GLEE Music and Heartlessness.

this is going to be a very "music"-heavy posts, talking about songs and my musical tastes. if you're not interested, feel free to close the window :)

recently, i've been catching up on all the GLEE episodes i'd missed previously. i admit, i was not really enthusiastic on watching them, and the main reason i downloaded them all was because i love Rachel and i wanted to see some Finnchel as i read that they were getting married.

i have to say, i was blown away. i was so pleasantly surprised and actually paid full, undivided attention while watching (what i usually do is watch 5 mins, minimize the window, check FB, tweet etc and just listen to the voices) which is pretty rare, and is a privilege i extend to a select number of shows - Grey's, Pretty Little Liars and Hart of Dixie. anyway, the show has slowly but surely crept its way into my good books and watching it hasn't been just "something to do", but something i look forward to. sure, some of the storylines are pretty preposterous, but on the whole, there were some performances that really made me SIT UP and it's just.... i'm really happy that the show has found its way again ^.^v

so today  i'm gonna give you guys a list of GLEE covers from Season 3 that i think are a cut above the rest :) GLEE performs ALOT of songs over a course of 15 episodes or so, and some are really lacklustre or just... redundant. i don't remember all the songs from GLEE (some are just forgettable), but one song that i remember being not very good was Fix You. i like Coldplay and this is one of my favourite Coldplay songs, but OMG Mr Schuester's version was just NOT GOOD. i did not particularly fancy Candyman (by the Troubletones) or Last Friday Night (Blaine) either as they were just....... covers. they didn't make the song their own and when compared to the original, just lacks that something special.

one mash-up i seriously DID NOT LIKE was the Rumour Has It/Someone Like You mash-up. i thought they murdered the songs! the whole beauty of Adele's break-up songs is that her voice just crackles with emotion and you really FEEL it, and while mashing these two songs together, the emotion just vanished.

anyhoo! i really liked these songs -

1. You and I/You and I (Lady Gaga/Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle): Shelby and Will
i LOVED what they did with this song and literally downloaded it the second the episode ended! totally blew my mind! which is no mean feat as i really really like You and I by Lady GaGa :) 

2. Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson): Santana and yummy but evil Sebastian
HOMAIGOSH THIS WAS AMAZING. addictive and just.... amazing. to be honest, i'm not that huge a fan of Michael Jackson. i know he's super talented and one in a million but.. i don't know maybe it's because when i was growing up, he was being accused of molesting a child etc so i had never looked at him with respect or reverence. but this cover was AMAZING. and i really think that they've utilized Santana's voice really well this season! she's been singing alot more and i think she's my 2nd favourite female singer after Rachel! :D 

3. We Are Young (fun. ft Janelle Monae) : New Directions
i thought this was such a cute song! i'm ashamed to say that i'd never heard of fun. before this song though. i had heard this song on the radio but wasn't that interested in it, BUT i loved the GLEE cover! 

4. Do They Know It's Christmas (Band Aid) : New Directions
thought the lyrics were amazing :) nice song too. 

5. Without You (Usher) : Rachel Berry
let me just say that i think that this song is one of the MOST OVERPLAYED songs on the radio! it's not that i don't like the song, it's just that i hear it three to six times a day and UGH there's only so much you can take! anyway i thought Rachel's cover was really good ;P 

6. Cough Syrup (Young the Giant) : Blaine Anderson
AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. Blaine, to me, is an overrated character. perhaps it's just me, but ALL my friends love LOVE LOVE him and i honestly don't see what's so great about him. sure he's suave and an amazing singer, but i guess he just hasn't gripped me the way Rachel has :) but this song is AMAZING. definitely one of the best songs from the season! 

