Perspectives

I've always been one that believe that its the perspectives that matter. Such an ideal can be applied to varied aspects, and today, I'm gonna talk about how it matters in the seemingly 'real' corporate world out there. This post is also final closure to my internship program, a final farewell to such episode, which shall be then locked, disposed of from my memory, or shall it not?

Firstly, lets talk about the purpose of internships. A simple google search produces such an answer:

Internships are formal programs within organizations whose primary purpose is to offer practical work experience in a particular occupation to people who are new to that field.

Yes, this is one purpose of an internship, from us interns at least. We want to learn, be exposed to this particular working sector, and learn skills that will be relevant, esp in the field of work we're gonna do . Now lets consider how the employers think of internship programs: to seek out talent, make use of low cost labour, good chance to experiment/hone managerial skills, give back to community, gain reputation (esp if its a small firm) etc. And this made me question the point of internships before we even decided on a particular field.

Imagine having to do something totally irrelevant to your future for the next 6 months, an utter obligation. This was something I had to go through. Daily, I had to do my tasked routine, and it became an obligation, not one of learning or discovery, defeating the purpose of an internship. And just saying, all these daily tasks of mine were totally mundane: collecting and recording couriers, mails, depositing cheques, running errands etc., and not to say dealing with demanding supervisors too. Perhaps this's the nature of the real world out there, but having to commit to an internship of nearly half a year, with no foreseeable prospects of learning real skills, is mere exploitation of cheap labour. Real cheap, with no need for employment benefits such as paid leave (well according to MOM, it is mandatory for employees who have worked with the firm for at least three months to receive a certain number of paid leaves, to which I was denied of).

Having gone through an internship program, below are just mere reflections of mine that some may not nexessarily agree with:
1. It's a period of self discovery definitely. Being exposed to doing things novel, be it the particular task or the repeated routine of it, it made me realise what I wish to seek of a career:exciting, vibrant, fast-pace, dynamic. Perhaps at this juncture I do not fully understand what such words truly entail, however it was a good period of self-discovery nonetheless. Being able to do things beyond the usual, is always a good discovery of self. That's what 'stepping out of the comfort zone' entails, exploring self and getting to know yourself better. Its this discovery that has made me be aware of who I really am. Getting to know yourself, identifying yourself, it comes with experience for some.

2. Dealing with people at work. Many a times, the supervisors tend to be more lenient to interns, at least that's what my boss said haha. Well after all we are paid less decently than perhaps, part-timers, even if we may be equally qualified. So yup, its a good exposure to dealing with work people in general. Many a times, the boss will not directly be your supervisor, leaving the seniors to supervise you. Well, this comes as great training to the senior management, managing juniors and interns for experience. As an intern, it's good experience to, too, know how to answer to the senior management. With our prime purpose to learn, many a times, despite the unforgiving words/ demands of many, we just have to suck it up and deal with it. Perhaps rant later on but save it for later. Though seeing the dynamics between people of different levels can be rather amusing too. With humour dry in the office, you sometimes need to self-entertain, in order to keep your sanity in tack.

3. You have control over yourself. It truly hit me that in work next time, nobody has the extra sympathy/understanding for you. Needless to say, be lenient on you. They pay for you, they expect work done from you, and that's it. This is called professionalism, and is one that is held in high regard. Similarly, in all aspects, they will leave no room for your 'excuses' or 'reasons', be it official or personal. Well, perhaps there are some more understanding than the rest, however in general, this's how the real world works. You have your own problems, deal with it on your side and do not let it affect your work.

4. Commitment. Perhaps its just me lacking the drive for this particular field of work, however in all aspects, commitment is an important factor. Committing to this particular job for years is no small feat (well under MOM, unless stated on the contract, there's always a right for the employee to terminate/ resign. Seemingly. Do enlighten me on this. ) which brings me to my point: committing. Finding the drive to do this particular job, for years, for a long long time. It made me realise how important finding the drive is, and for me, it's passion. Doing the same thing repetitively is mental suicide, unless you find the drive for it. This brings me to awe at the level of dedication each job requires. Think of the courier man who has been doing his job for twenty odd years, or the rubber stamp maker who has been carving rubber stamps for like forty years. It awes me greatly how people find the drive to commit, wed themselves to this particular job. Perhaps its the lack of options before them, or just due to the stability the job offers, amongst many reasons. The ability to commit to a vocation is indeed quite admirable.

