the2ndrule Issue 19
The 2ndRule
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Aug 2001 email edition
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web edition: http://here.is/the2ndrule
Contents
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0. Edit
1. Cello [Koh Beng Liang]
2. "Speak Bad English" Campaign Slogan Under Fire [Judith H]
3. Gorilla and Butterfly [Shannon Low]
4. Slingshot [Choo Shu Jian]
5. genesis: adam and steve / the Fall of [2wo]Man [Jillian]
6. Happiness [Chan Li Shan]
7. cipher darwinian [Edlyn]
Edit
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Irreverence. A blatant disregard for that which is conventionally respected. And a useful way to turn the world upside down, give it a shake, and see what doesn't fall out, anchored by truth, choice, love or faith.
Broadhurst's Wager: You are a fool to worship the deity. For, if he does exist he will surely forgive you for your derelicton, being such a sop in these matters, a meddling milk toast. And if he doesn't exist, why, at the moment of expiry you will feel an utter ass, the completest of fools.
(From "My Idea of Fun", Will Self)
The argument has less to do with worship than it has with foolishness. Why we worship is more important than whether or not we do. All around us, the things we revere, the sacred cows we are reluctant to slaughter. Some of them keep us anchored to what we care most about. Some of them hold us back.
Time for a shake-up.
Comments and contributions to: the2ndrule@hotmail.com
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2ndRule team : Koh Beng Liang, Shannon Low, Benety Goh, Russell Chan, Alfian Bin Sa'at, Ong Ee-ing, Judith H
Contributors : Choo Shu Jian, Jillian, Chan Li Shan, Edlyn
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Cello
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I love cello players. They are easy to spot,
at the supermarket lugging the rough huge case
picking some milk or cheese, at the bookstore
sullenfaced blocking the narrow aisle,
on the subway cornerseat meant
for elderly/disabled clamping it between legs.
As a child, asking why not flute? Immobile,
spread, neck stiff, fingers fondling what eyes
cannot see, right arm a lateral yo-yo. The gruff
tunelessness of darkwood, fat strings,
and evil laughs of teasing viola boys.
That embarrassing Christmas, skirt too short,
defiantly underwearless, obliging Grandma with
an impromptu recital in front of cousins droppedjawed.
- Koh Beng Liang
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"Would you hit a woman with a child? - No, I'd hit her with a brick."
- The Eternal Question and Immortal Answer of burlesque
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"Speak Bad English" Campaign Slogan Under Fire
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SINGAPORE - With the unveiling of the newly-implemented "Speak Bad English" Campaign by PM Goh yesterday, came the skeptical view by the Singlish elite that the slogan itself is not in keeping with the Campaign.
While they applaud the move by the government to promote better Singlish among Singaporeans, the Singlish-speaking elite has brought the fact that "Speak Bad English" is perfectly bad Singlish to attention.
"If ah, the govermen want to tok Singlish, then slogan also mus be in Singlish mah, hor? Then how come use English? So farny!" said one Member of Public, stressing that the government should set an example, and not make an irony out of its campaign slogans. Language experts have confirmed that the phrase "bad English" is standard English, and not, in fact, Singlish.
The island-wide campaign was launched to rectify the problem of the tumbling standards of Singlish amongst Singaporeans, and the fear that excessive use of English as the only medium for communication may lead to the eventual death of National Culture.
The campaign aims to correct the over-correction of Singlish-speakers in the Y2K "Speak Good English" campaign, which saw Singaporeans rapidly abandoning their mother tongues, especially Singlish, in preference of English.
"While dat champagne was for last time, now we also need to keep up with everybody, so now we change policy loh," explained the PM during the press conference. "We must change what."
As for the slogan, there has been no response from the Ministry for Information and the Arts as yet from press time. Sorry lah.
- Judith H
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General Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite and flatterer
- William Blake
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Gorilla and Butterfly
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[A love story of unequal proportions]
Gorilla sits like a lump. On what used to be a patch of daisies. Poor daisies. Arms like tree trunks, he tugs at the bush beside him and pulls out fruits, roots, flowers and small animals. And puts everything into his mouth.
Butterfly floats along a shallow breeze, as light as the wind itself. She rises and dips as the breeze directs, and delicately lands on a petal. It hardly stirs.
