Qrop it!

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Look at this Vivi magazine I just bought!! I'm gonna be blogging today about one of the things on it, can you tell what?

 Pardon the ringlight overexposure...

Ok I'm sure most of you cannot read Japanese so can stop guessing now...

It's about the QR CODE!!

Here it is!!

I'm sure many of you have seen these complicated square pixelly bits and wondered what it is. Now you know it's called QR code, and it is especially popular in Japan!!

A QR code is simply like a bar code that you can scan with your phone and it will lead you to a website on your phone!! Don't try to scan this one, it's too blur wtf... Stupid camera.

Anyway, most of us are using smartphones nowadays. So QR codes are a superb idea to very quickly get more information on a brand, person, etc... when you are on the go!!

For example right... Let's just say I have a very complicated URL like 2737fhfc2847.blogspot.com.

You are reading this article halfway and you are late so you need to leave the house but you want to continue reading this on the phone and yet you don't want to write down my URL.

Lucky for you my website has a QR code!!

And here it is:

You whip out your phone... Scan this code, and totally fuss free and easy - you can continue right where you left off.

GOOD RIGHT??

Now we come to the HOW.


I keep saying "scan", but HOW to scan?

Introducing:

Qropit

Qropit is a free app that's available on both iPhone and Android. Simply search for Qropit on the app store and you can download it... For free!!

Why should you get Qropit?

1) Why not? Free leh!!

2) Get with the times! Qr codes are everywhere now, so you need a QR code scanner anyway - Qropit is super cute and easy to use!! See how I do it!!

 

Ok I see this ad in the magazine and I really want to get that, erm... bra.

So I Qropit!!

Very simple... click on the app and immediately get scanning!!

I might add that scanning is super easy and fast and fun!! Like how people in supermarkets scan their produce lol. And Qropit even lets you customise a sound when successfully scanned! DING DING DING!!

(OK I know this is not the same page as the bra ad but it's just an example -_-)

This is how scanning looks like on the phone!

And tadah, once scanned, this loads:

A website of gibbery words I cannot understand but I guess it gave me info on where to get that bra? LOL


3) Not only does Qropit allow you to scan codes... You can also CREATE codes, called Qrops, which is just smashing!!

I already put my blog's QR code above, but weblinks are not the only things you can create!!

Just log on to Qropit's website and hit on CREATE A QROP.

And you will see this super cute image... Inviting you to create any of the above Qrops!!

It can be a photo, a video, anything you wish to share!!

The ones I found extra interesting are Coupon and Contact Card!!

For businesses you can now run a print ad, for example, on the MRT. Invite people to scan your code to be entitled to a discount, and when they are at the shop, they can show their coupon to redeem!!

For the rest of us, we sometimes need to give out namecards but namecards are so small! You simply can't put enough information on there, so why not put a Qrop on the namecard?

Or on the About me/Contact me page of your website?

Creating my contact card!!

And tadah! When scanned this is what pops up when viewed on a computer:

Awesome or what? With all my links etc and with a photo too! :D

And best of all? On the phone?

*BIG SHINY EYES*

It automatically asks if you want to store the Qrop as a CONTACT!!

Now you don't need to type everything in manually... It's just one click and everything is saved in the phone!! Super convenient wtf!! ??? love it!!


4) Qropit has a Radar feature!!

You can view who scanned what nearby! So cool right? Don't worry, others cannot see what you scanned unless you linked it to your facebook and twitter specifically for sharing with others. The radar shows only scans but not tagged with their users' identity. :)

And you can see the "History" bit there? All your past scans are stored, so you can look at them again later if you want.


5) Qropit also provides analytics for Qrop owners.

You can track how much traffic you got from your Qrop.

You can see the gender of those who viewed your Qrops, their age, their countries, and even their types of phones. So cool!! And all this service is FREE!!



6) I don't think you need any more incentive to get Qropit but here is one more:

I did up a slideshow of a preview of the pictures I edited for my third Otaru blog entry with Cheesie!!!

You can also view a collection of my past Draw Something drawings!! Some are quite awesome if I saw so myself lol

You can only see it by scanning these codes...

SO QROPIT:

SCAN THE CODES TO VIEW ALL THE PICTURES!!

7) Ok the last incentive is the freaking best........

YOU CAN WIN AN IPAD 3!!!!!!!

Bitch please I didn't even know it came out already!!!

One 16gb iPad 3 will be given to a lucky reader who downloads, scans, and shares a QR code with Qropit by April 21st!!

Easiest peasiest contest EVER wtf. Remember to link your Qropit to your facebook or twitter! Only applicable for Singaporeans.


What are you waiting for??!!


Need a code to scan and share? How about this blog entry? :D

Http://Qropit.com

Qropit's facebook

Qropit on twitter

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Took part in the Scholl contest?

Winners for the Scholl compression stockings have been selected.

The winners are: Xue Ying, Feline Yo, Princess Shiyu, Grace Vencio and Char Siu Bao.

Do remember to check out your Facebook inbox and reply to the Scholl mail today!

Askers vs Guessers - And a preview of Andara!

I'm on a roll with the wordy posts!! To balance it out I posted a photo of a group of girls in bikinis below.

When you ask people what sort of people they don't like, usually the same crappy answers come out: Hypocrites and backstabbers. Sometimes people say cheaters or liars etc.

Sure, I don't like those too... But what frustrates me the most, are when people are buay paiseh. 

If you are not Chinese or Singaporean, you may not be familiar to that word. It is commonly used to insult someone here in Singapore, and another variation of that phrase is ???. Buay paiseh means "UNABASHED" in english.

