PICS
Drug Outtake
December 3rd, 2005
I twisted my ankle outside a club yesterday, and I wasnt even wearing heels. The last time I wore a pair, I was so overcome with the sensation of being aware that I hadnt worn them for so long I wasnt used to walking in them any longer. It must have been quite amusing for the people around I supposed. I crumpled to the floor and there were already a few people on the floor rather, the road- sitting around talking bullshit. Richard said I made a funny sound like a little girl before I started tearing up. It really hurt though, because it was a weak ankle to start out with, and now its swollen and I can barely walk without help. Which is really horrid because I walk everywhere. The last thing anyone would want to do is depend on a taxi driver. (Presumably, everywhere isnt very far)
Richard woke me up in the middle of the night and tried to shag me, but I didnt feel like it and curled up into a ball and tried to go back to sleep but he wouldnt let me. So I thought Id give it a try and see how I felt like, but I seriously bring myself to it. It is funny, I never thought about sex as an appetite, but it is, and sometimes you dont want it. No matter how much youre into it. It must have been quite funny, I really didnt want to be bothered, and I put my hands together and begged No please, I dont want it and I really meant it.
A year back I dont think I would have done it like that, a year back I didnt in fact. And I was quite miserable. It is an appetite, and I felt like I was eating chocolate chip cookies and couldnt stop even when I got clearly sick. No. Bad. It ruined a lot of things.
Im tired to thinking about the death penalty and drugs.
May be it is better for all of us to exist in a state of freedom. It is better for us in all respects the moment the economy is freed, it improves, the moment any government stops muddling development projects, the architecture gets more interesting. The moment government dip their fingers into religion, people get pissed off and things fuck up. So may be they should just leave drugs alone.
The other thing that makes the case so difficult to argue is that not all drugs are on the same level of additive quality, and neither are all drugs as dangerous as one another. The more I think about it, the more Im convinced that my feeling towards the issue is governed by propaganda videos shown to me as a child (oh, and the movie Trainspotting). It fucks people up alright, but how to stop it from fucking people up is another thing. How to prevent it from entering our society is a different issue.
Thailand has capital punishment for drug dealers too, and its more brutal than the way Singapore does it. The last I heard, they were machined gunned to death, and god only knows how much consideration was put into how guilty they were. But Thailands full of drugs, its so easy to get stoned out of your face and kill yourself on bastardized E I cant help but wonder, what the hell was that one act of brutality for?
Singapore is so developed in so many ways, but when it comes to handling crime, you cant help but wonder if were still living in the Middle Ages. Of course, if I were a parent, I wouldnt like to worry about my child when she comes home late. In Singapore, the worst you can imagine is oh, may be shes shooting down alcohol, may be shes fucking her boyfriend certainly there are alcoholics and alcohol can be as bad as most drugs, but people cant drink all that much at one go. It takes a lot more alcohol over a longer period of time for it to really get to you than the other recreational drugs, in my opinion. But Ive neither been an alcoholic or a drug addict, so I dont know how accurate my judgement is. But it proves one thing, and that it can be controlled. Everything can be controlled
I think people are mostly pissed off because 1) who the fuck does the Singaporean law think she is, to take away someones life like that. 2) Is the purpose social regulation and protection, or social control. Is the Singaporean attitude towards drugs the attitude towards real, raw criminal activity or the attitude towards blow jobs.
If someone knocked another person down on the road with a vehicle and killed them, the penalty wouldnt be the same if it was intentional and if it was proven it was clearly an accident. Murderers are hanged because as it is, it take a lot of hate to murder someone else (or a lot of madness) and it takes a very harsh punishment to deter people that are determined.
Some people suggest that they are hanged because it is cheaper. I believe how much it keeps to upkeep an human being for free comes into the equation at some point, but I dont believe it is that big a consideration for it to be part of the reason why our government decides to kill someone or not. I find that extremely hard to believe that politicians as educated as ours would decide to kill someone because he was expensive. Yes, Pol Pot was a very educated individual, and that did not stop him from being a monster. However, if you look at our society, you can tell at its core, Singapore isnt barbaric. The people that run it are harsh, but they are far from chopping our hands off for shoplifting.
I am convinced that the death penalty for drug dealers is in order to truly make difficult the consumption and abuse of addictive substances by increasing the negative consequence of playing with drugs in Singapore. But because out-dated things like the penal code are still very fashionable in this part of the world, one cannot help but wonder if the feeling of control is part of the decision to hang people. The ability to choose whether or not we want to have drugs, when we wish to take it, such and such, is a human freedom, just as however the fuck we want to have our blowjobs.
