Today me and my parents took part in the Tan Tock Seng Family Charity Ride 2012 to raise funds to help the elderly patients in the hospital’s care. The even raised S$60, 000 and also help open the newest extension of park connectors in Sengkang/Punggol area.

We rode 11km to the carnival area. Now, 11km may not seem like much… but that was the first time I cycled in 2 years! So it was a bit tough. At first it was kind of fun, cycling in the park by the river/sea then it got tiring and I was thinking.. ok I donated money, I should at least try to finish this. Then I was thinking… I’m 18! I have a lot of energy this should be easy. And at the last 200m I was super tired.  I stopped and drank water. I won’t say I wanted to give up… I would say I lacked motivation. The I saw the milo truck. Now, if you are or were a student in Singapore I would think you are aware of how amasing the milo truck’s ice milo is. It is the best I have ever tasted and that is why I and many other students skip sports day activities to queue up for milo from the milo truck. So I chase it until the end.

Simple lesson to be learnt. Find something simple that will motivate you, especially at the last leg of the lap. It can be something really simple like rewarding yourself with a movie marathon or may be something bigger like a new prospective college (if you are studying). Always freshen things up. If you stick with the same old motivation… well it may not be as helpful as it once was.

Cheyenne

Dear world,

In 20 years, what do you want to remember?

With my A levels coming out on Friday and various things I need to consider about my ‘future’, this question is rather relevant.

With that said, in 20 years time, I want to remember every person I love, or at least as many as possible. I am pretty sure I will never forget my family and how they helped me but I also want to remember the other ‘families’ I have too. Without them, school would have been boring and everything I ever studied or worked for would be worthless. A piece of paper might tell me if I can qualify for university but it also reminds me of all the support and fun I had with the people I spent most of my time with. I know without them, nothing would have been possible.

Thank you guys!

Love, Cheyenne

Dear world,

So I would never be friends with someone who ______. That what Kalie has asked her readers.

So to answer the question, I would never be friends with someone who is very closed minded. With a world so much to offer, I would hate to hang with someone that is so closed minded to see it. I would get really frustrated. So yeah.

Simple, really. I almost didnt need to think about it.

The Prayer, to me was a beautiful attempt to pose the many and various questions that people have on the existence of man. As.. absurd as that sounds, that was what the piece ‘The Prayer’ revolved around – the actor and director’s existential thoughts.

Eng Kai Er presented this absurd devised piece in such a beautiful way that I never really thought it was absurd to begin with. She managed to subtly insert hints of her ‘message’ (which local audiences are obsessed with) in such an elegant way. Part of it wanted me to cry at certain moments. I just… speechless. It is up there in my ‘have to see again’ list.

GO AND SEE IT PEOPLE! Tomorrow night. Substation. 8pm.

Cheyenne

ENJOY!!!

Dear world,

Pardon the pessimistic title. It was kind of my first reaction. The most annoying question in the universe is being asked here. It is also the most cliche. Come on, Kalie! Nothing else caught your eye??

Oh well, you asked so I will tell.

My number 1 tip to behappy is to just be happy. Ok, that is not really answering the question now is it? But actually I am. My number 1 tip to be happy is to well, smile and be happy. Scientifically, when you smile, your mood automatically lifts. Everything seems better. Working those 7 muscles is better than working the other 40+ that make you frown.

So yes. Smile. It is that simple. Even when times are bad. Smile.

Smiling away,

Cheyenne

Today, I caught the very last show of Singapore by The Necessary Stage at the Esplanade as part of the annual M1 Fringe Festival. The Necessary Stage, in my opinion, has a reputation for putting on truthful and funny pieces that always allow local audiences to relate to. Today, the piece questions the relevance of Singapore’s pledge in today’s society.

While it sparked some discussion on foreign talent coming in and how everyone is upset about introducing ‘outsiders’ to our home land, the performance did not provide answers and like many pieces, it is not suppose to. This politically charged piece presented, rather successfully I might add, the various views around the topic of Immigration in Singapore. Our government ‘rolled out the red carpet’ ( to quote the script) for foreign talent. If we have issues, we need to discuss it with parliament. However, Singaporeans ( born and breed on this tiny island) need to understand the numbers. Every year, our population decreases by 20,000 because the ’3 or more if you can afford it’  campaign  has yet to show some  success,  and hence why more people are given citizenship every year.