Rarely ever is "unabashed" used as an insult or lament about someone's character in English speaking countries. We don't hear people in movies or storybooks saying "I don't like her because she is unabashed".

Why? That's because we are all split into Askers and Guessers. Asians are often complaining about angmohs visiting their countries being "rude". That's because they have an Ask culture vs our Guess culture.

What does that mean? I came across this article some time ago discussing Askers and Guessers.

Let's determine which one you are.

Someone you are not very close to sends you an email, asking if he can stay at your place (let's assume you do have room) for a week... nay, let's make it worse, month-long vacation. You don't even like him.

Do you think this person is being rude?

If you think so, you are likely a Guesser.

Being an Asker means that you are brought up to believe you can ask for just about anything, and you expect people to say no if they want to. Simple.

Being a Guesser is a bit more complicated. Guessers don't like to be put in a situation where they have to reject someone. They resent having explain why the hell not when he feels you should have anticipated the answer and just not asked. Guessers feel it's impolite to say no, and might even agree to a request they don't really want to agree to just out of shock.

It seems that life is a little harder for the Guessers because afterall people all view things differently... how can you possibly anticipate someone's answer to everything? We should all be Askers, things would be so much simpler!

But alas, things aren't as black and white as that.

Afterall, if you are a man and you want to have sex with a lady on the street, you don't just go up to get and ask to see her vagina. Or if she rejects you, ask "How much?". She can say no, but you just made her very pissed off.

You'd think someone with my straightforward character is definitely an Asker, but I am Chinese and despite using vulgarities all the time I was brought up by a traditionally Chinese mom who is always preaching to me about manners. Never take the drumstick off the roast chicken (Asians usually value dark meat on chicken) on the table, offer it to the elders first. Never borrow money. Always offer to pay for everything.

Don't be mistaken. I am not a Guesser through and through. You don't have to be one or the other. In fact, I'm probably more of an Asker than most Singaporeans. The delicate art is not about whether or not you ask, it is HOW you ask.

This culture of anticipating someone's reaction to whatever it is you are doing extends OUTSIDE of just requests.

Sometimes, it is your actions that cause discomfort to others and you don't even have to open your mouth. Us Guessers don't know why we get so frustrated with the more aggressive Askers and we label them as "rude". No, the more concise term is "unabashed". Or as we Singaporeans like to say... NOT SHY!!

I'm gonna expound on the topic by ranting about one of my greatest pet peeves:

I HATE PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS DON'T HAVE CASH ON HAND.

I am not talking about poor people, but those who always choose to withdraw very little money out of the ATM, like $20 at a time, despite having money.

This is a very broad stroke because it's very normal for us to run out of money sometimes. I do too. The key word is ALWAYS, and also this is very important - how you handle the situation when you run out of cash on hand.

I'm sure all of you, like me, have friends who are always low on cash. So whenever there is a group dinner at a restaurant that doesn't take credit cards and they don't have enough cash to pay, you help them pay first. Or in shared cab rides, you have to fork out more. Or you invite them over for a game of poker/mahjong. They lose, no cash. Owe you first.

I find these people super irritating.

As a general rule, people who feel embarrassed about borrowing money will always try to get rid of that ashamed feeling by returning it fast. AND these people usually have cash, to prevent such a situation from happening in the first place, so it stands that that people who always don't have cash, usually will not bother to return money efficiently, or at all.

I am a very forgetful person. I don't remember it when people owe me money, and often I don't remember to remind them. But when I do actually remember, I RESENT having to open my mouth and ask for the money. It's embarrassing. And when I remind and the person STILL doesn't pay me back, I hate having to ask again. And worse of all, sometimes the amount is small, like $10 or $20. It would seem like I'm such an asshole to go ask for it back.

But it isn't about the money. It's about the person's incorrect thinking. It is not polite to borrow money from people, furthermore with such a cavalier attitude to it. I don't care that much about the $10, I care that you put me in this situation of discomfort and thus, I don't feel like giving that $10 to you.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a stingy, miserly person. If this occurs not infrequently, it's totally ok for me to fork out a bit more for my friend. But if out of 10 situations 8 times the person has no cash to pay for it, I'd start to be frustrated. 

If they don't have money to participate in whatever activity be it dinners or gambling, they shouldn't! How can they expect people to pay for them first, always?

If they have the money and they know they are going to be needing cash, isn't it just polite of them to go withdraw some before the activity starts? 

And after borrowing, sometimes I see them walk pass an ATM machine with me and I'm thinking "WTF? Why isn't he withdrawing to pay me back?? THE DINNER FREE AH?". I get it that sometimes people forget. But it's about not making it happen so often that slowly, people KNOW they always have to pay for you and would rather not meet you anymore.

There, that's the problem with Askers.

They think, "If you don't want to lend me money why don't you just say no? When I walk past that ATM and didn't notice it why didn't you just ask me to withdraw money for you? You needed the money back urgently meh?"

How do you say "no" to someone borrowing $10? It is extremely confrontational and making things awkward, and I get irritated that I am put in that situation where I have to reject you. I am doing you a favour by helping you pay, why do you have to make things difficult for me? Doesn't seem fair there.

And we come to the part where I am the most fucking pissed about. When asked about why they always don't have cash, these people always reply "Because when I have no cash I spend less."

Or some other variety of bullshit such as "I am trying to save money" or "I think using card I can have accounts of where my money went".

