I've been reading Pat Law's and Cowboy Caleb's post on the Singapore blogosphere.
I find it sad that a blog allows us to write about anything in the world, yet so many of us chose to write about ourselves. Is human nature that shallow, and the world that fragmented that we need to literally put ourselves out there for all and sundry to view?
I am not going to take the high road - I'm guilty of some of the sins that Pat Law and Cowboy Caleb have set out. Recently, too, my posts have been irregular and of pretty crappy quality. It is with this in mind that I'm going to try to set out what my blog is.
I write this blog for various, evolving reasons. In the past, this blog was a dumping ground for the dissatisfaction I felt for Singapore, and by extension, my life. This post "The Singapore Condition" I wrote 3 years ago remains one of my favourite, and one of my reader's favourites as well.
But life being life has taken a huge unexpected turn. I never expected to be back in Singapore, under those circumstances to boot. Things have changed. I have changed. My blog has also changed.
I stopped writing about my complaints about Singapore, mostly because I find myself with very few complaints. Singapore has improved. It is a long way from being ideal, but the lesson I paid blood to learn was this: you do what you can, and let God sort the rest out. Being impatient for change changes nothing.
This is my blog now. It is a collection of posts which generally falls into the following niches:
(1) Historical European Swordsmanship. I write about this fairly often of late because it is my interest. My fellow swordsman, Kenneth, maintains a nice blog for the techically inclined. Tome takes cool pictures. I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. My niche of a niche is to write about swordsmanship in a way that is hopefully understandable to the non-swordsman. I don't think there's enough of that around, and I hope that this blog would at least give a non-swordsman a glimpse of what we actually do.
(2) Inner Space Articles. A dear friend once described these posts as my version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. I write a lot about hope and love and renewal. That is because these are things that I've given a lot to understand, and I am beginning to gain a glimmer of wisdom about these things. I write these to firm up my ideas, and to hopefully allow readers some insight into some hard-won lessons of life.
(3) Current Events. I tend to focus more on US based news than Singapore based news these days. I also tend to be a bit more picky about the current events I choose to comment on, mostly because I am sick of the same tired arguments being trotted out by the Singapore blogosphere. So unless I have a fresh spin on things, I'll keep quiet. Assume that I have libertarian-liberal leanings alright?
(4) Interesting events in my life. I promise to write only when something genuinely interesting happens in my life and not write for the sake of writing.
One last thought. I've never written for the sake of traffic. I write for the sake of being read. And I hope that you will continue reading.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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3 comments:
I am not surprised that the legal profession is suffering in SG. Singaporeans have a strong work ethic in the first place, put them in a profession which seems to prize personal sacrifice over actual efficiency or productivity and it is no wonder they work themselves to the bone, contract urinary tract infections from being too busy to pee, faint in the street with hunger and exhaustion.
I've worked so hard I tore a hole in my bloody retina. I know people who have been thrown out of supermarkets and cabs because people thought they were drunk - actually they were just so tired they were slurring their words and unable to think clearly enough to buy milk or give their address.
No job is worth this but I've realised that it's what you have to do to make partner (amongst other things). Hence I'm biding my time on the Plan and manoeuvering myself into position to launch the Dream.
TOR
Pat Law's standards?
*raucous laughter*
The one who insisted that diversity, diverse viewpoints, and diverse behavior must be accepted — under the penalty of some vague, half-formed feel-good sense of liberal political correctness — but can't tolerate my stirring?
R-I-G-H-T. Let me get right to it.
:-P
Just because Pat's politics are inconsistent does not automatically invalidate what she said about this specific subject. I think she has a point, albeit from a marketing/marketeers perspective.
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