integratedly yours

first, there was the emergence of the "integrated programme" at national junior college and other schools when the education ministry wanted to provide alternatives in the educational system. then now, there's the "integrated resort" idea that subsumed the whole idea of a casino. the plime-minister reminded everyone that the gah-men is not endorsing the idea of a casino, but the idea of an "integrated resort" -- oh wrong, it should be in the plural, "integrated resortS." indeed, to IR is human, to casino is...oh well, fill in the blank yourself.

it sure does seem as though integrated is the buzz word at the moment.

then there is the comment by a certain senior writer at the straight times who wrote an article a few days ago, exhorting people to "keep faith in policy debates." he was actually challenging "religious" to do their homework and get our facts right before we start saying how the casinos, whoops, urm...integrated resorts where gambling pervades is sinful.

he think he can bluff my sharp sociologist friend from church who pointed out 2 issues.

the writer said that born-again christians are heirs of what weber refers to as the "protestant work ethic" but as my sharp sociologist friend pointed out, "this ethic is in fact what max weber...used to descrbe the protestants at that time whose ascetism was a result of a subscription to calvinist teachings on predestination. hard work and frugality became signs for being under the grace of God, and thus as one of the elect and saved. this is perhaps a far cry from what many Christian believe in today, for although good stewardship is encouraged, it is by no means a sign of salvation (not by works, but by faith!) and yet such an ancestry had been loosely established without qualification."

the writer also "speaks of casting of lots as if it equates to gambling." my friend reminds that "in numbers 26:52-56, God commanded moses to distribute the land as an inheritance to the tribes by lots. this was His means of giving the land to the people, and it seems fantastical to suggest that this is similar to someone putting half his life savings on a poker game. the casting of lots, while involving the notion of 'chance'...is different from gambling where chance is used for self-gain."

oh well, so much for the "strong moral ballast" of singaporean society that supposedly revealed through the "thorough debate" in the media by the citizenry. after talking when they wanted people to talk, we are now all told to "stop whining" and that this debate is proof that we are a democratically robust country and not what our ranking of 147 out of 167 countries in a reporters without frontiers report suggests.

think centre recently held a press briefing regarding this report but it wasn't reported as a news event in the national newspaper until a few days ago, when it appeared as a commentary by another one of their senior writers. basically refuting the whole report using the age-old argument that singapore is not a liberal democracy and that we shouldn't be forced into doing something by others just because we are asians and practice asian values and therefore the brand of democracy we practise is different. that the lack of press freedom is defined by the standards of the ang-mos. all this are going to be flushed down the drain now with the casino. time for the men in white to come up with some thing else.

it sure seems like a direct manifestation of the hegemonistic ideological indoctrination that i studied about in school.

in light of such earth-shaking events, the event of my first paper in my second round of university examinations seem to pale by comparison and reduced to a footnote-type of existence.

but make no mistake about it, the finals for linguistics this morning was bad. my teacher just outdid herself as far as the questions are concerned. they were not difficult per se, but i found them so creative and consequently, tricky.

i read the first question on phonelogy and phonetics and i was lost already. plus my tummy was acting up the whole time -- must be the char-siew pau i had before the paper that caused my stomach and intestinal muscles to wake up and start working for the day.

i don't know how i will do and honestly i shouldn't think about it. because funnily enough this morning, while i was reading my Bible before i left the house, the entry for today was titled "do i worship work?"

it was a reminder so explicit that you can hardly make any mistake it was for me. and the timing of this reminder was just so zoon i was so stunned.

i remembered feeling quite scared for this morning's paper just before i went to sleep last night. so this came as an act of reassurance as well as a reminder for me to be constantly aware of where my piorities are.

round two has started. part one is over, part two is on tuesday in the realm of political science, part three is next saturday in the world of south asian politics and development and the last part of this second round is on the following tuesday for my literature film module. yes that class with the super rigid teacher.

and oh, there has been some updates about this super rigid teacher. but oh well, another story for another day perhaps.

it's just a while more. after that, freedom awaits. hopefully with a holiday job in the bag as well.