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Showing posts from 2015

GOING HOME!!!

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For a change, a fairly light hearted post. I am going home!!! (Obviously can't say where because there is no such thing as privacy on the Internet) :) Since I do go to a boarding school, let's call it Eastwood Prep, or EP for short, I do miss home a lot. And my oftentimes annoying siblings*jokes*, one brother and one sister. EP is great ; I really love the friends I have there and the competitive atmosphere is quite inspiring. (FYI, I am studying A-Levels at EP: Maths, Further Maths, History and Economics) It is also about that time of the year when one considers what path of life to take (from my tiresome, countless posts about what to do for a degree, gosh I am annoying but please forgive me). Scholarships also play a big part in what I want to do and they are so important!!  SCHOLARSHIP 1 scholarship2 Scholarship 3 XD Securities Commissions Scholarship I appreciate that having a good family is amazing but when your aunt graduated from Oxford as a doctor, and

Parsimonious Love: Blood Diamonds

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In this era of darkness and fear, all we can afford to give to one another is this parsimonious love. Uncertainty ahead, danger at every corner, the average person seems more aware of the oppression he/she has been under for all this time. Hoping to alleviate the suffering, one human proposes to another: a shiny, glittering diamond- a diamond with blood in its past. Time Magazine on Blood Diamonds It wasn't enough when the Kimberly Process was enacted, when the movie 'Blood Diamonds' came out in 2006. Humans are fickle creatures, once the memory of blood and gore has faded, we are content to lament it as fate. This greedy love we afford each other has to stop.  No more parsimonious love. 

Inqilab: The Third Journey

'Wrong   does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.'-Leo Tolstoy The train rattled along, the three girls stood facing each other, clutching the same pole that gave them support. They stood close but in truth, there were oceans of circumstance separating them.  It is plausible that they might never have met, were it not for some trick of nimble-fingered Fate hoping to create some change in the world. 'It's unfair,' the tall girl whispered. She had ebony skin, and short black hair. Her strong legs were sturdy against the rocking of the train. Bangles jangled noisily as they slid down her hand. The girl with dyed red hair and an unpronounceable name pursed her lips. The unspeakable words had been said, and worse, she agreed with them.  The other becomes distant and listless. She longs to disregard the words, to say they are not true, to condemn her friends as ignorant but she is afraid to. She is afraid she is wrong. xxxxxxxx

Teenage Sociologist presents 'Confessions of a Klang Valley Girl'

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 'Barf me out.' As you probably know, according to Wikipedia, a Valley girl is "  a   stereotype   depicting a   socio-economic   class of women characterized by the colloquial   California English   dialect   Valleyspeak   and vapid   materialism . The term originally referred to an ever increasing swell of semi-affluent and affluent   middle-class   and   upper-middle class   girls living in the early 1980s   Los Angeles   commuter towns   of the   San Fernando Valley .'  Now, let us explore the world of the Klang Valley Girl. Painstaking research and following such flighty creatures has led me to define them as such: usually adolescent or young adult female who was born into a wealthy middle class/upper class family and lived in the KL-Selangor area for at least 5 years of their early life. Speak Manglish mostly and prioritise shopping and partying well before sitting home and studying.  While this is really bad journalism, it makes for entertaining

Accountancy and Neutrality: Dangerous Concepts

'Neutrality is a dangerous concept.' First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—   Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—   Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. Once again, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction: it turns out staying in the Motherland proves challenging. One must flee the ever rising tide threatening to ship one and one's kin to whence we 'came from', i.e. the original Motherlands.  Accountancy in Ireland appears viable. Reports will commence. 

Why being Weird =ballin!

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The brilliant Margaret Cho For months now, years even, I'd been fantasising, like every other budding teenage novelist, of writing THAT article, THAT blogpost, so quirky, so authentically raw that I would soar out of the depths of being unknown to being the greatest individual to yield virtual pen over nonexistent paper. One could be forgiven for calling me out on my dreams to be a slightly less whinging, less millennial  Suzy Weiss . You'd probably be right! But it wasn't just words. I unashamedly admit, I wanted to be the next Mindy Kaling, the Malaysian-Indian Margaret Cho. The precocious teenager who questioned whether her identity should always be hyphenated, and thus alienated. The one who produced, at a startlingly fast pace, mini documentaries about poverty and socioeconomic justice to the background soundtrack of 'Talk Show Host' by Radiohead.  I longed to come up with brilliant ideas, quotes of the century or even, worse comes to worst,  a

The Immigrant Song

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' R emember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.  —Franklin D. Roosevelt' The answer to the world's problems? The concept of immigration is a touchy and blistered subject, ever ready to burst and cover the brave soul who poked at it with foul pus.  From Syrian refugees to Mexican border crossers, immigrants are far from welcomed these days, especially in the countries they so desperately want to integrate into. Margaret Thatcher reportedly told Bob Carr, Australian Foreign minister that Australia might end up like Fiji, where the Indian immigrants 'have taken over'.  However, it is not just Conservative British Prime Ministers who hold this sentiment; one can even go so far as to say it is an inherent characteristic of human society to dislike (with varying degrees) people who 'want in'.  Margaret Thatcher's racist comment :( There is of course the almost ne