7. Human Nature (Boyz II Men) : Mercedes and Sam
i liked how their voices blended together and this song surprisingly made me want to "groove", lol :D 

8. Here's To Us (Halestorm) : Rachel and the New Directions
THIS SONG IS SO SWEET :) i read reviews talking about how disconnected the song felt, but i really loved it. Lea's vocals were amazing and i thought it was amazingly sweet!

so there it is. the top songs from GLEE Season 3 so far :) i'm sure loads of people would disagree, but then again, this is what I think and it is MY blog after all.

anyway, one song the really moved me was Cough Syrup. the way it was used in the background of Karofsky's attempted suicide was heart-breaking. the severity of the consequences of teen bullying really bugged me as i had never personally faced it before. homosexuality is one's personal choice, and even though i'm a devout Christian and i know that the Bible calls it an abomination, i believe that we shouldn't put restrictions on however homosexuals want to live their lives. sure, i don't think it's right, but if it isn't hurting/damaging me in any way, just let them be happy... i had no idea how CRUEL high school students could be when i saw the way he was bullied. it really makes you ponder whether the things in life that are generally considered priorities (money, family) really do matter when you see such cruelty and heartlessness among teenagers. i haven't been that huge a fan of Karofsky because of how he terrorized Kurt, but honestly, his suicide scene broke my heart. HOW can kids be so cruel?! HOW?! 

doesn't it just make you lose faith in humanity? if KIDS can be so cruel, what about adults? because that's exactly what we are - KIDS. we are still children. teenagers haven't even faced the big bad world and yet......  you cannot put it down to immaturity because it isn't about your maturity level. it's about your values. what's deeply ingrained IN you. the choice to bully someone is YOURS. 

yesterday, i was watching CI (Crime and Investigation Network) and it really made me think and reflect on life. program after program, you see murders, rapes, extortion cases, spree-killings, and you wonder : how has the world come to this? one thing i do see in common with all the perpetrators of the crimes is that MOST (not all) of them come from broken homes or are orphans or had parents that worked too much and didn't bother about them. so in these cases, you can say that it's the parent's fault. BUT, what about that parent? the parent might have had parents that did the same thing to them, and the cycle continues. it's never-ending. playing the blame game is something that each and everyone of us will do because that's just how we're wired. someone has to take the fall. people always like to push the blame onto someone else, they might say that their parents did not teach them well, their friends influenced them, the media influenced them, but at the end of the day, parenting only plays so much of a role. there are some people who come from close to perfect families. happy families. but, they still turn out completely wrong.

who is to blame then? friends? the media? i personally feel that it all boils down to the strength of your OWN will. influences can only go so far. think about Adam (as in Adam and Eve). Adam had THE perfect Father, GOD. however, he CHOSE to believe the Serpent. sure, Satan played a huge role, BUT i bet that if Adam had a stronger will, he would not have done what he did. and what he did started the never-ending cycle.

SIGH. 

there's no such as thing is being perfect, because we're humans. humans are imperfect. we are the very definition of imperfect. the only thing we can do is live our life the best way we can and not harm anyone near us, physically or mentally. i'm definitely guilty of hurting people with my words. physically, i'm small-sized, so there's absolutely no chance of me hurting anyone in that way. BUT, my mouth is huge. my tongue is razor sharp. so i guess what i can do is TRY to keep it in check. because that's all i CAN do. as an imperfect person, my tongue will slip. i WILL say hurtful things. it's just a matter of when.

and the same thing applies to each and every one of you. everyone of you has a strength. something that can hurt people around you. even the most timid of persons can be keyboard warriors and post hurtful comments of other people anonymously online. never EVER think that what you do will never have a consequence. because even though you're only one in say, 20 people who said that so and so is ugly, fat, smelly etc, you contributed. you were one of them.

so at the end of the day, just try... that's really all anyone wants.

the lyrics to the song Cough Syrup is empowering in a way, and yet it also symbolizes giving up, surrendering. 

the first line is "life's too short to even care at all", but after that it says "i'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down". what it means (to me at least, it's open for interpretation) is that the writer is waiting for something to make him/her fall asleep and not feel. so the song starts out strong but falters to him/her being resigned to the hardship, wanting to disassociate and not FEEL.

i think it's beautiful.

love,
Vera.

Obsessions... i don't function without them!

