Today, Terrix and me went for Ajisen ramen, and it has given me such an impression, I've created a poem for it, titled: "My Time"
---------------------------------------
My Time
Gone, envious Cash, till thou spent in my face,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping waitress,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets' pace;
And glut thyself with what thy brand devours,
Which is no more than what is false and vain,
And merely mortal dross;
So much is thy noodle,
So little is our appetite.
For when as each thing bad though hast entomb'd,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,
Then long Eternity shall greet our slurp
With an individual burp;
And gloom shall overtake us as a flood,
If every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With takos, and prawns, and sashimi shall never shine
About the supreme Wallet*
Of Him, t'whose happily-making sai alone,
When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall climb,
Then all this earthly grossness quit,
Attir'd with Shits, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Kikuzawa, and Waraku, and waste My Time.
---------------------------------------
Actually, the original poem is titled "On Time" by John Milton. For your information ^_^;;
Basically, to put it simple, "STAY AWAY FROM AJISEN RAMEN! IT SUCKS!".
I do not wish to go into detail, because it'll give me nightmare tonight thinking over it. It just sucks. I hope to go for other better ramen in the future. It's to append over what happen today, best to be described from my poem, "My Time".
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
[Life] Thoughts on Virginia Tech Massacre and myself
Interestingly, I've never thought of commenting on news at all in my blog, but reading through the news and the killer's written play titled "Richard Mcbeef" and "Mr. Brownstone" (not Mr. Brown...), I thought I'd like to give some comments too...
In my opinion, his head is filled with hatred, frustration, stress, unfairness and definitely discriminent. And yet, deep inside me, I can feel what he feel. Speculations show that he's abused by his stepfather, rejection by his classmates (including bully), and the environmental change (It's USA, what do you expect?) has materialise, metamorphisis into what he is today. I'd like to add that, if I've moved over to USA at an age of 8, most likely, the headline could be me instead.
I confessed, killing has definitely come into my mind during my younger age. The feeling of solitude, helplessness and bully is definitely unbearable. Comparing to him, I'm considered lucky. For I do not have a family shattered as he does, for the difficulties and virtually impossible to obtain handgun(s) here in Singapore (one of those things that I like Singapore about... Can I say about those that I hate? Maybe not...), and the self-consultation skills which I've obtained over these years.
His extreme thoughts have well crossed over the lines already. His desire to be in the midst of hell have made him a solitude man. For me, I'd always prefer to be alone in anyway, lucky for me, there are people who are concern about me, and lend me hands when ever possible. However, for him, Cho, he've already crossed the line of no return. He've already lost the battle of balance between an Angel and a Devil. His usual quiet personality, as proven by his classmates, were broken by his specious thoughts, and by showing his "devil" self to the media, he've lost the battle.
He might have been bullied by his classmates, as he seems quiet and timid. He might have been weak, and constantly seeking for friendship, but failed to do so. But one things that's for sure, he did not seek to strengthen himself, instead, he seeks only hatred as a way to "strengthen" himself. He never managed to get over with the thought of unfairness in this world. And by unfairness, it could have been refering to status, money and even complete family, as was mentioned by him on his video. He could have hated his father, mother, or even sisters for any reason. But definitely, he eventually seeks strength, from guns...
From my point of view, it's a good case study of how a person can actually react, behave and do under desperation from his point of view. Also, to how this person thinks and react, in according to whatever he thinks it's correct. To his speech, he thinks that all rich kids who have almost everything yet unsatisfied deserve to die. That could actually closely match with an example from a fiction, "Death Note", where the main character feel that the world is not judged correctly, and he'll be the judge to kill all the criminal, and what happen if he've the power to do so, just like what we have here...
If I managed to obtain gun 10 years ago, if I've stayed this way 10 years ago, if I've not talk through by one of my teacher, Mr. Ho 10 years ago, I'd have been Cho... I'd really thankful of what I've now. No longer killing the teachers of my primary and secondary school came into my mind anymore, nor the bullies I encountered then too...
I feel that I've grown up (of course, a few years ago since...), I feel that I've control over myself, I feel that I can suppress my own killing instinct to convert it to ability, skills, knowledge, experience. I feel that "THAT" is the true strength, not holding a gun and start shooting people (although I feel that I'm up to that ^_^ I'm a marksman in NS after all, not to mentioned I've live rounds for most of my NS life :P )
Morale of my view and story: The true strength of yours, are the ability to control yourself in any aspect.
(Controlling your anger, and you'll be a saint... But saint arn't immortal, we are mortal, so we'll always show our anger... in a controlled and moral way... - Paul Kami)
In my opinion, his head is filled with hatred, frustration, stress, unfairness and definitely discriminent. And yet, deep inside me, I can feel what he feel. Speculations show that he's abused by his stepfather, rejection by his classmates (including bully), and the environmental change (It's USA, what do you expect?) has materialise, metamorphisis into what he is today. I'd like to add that, if I've moved over to USA at an age of 8, most likely, the headline could be me instead.
I confessed, killing has definitely come into my mind during my younger age. The feeling of solitude, helplessness and bully is definitely unbearable. Comparing to him, I'm considered lucky. For I do not have a family shattered as he does, for the difficulties and virtually impossible to obtain handgun(s) here in Singapore (one of those things that I like Singapore about... Can I say about those that I hate? Maybe not...), and the self-consultation skills which I've obtained over these years.
His extreme thoughts have well crossed over the lines already. His desire to be in the midst of hell have made him a solitude man. For me, I'd always prefer to be alone in anyway, lucky for me, there are people who are concern about me, and lend me hands when ever possible. However, for him, Cho, he've already crossed the line of no return. He've already lost the battle of balance between an Angel and a Devil. His usual quiet personality, as proven by his classmates, were broken by his specious thoughts, and by showing his "devil" self to the media, he've lost the battle.
He might have been bullied by his classmates, as he seems quiet and timid. He might have been weak, and constantly seeking for friendship, but failed to do so. But one things that's for sure, he did not seek to strengthen himself, instead, he seeks only hatred as a way to "strengthen" himself. He never managed to get over with the thought of unfairness in this world. And by unfairness, it could have been refering to status, money and even complete family, as was mentioned by him on his video. He could have hated his father, mother, or even sisters for any reason. But definitely, he eventually seeks strength, from guns...
From my point of view, it's a good case study of how a person can actually react, behave and do under desperation from his point of view. Also, to how this person thinks and react, in according to whatever he thinks it's correct. To his speech, he thinks that all rich kids who have almost everything yet unsatisfied deserve to die. That could actually closely match with an example from a fiction, "Death Note", where the main character feel that the world is not judged correctly, and he'll be the judge to kill all the criminal, and what happen if he've the power to do so, just like what we have here...
If I managed to obtain gun 10 years ago, if I've stayed this way 10 years ago, if I've not talk through by one of my teacher, Mr. Ho 10 years ago, I'd have been Cho... I'd really thankful of what I've now. No longer killing the teachers of my primary and secondary school came into my mind anymore, nor the bullies I encountered then too...
I feel that I've grown up (of course, a few years ago since...), I feel that I've control over myself, I feel that I can suppress my own killing instinct to convert it to ability, skills, knowledge, experience. I feel that "THAT" is the true strength, not holding a gun and start shooting people (although I feel that I'm up to that ^_^ I'm a marksman in NS after all, not to mentioned I've live rounds for most of my NS life :P )
Morale of my view and story: The true strength of yours, are the ability to control yourself in any aspect.
(Controlling your anger, and you'll be a saint... But saint arn't immortal, we are mortal, so we'll always show our anger... in a controlled and moral way... - Paul Kami)
Saturday, April 14, 2007
[Life] Car underwater;Stay alive? The Mythbusters way! [Encore]
Remember the post I posted early this year, about Mythbusters way of saving life on cars plunging into water?
Well, glad to hear that there's Mythbusters fan like me, who find the show useful and in fact, credited to save lives. Here's an example...
Luckily for her, the water is not deep. However, arming yourselves with a glass breaker in your car proves to be useful in anyway. So get one now!
Well, glad to hear that there's Mythbusters fan like me, who find the show useful and in fact, credited to save lives. Here's an example...
Luckily for her, the water is not deep. However, arming yourselves with a glass breaker in your car proves to be useful in anyway. So get one now!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
[Life] The aftermath of wisdom tooth? Kikuzawa of course!
The battle of wisdom tooth. The battle which preparation took months, the cost which will only be comparable with 10 to 20 kikuzawa buffet. The excitement of seeing blood... the anguish when you hear "zzz zzzz" from the dentist tools... Where you know you'll arrived at the 18th storey of hell only to be...
Argh that's enough... "Dun think too much and go!", there I go, on 9th March, 2007 to the National Dental Centre for my removal of my wisdom tooth. It's been like almost half a year since I've decided to pluck it. So with $30 in my wallet, I set off on a Hundred dollar trail... (A look to the past)
A few days ago, I asked my colleagues about the experiences of plucking wisdom tooth. And the words that hurts me the most are all the money involved ($3k, $1k, $700+, $500+). "Why I can visualise myself eating grasses after plucking wisdom tooth?", I told myself...
So, with a heavy heart, and the feeling of pain NOT for my mouth, but for my pocket, I disembark upon the great crusade which I've striven for many months.
So the procedure is as follow:
1405: It's my turn. I went in and with the dentist not even considering taking an X-ray for me, I was a little worry.
1407: After some hesitation, I finally got a hold of myself and asked the dentist to pluck the wisdom tooth. He agree and recommend local anesthesia, and I agree.
1410: He poked several places to inject the anesthesia (I knew it, stop reading and get lost, all the hentai yaros. Very dirty minded :/), and you can immediately feel that it's like injecting some nanomachine in your body.
1415: I've no idea why the dentist waited 5 mins for. Well, I'm not one, so I don't know for sure. The nurse like bochap and then walk here and there... The anesthesia on my gum took effect long ago. I can feel the swelling on my gums, and there's a lump which I feel as if I can swollow it. At that time, in my mind, I was thinking, "Oh my god... every jab I took, every cash I lost... pls no more..."
1416(20): Dentist tells me to lie down and took a plier-type of tools and hold on to my wisdom tooth...
1416(30): And it came off. Immediately, I give a thumb-up hand-sign to the dentist. Then the nurse happy-go-lucky took the tooth, put in a bag (without washing the tooth), and tell me "This is your souvenir".
To be frank, it was a natural respond for me to show a thumb-up sign. Actually, what I wish to show is this...
1419: After settling the bill of $32 (gnahahaha XD), I took a cab to my working place to work despite a day MC, how silly of me ^_^;;
And of course, the "souvenir" is added to my collection.
Some people said that for the next few days I should have a hard time eating. With a lump on my cheek, even swollowing is a problem.
What's the different for me, with the dentist NOT even prescribe me a painkiller? I ate sushi, Carl's junior, etc etc... LOL! Erm... of course, thefatscholesterol are the focus here, not the teeth... Hmph... let's be good and don't side track the topic, shall we? ^_^;;
The grand finale is still, the Kikuzawa visit during 17th of March, that's 1 week after the plucking of my wisdom tooth. It's to celebrate me surviving the wisdom tooth plucking, the POP of the Field Defense Squadron, or FDS training for Terrix, which in turn become Feminine Dopey Squadron (Also FDS), and the near-to-ORD Lumiere, finally graduate from that Space PortAir Base...
