Week 3

The third week of the semester was pretty shitty for me, with many unexpected engagements which left me wondering what the hell I am doing in NTU. But it ended on a better note, with me receiving Cecile's letter and finally deciding to get a new phone to replace my maiden one which was emitting funny noises. Reading Cecile's letter put some things into perspective, and I'm proud of myself for being able to read her french (three cheers for me!).

"What do you think about Olympic games? And all that stuff around China? They are so weird I can't understand the way the government thinks, it's really scary for us," said Cecile. And the French bosses cannot understand why they go on holidays each year for 3 weeks and close their shops, only to return to find all their customers gone.

I guess it's a typical reaction from the Western world. I see myself as Chinese but I don't identify with China. And I have the advantage of understanding the way the Chinese government works even though I may not agree with their ways totally. I pride myself in being able to understand both the cultural nuances of both East and West, so maybe that's what makes Singaporeans unique-because we know how to "deal with" almost anyone in this world (well at least I believe I can...). Recently, there have been many articles written in the ST about the way Singapore won it's second Olympic medal after all these years and also articles on whether we see ourselves as Chinese or Singaporean or Chinese-Singaporean or Singaporean Chinese. I think that whatever we see ourselves as, at the end of the day, what really matters is how well we are able to communicate and connect with any citizen of this world. Alors moi mademoiselle Cecile, la Chine n'est macabre pas!

End of week 3, week 4 here I come! Allez Allez Allez!