Gorilla had never seen a butterfly quite as delicate as she. An elegant blend of colour across her wings - a light purple, almost a pink, a not-quite white, and a shade of fire from sunset.
Butterfly knows she has his attention. She dances. Dances beside him. Around him, and inside him. Lightly lands on his shoulder to nestle for a moment. Lightly brushes her wing against his cheek. He stirs.
And they dance. Gorilla, his fingers; Butterfly, her wings. As the sun blushes the sky and the stars sweep away the clouds. Until a breeze takes Butterfly away again.
Gorilla sits like a lump. No longer able to comprehend the green, the brown, the deep blue night. No colour left but longing.
- Shannon Low
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I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections, and the truth of Imagination.
- John Keats
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Slingshot
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(for Claire Chun)
You would come crawling every night
with those digits and letters
spilling forth
like the blood you took
with your own hands.
And you would confess
your sins, speak long
and short about the pain,
the suffering
and I, with my unrepentant
insensitivity, would gaze blankly
into the screen
flickering like a curtain caught
in a storm.
And breathe those words
that I knew you wanted to hear.
While returning to the silent bed,
I would thank myself for being
a guardian angel if only for a night.
The next day would arrive
no different from the days preceding it,
perhaps jumping a few seconds
or skipping even more.
And you would still be there
on the other end of this line
that threaded through the earth
(I still wonder how), stitching a soul
into alphanumeric oaths.
The line got cut off one night
and I found myself at the end
at last.
You weren't there the next night.
- Choo Shu Jian
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Simple people, people who don't exist, prefer things which don't exist, simple things.
- e e cummings
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genesis: adam and steve / the Fall of [2wo]Man
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when i met you
i took the plunge
my lady in red
STOP!
i left
left all i knew
STOP!
'for this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife
and they will become one flesh'
STOP!
but they would not leave us
but they would not see us
thefathersthemothersthementhewomen
suffer the little children
STOP!
'the man and his wife were both naked
and they felt no shame'
STOP!
they fell
in shame they fell
from paradise
from grace
STOP!
we are falling
STOP!
when i met you
i took the plunge
my lady in red
stop.
- Jillian
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Slavery, and the only slavery, is service without love.
- e e cummings
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Happiness
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It is easy to be happy
sometimes. That night you were so
happy- perhaps it is easy for you- it
showed in your smile.
It made me smile too.
And when we held each other close, you were like a
warm blanket wrapped up around me- that made me
happy. I remember your hand
upon my thigh- it was natural, the
Thing to do. Amidst the flashing lights, the dark,
the throbbing music and the fact
we drank a lot- it was alright.
I remember how very happy I was, how it
must have shown in my smile, how-
though I still don't know your name-
how happy we were
together that night.
- Chan Li Shan
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"Why do you fight for lost causes?"
"To find the cause that you claim is lost, and to show it to others, 'It is not.'"
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cipher darwinian
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Face the driving hours
with a smile, child, smile -
Alice came up to me once
searching for The Vowels of Caterpillar;
I've used and abused them Alice, but
Alice, Alice, give me a bite
a bite to make me smaller
or a bite to make me bigger,
make me smaller than the seeds of madness
insidious they cannot rip me out to dry & die,
else bigger than monsters that prey
on hopes and children -
stomp them dead stomp the spider bastards dead -
sense of something
wired fundamental wrong -
sick
sickof duty
sickof dreaming
sickof smiling for dollars
sickof being poor man's child,
of nerve cells begging peace of aspirin
of love more fragile than firefly's unvoice
of storming broke piano to music away shadows,
and your silence deeper than this stonewalling world -
eat the world, child, eat the world child -
blue veins of your hands, their coldness,
I read the hieroglyphs of my future
in the kindliness of your eyes.
- Edlyn
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Better worlds are born, not made; and their birthdays are the birthdays of individuals. Let us pray for individuals; never for worlds.
- e e cummings
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Cello (c) 2001 Koh Beng Liang
"Speak Bad English" Campaign Slogan Under Fire (c) 2001 Judith H
Slingshot (c) 2001 Choo Shu Jian
genesis: adam and steve / the Fall of [2wo]Man (c) 2001 Jillian
Happiness (c) 2001 Chan Li Shan
cipher darwinian (c) 2001 Edlyn
