Calling Home, Part 1: Little Things

Calling Home is a series of articles dedicated to cherishing the memories made when away from home, and the people who make them. In Part 1/6, Priya Ramesh laments the blatant lack of appreciation for the world around us.

The waiter arrived, with my plate of Chiellini Del Piero and a glass of root beer. But even the saliva-inciting, delectable Italian meal with an unconventional yet wonderfully tantalizing drink could not shift my gaze from the couple at the table across.

Many of us in Singapore – locals, foreign students, scholars, permanent residents – have this habit of rushing. Everywhere. We keep running and running, trailing homework, tests, projects; perennially chasing deadlines, every single day. Sad to say, but this is the truth. We live a competitive life - always trying to beat the guy next to you, be it in your O Levels or the number of Instagram likes. In a world where we’re so caught up with ourselves – where I was so caught up with myself – the couple at the table across were a revelation; a standout. What made them stand out even more was another couple, at the table next to them.

You might think I’m a total creep, prying on two couples’ lives. Maybe I am, but what I saw that day changed my perspective on so many levels on so many things.

Hopes and Dreams

Approximately half of me, I believe, is attached to Suburban KID.

As James Bond rightly puts it, “everyone needs a hobby”. But Suburban KID is more than a hobby. It’s a passion, a pouring of my time and energy for no immediate gain.

Perhaps, if I look at it in a pessimistic passion, it’s because I’m not really good at anything else. No, I’m serious; deep inside, I know I’m not a talented person. What I can do relatively well is within the realms of writing and speaking. In everything else, I am, at best, mediocre.

I admit to having a bit of an inferiority complex. But it isn’t easy, seeing how everyone around you so chock-full with skills and talent, and you feeling unworthy being even near them. And before anyone says this is related to being in Singapore, it isn’t: everyday on Facebook I am reminded of the many, many high-flying people I leave behind, with them winning competition after competition, and generally going places. I feel bad for not being up to them. And I feel bad for feeling that way.

If there’s any good to come out of that, it means that my dedication to Suburban KID is stronger than ever. Over the past few months, the team here has worked hard to give this site the design and feel it deserves. And if I may say so myself, I’m quite pleased with the outcome.

I’ll be the first to admit that it isn’t perfect; while we have done some extensive testing, you may or may not experience a few bugs or flaws here and there. However, it packs quite a few extra features, and (subjectively) looks more keeping with the times.

Here’s the changelog:

-Revamped UI, focusing on a simple light theme
-Changed blog header
-High(er) social media integration, through the use of social media icons and Facebook/Google+ followings
-New content slider to showcase latest posts
-New ‘Recommended for You’ slider when viewing posts
-New ‘Featured Posts’ widget
-Removed Blogger ‘Following’ widget (please use either the Facebook/Google+ widgets instead, as Blogger is discontinuing support of the aforementioned widget)
-Removed ‘Subscribe to Blog/Blog Posts’ widget (it became redundant)
-Removed ‘Contact Us’ page
-Information from ‘The Team’ widget moved to its own page
-Rewritten FAQ
-Changed or tweaked font types and sizes

And that isn’t all. We have a whole series of articles coming up titled ‘Calling Home’, featuring some unique work from both myself and a number of guest writers. Stay tuned for that. If all goes to plan, I’ll also slip in some extra features before the start of the 2013 school period.

The playground is open. Time to go play.

Mädels

In what can only be described as the absolute natural order of things, guys try to be close to girls. Look, stop denying it - you know it, she knows it, we know it. It's the way things are.

While I have no evidence, scientific or otherwise, to support my following claim, I think I can safely bet a good amount of my allowance and have a substantial chance of not coming away a losing man: 9 times out of 10, these attempts to be close - let's call it 'friending' - is to, well, there are again several terms for this, such as 'make that catch', 'get that chick' or 'go out with her', among countless others. Yes, guys, you can stop denying that as well.

