Christmas - shopping, gifts and such

Ha, I've found someone who is more of a Christmas Eve party pooper than myself.

From today's Straits Times:

'I think I've fallen out of love with shopping'
Is mindless consumerism all there is to being a Singaporean? I hope not
By Tessa Wong

'TIS not the season to be thrifty, and these past few weekends, I have been joining my fellow Singaporeans in the annual ritual of Christmas shopping on Orchard Road.

But while most are savouring the headlong plunge into this festive orgy of consumerism, I have been feeling repulsed by its excesses. Worse, I think I have fallen out of love with our national hobby.

I am not sure how it happened.

After all, I have always been a steadfast sucker for Orchard Road at Christmas, and not just because of the traditional season for great bargains.

Something about its bright lights, rain-slicked streets, and tinselled glamour had always entranced me. I had always found the bustle of the crowd romantic and convivial, even while getting painfully elbowed in the ribs by over-zealous aunties rummaging around Tangs' handbag section.

This year, after several frustrating shopping expeditions, I was consumed by a wave of irrational hatred of all things shopping - the baying, jostling crowds spending mindlessly, the over-the-top decorations and sale promotions aimed at coaxing every last dollar from shoppers.

The whole spectacle just seems crass, tawdry and manipulative.

But I wonder if betraying my shopaholic roots means I have somehow betrayed my national identity too.

After all, bragging about our love for snagging great bargains is part of our national psyche; so much so that we have elevated it to a kind of spiritual experience.

I used to feel strangely patriotic doing Christmas shopping on Orchard Road - it almost felt like I was doing my duty as a citizen, by helping to boost my country's economy while communing with my fellow Singaporeans.

But I have since realised that shopping per se is just a worthless vessel of my cultural identity.
Even if I am buying gifts for others, how does purchasing products make me a better, truer Singaporean? Why should I be proud of a love-to-shop and love-to-eat mentality? Is wanton consumerism and gluttony all I am capable of as a Singaporean?

I seriously hope not.

So this Christmas, I am trying something new.

I will still accept gifts because I do not want to insult anyone by refusing. But I will estimate the cost of each one, and donate that amount to charity. The same goes for presents I have already bought.

I have also been raiding my home for items to donate to the less fortunate, along with corporate gifts I have received. Most importantly, I have vowed to cut down on shopping for non-essentials by half next year.

If less is more, then I hope to make room for an abundant life, free of clutter, in the coming year.

Wish me luck.

Hmmm... wonder what got into the poor girl. She actually sounds bitter.

Aiyah, if people want to go and jostle at Orchard Road, let them. If you don't like it, then just don't go, lah.

Well, I will say what I said before again. It doesn't really make sense to 'celebrate' Christmas in such a big, secular way. It's not even part of our tradition (as it is in some western societies). This year, there seems to be a concerted effort by sales staff in different places to wish customers 'Merry Christmas!' I was wished this at Popular and Fairprice today. I just found it weird to hear this from people to whom Christmas doesn't mean much. Were they instructed to do this?

Anyway, I wonder how many of our friends and relatives jostled in shops to buy us toiletry sets, towel sets, coffee mug sets, decorative items or chocolates and other assorted edibles. My sister is already trying to pan off some toiletries she received to me, ha ha...

Peace and blessings to all.

On leave

Back around Christmas.

In the meantime, don't forget to support Team Singapore!

Ain't he cute?

But foreign talent still wins hands down

So... I've finished watching Surgeon Bong Dal-hee and I'm glad I decided to watch it. Maybe I shouldn't write off 'serious' shows in future.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

One strength of some (and I stress: some) K drama serials is the characterisation. Even the secondary characters in Surgeon have distinct personalities and aren't just wallpaper or stereotypical sidekicks. Of course, good characterisation must come with good acting and on the whole the actors did bring their characters to life well.

There were these two 'Chief Doctors' (seniors of the 1st-year residents) for example. This guy Dr Jang (left) looked like he walked straight out of a Taiwanese serial, ha ha. Most of the time, he doesn't really get all that much to do besides acting grovelly with his Director and asking, 'What?!' whenever something shocking happens. Nevertheless, he is quite distinctly different from the others. This other Chief Doctor (right) is Dr Kim Hyun Bin, ha ha (wonder what Hyun Bin thinks of that). He is more colourful and you can see his different facets - sarcasm, seriousness, humour, concern for others, etc, - in the limited airtime he has.

The weak link for me was the other main couple. I'm surprised the guy who acted as Dr Lee doesn't act better than he does. After all, he has starred in other shows such as Lovers In Prague, etc. When he was crying and telling his ex-wife 'I'm so lonely I could die', he didn't sound all that different from when he told the doctors, 'Don't panic even if the blood spurts to the ceiling.' Maybe it's because I don't understand Korean but I really couldn't detect much change in his tone of voice or facial expression in different scenes. In contrast, you can feel Lee Min-woo's (Dal-hee's peer) and Dr Ahn's alarm and dismay when they see the state of Dal-hee's heart on the ultrasound screen. And they are not even crying; they just look like they are going to cry.

As for the ex-wife, she was rather bland too so I've nothing to add about her except that I nearly fell off my chair when the grape man turned up, with permed hair, in a cameo as her ex-boyfriend. Ha ha... The son was cute, though...