There's still ideas to be expounded on, perhaps not now, in future posts maybe. Meanwhile I'm glad to have quality time, to rejuvenate myself, to explore, discover myself, as well as recuperate on the strain on my mind. Repetitive daily work has dulled me down to be a basic routinal creature devoid of thoughts, ideas, and now's the time for me to recover. I have no idea how my supervisors managed to endure all these and yet continue to do their jobs on a long term basis, for that I really admire and respect them. Perhaps its just a mismatch of skills, ideals, qualities. Perhaps I'm just someone seeking for an adventure. For now, here's a period of enrichment.

Tata.

placid

Of a placid stint.

Ashley Bertram

Oct 15, 2011

Placid

Peace, Love, and Happiness
Is a pleasant thought to ponder,
Yet it's quite unlikely for we are
Known to stray and wander.
So rid yourself of worry, child,
And rid yourself of sin.
And soon you'll see the prospects
Of a placid stint.

On the placid lake

Amitav Radiance

Feb 1

A Placid Lake

Drops of passion

On the placid lake

Created a turmoil

Ripples spread wide

Under the blue sky

Nowhere to hide

Closed eyes

Helps feel every word

Left unspoken

And lips do the talking

At the confluence

Swept away

By the undercurrent

---

Hey. Was feeling rather vapid and googled some poems that hopefully resonate with my current state, call it a cathartic act. Well not the most apt but they are sure rather mind-swirling indeed.  

Movie review: Inside Out

Had an opportunity to take a break from the bizarre come-go lifestyle that I've been living lately. Oh gosh, such exhausting period. Anyways, I finally got the chance to watch Inside Out, after hearing rave reviews proliferating all over. Interesting and quite a refreshing breather from the usual cliche animations, interesting, I approve of it ahaha. 

Disclaimer: Spoiler alert, just a heads up! 

Revolving around the five emotions namely: joy, sadness, disgust, anger, fear, this movie introduces us to the workings of the internal mind, how different emotions dominate at different points of our lives, how our actions are constructed by the emotions that influence us, be it momentarily or permanently, and how distinctively, our memories constitute emotions of a range. The movie alternates between two storylines, both dependent on each other and equally important. Inside Riley's mind, we see how the different emotions interact, how they draw conclusion on actions based on their distinctive personalities of each emotion. Rather memorable was a scene of her at dinner, after her first rather crappy day at her new school where she gave a feeble introduction that escalated into tears with her reminiscing her good o days at Minnesota, she gave a rather curt reply when her mom inquired about her day, which led to her mom further probing into this issue. Gosh please don't mind my atrocious disgusting language. I needa get the hang of writing now now now fml, feeling so rusty atm. Anws it's quite a good insight into Inside Out, how different perspectives of the same issue result in different reactions, compare Riley's to her mom and dad's. Rather cute movie, oh yes, I've just said it and I'm gonna reiterate again oh wellz. 

The story began with introductions to the workings of the headquarters, how we have long-term memories, short-term and the core memories, that constitutes our character and personality, and in this case, powers the five different worlds of Riley's character: family, integrity, friendship, ice-hockey and goof-ball land. The story took off later, with how Riley struggled to adjust to her new life in San Francisco, how she had to start all over again, building new friendships, relations, a whole new way of life. This was coupled with how internally, Joy and Sadness encountered a little predicament and was sucked off to the arena of long term memories, where they struggled to make their journey back to the HQ. However, such journey is no small feat, evidently. The two realms intertwined, as how external events caused Riley's principles and ideals to sway, how slowly, individually, the five different worlds gradually collapsed, which hindered the return journey of Joy and Sadness. Throughout the course of the movie, we were also introduced to the other areas of the brain: we have imagination land, abstract thinking land, the memory dump, where things are laid forgotten and desolated, and a absolutely memorable one: dreamland, where they actually create productions for the dream of the night. Throughout this invigorating journey, I was reminded of youth again, how we have grown so far from the days of our fetal existence, how we have grown up :') Idk, the notion of growing up, with memories spread over so many years, how we were once all young and innocent, it just brings some impinging stinging spurts of wetness to your eyes, dont cha?  Aside from the exploration of emotions,  Inside Out enlightens us about the importance of family, totally family movie material :')  There's always sth magical about disney, and this is no exception. In fact, I'm pretty sure  I'm gonna rewatch Inside Out sometime again in the future. I'm just really fascinated and in awe of the their concept of inside out, refreshing. And did I mention the cute credits too? Hmm how our teachers think of us huh? 

