tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157564612011-04-22T12:55:34.053+08:00mykelism : my misdemeanours mostly misunderstoodMykelnoreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1141743300672023052006-03-07T22:54:00.000+08:002006-07-09T23:34:26.933+08:00

Just toying with some ideas here:"Mutation is the medium of the ideal. It provides the material, the variance, from which taste is conjured. In other words, without variation there could be no comparison amongst types within species, and without comparison a relative hierachy cannot be established. A societally held ideal template is a supramodel, symbolic system operating paradoxically within

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1141311633830539072006-03-02T23:35:00.000+08:002006-07-09T23:46:37.993+08:00

I take it that the fee hike issue is "resolved" when this is announced:NUSSU Circular on Full Recess WeekDear fellow students,The mid-semester recess was abolished in AY 2003/2004. As a response to feedback from NUSSU, it was partially reinstated in AY 2004/2005. The mid-semester recess became a 4-day break, with every subsequent academic week beginning on a Friday. This has led to some

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1141029012207749862006-02-27T16:25:00.000+08:002006-03-03T00:09:54.350+08:00

The 2006 Singapore Forum on Politics held last Saturday at NUS and supported by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung was a good personal experience for myself. I have a few things to say about it, but I'll have to postpone it until I find some time to organise my thoughts. Do revisit this post in the next week or so.Anyway, for those who missed it, do watch it here.Double yellow's detailed summary of the

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1140645960063781382006-02-23T06:35:00.000+08:002006-02-23T15:22:27.046+08:00

While I have already decided to move on to topics of greater interest, especially the NYP sex video, it appears that NUSSU has decided to shoot themselves in the feet again by exhuming the issue of the fee hike on my blog, when all I wanted to do is to move on.To understand what I'm saying, please read the comments left behind by a particular Somebody in my last blog post:"Dear MykelMaybe you are

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1140588928314094632006-02-22T16:50:00.000+08:002006-02-23T15:23:55.426+08:00

Before we begin dissecting Monday's dialogue session between the university administration (hereafter UA) and the student body, let us first peruse the "report" produced by NUSSU (emphasis my own) to get a rough idea of that evening's proceedings:Report on meeting with the NUS PresidentDate: 20th February 2006Time: 1700 hrsVenue: LT 24This meeting was called for to clear any concerns that may

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1140337951184537972006-02-19T16:01:00.000+08:002006-02-23T15:23:05.736+08:00

A closed door dialogue session was held between representatives of the student population and the President last Friday. There had been efforts to consolidate the objectives of the inquiry team by a few emerging leaders, namely Farhan B. Ali, so that a uniformed stand can extracted on the part of the student representatives prior to the dialogue session.But as much as the students tried, their

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1140108324775305502006-02-16T23:09:00.000+08:002006-02-23T15:23:22.506+08:00

There was a "wear black" silent protest staged in NUS afterall. In fact, it was so silent, no one even knew it happened today.No alarms and no surprises. No pictures for me to take.Lacking a symbolic artefact or an organised effort to publicise the aims of the intended protest, it looked just like any other day in NUS today. Without a cultural symbol to mobilize and effect an imaginary solidarity

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1140035130451429162006-02-16T03:59:00.000+08:002006-02-23T15:23:38.810+08:00

Hello everyone, I'm back. The ongoing debate about the SGD$180 fee hike in NUS has stirred up some fervour in me to produce this post on this almost abandoned blog. The title of was taken from a research paper which I have produced for a political sociology course. The paper's focus was on the extraction of consent from student bodies in NUS through a mixture of ideological hegemony and coercion

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1133466473409213372005-12-02T03:26:00.000+08:002006-02-18T04:46:57.503+08:00

First, a poem to set the mood for this post:Singapore, that shopping paradiseSleek steel and shiny concreteDo not a proud nation makeWorthy of respectAt any rate!What pride is thereAmid the shopping malls,The musak, the phony waterfalls?While the Angel of Death waits by Changi prison's walls.But oh so modern!But oh so squeaky clean!But the freedom to speak outIs still a far off dream!No luck can

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1130352235616161512005-10-31T02:43:00.000+08:002006-02-07T21:31:44.866+08:00

I've been wanting to comment on the recent spar between PM's Press Secretary Mr. Chen Hwai Liang and NTU's Dr. Cherian George, when I stumbled upon this unpublished letter to ST, by the witty Steven McDermott of Singabloodypore fame:Dear EditorTwo seemingly unrelated articles in the Straits Times caught my eye on 14 October.The first article was yet another scathing Forum letter ("Don wasn't

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1130434589232608812005-10-27T22:22:00.000+08:002006-02-18T04:48:57.366+08:00

I draw your attention to a crackdown embarked by National Environment Agency officers on student smokers in NUS yesterday. 2 NEA officers in plain clothes ambushed at least three NUS students at around 4pm yesterday at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The three offenders, who are my classmates, were slapped with $200 fines each, and I would presume that the 2 officers were subsequently

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1128791148300730722005-10-24T00:51:00.000+08:002005-10-28T03:08:19.680+08:00

In my absence, the local blogosphere has suffered from discursive violence.The space for political talk shrinks further under the guise of ethics and responsible blogging. We have too many Carl Skadian-s telling us about the ills of "vitriol sewing" blogs (ST, 28 Sep 2005). Too many pro-establishment moral entrepreneurs masquerading as responsible, independent journalists. Too much mainstream

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1127759464067710732005-09-27T02:10:00.000+08:002005-09-27T02:35:20.050+08:00

Thanks to all for the patience while this blog was undergoing a facelift. The blog migration is finally complete!I'm sure you would have already noticed the change in the template, as some readers have requested for something that was easier to read.I have also created a separate blog for the more funny and personal posts about my life here, so add it to your bookmarks and drop by to say hi once

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1127548998005834662005-09-24T15:55:00.000+08:002005-09-24T16:08:33.640+08:00

For those of you who are reading this blog for political commentary and are baffled by the last 2 apolitical posts on clubbing stereotypes, fret not, for Mykel has not forsaken contentious commentary under the panoptic gaze of the state.To update my dear readers, I am in the midst of creating a separate blog for the more humourous and personal blog posts, while this current blog will remain a

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1126723419070660352005-09-16T16:21:00.000+08:002005-09-19T00:40:48.196+08:00

The news has been well around for the past 4 days. 2 "bloggers" were charged under the archaic Sedition Act this Monday for inciting racist comments over cyberspace. The shockwaves that boomed across the Singaporean blogosphere were far reaching and evoked a wide range of reactions.The majority of the blogosphere was locked in a debate on racism and the freedom of speech. Others questioned the

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1126409682943765422005-09-11T10:08:00.000+08:002005-10-28T03:09:18.490+08:00

It's September 11 today.It just struck me that 4 years have past since the twin towers fell. Rereading an old collection of personal accounts titled "Missing Pieces" at Fray, I am reminded on how much life has changed since then.Well, not that it had any personal effect on me (no one around me died in that tragedy), but a recent journal article by Reporters Without Borders, titled "Internet

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15756461.post-1126328671702741332005-09-10T12:46:00.000+08:002005-10-28T03:09:39.516+08:00

Tying yellow ribbons to trees is just not right. It gives the appearance of something unnatural, something that seems to go against our intuitive understanding of aesthetic beauty. I mean to say that it is sibeh fugly.Well, I fell off my seat last week when the evening news did a special on the Yellow Ribbon Project. It showed a clip of a group of ex-offenders dressed in civilian attire, being

Mykelnoreply@blogger.com2