Category Archives: Microblog

[8/30] Has Smartphones & SocMed Made Us Less Socially-Sensitive?

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Regardless of age and background, we see EVERYONE hooked up to their smartphones anywhere and anytime. This newfound connectivity to the world has probably blinded us from basic etiquettes. In some instances, I find that people are so ignorant about what is okay and what is not, when it comes to using smartphones and social media platforms.

Some time ago, I scrolled down my Facebook feed to find a post by one of my friends, about her literally dying father. She had posted a video of her father, bedridden, just about to be unplugged of his life support. ‘He passed a few minutes later.’, she mentioned at the end of the post. People taking pictures of their unconscious loved ones in hospital, live streaming the final rites of a funeral are all far too common these days. Other things that I find questionable (or get very annoyed at) are browsing through social media, or even just playing with your phones in the cinema. We disregard the comfort of other audiences with the light from our screens because everyone else are also using their phones?

We watch videos out loud in public places. We take pictures of random cute toddlers unbeknown to their guardians. We screenshot pictures of a ‘good-looking’ person to circulate (who am I kidding, to sexualize la) in WhatsApp groups – uploading a picture on social media DOES NOT EQUAL granting permission for every idiot to download the picture!

So much for freedom of speech, we misunderstand that mean comments and cuss words are approved. A pregnant social media influencer does a photoshoot with heels, and every Tom, Dick and Harry (or Jane, Jill and Jennifer, if you’re that kinda feminist), goes on to comment of how she was being irresponsible and could hurt herself and her baby. Celebrities probably have it worse – everything one say or do comes under scrutiny.

Recently, I read the most hilarious response from the South Indian actor, Siddharth to one such know-it all – who reprimanded the actor for saying RIP instead of Om Shanti in his tweet regarding  passing of a renowned lyricist.

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I literally LOL-ed at his response – well deserved!

Ten years back, these situations would have been considered outrageously insensible. Just because we have the means to take these pictures and videos, or type comments at so much convenience, we forget that there should be some boundary (and possibly a little common sense).

There is no definite guideline to what can or cannot be done. But sometimes, maybe we should all take a step back and be more mindful about how we use our smartphones.

Twisting wise words from Spiderman, ‘With a  techie phone, comes great responsibility.’

What else, in your opinion, is unacceptable when it comes to social media and smartphones? Do share your thoughts with me! 🙂

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018 (and continued in November, because I left it at Day 7 in September!). To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[7/30] The Moving Cheese

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If I am a philosophical and oh-so cliché type, I would start this post by saying ‘Change is the only constant.’. But I would not do that, obviously. *inserts hahaa!* Fair to say, I have not gone through major unexpected events in life (I have seen people had it worst). As I thought about writing this, it came to me that I could classify the changes that happened to me into two; 1) Expected, generic changes and 2) Conscious change – when I made up my mind to change something.

Honestly speaking, tougher of the two is making a conscious decision to change. I’m not going to lie, I have had my fair share of struggles with this. Be it leaving a relatively well-paid job to join a graduate trainee program, enrolling in postgraduate studies full time while working a full-time job, moving on from the worst mistake of my life, and even deciding to stop sucking my fingers and scarring my forehead, it was all WORK. What helped me most in these transitions are three things, conscious self-reminder to be resilient, supportive circle of close knits and lots of information.

  1. Resilience

Resilience, I think, is something that we must work on. In the face of challenges or adversities, don’t uggghhh too soon. Be solution-focused instead of problem focused (I’m working on this!). December last year, I discovered this book called ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson. I liked this book so much that I bought 3 copies of the book for my friends. It is a story of 2 mice and 2 people who live a in maze, looking for cheese – I bet you’d find it an easy read.

  2.    Seek for Support

Always confide in and discuss your thoughts with people you’re close with. I was lucky enough that I’ve had people around me knocking my head, slapping me with hard reality and being supportive sweethearts. Don’t beta yourself up feeling weak, because sometimes we all need *sings* somebody to lean on!

  3.    Gather Information

Look for enough information about the situation that has changed. I am big on researching, no matter how petty a matter is. It is always consoling to understand what you’re going to face (are facing) especially if it’s a new job, new project or even a new romantic partner. If research tells you no-good news, then at least you know now! Be prepared for the worst – this goes back to #1, be resilient.