But think about it. Singapore is one of the freest societies on earth when it comes down to it. You can get laid for $80 in Geylang, you can worship any God you wish (yes some cults are prohibited, but I think the ones that are, are completely ridiculous anyway, not to mention dangerous-) these days you can read 1984, the Satanic Verses and the Satanic Bible if you want to and nobody the fuck would care. You can have an abortion at whatever age without your parents knowing (I think so anyway. I remember feeling like it was true when I was making out with boys before I was 16 and wondering if I could get pregnant if Id only let them slip their dicks into my knickers. Yes Im a second rate slut and you got to be kidding yourself if you think even 90% of men get to reach that status)
Anyway, every single human need is fulfilled in this country. Every freedom the human soul needs is here. The physical, the intellectual and the spiritual. The only time things get clamped down on is when these things themselves prevent human freedom. People in religious cults are not free, and people with a drug addiction are far from free. Yes were beholden to the Powers that Be, but the Powers that Be know what they are doing. They have made no promises to the people to get them elected, but they have done everything to take us out of shit into what we are in present day. Other governments make many promises and are unable to do anything about them.
The other reason why drugs are regulated so harshly here, and alcohol is not, is (in my opinion) because of the way they are traded. Alcohol and Tobacco is imported by established corporations, and the Government can slap exorbitant taxes on them, but we really should stop complaining because human beings slap exorbitant taxes on themselves anyway. The tax to be fashionable is one of them, isnt it, and thats bigger and more useless than any alcohol or cigarette tax. Like anyone will really care youre wearing a pair of LV slippers instead of ones from Zara. But alcohol and cigarettes are taxed exorbitantly anyway in most first world countries. And as far as Im concerned, a bottle of wine in Singapore is only more expensive than a bottle of wine in New Zealand because of the cost it takes to ship it here.
Drugs are regulated so harshly because we dont want dealers, and pack horses and the desperate to come in from the Golden Triangle, from the rest of the region (where the income disparity is much, much winder than that of Singapore). We dont want them to do their trade here, how difficult is that to understand. Because the punishment is so harsh, they circumvent the country. We dont want desperation to seep in. Of course it is the responsibility of richer nations to take care of poorer ones, but were not the size of the United States, and our economy is not as resilient as Australias or New Zealands, and we do not have the space. And if those countries have many individuals that are adverse towards an immigrant influx, how can anyone blame Singapore if we are.
Ive got nothing against foreigners in the country, is just that when they are here, they better have something productive to do. Whether its programming computers or building buildings it doesnt matter. But if you want to enjoy the city, you have to contribute to it. I think thats fair enough. (Im not going into another separate argument about how I really am born lucky and its easy for me to say things like that. I am born lucky, Im damn grateful for it, and I wish I could do more to help the rest of the world. I havent found my calling to humanity yet, but you can be damn sure someday soon I will. At the present, Im content to write what I feel about Singapore, and its as much as I can do).
Now, if cannabis was as regulated as tobacco, Marlboro decided to manufacture joints and the substance can be controlled such that the legalizing of cannabis wouldnt mean this huge wedge of drug dealing underclass, Im sure the whole world would chill out a little, including Singapore. Were not doling out capital punishment because were barbarians, were doing so because we cant afford to be experimental with society.
Thats it.
December 3rd, 2005
I twisted my ankle outside a club yesterday, and I wasnt even wearing heels. The last time I wore a pair, I was so overcome with the sensation of being aware that I hadnt worn them for so long I wasnt used to walking in them any longer. It must have been quite amusing for the people around I supposed. I crumpled to the floor and there were already a few people on the floor rather, the road- sitting around talking bullshit. Richard said I made a funny sound like a little girl before I started tearing up. It really hurt though, because it was a weak ankle to start out with, and now its swollen and I can barely walk without help. Which is really horrid because I walk everywhere. The last thing anyone would want to do is depend on a taxi driver. (Presumably, everywhere isnt very far)
Richard woke me up in the middle of the night and tried to shag me, but I didnt feel like it and curled up into a ball and tried to go back to sleep but he wouldnt let me. So I thought Id give it a try and see how I felt like, but I seriously bring myself to it. It is funny, I never thought about sex as an appetite, but it is, and sometimes you dont want it. No matter how much youre into it. It must have been quite funny, I really didnt want to be bothered, and I put my hands together and begged No please, I dont want it and I really meant it.