Days before we went, I called and booked for the secret room(unlocked with Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start, Select+B(hold))
We arrived, entered, and sit on the floor like a japanese, so we thought. In the end, we created our own culture, and thought it might be good to share during culture exchange program in the future.
Then the Itamae gave us sashimi for 4.
Of course, eating in Kikuzawa already make me go cloud 9, with that, my excitement level is full 10/10. Until this came...
It's inclusive in the 1st 2 plates of sushi served to us...
Occasionally he also served us misc stuff. Don't ask me what it is... just follow Lumiere's word, "Shoot Eat first, make friends find out later"
Then after that Kikuzawa passed us this... Immediately we went... "Wtf..."
Terrix immediately go "Walao!", I go "...", Lumiere go "Erm...", then Mokona go "ahhhh puuuu".
Nevertheless, we still need to clear it up before the next serving come... Suddenly...
I hate this dish seriously, for no reasons. Maybe it resembles korean cusine alot?
A while later...
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Back to the topic, after the "WTF" serving of sushi, we decided to have a revenge. By ordering...
Before you know it, double-hit combo...
Before we go, we finished off with a fatality...
I'd say this is the best feast so far, considering it's been like a year since I last visit Kikuzawa. And to say, his business isn't as good as last time, but it's not as bad, considering I've been tricked to see someone's butt... (hor, Mokona Apapa? :/ )
We've accomplished enjoying our feast, discussing on future Japan trip, some "secret projects", and of course, the best accomplishment I believe is a picture taken by Lumierehimselfherself. It's a picture full of compassionate, and it literally lits me up with KWS (Kikuzawa Withdrawal Symdrome) for days!
Thumbs up for this picture!
PS: It's been a while since I update my blog so I thought it should be a little bigger this time round. ^_^;;
Argh that's enough... "Dun think too much and go!", there I go, on 9th March, 2007 to the National Dental Centre for my removal of my wisdom tooth. It's been like almost half a year since I've decided to pluck it. So with $30 in my wallet, I set off on a Hundred dollar trail... (A look to the past)
A few days ago, I asked my colleagues about the experiences of plucking wisdom tooth. And the words that hurts me the most are all the money involved ($3k, $1k, $700+, $500+). "Why I can visualise myself eating grasses after plucking wisdom tooth?", I told myself...
So, with a heavy heart, and the feeling of pain NOT for my mouth, but for my pocket, I disembark upon the great crusade which I've striven for many months.
So the procedure is as follow:
1405: It's my turn. I went in and with the dentist not even considering taking an X-ray for me, I was a little worry.
1407: After some hesitation, I finally got a hold of myself and asked the dentist to pluck the wisdom tooth. He agree and recommend local anesthesia, and I agree.
1410: He poked several places to inject the anesthesia (I knew it, stop reading and get lost, all the hentai yaros. Very dirty minded :/), and you can immediately feel that it's like injecting some nanomachine in your body.
1415: I've no idea why the dentist waited 5 mins for. Well, I'm not one, so I don't know for sure. The nurse like bochap and then walk here and there... The anesthesia on my gum took effect long ago. I can feel the swelling on my gums, and there's a lump which I feel as if I can swollow it. At that time, in my mind, I was thinking, "Oh my god... every jab I took, every cash I lost... pls no more..."
1416(20): Dentist tells me to lie down and took a plier-type of tools and hold on to my wisdom tooth...
1416(30): And it came off. Immediately, I give a thumb-up hand-sign to the dentist. Then the nurse happy-go-lucky took the tooth, put in a bag (without washing the tooth), and tell me "This is your souvenir".
"Souvenir" indeed -_-;;
To be frank, it was a natural respond for me to show a thumb-up sign. Actually, what I wish to show is this...
1419: After settling the bill of $32 (gnahahaha XD), I took a cab to my working place to work despite a day MC, how silly of me ^_^;;
And of course, the "souvenir" is added to my collection.
Some people said that for the next few days I should have a hard time eating. With a lump on my cheek, even swollowing is a problem.
What's the different for me, with the dentist NOT even prescribe me a painkiller? I ate sushi, Carl's junior, etc etc... LOL! Erm... of course, the
The grand finale is still, the Kikuzawa visit during 17th of March, that's 1 week after the plucking of my wisdom tooth. It's to celebrate me surviving the wisdom tooth plucking, the POP of the Field Defense Squadron, or FDS training for Terrix, which in turn become Feminine Dopey Squadron (Also FDS), and the near-to-ORD Lumiere, finally graduate from that Space PortAir Base...
Days before we went, I called and booked for the secret room
Even wonder what did the chef do with the waitress during non-business times? *roll eyes*
We arrived, entered, and sit on the floor like a japanese, so we thought. In the end, we created our own culture, and thought it might be good to share during culture exchange program in the future.
During Osaka exchange program, one of the Osaka host hosted for us, saw this and went "Nande ane?!"
Then the Itamae gave us sashimi for 4.
10 sec after it was set on the table
Of course, eating in Kikuzawa already make me go cloud 9, with that, my excitement level is full 10/10. Until this came...
I virtually nose bleeded, Karin-style...
It's inclusive in the 1st 2 plates of sushi served to us...
Pay close attention to the Shake at the left (HIGH QUALITY), the sea-urchin (HIGH QUALITY ONLY TOO), and most of all... the one on the right, BBQed on the spot :O )
5 sec after it was placed on the table, Ikura is simply irresistable!
Occasionally he also served us misc stuff. Don't ask me what it is... just follow Lumiere's word, "
On the left, is Shake in Ponzu sauce, an excellant appetizer
Chawanmushi, Kikuzawa style. With mushroom and Uzumaki Naruto. There's a "rasengan" hidden below too
Then after that Kikuzawa passed us this... Immediately we went... "Wtf..."
A strategy to make us full...
Terrix immediately go "Walao!", I go "...", Lumiere go "Erm...", then Mokona go "ahhhh puuuu".
Nevertheless, we still need to clear it up before the next serving come... Suddenly...
I went "OMG!" and "shared" most of the things with the others, leaving only the potato
I hate this dish seriously, for no reasons. Maybe it resembles korean cusine alot?
A while later...
Me: Erm, what is this?
Lumiere: Just eat
Me: Erm... ok :3
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Complete solutions to damage wallets!
It comes with a 30 days warrenty, claim right from the Paper company! Yes, that's right! You can claim straight from the paper company and WE HELD NO RESPONSIBILITY! It's shoo shimple and shoo ushful, you just can't take your eyes off!
Call now, @ +65 urstupid (+65 87788743), +65 urstupid! While stocks last!
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Back to the topic, after the "WTF" serving of sushi, we decided to have a revenge. By ordering...
Kikuzawa felt our wraith...>
Before you know it, double-hit combo...
We 1, Kikuzawa 0>
Before we go, we finished off with a fatality...
And a good taboo too. 8 Treasures of luck (吉祥八宝) PS: Pls ignore the "extra" edamame>
1 min after the last picture>
I'd say this is the best feast so far, considering it's been like a year since I last visit Kikuzawa. And to say, his business isn't as good as last time, but it's not as bad, considering I've been tricked to see someone's butt... (hor, Mokona Apapa? :/ )
We've accomplished enjoying our feast, discussing on future Japan trip, some "secret projects", and of course, the best accomplishment I believe is a picture taken by Lumiere
Thumbs up for this picture!
Very detail photography of a Shake sushi. A falling rice grain at the left, the texture of the shake, the lighting, and the dripping shoyu...Guess what? It's the very last piece of sushi Terrix ate that day...
PS: It's been a while since I update my blog so I thought it should be a little bigger this time round. ^_^;;
Thursday, March 08, 2007
[Life] Last half of my "wisdom"
Finally, I'm plucking my wisdom tooth tomorrow. I've delayed for like almost 9 months to remove this bugger, not till the good news about it growing at the right path, did I push back to 9th March.
I've my "Last dinner" just now, which I'll have my "Last breakfast" and "Last lunch" tomorrow. To think of it, there are 2 things which actually hurts me the most, probably more than the pain itself from wisdom tooth.
I've my "Last dinner" just now, which I'll have my "Last breakfast" and "Last lunch" tomorrow. To think of it, there are 2 things which actually hurts me the most, probably more than the pain itself from wisdom tooth.
- The $$ involved. I heard that it cost around $200++ to pluck one. It makes me shoo guilty that why didn't I pluck it during NS? Sigh, all for the sake of duty...
- The pushback of the "Kikuzawa" feast! Waited half a year for the grand feast and it's pushed back because of it! Argh!
The music from this video, "Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu" clearly shows what's in my mind now, total chaos...
Well, my sis brought her camera to USA, and I do not have 1 at the moment, so this "wonderful" moment will not be caught on the camera. I also probably couldn't make a "before-and-after" comparison of my lovely cheek. But nevertheless, I hope I survive tomorrow T_T
健闘を祈る, ポール 神 よ！
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
[Life] Akihabara! One of the "target"...
As I happen to surf YouTube again, I saw this video about Akihabara, read at wikipedia about it, I'm lazy to link it -_-
What amused me is not their size, not their product, but their way of changing the name to "Akiba" and associate the style as "Akiba-kei".
Lol, I thought one day when I'm in Akihabara, I'll go like this...
(Saw a Singh on the street): Akibabuseng!
(Someone selling banana split: Akibanana-piak!
(Gang fight): Akibalanto!
(Otakus jumping around, holding the latest doujins): akibaboons -_-;;
What amused me is not their size, not their product, but their way of changing the name to "Akiba" and associate the style as "Akiba-kei".
Lol, I thought one day when I'm in Akihabara, I'll go like this...
(Saw a Singh on the street): Akibabuseng!
(Someone selling banana split: Akibanana-piak!
(Gang fight): Akibalanto!
(Otakus jumping around, holding the latest doujins): akibaboons -_-;;
Friday, January 26, 2007
[Life] Car underwater;Stay alive? The Mythbusters way!
I'm a firm believer of thesis involving in Many-Worlds Interpretation. I've always believe in "We could have..." and "What if...". Therefore, I believe that this post will benefit me, and hopefully save many more lives for those who read it.
I'm always a Mythbuster fans ever since I came across it about a year ago. Read about it here. Ever imagine an SBS bus you're on, driving on the road, over that bridge only to find its way down to a longkang full of water? How do you survive?
On the latest episode, they explored methods of escaping from a car, if it happen to find its way into the water. And shockingly, many results I've thought to work, actually don't!
And even more, they shown how important an emergency glass breaking hammer (locate nearly in every SBS bus) is during those emergency situations. Here's what I come up with...
1) Keep calm, save up oxygen. Saving those seconds could mean life and death.
2) Open up your car windows WIDE OPEN IMMEDIATELY before water level reaches your window.
2) Try to open the door before the water level reaches too high. It's hard if you didn't open your window.
3) If the door won't budge, break any glasses immediately(most effective using the hammer I mentioned). Any glass you broke, serve a purpose on your survival, the science way (to find out, watch Mythbusters then ^_^)
4) (Unclear)Last method of survival, if your car fills up water, is to wait for the pressure inside the car to equalize with the outside. That way you'll be able to open the door. (by then it might be too late)
Hopefully this post could be treated seriously. I know I am ^_^ But best of all, never drive your car into the water. Come on, cars arn't boats. (even though I hate the DuckTours ever since it was introduced :P)
I'm always a Mythbuster fans ever since I came across it about a year ago. Read about it here. Ever imagine an SBS bus you're on, driving on the road, over that bridge only to find its way down to a longkang full of water? How do you survive?
