i stumbled across this article posted on stomp’s “singapore seen” section: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=15132
i know that this is quite a dated topic but the overwhelming responses just compelled me to express my personal take on the issue. anyway, i was amazed at the type of comments made on stomp. some of the amusing ones include references to the hydrological cycle, watering of the grass (it’s a synthetic field for goodness sake!), and guys made to crawl under girls (which i don’t see any relevance to the topic at all).
here’s one comment i found pretty amusing:
churchseifer said on 26 Feb, 2008
“i think you have completely…spraying water has a direct impact on bondage (sic).”
bond·age [bɒndɪdʒ] [noun]
1. slavery or involuntary servitude; serfdom.
2. the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.
3. the state or practice of being physically restrained, as by being tied up, chained, or put in handcuffs, for sexual gratification.
alright..jokes aside…i know that being a student from JJC myself, you may consider my views to be biased and one-sided. so, to iron out any misconceptions or credibility issues, i’ll be writing based on both the perspective of the public, and as a student from the college.
the main focus of the discussion is wastage of water, so i won’t be digressing like what many others did on stomp.
as a participant of the orientation programme myself, i do admit that water had indeed been excessively used. (there should be no argument here as we’re talking at least 4 hoses jetting out water for well over an hour..)
from my understanding, the usage of water was justified firstly, as being a necessary measure of cooling students down on such a hot and sunny afternoon, and secondly, as a (successful) contributor to the element of fun. given my first-hand experience at the orientation, i find this reasoning viable. i mean…where’s the fun of water games without us being soaked right to the skin..? where’s the comfort from the hot weather without constant jets of cooling water showering upon our bodies…?
however, as always, comfort and enjoyment are attained at the expense of other resources. in this case — water. i’ve to say that this is certainly not a very ethical thing to do, especially in a country such as Singapore where we’ve to depend highly on other countries for such a basic necessity. water is a precious resource and shouldn’t be used in the way it was for the orientation. having said that, i’m not saying that the organisers are all wrong and should be damned to the depths of hell or anything like that. instead, what i’m trying to point out is that the organisers should be aware of the circumstances under which games of this kind and magnitude are being played. i admit that i’m not a perfect conservationist myself, but it doesn’t take a genius to realise that there are many other unfortunate people out there in the world. picture this: a third-world nation is hit by a heatwave or drought — the people there are all suffering from dehydration and they’re all on the brink of death. imagine the looks on their shrivelled faces if they were to witness what the people at JJC were doing. perhaps that was a little of an overstatement, but i suppose you should be able to get what i’m trying to say…
closer to home:
i remembered seeing an article in the straits times not too long ago. it was about a family that was too poor to afford to have water supply. they had to bathe in the public restroom of the market everyday. if the organisers were to read all these right before the activities, i would like to assume that they would think twice before proceeding. it all boils down to a matter of awareness and people taking things for granted. after all, there are many other ways to explore alternative fun activities that aid in the bonding of J1 freshmen.
perhaps i’m being too critical, but i would like to assert that i’m not directing this post to JJC. this could well happen to other JCs or anyone else. it just so happens that JJC is located right in front of so many blocks of HDB flats, thus allowing for easy public access of what’s going on in the college. and also, i’m not trying to bring anyone down through this post. i’m merely trying to raise awareness. i hope that my response has painted a good overall picture and provided a credible explanation of the incident for everyone. and since the authorities and the college have already been notified, i hope that this discussion topic can be closed henceforth to stop the flagrant display of verbal jousting and personal attacks.
conclusion: the organisers just have to strike an optimal balance between having good fun and water usage. however, they are not to be blamed. their sole purpose is to get the freshmen to have fun and i don’t see anything wrong with that. the public’s concern is commendable. this shows the Singaporean spirit of unselfish thinking – they feel for the less fortunate.
PS: i did enjoy myself at the water games. =)
Edited: Tuesday, 11 March 20088:30 pm
i'm so jealous. haha.
