
Attempts at "whitening" oneself
15 April 2008, 4:54 pm. 34 Comments. Filed under Personal, Rants.
I can understand why many (Southeast) Asians would like to have Western last names. Southeast Asians typically get a (boring) single-syllable last name so much more common than a Western last name (boring x 2). Just think of some of the most popular Asian last names: Lee/Li, Chang/Zhang, Wang/Wong, Chen/Cheng/Zheng, and so on. And my last name—Sun—is almost as absurd as Moon or Star. But so what? My last name is part of what defines who I am.
There's a long line of ancestry behind my last name which has survived thousands of years of history. The first on our family's official family tree is Sun Tzu, dating back to the 6th century BC. Our family tree (a massive book with names) has been passed down 2500 years, each time to the eldest son. Technically, there should be just one in the world. But since my grandparents currently hold one, I highly doubt that's the one (because that's too hard to believe. And surely, someone would've thought of publishing multiple copies to pass to all their sons). Either way, I am a (very, very, very distanced) blood relative of Sun Tzu or his next-in-line Sun Bin, as recorded in our family tree. Anyone who has a reasonable level of knowledge about Ancient Chinese history would have heard about Sun Tzu's Art of War. There's something to feel proud about to be a descendant of him.
And I am sure, whichever last name one owns, there's also a story behind it relating to its origins. We are here because of our ancestors, whoever they are. Yet some people are more than happy about giving up their cultural heritage for a "cooler" Western last name perhaps so they feel superior among other Asians? When Asian Girl A sees an obviously-Asian Asian Girl B with a Western last name, something like this happens:
A: "Wow! Are you a mix?!" (I agree mixes are cool)
*anticlimax*
B: "No. I changed my surname."
A: "Oh."
What for? What's so bad about being a Chinese that it makes some people feel ashamed to own a Chinese last name? There's historical meaning behind every last name that a new meaningless one doesn't give. There are even worse Western last names out there like "Sucks". It's nice to know how I came to be, and my last name connects me with my ancestors. I vow I will never be as ignorant as to pay $100+ to the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs to change my name to some random unrelated Cheryl Smith crap. Marriage, of course, is a different matter.