On the latest episode, they explored methods of escaping from a car, if it happen to find its way into the water. And shockingly, many results I've thought to work, actually don't!
And even more, they shown how important an emergency glass breaking hammer (locate nearly in every SBS bus) is during those emergency situations. Here's what I come up with...
1) Keep calm, save up oxygen. Saving those seconds could mean life and death.
2) Open up your car windows WIDE OPEN IMMEDIATELY before water level reaches your window.
2) Try to open the door before the water level reaches too high. It's hard if you didn't open your window.
3) If the door won't budge, break any glasses immediately(most effective using the hammer I mentioned). Any glass you broke, serve a purpose on your survival, the science way (to find out, watch Mythbusters then ^_^)
4) (Unclear)Last method of survival, if your car fills up water, is to wait for the pressure inside the car to equalize with the outside. That way you'll be able to open the door. (by then it might be too late)
Hopefully this post could be treated seriously. I know I am ^_^ But best of all, never drive your car into the water. Come on, cars arn't boats. (even though I hate the DuckTours ever since it was introduced :P)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
[Life]My brother-in-Law "TODAY"
I don't read newspaper, I prefer online news. I nearly missed it until my dad brought a page over and asked me to read it.
And there it was...
To think I hate my mum's cooking... lol...
Nevertheless, I'd like to congratulate my brother-in-law, whom appeared in this article on TODAY newspaper, 24th January 2007, pg 42.
Hope to try out your dishes someday in the future, something which I've never done so...
And there it was...
The champion of comfort food!
To think I hate my mum's cooking... lol...
Nevertheless, I'd like to congratulate my brother-in-law, whom appeared in this article on TODAY newspaper, 24th January 2007, pg 42.
Hope to try out your dishes someday in the future, something which I've never done so...
Sunday, November 12, 2006
[Anime/Life] Seiyuus in Singapore
After ORDing, I'm still finding a job, where there was a time when I'm wondering how much a Singapore seiyuu (声優, or simply, voice actor) earn? That brings me to wonder how much a voice actor in Japan earn, till I came across this article. (Copied and pasted below)
It's very well written, so all the credits goes to the Riuva.
----------------------------------------------
I haven’t visited the Animesuki forums ever since it lost all its threads. Stuck here in my dad’s office helping him cover for his on-leave secretary, I’ve nothing to do except surf forums. And then I saw the "The Industry - Lifestyles and Wages" thread which is probably the most informative forum thread I’ve come across there. Please read it and it will change us Gaijin anime lovers’ viewpoint on anime forever.
It is terribly long and covers a broad range of issues, with very insightful full-length articles contributed by people like kj1980 and egglant. I cannot verify its credibility but given their track records, I’m believing every word. It’s gonna be a rude shock for those of you who worship seiyuus as stars, aspire to be animators or want to join the industry.
To anyone who has not seen the dark truth behind the anime industry, read on and find out how the genki, cheerful anime we watch is sweetened with the sweat and blood of the production crew.
I have sorted and classified the posts and summarised them. In Word form font 12, the informative posts took up 12 pages and totaled some 6,500 words. That’s some nice forum reading eh? Read the original thread if you want something fully comprehensive. The shortened version is long too.
This thread has just made me a lot more certain that doing well in school, picking up an elite degree, gaining mastery of languages and generally being capable of doing high-level corporate work is far better, at least in terms of materialism, than pursuing naive dreams. Anime has a tendency to spout lines like "If you don’t stop dreaming, you will never fail" or similar cheesy idealistic lines which sounds nice but never works in real life.
I have never thought of anime as anything more than a hobby and when I resume school in University (currently serving mandatory Military Service), it’s probably going down my list of priorities. I curently earn S$400 monthly (about 28,000 yen), which is less than the cost of 2 Macross Transformable Valkryies and it is illegal for me to do part-time jobs to supplement this meagre allowance. My targeted major is actually Food Science and Technology and I’m interested in making convenient food. Also known as food I can eat while watching anime.
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Animators are Slaves
The discussion starts with the pay and working hours of animators. Lets start with a Survey detailing the salaries earned by Japanese animators.
Working an average of 10.2 hours a day, 49.5% of them reported that they feel that their salaries are not sufficient for the work they do and 90% of them feel that the benefits and pensions are insufficient.
26.8% earn less than 1 million yen (US$8,500 approx.) annually, 19.6% earn between 1 million yen and 2 million yen (US$17,000 approx.) annually, 18.6% earn between 2 million yen and 3 million yen (US$25,700 approx.) annually. 65% of Japanese animators earn less than 3 million yen annually.
One category of animators, the storyboard animators who are responsible for drawing up outlines and sketches of how the animation will run, earns even less. They are often paid on a "per frame" basis, earning an average of 187 yen (US$1.60 approx.) per frame. 73.7% of these animators earn less than 1 million yen per year and the highest paid storyboard animators earn at most 80% of what other types of animators make.
Kj1980 has quite the facts to add.
"Animators (gengaka) here are viewed as the bottom rung of society - people who work close to 20+ hours a day, have to sleep at their office, who gets paid less than the people flipping burgers at McDonald’s, and never see a single yen from the profits from the sales.
The head honcho (they can be the chief writer, the director, the original character designer, etc.) are the ones who bring up the idea, who do all the dealings with sponsors and TV studios, who are the brainchild of the series, stories, and whatnot. Hence, they reap in all the royalties and percentage of the profits. That’s why you have people like Akahori Satoru (main writer for many successful anime and games) who owns a Centurion American Express card, who lavishes around in expensive bars ordering $5,000+ bottles of wine, driving around in exotic cars and getting all the ladies. On the other hand, you have slaving low level animators who gets paid meager amounts in which they can’t pay their electric bills and are kicked out from their apartments for not being able to pay their rent.
If you persevere you might get a chance to be responsible for the chief animation director. And if you are able to get through that, you might make connections along the way to move up to become a director or a writer. But out of a pool of thousands of low level animators, the chances are slim."
Dafool, who is in the Filipino animation industry, gives some insight into hellish working conditions.
Yes, it is still possible to be richer being a freelance animator than a salaryman. If you are superman and can pump out twenty feet a day, that is.
Eggplant, who is living in Japan, notes the reasons behind the working conditions.
"This atrocious working environment is not only tolerated, it is legal. These animators are not employed by their respective studios, but instead are servicing their skills under a contractual agreement, with remuneration based on output (i.e., number of pages penciled/painted). In essence, they are not subject to labor laws, including the application of minimum wages and maximum hours of labor per week. Despite being technically immune to corporate regulations such as working hours, studios bind them to their desks until the quota is fulfilled, hinting that the slightest sign of insubordinance will lead to his/her firing, as animators are literally disposable, replaced by the next flock of unwitting wannabes.
But the majority of young animators are at the mercy of studios, to be exploited at will, and those that manage to stay on board will eventually encounter a reality check in the form of their services no longer being necessary. Then again, how can an average digital artist make ends meet at a per page rate of under 200 yen, when the maximum number of pages one can physically complete is 20 per day?
The anime industry is extremely closed and it is so for a reason. In comparison to other forms of entertainment, production costs for anime are extremely expensive, mainly to cover labor costs for the immense amount of hand drawn artwork. A thrity minute late night episode averages around US$200K, which is rather unpractical considering the resources needed to re-collect the money (primarily by DVD sales).
This was already an issue from the dawning ages of anime. Mushi Productions, the first Japanese anime studio, led by the legendary Tezuka Osamu, realized that cutting production costs was essential in the survival of future anime. All other studios followed suit, and eventually horrible working conditions became synonymous with anime production. This remained tacit knowledge for a long time, as if competetive studios were working in collusion in order to cover up the dark side of the indsutry.
Tezuka is praised for his work, as his contributions to the industry surpass any of his vices. However, he is also the center of controversy within the anime industry, and high profile people such as director Miyazaki Hayao has been known to criticize the late Tezuka of setting a precedent."
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Seiyuu are not Stars
Contrary to popular belief, the life is a seiyuu isn’t like that of a regular star. Majority of them live like normal people, or even less-well off than normal people. Without a fixed income, they have to search for as many auditions as possible, if not a part-time job may be required just to stay alive.
Kj1980 explains the harsh truth.
Seiyuus are paid around 2,000-3,000 yen per episode. That means, even if you have one line or hundred of lines, you are still paid the same amount. Almost every seiyuu that is tied to a talent agency is paid around that price. Once you are famous enough to make out on your own, you are your own boss so you can haggle your own price. A good example of how poor seiyuus are can be best exemplified from YuriC’s (Ochiai Yurika) personal blog - that she didn’t have enough money to pay the electric bill so her electricity was cut off, she almost had her mobile phone disconnected because she couldn’t pay that bill.
So in order to make a living as a seiyuu - they attend as many auditions as they can so that they can be selected to appear in almost every episode for at least two or three titles per season.
Singers are different. Their income mainly comes from revenues from CD sales. The difference between seiyuus that sings and real singers is exactly just that - seiyuus rarely ever see a single yen from royalties from their CDs, whereas real singers reap in huge royalties.
Seiyuu receives little to nothing when she sings. The deal is between the talent agency in which the seiyuu resides and the record company. Not the seiyuu him/herself.
They are just corporate workers who have a job at a talent agency. Their main job is to provide voice acting service for the company. The more they do, the more money companies make with deals.
Besides, the main royalties goes to people who writes the lyrics and makes the music - not the singer. So, if you look carefully at the credits, it reads:
Lyrics gets royalties because the lyrics to the song is published. If it is used in karaoke machines, then licensing costs margins goes to the person who wrote the lyrics. Same holds true for the original music. The singer just sings to the written lyrics and the music. Practically anyone can do that if they have a nice voice, so little money goes to them.
The flow:
"In the light" seiyuus that does voice acting for "in the light" games gets paid a modest amount. I’m not certain of the details as that is usually a haggling price between the game makers and the talent agency.
As for "in the dark" seiyuus who uses pseudonyms or who cannot get roles for "in the light" (sadly, majority of newly seiyuu graduates succumb to such roles) have no choice but to lend their voices for ero-games or ero-anime. They are usually paid quite low. Lately many previously "in the dark" seiyuus have come "into the light" with high popularity of the originally ero-game based-turned anime. The opposite also holds true: many "in the light" seiyuus lend their own voices (with pseudonyms) for "in the dark" ero-game industry in order to make a living.
In either case, whether you are popular or not, whether you have concerts or expos, seiyuus are not paid that well. Only a few, a very select few make money whose ranges are of several ten thousand yens per episode.
Who makes the most money? Veterans like Inoue Kikuko or Hayashibara Megumi aren’t in the top bracket. Legendary people in their late fifties, sixties, and in their seventies. The people who do (did) voices for Doraemon and Sazae-san. People who did the majority of kids’ shows back in the 70s and 80s. They are the ones in which the a large portion of the Japanese populace grew up listening to by watching "World Masterpiece Theater." Current big-name seiyuus learned their skills from these people. But even then, the top earning seiyuu legends like Kamiya Akira get paid an only a 10~50,000 yen per episode.