A year back I dont think I would have done it like that, a year back I didnt in fact. And I was quite miserable. It is an appetite, and I felt like I was eating chocolate chip cookies and couldnt stop even when I got clearly sick. No. Bad. It ruined a lot of things.
Im tired to thinking about the death penalty and drugs.
May be it is better for all of us to exist in a state of freedom. It is better for us in all respects the moment the economy is freed, it improves, the moment any government stops muddling development projects, the architecture gets more interesting. The moment government dip their fingers into religion, people get pissed off and things fuck up. So may be they should just leave drugs alone.
The other thing that makes the case so difficult to argue is that not all drugs are on the same level of additive quality, and neither are all drugs as dangerous as one another. The more I think about it, the more Im convinced that my feeling towards the issue is governed by propaganda videos shown to me as a child (oh, and the movie Trainspotting). It fucks people up alright, but how to stop it from fucking people up is another thing. How to prevent it from entering our society is a different issue.
Thailand has capital punishment for drug dealers too, and its more brutal than the way Singapore does it. The last I heard, they were machined gunned to death, and god only knows how much consideration was put into how guilty they were. But Thailands full of drugs, its so easy to get stoned out of your face and kill yourself on bastardized E I cant help but wonder, what the hell was that one act of brutality for?
Singapore is so developed in so many ways, but when it comes to handling crime, you cant help but wonder if were still living in the Middle Ages. Of course, if I were a parent, I wouldnt like to worry about my child when she comes home late. In Singapore, the worst you can imagine is oh, may be shes shooting down alcohol, may be shes fucking her boyfriend certainly there are alcoholics and alcohol can be as bad as most drugs, but people cant drink all that much at one go. It takes a lot more alcohol over a longer period of time for it to really get to you than the other recreational drugs, in my opinion. But Ive neither been an alcoholic or a drug addict, so I dont know how accurate my judgement is. But it proves one thing, and that it can be controlled. Everything can be controlled
I think people are mostly pissed off because 1) who the fuck does the Singaporean law think she is, to take away someones life like that. 2) Is the purpose social regulation and protection, or social control. Is the Singaporean attitude towards drugs the attitude towards real, raw criminal activity or the attitude towards blow jobs.
If someone knocked another person down on the road with a vehicle and killed them, the penalty wouldnt be the same if it was intentional and if it was proven it was clearly an accident. Murderers are hanged because as it is, it take a lot of hate to murder someone else (or a lot of madness) and it takes a very harsh punishment to deter people that are determined.
Some people suggest that they are hanged because it is cheaper. I believe how much it keeps to upkeep an human being for free comes into the equation at some point, but I dont believe it is that big a consideration for it to be part of the reason why our government decides to kill someone or not. I find that extremely hard to believe that politicians as educated as ours would decide to kill someone because he was expensive. Yes, Pol Pot was a very educated individual, and that did not stop him from being a monster. However, if you look at our society, you can tell at its core, Singapore isnt barbaric. The people that run it are harsh, but they are far from chopping our hands off for shoplifting.
I am convinced that the death penalty for drug dealers is in order to truly make difficult the consumption and abuse of addictive substances by increasing the negative consequence of playing with drugs in Singapore. But because out-dated things like the penal code are still very fashionable in this part of the world, one cannot help but wonder if the feeling of control is part of the decision to hang people. The ability to choose whether or not we want to have drugs, when we wish to take it, such and such, is a human freedom, just as however the fuck we want to have our blowjobs.
But think about it. Singapore is one of the freest societies on earth when it comes down to it. You can get laid for $80 in Geylang, you can worship any God you wish (yes some cults are prohibited, but I think the ones that are, are completely ridiculous anyway, not to mention dangerous-) these days you can read 1984, the Satanic Verses and the Satanic Bible if you want to and nobody the fuck would care. You can have an abortion at whatever age without your parents knowing (I think so anyway. I remember feeling like it was true when I was making out with boys before I was 16 and wondering if I could get pregnant if Id only let them slip their dicks into my knickers. Yes Im a second rate slut and you got to be kidding yourself if you think even 90% of men get to reach that status)
Anyway, every single human need is fulfilled in this country. Every freedom the human soul needs is here. The physical, the intellectual and the spiritual. The only time things get clamped down on is when these things themselves prevent human freedom. People in religious cults are not free, and people with a drug addiction are far from free. Yes were beholden to the Powers that Be, but the Powers that Be know what they are doing. They have made no promises to the people to get them elected, but they have done everything to take us out of shit into what we are in present day. Other governments make many promises and are unable to do anything about them.
