The Raven - Creativity in Poe

The Raven is our 1st movie in GV Katong. Situated inconveniently in the midst of a residential district, it gives us an opportunity to grab last-minute tickets on a weekend. The Raven talks about a fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet and author pursued a serial killer whose murders mirrored those in Poe's stories.

The film started off with Poe losing his creativity. He has become a social pariah (outcast) and penniless drunkard whose stories have not been circulated for some time. He used to be a much better author - writing up poems such as the Raven and a book titled "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". But nowadays, he has to resort to begging the newspaper editor to publish his column.

The pace of the movie increased - when murders were conducted in succession. All murders were carefully scripted. And soon the detective realised that it was carried out with reference to the murder stories penned by Poe.

All murders were gruesomely executed with flair & precision. One of the bloodiest scenes was that of Poe's rival - Rufus Griswold. He was a literary critic and has competed with Poe to publish articles for the Baltimore newspapers. Griswold was strapped to a table and a Pendulum Knife was being swung and yet lowered gradually. The knife sliced off Griswold's tummy - bit by bit as it was lowered, until his upper half was separated from his lower half and the Pendulum could move no more. During crime investigation, Poe was requested to be present and realised that it resembled a scene from one of his stories - "The Pit and the Pendulum".

Poe was creative - an ability that is sorely lacking in today's world. His stories were intrinsically written & I wished I could harness the imagination that he possess. His level of creativity was further accentuated when he had to write in order to save the one he loves.

And yet when creativity becomes enacted in reality, it becomes bloody and detested by people. When people are not able to differentiate their thoughts from their acts, their lives become a mess. Maybe it is that fear of being a mess that creativity was never promoted. Why? Are people not encouraged to think?

Clockwork vs Priorities

I run my schedule like clockwork (with regularity and precision). I wake up in the morning, have my breakfast, go to work, carry out what needs to be done and then returned home to wind down for the day. As the weeks pass, I filled the empty slots with more tasks - embarking on work-related projects, returning to toastmasters, taking up new tuition assignments, carrying out household chores, etc. As I insert all these tasks, I still manage to juggle my life - filling it to the fullest.

Yet I know that there could be one day - when my body might tell me that I could need a break or when my mind might tell me that this might not be the most efficient method. As I keep myself occupied, I might have lacked the time to sit down, think and reflect on my priorities in life. Maybe it might not be worthwhile to keep myself busy. Maybe I should do Task C instead of Task A. Maybe reviewing priorities should have been part of my schedule every day.

A Daily Review of Priorities like Clockwise. Can I do it?

Battleship & The Art of War

知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆

I watched Battleship - an American naval war film. It was not advertised as a box-office hit, though the movie displayed numerous special effects - with missiles, aliens & huge robots taking centre stage. I did that smart move to watch it in Tebrau City for a mere fraction of Singapore's ticket prices. It costed me MYR 14 (SGD 5.80), approximately half of what it would have costed me in Singapore (SGD 10).

The movie made reference of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. As such, I though it is important to reflect that true verse of 孙子兵法 upon themselves.

When that started off, Alex Hopper approached the enemy - without knowledge of what it can do. He continued his approach even though fellow marines advised him against it. The alien ship responded by giving him a strong electro-shock. His act of rashness was further highlighted when he fired the alien at close proximity. His life was endangered, only for his brother to sacrifice his life to save Alex.

(不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆 - If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.)

As the movie progressed, Alex Hopper and his team were aware that they have limited powers. One moment that illustrated it was when they tried to engage the alien. They knew that their rifles are insufficient, but they do not know the capabilities of the alien. It was only through sheer luck that Alex survived with a jump off the ship at the last moment.

(不知彼而知己，一勝一負 - If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.)

The humans triumphed over the aliens, because they figured not only the strengths of the aliens, but also their weaknesses. For e.g., the aliens were susceptible to bright light & they will not be aggressive if no armoury is pointed towards them.
(知彼知己，百戰不殆 - If you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.)

Shanghai welcomes the World in English

Throughout my stay in Shanghai, I realised that the city has embraced tourism and introduced the English language to as many people as possible. Allow me to evaluate their progress:

Many of the hotel staff could speak English to me. Though there was a strong tendency to switch to Mandarin the moment they knew I am a Chinese. The young in China - especially the service staff - could speak key words, without stringing them into a sentence. The taxi-drivers - rely on my Mandarin to get to the destinations. The citizens remind ignorant of the importance of English - even as Shanghai becomes an important global financial hub.

I noticed this interesting banner - in the ferry that takes us across Huangpu River. We took the ferry so that we could visit the Oriental Pearl Tower on the opposite side of the river. It's worth 250 laughs!

Tower Heist - My Tower of Gold?