It makes me sooooooooooo fucking angry. You think the rest of us don't want to also spend less? Or that we don't wanna save money and have accounts of our spendings clearcut to us?

Yeah you successfully save money... Because people are fucking paying your shit for you! What bullshit about spending less when you don't have cash... You spent it didn't you? Just without your own money!! If you truly think that with less cash you'd spend less, then you shouldn't have participated in that activity that cost you money! Go dinner with the group but don't order anything or order within the money you DO have!

Irritating!!

In general I think working adults should always withdraw at least $200. When it goes low to about $50, it's time to withdraw again.

(I'd like to give a special mention to Kaykay who always have a lot of cash with her. I've known KK for like 6 years or something now... She never ONCE borrowed cash from me. I find that super commendable!)

Someone on formspring asked me for a specific example of buay paiseh behaviour. Some are more obvious, some are not so obvious. Here's a subtle one, but buay paiseh nonetheless.

3 guests were in my house playing mahjong. Including me, that would be 4 people. I bought 10 chicken wings that day and offered some to them.

I asked everyone how many they wanted out of my 10 wings, and a girl, the first person who answered, said "3".

If you do a bit of math, divided equally among 4 people, each person can only take 2.5 chicken wings. And then I think that it is normal politeness to leave more food for the host or her family (in this case I mean Mike), especially since I haven't told her how many I want for myself. I found it rude of her to ask for 3 wings from me. If the other 2 people were as unabashed as her, I'd be left with 1 wing for myself and I'd be fucking pissed off. Luckily, they weren't.

Let me make it clear. Eating 3 out of 10 wings isn't that bad. But first she could have said 1, or 2. After everyone is done with their eating and there were still leftovers, she could ask if she could have one more. I'd have been fine with that. But asking for 3 before she even knew how many I wanted to eat was rude.

Maybe Askers are thinking that I'm way too calculative and sensitive. If I didn't wanna give her 3 I could have just said so. But I wasn't close to her and saying so would have made the rest of the night awkward. Or perhaps I was baiting her by asking her how many she wanted out of 10 when the only answers I accepted was 1 or 2. I should have just said "Would you like 1 or 2 wings?". I would next time, but I just honestly didn't anticipate she would be so thickskinned!

Anyway, just now I was saying, it's not about what you ask, it's about HOW you ask.

Sometimes I want something and I just ask for it. You can be an unabashed Asker and still not make people angry... The key is to acknowledge you are being rude, and give the person the option to say no within the request.

For example the month-long stayover I mentioned at the start. Here's how I would have phrased it:

"Hi XXX... How are you doing? I'm going to your country this Wednesday and I have a request. If you have room for me and it's convenient for you, could I stay at your place for a duration of a month? I understand this is a demanding request but hotels are really expensive. I will of course try my best to not get in your hair and I am willing to pay you back for any expenses I incurred and a fee for your trouble. If this isn't convenient for you in any way, please feel free to tell me no. I have an aunt's place I can go to alternatively but she's rather naggy. :X Either way, I'd love to meet up with you for drinks when I come! :)"

Although asking to stay at someone's house for a whole month is still pretty unabashed, but offering to pay and telling them to feel guilt-free about a rejection at least makes it known to the person that you KNOW you are being rude, which makes them not so angry about your stupid request. 

The last sentence was added so it doesn't seem like you don't care about the person outside of him doing you favours.

Another method for Asking is to just go the complete opposite direction. I like to do this with my very close friends by just saying "I want xxx!" like a petulant child. Most of the time they just give in to me (because my friends are easy-going people wtf) but when they don't want to, it's very easy for them to say "GO AND DIE LAH" or "You can fight me for it bitch", which removes the awkwardness of a rejection.

Ok this concludes my blog entry about Askers and Guessers. Just as a matter of interest, how much do you guys withdraw out of the ATM each time? I judge people who say $20. (Unless you are a broke student and $20 is all you have, duh.)

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Here's a preview of my awesome holiday at Andara Resort in Phuket!!

I already went there once before, so lucky to go again. :D

Had such a super fun time there with Mike and 10 of my friends: Shuyin and her sister Binbin, Qiu, Sophie, Alaric, Huiwen, Cheesie, Eekean, Gillian and Bryan!

AWESOME MUCH? Private beach section belonging to Andara... Loads of double beds on the sand, with lounge chairs, cold drinks served to guests... and best of all... THE BEACH HAD WIFI!!

And see there? The couple in the middle of the picture. The angmoh lady was topless! LOL

Put full makeup to the beach because I knew the other girls were gonna camwhore and I wanted to as well!! Cheesie and I look looking real Vivi or what? :D

Pool villa... Can you believe this 2 storeyed place is actually a villa?? It's so freaking humongous with 4 bedrooms!! 

Some of us girls lounging in the shallow bits of the infinity pool with a glorious sunset behind us. People were barbecuing food for us while we chat and chill!! Life CANNOT get better than this.


JELLY RIGHT? Don't be!!

Andara is now running a STAY MORE, SAVE MORE promotion from March - October 2012. This means you can get 20%-30% discount!!

Andara is really the most luxurious, romantic and beautiful resort I've stayed in before!! I feel so pampered!! It's really perfect for a honeymoon or even for a wedding. The pool villa is huge enough for an actual wedding reception wtf!! Or if you want to go with a big group of friends or family, it's also great coz there are a few bedrooms in one villa.

If you are referred from our blogs you even get a $50usd spa credit. :D

Find out more about their promotion HERE.