I just created a formspring, www.formspring.me/Veraland so ask me questions! :)

don't ask me why, but i downloaded Lindsay Lohan's 2004 teen comedy, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and after watching it, BOY DO I FEEL OLD.

i remember this movie being one of my FAVORITES when i was like 11, haha. back when i was younger i was really into the whole Disney teen scene and i remembered being crazy in love with Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan (these were the pre-Taylor Swift days) and my absolute favourite movie of all time (at that time) was A Cinderella Story. my first ever obsession was with Chad Michael Murray, the star of ACS. if you read my 2007 posts you can actually see pictures of him on my blog. god, where did he go to? i still recall being insane and wanting to marry him (my obsession with marrying people is obviously psychological and stems from a very young age), and believe it or not, but i used to watch ACS everyday. like seriously, every. single. day.

i could memorize all the lines, all the scenes, and i could practically recite them in my sleep. Another Cinderella Story (the one with Selena Gomez) was such a disappointment and i remember thinking that it would never match up to the original... wow.

everyone says this about Disney stars, but i honestly feel that today's Disney stars don't even hold a torch to the former teen queens of my youth (i'm old)! Hilary Duff was HUGE. and i don't remember her ever being embroiled in any scandal, apart from the time when she dated Joel Madden and everyone was super disgusted with her. regardless, i thought they were a super cute couple and was pretty sad that they broke it off. even now (and she's SUPER YOUNG, only 24!), she's relatively clean, with no drug/partying problem, like Lindsay.



i actually really love this song! then again, i have very bubblegum poppy tastes in music, but seriously, i used to love Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan!

did you guys love these teen queens too?

the Disney stars after them were... good, but not great. one thing i absolutely loved about Hilary was how she never pushed the whole "teen queen" label away. hey, Lizzie McGuire made her millions and a household name, so why push it away? current teen stars that insist on "not being labeled" are just stupid. like Miley! i used to LOVE Miley, till she got all slutty and i-can't-be-tamed-y'all, which seriously got on my nerves. the Disney corporation is a money-sucking, Illuminati-driven company, but talent is talent. and most Disney kids have talent.



i know every line, for goodness sake!

sigh, kids nowadays definitely have a very hard time finding role models (which is why i absolutely love Taylor Swift) because most of the people they see on TV are just. screwed up messes. the only decent ones today are people like... i don't actually know any of them, haha. i don't watch Disney/Nickelodeon so i don't really know who's "in" right now (god i sound old). except maybe Victoria Justice? who's super SUPER pretty. in our time we had Rugrats (OMG LOVED THAT SHOW), Amanda Bynes, High School Musical......

is it just me or do i sound like those old people that punctuate every sentence with :" when i was young,...... " ?

feeling old is never good, so i shall leave you guys with these videos. watch them, trust me. after listening to these songs you won't be able to stop searching for these old songs, haha.





Lindsay was SUPER hot before drugs/smoking/partying! mad hot! i still don't get why she dyed her hair blonde. she was amazing as a red-head, and most guys i know go crazy for redheads! i would've loved to be born with red hair and green eyes, just like her...

OMG just when i was reminiscing about her red hair, i googled her and this was what i found!

SHE WENT BACK TO GINGER!



perhaps she'll start looking normal again...

***
was watching Season 3 Episode 5 of GLEE (i told you, i'm lazy and uninterested) because i felt like it, and OMG HOTTIE ALERT. LIKE HOTTIE ALERT. 

HOTTIE. ALERT.

*let me gather my senses again*

so there's this new villain who's supposed to come between Kurt and Blaine (the most overrated couple on GLEE, if you ask me), and MY GOD. HE IS. HE LOOKS. PERFECT. his name on the show is Sebastian Smythe, but his real name is Grant Gustin. and his face looks like it was carved by an angel. *swoon*







i'm not normally someone who's a fan of too perfect-looking guys, but my goodness. look at that face! WHO CAN RESIST, YOU TELL ME???!!!!!!!!!

WHOOOOO??!!!!!!





i also don't really like guys who wear beanies (because the ones I KNOW always look like they're trying too hard) but OMG. look at that...... LOOK AT THAT PERFECT SPECIMEN OF MASCULINITY.

i'm going to change my desktop background to a picture of him. 

love,
Vera.

Frivolous nonsense that will not enrich your life in any way.

i had actually planned on blogging on something about nostalgia (you know me, the more tragic, the better), but all of a sudden i didn't feel like talking about it (maybe tomorrow) and decided to share some views and thoughts! if you're a Facebook friend, it's pretty much an elaborated version of any video or link i've posted on Facebook, HAHA :D what i usually do is, when i see something that catches my eye, i'll post it on my Facebook first, and if it really bugs/intrigues/awes me, i'll then blog about it :)

ANYWAY.