That is why most seiyuus need to do many auditions to get more anime series, dub voice overs for movies, voices for commercials, to make a living. If that doesn’t work, they need to find a job for secondary income (working at a restaurant, a convenience store, etc. etc.).
If you don’t have nothing to shine and impress the sponsors, sound directors, and the creators of anime, TV commercials or movies, you end up working for the dark side - voicing ero-anime and ero-games (though many seiyuus do ero-games under a pseudonym as it pays a bit better), getting quick cash by appearing in a porno.
The fans don’t care - the people that get irked are the sponsors. And the main reason is:
Let’s say a seiyuu goes to an audition and get the role for a very popular children’s show that runs on NHK (the nationally owned TV station).
A few days later, TV execs find out that the seiyuu did a role in an ero-game without covering up her name. She immediately loses her job that she acquired.
Why? Same as any other country with bitching parents and teachers associations that cry afoul "oh, think of the children! how can you be so obtuse to let such person doing a kid’s show! won’t please someone think of the children!?"
Miyamura Yuko, the seiyuu for Asuka in "Neon Genesis Evangelion" gained immense popularity when that anime became a hit. However, when a tabloid exposed that she appeared in a porno several years before (the days when she wasn’t famous and needed cash to make a living), the gossip press daunted her days after days. This continued to taunt Miyamu for several months during which she couldn’t get any job because of this.
Fans of Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton could care less of their sexcapades (rather, many are interested), so do fans of seiyuus. It’s the tabloids and the press, bitching parents, teachers and liberal activists. It’s the sponsors and talent agencies who instantly distance themselves when such "facts" are broken to the press.
If seiyuus need the money, they’d better be sure to use pseudonyms when they take voice acting roles for ero-games and ero-anime.
Few examples:
Mizuhashi Kaori = Uehara Tomomi
Itou Shizuka = Misaki Rina
Nabatame Hitomi = Tezuka Maki
Eggplant, on the process of becoming a seiyuu.
Anime is not a role model for the entertainment industry, and unlike actors, singers, or athletes who are recognized and duly compensated for their skills, from the studio’s point of view, seiyuus are merely staff despite their actor/actress moniker, and are treated that way.
How ironic it is for seiyuus to be given recent recognition not only by hardcore otakus, but by the entertainment industry as well, when their paycheck pales in comparison to that of an office worker of the same age. Seiyuus, who have established themselves are no exception.
An aspiring seiyuu will usually have to endure 2 years of basic acting training at a vocational school, then enter an agency in Tokyo as a trainee for another 2-3 years of acting lessons before he or she can do any acting work. And that is if the said person is talented enough which is a 1% chance. Even then, such roles for newcomers are sparse, and the prospective seiyuu must win through auditions.
And what is his/her paycheck for this? 12,000 yen (appoximately $110) per episode minus tax deduction and agency commissions, assuming the seiyuu is a member of the Japan Actors Guild. And don’t think that such a union is for the mutual benefit of the seiyuu, as it simply stipulates the unique classification system which is the basis for their appearance fee.
This fixed rate is applicable whether you have one line or a thousand (though there are variable factors that are taken into account), and one’s rank will not be re-evaluated until after 2-3 years, where he/she can only step up to the next level.
The ten tier rating system starting off from Junior (15,000 yen per episode prior to deductions) to Veteran (45,000 yen), plus the special Non-Rank reserved for mainly 60 year olds and above, has hardly any leeway in terms of money. Essentially, a longtime veteran will make only maximum three times that of a rookie per episode. In fact, there are many seiyuus that resist on being promoted to a higher class, as a higher fee will lead to lesser jobs.
Put that into the rookie seiyuu’s shoes. He/she can only earn 60,000 yen per month without stipend, and it is likely that that role is the seiyuu’s only one. No wonder why seiyuus have to resort to other ways to make a living, by appearing in events, doing narration work, dubbing games or commercials, and that’s if there’s such an offer. Otherwise, it’s a continuation of the part-time job he/she did during the trainee days in order to make a living. Since you can only do seiyuu work in Tokyo, and if you’re out here on your own, you must take part time jobs to keep a roof over you.
Seiyuu who are not a union members are forced into worse conditions. Some studios or advertising agencies often hire non-union seiyuus due to budget constraints or animosity towards the union, and there are people who will due whatever it takes to grab a role. There are also seiyuu agencies that are not Management Association members, who exclusively handle non union member seiyuus, although it is up to the individual seiyuu whether to join the guild or not.
Due to the efforts of senior seiyuus, the road for incentives is open, mainly income based on re-runs, but royalties stemming from DVD sales have yet to be in implemented. Simply based on the information laid down here, for example, a 5 year veteran seiyuu with a base wage of 20,000 yen per show who does 4 shows a particular season will earn 240,000 yen a month on anime seiyuu work alone, which finally brings it up to normal living standards.
The spotlight on anime will most likely continue, generating lots of revenue for the select few people in the industry. Too bad that it isn’t adequately returned to the people responsible for putting it into life. And sadly enough, the truth will never reach the starry eyed seiyuu wannabes until confronted with the harsh reality.
Kj1980 gives a reality check for Foreigners who want to be seiyuu.
For foreign seiyuu wannabes, do you really want to go through the trouble of getting a student visa for Japan, submitting dozens of paperwork to prove that you have sufficient income to get by, paying a hefty fee for a temporary residential permit for foreigners, with the restrictions of not being able to get jobs due to "student" status, just to become a seiyuu?
And even if you manage to get by, there are 10,000+ seiyuus that graduate such voice acting schools each year, in which only a handful gets hired by talent agencies. And even then, your salary is extremely low.
Eggplant continues
Erogames are not subject to the rank payment system of anime, although standard video games has its own rating system. A seiyuu can earn 3 or 4 more times as much as he/she can by doing erogames, even though the seiyuu will assume a pseudonym.
This is because erogames/ ero anime videos are a niche market, catered to a minority willing to dish out huge bucks for a product and the production company knows that they have stellar quality by hiring an anime seiyuu.
Male seiyuu are not hesitant about appearing in erogames, as their identity is concealed and they can reap in good money. However, many female seiyuu resist such paths, and in some cases, their agency refuses to have them work in such fields.
In any case, anime seiyuus have to compete against proprietary erogame/eroanime seiyuu for the role, wherein the former has better acting skills while the latter has a better connections within the market.
Male seiyuu who can live a good life do narration work for TV, radio, videos, etc., as payment is very generous. In fact, seiyuus that are homeowners and who drive around in flashy cars built their fortune by doing such work.
In a way, seiyuus are better off than idol singers, who usually have a fixed income the first few years no matter how much that person rakes in for the agency, however when that idol starts switches to a performance based contract, it is a totally different story, as even a Morning Musume member can earn 40 million yen a year.
Listen to the voice acting in Miyazaki Hayao movies. He uses top notch actors/actresses as he depises the industry and anime seiyuus in general, but the end result is mediocre acting at best. This is an indication that top notch seiyuus are best at doing voice dubbing work, a talent often taken for granted.
Of course seiyuu will never attain the celebrity status of a leading actor/actress, as anime in general is a niche market where the seiyuu’s face and name are not recognizable to the public. Actors/actresses in Japan earn most of their money by endorsing products in TV commercials.
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That’s not exactly a summary is it? But after reading through this, would you still think of Horie Yui and Noto Mamiko in the same way? It’s always better to know than to be ignorant. So next time, when you watch anime, keep in mind that this is the end product of a lot of effort and sacrifice.
Approximately 81 yen to 1 Singapore dollar. That means, an apprentice seiyuu only earns $500+ for the entire series, providing his/her voice is used every episode. On comparison for jobs in Singapore, an NS combat-support Coporal is paid $520, road sweeper (aka Bangala brothers) earning $700+ per month, any part time job outside for one month at least $800-$1000. Heck, even free lancing jobs that you can find outside would earn you $400-$600 by shaking legs at home.
Considering the fact that earning money is so hard in Japan, it makes me think twice of migrating there, uguu... :(
And those of you who have jobs, cherish it. After knowing how hard it is to earn money in other profession, I hope you do...
It's very well written, so all the credits goes to the Riuva.
People Focus: Seiyuu and Animators are Slaves, not Stars
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I haven’t visited the Animesuki forums ever since it lost all its threads. Stuck here in my dad’s office helping him cover for his on-leave secretary, I’ve nothing to do except surf forums. And then I saw the "The Industry - Lifestyles and Wages" thread which is probably the most informative forum thread I’ve come across there. Please read it and it will change us Gaijin anime lovers’ viewpoint on anime forever.
It is terribly long and covers a broad range of issues, with very insightful full-length articles contributed by people like kj1980 and egglant. I cannot verify its credibility but given their track records, I’m believing every word. It’s gonna be a rude shock for those of you who worship seiyuus as stars, aspire to be animators or want to join the industry.
To anyone who has not seen the dark truth behind the anime industry, read on and find out how the genki, cheerful anime we watch is sweetened with the sweat and blood of the production crew.
I have sorted and classified the posts and summarised them. In Word form font 12, the informative posts took up 12 pages and totaled some 6,500 words. That’s some nice forum reading eh? Read the original thread if you want something fully comprehensive. The shortened version is long too.
This thread has just made me a lot more certain that doing well in school, picking up an elite degree, gaining mastery of languages and generally being capable of doing high-level corporate work is far better, at least in terms of materialism, than pursuing naive dreams. Anime has a tendency to spout lines like "If you don’t stop dreaming, you will never fail" or similar cheesy idealistic lines which sounds nice but never works in real life.
I have never thought of anime as anything more than a hobby and when I resume school in University (currently serving mandatory Military Service), it’s probably going down my list of priorities. I curently earn S$400 monthly (about 28,000 yen), which is less than the cost of 2 Macross Transformable Valkryies and it is illegal for me to do part-time jobs to supplement this meagre allowance. My targeted major is actually Food Science and Technology and I’m interested in making convenient food. Also known as food I can eat while watching anime.
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Animators are Slaves
The discussion starts with the pay and working hours of animators. Lets start with a Survey detailing the salaries earned by Japanese animators.
Working an average of 10.2 hours a day, 49.5% of them reported that they feel that their salaries are not sufficient for the work they do and 90% of them feel that the benefits and pensions are insufficient.
26.8% earn less than 1 million yen (US$8,500 approx.) annually, 19.6% earn between 1 million yen and 2 million yen (US$17,000 approx.) annually, 18.6% earn between 2 million yen and 3 million yen (US$25,700 approx.) annually. 65% of Japanese animators earn less than 3 million yen annually.
One category of animators, the storyboard animators who are responsible for drawing up outlines and sketches of how the animation will run, earns even less. They are often paid on a "per frame" basis, earning an average of 187 yen (US$1.60 approx.) per frame. 73.7% of these animators earn less than 1 million yen per year and the highest paid storyboard animators earn at most 80% of what other types of animators make.
Kj1980 has quite the facts to add.
"Animators (gengaka) here are viewed as the bottom rung of society - people who work close to 20+ hours a day, have to sleep at their office, who gets paid less than the people flipping burgers at McDonald’s, and never see a single yen from the profits from the sales.
