I typically don't hide my love for Taiwan; it has nice scenery, friendly folks, and a certain charm about the place that attracts me. The roadside eateries fronting the old shop houses, the warm crowded night markets and the untidy but functional back alleys and small roads are the little things that always fascinate me, coming from a country where my childhood gets torn down piece by piece to make way for brand new identical soulless concrete buildings.
This week, I found myself another reason to be amazed by this little island. University students stormed their 立法院 (and tonight, their 行政院) to protest the signing of a trade pact without undergoing parliamentary review, which they deem an undemocratic move.
Its not appropriate for me to argue whether it is right to accept or reject the trade pact. I am also not sure if it is a right move to storm government buildings and disrupt usual government activities. What I am impressed with, however, is the strong sense of nationalism in their people. Their university students, most of them younger than me, are showing so much concern for their homeland, its developments and future.
When I was young, people laughed at Taiwan when they saw their politicians fight in Parliament. Today, I feel sad that our Singapore's younger generation seems to be more knowledgeable in Korean celebrities than our own country's affairs. I am definitely not an expert myself, and I feel that active citizenry is something we can learn from the Taiwanese.
On the other hand, a highly democratic system requires a highly educated and mature population, and I have the impression that Singapore is not at that stage yet. But I think we can first start by reading and understanding more on our nation matters.
A colleague of mine thinks Taiwan has the most successful democratic system in Asia. I think its true to some extent. However, a successful democratic system doesn't feel like an efficient system. For starters, its almost impossible to please everyone.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
hello
Ah, it has been so long since I last blogged. I usually have a handy reason: I lead a boring life so there is nothing worth blogging about. On the other hand, I find that these days one can no longer publish whatever one likes on a blog. Say something that does not agree with the majority, one gets shamed to the extent that leaving the country is the best option. Rather than deciding what I should say or should not, sometimes its more convenient to just shut the hell up.
It has been almost six months since my last entry. On the contrary, my life hasn't really been boring. In the past six months, I have become busier with work, but more confident in the things I do, and being assigned more important work to be involved in.
Being a system administrator is actually kind of fun. I look at systems as a whole; how one application interacts with another application, how to monitor critical parts of systems and networks, and how to resolve them when they go down. I have to learn things that school has never taught before, and I have to pick them up fast. Unfortunately, being a system administrator also means that I always have to be on my toe; my working hours get really irregular sometimes, and I have to be able to respond fast to calls for help. I think I did okay so far.
Of course, since I now look at systems in its entirety, I no longer interact with just small teams of people who, for example, work only on one application. I now communicate, on a regular basis, with different colleagues working on different applications in different countries. I think I have typed more Chinese characters in the past couple of months than my past 25 years of life. Haha.
Another great incentive of being a system administrator is that I get to travel. During the past six months, I have went to Taiwan and the States on three occasions, all for work purposes, although I managed to squeeze time out in between for some little sightseeing. During these trips, I was finally alone for small portions of them. In Taipei, I took a bus up to 野柳地质公园, took a detour to 基隆 before heading back to Taipei at night. In the States, I took a bus from Kalamazoo to an airport hotel to Chicago on one trip home, and for the next trip back, I took the metro from the airport to Chicago Union Station, and switched to a train bringing me back to Kalamazoo. I am probably the last among my peers to enter this whole concept of solo travels, but nevertheless its significant to me.
I doubt this will be the last time I get to travel overseas for work purposes, and I look forward to more trips this year. Hopefully through these trips and through my work, I will continue to gain more confidence in myself.
2014 is yet another new year. Last year I simply wished for myself to be happy, and I think I have somewhat achieved it. This year, besides hoping that I continue to be happy, I also hope that I will continue to improve myself in the field of system administration.
If readers think my goals are not clear and concise enough, here are two that are: 1) get a driving license 2) improve my photography skills with my shiny new Olympus PEN E-P3!
To a great year ahead!
It has been almost six months since my last entry. On the contrary, my life hasn't really been boring. In the past six months, I have become busier with work, but more confident in the things I do, and being assigned more important work to be involved in.
Being a system administrator is actually kind of fun. I look at systems as a whole; how one application interacts with another application, how to monitor critical parts of systems and networks, and how to resolve them when they go down. I have to learn things that school has never taught before, and I have to pick them up fast. Unfortunately, being a system administrator also means that I always have to be on my toe; my working hours get really irregular sometimes, and I have to be able to respond fast to calls for help. I think I did okay so far.
Of course, since I now look at systems in its entirety, I no longer interact with just small teams of people who, for example, work only on one application. I now communicate, on a regular basis, with different colleagues working on different applications in different countries. I think I have typed more Chinese characters in the past couple of months than my past 25 years of life. Haha.
Another great incentive of being a system administrator is that I get to travel. During the past six months, I have went to Taiwan and the States on three occasions, all for work purposes, although I managed to squeeze time out in between for some little sightseeing. During these trips, I was finally alone for small portions of them. In Taipei, I took a bus up to 野柳地质公园, took a detour to 基隆 before heading back to Taipei at night. In the States, I took a bus from Kalamazoo to an airport hotel to Chicago on one trip home, and for the next trip back, I took the metro from the airport to Chicago Union Station, and switched to a train bringing me back to Kalamazoo. I am probably the last among my peers to enter this whole concept of solo travels, but nevertheless its significant to me.
I doubt this will be the last time I get to travel overseas for work purposes, and I look forward to more trips this year. Hopefully through these trips and through my work, I will continue to gain more confidence in myself.
2014 is yet another new year. Last year I simply wished for myself to be happy, and I think I have somewhat achieved it. This year, besides hoping that I continue to be happy, I also hope that I will continue to improve myself in the field of system administration.
If readers think my goals are not clear and concise enough, here are two that are: 1) get a driving license 2) improve my photography skills with my shiny new Olympus PEN E-P3!
To a great year ahead!
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