The actress who plays Dal-hee really looks rather frail and pale. I read that the actress decided to perm her hair for the role to make it more realistic - something about doctors not having enough time to care for their appearances so she didn't want to look too attractive. Don't really see the logic in that. She doesn't look unattractive, what.

Anyhow, she did a decent job portraying her weak and sometimes silly but persevering and determined character. I think people like seeing characters who are ordinary and 'weak' people but have special strengths. Her strengths are her willingness to go all out to achieve her dream and her perceptiveness about other people's feelings. Hence, she has great rapport with patients, doctors and nurses. Interestingly, while the younger doctors like her and care a lot about her (e.g. Dr Park always missing her when she is away on leave, Dr Kim trying to cover up for her, etc), it is the 'older' doctors who appreciate her the most.

Dr Lee really liked her but it was just that he never really got over his ex-wife so Dal-hee was smart to cut her losses early and end the relationship before it really took off. Good thing, too, because it would have been so boring if she had ended up with him.

Dr Ahn is the best actor in the show. It's not easy carrying off this uncle-sweetie pie relationship. He also does his grumpy, bad-tempered, demanding doctor with an enormous chip on his shoulder (from the gigantic baggage he carried for over 20 years from his miserable childhood) but who is actually a caring and dedicated doctor role very convincingly. Despite the hairdo.

What I like about the romance in the show is that it doesn't overwhelm the hospital storyline. Dr Ahn and Dal-hee get together only almost at the end (though it was obvious that he had started to like her earlier on) and I think their good old wholesome love story did the trick. For once, no ex-boyfriends or -girlfriends lurking around, no disapproving parents or grandparents, no being forced into engagement or marriage, no contract to pretend to be a couple, etc. And he was cute going into what must be his first relationship, judging from how he didn't even know how to ask her out properly (he practically ordered her to go to a movie with him!), was so boring at the movie date, etc. He acted like a teeanger in love for the first time, grinning goofily and all, but not acting stupid or silly. Good job! Even with his haircut.

My last mention will be of Dr Park. His expressions are so funny, especially in the scenes with Dr Ahn. The funniest were when he and Jo Ara bumped into Dal-hee and Dr Ahn in the cinema and when he hugs Dal-hee in front of Dr Ahn when she comes back from leave. The best part of his character was how they didn't just make him the clown of the show. At first, he just wants to finish his resident training and open a slimming clinic, but he develops a passion for saving lives and takes his job seriously.

I like how the show portrays the message to live life to the fullest as long as your blood is flowing through your arteries and veins. It is Dal-hee's story - overcoming her physical weaknesses and dreaming to be a surgeon, Dr Ahn's story - rising to be a renowned surgeon after abandonment and years of loneliness, Dr Park's story - rising above his mother's debt problems and becoming a committed doctor, Dr Jo Ara's story - rising from her abusive childhood and family problems and striving to be a full-fledged surgeon...

Strangely, it is also the message of one chapter in Marley and Me, which I've just finished. John Grogan writes:

'In the lonely blackness, I could almost taste the finiteness of life and thus its preciousness. We take it for granted, but it is fragile, precarious, uncertain, able to cease at any instant without notice. I was reminded of what should be obvious but too often is not, that each day, each hour and minute, is worth cherishing.'

And... it is also what Fr Suyono spoke about on Sunday when discussing Matthew 24:37-44. He said that while we do need to be prepared, we should not live in the past or the future. The present is what we have and it is when we should do what we are here to do.

Ok... there must be something in this for me. The same message from 3 sources can't just be a coincidence, right? Woman, get off your butt and do something worthwhile with your life!

Anyway, I highly recommend this show, if you have the time and inclination for these things, and if you can take the many surgery scenes (or you can just not watch those scenes in their entirety).

Picture source

Local talent

For all my bemoaning of local entertainment standards, I have to admit that there are talented individuals. Maybe the problem is that our market is too small and so cannot give enough impetus to the blossoming of talents here.

I watched an episode of S-Pop Hurray on Channel U in which Lee Wei Song and Lee Si Song were guests. I didn't realise that their prolific songwriting has won them so many awards abroad and that their impressive clientele includes even Jacky Cheung. Well done!!

On that particular episode, some songs from old drama serials were also featured and now I'm wondering if I should watch that 25th anniversary thing after all...

Lookalike

Speaking of local drama serials, I happened to watch a bit of this one about doctors (seems like every other time I turn to Channel 8 there's a re-run of some old serial!) and I suddenly remembered that when I watched Rude Women, I thought the lead actress resembled Xiang Yun (who was in the doctor serial).

Mi Joo, played by Yoo Ho-jeong

Ai yo yo, 25 years already?

Fancy that, 25 years of local Chinese drama. I sent this article to A, who lives in SF, and she commented that she hadn't heard or thought about names like Friday Background or Chen Hanwei for a long time, ha ha.

I believe we can still vote for our favourite local dramas. I won't be voting or watching the 25th anniversary show but I must name my favourite shows here. I didn't watch all the shows that are nominated so I'll just choose my top 3:
Coffee Shop
Tofu Street
Good Morning, Sir
(The Awakening is iconic but not top on my list)

Bottom 2:
Golden Pillow
As You Like It
(Goodness, how did they get nominated??)

Anyway, X-tongfang and I were recently discussing the slow progress in local drama standards. 25 years already, leh, and still like that...

Also read that Prince Yul will be one of the presenters at the Star Awards. Does he speak Mandarin? Or English?

(picture from here)