The other reason why drugs are regulated so harshly here, and alcohol is not, is (in my opinion) because of the way they are traded. Alcohol and Tobacco is imported by established corporations, and the Government can slap exorbitant taxes on them, but we really should stop complaining because human beings slap exorbitant taxes on themselves anyway. The tax to be fashionable is one of them, isnt it, and thats bigger and more useless than any alcohol or cigarette tax. Like anyone will really care youre wearing a pair of LV slippers instead of ones from Zara. But alcohol and cigarettes are taxed exorbitantly anyway in most first world countries. And as far as Im concerned, a bottle of wine in Singapore is only more expensive than a bottle of wine in New Zealand because of the cost it takes to ship it here.
Drugs are regulated so harshly because we dont want dealers, and pack horses and the desperate to come in from the Golden Triangle, from the rest of the region (where the income disparity is much, much winder than that of Singapore). We dont want them to do their trade here, how difficult is that to understand. Because the punishment is so harsh, they circumvent the country. We dont want desperation to seep in. Of course it is the responsibility of richer nations to take care of poorer ones, but were not the size of the United States, and our economy is not as resilient as Australias or New Zealands, and we do not have the space. And if those countries have many individuals that are adverse towards an immigrant influx, how can anyone blame Singapore if we are.
Ive got nothing against foreigners in the country, is just that when they are here, they better have something productive to do. Whether its programming computers or building buildings it doesnt matter. But if you want to enjoy the city, you have to contribute to it. I think thats fair enough. (Im not going into another separate argument about how I really am born lucky and its easy for me to say things like that. I am born lucky, Im damn grateful for it, and I wish I could do more to help the rest of the world. I havent found my calling to humanity yet, but you can be damn sure someday soon I will. At the present, Im content to write what I feel about Singapore, and its as much as I can do).
Now, if cannabis was as regulated as tobacco, Marlboro decided to manufacture joints and the substance can be controlled such that the legalizing of cannabis wouldnt mean this huge wedge of drug dealing underclass, Im sure the whole world would chill out a little, including Singapore. Were not doling out capital punishment because were barbarians, were doing so because we cant afford to be experimental with society.
Thats it.
I went home to my parents yesterday evening. I do miss them. In a way, I think National Service is absolutely necessary for Singaporean boys because that is the only time they leave their families for extended periods, and leaving is necessary in order for filial love to develop. Its a biologically calling. It doesnt need to be forever, but it has to happen.
I tried to draw my little sister, and it turned out quite nice and my mom wanted one too. But I just couldnt do it properly. I felt like she was looking at me and saying, can you really do it? You must do it properly. Weve raised you so far with so much hard work, you cant disappoint me. And of course it just wasnt as good. Anyway.
I wonder how true it is, what they say about the model's relationship with the artist. Can you see it? I don't know. I love my little sister above all else. I would like her to need me and I know sometimes she does, and she's so soft and and so strong and so serious and so mad. So creative and smart and full of feeling...
I tried to draw my little sister, and it turned out quite nice and my mom wanted one too. But I just couldnt do it properly. I felt like she was looking at me and saying, can you really do it? You must do it properly. Weve raised you so far with so much hard work, you cant disappoint me. And of course it just wasnt as good. Anyway.
I wonder how true it is, what they say about the model's relationship with the artist. Can you see it? I don't know. I love my little sister above all else. I would like her to need me and I know sometimes she does, and she's so soft and and so strong and so serious and so mad. So creative and smart and full of feeling...
Pretension
Richard and I bummed a ride from a friend* last night, and as we were heading to the booze shop (the aunties there no longer endearingly call him the vodkaman anymore ever since he stopped patronizing their store as often as I go running, for a bottle of Absolut), I asked him* what happened to this girl we knew once, Miss N, who had big tits on an impossibly slender frame and a mouth that looked like she'd like to eat all of you up, and he told me she called him once in a while to try and sell some new concept or other to get famous. Presumably, everyone wants to get famous.
I suppose he* is quite right, we live in a state where nothing affects us more than contemporary media does, and at heart, we would all like control over the people around us at some level or another. What a lot of people don't realize is that so many of us don't even have control over ourselves, and the people with real fame, who incite genuine admiration, are the people that do.
I told Richard I really liked how his biting attitude towards society's obsession with recognition had affected me and he told me that he actually quite liked it when people recognized me occasionally (mostly thanks to the blog and FHM, I wish I could write more for the paper. I really should). I suppose people recognize me for all the wrong reasons, but it's alright, as long as I don't let it affect what I want to do. Fame hides the stupidity of any individual, and I suppose that is why a lot of people desire it, and I cannot deny wanting it because people have no forgiveness for stupidity, being mostly stupid themselves. And there is nothing we hate more than seeing our human failings reflected in another human being.