The head honcho (they can be the chief writer, the director, the original character designer, etc.) are the ones who bring up the idea, who do all the dealings with sponsors and TV studios, who are the brainchild of the series, stories, and whatnot. Hence, they reap in all the royalties and percentage of the profits. That’s why you have people like Akahori Satoru (main writer for many successful anime and games) who owns a Centurion American Express card, who lavishes around in expensive bars ordering $5,000+ bottles of wine, driving around in exotic cars and getting all the ladies. On the other hand, you have slaving low level animators who gets paid meager amounts in which they can’t pay their electric bills and are kicked out from their apartments for not being able to pay their rent.
If you persevere you might get a chance to be responsible for the chief animation director. And if you are able to get through that, you might make connections along the way to move up to become a director or a writer. But out of a pool of thousands of low level animators, the chances are slim."
Dafool, who is in the Filipino animation industry, gives some insight into hellish working conditions.
- Do you want to sleep and bathe in the animation studio, going home (if at all) only during the weekends?
- Do you want a steady diet of coffee, coke, Ministop fried chicken, 7-Eleven hotdogs, and cigarettes?
- Do you want to work very hard on a scene, only to have to redo it because someone down the pipeline thinks it sucks? Or worse, because some idiot accidentally deleted it.
- Do you want to be assured that after the current project is over, you have no guarantee of your next work?
- Do you just love to bask in the condescending attitudes of the expats who make no effort to mask the fact that they dislike you because you are doing their job for cheap and who blame all bad quality on the outsourcing and subcontractors, and yet at the same time change their minds at the last minute to redo some scenes worse than they were to begin with?
- Do you like to work with people who did not have a good education, or who were involved in drugs at some point in their lives?
Yes, it is still possible to be richer being a freelance animator than a salaryman. If you are superman and can pump out twenty feet a day, that is.
Eggplant, who is living in Japan, notes the reasons behind the working conditions.
"This atrocious working environment is not only tolerated, it is legal. These animators are not employed by their respective studios, but instead are servicing their skills under a contractual agreement, with remuneration based on output (i.e., number of pages penciled/painted). In essence, they are not subject to labor laws, including the application of minimum wages and maximum hours of labor per week. Despite being technically immune to corporate regulations such as working hours, studios bind them to their desks until the quota is fulfilled, hinting that the slightest sign of insubordinance will lead to his/her firing, as animators are literally disposable, replaced by the next flock of unwitting wannabes.
But the majority of young animators are at the mercy of studios, to be exploited at will, and those that manage to stay on board will eventually encounter a reality check in the form of their services no longer being necessary. Then again, how can an average digital artist make ends meet at a per page rate of under 200 yen, when the maximum number of pages one can physically complete is 20 per day?
The anime industry is extremely closed and it is so for a reason. In comparison to other forms of entertainment, production costs for anime are extremely expensive, mainly to cover labor costs for the immense amount of hand drawn artwork. A thrity minute late night episode averages around US$200K, which is rather unpractical considering the resources needed to re-collect the money (primarily by DVD sales).
This was already an issue from the dawning ages of anime. Mushi Productions, the first Japanese anime studio, led by the legendary Tezuka Osamu, realized that cutting production costs was essential in the survival of future anime. All other studios followed suit, and eventually horrible working conditions became synonymous with anime production. This remained tacit knowledge for a long time, as if competetive studios were working in collusion in order to cover up the dark side of the indsutry.
Tezuka is praised for his work, as his contributions to the industry surpass any of his vices. However, he is also the center of controversy within the anime industry, and high profile people such as director Miyazaki Hayao has been known to criticize the late Tezuka of setting a precedent."
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Seiyuu are not Stars
Contrary to popular belief, the life is a seiyuu isn’t like that of a regular star. Majority of them live like normal people, or even less-well off than normal people. Without a fixed income, they have to search for as many auditions as possible, if not a part-time job may be required just to stay alive.
Kj1980 explains the harsh truth.
Seiyuus are paid around 2,000-3,000 yen per episode. That means, even if you have one line or hundred of lines, you are still paid the same amount. Almost every seiyuu that is tied to a talent agency is paid around that price. Once you are famous enough to make out on your own, you are your own boss so you can haggle your own price. A good example of how poor seiyuus are can be best exemplified from YuriC’s (Ochiai Yurika) personal blog - that she didn’t have enough money to pay the electric bill so her electricity was cut off, she almost had her mobile phone disconnected because she couldn’t pay that bill.
So in order to make a living as a seiyuu - they attend as many auditions as they can so that they can be selected to appear in almost every episode for at least two or three titles per season.
Singers are different. Their income mainly comes from revenues from CD sales. The difference between seiyuus that sings and real singers is exactly just that - seiyuus rarely ever see a single yen from royalties from their CDs, whereas real singers reap in huge royalties.
Seiyuu receives little to nothing when she sings. The deal is between the talent agency in which the seiyuu resides and the record company. Not the seiyuu him/herself.
They are just corporate workers who have a job at a talent agency. Their main job is to provide voice acting service for the company. The more they do, the more money companies make with deals.
Besides, the main royalties goes to people who writes the lyrics and makes the music - not the singer. So, if you look carefully at the credits, it reads:
- Lyrics by:
- Music by:
- Sung by:
Lyrics gets royalties because the lyrics to the song is published. If it is used in karaoke machines, then licensing costs margins goes to the person who wrote the lyrics. Same holds true for the original music. The singer just sings to the written lyrics and the music. Practically anyone can do that if they have a nice voice, so little money goes to them.
The flow:
- Talent agency calls up their seiyuu to sing.
- The lyrics and music are already made by the record company.
- The girl sings to the lyrics and the music. She is paid a stipend for doing that.
- The song is an instantaneous hit (to otakus).
- The royalties goes to: the talent agency (which provided the singer) and the record company (which provided the lyrics and the music)
- What did the seiyuu receive? The stipend only.
- So what if the seiyuu gets pissed off for not receiving more? The talent agency can just replace the seiyuu since they have a giant pool of them to choose from.
- The seiyuu need the agency to find them jobs.
"In the light" seiyuus that does voice acting for "in the light" games gets paid a modest amount. I’m not certain of the details as that is usually a haggling price between the game makers and the talent agency.
As for "in the dark" seiyuus who uses pseudonyms or who cannot get roles for "in the light" (sadly, majority of newly seiyuu graduates succumb to such roles) have no choice but to lend their voices for ero-games or ero-anime. They are usually paid quite low. Lately many previously "in the dark" seiyuus have come "into the light" with high popularity of the originally ero-game based-turned anime. The opposite also holds true: many "in the light" seiyuus lend their own voices (with pseudonyms) for "in the dark" ero-game industry in order to make a living.
In either case, whether you are popular or not, whether you have concerts or expos, seiyuus are not paid that well. Only a few, a very select few make money whose ranges are of several ten thousand yens per episode.
Who makes the most money? Veterans like Inoue Kikuko or Hayashibara Megumi aren’t in the top bracket. Legendary people in their late fifties, sixties, and in their seventies. The people who do (did) voices for Doraemon and Sazae-san. People who did the majority of kids’ shows back in the 70s and 80s. They are the ones in which the a large portion of the Japanese populace grew up listening to by watching "World Masterpiece Theater." Current big-name seiyuus learned their skills from these people. But even then, the top earning seiyuu legends like Kamiya Akira get paid an only a 10~50,000 yen per episode.
That is why most seiyuus need to do many auditions to get more anime series, dub voice overs for movies, voices for commercials, to make a living. If that doesn’t work, they need to find a job for secondary income (working at a restaurant, a convenience store, etc. etc.).
If you don’t have nothing to shine and impress the sponsors, sound directors, and the creators of anime, TV commercials or movies, you end up working for the dark side - voicing ero-anime and ero-games (though many seiyuus do ero-games under a pseudonym as it pays a bit better), getting quick cash by appearing in a porno.
The fans don’t care - the people that get irked are the sponsors. And the main reason is:
Let’s say a seiyuu goes to an audition and get the role for a very popular children’s show that runs on NHK (the nationally owned TV station).
A few days later, TV execs find out that the seiyuu did a role in an ero-game without covering up her name. She immediately loses her job that she acquired.
Why? Same as any other country with bitching parents and teachers associations that cry afoul "oh, think of the children! how can you be so obtuse to let such person doing a kid’s show! won’t please someone think of the children!?"
Miyamura Yuko, the seiyuu for Asuka in "Neon Genesis Evangelion" gained immense popularity when that anime became a hit. However, when a tabloid exposed that she appeared in a porno several years before (the days when she wasn’t famous and needed cash to make a living), the gossip press daunted her days after days. This continued to taunt Miyamu for several months during which she couldn’t get any job because of this.
Fans of Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton could care less of their sexcapades (rather, many are interested), so do fans of seiyuus. It’s the tabloids and the press, bitching parents, teachers and liberal activists. It’s the sponsors and talent agencies who instantly distance themselves when such "facts" are broken to the press.
If seiyuus need the money, they’d better be sure to use pseudonyms when they take voice acting roles for ero-games and ero-anime.
Few examples:
Mizuhashi Kaori = Uehara Tomomi
Itou Shizuka = Misaki Rina
Nabatame Hitomi = Tezuka Maki
Eggplant, on the process of becoming a seiyuu.
Anime is not a role model for the entertainment industry, and unlike actors, singers, or athletes who are recognized and duly compensated for their skills, from the studio’s point of view, seiyuus are merely staff despite their actor/actress moniker, and are treated that way.
How ironic it is for seiyuus to be given recent recognition not only by hardcore otakus, but by the entertainment industry as well, when their paycheck pales in comparison to that of an office worker of the same age. Seiyuus, who have established themselves are no exception.
An aspiring seiyuu will usually have to endure 2 years of basic acting training at a vocational school, then enter an agency in Tokyo as a trainee for another 2-3 years of acting lessons before he or she can do any acting work. And that is if the said person is talented enough which is a 1% chance. Even then, such roles for newcomers are sparse, and the prospective seiyuu must win through auditions.
And what is his/her paycheck for this? 12,000 yen (appoximately $110) per episode minus tax deduction and agency commissions, assuming the seiyuu is a member of the Japan Actors Guild. And don’t think that such a union is for the mutual benefit of the seiyuu, as it simply stipulates the unique classification system which is the basis for their appearance fee.
This fixed rate is applicable whether you have one line or a thousand (though there are variable factors that are taken into account), and one’s rank will not be re-evaluated until after 2-3 years, where he/she can only step up to the next level.
The ten tier rating system starting off from Junior (15,000 yen per episode prior to deductions) to Veteran (45,000 yen), plus the special Non-Rank reserved for mainly 60 year olds and above, has hardly any leeway in terms of money. Essentially, a longtime veteran will make only maximum three times that of a rookie per episode. In fact, there are many seiyuus that resist on being promoted to a higher class, as a higher fee will lead to lesser jobs.
Put that into the rookie seiyuu’s shoes. He/she can only earn 60,000 yen per month without stipend, and it is likely that that role is the seiyuu’s only one. No wonder why seiyuus have to resort to other ways to make a living, by appearing in events, doing narration work, dubbing games or commercials, and that’s if there’s such an offer. Otherwise, it’s a continuation of the part-time job he/she did during the trainee days in order to make a living. Since you can only do seiyuu work in Tokyo, and if you’re out here on your own, you must take part time jobs to keep a roof over you.
Seiyuu who are not a union members are forced into worse conditions. Some studios or advertising agencies often hire non-union seiyuus due to budget constraints or animosity towards the union, and there are people who will due whatever it takes to grab a role. There are also seiyuu agencies that are not Management Association members, who exclusively handle non union member seiyuus, although it is up to the individual seiyuu whether to join the guild or not.
