Understanding vs Respect

I overheard this from one of the tutors at my workplace:

“You cannot expect other people to understand you. That is so unreasonable. We all have different life experiences, different upbringings, a different way of living. How on Earth do you expect even your parents and closest friends to fully understand you? It’s impossible.

“However, you can still show respect to other people even if you don’t fully understand them. Respect is more important than understanding.”

What subject was that tutor teaching? Principles of Accounting. She was just passing down an anecdote to her students while they were having a short break during the lesson.

I repeated the tutor’s quote to my friend — the one who is teaching me drawing — and he agreed with the statement.

“What you just described also explains why many D&D tables fall apart: when the DM fails to respect his players and their preferred playstyle for RPGs. The most fundamental requirement for any type of social cohesion has to start from respect.”

Somehow, our conversation eventually transitioned back to mathematics. Why? Knowing how to apply basic mathematics is one of the fundamental requirements of drawing well, something that he was trying to teach me.

Me: Does it make sense if you have a friend who vehemently declares that she “hates math” with a passion, and that person is also unable to cook? When I say “can’t cook”, I mean that she will burn simple recipes into a chaota crisp and just give up right there — without figuring out how to rectify her errors

Friend: Yes. Apart from being able to perform simple but precise calculations — especially when you’re baking — cooking is all about basic problem solving. Working backwards to find out what went wrong or what went right.

And this is the reason why mathematics is so important. It is the basic building block for how our entire universe works. Many skills and hobbies such as drawing, cooking, rolling dice at a D&D table, et cetera, all have their roots in math. I am not expecting anyone to be a math whiz who can accurately calculate the cube root of 49 in a split second.

But when you say that you “hate math” or “hate reading” so much, I seriously question what kind of upbringing you had that led you to this mindset. Perhaps our useless education system is to blame.

Blog updates: July 2022

I’ve been asked by a reader, “what happened to your blog?” So in the interest of posterity, entertainment, and because I have nothing better to do at 8.13am on a Saturday morning, I shall provide an update for the two remaining viewers (Aloy and Pris) of this quiet corner of the internet.

A friend of a friend that I met at the gaming club I frequent has offered me beginner lessons on how to draw, which I swiftly accepted. I would like to learn how to create artwork as a side hobby, maybe I’ll even use that skill to draw my RPG characters some day.

I am considering purchasing a new smartphone because my current device, an Asus Zenfone 3, is finally on its last legs. Its last OS update was Android 8, and guess what? DBS’s iBanking app will no longer work on Android 8 after September 2022. I could start writing an essay about how the Android ecosystem generates an obscene amount of electronic waste, with users having to constantly upgrade their device every few years once their current phone reaches its end-of-life cycle — but I’ll save that for another day.

The time now is 8.20am. I need to finish breakfast and prepare for half-a-day of work. After work ends, I will head down to the gaming club for some RPG games, and stay there till about 10pm. On Sunday morning the next day, I will head down to my violin teacher’s new flat for violin lessons.

What happened to my blog, you say? Nothing happened, it’s just that its author had nothing interesting to post these past couple of months. But I will try to keep it updated, since someone kindly asked.

Nostalgia does not automatically equate to quality: my response to Karen Tee

Original article via CNA: Commentary: Boring Formula 1 music line-up? My fellow 90s kids disagree

I’m a 1990s kid myself, and yet this is one of the most unconvincing and poorly written arguments I’ve seen about nostalgia. Madam Karen Tee’s entire stand can be summarised as follows: we listened to these bands and musical acts as a kid, therefore they must automatically be good and deserving of our attention.

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Madam Tee then quotes Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist:

… we start developing our music tastes as teenagers and these musical tastes become a badge of identity. The music we love in our formative years means so much than its instrumental or lyrics.

What if I told you that I’m a heavy metal fan, but I only started following the genre when I was 24-years-old? My favourite heavy metal band, Judas Priest, comprises of what I call the holy trinity of music — a supremely talented lead vocalist; passionate and skillful instrumentation from its band members; and most important of all, meaningful and poetic lyrics that tell a story.

Read my post a few years back about concept albums to understand what I’m trying to convey. Now listen to the Priest’s most famous track, “Painkiller” (preferably with headphones so that you won’t disturb your neighbours). Pay attention to the opening phrase, then listen carefully to Rob Halford’s lyrics.

