Have you ever been witness to a scenario where a little child has done something wrong, and the parent punishes him/her by ignoring and walking away from the child? I mean in public areas. I’ve seen it happen in shopping malls and food courts. It’ll always result in the kid suddenly realizing his/her parent has left him/her, and the child will run in the direction the parent took, crying louder or exclaiming in fright and astonishment.
What are your thoughts on this form of punishment? Do you approve or disapprove? Have you ever experienced/done this before yourself? Do feel free to discuss and opine.
"In 10 years time, instead of telling each other we're back for holidays and asking to go out for movies and sports, we'll be inviting each other to our weddings." "10 years? Not so long lah!"
This recently happened in a conversation with a few good friends. So my question is, when when would you like/do you see yourself getting married? 25? 27? 22????
P.S Those at the discussion table were mostly 1989ers, or 20 this year.
In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases has “risen” to 64 with one death (as of 30th April 2009) The increase is at least partly due to what science writer Sandy Szwarc calls “seek and ye shall find.” Since we are now actively looking for swine flu, we are finding more of it. As she put it, “Cases identified with increased surveillance is not the same thing as actual increased incidents.”
To put these numbers in context, some 20,000 Americans die from flu-related illnesses every year. Thus, the President is right when he says that this outbreak warrants concern but not panic.
The reporting and the rhetoric is part of what British sociologist Frank Furedi calls the “dramatization of disease.” The media and public officials “sound as if they are rehearsing their roles for a disaster movie”—a movie through which we express “our anxieties about everyday life.”
Furedi is onto something: The coverage of this outbreak has more to do with the culture than with science. Stories like this one frighten us because they undermine our confidence in our supposed ability to control our world.
In Christianity, pride is the deadliest sin, and ours is a prideful age. We thought that we had figured out a way to guarantee perpetual economic growth. And we even dare to talk about overcoming disease and even death.
Then reality, like Nemesis in Greek mythology, punishes us for our hubris. The economy craters and a virus reminds us of our vulnerability. Instead of being chastened, we become fearful. In effect, we are saying that a world we can’t control is a world too dangerous to live in.
Of course, it’s the only world humans have ever known. It’s why every attempt to re-create paradise not only fails, but causes more harm than good.
The alternative to demolished pride isn’t fear, it’s repentance. It’s humbly acknowledging our dependence on God. Without this, life can’t help but feel like a disaster movie.
Extracted from BreakPoint article, Fearing the Flu, 30/4/2009. For the full version, go here.
Got a couple more articles about how overrated swine flu is. The theory is that because there exists flu vaccines, certain people are really playing the influenza up, enabling them to rake in profits.
"To put things into perspective, malaria kills 3,000 people EVERY DAY, and it's considered "a health problem"... But of course, there are no fancy vaccines for malaria that can rake in billions of dollars in a short amount of time."
Remember bird flu?
"..despite the fantastic headlines and projections of MILLIONS of deaths, the H5N1 bird flu virus killed a mere 257 people worldwide since late 2003."
Wakaka.. so they say, just eat healthy, stay healthy, keep up your hygiene!
Learnt this phrase just 2 days ago on Sunday. I thought it was such an awesome phrase that I just had to use it!
Feet of clay.
I have feet of clay, but they were made by a perfect claymaster!
Because the judge of you is someone I could never be.
Fin.
So, Swine Flu in Malaysia. Sup!
I find it amusing that while Swine Flu was still far away in a distant country, nobody in Malaysia cared about it. We didn't even know what it's about, how it spreads, what are it's symptoms, how fatal is it? It was basically a "Not my problem, don't care." attitude. "Ui don't simply eat babi oh, later kena swine flu." in very serious tones have been overheard.
Now that it's arrived in West M'sia, people are starting to sit up and take notice. But STILL, the level of awareness is surprisingly low. For the amount of time we spend online, it takes just 5 minutes to read up about AH1N1, but who does that? Anyways. The first alerted case of swine flu was on May 13th. Negative.
BUT WHO KNOWS.
Jeng jeng jenggg.. haha! Yeah well. Have a good day everyone. Clay-footed man out!
So yeah. I don't like it when I have a raisin bun right? And while I'm eating it, the raisins keep falling off! And, and, the raisins!! They fall off!! And I have to pick them up and eat the raisins by themselves! Which although is still pretty cool, it's lost it's combo flavour with the bread and the sugar and stuff! Noooooooooooo!
Well it seems I'm not gonna be staying in Singapore after all. Someone must have missed me too much and prayed too hard for me to come back hehe.
Things I'll miss in Singapore: - Fast, secure internet. - Efficient public transportation. - Cleanliness. - Free funky toilets. - Impressive greenery (their streetside trees are whoa) - Lots of very beautiful dogs. - Almost non-existent mosquitoes (I haven't seen a single one yet) - Great football pitches. - etc etc..
Things I won't really miss (hehe): - Lack of any REAL rainstorms. - Lack of cats. - Lack of socialising in between social events (i.e during travel from place to place, everyone just minds their own business) - Lack of Sarsi (relative claims they're sold in Singapore, but in few places only. I didn't find a single can/bottle) - The heat. It's very hot here. - etc etc..
I can't say I'm not disappointed at not having made it to study in Singapore, but I'm not depressed about it either. Far from it in fact. I'm looking forward in anticipation to what God has in store for me. Also, my not-making-it-in-Singapore may also be not only God's plan for me, but also for my brother, as he will now be physically alone and apart from all direct family. Fuuuuyorrr..
Oh it's his birthday on the 28th (Tuesday) Go spam him or something people! Facebook or Xanga.
Btw thanks for all the farewells and stuff haha, and especially that nice book all of you wrote in. Those gifts are the type I cherish the most. I'll go thru them and write individual responses (where possible -_-) to each of you haha! I hope I didn't let you down by coming back XD
