Neighbourhood stories

My friend at work said:
I don't believe the environment shapes a person.
I raised an eyebrow.
Its uncommon to hear something like that (so scholarly) from my friend at work.
Especially when we try to jam every possible gossips during that 1 miserable hour lunch break.
I thought she was going into the Organisational structure and environment chapter, and debate about how the organisational environment does not shape a person. Or something to that extent.

But instead, she went into details about her neighbourhood, and talked about THAT environment instead.
And so I listened.

You know how when you were young, you use to indulge in those juicy stories told by your mum. And your mum probably heard that story from the neighbour, who heard it from the lady who sells kopi at the coffeeshop, who heard it from the fruitseller in the market etc etc.
I love those stories.
And how we would always be somewhat in awe over those little stories.

My friend told me one just today, about her neighbourhood (located in one of the older parts of Singapore).

There's this lady living in the next block, who was born smart. A regular girl, like all of us.
One day, she had a very high fever for a couple of days. Thereafter, though she recovered, she was never the same again. She became somewhat retarded literally. And everyone felt it was such a waste. Cos she was not born that way.
Life went on, though she's not crazy, she is not the same either.
One day, a few years later,her brother ganged up with their cousins and gang raped her.
The police arrived, caught the group of boys, and they went to some juvenile home for a couple of years.
The girl, she went crazy.

Her parents sterilised her, and married her off to some really old man, almost 3 times her age.
Today, she is still alive but crazy.

Sad ain't it?

Somehow, the older neighbourhoods always had this kinda tales. Perhaps aunties then were very free, and they spread these stories like wildfire.

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Boss: Would you rather BIG breasts, or small breasts?
Me: Huh? Of course just nice la.
Boss: There is no such thing as just nice la. Everybody also want just nice.
Me: hmm...

I was torn between Ann Poh that kinda big, and SYZ that kinda small.
I thought for very long..
And I think I'd go for SYZ's small.
I don't know.. HUGE breasts scare me. Really.
Those watermelon-type of assets frighten me. How to breathe? How to run? And how to fend of those dirty looks from the very very tee ko pehs?
I cannot live with that.
Its very disrupting for my life.

Anyhow, the conversation carried on for quite some time, and we went on to even discuss about other related, but very very gross breast issues, which I think is not very appropriate to discuss here.

I gaped in horror today.
I fidgeted and broke out in cold sweat.
It troubled me so much I couldn't concentrate on the oh-so-cute Keanu Reeves on TV just now.
During the commercial break of Speed.
I heard that 2 bloggers in Singapore have been charged with making racist remarks on their blogs.
Click here

First time offenders can be fined up to S$5,000, or jailed up to three years, or both.

I am not that much worried about being fined or jailed up to three years.
(ok maybe I am a little worried)
But this made me realise, there are people out there blog surfing, reading the contents of our blogs and charging you for the things you have written.

I think what made blogging so interesting at the beginning for me, was the fact that I could say anything I want, to anybody and everybody.
Now that it is so regulated, and we can't speak our mind, its just crippling.

Barbie asked, why I have been blogging lesser these days. Ok, not so much lesser.. but perhaps less interesting.
I reckon its because suddenly everybody is blogging.
And now that everybody knows about everybody else's blog.
Its hard to sometimes write stuff and not receive any repercussions. Because I sometimes do care about the feelings of others.
Let's just say hypotheticaly:

I dislike person A.
And person A annoys me so much, and I get so bothered by Person A that I wish to blog about him/her and share it with the rest of my friends.
However, I can't do so, because Person A reads my blog.
Dilemma ain't it?

But then again, I am not saying that I am annoyed with any one of you know.
I am just giving an example. There are alot of other issues that I wish I could say, but often the things I say may offend others.
So its tough deciding what to say and what not to.
And even tougher to mask the true meanings between the lines.

Now, at the end of everyday.
I am just so bloody tired.
All I want is mindless surfing.

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