You don’t need to be a heavy metal fan at all. But if you have even the most basic understanding of how music works, you’ll appreciate the monumental effort that Halford put into this performance. He’s a male singer, and yet he’s screaming his lungs out to hit those high-octave notes and vibratos. All for the sake of our entertainment.

Since Madam Tee mentioned that she’s a fan of Take That, I’ll use their most famous song, “Back for Good” as another example:

Pay attention to Gary Barlow’s singing as the lead vocalist. Notice how at the words “whatever” and “whenever”, the rhythm and dynamics of the song picks up. The entire lyrics of “Back for Good” is supposed to be about a sad break-up, and yet it feels like a very uplifting and relaxing song.

I don’t consider myself a fan of Take That. Or Gary Barlow. Or Backstreet Boys. But even I can appreciate the musicality behind their greatest hits.

And by the way, Stranger Things is popular NOT because it’s set in the 1980s, but because of its themes, Lovecraftian-inspired horror, and cast of interesting characters. The protagonists are a bunch of nerdy outcasts who have to find a way to confront and solve the alien threats they encounter. They also play Dungeons & Dragons, which rose to prominence among nerds in the 80s. The 1980s is just setting, a deliberate thematic choice for what the story is trying to convey.

The next time you consume a piece of entertainment that you enjoy, I urge you to look deeper beyond the surface and try to analyse why you like it. Find out why things work beyond surface-level “nostalgia”, and I promise you — it will open your eyes and ears to the world around you.

The author is sick of “nostalgia” fueled remakes and unnecessary sequels.

Having a clear conscience

Today I had to help a drunken Aussie man up to his feet. He was sprawled on the floor on top of a pile of boxes in front of the shop opposite my workplace. He said his left leg went completely numb. I noticed he was carrying a plastic bag filled with a six-pack of Heineken Beer.

With zero judgment, I checked on his condition.

Me: “Are you hurt? Do you feel any pain anywhere?”

Man: “My left leg is fucked. It’s gone numb.”

I instructed him to roll his body so that his knees were on the floor. This would allow him to use his palms and arms to push himself off the ground (kind of like a knee-assisted push-up). I did my best to support his weaker left side.

Bystander 1: “Don’t move his left leg. Wait for an ambulance to come.”

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Do you seriously want to waste an ambulance, an emergency vehicle, on a drunkard??

The drunk man eventually managed to stand, but barely. I asked the barber from an adjacent shop to lend the Aussie man a chair to sit on. By this time, the security guards had arrived with a wheelchair. Drunk man refused the wheelchair and insisted on limping back to his hotel (it was adjacent to the shopping mall we were in). The guards escorted him away, slowly.

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Once more, in case you haven’t guessed by now, I am frustrated. Yet again. Frustrated at being the only person with the empathy and initiative to take immediate action to help a stranger. If that man was suffering a heart attack, or if he had stopped breathing, he would be dead by now. All because of everyone’s inaction.

By the time I reached home, I blurted out loud to my parents, “If you know of any first-aid courses at our local Community Centre, or anywhere else, please inform me to sign up.”

First I had to rescue a teenager stuck in the MRT doors. Now, I have to use my self-taught physio knowledge to teach a drunkard how to push himself upright from the floor. At the rate I’m going, I’ll probably need to administer CPR for a life-and-death situation soon.

If my fellow Singaporeans are not going to show initiative, if they are content with inaction, then so be it. I will keep my conscience clear by arming myself with the knowledge of what to do during a real medical emergency.

I would rather try, instead of doing nothing.

“The only way forward is back.”

– Agatha Harkness, WandaVision Episode 8

I despise Critical Role because of its blind, clueless fans

This post is probably going to get a lot of negative attention. But I can handle it. This blog has attracted plenty of angry comments before and I am not afraid to confront them all.

I need to get this off my chest because it has been festering in my mind for the past month or so. I despise Critical Role.

I’ve listened to almost 20 episodes of Season 1 and enjoyed it so far. Matt Mercer has a succinct DM-ing style where he describes what is happening with as much detail as possible using the most efficient sentences, and then he quickly adjudicates whatever his players decide to do by drawing from his experience of playing tabletop RPGs for decades. All of the players at the table understand the importance of collaborative roleplaying: they do their best to play along, and whenever they’re unsure of something, Matt gently guides them along — but never to the point of taking away player agency. The players give their full attention and work together to try and tell a fun and engaging story.

