people call for change all the time, often have some preconceived notion of what it should be like, but often not in the position to put in place any changes. and so when the people in charge promise change, we kinda look forward to it, but when it didnt come out the way we expected of it, we sometimes are unsure what to make of it. i am referring to the latest increment of the minimum number of opposition members of parliament. and while i was looking forward to political changes the president suggested, this kinda just fell right through. because make no mistake, i am all in support for opposition representation, i believe it is important for there to be checks and balances in parliament, but i also want these people to be democratically elected into parliament - and not have the best losers, or people who have been rejected by the electorate sit there and just make noise. hell, they dont even have voting powers. i am not saying that the ncmps we have had of late are jokers, but increasing it to 9, what are they thinking? it seems to me i am going to hear a lot more of the same 'best of 2 worlds' argument that i heard the last elections (yes i might not have been old enough to vote, but old enough to remember), that you should vote for the pap candidate because in any case the opposition member can be a ncmp, but once the pap dude is out, he's out, he will never be a ncmp.

i dont think it's about having a minimum number of opp representation. above all, the change we need in our political system is something that allows us to have more access to information. political debates, easy availability of political discussion and information, single member wards, smaller grcs, equal access to facilities and information to all parties in an election and fair reporting by the media. so while i applaud the moves to increase the number of smcs, and the apparent decision to downsize grcs (but not necessarily make that mandatory), i think having more ncmps isnt the way to way, goes against what a democracy is really about, and think any opposition mp would still have more moral authority if he were voted in by the people, and goes into parliament a winner. we dont want a contrived parliament, i want to be in a position such that my vote will go some way in ensuring the loser stays out of the way.

so politics aside, let's talk about my long overdue entry on my HOLIDAY! haha, the change in environment was in some ways an eye-opener. it always feels good to take a look at the lifestyles of people in other country, and see what people have always been talking about. what i didnt like though was how everything was so rushed, how it wasnt a relaxing holiday, as i feel a dream vacation should be. but hey you cant have the best of both worlds, to shop and relax. it was after all 5 days, and we had to do all we could - 3 destinations, 5 days - and had to take advantage of the cheaper stuff they had! didnt manage to buy as many things as i should or could have, but oh well. nothing quite exciting took place, but still it was great in many ways, to be able to visit 3 regions, and check out some tourist destinations. the venetian and sands at macau were cool - gave me an idea of what the irs would turn out to be like, of course it helped that the toilets were REALLY clean and had golden taps haha, and that i won an itsy bitsy amount of money; stuff were considerably cheaper than that of singapore - esp in shenzhen (although we kinda had to be on our guard at all times to ensure the money given to us wasnt fake so that was somewhat of a turnoff); hongkong had really good food - and awfully yummy dimsum and roast goose; going through immigration everyday really sucked. i would say even though the food in hongkong was great, i actually enjoyed shenzhen more - helped that the tourguide was good, and the stuff there were waaaay cheaper, there was a cool exhibition, and the window of the world place was great to photowhore. my only regret- that i didnt buy enough stuff there when they were already so cheap! i was trying to check out the market rate, but really my time there was too short.

other turn-offs: hardselling where those jade, chinese medicine people follow you around and obviously dont really like you but hope you will buy things from them anyway. it's terrible, sometimes i do enjoy time to myself and look at things you are selling though i clearly cannot afford them! i would like it without pressure from you okay. thankfully we got out of the palm reading, chinese medicine examination thing - often much heard about from friends who have visited china - in part due to the agressive nature of my dad that instils fear in even the most aggressive of salespeople. haha. the other turn-off was the swine flu, which already hit hk when we went there, so it was a lil scary as that is one thing you can hardly control - i mean you never know if the person in the lift has swine flu, and the next thing you know the whole hotel gets quarantined.

speaking of swine flu, nav had such a close encounter! freaky, i mean what are the odds! singapore reports its first case, shit, that is one change i really wouldnt want.

junyi! posted at 11:40 pm.