Sex Education? Are We Ready?

I find it amusing that the Government is trying to help parents take the first step and be comfortable teaching their children about sex. We presume that parents will automatically take it all in stride, and succeed.

What happens when we see an intimate scene in the cinema, or on TV? Do we blush? Do our heart beat a little faster? Do we hope nobody is noticing we are feeling uncomfortable? We cannot even handle an intimate scene, let alone talk and discuss about it.

As a society, we are still very conservative in thoughts, We prohibits sexual magazines, movies, and we cringe when couples kiss on the streets. We goes hush hush about sex topics, and we hope parents to do miracle? While the children today has matured so much faster compared to our generations and those before us, our thoughts have not matured. Their learning has moved by leaps and bounds, pick up a primary school text book and you will realize how much you do not know. The internet has also help them to learn things we could not have found out when we were kids.

Society has changed, but why are we trying to slow it down and suppressed it? It's time to let go, and its time that we take another giant stride to grow up.

Locals versus Foreigners

PM Lee said the Government would "adjust the inflows so we will not dilute our national identity or weaken our social cohesion". The issue about Singaporeans being threatened by the high influx of foreigners is really bugging me. I am really not sure why there are Singaporeans acting or thinking like this. I simply do not see what is wrong. Didn't Singapore started out that way? Majority of our forefathers came from overseas, settled in Singapore and help build Singapore to what she is today. All the colourful cultures, the Singlish were all a culmination of these unique differences they brought with them. I really despised Singaporean Chinese when they looked down on other Chinese from mainland.

When society progress, does it always mean an eroding of values? Do we become myopic, and over-protective? I look at Australians and find them feeling exactly the same way years back with the high influx of foreigners. It was simply discriminating. The very first Australians migrated into the country, took over from the Aboriginal, and now they get pissed off with new immigrants?

The world is pretty much well connected now, and cross cultures is inevitable. Is identity so important? Singaporeans were still searching for an identity not too long ago, why? We were simply too 'mixed up', and do not have a unique race, or religion. However, it did not stop us from excelling, and being the best we can be. So what is a Singaporean? I agree with PM Lee that there needs to be a control with the influx, or we will be back to square one if what we have built up over the generations are replaced in an instance. The flow in must be regulated to let them integrate, but Singaporeans need to chill out and welcome them with open arms. They have been doing all the works that Singaporeans find it too lowly to do. Singaporeans are too pampered a lot and I really hope we mature and grow up.

WIll there be a Mumbai rerun?

To be frank, I thought the video was a great effort by SPF. Very step-by-step guide on how things unfold. Great publicity and the intent is clear - to deter terrorists from wanting to do nasty things in Singapore, and to reassure the Singaporeans our taxpayers money is well spent. It also goes to show Singapore is prepared for such threats, at least terrorists need to think twice before they decide to execute. Or at least if they wanted to, they should have done it before the forces are ready. It is also a stark reminder that our very first Singaporean died in a terrorist incident last year. Let's see..

Mumbai incident happened in Nov 2008, and it took about 9 months before this Exercise was executed and aired? Why so long? Where is the recency effect? In any case, will the terrorist stage a rerun or sequel to Mumbai? The one incident that keeps having rerun is the Bali bombing.

Step by step. In Afghanistan, it was seen that terrorists evolve by studying their subjects. Tit-for Tat. The terrorists have realised that there is always a set pattern and drill executed by the ground forces so they improvised their explosive devices to maximise gains. They do not just activate their Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) on the first instance and stop there. They have a secondary device targeting the post-management group, ie medics etc where they thought things are safer after the first explosion. So I am sure this video now serves as a good research material for them.

Credits though must still be given for the time spent in scheduling such a massive exercise. Imagine hotel revenue losses, volunteered role players, coordination with media and different agencies, etc etc. Singapore is a living fortress, but it is not impregnable. And as long as we let down our guard, we invite trouble.

All it takes is one incident.

All said, you get criticism either way...69

Cheating Death or Cheating Ourselves?

While we may gloat when we have a near miss, lauding how we cheated death....we seem to forget eventually Death catches up. No man will live forever to tell his story. So why do we find it hard to accept Death? How often when we see an article about death, we shun it? Recently when I found out my wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, I was devastated, so was my wife. And we still are. Coping is not easy. Trying to be optimistic is even harder. When my wife tells me,"I want to live", my heart weighs a ton. It is beyond me, and I have never felt so helpless in my life. I always felt I have a solution to all problems, but I have none to this.

When Death catches up, everything changes.

So, instead of focusing on cheating death, why not focus on living well? What does living means to you? Do you live for somebody? Or yourself? Do you live the way you wanted or you are living for somebody else? There is no perfect answer for this. You do whatever makes you happy, without causing unhappiness to others.

When Death catches up, I have lived.

'Image from ActionTrip.com'

Why 69?

Sixty - nine or 69, also known by its French name soixante - neuf (sixty-nine), is a group of sex positions in which two people align themselves so that each person's mouth is near the other's genitals, simultaneously performing oral sex. The participants are thus mutually inverted like the numerals 6 and 9, hence the name. This position can involve any combination of sexes. - wikipedia

I have chosen number 69 as I hope the thoughts I placed in this blog is catabolic, anything but organised and straight...boring or one-sided. Be it 'any sex' , any combination, you will have a good time. Life is too short, to keep it mundane, albeit with a bunch of rules which restricts our life from being more interesting. Order is a must, but once in a while we do need to let out some steam.