Overdue

Wow has it been a long time since I last made a post. Couple more weeks and it'll be 2 months since my last post. This post is long overdue, had several things I wanted to talk about over the past few weeks but I just hadn't had the time to.

So literally 4 weeks ago was the end of my exams in the previous semester. Boy was I unprepared when suddenly, FYP hit me like a truck 1 week after that. Well, if I wasn't doing FYP, I'd being doing internship anyway, which means that it'll still hit me like a truck either way. I just felt so robbed of my holiday, 1 week is hardly anything. Not to mention throughout that week, I had a super fucked up sleep cycle. I know what some of you'll say, "But Tom, you already sleep from 0900 to 1700, that's already not normal!" Now, honestly, nothing wrong with sleeping during the day, it only matters that you do so constantly, which I have not been able to, I dropped in and out of nocturnus twice in that week. So obviously, it was definitely not regular. Probably still feeling the effects of that. Haven't been able to sleep sooner than 0200 since FYP started, except that one night.

Anyway, I wasn't actually supposed to be doing FYP either, since I'm in the second phase of the group, which means that I am studying later. But, because I'm not doing internship thanks to my overseas internship, my FYP started with the rest of the group. I was absolutely not clued in on this, nor were any of the other overseas intern students. Never mind that, my supervisor didn't even know I was coming, which was quite funny because I didn't know I was coming either. Can't say anything about the project, they made me sign a confidentiality form, but it is very interesting, to me at least. Probably no one else will think it is. Then I get pissed off the entire rest of the first week by this guy in my group, who apparently I don't have to work that closely with, I give my gratitude to the Nine.

So fast forward to now, and it's the 3rd week of FYP already, boy are things moving fast. End of the week, I'll have to go for the NS medical checkup and I wonder how that'll turn out. It was explicitly stated that long hair is not allowed and surprise surprise, I have long hair. Well not really a surprise actually, the thing is, I wonder if they'll force me to cut my hair for the checkup, which I am quite certain they will. I just wonder if I should do it now so I can keep the choice in my hands. Of course, I would rather not cut it, but welcome to Singapore, where your body is not yours and you can't choose what you want to do with it. I've said it before, it's practically impossible to keep long hair once you go through NS, every reservice they'll expect you to cut it. Now do I really want to have long hair? Honestly I don't know. It might just be that I'm a contrarian, I like to push against the norm, and the norm being short hair, well that means I'm gonna keep long hair.

So the other day, I was in the public toilet at the school canteen. This kid and his father were there too, I presume the kid said something, to which I very clearly heard the father reply something along the lines of "Cut your hair, or you'll look like him." What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Heck if I was more confrontational, I'd probably accost him. Over the past week, I've heard something regarding my hair 3 times. I get it, no guy in Singapore has long hair. So what? Does that mean I can't have long hair? Whose hair is it? Do I have to do what you want? Can say with some confidence that not everyone would have short hair if they could choose it. The problem lies with the culture. For a country that prides itself on being so connected and advanced and shit, it's way behind the times when it comes to issues like this. I can't see why people here judge based on one's appearance and other things like sexual orientation etc. Honestly, fuck that. What has one's appearance got to do with how I am as a person? Obviously, aside from personal hygiene and how messy or tidy one is, what has the other aspects of one's appearance got to do with anything? A dude with long hair, what does it say about him? Nothing, it just says he likes to have his hair long. Is a guy less masculine with long hair? Tell that to the Vikings, the Mongols and the native Americans.

But of course, you're never going to change the opinions of people who see the world that way. They're too set in their ways. People here think that everyone wants to be stamped from the same mould and to be otherwise, is despicable. Well, if it offends you, you can kindly fuck off and refrain from commenting. Honestly, as the days go on, I just find that I hate this country and its people more and more. Far too few people here are decent. Don't even get me started on the weather, nearly baked to death the other day.

Well, sorry to end on such a bad note, but it's been on my mind for the past week. Maybe I'll have a happier topic when I'm in Australia. Toodles~