I am gonna be posting like a zillion other pictures from the holiday once I finish editing them. :)

Invisible and Visible Sympathy

Today's blog entry is going to be wordy and long. If you are the sort of person who hates reading and would rather be looking at pictures, then well... if you scroll down a little there is a photo of me with hipster glasses photoshopped on me. Also, I'd advise you to not procreate.

So... Can you guess the topic yet from the title? It's about everyone's favourite Ugandan evil warlord of the moment, KONY!!! STOPKONY2012ASIFITCANBEANYOTHERYEAR!!111

Nah, I'm not gonna be one of those fucktards talking about how awful he is... Or how it is all a scam (well maybe just a bit of that). In fact, this entry isn't even going to be focused on him at all, but he is the trigger for this post.

A few days ago I got very irritated by Invisible Children's campaign to make Joseph Kony as famous as possible so that somehow he will be arrested. I'm not too sure about the details of the campaign, because I simply was not interested enough to bother to find out more.

But to my annoyance, spammed everywhere on every social media possible were assholes urging me to spread the word about Invisible Children (hereby known as IC) to my followers.

It was as if social media caught on a up-you-own-arse infestation of moral policing, and it was spreading, its pompous self righteousness at every corner, judging those who were not doing their part in stopping Kony. HOW DARE THEY BE SO APATHETIC AND CRUEL, UNLIKE ME!! *rolls eyes*

It was on my facebook fanpage's wall. It was on my twitter replies. Every celebrity I followed were yabbering about it (except Ricky Gervais). It appeared on blog comments when the entries are not related to Kony at all. It was on formspring. It was on youtube, spamming the comments to irrelevant videos of fucking MUSIC I WAS LISTENING TO. And all the people spamming where smelling their assholes in unison, thinking how it smells like justice and peonies. I was goaded beyond tolerance.

So I went onto Twitter to rant.

In case you are one of those people who are very slow to adopt social media or don't follow me (in that case fuck you), I tweeted that I don't give a shit about Kony and that I refuse to spread awareness about him... And how I'd rather spread my legs for a diseased clown.

On hindsight I probably shouldn't have put that image into anybody's mind. I'm sorry about that. But it is hard to pun on "spread".

I then said that I didn't even bother to watch the stupid video. That I choose to remain ignorant of it.

I lied. I actually watched the video. By "watched" I mean I clicked onto the links a hundred people posted to me, and I let the video run for about 2 whole mins. I couldn't continue watching it. I simply, simply couldn't. The video was too up-its-own-arse and almost made me vomit. And as it is I already didn't like the campaign due to the spam.

But anyway, after my little rant on twitter came a tidal wave of fury like I've never seen before. The last time I got so many replies was when I dyed my hair pink which for some reason made people feel like they need to let me know what they think of it.

I couldn't even finish reading the replies because they came in so fast. Most of them were from people insulting me. The most common word used was "ignorant". And came cruel, heartless, ugly, bitch, stupid etc etc. Some people used to like me and said they are very disappointed. Some asked me why I have 96,000 followers and can't just do my part to help when I have so much influence.

I had about 100 people unfollow me, which frankly I think is less than what I expected. 2 days later I gained back about 300 so that's ok lol.

So that's the background story. And from here on I'm gonna try to piece together my thoughts on this. It's pretty jumbled up in my brain now on so pardon me if I get confusing.

1) HEARTLESSNESS

Am I a heartless, cruel person? This is a question I've asked myself many times.

Afterall, it makes me very upset to see people torture little animals. I cried during UP just like everyone else. I don't like seeing beggers in the streets with bedraggled clothes and missing limbs. I hate seeing old people be sad. I always buy tissues from blind people selling them.

All these are pretty normal, right? I'm a normal person?

But yet, being a relatively (relative to the world) well-off person living in a first world city, I am faced with the dilemma all of us are facing:

HOW MUCH SHOULD WE GIVE?

So many parts of the world is living in poverty. They are suffering, not knowing where their next food source is coming from, while we are sitting with our iProducts in our aircon-ed rooms, playing Draw Something, thinking we should get a stylus to draw better.

Surely we should give up all our material comfort and go help them?

Have you given thought to this? How much sacrifice must you make before you placate the guilt at the bottom of your heart, and how much before you present to the world an image that you are not an asshole?

As a person with power, influence and a public image, I've thought about this probably more than you have. And I've been burdened with an additional responsibility, because I can "spread awareness". If you don't do your part for IC, nobody cares because you have 20 twitter followers. But if I don't, I'm a selfish, heartless bitch whom you wish will drop dead and die.

Unlike most people who are still struggling with their dilemma of how much to give, I've made my decision, and I'm sticking to it.

Here it is: NONE.


2) WHY???

Here's one reason: I simply am not passionate about anything enough.

Sure, I feel sad about orphans. I would very much like to help bears who are in pain, with tubes stuck in them for their bile.

I won't say I can't help. In fact, I sometimes donate too, especially when it's easy to donate (ie blind tissue sellers).

But usually the moment I feel sympathetic enough to help is at the very moment when my heartstrings are tugged.

And one day later what am I doing? I'm going about fussing with my own business. I'm thinking... How much can I spare for bears? Maybe $400? I could spare that...

But then I'm thinking... Why am I helping bears?

My own grandma is working as a cleaner lady. I love her very much and she says her knees are hurting her. I should give her my $400 instead, monthly, so she won't have to work anymore. But I already give my grandparents a lot of money everytime I see them, as much as I can spare, so... none for bears?

And then I'm thinking... My mom works so hard. She's still paying for my brother's pocket money because my brother is in the army. Should I give my brother that money?