Interesting insight to our emotions, and well, quite a cute movie tbh, rather amusing how the different emotions interact with each other, all resulting in the different actions of Riley. I won't agree entirely, the workings of this movie, how the different memories are necessarily intertwined with the emotions evoked at that point of time, sometimes emotions may not necessarily be involved?  Or perhaps it's just a fleeting moment of mine where I'm desensitized to emotions of all sorts, instead choosing to live by stoically and placidly hahaha. terribly sorry for this chunk of disoriented, incoherent writing, just like my life at the moment. Oh damn, fuck this. 

And yes, as much as I find the idea of joy very attractive, she's perpetually the ideal Utopian state of the mind, you know, how we are constantly buffered with the idea of positivity, positive vibes, positive mindset, blah blah, I still find myself relating to sadness most, even though it was a character of such great amount of detest at first. Seriously, I found her absolutely a nuisance, yet it was her that stole the show. I did mention about the disclaimer yo. Maybe its the notion that sadness is simply an underlying emotion of mine, there's akways a place for sadness huh? No matter what the occasion, sadness always have this capability of pervading every scenario huh? Oh gosh, this has slowly escalated into a bizarre emo post? Threshold has its place here, on this platform, so yup, I shan't get far about such ideas. Oh wait, anonymity provides an extra ledge of space here, doesn't it?  Anyways, personally, aside from constant underlying melancholy, disgust and anger pretty much dominate things here. Bleh. Anyways I had a great day yesterday, pleasant company too. It's been so long since I had the slightest taste of liberation, perhaps not really, since I'lll countlessly detracted from my goals and plans, mostly arising from redundant and numbed, aimless thinking. Liberation, perhaps I've lost how it really feels like. 

Oh gosh, see, feel the presence of sadness, she's smirking at you. Disgust beside her, totally. 

hmm

Hmm... Yeah.... Fuck school urgh, why do u take away people's happiness, freedom, joy, liberty, everything? Bliss comes when school goes.

an inch of freedom, or is it not?

Just finished hell week, finally, and had a mini class trip on the next day, cos school's out omfg. Speaking of profanities, all the built up frustration, exasperation, disappointment have left me sprouting profanities like no body's business, well it pretty much isnt, but urghh i've never felt that lethargic before. It's way beyond physical fatigue-- im pretty much used to it. it's more of being emotionally, mentally drained, such that I'm wholesomely sick and tired of. Wtf am I wasting my young days on? Look at those little success out there elsewhere, blossoming youtubers in LA having supposedly their time of their life pursuing their life interests, while we here, (unwillingly) enthrusted with all these little mandatory routines, that aren't half as enjoyable. gosh. I could recall me nonchalantly muttering of just let me die when minor hiccups occur, such as not being able to find sth or having gonna be late for sth. Fuck. But this is the construct of society that we're born in, ahaha look at the many options before us.
Anws class trip the next day was enjoyable, have yet to feel that relaxed since forever, sth like a well-earned break yet I know i hv so much more to buck up on. Fudge, ahh sounds more classy eh? Had steamboat and grill, quite a reasonable deal, though smelling like meat wasnt fairly pleasant. And terminator genisys was rather mindblowing, with all the time travelling and actions, quite thrilling too, all the jumpscare parts. Gosh I think the ratings were PG with slight violence, but it would be more apt if they mentioned of sudden explosive violence, i mean what will one expect with the ambiguity of 'violence'? there's many forms, explosive, thrilling, be more specific dude. k maybe it's just me being a timid tensed up chicken ahaha. Anws great movie it was.