i don't know if you guys know that i used to watch American Idol religiously when i was younger. not all the seasons, but for the seasons i did follow from the first episode, i honestly would NEVER miss an episode till the finale. the seasons i followed were the ones with Chris Daughtry (S5 i think) and another one with the 2 Davids (i rooted for David Archuleta, in case you were wondering) and i ended up going crazy for Chris Daughtry and David Archuleta. i've actually seen them live and THEY ARE AMAZING. now i'm in love with Katharine McPhee, who's in Smash. Smash is AWESOME. it's like, the mature version of the first season of GLEE. i don't actually like the current season of GLEE, but i watch because of my love for Rachel and Finnchel :) i really HATE the stupid storylines they're adding, like the whole Santana-Brittany nonsense and Quinn stealing baby Beth. UGH THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL.

point is, i was an American Idol fan but i dropped it in favour of The Voice (which is ah-mazing), but i just saw this video of an American Idol contestant, Jessica Sanchez, singing Whitney's I Will Always Love You. typically, i am someone who thinks that if you can sing, you should always ALWAYS sing a song that you know you can sing better or just as well as the original artist can, because there's no point in dipping yourself in lava, praying that you'll survive. BECAUSE YOU WON'T.

my sister told me to sing this Whitney song in public once and this was my expression :

" YOU CRAZY AH! *bitch face* I SING THIS FOR WHAT?! "

so yes. it's obvious that as a singer, i do not touch Whitney, Mariah, Celine and the likes. BUT. this version of I Will Always Love You is just amazing. i honestly had goosebumps and was just in awe of her talent. because it's amazing. it's beyond amazing. pitch perfect and virtually no errors live is just... it's God-given talent put into good use, let's just put it that way.



*shivers*

SO SO AMAZING.

i hope she wins! and she's half-Filipino (mom is Filipino) so HELLO ASIAN PRIDE! ^.^v

***

this is a completely unrelated topic, but i'm sure you guys know and APPRECIATE *ahem* my ability of jumping from one topic to another seamlessly. kinder people usually say :" i wonder what's in your head. " but the MEAN ones just call me crazy.

i'm pretty sure you people know that tons of girls wear makeup nowadays. for people in the workplace it's pretty much a necessity and for young (-er) people like me, we just want to look good. i know right after reading the next paragraph, you guys are gonna say :

" YOU HYPOCRITE VERA TAN! YOU WEAR MAKEUP ALSO! "

but whatever. i shall continue.

i am definitely of the opinion that makeup is here to enhance your natural features. if you have a flat nose, bronzer/contour shades can help define your nose and make it look sharper. mascara and false eyelashes  give you longer and fuller looking lashes, although I HATE MASCARA because nothing works on my stupid Asian lashes, but that's a story for another day. lipstick and lip gloss can give you an illusion of super kissable lips that guys love, and the list goes on and on... makeup is AWESOME.

however, there are some girls that do not need makeup at all to look gorgeous and when they apply makeup, it somehow mars their natural beauty...... don't get what i mean? watch this video and compare.



don't you think that she's STUNNING without makeup?! 

i used to subscribe to her but then i unsubscribed because i honestly wasn't learning a thing and i was so tempted to take all the makeup off her face right after she applies it because she's just GORGEOUS without makeup!

she's so beautiful, what's the point of putting on a ton of makeup?! people who slap on makeup (like me) do so because of our NON-EXISTENT EYES, NOSE AND CHEEKBONES! i need eyeliner in my life because without it my eyes are slits and barely visible to the naked eye. i need false eyelashes (though i'm usually not bothered) and mascara because MOST ASIANS HAVE NO LASHES. i need to contour my nose and cheekbones because i have a flat-ass nose and no cheekbones to speak of!

YOU HAVE EVERYTHING, SO WHY?!

as pictures speak louder than words, let me show you an example. Exhibit A on top and Exhibit B below. as you can CLEARLY see (unless you are blind as a bat), i NEED makeup. 


I. NEED. IT.

(A) Rach, dirty Bailey and I :) 

(B) Me and Rach during Joe Brooks' Concert!

in Exhibit A, my eyes are barely visible. blink and you'll miss it. no lashes to speak of. my complexion is MEH and yellow (though that might be the lighting). i have no eyebrows. my nose looks pretty good there, i don't know why but well it's not like that in real life.

in Exhibit B, BAM! MY EYES ARE HUGE! O_O you can (not very clearly BUT PRETEND OKAY) actually see my lashes *that's 3 coats of mascara right there*, i have color in my cheeks and my skin is glowy and super awesome.