When I gradually stopped my skin-picking habit (I self-diagnosed myself with skin-picking disorder  before my dermatologist did! See, research helps.), I was not used to looking at my face without that scar on my forehead. Some days, I’d just pick on my skin at the same spot, just to feel that comfort (stop rolling your eyes, Mister!). That’s how changes haunt us sometimes, like something’s not right. BUT, it’s just a phase, you’d get through it. Because… change is the only constant! 😉

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[6/10] Memorable Moment : Bottom of the Bottle

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I was clad in my baju kurung school uniform that day, with ever messy short hair. We had just won a round of debate, and I was named the ‘Best Speaker’ despite perpetually saying ‘people under them’ instead of subordinates or employees throughout my speech in that round. Our debate-guru (in bold), Puan Kalai, shook her head after session and said, ‘Jo, what is ‘people under them?’. It was the 8th National English Debate Competition, we were supposed to compete in 4 four preliminary rounds.

In the next round, we were competing against a Chinese private school from Sabah. Being the young and dumb bunch that we were, we thought that the round should be easy, siding us. The motion for the round was something to do with ‘Imposing Environmental Labels on Consumer Products’. We were to oppose the motion. As the debate heated, we realized that ‘Government’ team had pretty good speakers. They pretty much were kicking our dumb bottoms.

One of them were saying how environmental labelling is important to educate people to recycle. I raised my hand confidently to rebut. ‘You see, this bottle here *whilst lifting the plastic bottle up for more effect* has no environmental labelling. But we still know that it needs to go in the Plastic recycling bin. What’s the use for labels?’. The other speaker also lifted up the bottle, and said, ‘Madam, would you turn the bottle upside down? Do you see the recycling symbol stamped at the bottom? That’s environmental labelling’. I said, ‘Oh, okay!’ and sat down.

Others in the room laughed. I wanted to hide under the table. Team from the girls’-school with a street name lost that round. Much to my embarrassment, this incident has since replayed like a thousand times in staff room, classrooms and our Literary & Debating Society meetings.

This probably wasn’t a significant, life-changing event in my life, but somehow, the memory of the day carried on with me over the years. Just days ago, our super-awesome debate guru proved how memorable my ultimate rebuttal failure was.

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[5/30] 10 Amazing Things about My Ex-Boss

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The cheeky person who prompted me to write this clearly had first-hand experience of the drama that unfolded during my last days of work in Land of Pichonkun. It was all glitters and rainbows at work before I tendered my short notice resignation (no, it wasn’t. hahaaa!). Surprisingly (also shockingly), it was not as difficult for me to come up with this piece. So, *drum rolls*, here are the 10 most amazing things about my ex-boss which are purely non-fictional (this, I kid you not!). Oh, and we shall name my ex-boss ‘Ex-Boss’ throughout this post (because duhhhhh…) in order to protect their identity.

  1. Prepares incredible presentation slides – prior to meeting Ex-Boss, I mentally thought I was quite good at making presentation decks, but soon enough found out that I was mediocre.
  2. Has a sharp eye for details – almost always able to identify minute errors
  3. Curiosity to learn – if Ex-Boss doesn’t know, Ex-Boss Googles!
  4. Gets the bigger picture of things
  5. Gives random creative ideas – especially we brainstorm on events, activities
  6. Passion for the company – this was Ex-Boss’ first job, and Ex-Boss has dedicated 20-ish years of their life for the organization.
  7. Taught me most of what I know of Safety, Health and Environment (SHE)
  8. Patience for long discussions? – this remains questionable, though
  9. Workaholic
  10. Sort of indirectly got me to start my current attempt to eco-living.

I think this could be a kind reminder to all of us. Let not bitter moments cloud the good in others. Bridges do burn, unfortunately. We can either rebuild the bridge, or simply wish them well from the other side.

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All smiles for the camera. 🙂  And look, that’s Pichonkun!

