What kind of fisher are you?

It's a public holiday here in Singapore as our Indian community celebrates Deepavali- the Festival of Lights. This festival is not their new year but just one of the many festivals, light our Mid-Autumn Festival.

So anyway, I spent some time @ the bedok jetty this morning, people watching and getting lost in my own thoughts. (felt good not studying, not having that anxious feeling of not being able to finish studying) As i observed the people around me, I saw a great diversity of people there, mainly fishing.

A normal occasion @ bedok jetty would only provide me with the usual suspects - retired eldery man with much time on your hands, who come here to pass time and to catch up with friends and of course.. catch some fish.

However, it was a rare sight today. People of all ages were there. The young, the old, the middle age; the girls, the boys, the aunties and of course (you guessed it) the uncles.

Personally, I have always found fishing a boring sport. You throw your rod in, you wait and wait and wait for the bait. What excitement is there? But as i look on to the enthusiastic bunch @ bedok jetty, i realised there's more to it.

The "experienced - Uncle" fishing :
These uncles come on their own, greeting others like them whom they often meet on their regular trips here. They are really patient i must say. they come prepared, with their hats, styrofoam boxes and a packet of bread all ready to hang out for the day. Experience is written all over them as they expertly place their bait on the rod to how they throw/toss the rod. Perseverance is the no. 1 characteristic that binds them together.

The "ambitious young punk" fishing :
These young boys (amazed to even see them) come as a group. With shining new rods, they congregate in a group and start comparing baits. They are really ambitious too. They use small fishes as baits and throw/toss their rods really far off in the open seas. (the max 30 m i should think). Maybe they are trying to get a good catch. what is their motivation? Get a good catch, catch a big one!

The "father-teacher" fishing :
These man/woman are here for a larger reason beyond catching fish. They are here to teach their son/daughter a new skill, the art of fishing. Even if they go home empty handed, they are satisfied seeing their child(ren) mastering the art of fishing. Most have the wife in toll, umbrella in one hand. Well prepared food and beverage is a definite feature in this group. Motivation? To have a time of family bonding and teach their children a life skill.

The "trying-out" fishing :
This category of Singaporeans tend to belong to a younger age group, children of the former group. Some are really enthusiastic in trying to learn whilst some sit around in the shade and jump when a live fish caught is placed near them.

A lot more thoughts, but need to think through them. so watch out for part two.

For now, a thought, what type of fisher are you?

boredom

When Grace blogs twice in a day, she's bored. Today has been a day of not doing much. I'm bored, feeling guilty for not studying but yet not feeling motivated enough to study. Hope tomorrow will be better.

Political Blogs - the voice of Gen X

While browsing through the newspaper today, i saw an interesting article on bloggers in the Straits Times Home Section. They were featuring a specific type of bloggers, political bloggers. Ever since i started doing HY2229, Nation-Building, I started to be more aware of our local political situation, hence this caught my eye. How many of us safely know that we are up to date with the changing policies (they constantly are - esp education policies) I for one am not.

With no zest to start my studying yet, i decided to surf the web looking for such blogs.
one such blog is by Xenoboy. others include, Vox Leo, Singabloodypore. Go check them out when you have the time.

One thing the i noticed from the article is this:
Many of the political bloggers are students who are currently studying overseas. Why this trend? Is it the heightened awareness of studying overseas, looking at our homeland from a telescopic view?
If this is the voice of Gen X (generation which is afraid to even speak up in class) Where are the voices of the local students? do we have no interest in our political state? Are we only caught up in ourselves, school, work, marriage? Go figure.

Articles in Straits Times, "More 'nameless' bloggers airing political views'

Another blog:
Mr Brown