Due to the efforts of senior seiyuus, the road for incentives is open, mainly income based on re-runs, but royalties stemming from DVD sales have yet to be in implemented. Simply based on the information laid down here, for example, a 5 year veteran seiyuu with a base wage of 20,000 yen per show who does 4 shows a particular season will earn 240,000 yen a month on anime seiyuu work alone, which finally brings it up to normal living standards.
The spotlight on anime will most likely continue, generating lots of revenue for the select few people in the industry. Too bad that it isn’t adequately returned to the people responsible for putting it into life. And sadly enough, the truth will never reach the starry eyed seiyuu wannabes until confronted with the harsh reality.
Kj1980 gives a reality check for Foreigners who want to be seiyuu.
For foreign seiyuu wannabes, do you really want to go through the trouble of getting a student visa for Japan, submitting dozens of paperwork to prove that you have sufficient income to get by, paying a hefty fee for a temporary residential permit for foreigners, with the restrictions of not being able to get jobs due to "student" status, just to become a seiyuu?
And even if you manage to get by, there are 10,000+ seiyuus that graduate such voice acting schools each year, in which only a handful gets hired by talent agencies. And even then, your salary is extremely low.
Eggplant continues
Erogames are not subject to the rank payment system of anime, although standard video games has its own rating system. A seiyuu can earn 3 or 4 more times as much as he/she can by doing erogames, even though the seiyuu will assume a pseudonym.
This is because erogames/ ero anime videos are a niche market, catered to a minority willing to dish out huge bucks for a product and the production company knows that they have stellar quality by hiring an anime seiyuu.
Male seiyuu are not hesitant about appearing in erogames, as their identity is concealed and they can reap in good money. However, many female seiyuu resist such paths, and in some cases, their agency refuses to have them work in such fields.
In any case, anime seiyuus have to compete against proprietary erogame/eroanime seiyuu for the role, wherein the former has better acting skills while the latter has a better connections within the market.
Male seiyuu who can live a good life do narration work for TV, radio, videos, etc., as payment is very generous. In fact, seiyuus that are homeowners and who drive around in flashy cars built their fortune by doing such work.
In a way, seiyuus are better off than idol singers, who usually have a fixed income the first few years no matter how much that person rakes in for the agency, however when that idol starts switches to a performance based contract, it is a totally different story, as even a Morning Musume member can earn 40 million yen a year.
Listen to the voice acting in Miyazaki Hayao movies. He uses top notch actors/actresses as he depises the industry and anime seiyuus in general, but the end result is mediocre acting at best. This is an indication that top notch seiyuus are best at doing voice dubbing work, a talent often taken for granted.
Of course seiyuu will never attain the celebrity status of a leading actor/actress, as anime in general is a niche market where the seiyuu’s face and name are not recognizable to the public. Actors/actresses in Japan earn most of their money by endorsing products in TV commercials.
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That’s not exactly a summary is it? But after reading through this, would you still think of Horie Yui and Noto Mamiko in the same way? It’s always better to know than to be ignorant. So next time, when you watch anime, keep in mind that this is the end product of a lot of effort and sacrifice.
Approximately 81 yen to 1 Singapore dollar. That means, an apprentice seiyuu only earns $500+ for the entire series, providing his/her voice is used every episode. On comparison for jobs in Singapore, an NS combat-support Coporal is paid $520, road sweeper (aka Bangala brothers) earning $700+ per month, any part time job outside for one month at least $800-$1000. Heck, even free lancing jobs that you can find outside would earn you $400-$600 by shaking legs at home.
Considering the fact that earning money is so hard in Japan, it makes me think twice of migrating there, uguu... :(
And those of you who have jobs, cherish it. After knowing how hard it is to earn money in other profession, I hope you do...
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
[Life] ORD ORH! End of NS life...
18th October 2006 marks the end of my NS life. It's been like 2 and a half years since I've graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and entered in the what-known-as the "scariest" "sacred" time of every male citizens of Singapore.
Started out my journey in Pulau Tekong Gryphon Company Platoon 2, I enjoy every single bit of it (except the arm skote IC part, which of course, FUBAR(Fcked Up Beyond All Redemption).
Started out my journey in Pulau Tekong Gryphon Company Platoon 2, I enjoy every single bit of it (except the arm skote IC part, which of course sux).
Training in tekong is not as tough as I thought, thanks to my positive mindset of being a sniper (which in the end, it's just a dream) and aiming for SISPEC (which of course, didn't manage to get in too). I still remember the "fun" we had during bunk cleaning, the feeling we had when we book in and out, the ups and downs of my bunkmates. It was fun at that time. If I thought unit is so sucks, I'd have asked my buddy, Jimmy to screw me more before we POP. Of course, not what you're thinking XD We aren’t 302...
That was also the time when I realize that shooting aren't that hard at all, but how the heck did I miss the marksman requirement? In other words, being over confidence sucks... Still remember 3SG Erizeman... Still remember the 5 days field camp which I "luun" my shit for 3 days before releasing all at one on the 4th day morning... Still remember the IPPT which I finally passed after for so long... Still remember those days...
Eish, Jun Hao, Kui Bao, Fin, Najib, Peter, Me myself, Jimmy Goh, Hwei Neng ,Fariz, Jimmy Lee, Louis and Jun Wei... All the best in your future ventures...
My NS Life...
Started out my journey in Pulau Tekong Gryphon Company Platoon 2, I enjoy every single bit of it (except the arm skote IC part, which of course, FUBAR(Fcked Up Beyond All Redemption).
Started out my journey in Pulau Tekong Gryphon Company Platoon 2, I enjoy every single bit of it (except the arm skote IC part, which of course sux).
For brothers in arms, Comrades for life...
Training in tekong is not as tough as I thought, thanks to my positive mindset of being a sniper (which in the end, it's just a dream) and aiming for SISPEC (which of course, didn't manage to get in too). I still remember the "fun" we had during bunk cleaning, the feeling we had when we book in and out, the ups and downs of my bunkmates. It was fun at that time. If I thought unit is so sucks, I'd have asked my buddy, Jimmy to screw me more before we POP. Of course, not what you're thinking XD We aren’t 302...
That was also the time when I realize that shooting aren't that hard at all, but how the heck did I miss the marksman requirement? In other words, being over confidence sucks... Still remember 3SG Erizeman... Still remember the 5 days field camp which I "luun" my shit for 3 days before releasing all at one on the 4th day morning... Still remember the IPPT which I finally passed after for so long... Still remember those days...
Eish, Jun Hao, Kui Bao, Fin, Najib, Peter, Me myself, Jimmy Goh, Hwei Neng ,Fariz, Jimmy Lee, Louis and Jun Wei... All the best in your future ventures...
The dark days of my NS life... well not really...
It was a time of dark sky in my NS life... The first day I entered that manifest den, I can feel a new chemical is being produced from my body, it makes me numb, it makes me wanna puke. I still remember the amount of time we waited for allocation of bunk, the noise we produced (I was quiet, cause I was lonely T_T) before we got screwed upside down by Incek Paul (then, the Training Warrant Officer), and the long road we marched before we arrived in our bunk.
On arrival of the bunk, I can sense, the spirits of those who ventured into this den but never returned again, the warning signs from the scar of the building which battles after battles against time have fought... Mother Earth is telling me to be careful...
I still remember the 40x16 jumping jet I did that result in a micro-fractured toe. I still remember the "ORHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" turnout siren!
A siren which will wake any dead people around, if there's any. I still remember the "RARHH RAHRHAHARHAH" dog barking CSM, which scolds and give us instructions in a language we don't understand at all, and then punish us cause we never do them. Of course, the rumour about how crazy is 1SG William treating his men and how the men treat him back. It was dark and cold...
But then, there was light at the very end of this dark path, the light which shows us our clear path. 3SG Dennis, 3SG Jacky and last but not least, 3SG Lye. The instructors of Platoon 4, which punish us with reasons, took care of us when we were down, tekang us in a way we enjoyed very much, keep us fit while make us shack. I'd like to specially thank 3SG Lye for training us this way. This is my first time in my life that I gotten silver for IPPT. (quote: (after doing 8 pull ups) Wow! Surprising!)
After which I still remember the last 3 day in PLAB. It was like fighting in a war... You watched your comrades "shot down" one by one in front of your eyes. A company of heroes, reduced in size one by one... We have about 15 people who are chosen to stay in PLAB, and was removed from the crowd. We've got about 20 people taken away after the 2nd day. Mental pressure is high. We are wondering when will it be our turn... Then it was the 3rd day when I receive the announcement that I'll be posted to Air Force School. You know, at that time I was like "What the **** is AFS? O_o??" Just put us there and get over with it... -_-
We packed our stuff and moved out to the "collection" point. LTA Soh from AFS fetch us over to AFS for briefing. I was surprised at how the management goes. Cause it was simple, clear-cut and vague. I absorb as much as I can before we are told to go home 15 mins later. Finally the long wait is over...
And the road to ORD...
So my job now is simple, do duty everyday and wait for ORD. My hatred over FDS still stays. I always thinking about whether the reason that I have to do guard duty everyday, is due to the fact that I didn't even do a single guard duty in Tekong? I feel like talking to no one when I entered my new unit. I just wanna finish my duty and go home... But it was the people from my shift who taught me stuff after stuff. There isn't a unit without internal conflict, however the conflict is there to realize on each other and build up the bond we had with each other. Also for me, it's to spice up what we are doing cause it's really boring job... REALLY... Gosh...
I remembered telling someone about how time passes so fast if you're looking backward, and how time passes so slow if you're looking forward... It's true... It's enjoyable looking backwards at how fast the time have passed. From using the old gate with an OCT, to lobos helping out (2 batches), to issues on TVs, issues on management, issues on internal conflict, issues on chao gengs and mcs... it was hilarious ^_^;;
So after serving the nation for 2 years and 2 months, including serving Air Force School for 1 year and 6 months, this is the stuff that I received from them. I was rated very good in both conduct and performance. But I heard a certain person gotten excellent for both. So conclusion is... another lesson in life learnt for me ^_^;;
My advise for those who're still serving NS, do not look forward, you'll make your life miserable. Just make everyday a day you'll remember, cause when you look back, time will eventually passed by fast.
My advise for those who haven't served NS, don't worry. It's not scary at all... time will passed very fast(if you only following my method). The time when you're scared out is the time when you approach your ORD. Cause at that time, alot of responsibility will be pushed to you all at once...
My final advise for those who haven't served NS, AND those who haven't received their posting...
This is my message to you...
If you genna posted to Field Defence Squadron in Air Force bases (any base)…
GOOD LUCK! FDS SUCKS!
Friday, September 08, 2006
[Life] From boy to men Part 2
Gratz to Terrix whom is taking on the road to be a man this coming saturday (in fact tml)! BMTC's waiting for you dude!
I'll try to post more photos for tml. Hopefully it'll turn out fine!
Next event will be Kefka's POP. That'll be on the 13th September. Such eventful week!
I'll try to post more photos for tml. Hopefully it'll turn out fine!
Next event will be Kefka's POP. That'll be on the 13th September. Such eventful week!
Friday, September 01, 2006
[Life] A very outdated report book
While searching for my terribly-lost passport, I came over this stuff which brings me memories of the past. Or nightmare perhaps?