What happens in the end? My passion for my loved ones trumps those of charities and misfortunes that happen millions of miles away. Bears don't concern me. My grandma does.

I'm not saying this sort of attitude is right. But we are human afterall, and we cannot help what we love and care for, and some we care for more than others. Most of all, we care for ourselves.

Maybe one day, if I have a loved one who falls ill due to a certain type of cancer, I might find myself donating to the research for that cancer. I might find enough passion for it. But right now... Nothing.

And then you ask... "Nobody is asking you to donate $400!! Why can't you give just $10? Every single bit helps."

Well then let me reply you... I care about so many sufferings, which one should I give $10 for?  Should it be for pediatric cancer research, for cancer on kids is surely one of the saddest things to happen to anyone? Or for the starving in Somalia? No, I'd rather give $410 to my grandma.

But this is not about which charity to donate to. Or which 3rd world country you should run off to to film a documentary.

This is about making peace with yourself, and only you yourself can decide on this.

I'm not saying I give all my excess money to my loved ones who needs them. God knows I spend on myself and buy stupid Liz Lisa shit just because it makes me happy. Just thinking about this makes me feel guilty.

It took me a while, and this is really hard, but finally I admitted it:


I AM SELFISH, AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT.

The only difference between me and the most of the world is that they have not come to terms with that.

Once others admit this to themselves, you will stop seeing self righteous assholes talk about the 1% or talk about how others are heartless when they themselves are clearly not stretching themselves to the maximum.

As a person I aim to be happy. I want to be happy the best I can. My motivation for making money is my happiness. So I try to make those around me happy, which in turn makes me happy.

I cannot help the rest of the world with their suffering. No matter how much I help there STILL IS SUFFERING. So I don't.  I try not to think about the bears or the orphans or the cancer-stricken children.

Call me selfish, but most people live their lives like that.

That's how we normalise ourselves.

Those most sensitive often find that the world is too cruel a place to live in, and they end their lives. Although some of you would love to see me end my life, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna live for a long, long time, making you uncomfortable with my words until you admit that I make sense.

But of course, there are people who live their whole lives for the suffering of others. These people are amazing. Mother Teresa, I presume (I don't know much about her). Some people live their entire lives taking care of their sickly parents, or sickly children. They spare no expense on making themselves happy. I really respect these people.

Only such selfless people ever have the rights to insult me for my moral decisions. But would they do something like that? No. Because when you are so focused and passionate, I doubt you have time to insult others. That same time wasted to type a nasty comment to me can be used to accompany a dying patient during his last moments.

"Alright Xiaxue," you sigh, "I get it you don't want to donate... But what about helping to spread awareness so others can donate/help?"


3) WHY I DON'T TELL OTHERS WHAT TO DO

Firstly, I don't think it is right when people tell others what to do or how to behave. Unless they are their bosses or parents. Or when the person's action directly affects them.

I will NOT tell people to donate to charity because I feel it is not in my place to do so.

Who am I to tell people to what to do when here I am in my Princess room and my $500 bunny?? What kind of asshole takes the easy way out to act kindly and just "spread awareness" instead of doing real sacrifices... while expecting others to do the shit work?

Sure, it will make it seem to people that I care and that I am kind. Sure, it will make me feel less guilty about being so fortunate that one of the hardest challenges in my life is overeating when half of the world is undereating.

But will I do that just for appearances? No. I already said I've come to terms with who I am. Whether you like this or not that's your business.

And besides, it's about the principles:


4) CREATING AWARENESS = SLACKTIVISM

I detest slacktivism. It is DISGUSTING. What is it? Let me quote wiki:

..."feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. Slacktivist activities include signing Internet petitions, joining a community organization without contributing to the organization's efforts, copying and pasting of Social Network statuses or messages or altering one's personal data or avatar on social network services.

Sounds familiar? Guilty of being a slacktivist? Don't be, most of us are. Except me of course because I'm so enlightened.  Ahem.

I'm not going to act all high and mighty just because I fucking "spread awareness". If I truly wanted to help I'd do a lot more than just tweet about an issue. Sure, the world isn't split into black and white and help is still help regardless of the degree.

But I'm just saying... I detest slacktivism so I refuse to participate in it.




5) SO YOU THINK NO ONE SHOULD HELP ANYONE?

To a certain extent... Yes. But mostly, my answer to that is No.

For example, if we see a man trying to rape a little girl on the streets, do we help her by stopping him? Yes!! Of course!

But should America step in and give money to poverty-stricken countries? No.

America should mind its own business and take care of its own debts. How do I come to this conclusion of who to help?

I think, in general, you help first those closest to yourself.

You owe loan sharks money? Help yourself first. Have a loved one who is not doing so well? Fix that. Only try to solve world problems when you have helped everyone around you.

Remember, helping others should not be for assuaging your guilt at being self-sufficient.

It should stem from a genuine want to see them do better, and it's about MAKING YOUR HELP COUNT. You helping a poor relative financially is going to do more for that relative than donating through a charity to Somalia.

So... Should you not help/donate to *insert charity*? That's not what I'm saying. It's your money, your time, your prerogative. Do whatever you want if it makes you feel better and happier! I'm sure donating to your favourite foundation brings you the same joy as buying a new gadget, so do whatever pleases you. As I said, I don't tell people what to do - I'm just giving you my viewpoint.