I try my best not to be interested in fame. Of course I desire recognition, but I don't want to have to become a slave to it and for its sake. He's* become obsessed with it, and he* can't stop telling me about ways in which I can get famous. Anabel Chong's famous alright, but what good has that ever done anyone?
I don't want to be bothered with it, it's so tedious. No where is it more tedious than in Singapore. For god's sake all our stars on TV are manufactured, no wonder bloggers can actually get famous here, because no one made us.
My reclusive behaviour is getting worse and worse I think. I went to a party last night, and it was full of people from the Fame Factory, and it was boring, tedious and frankly, full of bullshit. I can't stand it. Why would anyone want to stand around drinking wine and eating expensive chocolates while gossiping about people you don't really know anyway, while looking at people looking down their noses...
I'll admit it, I felt like an idiot, and I hate it when I feel like an idiot because I'm 19, and I'm just no bloody good in dealing with the fakery. If I wanna say something, I'll say it, and just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm an idiot or that I'm no good for getting things done.
That's just how I feel like in most social situations involving tons of older people anyway that does not involve tight leather outfits of the hanging possibility of a big orgy 'round the corner of the clock. I like those much better, my age doesn't matter.
I like the company of teenage girls like my sister that scowl at any form of authority and older men that know that nothing of the pretentious, plastic, LCD technology supported world actually matters.
I hate the pretension. I really hate it, I hate it I hate it I hate it. Why can't people just get over it.
Richard and I bummed a ride from a friend* last night, and as we were heading to the booze shop (the aunties there no longer endearingly call him the vodkaman anymore ever since he stopped patronizing their store as often as I go running, for a bottle of Absolut), I asked him* what happened to this girl we knew once, Miss N, who had big tits on an impossibly slender frame and a mouth that looked like she'd like to eat all of you up, and he told me she called him once in a while to try and sell some new concept or other to get famous. Presumably, everyone wants to get famous.
I suppose he* is quite right, we live in a state where nothing affects us more than contemporary media does, and at heart, we would all like control over the people around us at some level or another. What a lot of people don't realize is that so many of us don't even have control over ourselves, and the people with real fame, who incite genuine admiration, are the people that do.
I told Richard I really liked how his biting attitude towards society's obsession with recognition had affected me and he told me that he actually quite liked it when people recognized me occasionally (mostly thanks to the blog and FHM, I wish I could write more for the paper. I really should). I suppose people recognize me for all the wrong reasons, but it's alright, as long as I don't let it affect what I want to do. Fame hides the stupidity of any individual, and I suppose that is why a lot of people desire it, and I cannot deny wanting it because people have no forgiveness for stupidity, being mostly stupid themselves. And there is nothing we hate more than seeing our human failings reflected in another human being.
I try my best not to be interested in fame. Of course I desire recognition, but I don't want to have to become a slave to it and for its sake. He's* become obsessed with it, and he* can't stop telling me about ways in which I can get famous. Anabel Chong's famous alright, but what good has that ever done anyone?
I don't want to be bothered with it, it's so tedious. No where is it more tedious than in Singapore. For god's sake all our stars on TV are manufactured, no wonder bloggers can actually get famous here, because no one made us.
My reclusive behaviour is getting worse and worse I think. I went to a party last night, and it was full of people from the Fame Factory, and it was boring, tedious and frankly, full of bullshit. I can't stand it. Why would anyone want to stand around drinking wine and eating expensive chocolates while gossiping about people you don't really know anyway, while looking at people looking down their noses...
I'll admit it, I felt like an idiot, and I hate it when I feel like an idiot because I'm 19, and I'm just no bloody good in dealing with the fakery. If I wanna say something, I'll say it, and just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm an idiot or that I'm no good for getting things done.
That's just how I feel like in most social situations involving tons of older people anyway that does not involve tight leather outfits of the hanging possibility of a big orgy 'round the corner of the clock. I like those much better, my age doesn't matter.
I like the company of teenage girls like my sister that scowl at any form of authority and older men that know that nothing of the pretentious, plastic, LCD technology supported world actually matters.
I hate the pretension. I really hate it, I hate it I hate it I hate it. Why can't people just get over it.
Fixing Up
The furniture has finally arrived and the gas leak has been fixed for good. Richard and I will stay together in this place for awhile yet I expect. I met my parents after church yesterday (I dont go any longer, its not a terrible thing really because the people that do not believe in the Christ as the way the truth and the light are not any less joyous then those that do. Besides, it is not that he came and died for our sins that matter, I know the unsaved will end up with the saved when we die because we came into the world similarly, and we will depart similarity. If the concept of eternity holds, than there is no change in our states before we were born and after we die.)