It was the final (2nd) year of my kindergarten progress report, attached with a class photo during our graduation. It was like 16 years ago man.
AlexandraKindergarden Kindergarten Class 2(?) - 1990
I don't remember much of the classmates anymore. Except some, who impressed me with their funny looks but supercomputer brains, and some who scarred my memories so much, I feel likekilling forgetting them.
And tracing myself in the photo is easy man, because as far as I remember, I do not like my own face while I was young. So, it’s simple to find a face you feel like punching with.
Not to mention how much I got bullied last time, not by my classmate but by my teachers, whom I don't even remember who are they now (lucky them). Most of the people would like to search for their old friends, but for me, I'd rather forget them. Kindergarten is just one part of the dark times of my life...
Looking at the results is just another interesting fact for me (laugh). Cause the results is so outdated and inaccurate, I simply went speechless and of course, don't even mind a little about releasing to anyone who happen to come across it. I'll go through every single results shown, clarifying why it's wrong and the right way to get graded with As.
Attendance (A): You can just ignore the attendance. It's "A" cause I attended most of the class, if not all. Cause a cane is just waiting outside the school for me.
Helpfulness (B): I was surprise that I graded B for helpfulness. Comparing to those seat-rooted idiots, I'm the only one who is willing to help the only disabled guy in my class.
Willingness to share (B): Good job on rating me B. I thought I should be rated C. The reason why they grade me B is because, during "games" period, where they pour a large chunk of "LEGO" in the middle of the circle of 6-7 children, who is suppose to "snatch" these toys to construct something. Since I'm shy at that time, I'm totally loses out to those hyenas. Maybe that's what you call "sharing".
Eagerness to Mix (A): Yea, you can say I'm pretty hyperactive at that time. But to be frank, the best way to kill time is to talk. And at that time I don't even like to listen to what teachers have to say. Cause they are teaching what I've learnt. But well, I would not call it obedient though lol. Mixing with those smarties is a definitely NO though.
Contribution to Group (A) & Responsibility (C): Why am I putting this 2 together? Simply enough, those mofos don't listen during a group discussion. Either they go “err... ehh... erm... ah... oh...” or they just don’t listen to you and do their own stuff (Reminds me of my SIT test during BMT). Making you so pissed off, you just go... “Fine, do what you guys want. I'll do it myself...” Maybe that's how this results turn out. Moral of this short story: Work with people you can work with. Cause people that you can't work with, just can't...
Initiative (C) & Sense of Security (C): This grading system is so funny, I couldn’t even stop looking at it just for one. How do you actually judge someone's sense of security? The initiative and sense of security is so such that, "Ok boys, think of a way to die...". Then, to get grade A for both, you just need to walk up to the window, open it up (Remember, don't try this at home) and jump off (cause you have a good sense of secure by jumping out of that hell hole). Other than that, this 2 grading is probably one of the worst graded one. [By talking about my NS vocation, I wouldn't have posted to RP then... Damn, I should have shown them this grade for the excuse!]
Power of observation (C) & Ability to Concentrate (C): For the concentration part, see above (Eagerness to Mix). And if my observation is so bad, then how can I make such an accurate comments now, after 16 years? Lol... Oh! Remember, superman should has S grade for power of observation. Oh... Cyclopes from X-Men too...
Curiosity (A): Just for once they are right! I’m very curious on anything man! I mean everything! From the TV (who cares about the show? I cared about how they manage to get it up there!), to what’s under those girl’sskirt desk. Heck, I’m even curious about why the "principal" always hide in her room and never ever get out to talk to us even once, except to punish. I’m just curious about anything, and I believe it’s good. How to get an absolute A? Go to HowStuffWorks whenever you're in doubt. Even so if your parents do not want to answer your question regarding something sensitive, you'll guarantee find your answers there.
Respect for rights/properties of others (B)/for authority(B): I don't steal, I asked others for permission before I actually borrow stuffs from others, and I get B for this. Too ordinary perhaps. Maybe next time I should bring it in front of the teacher to actually asked by kneeling and probably providing a "tearful" moment to beg for an eraser? That'll give me an A for sure. Respect for authority again, brings me to mentioning the cane. Alright, once and for all, I'll clarify. I graduated from a children SM house, where they'll whip you if you misbehave. How's this? Lol. The cane is the ultimate weapon there, it's like Emperor's sword (上丰宝剑). The cane will not hesitate to be served if you misbehave just a little. Cool huh? To get A? Be the one who delivers the punishment...
Politeness (B): I got a B, just for greeting everyone I met on the way, despite my shyness. Well, I can't say much on this one. It's human self. I can get C, I can get A, depend on whether I'm uncomfortable or not. To get A, be a japanese ^_^. ありがとう here ありがとう there might help.
Sense of right and wrong (B): Sensing right and wrong can be judged too in kindergarten! How? They just keep claiming you’re wrong. If you confessed, you get A. If you deny first then confess, you get B. If you confess first then deny you get C. If you deny, you get D. Why? Because something had happen to my mathematics result at that time, and I'll explain later. It indirectly affects this result. To get A? Just say yes to everything teacher ask you. That's why I hate smart student, cause they love to pleased teacher and far too much. Talking about a pair of clean boots... (or for Chinese, a very loud horse butt spanking)
Response to love and beauty (B): Oh my god, that contributes to the "WTF??!!" in the picture. They can even judge your response! Oh my god! And I do not know why am I graded B. I bet those face-stiffen smarties would get very bad results for this but NO, they gotten A. Damn. I've been wondering how to get A for this ever since I first saw this.
Here comes the trouble. The results which I've been scored at, starting from English.
You know, those "A, B, C" stuff, probably they mark it by my handwriting. I've got a very bad handwriting since young and I'd prefer to actually type than write. So probably they overlooked my answer as something else. However, I'm confident that at that time, my score was higher than that. Probably around 95? For Chinese, the score is about there. My Chinese has never been good till secondary 4, the year I fall in love with Chinese poetry. By then I've got ½ *beep* mandarin knowledge. But luckily, manage to survive. Though, I still don't like the way Chinese was taught last time.
As for mathematics, I'm so confident of myself, that I can say at that time I'd have scored 100. So where did the other 20 marks gone to? Ah... I went for toilet break when I'm about to finish the paper, and guess what? My friend (beside me) handed up the paper! And it wasn't time yet! Best of all, the teacher do not want to return me my paper to finish it. I screwed my friend for this, but he claimed that the teacher ordered him to pass up my paper.
I approached the teacher and the principal regarding this. The teacher says that I voluntarily handed up the paper before I go for toilet. What nonsense! I argued about the incident, and they don't believe me. Best of all, this is a perfect place to talk to teacher, while they are holding a cane. Therefore after deny, I confessed. That's how I get B for the results above. (sense of right and wrong)
Now what's with this man? Talking about lousy and attitude teacher at this era, that makes it into the newspaper, spare a thought of the children of the past, who suffers more, from those notorious teachers, those demons. May theybe banished into the deepest hell! be condemned!
Hey, you know, this could be true man! I don't like singing, but I enjoy music. I don't like drawing, but I appreciate paintings. I don't like making craft, but I'mplaying warcraft III! interested in engineering stuff! So how true and accurate can your kindergarten report is?
If I were my own parent last time, I'd have told her off, "If you want to say my son is naughty, just say. Which kids in this world are not playful?" And indeed, that's what most of the parents of other kids defended for me. The "playful" part is funny. If I ever go back to time, I'll get A for everything, praised by my teacher all the time, and pull her underwear down at the very last day in that school. Sweet revenge! Those were the dark days man...
Nevertheless, it's just a small fragment of my past, and I'm not bothered by it at all. There were people who loves to look at these data and take advantage of it for some fruitless purposes. I welcome him/her to use it, because it's so inaccurate, I chuckled every time I read over this post of my blog. LOL!
It was the final (2nd) year of my kindergarten progress report, attached with a class photo during our graduation. It was like 16 years ago man.
Alexandra
I don't remember much of the classmates anymore. Except some, who impressed me with their funny looks but supercomputer brains, and some who scarred my memories so much, I feel like
And tracing myself in the photo is easy man, because as far as I remember, I do not like my own face while I was young. So, it’s simple to find a face you feel like punching with.
There he is, a punching bag!
Not to mention how much I got bullied last time, not by my classmate but by my teachers, whom I don't even remember who are they now (lucky them). Most of the people would like to search for their old friends, but for me, I'd rather forget them. Kindergarten is just one part of the dark times of my life...
Looking at the results is just another interesting fact for me (laugh). Cause the results is so outdated and inaccurate, I simply went speechless and of course, don't even mind a little about releasing to anyone who happen to come across it. I'll go through every single results shown, clarifying why it's wrong and the right way to get graded with As.
I just love this responsibility contradiction comparing to what I received from National Service
Attendance (A): You can just ignore the attendance. It's "A" cause I attended most of the class, if not all. Cause a cane is just waiting outside the school for me.
Helpfulness (B): I was surprise that I graded B for helpfulness. Comparing to those seat-rooted idiots, I'm the only one who is willing to help the only disabled guy in my class.
Willingness to share (B): Good job on rating me B. I thought I should be rated C. The reason why they grade me B is because, during "games" period, where they pour a large chunk of "LEGO" in the middle of the circle of 6-7 children, who is suppose to "snatch" these toys to construct something. Since I'm shy at that time, I'm totally loses out to those hyenas. Maybe that's what you call "sharing".
Eagerness to Mix (A): Yea, you can say I'm pretty hyperactive at that time. But to be frank, the best way to kill time is to talk. And at that time I don't even like to listen to what teachers have to say. Cause they are teaching what I've learnt. But well, I would not call it obedient though lol. Mixing with those smarties is a definitely NO though.
Contribution to Group (A) & Responsibility (C): Why am I putting this 2 together? Simply enough, those mofos don't listen during a group discussion. Either they go “err... ehh... erm... ah... oh...” or they just don’t listen to you and do their own stuff (Reminds me of my SIT test during BMT). Making you so pissed off, you just go... “Fine, do what you guys want. I'll do it myself...” Maybe that's how this results turn out. Moral of this short story: Work with people you can work with. Cause people that you can't work with, just can't...
Am I the absolute candidate to open The Pandora’s Box?
Initiative (C) & Sense of Security (C): This grading system is so funny, I couldn’t even stop looking at it just for one. How do you actually judge someone's sense of security? The initiative and sense of security is so such that, "Ok boys, think of a way to die...". Then, to get grade A for both, you just need to walk up to the window, open it up (Remember, don't try this at home) and jump off (cause you have a good sense of secure by jumping out of that hell hole). Other than that, this 2 grading is probably one of the worst graded one. [By talking about my NS vocation, I wouldn't have posted to RP then... Damn, I should have shown them this grade for the excuse!]
Power of observation (C) & Ability to Concentrate (C): For the concentration part, see above (Eagerness to Mix). And if my observation is so bad, then how can I make such an accurate comments now, after 16 years? Lol... Oh! Remember, superman should has S grade for power of observation. Oh... Cyclopes from X-Men too...