Teenage Sociologist Questions Does White Privilege exist? (and other things)

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'Privilege is driving a smooth road and not even knowing it.'-Ampersand I realise that my blog has become a hotbed for fierce social activism and far, far flung from the naive, cotton candy-humour that I intended it to be. I acknowledge that this blog has organically reflected the changing times. I do not apologise, to myself or anyone else.  ************************************************************************************** So, what's the deal with white privilege? (I suppose many of us in Asia can draw similar parallels with this in our lives). According to sociologist Peggy McIntosh, some ways which white privilege manifests itself is: The ability to speak and write from an unchallenged position of authority (see for instance, commenters online); The ability to hold onto wealth during economic crisis ( black and Latino families lost far more wealth during the home foreclosure crisis than did white families ); Protection from experiencing the

The End of Indecision/Judge Judy/Leslie Chow

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'If you are absolutely determined to make a lawyer out of yourself, the thing is more than half done already."- Abraham Lincoln So totally true I think I have finally found my calling; after serious deliberation, and a few nervous nail biting episodes, I have settled on pursuing a law degree then becoming a solicitor/barrister  . After this, I intend to become a judge.  I thought hard about becoming an accountant but how long can one sit pressing a calculator? It's true only the best survive but then again, I really think it runs in my blood.  I would work myself to the bone if only I was given a chance. As Leslie Chow from the Hangover said, 'He gave me a fighting chance. That's all Chow needs.' I'm sure I would enjoy those torturously long hours writing essays, and slaving over court cases.  Marshall Eriksen from 'How I Met Your Mother' is probably my role model. It's not going to be easy, certainly not, but then I am pre

Solving Poverty by unknown_girl2345

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'To be radical is to grasp things by the root.' -Karl Marx Note: This was my debate assignment.  I don't believe everything I wrote here, this is theory and I deliberately tried to be provocative.  The sounds of gunshots outside don’t faze you. The people you see with their hands on someone else’s throat are your neighbours. Your friend was taken out of school. Another goes out at night to peddle drugs. Your sister died before she was 15 , your parents couldn't afford healthcare. You live life on the breadline, your existence as permanent as footprints on sand. You learn not to talk unless asked; you think you’re alive but you know you’re not. Poverty exists so painfully close for the majority of the world, whether they live in rural Alabama, Mumbai or Addis Ababa; living mouth-to-mouth comes naturally to them. Globally, 1.2 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day. To put this into perspective, a Cafe Latte at Starbucks, a privilege many take for gra

Say Her Name/ Feminist Thought

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An Introduction To 9 Great Women INDIA SEEKS JUSTICE FOR WORKER Once again, a sense of outrage fills me as I read the article. Kasturi Munirathnam. Say her name, and do not forget it.  As a girl and an overseas Indian, I selfishly cry because I think that it could have been me. Mere geography separated our fates. The person who did this to her has lost their humanity, perhaps they never even had it. How a person can torture and abuse another, willingly, freely is beyond me.  STOP THE VIOLENCE. Domestic workers give up everything they knew, everyone they know, to come to a foreign country and work long, hard hours. She is brave, and so are the millions that come and work in countries that would spit on them, turn a blind eye to them and yet demand more and more of them to come, and be exploited. India should just stop sending domestic workers to work in Saudi Arabia. These people are inhumane, and savage. I see humans but I see no humanity. What's even sadder is that

DO IT FOR THE LOLZ: When we plan for the future

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 "Do it for the LOLZ"/"SAME".- UNKNOWN_GIRL2345 STORY OF MY LIFE “The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate.” – Douglas Engelbart If I had a penny for the times I embarrassed myself or my friends, I think I'd be as rich as ...Donald Trump is likely to be voted Feminist of the Year. I mean, seriously, guys, it's a penny!  Then again, it is me! *que the dramatic music* Rightyho, now onto the serious talk! Ugh, I so do dread the serious talks in life. I have no ability to separate my emotions from topics which I talk endlessly about, and if I am coincidentally emotionally distraught about something, then you can be sure that I'll be nattering about it endlessly. The major party pooper of recent has been education. I have decided to pursue an Economics-related degree at university, preferably in the UK. My AS levels are Maths, Further Maths, Economics and History. *there, feels like a

Freakonomics, Solving Poverty and Marxist theory

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'To be radical is to grasp things by the root.'- Karl Marx Hello, and welcome to the mind of unknown_girl2345.  As you have probably guessed from the blog's title, I am a hopeless klutz and less obviously, a huge fan of all things kitschy and un-mainstream. My latest interests have been Freakonomics and (trying to) apply the freakonomic way of thinking to my debate assignment of solving poverty.  My first reaction to this assignment was a huge 'WHAT ON EARTH'. First of all, I am no political/economics genius ready to nudge the general population into a designated structure with my carefully planned incentives. Although this would probably be excellent fodder for the economics degree which I plan on doing, it took a really LONG time for me to come up with a solution. In the end, I settled for a 'command economy', thanks to my BRILLIANT economics teacher *no sarcasm at all :) * I quoted the father of all command economies, none other than the defamed