Everything that I just typed out above in paragraph two is the reason why Critical Role is so successful and fun to watch. And yet, it baffles me how so many viewers just simply don’t get it. They blindly consume the episodes, decide to try out real tabletop DnD for themselves — and then they feel disappointed because it doesn’t feel the same as Critical Role.

These are the people I despise. I despise Critical Role because of their fans.

A friend who doesn’t know that her party member is Lawful Good told me on WhatsApp: “Time is too precious to be feeling bored.” She was referring to our 3.5E campaign. She thinks that it’s too slow paced and that the story is going nowhere.

I kindly asked her, “What is it that you enjoy about DnD? What made you decide to start playing in the first place?”

Her reply:

It looks very fun when I listen to other people play, like Critical Role and I’m curious about the world building.

But now I find the game play quite meh, different from what I’ve seen. I’m disappointed.

But the feeling towards DnD now is like, I’m trapped sitting in a class listening to a boring lecture while I watch others having fun at the playground. Time is too precious to be feeling bored.

Somewhere along our conversation, she also mentioned that she multi-tasks during our sessions (we play online using Zoom) by doing her house chores.

*deep breath*

Critical Role features professional voice actors. All of them are trained in improvisation. All of them are friends in real life who have been playing together for years. The show is fun to listen to because of the collaborative effort from everyone.

If you are disappointed in our campaign, then I can confidently say that you will be even more disappointed if you try to play with other DnD groups. If you want to have fun, you need to collaborate as well. This means:

• You need to pay attention. Stop multi-tasking, don’t do your laundry or dishes in the middle of a session. Give your full attention, and I guarantee you won’t feel bored.
• By paying attention, you will be more focused. You will be able to pick up all the social cues from the Lawful Good knight who has been trying to roleplay with your character for the longest time.
• Talk to the DM and give him your feedback. Show him that you are involved and interested. Work with him and tell him what you’d like your PC to achieve in the long run. The Lawful Good knight’s character arc was accomplished because of her player’s months-long collaboration with the DM.

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Critical Role and all the other popular DnD podcasts out there have created this unattainable, false sense of expectation of what DnD is. All because of the fans. Rather than looking inwards and blaming themselves, they blame the system or the DM.

Everything that I described in the aforementioned paragraphs, is all basic common sense to me — collaboration, paying attention, learning how to play along. It is quite frustrating and bewildering to me, that I have to type all this stuff out. It’s like explaining why we have to breathe air and drink water.

“Time is too precious to be feeling bored.” Allow me to counter this statement with one of my favourite quotes from Planescape: Torment:

Time is not your enemy. Forever is.

Devoting our time, making the effort to at least try, is never a waste of time. I play the violin and I can tell you, it is one of the most boring skills to learn. I have to force myself to repeat and replay difficult segments. I have to force my fingers to do things that they’ve never done before.

I still suck at violin, but I try my best to practice every day if possible. Why? We do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. We endure the boring stuff so that we can eventually get to the good parts.

The alternative is to give up altogether, forever. Time is not your enemy. Forever is.

Stop rushing into the MRT train door

9 April 2022, approximately 1602 hours, Paya Lebar MRT

Someone got stuck in the MRT train doors at Paya Lebar MRT, Circle Line. When I say “stuck”, I meant that they were sandwiched in between the train and the outer sliding doors.

Picture this scene in your mind for a moment. A female teenager, stuck in between the train doors, with a look of terror on her eyes. She’s using her left hand, tapping furiously on the glass, pleading for help.

Fortunately, the MRT sensors detected that there was an obstruction at the doors. The train did not move, the teen was safe for now. Except that she was still stuck.

The reaction of how my fellow Singaporean passengers chose to respond, within the next 5-10 seconds, left me totally disappointed. All the aunties just stood there, staring at the girl like she’s some sort of animal exhibit.

“Oh no, what to do??”, I could overhear one of the aunties saying.

Three seconds passed until an elderly uncle realised that he could pull the emergency door handle next to the door. Another passenger, a young adult male, did the same thing at the train door adjacent to us. There was just one problem. Both of them were unable to pull open the handle, because the safety tab was still attached.

By this moment, about seven seconds had passed. I was standing at the opposite door from where the teen was trapped, with a clear view of the entire situation. I quickly moved up behind the elderly man and said, “Sir, you need to pull the tab first!” and yanked the red tab down. Immediately, the train intercomm began buzzing with a warning, as the female robot voice announced that the train doors were opening.