I personally, find it hypocritical of Singaporeans to claim the island as their home and reject the ‘new citizens’. NONE OF US ARE NATIVE TO THIS LAND – but really no one cares about that…

I think there could have been more to add to the debate but then again it would defeat the purpose of what the play was about. It was suppose to spark discussion, so that we find the answers.

Putting aside the ‘message’ of the story, I found the performance amazing.  Karen Tan, Siti Khalijah and the rest of the cast were superb. I would like to give credit for the use of Brechtian techniques ( regardless of their conscious use or not) and would gladly go for a repeat performance or may be even something else (HINT: Singapore Arts Festival is coming in June)!

Signed,

Cheyenne

P.s. yeah, I can never abandon the arts. Love it too much

I am a big believer in doing what you want and doing what you love and making time to do what you want. I finally found a reason to do so!

So I have about.. 4.5 months left to try different things and meet different people and gain experiences that the 4 walls of a classroom would never be able to provide for me. Singapore’s government talks about life-long learning to boost our economy- well, I believe in life-long learning to encourage our curiosity, our creativity and may be ( just may be) add some value to our lives.

However, in the past 2 months or so that I have been trying many things I wanted to do. The list has accumulated over a span of 12 years ( that’s how long I’ve been in the formal education system) and now I have a messily 6 months ( now less than that) to attempt to complete everything.

Like 30 seconds before I started writing this post, I made two realizations that I kind of wish I made a while back. Firstly, I should have really tired to do everything I wanted to do way before actually having ‘free time’ to do them – makes sense because now the list is rather long. And it would have made for a slightly more interesting school career, volunteering to help theater groups or investing in time to read topics of interest ( please don’t ask for the list- this one is even longer). I honestly believe it would have been more enriching. Secondly, despite not taking the chance to do things I wanted to do while I was schooling, I am rather grateful that I was offered to study anything I really wanted ( or at least what I wanted at the time). The schools I attended gave me generally more freedom than other schools would give to their students to choose the subjects they wish to take at national examination level. I had my fair share of the Arts and the Sciences as well as learning to write well and argue my way through different situations.

Unfortunately I am torn. Thanks to my rather long list of interest and (I guess you can call it) the freedom I received to study two extremely different fields, I have no clue what I would like to carry on as a career. This goes beyond choosing a university course. I would like to be involved in both areas and even more if I was giving the opportunity to.

I just posted on facebook that I am “learning to be a Jack of all trades” and I had a friend ask me if it was because I wanted to be ‘well-rounded’. Hell no. Specialization was never my thing. One reason why my blog is so random or why I took a very Science heavy combination as well as theater studies. You cannot ask me to choose.

Sadly, kids are being asked to choose and some are quite dead set on what they want. I’m tutoring 2 kids in order to have some funding for activities that require some form of cash payment …. ok yes, I am talking about shopping (I’m still a girl). Anyways, one of them wants to be a doctor and the other a Maritime lawyer, which I think is pretty ambitious for both of them and puts more pressure on me to get them the grades they want. I am not saying that knowing what you want to do in the future is a bad thing. All I am saying is that, it almost feels like schools or even the system is pushing them in the direction of choosing one option. Then they realize that a mistake has been made and now we have this damn annoying ‘lifelong learning campaign’ which makes no sense to me!

The logic to me is not clear. You ask kids to dream big, aim high and (eventually) specialize. Then when they’re specialized skills become obsolete, you put them through school again! You call it upgrading. I think it is limiting.

It might also explain why general degrees are the most popular courses in Universities around the globe.

May be I’m right? Or I’m just weird… but I think everyone should just be given the opportunity to try and actually do something that will better enrich their experiences. As a kid, I had a very hard time believing that people were meant to do just one thing in their lives. I think the question “why am I here?” as many answers, not just one.

So yes, I am learning to be a Jack of all Trades. And don’t worry. I’ll record every moment of it.

Cheyenne

JUST READ! I cannot express it any better!