My father has been a lot friendlier to Richard in recent times, and they know he loves me, and I think thats what matters the most to them. We are a odd couple I suppose, but no one I know thinks about it much any more. I dont think I could make do with anyone less strange, less romantic, less of I Dont Give A Flying Fuck.
We were at Borders a couple of days back and I bought some books without knowing that Id forgotten to bring my wallet out with me. I had to go out to the bistro and pled with R to handle my purchases first. He went in and told the salesgirl that there was a girl whod gone outside to ask him to pay for her purchases in exchange for a blowjob.
Do you think she really means it of shes just fucking about with me and taking me for a ride? He asked her.
The girl giggled and didnt quite know what to say in return.
We went to the Sexpo on Saturday. It was strange going there for me, because months back I had been asked to sell tickets on this blog for the event, and I remember thinking, Oh Shit. No way. Im not going to get people to buy tickets for some ridiculous event they would find boring. Because as R had put it to me, it was boring for the people that are having sex, and useless for the people that were not. So quite what the point of the Sexpo was, I dont know. But as a social indication that Singapore isnt quite as conservative as it once was, I suppose it works. Honestly though, something like that could have only worked in Singapore.
If you are wondering what I was doing there since I didnt think it worthy of anyones time, it was for FHM. I took some silly pictures, and that was about it.
Im going to continue reading the very engaging Wicked by Gregory McGuire, and going for a run after that. The weather is so lovely these days if you dont have to brave the rain. Its cool and fresh but not too chilly.
***
For the website I'm currently building. (well, I'm doing the easy HTML bits anyway. Someone else's doing the difficult tech stuff)
Crazy blogger got into the news about demanding her rights to use the disabled toilet. Local paper is shiiiit man.
My response ***
I must say something about disabled toilets, firstly because its not enough that they are everywhere physically, they also have to be everywhere in the news. But of course, nothing like a story everyone can understand while trying to concentrate on taking a shit.
After all, if theres space in a paper that has to scrimp to be filled up, why not filler up. No one would want to advertise in a paper with nothing in it, and since more press freedom has not proven to result in further economic prosperity, why should anyone care about domestic articles that could actually mean something to the local population. As long as the stories are good enough to sustain the ads, what does it matter.
To quote our Senior Minister, "The media is free to put across a range of worthy different viewpoints to encourage constructive social and political discourse. With this, one must realize that talking about disabled toilets in the National Paper is constructive discourse. After-all, everyone has to take a shit at some point in their lives, so it must be an important social issue.
At school, we have a number of disabled toilets, although I have not seen one single permanently disabled person attending the university course as of yet. I have no problem with that of course, as there is nothing like being able to have a shit in a large spacious toilet with handle-bars to grab on to for that extra oomph in your gut. I quite like using the disabled toilets myself, and Im not the only one there that does. But no one ever fights over their usage.
The first time Luna and I took a toilet break together (were not one of those girls that feel the need to take toilet breaks together so I remember it quite well) she hesitated before the handicapped toilet before making as if to go on with me into the general one. I told her I used it all the time too and that she should use it anyway if she wanted to, because its there and it just seems quite pointless that she shouldnt enjoy it just because I couldnt not unless she wanted me to watch her take a piss of course, which I dont suppose Id mind- really.
Handicapped toilets are one of lifes pleasures and shouldnt be denied normal people if it didnt inconvenience anyone else. Its one thing for wheelchair and pram ramps to be used by skaters thats annoying and dangerous- and another for normal people to want to take a shit in a handicap toilet.
If you think about it, what are the chances of a disabled person on a wheelchair coming by to your handicapped toilet cubical in the 10 minutes you are taking a shit in it (possibly while reading an article in the local paper about other people wanting to take a shit in that same cubical) in some shopping mall on a floor full of retail shops selling shoes that dont have wheelchair friendly entrances anyway; With some commonsense, one should be able to come to the conclusion that people who have just suffered a major accident and are temporarily bound onto a chair with wheels would not feel like going out to shop. Also, people who have mobility disabilities normally have better things to do then go shopping (why bother when someone else would be perfectly willing to do it for you as karmic service).
The way I see it, there is no necessity to deprive normal people of this little bit of luxury. We are the majority that buy the crap in the malls anyway, and the toilet space allotted for disabled people is just disproportionate to the amount of wheelchair bound persons that actually turn up in these places.
