I arrive in Singapore from London on the A380, jet-lagged, unpacked and woke up in the morning to read on Yahoo! News that Michael Jackson has passed away. The jet-lag did not help to clear the hazy mist in my head, but I've somehow let the information sink in the past 5 minutes, by checking on various websites like MSN and perezhilton. Yes, Michael has died.
The legendary pop icon suffered from a fatal cardiac arrest in his home on the 25th of June 2009. Though shrouded in mystery and controversy, his life and music had been a remarkable journey, taking him to the realms of Elvis and The Beatles. Now that MJ is no longer, his shattered fans will always hold his music close to their hearts like a legacy. Despite him having gone through lots of physical amendments and isolation, no one can deny that he is a great artiste.
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Basically, 6 Brits who come from posh, pampered, well-taken-care-of lives were sent to Asia to find out where their supermarket food comes from. In the first episode they were taken to Indonesia and had to work in a tuna factory. There, they were welcomed to the brutal truth of how difficult it is for workers to process tuna for the benefit of the world's tuna consumer market. Gutting, skinning, chopping were some of the monotonous tasks they had to do, standing for 8 hours everyday in line with the factory's guidelines. At the end of the day if they were successful, they were each paid a meagre wage of £2 a day. They had to also live with these workers and experience the shabby conditions of reality.
In the second episode, they were taken to a prawn farming village in another part of Indonesia. They were thrown into working extremes as they hauled heavy clayey rocks to form barriers along the prawn ponds; to prevent the tide and rain from taking the preciously-bred prawns out to sea. It was really tough and a reality check for most of them, how much effort it takes to actually cater enough food to the Western world.
In the third episode, they went over to Thailand to witness the back-breaking process of cultivating rice in the fields. The twist was that they had to also pay their own rent and whatever little wage they earned they had to also use to buy their own food. That was really really tough for them as they did not perform up to standards and had half their wages docked on the first day. They went hungry for a couple of days, just eating bananas and bread. It was truly painful to see how tough it was for them, let alone the local people who work so hard and still struggle 'at the bottom of the food chain'.
In the fourth and final episode, the Brits moved from the rice fields into the heart of Thailand - Bangkok - where they experienced being in the biggest slums in the city. The locals who had to move over because of the rice season ending in the villages, engaged in dismembering fish parts for factory sale. Of course the group got involved in the work, albeit after a guilty conscience of leaving one member behind to do the work and them spending a night at a 4-star hotel instead. After that they were brought to the chicken factory that processes a whopping 145,000 chickens a day through hanging, killing, skinning, gutting, etc. The group had an opportunity to get their hands busy as well.
When night fell, they visited the red light district in Bangkok, and got a shock at how many women have been forced into the trade, for the sole reason of supporting their families who live in the villages. Nobody wants to be there really.
Then to make things more exciting, an American man butted his fat nose into the conversation they were having with a local woman, and without knowing what the programme was about and what the Brits were doing, called them all "phonies" in all his self-righteousness. It was shocking to see how shallow the American was without even empathising with or understanding first what it was all about. No offence, but it is ALWAYS the Americans isn't it, sad to say. They live in a well where they can only see their patch of blue sky, and should really get some common sense into their frikin heads, to be more aware of the world around them before they start shouting their nonsense and looking like an asshole to the world.
I must say this has been a truly enlightening programme. I'm glad I had the chance to watch it and be more aware of fair trade and how the food industry affects everything. If there was a chance to make better the lives of these workers, we should and we would!
I've always wanted to be a celebrity. Someone famous that fans can look up to. Having no worries about money cos' it's always ridiculously flowing in non-stop. Free to walk into the most expensive boutique and sweep half the items off the shelves. Having people come up to me to chat with me and ask for autographs. Investing in the most prestigious property on the market, maybe even buy an island of my own. Someone that everyone loves.
Well, if I were a celebrity, I'd like to be a singer. Not a too famous one, that'll be over the top for my hectic schedule. Imagine if I were a singer, I'd be going around recording studios, stages, events, concerts, etc. in my limousine, asking my PA (personal assistant) to grab me Starbucks every now and then. And at the end of the evening if I don't have to dine with some other celeb, I'd be thronging the shops buying everything I love.
Or maybe even a less stressful job like a designer. Celebrity designer. Hmm, that sounds inviting. I'd design shoes and bags. Or jewellery. I'd go to Paris Fashion Week or London Fashion Week and parade down the catwalk with my gorgeous models after the show. I'd be chatting to editor-in-chiefs of Vogue, Marie Claire, Harpers' Bazaar; clinking champagne glasses with Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Miuccia Prada, Vivienne Westwood, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, etc etc... LUSH.
In these modern times, the world has so much to thank for. Technology that helps accelerate production, efficiency and even push the human brain to more extremes. That results in higher development that sprouts with a purpose to do good for the planet.
After watching the latest episode of 'Apprentice' (I know I do watch too much TV), Sir Alan Sugar and his trusted associates came to a conclusion after a series of back-breaking interviews, that Kate is a little too 'robotic'. Now let me define that. In that grueling interview sequence where all the finalists had to go through tough criticism and controversial questions from the associates, Kate was the perfect composure with perfectly strung answers and facial expressions.
I thought to myself, hey, I would ace any interview too! What's wrong with giving the perfect answers if that's what you really meant? I think the key to this portrayal is to mean it. Body language, facial expressions and tone all have to be in compliance with the words that are flowing out of your mouth. Maybe Kate wasn't convincing enough. Maybe she showed too little emotion.
If a person has a great personality and a good sense of humour, he or she should well be honoured and worshipped. I think I've got a strange sense of humour, and I'm not very good with children of a certain age category. I just can't bring myself to communicate fluently with them; does that categorize me as being 'robotic'? Surely being a foreigner in a different land, I would be inclined to try my hardest?
Robotic or not, I still think I'm very creative, sporty and passionate about the arts. I don't care how I may come across to my inner Cheryl because I've got so much to live for. It's tiring to be constantly conscious of how others view you. So stop and move on.
Watched the launch of Big Brother UK today... All there is to say about it is "awkward, awkward, awkward!" Where did the producers find these people? They are just about the strangest group of misfits I've ever seen bunched up together! Not to be sarcastic or anything, but I'm sure the show can do better than that. Unless TV ratings have plummeted drastically, we'll never know. With the crowd booing the contestants' entrances into the house, we have come to a conclusion that we couldn't give two hoots about continuing the series.
On the other hand, I've just uploaded my latest photo gallery onto my website; this is the link to it http://cherylfan.com/gallery/portraits/A%20Silent%20Look/index.htm. It is basically new experimental self-portraits that peeks into the life of me. I personally think that's more interesting than Big Brother... :P
