tell me something i don't already know

i dragged my self to the 'PM dialogue session with young singaporeans' on saturday. took a bus there, and rediscovered 2 loves you can do on the bus - listen to mp3 and read a book. *oh did i mention i couldn't resist the $39 creative muvo? this old dino figured what-the-heck..can use it to store stock of malay songs when she's in mat-salleh land*

only i got nauseous and couldn't continue reading. it's been that long.

i timed myself to be late and i was glad i did. after going thru the metal detector stuff and all i went down and saw what i expected to see. the programme states '4-5pm: tea and networking session'. i knew exactly what it meant and i hate it. it means standing around daintily sipping tea/coffee while making 'friends'. *makes a face*  most of them look like a decade younger than me, and they seem to be discussing important stuff. i feel like a Tattler reject so i slunked to the corners and spent the the remaining 10 minutes observing the desserts. good stuff. but i'll pass since i hate eating alone.

sat myself at an inconspicuous corner, and a girl came sat next to me. a teacher/Young Changemaker (some NYC scheme). *chuckles*. smiles and introduction. she religiously takes down notes through out the discussion.

on the whole, i felt the questions posed were so obvious, as with the answers. like a girl who said she was from a chinese background - nanyang, hwa chong only in nus did she meet and make non-chinese friends. "So, PM, what are we doing to tackle this issue?" . how outdated is this girl? politically-correct joint-activities promoting racial harmony between these elite schools and neighbourhood schools have already been splashed across the papers all these while (you know, like malay kids from XYZ Sec teaching chinese high boys dikir barat while chinese high boys teach them something else kind of thing) and here she is asking stupid questions.

and questions about O.B markers. now why wasn't i surprised when the PM glazed over the issue instead of answering it? to the kakak-fairring asking when we can get tempat sembahyang at the work-place, here's my interpretation of the official answer. we are a secular state, how you practise your religion at home is your problem, but at the public space we must uphold justice and equality.

one good question came from a hearing-impaired guy who asked a real question about the plight of the handicapped. again, a general answer.

i guess this whole song-and-dance routine is just for them to get a sense of what the young feel at the ground level.

the dinner reception after that was again, a stand-up thing. this time i wasn't shy in helping myself to a plate of marvellous food (must be expensive; the ang moh chef came out once in a while to check on the food). but i gotta hurry. my girl-next-seat was engaged in deep conversation with that Faishal MP guy. i didn't feel like striking up polite small talk with anyone. thank goodness Imad was still next door at The Adelphi clearing work and sms-ed me an offer of a ride home. i was out of there in 5 minutes.

talking with Imad is quite a stressful affair. as a very community-involved dpp he's a perfect candidate for the next round of G.E.  he diagnosed my sense of profound apathy as understandable considering my current social milieu. erm..ok...i steered the conversation away to more banal stuff, like has he watched the devil wears prada. ha.

so when i got home around 7:50pm, my 'social milieu' greeted me with python-hug and a heart-stopping "Iiiiiiibuuuuuuuuuuuuuu'" at the door. "An-an anggil ibu...IIIIBBBBuuuuu! IIIIBBBbbbuuu!!" so he reported his reaction to me missing for those 5 hours.

i like my current social milleu just fine. :)