Anyway, Singaporean people arent generally selfish when it comes to things like giving way to someone else that needs it more. Luna didnt even want to use the disabled toilet because only one person could use it at any one time, and she felt awkward that she should have it while I couldnt. And Im not even disabled.
If I were taking a shit in a disabled toilet and I saw a pair of wheel-chair wheels waiting outside, I would feel too guilty to continue and will come out with my pants up to my knees, apologizing profusely about the bad smell while attempting to kindly ease the wheelchair bound individual in. All while remembering to Flush After Use, of course. On that note, if people are that concerned with disabled people getting to use the toilets designed for them the instant they want to, without compromising the concession for able-bodied individuals to use them occasionally, I suggest lifting the doors higher off the ground. That way, whoever is using the cubical will be able to see if the cubicles appropriate patron is waiting their turn.
The truth is, it does not make much of a difference to the disabled and the wheelchair bound whether or not some healthy girl is having a shit in a toilet that was Built For Its Own Sake. Not many of them are out in the public spaces that actually have toilets meant for the wheelchair bound, which are normally places like shopping malls and office buildings. You see them around the coffee-shops and parks of HDB estates, but the toilets built specifically for the disabled in these areas are not easily accessible and few and far in-between, from personal observation. At any rate, they are certainly much less noticeable than the toilets for the disabled in the shopping malls.
The presence of available disabled toilets in shopping malls and office buildings does not matter as much to the disabled as we seem to be making ourselves believe they do. If you were wheelchair bound, taking a piss might be a hassle for a while, but we cannot deny that some people in wheelchairs are in better physical shape then some of us completely able individuals, and there are some that slam dunk from a mile away, swim and even hike up a mountain if they wanted to. That taking a piss, for them, is as big of a deal as we have made it out to be, is nonsense.
Disabled people that do not have bladder specific problems or mental illnesses (with respect to the latter, they will also be the ones that will probably be out often enough to make use of a few public toilets) have better bladder control; You would develop one too if you couldnt get to the bathroom as easily as an individual with working legs, and thus without the hassle of dealing with a wheelchair.
The physical limitations for these people are under their control, and sooner or later, they will adapt to it. Their bodies are as useful to them as our bodies are to us, and it isnt the primary reason as to why we dont see more of them in society.
Like it or not, people are uncomfortable dealing with the disabled. Were not used to them, and we have all these assumptions about them that make no sense. The fact that we really think it matters whether or not they have immediate access to a toilet as the thing most worthy of discussion pertaining to the disabled last week proves that well enough.
The disabled dont want or need more unoccupied special toilets then there already are. All our buildings are over-specified when it comes to that component of interior architecture. So over specified it seems like we really do care for the disabled. We care so much were concerned about them to even the littlest detail, like them taking a shit.
The reality of it is that, thats what we think of when we think about people that cannot walk.
Must be difficult for them to have a shit are you sure they can do the job properly? They need special toilets to do something that normal people do so easily wah lau. So simple thing also so mah fan better hire a normal person that can make coffee for me without hitting over the flower vase.
My response ***
I must say something about disabled toilets, firstly because its not enough that they are everywhere physically, they also have to be everywhere in the news. But of course, nothing like a story everyone can understand while trying to concentrate on taking a shit.
After all, if theres space in a paper that has to scrimp to be filled up, why not filler up. No one would want to advertise in a paper with nothing in it, and since more press freedom has not proven to result in further economic prosperity, why should anyone care about domestic articles that could actually mean something to the local population. As long as the stories are good enough to sustain the ads, what does it matter.
To quote our Senior Minister, "The media is free to put across a range of worthy different viewpoints to encourage constructive social and political discourse. With this, one must realize that talking about disabled toilets in the National Paper is constructive discourse. After-all, everyone has to take a shit at some point in their lives, so it must be an important social issue.
At school, we have a number of disabled toilets, although I have not seen one single permanently disabled person attending the university course as of yet. I have no problem with that of course, as there is nothing like being able to have a shit in a large spacious toilet with handle-bars to grab on to for that extra oomph in your gut. I quite like using the disabled toilets myself, and Im not the only one there that does. But no one ever fights over their usage.
The first time Luna and I took a toilet break together (were not one of those girls that feel the need to take toilet breaks together so I remember it quite well) she hesitated before the handicapped toilet before making as if to go on with me into the general one. I told her I used it all the time too and that she should use it anyway if she wanted to, because its there and it just seems quite pointless that she shouldnt enjoy it just because I couldnt not unless she wanted me to watch her take a piss of course, which I dont suppose Id mind- really.