In that case nobody will help the poor Africans!! It is going to sound cruel, but Africa needs to help itself. Sometimes I think... Why give them vaccines when they are giving birth to 10 babies per household despite having no food? I cannot believe I just typed that. I'm going to hell. But I'm just saying, sometimes we create more problems by trying to help. Maybe Nature is solving her own problems, and we are standing in her way.

Another prime example - donations from wealthier countries to poor ones have been proven to be detrimental. Instead of helping the needy there, warlords seize the processions and sell them. Or people get dependent on free supplies, refusing to work. The country, in turn, cannot progress.

If you are thinking that if everyone thinks like me then the world is going to be fucking doomed... Well don't worry. Firstly, I highly doubt most people are as rational as me. Or cruel, if you wish to call it that.

Secondly...


6) THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN

For years and years we have been taught about how fortunate we are, living in cities with clean water and all the food we can eat. And in contrast, how poorly some parts of the world is doing.

In time we have all developed "the white man's burden", a phrase used to describe how modern society looks upon developing countries with guilt and a creepy need to be the glorious heroes to save them.

We presume that without our help, they are surely doomed. They cannot possibly help themselves, and we cannot stand idly by. We presume they all want lives like ours, and they must all want to have civilised society like us.

I say "we" despite not being white because I believe Singaporeans are like that too, although we definitely have less of this complex than Americans. I don't blame the Americans, it is their media which made them this way... Shows like Oprah, for example.

So yes. Help is always given to those we assume needs help, whether they asked for it or not.

Even Invisible Children was founded based on this disgusting complex. 3 students who went to Sudan not because they heard of Kony and wished to fight his terror, but to FIND something tragic to film a video on. Yucks.

Ok I know it's unfair to judge them based on their looks but seriously?!?!?!?! Look at these douchebags and their self-satisfied smirks wtf. I bet they wank at night thinking about how AWESOME they are saving those poor children. Ok I'm just being emotional here. Let's move on.



7) HOW DO YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF?

I know I APPEAR to be more cold-hearted than most.

But the fact is, perhaps many people give less of a shit about the less fortunate than me... It's just that the care more about how people perceive THEM.

*Shrugs*

I live with myself because I tell myself that I don't contribute to most of the problems. I don't try to make the starving children hungrier. I didn't make a tsunami happen. I don't buy bear bile.

But the one thing that's still causing me a bit of a moral struggle is something I do on a daily basis: Eat Meat.

I know eating meat is cruel. And worse, I am actively contributing to it. People who bleat about killing a cow in a "humane" way are just making excuses for themselves. No cow ever grew up and thought, "Hey I'd like to die with a spike through my neck!"

I've never watched them before, but I heard slaughterhouse videos are a horrorfest and that animals squirm and struggle, loudly, before they die. It isn't humane. We try to be as humane as we can be to curb the guilt, but it ain't fooling no one.

Sure, people also say it's natural to for humans to eat animals... It's part of the food chain. Just because it is natural doesn't make it right. Animals rape each other all the time... Doesn't make it right for humans to also do that.

But...

It is so bloody inconvenient to be a vegetarian. I love the taste of meat. And then... It is also true that if you are vegetarian, the grains/fruits you eat are harvested by farmers who also kill bunnies, raccoons etc... Either way animals die from human actions no matter what I eat, unless I grow my own fucking trees. And I'm not going to do that.

So I live with eating meat. Luckily for me, most of the world shares this guilt with me, so... Meh.

But that's not to say vegetarians have the rights to judge anyone when their meal choice also kills animals.

So here's the relevance to this entry... If I ever wish to help some sort of world crisis I'd try to reduce the suffering of animals by not eating meat. But I am not even willing to do that. Like I said, I'm a selfish person.

This is why I also never talk about animal cruelty issues like foie gras (I just ate that today wtf) or people torturing kittens/puppies.

I feel I have no rights to do it. I know you are thinking... Surely there is a difference between torturing an animal for fun and eating an animal for food?

There is... The difference is your convenience.

Both are cruel. Both are not necessary for survival. Both are done for "fun". The only difference is that eating a good piece of steak is a "fun" that everyone agrees upon... Seeing a kitten get squashed underneath a heel is not a "fun" that most people agree on, but I'm sure the sicko doing it still enjoys himself.

What rights do you have to want to put the kitten-tormenting guy into jail when you are basically committing the same crime... Killing animals, whether directly or indirectly? What, just because you are slightly guilty about eating your steak you are better than he is? Maybe he feels slightly guilty too!!

I liken it to a molester who is criticising a rapist... Essentially, both are doing bad things to other people, just that one perceives himself to be more... socially acceptable.

And therefore... I don't judge others their selfishness. Most people don't have the rights to do it, and those who bleat the loudest are the most hypocritical. They possibly feel so guilty about their own selfishness that they feel the need to overcompensate... By pretending to put on a front to show the world they care - by putting others down.

Well just calling someone else heartless does not make you kind - it is your actions that will show it.

But are you so saintly, really? Do you do anything to make yourself happy that doesn't involve making anyone else happy? If the answer is yes, like buying yourself an iPhone for example... Well, congratulations, you are as selfish as the rest of us.

*****************

Phew... What a long entry! So there it is... Why I don't give a shit about Kony. Why I chose to be ignorant about him. Quoting Dumbledore, "Frankly, I can think of a whole host of other things I could be doing."

He is just another problem in this world that cannot be solved.

I didn't give a shit before I knew that Kony is no longer even in Uganda. Now that I know IC happened years too late, I care even less. What a fucking waste of time, trying to find him to kill him. It's so... pointless. It's like reopening the case of Jack the Ripper 10 years after he committed his last murder and trying to find him to kill him.