And have I ever mentioned that alluring charm floppy hats' got? got to try one at H&M ysd and indeed, it adds this mysterious aurora to one, as what Jennim said. I'll get one some day.

Gorgeous isnt it? Blends so well with your outfit, versatile yeah, and immediately brings the whole look to the next level. and nice eyebrows she's got there too. Anws, ciao. And that commences the start of the laborious lives that we have to live again. but greater little adventures too :)

picture collage

Recall when I posted sometime ago of my new camera purchase? well I took it on a holiday a few months ago (last December), never really got the chance, more of time actually, to sit through all these and upload them, here's the chance so here's it! I went to Hangzhou, China, a really peaceful, scenic little state, mainly tourism as its purpose, and spent sometime in Hong Kong and Shanghai, so below's some pictures of my trip! This blog was originally created to share my holiday trips, itinerary, travel tips etc. but time got the better of me, so here's a little post to compensate my shortcomings! I'll post more frequently when time (and energy) allows :) feels like i'm losing touch with my pretty nonexistent writing skills, getting rusty eh? This is very bad indeed! See my use of bland words? Quite abysmal isnt it? What an upsetting sign! I do adore writing, therapeutic I would say, but just nowadays, mood, time, emotions, they awash me and just make things grey as they are, fading all colours and live in me... oh well, mock at my abhorrent state if you may ahaha. Indifference plague me occasionally, if not, constantly.
Utterly digressing from my original intention: to share the pics! Hope these little pictures brighten up your day, esp the cat pictures, who can resist the cuteness of these little cats? My innate subdued catlady-ness is being summoned hahaha. Have I mentioned I want to have a cat someday? Though the loyalty and companionship of dogs usually override such fantasies. Enjoy!

colours in brilliance 

Lucky to stumble upon such a scene~!

the vastness is certainly missed at the moment

Simply psychedelic, the little miracles in life :')

Shanghai! 

an obsolete fire hydrant of the olden days

xiaolongbao, ate an overbundance of these oh gosh 

bustling hong kong! 

Simply delicious! their speciality: fried omelette topped with hk style boluobao! literally 

hangzhou! lovely fengye

And now, here's the cat pictures! be prepared for cute-nes overload! be prepared to squeal in absolute delight, and to those nitpickers, soz for the disappoint in advance then. 

yup, its a mini cat cafe, with only three cats. but whether one or three, its sufficient to me! note the rhyming lol, little joys of life? and yup, they're absolute adorable! 

when times get tough, always life your head up and embrace it all. pain is only ever fleeting. sometimes the little unspoken stories in life is simply compelling, further probes you to think and reflect dont you think so? :)


and here henceforth concludes my untimely, impromptu picture collage. definitely missing those times of  freedom, and being unbounded to happenings and duties, alias being a carefree eagle free to expand your wings and soar. Such liberty will be dearly missed. Definitely hope these little pictures remind and shed light to the lost, confused, despaired, of the little joys in life. Embrace them all. Disoriented and incoherent, this post is definitely is.

Ciao, have a great day ahead. 

:')

people grow up, they really do. Rewatching my p6 grad night dance video really brought me down reflecting on how much we've grown, we old girls already. Gosh time flies, really, and everything's seem so evanescent and just transient. No matter how much you detest a subject, do relish in the moment too as everything's not built to last. Just some fleeting statement as I await for my pizza delivery. Did I mention? Smoked Pepperoni with Mushroom's the best! Suddenly feeling a wave of gratitude for the people around me. Life's not been smooth sailing but it could have been worse, much worse, trust me.
Here's a virtual toast to the future years ahead. I love y'all all even though this message's not distinctly conveyed, and even not so on a daily basis. Lots of love to those whom I loveeeeee~~~


Aptly, The Phantom of the Opera's Wishing you were somehow here again playing on radio 92.4FM. Love them musicals<333

Here's a happy Friday to yall! <3