DO YOU NOW SEE WHY PEOPLE LIKE ME NEED MAKEUP?!

girls like Bethany (in the video above) are super gorgeous without makeup and you have to admit she doesn't look as good with makeup! obviously she's a rarity, because most girls look much better with makeup, but for girls like her, seriously, why bother with eyeshadow and the works when you look like that?! WHY?!

#jealous

okay this is a completely frivolous and useless post chock full of nonsense SO I SHALL STOP HERE.

love, 
Vera.

Follow my blog! ^.^v

(please refresh if the fonts are ugly and Comic Sans-ish, blogger is so laggy =.=")

if you guys are interested in following my blog, i just added a FOLLOW BY EMAIL gadget on the sidebar, right below the "The Author" gadget :D basically all you have to do is type in your email, and whenever i publish a post, an email will be sent to your account informing you of my update :)

this will definitely make things easier for you guys, as you won't have to keep checking back to see if i've updated or not. my updates are pretty erratic, so i understand the frustration in that. having said that, i've been trying to update more frequently, so as you can see, although my posts are relatively short compared to my insanely long previous ones, at least the updates are a couple of days to a week apart, not like, a month apart, haha ^.^v

i'd really really appreciate it if you guys followed by email, thanks so much for reading and for all the support! :) 


love,
Vera.

Sucky Friends, Jeremy Lin, Grey's Stupidity & Being Asian.

*updated 9/3/2012 1.20am

everyone has that friend who only talks to you to -

1. complain about how sucky their life is
2. cure their boredom
3. ask for advice

usually i don't mind, but i'm honestly SICK AND TIRED of always being the one who gets moaned to, and when I need help, when I need support, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???!!!!!!

i'm just really really annoyed. my friends know that i'm someone who's incredibly walled up it's not even a joke. the best thing is that when people first meet me, they think i'm a completely open book, but the more you get to know me, i'm more a maze than an open book.

so you tweet/FB message/text me when you need something, and when everything's fine and dandy, i don't exist?!

FINE.

***

i love this article. i love it. basically, i love Jeremy Lin. before continuing this post, please read what i linked!

seriously, my love for Jeremy Lin knows no boundaries. i HONESTLY HONESTLY adore him! and now this "non-slutty" attire thing is just. the icing on top.

and this amazing article is a must-read for all Asians. i had no idea racism was so apparent in America. especially in red-neck counties.

i guess i'll find out in a year or two :/

***

THIS is so stupid. so so stupid. how on earth can it be Grey's Anatomy if Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd aren't on it and together?! Shonda do something! it's a travesty! you can't honestly expect people to WANT to watch if Meredith isn't on?!

think about it, without Meredith, a part of the twisted sisters is gone. Cristina will be lost. with Cristina lost, even Owen can't save her because only Mer truly understands her. Owen can't go to Derek for help anymore since HE'S gone as well. and Mark will be lost. because his best friend is gone + Lexie and him aren't working anymore.

WHAT KIND OF GREY'S ANATOMY IS THIS?!

i won't be watching that, FOR SURE. so, Shonda. KEEP MEREDITH AND DEREK TOGETHER!!!!!


love, 
Vera.

Change.

i just watched one of the most inspiring videos EVER.

what i absolutely marvel at is how this idea actually morphed into something that will shape and define human history in the future.

with ONE IDEA, one person, or a bunch of people, can change the world and make THE difference that they want to see in the world. the key is public interest. we have more power than you think, actually.

i feel so. inspired. and i'm just in awe.

it's possible. it is ALL possible ;)

***
i don't play the guitar, acoustic or electric. i've wanted to learn the acoustic guitar for the LONGEST time, but my mom doesn't think that the guitar is a "proper" instrument so yeah =.=" i'm not claiming to be an expert in guitar technique but MY GOD ISN'T HE AWESOME?!



love,
Vera.