Tower Heist is a Nov 2011 crime comedy film that I managed to watch it recently - via pirated DVD. The video quality was fantastic and I guess it was worth the risk to import such DVDs in for a mere fraction of a cinema ticket's price.

In the movie, there was a wealthy businessman Arthur Shaw who was accused of running a Ponzi scheme. He used people's pension funds to invest, and their money is gone. However, he denied responsibility and attributed it to the bad sentiments of the financial markets. Whilst everyone tries to nail down the crook in Shaw, I wondered why people are willing to invest significant amounts of their life savings with an untested source.

This is also a timely reminder for me - to carry out a stock-take of my current savings and evaluate what I like to do to grow my little pot of gold. As a young man in my 30s, I know this is an appropriate time to start growing my financial portfolio. Regardless of whether it is for me and my wife, or our family-to-be, or for our retirement, there is still a need to plan. Do it now rather than panic and do some hasty investment when I become too old. Or else I might never get to see my Tower of Gold.

Learning English the Newspaper Way

I never liked reading story books. Ever since young, the only way my English improved was through the newspapers. But they never taught me how to write creative stories with big bombastic words. Neither did they teach me how the English language could be structurally broken down and analysed.

Today, I learnt from the papers that English could be linked to my favourite subject - Maths. In the English language, a binomial is an idionmatic expression consisting of a pair of words linked by a conjunction or a prepostion. Because the paids of words are so closely connected, they are also known informally as Siamese twins.

Binomials are be fitted into the following categories:

Synonyms: Peace and quiet, Null and void, Cheek by jowl
Meaning of 'cheek by jowl' = are very close to each other

Antonyms: Sooner or later, For better or for worse, Back and forth
Meaning of 'back and forth' = from side to side

Alliteration: Kith and kin, Life and limb, Mix and match, Tit for tat
Meaning of 'kith and kin' = both friends and family

Rhyme: Fair and sqaure, Wear and tear, High and Dry
Meaning of 'high and dry' = left helpless in a situation because you aren't given something you need or were promised

The Unlimited Potential of Shanghai (上海)

Singapore was often used as an example of a fast-growing city. Afterall, it grew from a kampung in 1965 to a concrete jungle in 35 years. HDB buildings replaced the trees whilst terrace houses replaced the Attap Houses.

But my visit to Shanghai changed my perception of how fast a city can develop. I went with my colleague who had an overseas stint in Shanghai 15 years ago. With my walking dictionary, he was able to share what had changed from the time he left as compared to the Shanghai of today.

Indeed, urbanisation has put Shanghai ahead of Singapore in terms of being labelled as a concrete jungle. 15 years ago, there was no Metro. Old 'Santana' Taxis were seen as a main mode of transport. Today, Shanghai's Metro has exploded so much that there are now at least 10 different Metro Lines. Singapore has only 4 MRT lines and I am already a confused man when it comes to traveling via the train.

Finding my way in Shanghai from one station to another means I has to try to locate the destination on the train map and then knowing how and where to change metro lines. I was finding my way out from one of the main Metro Lines - only to find myself lost within the station - because the station itself has 20 exits. Indeed, as of 2010, Shanghai's rapid transit system consists of 273 stattions and over 420 km of tracks in operation, making it the longest network in the world.

15 years has made turned this place into one of the world's biggest growth engine. I guess it wasn't an easy journey - to transform and develop this city. With a mammoth vision that started out 15 years and was quickly realised in 15 years, I wonder what is next for this already-developed city for the next 15 years. Only time will tell how Shanghai will rise above all.

Learning Points from a Travel Companion

Recently, I went on a overseas business conference in Shanghai with a colleague of mine, B. Some other colleagues has mentioned that he was not an easy person to work with. I was initially sceptical about my ability to interact with him. Afterall, I do not know much about him prior to this trip. Our interaction during the trip was brought to a more intense level after we decided to save more money by staying together in the same room - as the per diem allowances was insufficient for us to stretch our budget in the most expensive city in China.

But this trip has made us closer friends & I found out 3 good points after this friend of mine:
1. Positivity
He was always positive about the outcome of things. And this was one trait that connected me to him. Afterall, I am generally a more positive person. To find someone who can see the same side of things - is always a blessing in disguise.
2. Friendliness
In a foreign land, he greeted strangers as if they were his friends. Maybe I was in my comfort zone - being in a land where Mandarin was my link to the citizens. Maybe it was indeed his ability to connect to strangers, his willingness to make that first move - that will always enable people to welcome him without any barriers.
3. Ability to Give Praise
He was able to give praise when it is due. That always brings a smile to people's faces. It could go down to as simple as helping to book a taxi, but to have an eye to notice and the sincerity to give that compliment, it meant acknowledgement for any receiving party.