Cultural Pageant

Cultural pageant last night was a blast. I mean the turn-out could have sunk the Titanic. I laughed a great deal, I had lots of fun. The contestants… well, suffice to say, I was impressed with their courage and determination, if anything. A huge crowd was seen gathering at the entrance when I arrived. It went as far as Lecture Hall 3. Well-done to the director and her team, really.

Most people were dressed to the nines, which really had made me felt kinda underdressed. I was in sandals, shorts, a polo-T, and carried a sling-bag. No I wasn’t trying to sport any kind of theme. I only intended to drop by the place and have a look-see while waiting for my meeting to begin. As expected, I exited the hall (where the Cultural Pageant was held) later than intended. No thanks to the captivating performances on stage.

I left shortly after 9:30pm. During the short period of time spent at the Pageant show, I couldn’t help but notice a few things. The wireless microphone was sucky. One of the judges wasn’t very friendly. That aside, the organising team was great. Crowd management was excellent, and the delay was absolutely understandable (it could have been longer, if it werent for the efficiency of the committee members). The decorations at the back of the hall were perfect for photo-shoots.

Many actually turned out in traditional outfits, which proves that the event had been a great success. Camera flashes made the whole show look like some Victoria Secret fashion show, too. (The closest it could get to being comparable with a Victoria Secret fashion show was when the first contestant – who wore some transparent top – came on stage!)

P/s: Thanks to Chiawyin for the videoclip captured during the show. Awesome stuff :p

A Lecturer?

I bet you’ve never heard a lecturer cussed before. Okay, I may be wrong. I’ll rephrase that. I bet you rarely come across a lecturer who cusses during a lecture. A particular lecturer of mine, who happens to be quite popular for all the wrong reasons, recently blurted out something I found disturbing. It’s bad enough that he rudely picks his students to answer his questions during lectures, uttering something irreverent before a huge audience of students certainly isn’t necessary.

Australia was in a hotsoup for using the phrase “So where the bloody hell are you?” in its new 2006 travel campaign. It wouldn’t have been so much of an issue if it weren’t for the words “bloody” and “hell”. Save the former, the word “hell” alone is crudely inappropriate. (After debating, it finally got the green light to go on air uncensored in UK).

A student was asked to answer his poorly-phrased question (sometimes I wonder if he’d picked up English when he was 20 – all ripe and green). He said “You, the girl with the sad face”. I was amused. I was surprised that he worded it that way. It was a rarity. It was distasteful. I wasn’t sure if I was offended, but I surely did laugh. After she tried to answer his question, the climax came. And this is where he dropped a coupla notches in my book.

The lecturer looked towards the rest of the class and said “What the hell?” – with reference to what my classmate had just answered. Whoa. Now that’s a first for me – in all my 15 years of education. I’m sure he didn’t mean it. I’m sure he didn’t know the significance of that line (although I hope he did). But I’m sure he could have avoided saying such a thing. Honestly, I laughed to that too. Tell me about it, the rest of us laugh alot in his class – again, for all the wrong reasons. To his credit, he’s got lots of ideas and knowledge, no doubt about that. But his speech needs improvement.

I really hope my classmate wasn’t too offended.

Stung

I wish you all the happiness in the world. I cannot be more contented seeing you flash your million dollar smiles – as if they were for me.

But it stings me to bits seeing him with you. As selfish and human as anyone could be, I wish that if I ever have to bump right into you, it’d be without him around.