Confession : As I wrote this, I had flashes of Friday afternoons during monthly Environmental Committee Meeting. I am just glad that’s all history now! 😛

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[4/30] How I Met Sorru

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I think it was a Wednesday, which in UTP, translates to lecture-free second half of the day. I was sitting in Tudung Saji Café, my usual spot by the beam. I was probably doing some assignment or reading as I heard loud chatters approaching me. Someone asked me if I was going for the replacement class, I would’ve nodded, while mentally rolling my eyes. They were all headed to Chancellor Hall, to watch some debate competition, in a large noisy group. I was supposed to collect their quiz papers from class. I mentally mocked them. One of them, a tall boy wearing spectacles, muttered something. They conveniently decided to pass me a bag (one that they give out during orientation) and told me that one of their friends would come get it. I mocked them mentally, again, with a smile on my face. Who even writes their name on their bag with a correction liquid? Owner of the ridiculously tarnished bag came to collect his bag, grinningly.

I went to class that afternoon and collected every quiz paper with an Indian name. I only knew 2-3 of them. After an hour of class, I went back to Tudung Saji. Sometime later, they returned too. This was my opportunity to match names with faces, and possibly intelligence. In coming weeks after that, I made friends with them and was soon part of the big, noisy bunch.

That boy who passed me his friend’s bag always commented on my Facebook posts, texted me, always asked me out for movies and later settled for a KFC lunch circa July 2011. He drove me around, packed suppers and asked me answers for assignments.

Years passed. On a rainy night, I came back to my room exhausted after long hours in IRC. I opened my ‘unofficial email’ which I had only used for my BlogSpot account at that time. First sentence said, ‘I know you won’t see this email for some time’. As I read the email, I knew. I was in love with the boy who wrote me an email with grammatical errors. So, friends, this is how I met and later fell in love with Sarvish.

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Earliest snap I have of us, taken in 2011 @ Tudung Saji Cafe

Disclaimer: I have the tendency of reconstructing memories to my preferences, but I also have the gift of vivid memory for minute details.

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[3/30] Kerala Taste – Injipuli

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Honestly speaking (ermm, typing), I lack appreciation of Kerala Cuisine. I know little differences between the many South Indian cuisines. BUT, I have an ultimate favourite which is Injipuli (literally translates to Ginger Tamarind). When you attend Malayalee weddings or events, you’d often find this pickle-sort of dish served. If you do, there’s also high probability that you hear an older Malayalee aunty who’s critiquing the dish – needs more brown sugar, ginger pieces too big, colour is just not right shade of spicy red and whatnot. Well, all I know is that Injipuli shall taste however my mother makes it. Because… Amma knows best, and she’s the best cook I know. I’m just a happy kid who’s about to eat her Chinese Economy Rice dinner with a teaspoon of Injipuli on the side. 😬

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Amma’s fresh batch of homemade Injipuli, 🙂

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[2/30] Turning 25

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I’m freshly 25 as I write this, and I already think that this could possibly be my best age thus far (trust me, I’ve lived quarter of a century plus few hours, so I know). I’m wiggling into ‘real adulthood’ with loving family, love of my life, new and old friends AND feel-good vibes which I have earned back. Challenges may arise and tears may fall, undoubtedly. Nevertheless, I’m going to put on my imaginary rainbow-colored cape and look forward anything and everything that comes my way.

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25, and still need 2993 photos taken before getting a fairly-okay photo,

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.

[1/30] Secondary School

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What a coincidence that one of the prompts for my #30daysmicroblogchallenge was ‘Secondary School’. An impromptu brunch today (1st Sept 2018), with these two couldn’t have been more timely. One of them has been my longest SMS-darling whose conversations I always cherished and the other shook me up during my darkest times. What I love about them is the fact they’re both extremely ‘low maintenance’. I can’t remember the last time we met, but today, conversations flowed effortlessly. I am grateful for friendships like this one.

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Brunch & Cake @ Watercolour Gourmet Bakery and Cafe. Photo credit : Kess 🙂

Note : This blog post is part of my 30 Days Microblog Challenge which I began in September 2018. To read more from this series, you can select ‘Microblog’ under Category. Or, search for #therainbowhatmicroblogs on Instagram. 🙂 Topics for this series are a mix of my own brainchild and prompts from my Insta-friends.