20 August 04 (Fri)
(This is a very long entry, so skip it if you don’t feel like reading it)
Was supposed to meet Peter at 8 am today, but he called at like 7.45am to say that he cannot make it for “reading the bible” meeting because it was raining heavily… so, oh well. Called up 131 881 (national line for DIMIA – Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs) to ask them why I can’t seem to complete my online registration for a working visa. And the call went transferring from this section to the next, together with all those sickening messages, except that it was not “Please hold on, your call is important to us” but “It has never been a better time to take up Australian citizenship. Let us interview Kylie Minogue, international pop singer on what does it mean to be an Australian. Kylie: “Being Australian means that we are free, we have a rich culture blah blah…” U know, sometimes too much freedom isn’t exactly a good thing – that’s what I feel. So the officer said that I had to go down to DIMIA Perth at Wellington Street (downtown) if I can’t get through the system online… so very fine and well, I took a bus to town.
But not before recoiling in shock cos’ it occurred to me that my mobile (I used it to call DIMIA) was not a 40 cents per call thing (all public phones, and land lines are one fixed charge for local and 13 XXXX calls), Optus Pre-paid is like… 37 cents for every 30 second I think, for national calls? And I checked my balance: from $19… it became $9. Darn. So much for listening to the benefits of being an Australian.
Went downtown on Bus 102. It was my first time in downtime Perth since like 12 July? At DIMIA, the officer tried to swipe my credit card to pay the $55 charge for the working visa. And it went “transaction failed”… Dunno what happened also, think must ask my dad when he calls. Anyway, I used my Challenge Bank card to pay off the $55 – DIMIA does not accept cash.
Then me went to cut my hair. It has been like, 1.5 months since I cut my hair? Was growing very long and I just didn’t like it. Cheapest hair cut around here - $11 (a far cry when I always went to my mum’s friend house and cut my hair for RM 5 – u could call it an illegal business). Yeah! Thumbs up for short hair. =)
Felt an insatiable urge to buy something for myself, like just anything. I’ve been scrimping on lots of stuff since I came, till the point that the pair of jeans which perfectly fit me when I came is now like, very loose? Bought myself a nice dark red T-shirt; like a bit expensive at $30. But like, I have to do my part to support the economy? Right. Bad reason.
I bought the shirt at Myers and I was going up the escalator and I saw this huge crowd gathering around watching something. It turned out to be a lingerie parade by live models, in the shopping centre at that. U know, like those haute couture kind of fashion shows? Models clad in lingerie walking up and down, complete with cameras clicking. Cool stuff =)
And I went back to UWA, went online to make my job application for the Christmas Recruitment Drive that Coles-Myer is having at the end of Nov 04 to Feb 05. And I dropped in my Anthropology essay at the Department office. Hope it does not get lost or sabotaged by anyone cos it’s like, u just leave your essay in the box which writes your tutor’s name. As in, if someone chooses to be nasty, he can just take away your essay from the box and dump it into the trash can?
Bible Study Meeting
I’m now writing this at 3.30am, 21 Aug. We had Bible Study just now… it’s held every Friday night and after that, a few of us went for pizza. Brought the pizza back to Trinity College (that’s a residential hall of UWA, many s’poreans stay there and I stay 2 minutes from Trinity). So here we were eating pizza, and Tabitha was saying: “I heard army food back home in Singapore is very good”.
Jason: “No, not really. They give ice-cream and stuff but it’s not exactly nice food. But should be better than Malaysia NS. Malaysia NS sucks.”
And I was damn pissed when I heard that. That’s such a normative and crass statement to make about a country’s programmes. And you know that there are Malaysians in the group down there.
Jason went on talking about how the Malaysia NS uniform is hideous, about how Malaysian NS is randomised, and how it involves community work (which he implied was some kind of sissy job) and how it only lasts 3 months instead of the 2.5 years he thought was “ideal”.
Me: “I think you have to look at it in context. Malaysian NS was never meant to be like Singapore NS cos’ it’s geared towards community bonding instead of defensive purposes.”
And here we have Peter, who’s a Malaysian chipping in.
Peter: “Actually I think Jason has a point. The whole planning system of Malaysia’s NS and the government in general is totally flawed. The Petronas Twin Towers is a waste of $, - look at how it is currently under-occupied. We have so much resources, but Singapore is so much better than Malaysia.”
That’s when I really snapped back.
“Hello, if we have to justify every economic undertaking with $ and cents, I think we might as well not do anything at all in the first place. For one, the Twin Towers generates a huge tourist market, creates jobs for the supporting shopping complexes around it, and not to mention a huge source of national pride and identity for Malaysians. That, can never be quantified in dollars and cents. Now I tell you why your comparison is flawed: you are comparing a chicken and a duck. For one, our population is much larger than Singapore so you cannot expect “equal” rates of “development”, whatever you define development to be.”
Peter: “But human talent is a major resource too. We’ve got so much, but why aren’t we better than Singapore?”
That’s almost like insinuating Malaysia has huge mass of people who are brainless k.
That’s like a very taboo topic to me. Never ever attempt to talk to me about Singapore VS Malaysia. You’ll get me started. Totally.
Peter: “Hey cool it. You’re being too obsessed with politics”.
Me: “Obsessed? Your use of vocabulary is very insensitive k.”
Peter: “Okay. But while you have the right to voice your opinion, you should not impose it on others”.
Me: “When did I impose my opinion on you? Can I fix what you’re thinking?”
Silence.
I just took my bag and stormed off. In full view of Peter, Jason, Glenna, Tabitha and Jonathan. Yeah I was pissed for sure. And what made me even more pissed – I came back, closed the door and Fan came to ask if I’d paid the rent for this fortnight.
And I thought my eyes narrowed into a pair of murderous slits.
“Yes. I did give the $ to you last Wednesday.”
Closed my room door behind me. Yes I agree that there are flaws inherent in the Malaysian system – I dislike the way the country is not governed on meritocracy, but I accept the reasons given for this rationale. I abhor how the Malaysian NS system is run, especially if you consider that there have been cases where girls are raped by officers who are supposed to be protecting them. But I’m putting this to you that if you’re in a foreign land, you represent your country. Singapore (or Malaysia) = you. To put down your own country in front of people from another country is simply “I’ve-got-nothing-to-say”. Too many people take for granted the sanctity of citizenship I guess, that citizenship is an inalienable right - nobody seems to remember the refugees, asylum seekers, children born out of wedlock with no identification papers. I thought I kind of over-reacted… but it’s like, it’s something that I firmly believe in and I’m definitely not going to let these people do me in. I don’t care what they think. Neither am I compromising on my beliefs. Will is so crappy and childish – getting pissed over such a small thing. To that I say, so do you think getting pissed off just because you didn’t get the girl you want at the disco is more childish? (Btw, a lot of people here, locals or otherwise go to parties and get themselves drunk. You won’t want to go to Northbridge on Friday, Saturday nights). I don’t even care if they are going to stay away from me or what. It’s like, it’s almost like Mahathir’s style of governance – crass, crude, rude, mean – which brought him very few friends. But it was legendary. As in, his sarcasm – we probably won’t get another PM like him.
Reached for the phone and tried to call anyone. But it was like midnight… no one seemed to answer their phones. And here I was feeling very helpless. Totally. And I can’t put myself to sleep because I slept in the afternoon. It just felt like, how I felt after the A level results came out. That sense of helplessness, bordering on vulnerability. Finally got through to Valerie.