Both the MRT door and the outer sliding doors opened. The teen returned to the platform to embrace her family members — probably grateful that she was still alive. I held the dislodged red tab in my hands and noted how similar it was to the safety tabs you find on fire extinguishers.

Within a minute, the SMRT train staff at Paya Lebar Circle Line came into the train for a brief inspection. “Did anyone activate the emergency door handle?”, one of them asked.

I raised my hand, and handed over the piece of red tab. He took a quick glance at the door handle, and alighted to use his walkie-talkie device to update his colleagues. About half a minute later, the train was cleared to resume its operations.

I walked off to another part of the train, away from the door where the incident had occurred.

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In case you haven’t guessed it by now, I was very frustrated and disappointed. Had the MRT sensors failed to detect the girl’s presence, she would have been seriously wounded. Or possibly dead. All because of the slow reaction speeds of all the people directly in front of her.

Over the years of taking public transport, I’ve noticed that a lot of Singaporean aunties here have this horrendous inability to think fast and take initiative quickly. Today I also learned that Singaporean males have poor perception ability. PULL THE RED TAB first lah, it’s right there in front of you! Haven’t you seen how a fire extinguisher works before?

Despite this, I applaud the efficiency of the SMRT staff at Paya Lebar. They arrived in lightning fast speed, and once the situation was assessed to be safe, the train was allowed to resume its journey with minimal delay.

My trust in our country’s public train transportation system and its staff has been renewed after this incident. But my trust in my fellow Singaporeans’ ability to react during emergencies, of knowing how to do the right thing quickly is at an all time low.

Why wokeness and virtue signalling is doomed to fail | Literature Devil

via Literature Devil channel on YouTube

I stumbled upon this video at 4am in the morning. It’s 30 minutes long, but offers one of the most succinct explanations as to why wokeness in modern-day western fiction is doomed to fail from the start.

Diversity by itself, is not a bad thing. But diversity should come from your storytelling, not from forcing LGBTQ or racial ideals randomly on characters.

Also Aloysius, if you’re reading this, please pay attention to this quote from 16:30 in the video:

Tabletop DnD: frustrations of a player trying to roleplay with someone who totally overlooks it

In this week’s fortnightly Dungeons & Dragons 3.5E session (something that I look forward to as the highlight of every fortnightly Sunday), one of the players in our party, who plays a ranger, asked:

“Is Ingrid [my character] Lawful Good?”

My heart completely sank, and my brain almost melted. My PC’s actions thus far in the campaign, have been as typically lawful good as I could have played her. She obeys the law and respects authority and customs. She aspires to be a knight, and was recently knighted a couple of sessions ago (in front of the entire party). She even went out of her way to rescue that particular ranger from execution — the ranger was mistaken for an enemy by a border patrol.

Am I Lawful Good?

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I enjoy the “roleplay” aspect of roleplaying games the most. Because if you don’t roleplay, but treat DnD as just another dungeon crawler to earn loot, then what’s the point? You might as well play a videogame instead.

Let me be clear on my definition of “roleplay”. I don’t expect all of the players at my table to do voices like Matt Mercer — we are not professional voice actors like Critical Role. I don’t expect my party members to have long, personally-written backstories — not every one is a writer or a literature student. Roleplaying is simply putting yourselves in the shoes of another person, and making decisions based on what you think that character would do.

But if your roleplaying efforts are overlooked and forgotten, to the point where a ranger has to ask, “Am I lawful good?”, then I seriously question what is the point of it all.

What is the point of trying to RP, of trying to write a script for my character’s knighthood, when another player doesn’t pay any attention to your effort?

Sometimes I wonder why I play games so seriously.

Lung infections

My grandfather passed away yesterday at 98-years-old. He survived and recovered from a stroke, only to succumb to pneumonia complications caused by Covid-19.

Me and my father both thought that he was 96. This means that ah gong outlived Jack Lalanne. Unfortunately, he also succumbed to the same ailment that took Lalanne’s life: pneumonia.

As someone who has actually suffered from pneumonia, and who spent the majority of his childhood and young adult life overcoming asthma, I can tell you that lung diseases are no joke. Please go see a doctor if you have any sort of lung problem, especially if it’s an infection caused by flu. Also please get vaccinated/boosted if you haven’t already.