Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Illogical and scandalous promotion method for website

A website that sells cars is trying to lure more customers by enticing them with an event where topless girls wash cars. The catch is that the customers must introduce 5 more friends so that they are eligible for a lucky draw, with this event as the prize.

The founder defends his idea by saying that girls are always associated with cars. I don't dispute that though I really can't fathom the origin or logic behind it. He goes on to say something provocative towards my sensibilities, that sex sells and advertising methods are meant to attract attention.

If something is insensible for people's minds and value systems, but is still popular with them, then it has to be advocated, or so he seems to imply by this. The girls may be gaining attention but it is based on their chest areas. That is attention which wouldn't be missed, should it not be gained. Moreover, the attention would be on the girls and not on the cars. Would the latter still be sold without the girls, or do the customers think that both will be sold to them? Haha.

The uploaded pictures of the event on the website will be censored so as not to offend sensibilities, but aren't the organizing and the holding of the event already offensive? To think that his wife supports his idea and says that it is something she will enjoy as well. It seems that her values are as warped as her husband's.

Monday, September 14, 2009

SingaNews.com

This IS a Christian website despite the persistent denials, for the following reasons:

1. It was introduced during a Christian event held in a church.

2. Mr Yap, the managing director and editor-in-chief, first introduced himself as a church elder before listing his occupation.

3. The organiser of the event has an objective of promoting Christian ministry and enterprise, and the website is based on procreation between man and woman, which is advocated by Christians.

Therefore, I do not see why Mr Yap has to continuously emphasise the lack of any Christian agenda by his website. Is he afraid that it will be linked to the AWARE saga or to Professor Thio's stand on homosexuality? By doing this, he is really causing more room for suspicion. The more he does this, the more people will suspect that he is trying to conceal the fact that it may really be a Christian website. Frankly, it is one. It is the truth so why should he bother lying about that? Should he not be proud of that since he is a church elder?

Sunday, September 13, 2009

German advertisement on Aids

In order to show how venomous Aids can be, this advertisement personifies it in the form of evil dictators' faces like Adolf Hitler, Josaph Stalin and Saddam Hussein.

Opinions on it abound. Some claim this actually makes Aids sufferers feel worse about themselves. Actually, the message is really to prevent more Aids sufferers and not to advocate this claim. It was really not the intention of the advertisement to have caused them to feel that way.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

FB from Mars's and Venus's points of views

Nicholas Fang has a friend who sees FB as a tool to allow him to look for friends he has met and want to maintain contact with too, but in this is really an invasion of personal space. What if they don't want to maintain contact? This very flaw has put some of my friends off FB.

The writer goes on to mention that the photo albums of our friends allow us an insight into their characters. Indeed, this is the most vital part of a person's FB profile for me. I immediately go to the photo albums of a new friend I've added, to ensure I've not added someone whose values clash with mine. At the same time, I will not dispute that the photos added on FB may be a tool of manipulation to make others think the best of the owner, where the true character of the owner is concealed under these seemingly harmless photos.

He ends off with the opinion that live social interaction and contact surpass information on FB, where getting to know someone is concerned. I agree with that, as body language and facial expressions shown when physically being with a person, cannot be gained access to via FB. Such unconscious revelations will determine the true feelings of a person towards another, as they cannot lie.

Otelli Edwards comments on how some of the status updates she is privy to, are too personal and reveal intimately private details of people's lives. These people are really just trying to gain attention but ironically, it turns me off.

She mentions how the travel photos of some people are put on their profiles for all to see. I do that too but it is not as a form of boasting, as she seems to be implying. I merely want to share my wonderful experiences with my friends.

She reveals that she has 320 friends, which is a conservative statistic, but guess what? I have only 148 friends. Does that make me close to a hermit in comparison? Definitely not. I know each and every one of them, and reject those I don't personally know, unless they verify their identities. I would rather have few but real friends, rather than many friends I barely know.

She goes on to remark on some applications on FB like pokes, gifts and quizzes. I do not really like to receive pokes, as I find them meaningless too. They are exactly like the nudges on MSN. I send such gifts as a form of cheering my friends up and take interesting quizzes for the fun and curiosity of it. I do not see how these are meaningless though. Of course, the quizzes I am referring to are historical- or media-based, rather than absolutely ludicrous or incomprehensible ones. Oh yes, I don't understand the rationale behind hate pages too. I didn't even know there was such a thing!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Local reading habits

A survey conducted revealed that Singaporeans read magazines and newspapers, rather than fiction. This is very true because whenever I step into a bookshop, the magazine section is always crowded and the fiction section is just visited by a few customers. To be fair, the non-fiction section has more people than the fiction section, which brings me to the next revelation.

Horror of horrors, they read only for information and enrichment, rather than pleasure. As a fanatic bookworm, I am absolutely aghast at this. The gems that are available in the fiction section are blatantly neglected. It is a tragedy that people have closed their eyes and minds to them. This is also true for the children's section on fiction.

I blame the advent of technology as the sole reason for this demise. It is bad enough that television dramas, movies and dvds already exist and have snatched the limelight. Despite the fact that some shows are screen adaptations of novels, fiction books can pull me into a different world altogether, something which technology can't do as well. With the Internet which gives access to online games and videos, this demise may become permanent.

Me and Mr Darcy by Alexandra Potter

This is the first book in a really long time that I've read for consecutive days! It is gorgeously written. Potter meticulously parallels the love journey of Pride and Prejudice's lovers with her protaganists'. At the same time, she entwines the science of time-warps into it, as a lesson for the female protaganist, both in the character of Mr Darcy and in the authoress Jane Austen herself. It does get creepy as the female protaganist seeks to rationalise the subject of time-warps in her mind, and finds that there is no logical explanation for her experiences, even for me as a vicarious reader.

There is also a part where Pride and Prejudice the classic is in danger of being made extinct before its completion, but of course, this is just to provide the thrills for us readers. This particular part alludes to the book Seducing Mr Darcy, except that instead of the story coming to life, that book puts the protaganist into the world of fiction.

As a female reader, I understand her strong message which is conveyed through
the thoughts of her female protaganist. Mr Darcy is not as perfect as we women think. The era he came from conditioned his extremely conservative behaviour towards relationships and his chauvinistic attitudes towards women. It is better to leave him out of reality and not compare the men around us to him. The modern world has its advantages and so do its men.