Of housing

Dave and I were just lamenting last night about how the lack of a real rental market (ie, one that is not mostly catered to low-end foreign workers and middle-class/top expatriates) means that we can't really get a place of our own here without buying a government-subsidised flat that is within our budgets. And buying a flat would entail getting married, which isn't in our plans. So what are we to do?

But I digress.

Stumbled on this blogpost via Singapore Daily earlier and I actually agree with a lot of the points that he makes. For one, a lot of people don't leave their homes until they get married largely driven by a government policy that homes are for marriage and procreation only! Why else would we deny singles from obtaining their first homes till the age of 35?

Aside from the pertinent points the blogger makes in the post, one serious consequence that I had to witness recently was that this lack of rental market ties singles and the unwed to their abusive families.

Sadly, I have a friend who is going through a personal crisis right now, where she's not ready to marry (also because I think her boyfriend is a douchenozzle). But at the same time, her mother is emotionally abusive and is actually a large part for her recent mental breakdowns - which were serious and actually required clinical help. It's become so bad that we would watch her shuttle from a relative's to a friend's home just to get away from her family.

And she's not the first person who's gone through this, and she definitely wouldn't be the last. One of my older cousin recently told me about how she wished she could move out of her family home much earlier - she's another person who had to seek counselling too.

So really, when the housing market is geared towards the one single driver of 'must marry then can buy house', you leave a lot of people out cold.


THINK HAPPINESS: How to marry when no freedom to love?: "It was recently disclosed that fewer people in their twenties and thirties are getting married in Singapore, and more are getting divorced ...."

Possibly one of my favourite Yo La Tengo songs

Working at the library, but also listening to this Yo La Tengo song on loop. Also a reminder that you shouldn't be so stupid in love, or likewise? Pain after a breakup (or anything similar) will go away eventually?

Stars will fall from the sky
the day that you realize
your pain will subside
if not for the weakest part
of your heart

note to myself

Getting back into the groove of things is hard when you've fallen off the bandwagon. 

But better late than never! 

Books read

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with dutifully updating all the books I've read and movies I've watched (although I've taken to defending 'Something Borrowed' as 'a rom-com that isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be, although it's still pretty bad').

But I finished Frank Bruni's Born Round early this morning, no thanks to my really strange sleeping patterns. It all started when I accidentally fell asleep in bed reading my iPad at around 11 last night. Woke up at 2.45am later, started reading for a while and chatted with Dave online and came across a really good idea for a potential non-fiction book. Started drafting out potential outlines and topic chapters, listing out people whom I think would provide really good interview fodder, and BAM, before I knew it, it was 5am already.

So I tried going back to bed, but couldn't fall asleep, no thanks to the ideas germinating in my head. So I ended up finishing Born Round, which I initially thought would be something similar to Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires. Afterall, they both held the position of food critic for New York Times, right? 

As it turns out, my expectations were so far from the truth. Instead of an expose of what it takes to be a food critic (like Garlic&Sapphires), Bruni's autobiography traces his difficult and often tumultuous relationship that he has with food - from loving it too much to his feelings of disgust with himself for his food and his yo-yoing weight loss and gains. At certain points in his life, he even battled bouts of bulimia and whatnot. 

Probably wouldn't read the book again, but damn. Throughout the book, Bruni would describe the home-made Italian food that his mother and grandmother would prepare, which would just make me want to go back to Rome to gorge myself on the awesome food again. :( 

Day 3

Not sure why I can't pin this on Pinterest, but this was written in 5 minutes in the style of a McSweeny's article and came about while I was playing Angry Birds. 

Freelance Whales & PS22 Chorus "Generator (First Floor) & (Second Floor)"

The PS22 chorus singing Freelance Whales songs with the actual band members? Oh, be still my heart.

30 Days of Creativity - Day 1

Source: instagr.am via lisie on Pinterest

Earlier today, I was at Dempsey Road co-ordinating the details of a magazine photo shoot today. While waiting for the (actual) photographer to finish his smoke, I spotted this tiny shrine in a grass clearing just a few metres away. But that mere distance made a world a difference from the expensive urban, concrete jungle where I was standing that after shooting this photo and stepping out of the grassy field, the photographer quipped: "Welcome back, traveller."

Hello June!

Hello June, you're going to be a great month! Out with the bad and in with the good! Huzzah!



Here comes the sun - The Beatles