WHAT IS THE POINT? Not saying Kony should get away scotfree, but the victims' families will seek revenge upon him. There is absolutely no need for the rest of the world to get involved, especially not the American army.

I'm not trying to be racist but how many of you have seen his photo and can now identify him among other Ugandans? He looks so generic, and he probably looks way different now. Why waste time trying to find him and kill him for crimes committed long ago when efforts could be put into finding terrorists who are STILL killing people?!

WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING BILE-BLEEDING BEARS AND THE CANCER CHILDREN?

I personally think people should also put money into research for making women be born without armpit hair and pubes.

FFS get your priorities straight people.

How I lost weight

Ok everyone has been pestering me about this for weeks now so here is my blog post, finally.

I started a formspring (please feel free to ask questions but I won't answer those I already answered before!!) and literally every other question is asking me how I lost weight.

Anyway let's start with a little background. I've always been kinda chubby. Not super fat or anything... Just not skinny.

I'm very short... Ok fine I've never said my height before on my blog but I'm slightly less than 150cm, ok? I actually used to be very self conscious about my height until I met Mike and he keeps telling me he loves short girls because petite girls are cuter!! So now I'm not so conscious anymore but not nearly confident enough to tell everyone my height lol.

AND NO I'M NOT A MIDGET, STOPPIT.

So as I was saying... I've never been skinny, all my life. Ever since I've reached my maximum height, I've always hovered around 43kg to the heaviest at 46kg, no matter what.

In case any of you are thinking... "What the fuck man, 46kg is a perfectly ok weight!"... here's the most uncomplimentary fat photo of myself:

LOL that was before my second nose job

 and fixing my teeth, back in 2008. Inspiring, no?

I hate exercise and I fucking love food. And worse of all I love FATTY food. I love carbs and everything that's slathered in cream and I love literally eating FATS like foie gras or roast duck skin. I have like no self control at all. My only consolation is that I don't really like sweet stuff like ice cream or cakes... But still...

Anyway I've always been ok with my weight. I know if I were skinnier I'd look better, but exercise sucks and I love my food and even with the humongous amount I eat I still am not overweight, so fuck it, I'd live with being a little chubby.

In 2005, Maxim magazine asked me to be their cover model. The only problem was that I was too fat, so they asked me to lose some weight. They didn't say how much to lose specifically, so I just went about trying.

My bff Shuyin and another friend Weili were very supportive and they encouraged me to exercise with them. Not that the BFF is very overzealous about exercise or even needs it coz she is pole-thin but she likes being healthy.

So for weeks I endured exercise... Swimming, even running... And I tried to control my food intake. I also just realised I wrote a blog entry 7 years ago that's almost exactly like this one. -_-

But it was no good. Perhaps it was coz I was building muscle by exercising, but I didn't see any weight loss at all.

It was so horrible... I felt incredibly stressed as I had a limited time to lose weight and it wasn't happening. I wanted food even more after exercise. Swimming is the worst coz it makes you feel soooooooo freaking hungry afterwards.

And all my friends knew I was trying to lose weight so I felt very self conscious whenever they have dinner with me and they can see that I'm biting on a drumstick.

I feel they must be thinking "So fat already still eat??? Thought you wanna lose weight wtf" - that feeling was strong enough to make me feel upset and embarrassed, but not strong enough to make me resist the food wtf. BRAIN, Y U SO WEIRD?

I don't even know how obese people can take it. Every time they eat they must feel so horrible that people are looking at them, judging them.

Once a guy friend of mine just jokingly said that I'm fat. After weeks of suffering, I was at an emotionally fragile stage and I just started full out sobbing in public. Crazy, right?? Poor dude kept saying he is sorry lol.

And what's the worst??? Before dieting and exercising I was about 43.5kg. Weeks of hard work later... I was 41.5kg. I lost just freaking 2 kg!!

Fliptable.jpg

Honestly the difference wasn't even enough for people to comment that I lost weight FML.

Anyway, finally the fucking shoot was over and I COULD OVER INDULGE AGAIN!!

I felt so FREE. I could eat whatever the FUCK I wanted. I don't have to look at the bottom or back of packets of food anymore to count calories. FUCK CARDIO. SERIOUSLY FUCK YOU CARDIO.

I'd rather be a fat fuck than do cardio ever again. Max hate it.

(PS: In case you are thinking of my Adele post and how she's similar to how lazy I am, just keep in mind I never asked for people to respect me and I've never say that fat people are more attractive or insult skinny people. I know being lazy is a shameful thing.)

In 2007 I was shooting for Girls Out Loud, a TV show, with Rozz. Mediacorp decided I'm too fat and asked me to lose weight.

You'd think that being on TV would motivate anyone but not me! Because in 2005 I tried and failed to lose weight and because it was so miserable, I didn't even bother to try hard this time. I just tried to eat a little less... not that I was successful. I just remained fat and felt very self conscious everytime I ate with the crew, who knew I'm supposed to lose weight.

But a few months ago I went from 46kg (101.5 pounds) to my current weight of 38.5kg (84.9 pounds).

I never talked about this online because I didn't feel like telling you guys how I did it...

 Well here it is: I took a diet pill.

This diet pill is not available in Singapore and I didn't want to share this with anyone because diet pills are not very trustworthy or ethical and goodness knows what would happen to you guys if you followed me and took it. I don't want to be responsible for that.

So no matter how you beg me or send me private emails or messages, I am NOT going to tell you what this pill is. 