Handicapped toilets are one of lifes pleasures and shouldnt be denied normal people if it didnt inconvenience anyone else. Its one thing for wheelchair and pram ramps to be used by skaters thats annoying and dangerous- and another for normal people to want to take a shit in a handicap toilet.
If you think about it, what are the chances of a disabled person on a wheelchair coming by to your handicapped toilet cubical in the 10 minutes you are taking a shit in it (possibly while reading an article in the local paper about other people wanting to take a shit in that same cubical) in some shopping mall on a floor full of retail shops selling shoes that dont have wheelchair friendly entrances anyway; With some commonsense, one should be able to come to the conclusion that people who have just suffered a major accident and are temporarily bound onto a chair with wheels would not feel like going out to shop. Also, people who have mobility disabilities normally have better things to do then go shopping (why bother when someone else would be perfectly willing to do it for you as karmic service).
The way I see it, there is no necessity to deprive normal people of this little bit of luxury. We are the majority that buy the crap in the malls anyway, and the toilet space allotted for disabled people is just disproportionate to the amount of wheelchair bound persons that actually turn up in these places.
Anyway, Singaporean people arent generally selfish when it comes to things like giving way to someone else that needs it more. Luna didnt even want to use the disabled toilet because only one person could use it at any one time, and she felt awkward that she should have it while I couldnt. And Im not even disabled.
If I were taking a shit in a disabled toilet and I saw a pair of wheel-chair wheels waiting outside, I would feel too guilty to continue and will come out with my pants up to my knees, apologizing profusely about the bad smell while attempting to kindly ease the wheelchair bound individual in. All while remembering to Flush After Use, of course. On that note, if people are that concerned with disabled people getting to use the toilets designed for them the instant they want to, without compromising the concession for able-bodied individuals to use them occasionally, I suggest lifting the doors higher off the ground. That way, whoever is using the cubical will be able to see if the cubicles appropriate patron is waiting their turn.
The truth is, it does not make much of a difference to the disabled and the wheelchair bound whether or not some healthy girl is having a shit in a toilet that was Built For Its Own Sake. Not many of them are out in the public spaces that actually have toilets meant for the wheelchair bound, which are normally places like shopping malls and office buildings. You see them around the coffee-shops and parks of HDB estates, but the toilets built specifically for the disabled in these areas are not easily accessible and few and far in-between, from personal observation. At any rate, they are certainly much less noticeable than the toilets for the disabled in the shopping malls.
The presence of available disabled toilets in shopping malls and office buildings does not matter as much to the disabled as we seem to be making ourselves believe they do. If you were wheelchair bound, taking a piss might be a hassle for a while, but we cannot deny that some people in wheelchairs are in better physical shape then some of us completely able individuals, and there are some that slam dunk from a mile away, swim and even hike up a mountain if they wanted to. That taking a piss, for them, is as big of a deal as we have made it out to be, is nonsense.
Disabled people that do not have bladder specific problems or mental illnesses (with respect to the latter, they will also be the ones that will probably be out often enough to make use of a few public toilets) have better bladder control; You would develop one too if you couldnt get to the bathroom as easily as an individual with working legs, and thus without the hassle of dealing with a wheelchair.
The physical limitations for these people are under their control, and sooner or later, they will adapt to it. Their bodies are as useful to them as our bodies are to us, and it isnt the primary reason as to why we dont see more of them in society.
Like it or not, people are uncomfortable dealing with the disabled. Were not used to them, and we have all these assumptions about them that make no sense. The fact that we really think it matters whether or not they have immediate access to a toilet as the thing most worthy of discussion pertaining to the disabled last week proves that well enough.
The disabled dont want or need more unoccupied special toilets then there already are. All our buildings are over-specified when it comes to that component of interior architecture. So over specified it seems like we really do care for the disabled. We care so much were concerned about them to even the littlest detail, like them taking a shit.
The reality of it is that, thats what we think of when we think about people that cannot walk.
Must be difficult for them to have a shit are you sure they can do the job properly? They need special toilets to do something that normal people do so easily wah lau. So simple thing also so mah fan better hire a normal person that can make coffee for me without hitting over the flower vase.
Like it or not, my country still worships the west. Of course there's a lot more to say, but I'm too tired to say it now.
This was me when I was totally fucked in Sydney earlier when we'd gone down for the Rubber Ball. It was a bit of a disappointment, but it was still fun. I like Sydney. I love Darling Harbour. Beautiful blue sparkly water...