Strict Asian parents?! HELL NO. - Vera's Rant

okay i just finished watching these two videos on youtube, and GOSH I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. however, before i start, i want to clarify things. i am a Malaysian-born Chinese, and i just graduated high school. Singapore used to be a part of Malaysia before its own independence (long story). SG is primarily Chinese + Indian, whereas Malaysia is primarily Malay. in my opinion, the Chinese people in SG and Malaysia are pretty similar people as they were once the same countrypeople.

when watching these videos and reading the comments left on the page, i got so angry reading comments that say that people like Ada/Esse (the SG girls) are robots and have no life, and how bad it is that parents like this control their kids so much. let me tell you that 90% of kids that were brought up this way WILL go to college and/or university, and become SOMEONE the society will be proud of. 

for me, my parents (or mother more like) are something like this. when i was younger, she used to be much stricter with me, but as i grew older, she grew more lax and YES, MY RESULTS DROPPED. let me explain.

i am what is considered an intelligent child. ever since i was young, i was the kind of kid that parents place expectations on. in primary school, my results were WAY above average, i had tuition for nearly every subject, was advanced in my piano playing (for my age), decent for my ballet and was overall a good kid. i admit, when i was younger, what i did, i did for my mother. i did everything i was told because i wanted my mother to be happy. as i grew older, my spine grew as well and i started defying. i didn't like the piano. i hated my teacher. why did i have to practice effing 8 hours a day for Grade 8? that's bloody insane.

in high school, my grades dropped because my mother stopped pushing. don't get me wrong, i wasn't last in class or anything. my results when i was Form 1-3 (13-15 yrs old) were above average, not straight-As mind you, but above average, and when i got a B or C my mother didn't scold or push me. so i got away with it. in upper secondary (16-17), my mother forced me to be in the Science stream even though i clearly was TERRIBLE in anything Science and Math. as much as i complained that i didn't want to be in the Science stream and i want to do Journalism anyway and i DO NOT NEED ADD MATH OR CHEMISTRY, i knew that deep down inside, there was no where else i could be. i definitely did not want to be in the Arts Stream because the Arts Stream in Malaysia doesn't really CATER to the ARTS sector apart from one measly subject - Art. and i HATE drawing/painting/weaving baskets etc.

in the last 2 years of high school, my results really really went down the drain. i admit it. even though every time after i got a terrible grade for my Science/Math subjects i would vow to study harder next term, I NEVER DID. you know why?

my mother never pushed me.

i still studied everything the day before exams, and scraped through. i always told myself this :" if i can get this kind of results by just studying one day before exams and not paying attention in class/doing my homework, IMAGINE WHAT I COULD ACCOMPLISH IF I ACTUALLY STUDIED 2 WEEKS BEFORE. " i consoled myself that i was actually clever, i just never set my heart to DOING work.

now that i look back at my behavior, i think i was just afraid that what if i DID study and my results were still shit? would that make me stupid? would that burst my bubble?! and i realize what an idiot i was. now that i know this, i swear i'm going to study really really hard when i'm in college because FOR ONCE i'll be doing something that i actually WANT to do, and it's honestly do or die. i NEED to get into one of the J-schools in the US colleges i'm looking at. THERE IS NO PLAN B.

anyway back to the videos.

i don't think that many Western kids (or people like Memphis and Zaine anyway) realize the importance of education. isn't studying NOW and enjoying LATER so much better than enjoying (though i don't think of partying as enjoying) now and SUFFERING later???!!!!

people always say that you're only young once, and you must enjoy your youth while you can. i get that! but who says that you can't enjoy AND study at the same time? the SG girl, Ada, is in Raffles Institution. to be honest, i wouldn't want to be in there because i'm just not competitive enough in subjects that i have no flair for (like Maths and Science), but even I know the prestige in getting into Raffles. it's HUGE. it's..... an honour. and the way those kids were just dying to skip class and sleep in class?

what on earth is that?! sleeping if you're really really tired once in a while is alright, but just saying :" oh, i don't like school, i can't stand school, i don't wanna do this." and giving up? you're a HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT. what CAN you do in the future? sure, you're still young and you have your parents to support you, but what are you going to do when you're 30? 40? the guys will probably become construction workers, toiling in the sun, always wishing WISHING for a better life, and the girls.... well. prostitution pays i suppose. don't get me wrong, it's not that i'm dissing these occupations, but i'm sure that if people with these jobs now would never have DREAMT of having these jobs in the future, right?

who wants to NOT be successful?! 


who WANTS to not be the best person you can be???!!!!