Of course, sometimes the motives of a guy in the process of 'friending' are even less noble. I'm going to try my best to avoid calling this one out, but it involves a word that begins with 's', ends with 'x', and has a letter in between those two that are of the first half of the alphabet.

And no, it isn't 'six'. But let's not dwell on that for now.

I, however, have a totally different reason.

In Democracy We Believe

“The right to speech includes the right to sing. So you can’t stop me from singing.”

“Oh, and you think that Singapore has such a right?”

“It’s still a member of the U.N.”

“Ah. Well, so is Turkmenistan. And Iraq and......”

“So you’re willing to be dragged down to that level?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind, actually.”

“Why?”

“I rather have one man (on top) complaining to everyone than everyone complaining to one man. It shows the stupidity of humanity.”

I swung around to face this friend of mine. He was an intellectual, and probably had gathered more overall knowledge over the years than myself, but boy was I going to shoot him down.

“You know what? I rather have many people complaining to one guy on top and creating problems, because I know how it’s like to live in a place where it’s legally not allowed to complain. I’m sorry, but living here (in Singapore), you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A Call to Arms: Protect Our Internet

Not too long ago, two bills quietly surfaced on the other side of the pool over in the United States. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT-IP Act). They were called the protector of content creators, championed as the fighter against piracy.

In reality? Not as straightforward.


On 20th January, 2012, both bills were shelved due to “fundamental problems with the approach taken to solving the matter of online piracy”. This came after long weeks of both online and street protests highlighting the inefficiencies of the bills and how they could be used for other ulterior motives. It was a near-save for the concerned internet users watching not just in the U.S., but all over the world, as it was a turning point that would set a precedence for other potential bills to come.

Fast forward eight months, and we face a new, more personal challenge. It’s called Section 114A.

Writers

Saying writers love to write is like saying Lionel Messi is a good footballer.

Writers live to write. It’s like a drug, gnawing away constantly at their souls, making them jumpy and irritated when separated for too long. They have their own niches, but they’re usually happy enough to take on any topic or challenge you throw at them. As long as they get to write.

But one thing writers have in common is that they never write about this passion of theirs. This also means not writing about themselves - writers. Which is strange; this isn’t a topic that lacks meat or detail, and there’s certainly much to say about this weirdly fascinating group of people.

This is a short piece for writers, about writers.

When Eight Isn't Enough: Microsoft's Future Hangs In The Balance

"Windows 8 represents a re-imagining of Windows from the chipset to the experience." 

In a few months time, Microsoft is expected to release its final version of Windows 8, also known as the RTM (Release to Manufacturing) version to the public for sale. This newest update to the Windows operating system as it brings some of the biggest changes to the operating system ever since Windows 95. It bring an all-new, touch-optimised UI design and, more importantly, Microsoft's vision to unite devices that, up to now, had overlapped but remained distinctly separate: the desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone, among others.

This is, clearly, no mean feat, and if Microsoft manages to pull it off, it would bring to life the dreams that many tech pundits (and even ordinary folks) had so fervently clung on to.

The bad news is: They probably won't. At least, not yet.

Welcome to Suburban KID

For the entire length of its uptime, Suburban KID has always been a one-man operation.

I wrote my own posts. Did my own web developing. Explored and experimented the CSS-HTML-filled innards of the blog myself. Worked on my own photo editing. And, of course, took full credit when the work was finally done and published.

It's been a great time. I still remember the times when I would feel bored, whether at school or at home, and log into the familiar Blogger homepage to spend some time on this blog. Sometimes I would write, sometimes I would tweak the design. Other times I did nothing productive at all. It was a wholly different world; it was something that gave me a true sense of ownership, and as Suburban KID grew and matured, a sense of pride as well.

However, with growth and expansion comes new tasks and responsibilities. Readers expect more; the days where I would pen a nonsensical post about Miley Cyrus (don't ask) are long gone. Quality is a necessity, and that means more focused writing, better editing, better pictures, and the like.

It is with those reasons that I announce that the one-man operation ends today.