My Grey World

Note: this is a quick post – I didn’t bother to research for details. Please bear with that.

In my life, I have only lived in two countries – Indonesia and Singapore, where the availability of good TV shows is heartbreaking. I guess it’s just natural to turn to US-produced TV shows, which I generally like because the actors are great, the backdrop well-planned, and the plot believable.

Basically, they’re great. Except when it comes to portraying Indonesia.

I just finished an episode of Community today where the adorable Chevy Chase (who, in contrast, plays the racist and homophobe Pierce) blurts out “Did you know there’s an island in Indonesia where you can hunt people?”. While that might be true (as said, I didn’t do much research…), I think that joke is in poor taste. Why is it that whenever Indonesia is mentioned, it’s always on the line of ridiculous “facts” that imply Indonesians are civilized or – wait for it – terrorists?

Another favourite show of mine is Covert Affairs. It’s a typical CIA action flick, but the lead female is hot and so is her trusty blind confidante that I don’t mind seeing typical action scenes (running down the stairs while the chaser looks from above – geddit?) every week. On the much awaited 2-hour-long season finale, the lead female goes with her co-star to exotic locales such as Bangladesh and Bali, Indonesia. I waited for beautiful scenes of Bali (one of my fave places, btw) and instead, through confusing banters, implied that the military is up to something terrorist-ish. Oh come on, seriously? Are you really implying all people in Indonesia are terrorists?

We are not uncivilized. Indonesia currently consistently makes the top 5 of the number of users of Facebook and Twitter. And that happened despite the serious lack of infrastructure. What we say on Twitter sways the trending topics on Twitter! I should admit, though, that those people who contribute to the statistics are a very little percentage of Indonesia’s 200 million population (hey is it still 200 million though?). But anyway, seriously! Though battered by corruption and financial troubles, my home country is pretty decent. It has pretty beaches and mountains, it has big cities with skyscrapers, it has great food, it has friendly people. In short, it is very, very far from the image of uncivilized terrorists’ den.

Do these US writers even know where Indonesia is?

Probably not.

It has been approximately 4 years since I don the nick “sylvdoanx”, and yet I have never got the chance to really explain how this nickname came about.

Let’s start with the etymology. sylvdoanx consists of two parts, Sylv and doanx. Sylv of course came from my name Sylvia. I’ve always liked to put my name as Sylv, as it’s shorter to write and looks more compact. In my own opinion, the name “Sylvia” looks too formal and gives the impression of vintage or old. In reality though, I never introduce myself as Sylv. For Indonesian people, I always introduce myself as Syl-vee (Sylvia sounds too formal). Yet for English-speaking people, I introduce myself as Sylvia, or rather Seel-vyah (two syllables!). Now for  the doanx part… It’s gonna take a longer story to explain.

Doanx is a stylized version of “doang”, a slang Indonesian word meaning “only”. I suppose I can say that sylvdoanx means “only Sylv” and it asserts my uniqueness and individuality, but that was not the story.

It started 21 years ago when my parents decided to name me Sylvia. Only Sylvia. No last names, surnames, middle names whatsoever. The reason – only my dad will know (mom said she wanted me to have a long name but dad decided against it). Flash forward to my 3rd year of high school. Despite having exactly 2 3rd-year Science stream classes, the folks at school conveniently decided to put a Sylvia and a Silvia M. in the same class. And that’s how it started. Calling me Sylvia would be awkward because there’s another Sylvia. My name unofficially became “Sylvia Doang”, and they started to call me “Doang”. It continued throughout the year, and some of them still call me that until now.

And so that’s how it evolved to sylvdoanx.

I don’t remember when I first used sylvdoanx. I remember I signed up for a site (I don’t remember which one – it was not Friendster) and when they asked for a username, I typed Sylv, and quickly followed by doanx. With the stylized version, of course. May I remind you I was only 16! Haha.

But I think this thing I scribbled on my scientific calculator predated all my online activities:

Well, that’s the story of how sylvdoanx came about.

There’s another reason why I wrote this post. I have decided that I will change my sylvdoanx nickname very soon. Details of why will be posted together with my new nickname announcement. I’ll just say – I don’t feel like sylvdoanx anymore, it has been 4 years and I think I have evolved. I’m still in a process of choosing the appropriate nickname. Update you soon!

Did the story of how my nickname came about go as you expected? For non-Indonesian-speaking friends, what did you think the “doanx” was about?

It was quite a sudden visit decision. The bf and I just wanted to go out from the house and we looked for somewhere fun and we had not visited. The integrated resorts were out because they are not fun. And expensive. And ta-da, we thought, why don’t we visit museums? So we googled for museums in Singapore. We wanted to visit a museum not too far from home (preferably in central area), and open ’til quite late (it was already 4 PM when we wanted to leave the house). We settled on Singapore Philatelic Museum. It’s central, it opens until 7 pm, and we can get a free admission using our student card. It was perfect.

After a late lunch at QiJi Funan (awesome nasi lemak/popiah btw), we crossed the road to the museum. It was an interesting vintage-looking building.

And in front of it was this fiery red old postbox.

I’m not sure whether it’s still operational though!

