Chapter 31-- The TV, the Internet, my love

As close friends or people who have read my recent post know, I really have more time nowadays to surf the net and watch tv. Yet amazingly, I used to think that watching tv and surfing the net is a waste of one's time so it quite an irony that I now spend most of my time engaging in such "useless" activities. I guess that I really only get to apprecicate the beauty of tv shows and the internet when I am in NS where such activities were so rare to come by(although my bunk mates eventually managed to smuggler in a tv and even game console).

Anyway, I have found that the quality of some tv shows nowadays are really getting better. Apart from being blessed with SCV whereby I can always switch to the usual highly educational and informative channels such as discovery, animal planet or National Geographical channel, a few shows that is currently aired on free channels such as channel U can also be quite captivating and enriching. Take for instance the show "Find me a Singaporean 2" hosted by Belinda Lee that saw her travelling around the globe looking for Singaporeans working and living in other countries. The special element about this show is that unlike other travel shows that just feature the usual food, culture or certain places of interest in a country, Belinda have to live with the Singaporean in that country for a few days and experience for herself the actual normal way of lives that these Singaporeans go through in their respective country. In addition, what makes this show so captivating is that it also effectively connect with you on the emotion level and makes you ponder about life after having being saved the hassle of having to introduce popular places to visit or food that must be eaten in a country. I really envy Belinda because not only is she able to travel to so many exciting and interesting places, but even more importantly is that she had the opportunity to meet some really inspiring and terrific Singaporeans that perform some amazing and truly extraordinary acts overseas. I was deeply touched and inspired by the Singaporean architect in China who spends his free time caring and constructing homes for the black bears that were being rescued from the torment of illegal hunters. Some of the bears were so traumatized by their previous experiences that they actually goes crazy.... That is also this other Singaporean guy in China who opened a restaurant in a town and employed workers from the rural areas and treat them just like his family members whereby he not only provides meals for his workers, but also care for their families back in the rural areas. He is selfless in wanting to teach these rural workers(usually adolescents) culinary skills so that they are able to provide for themselves and their families in the future.

Credits must however not be taken away from Belinda for she is an important soul to the programme. Not only is she able to empathize with the less fortunate, she is also not afraid to express her feeling be they happy or disappointment. Such true expression of feeling can really touch one watching the show. I do admire her courage for daring to show some of her true self on TV when some of us didn’t even dare to show it in front of our friends or family.

I really like this show because they are so much that I can learn from these highly remarkable and versatile Singaporeans overseas. Not only did I witness the determination for them to want to excel overseas in whichever they do but also the courage of them to do things that not many of us will be willing to do or dare to do such as starting anew in a country that is completely alien to some of them for either personal reasons or due to work commitment or to pursuit an interest that will enrich one’s life even if it does not generate monetary values. However, I believe that these people will be the ultimate winners in life in the end because they often gain a new perspective and meaning to life that not many us will be entitle to. They may have sacrificed many things such as the comfort of home, family and friends but they gain so much more…

Besides immersing myself in tv shows, surfing and browsing internet forums are another common activity that I do when I am bored and it is also through these platforms that I actually gained and acquired a lot of information and knowledge. Although people may argue that Internet forums are usually full of rubbish and fallacy, I beg to differ. Of course, one must always exercise cautions when browsing forums for there can really be tons of inaccurate and misleading information or framing posts floating around. However, there are also forums where the “forumers” are generally responsible netizens and are really sincere in wanting to answer our queries or worries. In fact, browsing through these forums enable me to gain many new perspectives and insights that I would not have thought of myself. The many ideas shared among the netizens in forums can surprising sometimes stimulate and stretch one's thinking and open one's mind. Among these many forums, Hardwarezone and STOMP is where I usually obtain some of my fitness tips and to get in tune with the changes in NS while sgforum is another forum that I frequent for its wide range of topics.
I believe that forum is an important place to gather and exchange opinions because under the anonymity of the internet, one is more daring to express his or her thoughts about a particular issue or topic. Of course, there will still be some idiots who comment without thinking and hurting other people’s feelings but generally most of the netizens in forums(at least those that I frequent) are responsible people who take responsibility for their comments. Ignore the flaming posts and internet forums are really a sea of valuable information and resources. Through forums, I know where to have the best makan, where to purchase certain things or where to get help for some lifestyle problems.

Hmm… I wonder what is channel x showing now?

Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...