and honestly, EDUCATION is the only ONLY way you can get out. the way the Chuas live is not strict. at all. you know what strict is? the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua (omg Chua too! what's with Chuas!) is strict. growing up in a COMPLETELY Asian society (not Asian-American), even i was shocked when i read her book. but look where her daughters are! HARVARD.

in Malaysia, school rules are pretty much the same as they are in SG. obviously, it depends on the school for how the rules are enforced, but for me, i went to Catholic High, a school renowned for its discipline. no phones allowed, school uniform (Malaysian public high school students have it WORST, the girls actually wear apron-like pinafores), hair all tied back if long, fringe must be pinned back. socks must be above ankles, no dyed hair, no makeup, no nail polish, no fancy spectacles, no alot-of-things. but i don't see that it's so bad. without all these frills and fancies, the school environment is ALOT better, trust me. with uniforms, you don't have to worry about what to wear everyday. no one will have more expensive or trendier clothes than anyone else. no one will have better makeup. EVERYONE IS EQUAL. everyone is here for one thing - TO LEARN. school is, after all, a place of education, NOT a runway.

to show you how apron-like it is.

*phew* i think i'm getting way too worked up over this.

oh, and another reason why kids turn out like that is because THEIR PARENTS ALLOW THEM TO DO SO. i may be rude to my parents sometimes, but i sure as hell do NOT treat my parents the way they do. if i ever did, my mother would cane me (she does do that) till i bleed, take away my phone, computer cable and basically everything i want. she once took away my Harry Potter books. when i watch American TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and see the way that they treat their parents, i'm disgusted, but i'm also SHOCKED at how their parents let them get away with it.

watching these YT videos, these parents ALLOWED their kids to drop out of school. they ALLOWED them to smoke and party till the cows came home, they ALLOWED them to be a bum. so they also don't get to say :" i don't know why they are like this. " because hey, you let them. if you had put your foot down and brought them up to think that school is ESSENTIAL, do you think they would have turned out this way?!

when i watch videos of Asian kids playing the guitar/violin/piano/cello/whatever instrument wonderfully, there will always be someone who comments something like this :" level: ASIAN ". do you know WHY they are like this? because they practiced. they worked hard. don't think that Asian people just pop out of their mothers' wombs geniuses. NO. we are just like you. we have our ups and downs. but because we work hard at things like math and piano, THAT's why we're so good.

sure, there are Asian kids that turn out rotten. they were brought up in the best kind of environment but still turned out bad. these people can't be helped. there will ALWAYS be a rotten apple. if this world were all shiny and perfect, it wouldn't be the world that we lived in anymore.

it just really really irks me that people honestly think that being brought up the way the Chua girls were is a terrible and suffocating thing. true, the not having a boyfriend/sleepovers thing might suck, but it will decrease the number of bad influences on the younger generation, no? don't forget, people in junior college are 18-19 years old, and that's really young.

most of the people in Asia understand that Westerners take a more liberal approach to parenting and although some parents might look at it with distaste, most have respect for it. SO WHY CAN'T WESTERNERS LOOK AT THE ASIAN APPROACH TO PARENTING WITH RESPECT?! 

is it elitism?! 
just because you're white you're better than us?!

gosh i'm so angry! these people who comment on youtube don't even know HALF the story. they just say all they want to say with no regard for the truth. look at all the crap in the comments!

yeah, not all Asian parents are this strict. but TO ME (this is a disclaimer), it isn't strict at all. kids should be polite to their elders. it's RUDE to call someone who's more than 20 years older than you by their first name. mind your Ps and Qs. getting good grades is very important. SCHOOL is important. call me rigid all you want, but that's what I feel is important and what society lacks today.

i get so mad when i read comments that say that :" parents like this are the reason why children rebel! " THAT IS SO NOT TRUE. if you just forced your kids to study 24/7 with no TV, cell phone, friends, days out, then yes you are a crazy parent. these parents bring their kids out to have fun too! i know that there will be some children that rebel against strict parents, but that is the minority. most kids that grow up in this environment will succeed (in the conventional sense) in life, and when that happens, all you naysayers don't be jealous of that fact.

OKAY MY RANT IS OVER.

i just had to blow off some steam because it was really getting on my nerves. i'm sorry if i've offended you but this is how i feel and this is MY blog, after all.

thanks for reading this ridiculously long blog post! ^.^v

love, 
Vera.