This author is currently on hiatus for the ignoble cause of mugging. The public is advised to remain calm, as this routine protocol has been shown to have no effect on one's violent tendencies in 96% of cases.
| Sunday, February 25, 2007 |
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The gahmen should seriously make this as illegal as child labour is. It's utterly unethical. What connotates this crime is taking advantage of the ever-so-innocent minds of our young preschoolers and offering them little "presents" of candies which cost less than 5 cents each (you can get a pack of 50 for around $2), but under the condition that they do some disgraceful actions first. Of course, the children don't actually realise they're being scammed, so... The perfect example of this popped up yesterday, when i went downstairs to the function room for some Chinese New Year event the good people were holding for the residents. Ok, so i suppose we were there more for the free dinner than anything else. After the not-so-appetising dinner (duh, nothing's for free), one of the Organising Aunties decided to hold some after-dinner entertainment. So she went around broadcasting with her cupped hands, "Children! Later, we'll give you a fan, and you'll dance to Chinese music, and the best three will win prizes!" And there was an audible hum of excitement around those young kids running about, because the mention of "presents" or "sweets" gets them more excited than Paris Hilton to Tiansheng or Huang Ji. A few minutes later, when the Auntie announced the commencement of the "competition", a few girls pushed out by their parents went up to the makeshift stage - a space created by pushing a few chairs back - and they were handed fans as some traditional music played. Apparently, they didn't quite like the music either, cos they just stood there...and stoned. The Auntie finally realised that things were not going according to plan, so she went up and did a few elementary moves, waving the fan about and motioning for the girls to follow. And...they stoned. Eventually they found an acceptable move - turning around and around and around - and did that for the entire song, nothing else. And the adults simply laughed at the insane lameness of it all. Then came the boys' turn. Some daring ones (including my younger brother) went up, but again they stoned. And the Auntie went up again, but this time, they actually followed. The blind leading the blind. And again the adults laughed at the kids doing random waves, kicks and turning around. I was shocked that my mum actually had the audacity to encourage me to go up, after she had sucessfully done so with my brother. I replied, "You crazy ah!" Eventually, they realised that they still had a lot of leftover presents, so they gave them out to all the kids anyway - even those who were smart enough not to go up. Duh. Taking advantage of children by making them do undignified actions for some cheapskate entertainment is just immoral. But wait, i guess the children don't even have dignity to begin with - do they even understand the meaning of it? - so they can't possibly lose any of it. No wonder they're okay with it, since they don't have anything to lose. However, it just ain't right for us to laugh at fellow humans, especially those who lack the mental abilities of advanced logical processes. And its even worse to bribe them with near-worthless gifts, just for the adults to go "Lol, those fools are so stupid." A few years on, after the children grow up, when they look back at thier childhood, they realise how they were humiliated without even being aware of it. And adults can still complain about us not showering them with respect. But then again, it is a win-win situation in a sense, cos the children are happy with their sweet teeth, and the adults get a good laugh out of it. So as long as Mr Hon supports this principle of life, things probably won't change. Just get the Aunties to do a proper folk dance themselves next time - its definitely way more appealing. Or spend money getting a professional comedian, instead of laughing like idiots yourselves. |
'Twas teh winnar at 12:53 pm.