The pill is pretty strong and has bad side effects, but I did my research carefully, monitored myself, and went ahead to risk it.

I've told my own friends and people I know IRL, so if you know a friend of my friend you can go ask him or her, but otherwise my lips are sealed. In any case it's not available in Singapore, I bought it overseas, so I don't know how you are going to get it.

All I can say is that it is an appetite suppressant and it starts with a D!! I'm not going to confirm or deny any of your guesses, ok!

The reason why I decided to try it is because I knew someone who took it and claimed she lost 9kg. Then another friend also tried it and said it works. So I took it too after buying some pills in another country.

AND MAN, IT REALLY WORKS.

I didn't feel like eating at all, but amazingly enough when I ate food still tastes good. I had that "want to snack" feeling completely gone, so I reduced my food intake to about 1 meal a day. Even when I'm eating and enjoying the food, it's way easier to say "Ok, I'm gonna stop here."

Of course, the pill must also be coupled with at least a little of self control. The key is to WANT to lose weight.

I cut carbs from my diet, trying to eat either vegetables or meat. I still ate my favourite cream sauces or fatty food, but no more pasta... I don't get rice at economic rice stores anymore, or just ask the hawker to give me way less rice. Try to reduce eating chips, and absolutely no sodas... Water is the way to go!!

I actually like eating veggies so I tried to always have supplies of veggies at home, like broccoli, spinach or mushrooms. They are very easy to stir fry with oyster sauce and actually tastes pretty nice!!

The hardest part is dining outside. I didn't want to be the asshole ordering a salad or nothing at all during meals with my friends, so I just give myself a break whenever I'm dining outside and order whatever I want (with less carbs if I can help it). So I eat 1 big meal a day and a small, healthier meal afterwards and hopefully no snacking!

I could tell that I was eating less, but was I losing weight?

The answer is a resounding yes. From the very freaking first day I took the pill, I lost like 0.5kg. I was amazed at how effective just eating less was. I didn't exercise at all!!


Everyday I was losing weight on the scales!

This motivated me very much and soon I dropped more weight, even though I only took the pill once every 2 days. Every other day I tried to survive without the pill and was surprised to find that I did well without it too.

I dropped to about 40kg when I filmed for Guide to Life: Knowing your other half.

Weirdly enough nobody really commented on my weight loss at that point even though I lost 6kg.

But I could tell the difference myself... My tummy was the first to go... Flat stomach! I've never seen that in years!! My collar bones started showing... My ass got flatter (not a good thing). My boobs got smaller too but it's ok because with a flatter stomach, proportion wise it's still about the same. I couldn't fit into my size 25 Levi's jeans anymore. I could now wear tight bandage dresses without looking like a dumpling.

My entire being just felt lighter too.

After I hit 40kg I decided to reduce my pill intake. I took it once every 4 days or so, but I realised that the effects are now almost permanent. This was not supposed to happen from the pill, but I guess my stomach just got used to my eating habits.

I have reduced my appetite!! I no longer crave for food so much and I eat less with every meal, getting full easier.

Now I'm 38.5kg and about 2 weeks ago I've finished my supply of the pills and totally stopped. I still try to control my diet because I enjoy being slim!! And amazingly enough I didn't gain any weight back.

And then people started realising I became skinny so everyone's commenting on it now.

Here's my latest Guide to Life video:



And two pictures Gillian took that day... 100% no photoshop:

And this one was taken just yesterday when I went with my friends to watch Wicked at MBS:

I don't know how for years and years I just tolerated looking so fat next to my naturally skinny friends wtf.

(And btw Wicked is FREAKING AWESOME TTM!!!!!! I waited YEARS for it to be available in Singapore and finally it's here!! It's only showing till April 22nd so QUICKLY BUY YOUR TICKETS!! If you like musicals you'd be freaking amazed at how awesome it is.)

So yes, that's how I lost weight!!

Obviously I don't encourage anyone to try dangerous diet pills, but if you want to, that's your prerogative of course. Just remember to do loads of research first, otherwise you could end up like Andrea De Cruz who like lost her liver wtf.

In any case, it is highly unhealthy to keep eating diet pills to maintain weight loss... And if you keep bad habits, the weight will only come back. The only permanent way is to control your diet or vigorously exercise.

And if you are worried about me being anorexic or bulimic, I'm not!!! I'm happy with my weight now and I want to work hard to maintain it!!

Ok abrupt end of blog entry coz BFF came over so I'm gonna go entertain her.

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I'm not surprised that the Mela-Tox is the top seller because one of the most common questions I get asked about my skincare is how to be fairer!!

A lot of girls want to be fairest of them all, with glowy, radiant bright skin that can be seen from a distance. However, aging, stress and most of all sunshine (esp in Singapore!) are all contributing to duller skin.

Pamper your skin with the Mela-Tox Skin Clinic Mask! It promises to recover your bright and clear skin tone so might as well give it a try!

Check out the mask:

It is SUPER translucent right? 

I cannot even see where some of the edges end!

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Whereas for other common brands the cotton masks usually have many air pockets with poor absorption and the water type essences drip off easily.

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Of course, if whitening is not your cup of tea, there are also many other options for other skin problems!!

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Don't worry if you can't read them properly... Here's a clear chart:

I'm gonna turn freaking 28 soon!! I need the wrinkle filler wtf...

Please, wrinkles, go away!! Especially those around laugh lines because even botox cannot help those wrinkles!!

I'm gonna be using this one tonight.

Which are you choosing?

Hope my good skin can be maintained as long as possible!!

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