I gotta admit, I initially never understood the whole point of collecting stamps. But with this visit, my eyes have been opened. Stamps offer a peek to life and cultures of countries around the world. Also it’s a great way to commemorate a special event (at a lower cost!). I’m thinking of buying the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games stamps now.. I hope they still have it!

There’s this part that I didn’t really explore though.. It was the heritage section. Simply because it smelt bad!

There are also interesting postcards and letters on display. Made me imagine how life was at that time. No phone, let alone internet.. How did they stand weeks, and even months, without news from the loved ones?

This is an example.. A portrait of Orchard Road way back when.

Interesting glance to the past, ain’t it. Those rickshaws and antique cars! I also came to know that my school’s (SMU’s) current site used to be a large strip of green field called Dhoby Greens, and there was a ladies tennis club built upon it! Perhaps that’s why there’s still a green field in the middle of the campus complex – and it’s called SMU Campus Green.

All in all, it was an interesting visit! Looking forward to visit other museums in Singapore. We’re getting tired of the shopping malls, as any person who have lived in Singapore for 4 years should be.

Any suggestions about museums in Singapore I and my boyfriend should visit?

Photos by Shaun Wong and Melvin Yap on Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Sometimes I think I, and perhaps other people, waste too much time obsessing about things we can’t have. The Jimmy Choo heels, Louis Vuitton bags, diamond rings, or even somebody…

So much time can be delegated instead to appreciate what we already have.

Obsessing and whining about things we can’t have does NOT help us get the things in any way. So why waste the time, the effort, the heart?

I think it’s either take action to get that thing, or step back, evaluate, realize, and start appreciate things that you already have.

I’m choosing the latter. How about you?

Hey guys,

just wanna share with you some contests or giveaways you can enter. These contest/giveaways are open to Singapore residents (and that’s why I joined them). For other countries, please check again with the organizer. Thanks!

BeautyBegins has an amazing giveaway that contains one set of nail polishes and a set of eyeshadow, and many other things! Enter by becoming a follower of her blog (you have to have a Google account) and commenting at her 100th Follower Giveaway post. Closing: 25th of July 2010.

Cherry Mischiveous has a giveaway of 10 Poundsterling Amazon voucher (supposedly can be used in Amazon everywhere, and Amazon does ship to Singapore). To enter, follow her blog (again, Google account), and comment at the July Follower Giveaway post. Closing: 31st of July 2010.

Recaptured Charm is giving away a beautiful Sterling Silver 925 necklace. Go to her 400 Followers giveaway post and make a comment. Closing: Not said. Probably 18th of July 2010.

Star Shadow is giving away 4 new books for you to read. You can enter by submitting the form on her 400 Followers Giveaway post. Closing: 30th of July 2010.

Nikki from Beads, Braids and Beyond has a giveaway of Curlformers (basically a novel way to curl your hair – it looks so easy!). There are so many ways you can enter the giveaway – up to 9 chances! Visit her Curlformers Styling Kit giveaway post. Closing: July 29th. (Actually I’m not sure whether this is open internationally – but I hope so!)

Well ok that’s it for now. Good luck if you guys are also entering!

Just some things to ponder about.

When I was in Jakarta, my littlest sister one day threw tantrums to her boyfriend because he had not replied her text messages for several hours. Or not @-replying her on Twitter. Whichever it was.

I was like, “Seriously, sis? Maybe he’s just busy doing something else?”. And my sister shot me a blank look, depicting something like “Even if he’s busy he should be able to reply me”.

Isn’t that the bane of today’s world? It’s unbearably instant (borrowing phrase from my friend Putu). Decades ago, lovers will send each other love letters and wait weeks, even months, for a reply. To even receive a reply is a lovely surprise.

Right now we have text messages, IMs, Twitter, and many other applications that claim to bring people closer together, but create attention-deficit impatient people instead. We don’t even send long e-mails anymore (except perhaps when your groupmate is acting really obnoxious. SMU joke – if you don’t get it never mind). When was the last time you sent an e-mail like a real mail? Something like how are you, how is it like at your place, what has been going on, and yadda yadda yadda. Never? I am not surprised. Too often the longest emails I received are from my aunt who just caught the e-mail forwarding virus (yes, in 2010!).

Do we not have enough time to stop and wait? Or are we expected NOT to have time? Because everything is unbearably instant…

Here’s a suggestion. You don’t even need to send a real hand-written letter via post (do people even know that postal service still exists?). Try sending long e-mails. Write to a friend. Tell him/her how you are doing, what have you been up to. Ask him/her about what he/she has been planning to do, or even about his/her quirky hobbies.

Send the e-mail.

And then wait for the reply.

Savour the time.

The giveaway has ended and of course I have to announce the winners!

Using an excel sheet and Random.org, I have chosen 2 winners.

1. Kelvin (email: iphone@maixxxxxx.com)
2. Jasmine (twitter handle: @galovesongs)

Congratulations, Kelvin and Jasmine! Will contact you via e-mail/twitter soon to get your mailing address. Please reply promptly!

Note: Oops! I have got Kelvin’s name confused with Michael! I really apologize to both of you. Michael, you can join another giveaway I linked below ok? Thanks!

If you haven’t won, don’t worry! Robert is also having a Skype iPhone cover giveaway at his blog, so join if you want to! Of course the ones that have won should not join again, that won’t be fair

Anyway, congrats, and I hope there will be more giveaways in the future!