Technology Addiction

More and more gadgets with improved apps and services are on the market with each passing day.  It is impossible to keep up with the technological advances.

Once it was that the smaller your hand phone, the better but now the smart phones are slightly bigger, slimmer and very versatile. They can do things which I could never have imagined years ago.  Just as my grandmother marveled at the voice coming through the hand-held receiver was her granddaughter’s, I now wonder at the fact that my hand phone can lead me to a place I’m looking for once I key in the address.

Many young people are so addicted to their gadgets that they obsess over it.  If by chance they left behind their smart phone, it’s like having lost a limb! Have you seen a group of young people at a table all busy with their phones, oblivious to their pals?  It’s now all about online communication, using social media and other apps.

Another trend is the selfie. I used to wonder what a selfie was but now I’m also taking selfies!!  It’s taking a picture of yourself on your hand phone and you can post it on Facebook to share with family and friends. You no longer have to ask someone to take your picture.

Unfortunately there has been a case where a young man was so obsessed with taking a perfect selfie of himself that when he couldn’t, he attempted suicide.  Fortunately his mother discovered him in time and the doctors saved his life. This is actually a mental health issue and it is defined as Body Dysmorphic Disorder which arises from the anxiety that causes sufferers to worry excessively about their appearance.

On the other hand, something good has come out of taking selfies.  The “no makeup selfie” was started to raise funds for cancer research and many women posted selfies of themselves without any makeup on Facebook and made a donation. Within 48 hours, this selfie posting charity campaign raised more than 500,000 pounds in Ireland while in the UK it raised more than 2.5 million pounds.  All in all more than $3.3 million was raised to fund cancer research.

I think one has to be sensible when it comes to the use of technology.  It can help us to do many things but misuse can lead to undesirable consequences that are often unexpected.

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ONS Trending

It was quite an eye-opener to read that there is now a trend known as ONS among the younger group of people. It is one thing to follow trends in the fashion industry where annual spring and winter collections appear on runways promoting designers’ couture offerings but quite another to participate in ONS.

The majority of people who are conservative in their outlook may be aghast at what is now trending among the younger age groups who may consider themselves to be avante garde, hence their fervor in pursuit of a new lifestyle, the ONS.

Some may even compare the number of ONS in their report cards. How do they get on the ONS circuit?

Apparently there are websites where you post your profile and you browse through profiles that have been posted.  You select a partner at random or if you like someone’s profile. Then arrangements are made for the ONS.

What is ONS?   It refers to one night stands where two people meet up to satisfy their sexual needs and there are no strings attached. Simply put, it’s hello, wham, bang and goodbye! 

How does that appeal to you?

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Children and the Chinese New Year

Children are the ones that make Chinese New Year  enjoyable and festive.

As children we used to look forward to it as it meant having new clothes, new shoes and receiving ang pows ( red envelopes that contain money).

We knew that at the reunion dinner we would get to eat food that are considered delicacies, obtainable only during the festive season. Usually grandma and the aunties would gather to cook the various dishes.

Offerings and prayers were made to our deceased ancestors so that we could look forward to a better year both in health and prosperity.

After dinner, the elders would play cards or chit chat while children would play fireworks outside in the compound. We were told that the longer we stayed up at night to welcome in the New Year, the longer our parents would live.

On New Year’s Day, the children would dress in their new clothes and line up before the elders to wish them “Gong Xi Fa Cai”, good health and longetivity and they would be given their ang pows.
Visiting relatives also meant feasting on cookies and getting more ang pows.  Children and singletons receive ang pows as is the tradition.  Only married people can give ang pows. Adult children also give their parents ang pows out of love.

Children enjoy this day as parents will never utter a harsh word or scold them as this is also a tradition.  So many get away with doing all kinds of naughty things since they will not be chided or chastised.

Without children, the festive cheer is missing.  There will not be any rollicking, laughing or playing together, having fun,  antics which adults like to watch.

Unfortunately, these days, the children are more engrossed in their individual iPads rather than playing other kinds of games.  Nevertheless, their presence still makes a difference to the day.

Traditions are slowly disappearing.  Reunion dinners have moved out of homes into restaurants or done away with as many families opt to go on holiday instead of celebrating at home.  Few have open houses as this entails a lot of work even though the food may be catered.

I hope the celebration of the Chinese New Year will continue for generations to come as traditions are part of our cultural identity and they make us unique as a community.

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Unwanted and Discarded

The first month of 2014 is more than halfway through and with it comes a terrible fact.
One recurring topic in the news is abandonment.  It is now a sad fact that both the very old and infirm and the very young new-borns are being cast away, left to the tender mercies of Fate.

Five aged and sick elderly folks were abandoned in a house filled with rubbish.  It had once been a shelter for old folks who had been left there by their families.  However the owner of the shelter had moved and left these five unfortunate people behind, one of whom is bed-ridden.  When neighbours, yes, there were neighbours on either side of this house, finally went in to check on the noises they heard coming from what they thought was an empty house, they discovered these five elderly folks, one of whom was lying in a heap of rubbish.

They were sent to the hospital where they had their first square meal and given a check-up. To date, none of their family members have stepped forward to claim them although their photographs have been published in the national newspapers.

On the other hand, the more helpless victims were the newborns who could only make their presence known by crying.  Usually abandoned by their mothers in the dead of night, they are truly at the mercy of predators and are usually ant-bitten by the time someone discovers them, provided they are still alive.  Today’s news reported that a teenager was awakened at 3:00 a.m. by a baby’s cries and looking out of her window, saw a little naked baby crying on the ground.  She also heard footsteps walking away.  Thankfully the teenager’s mother, on being informed, took the baby boy in, cleaned him up ( his umbilical cord was still attached and there were blood stains; he had also been bitten by ants ), dressed him and made a police report.  The baby is now in hospital, under observation.

What has made these people abandon their old folks and newborns?  How can they be so heartless and cruel?

The old folks once cared for their children, raised them from babies till they were independent, only to be discarded once their shelf life is nearing expiry date. Some have speculated that they could have been abandoned because they had not been good parents, or their families could not afford the cost of their medical bills and their upkeep.

What about newborns?  Do they deserve to be discarded like rubbish?  They didn’t ask to be born.

It would seem that parenting is partly to blame.  Parents have not instilled good core values in their young or have not been good role models.  Isn’t it about time that something be done to arrest this sad state of affairs?  Are old folks and newborns to be throwaways simply because we do not have a place in our lives for them?

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