Curiosity (A): Just for once they are right! I’m very curious on anything man! I mean everything! From the TV (who cares about the show? I cared about how they manage to get it up there!), to what’s under those girl’s
Respect for rights/properties of others (B)/for authority(B): I don't steal, I asked others for permission before I actually borrow stuffs from others, and I get B for this. Too ordinary perhaps. Maybe next time I should bring it in front of the teacher to actually asked by kneeling and probably providing a "tearful" moment to beg for an eraser? That'll give me an A for sure. Respect for authority again, brings me to mentioning the cane. Alright, once and for all, I'll clarify. I graduated from a children SM house, where they'll whip you if you misbehave. How's this? Lol. The cane is the ultimate weapon there, it's like Emperor's sword (上丰宝剑). The cane will not hesitate to be served if you misbehave just a little. Cool huh? To get A? Be the one who delivers the punishment...
Politeness (B): I got a B, just for greeting everyone I met on the way, despite my shyness. Well, I can't say much on this one. It's human self. I can get C, I can get A, depend on whether I'm uncomfortable or not. To get A, be a japanese ^_^. ありがとう here ありがとう there might help.
...
Sense of right and wrong (B): Sensing right and wrong can be judged too in kindergarten! How? They just keep claiming you’re wrong. If you confessed, you get A. If you deny first then confess, you get B. If you confess first then deny you get C. If you deny, you get D. Why? Because something had happen to my mathematics result at that time, and I'll explain later. It indirectly affects this result. To get A? Just say yes to everything teacher ask you. That's why I hate smart student, cause they love to pleased teacher and far too much. Talking about a pair of clean boots... (or for Chinese, a very loud horse butt spanking)
Response to love and beauty (B): Oh my god, that contributes to the "WTF??!!" in the picture. They can even judge your response! Oh my god! And I do not know why am I graded B. I bet those face-stiffen smarties would get very bad results for this but NO, they gotten A. Damn. I've been wondering how to get A for this ever since I first saw this.
Maybe to get A for this, you need a response like this just by looking at those girls?
Thank the teachers in whatever they are doing in an extremely cute way?
Or play Broke Back Mountain, the ultimate way of showing your response to beauty and love!
Whatever got to do with results, I'll get C for sure(probably from the pissing off of those teachers). But numbers prove them wrong!
Here comes the trouble. The results which I've been scored at, starting from English.
You know, those "A, B, C" stuff, probably they mark it by my handwriting. I've got a very bad handwriting since young and I'd prefer to actually type than write. So probably they overlooked my answer as something else. However, I'm confident that at that time, my score was higher than that. Probably around 95? For Chinese, the score is about there. My Chinese has never been good till secondary 4, the year I fall in love with Chinese poetry. By then I've got ½ *beep* mandarin knowledge. But luckily, manage to survive. Though, I still don't like the way Chinese was taught last time.
As for mathematics, I'm so confident of myself, that I can say at that time I'd have scored 100. So where did the other 20 marks gone to? Ah... I went for toilet break when I'm about to finish the paper, and guess what? My friend (beside me) handed up the paper! And it wasn't time yet! Best of all, the teacher do not want to return me my paper to finish it. I screwed my friend for this, but he claimed that the teacher ordered him to pass up my paper.
I approached the teacher and the principal regarding this. The teacher says that I voluntarily handed up the paper before I go for toilet. What nonsense! I argued about the incident, and they don't believe me. Best of all, this is a perfect place to talk to teacher, while they are holding a cane. Therefore after deny, I confessed. That's how I get B for the results above. (sense of right and wrong)
Now what's with this man? Talking about lousy and attitude teacher at this era, that makes it into the newspaper, spare a thought of the children of the past, who suffers more, from those notorious teachers, those demons. May they
Teacher: “No sense of art and craft, and bad at singing!
Hey, you know, this could be true man! I don't like singing, but I enjoy music. I don't like drawing, but I appreciate paintings. I don't like making craft, but I'm
Teacher: Has shown some improvement (innerself: damn, I've got to keep my job, or his parents will complain to MOE, and I'll be condemned! But he pissed me off a lot. So to relieve my own anger, I wrote...) A playful boy.
If I were my own parent last time, I'd have told her off, "If you want to say my son is naughty, just say. Which kids in this world are not playful?" And indeed, that's what most of the parents of other kids defended for me. The "playful" part is funny. If I ever go back to time, I'll get A for everything, praised by my teacher all the time, and pull her underwear down at the very last day in that school. Sweet revenge! Those were the dark days man...
Nevertheless, it's just a small fragment of my past, and I'm not bothered by it at all. There were people who loves to look at these data and take advantage of it for some fruitless purposes. I welcome him/her to use it, because it's so inaccurate, I chuckled every time I read over this post of my blog. LOL!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
[Life] Left the camp! A battle to fight!
Finally I've left the camp. The place where I worked for 1 year plus. Underpaid though, pretty happy however... Life goes on. I wish all the best to my fellow ex-collegues.
The battle...
Now here comes the real battle. The plucking of wisdom tooth. I'm totally prepared, listened to experience by others, "image-practice" the pain, whatever I can do I've done. Now I'm gonna embark onto the road to war and WILL update this as often as possible.
1100hr
Feeling pretty good after a bath. Looking at the time passes by, I'm getting ready to go for this. 1 weeks of MC followed by another week of 'no solid' food, it seems pretty inevitable now. But I've gotta go, or else it'll become worse. The path to be mentally ready isn't easy and I'm glad I'm ready up to this point. The appointment is on 1430hr @ NDC. I wonder will I be late? As promised, I'd like to take photos of the process however, I could not get the permission from the dentist. So I'll just "homemake" one. This is my cheek at D-Day -3hrs.
1315hr
Just had lunch with Terrix. Of course, I ordered my "Last Lunch" before enduring temptation for the next 2 weeks. Oh...
Come to think of it makes me sad... T_T
1345hr
Setting off to war. Hopefully I'll survive to see another day...
1430hr
Here's my appointment. I entered the clinic with a heavy heart. Looking up at the sign...
Yea, I shouldn't think too much. Just go...
1530hr
"NEWS UPDATE! CEASE FIRE ORDERED!" LOL!
Dentist update me that I need not to pluck it out now. Phew! Here's the explaination why...
All the best to me then ^_-
The battle...
Now here comes the real battle. The plucking of wisdom tooth. I'm totally prepared, listened to experience by others, "image-practice" the pain, whatever I can do I've done. Now I'm gonna embark onto the road to war and WILL update this as often as possible.
1100hr
Feeling pretty good after a bath. Looking at the time passes by, I'm getting ready to go for this. 1 weeks of MC followed by another week of 'no solid' food, it seems pretty inevitable now. But I've gotta go, or else it'll become worse. The path to be mentally ready isn't easy and I'm glad I'm ready up to this point. The appointment is on 1430hr @ NDC. I wonder will I be late? As promised, I'd like to take photos of the process however, I could not get the permission from the dentist. So I'll just "homemake" one. This is my cheek at D-Day -3hrs.
I wonder how it look like after the operation?
1315hr
Just had lunch with Terrix. Of course, I ordered my "Last Lunch" before enduring temptation for the next 2 weeks. Oh...
Title: The Last Lunch(Char Kway Teow w/ Mango Longan)
Come to think of it makes me sad... T_T
1345hr
Setting off to war. Hopefully I'll survive to see another day...
1430hr
Here's my appointment. I entered the clinic with a heavy heart. Looking up at the sign...
Aiya don't think too much lah...
Yea, I shouldn't think too much. Just go...
1530hr
"NEWS UPDATE! CEASE FIRE ORDERED!" LOL!
Dentist update me that I need not to pluck it out now. Phew! Here's the explaination why...
Mine belongs to the vertical impaction type
1) Vertical erruption. It's not threatening now. The pain which gave me problem close to a month ago, is not giving me problem now. I could brush it with ease.
2) As the tooth is currently still in the gum, the root is closer to the sinus than if it's errupted completely. Removing it now may pose a problem to the sinus.
3) It's easier to pluck it out if it's errupted completely.
The above 3 points is what me and the dentist came in agreement to...
4) I'm afraid of the pain >_< (I didn't told him this...)
5) The dentist is YAWNING all the way throughout the consultation! If I plan to remove it now, half-way he yawn, I mati ("death" for malay).
There you go... all the "WAR PREPARATION" things for nothing lol. And so much for my last lunch. I'll need to pray for it to grow for the next 6 months as my next appointment brings me to next year.
It's in the afternoon again... STOP YAWNING DENTIST!
All the best to me then ^_-
Thursday, August 10, 2006
[Life] NDP dinner 2006 @ Tanglin Halt
Woo... my first time participating in this so-called National Day dinner around my neighbourhood 2 days ago (8th Augest, 2006). You know, those that involved in VIPs and Members of the Parliament...
Of course, I'll not be commenting on anything related to the government over here as it's sensitive. But just to add though, my area's MP look promising...
Immediately after Mr. Baey's arrival, we had our 1st dish (see the pictures below, less the 1st one... It's peanut...)
I do not really want to comment about the food. Don't force me... words like "TASTELESS", "HORRENDOUS"... Ops, I leaked some. Anyway, it's just horrible.
And the performance is nowhere near interesting too. Noisy, irritating lights who love to aim right at my eyes, and of course sitting around with people we do not know, are some of the views from your "dear sincerely" pessimist.
The auctions are nowhere near interesting too. 6 Golden dogs for the rich to bid. In my oppinion, the most interesting part of this show is to look at those regretful facial expression from those winners while they walked up towards the stage. Lol! So much for pushing the price up...
Oh yes, not to mention the K2 futures of Singapore reciting 3-words sutra (三字經). Before I research on it, the only thing on my mind when I see this is "CCB! CCB! CCB!..." But no, not the foul language version but the PROPER version. Mind you, they finished it. Yes, they did. And for you guys who do not know how long the poet is, check this out.
However it was so messy, we couldn't figure out if they are chanting correctly or not. Just then, my dad provided me with his version of it.
人之初
性本善
老尼姑
愛和尚
你沖涼
我偷看
LOL!
Of course, I'll not be commenting on anything related to the government over here as it's sensitive. But just to add though, my area's MP look promising...
Immediately after Mr. Baey's arrival, we had our 1st dish (see the pictures below, less the 1st one... It's peanut...)
Food sucks, nothing more...
I do not really want to comment about the food. Don't force me... words like "TASTELESS", "HORRENDOUS"... Ops, I leaked some. Anyway, it's just horrible.
And the performance is nowhere near interesting too. Noisy, irritating lights who love to aim right at my eyes, and of course sitting around with people we do not know, are some of the views from your "dear sincerely" pessimist.
The "self-proclaimed" Thai Prince. Or Thai Peacock?
The auctions are nowhere near interesting too. 6 Golden dogs for the rich to bid. In my oppinion, the most interesting part of this show is to look at those regretful facial expression from those winners while they walked up towards the stage. Lol! So much for pushing the price up...
Oh yes, not to mention the K2 futures of Singapore reciting 3-words sutra (三字經). Before I research on it, the only thing on my mind when I see this is "CCB! CCB! CCB!..." But no, not the foul language version but the PROPER version. Mind you, they finished it. Yes, they did. And for you guys who do not know how long the poet is, check this out.
Performance goes like "人之初" *bounce* "性本善" *bounce*... you got the idea?
However it was so messy, we couldn't figure out if they are chanting correctly or not. Just then, my dad provided me with his version of it.
人之初
性本善
老尼姑
愛和尚
你沖涼
我偷看
LOL!
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