laremy.sg

I think? Or maybe Ghaz created it. I don’t know. But it rocks, so please watch it!

Because it makes me feel like I’m a machine.

More photos here.

While riding along the PIE one day, two thoughts about climate change suddenly popped into my head:

1. Roads = traffic = exhaust fumes = global warming. This probably increases exponentially during traffic jams which occur during the morning and evening rush hours. Why are they rush hours? Because the bulk of the people are commuting to work/school. Why are we still commuting to work/school en masse when technology empowers us to work at disparate locations?
2. Warm temperatures in SG = increase in usage of air-conditioning = increase in electricity generation = increase in both fuels burnt (at power station’s end) and machines working (compressors and the like) = increase in output of heat = increase in temperatures in SG = global warming. Is air-conditioning the only way to reduce temperatures in SG, and on a macro level, the world?

It seems to me that both of these ‘problems’ are caused by sociological factors.

1. People, especially Singaporeans, place great value on ‘showing your face’. So be it for work or for school, the indicator people still stick to in order to measure work carried out or amount learnt is physical attendance. Perhaps this entails a paradigm shift: if we can harness the power of technology to delegate work or conduct lessons, we reduce the need for people to ‘show their faces’. Though it might mean an increase in computing power,  electricity generation, etc. which might also contribute to global warming. But at least there aren’t traffic jams, right?
2. For reasons that I still cannot fathom, we still stick to ‘Western’ dress codes of suits, jackets, long-sleeved shirts, tailored pants, etc. to go to work. Why? It doesn’t make sense to do so especially in our weather. Logically, we should be wearing clothes that aren’t so warm but we aren’t. Inadvertently, this artifically increases our dependence on air-conditioning. So will this blind embrace of ‘Western’ culture secretly be our undoing (and because I cannot resist it: what has happened to our Asian values??? LOL.)?

Your thoughts/comments?

• Guards are the worst prison-rapists

These guys are sick.

• England, birthplace of the sick joke
• Vegan?

HAHA!

• Michele Gauler and Eyal Burstein: “Memory…

The use of random objects e.g. a table to make USB flash drives… Think you can figure out the statement that’s being made here.

• Russian woman on trial for raping 10 men

Am posting this up because I know of a lot of men (and even women, perhaps) who can’t break away from the paradigm that sexual rape can happen to anyone, regardless of the gender of the victim or the rapist.

• 'Schools thinking of even mailing lessons to students'

“Said a 32-year-old primary school teacher: ‘We had meetings the first two weeks and now we have to suddenly rush the lesson plans. Our break has been disrupted too many times already.

‘I just hope they don’t take away our September holidays if they extend the June holidays. We need that short break to rejuvenate and relax before the last term begins.’”

• Dinosaurs who say 'hey'.

Hehehe! This is really cute.

• Singapore troops join China drill

This really freaks me out.

In case you didn’t know, all the geography in Full Tank! is real. (It has to be; I wouldn’t sell you a lie.) So the route that the tank takes is one that can actually be mapped out.

I’ve saved everyone (i.e. scholars who might want to study my works next time, LOL) the trouble of mapping the route by using Google Maps to show you how the tank travels. I’ve included placemarks in the map, so please click on them. There’s some very valuable information in there, including pictures, which might help you visualise the geography a bit better.

For those inclined toward academia, you may want to think about how geography is mediated in literature. Or perhaps how Web 2.0 tools might be used to bring literature/drama a bit closer to everyone?

View Full Tank! in a larger map