mrsjono

These are the sounds I hear in a day:

First, I would be woken up by thunderous drilling and knocking at about 9am. My block is finally selected for lift upgrading after 22 years. But I manage to continue sleeping, pressing my bolster on my ear.

At 12 noon, the drilling stops as the workers go for lunch. The neighbourhood enjoys some peace and quiet for a while and the chirping of birds becomes audible now.

The drilling resumes and the birds cannot be heard now.

The knocking stops again at 3pm as the workers go for 30 mins of tea break.

It continues again and the volume produced by electronic devices need to be increased in order to watch TV or listen to music.

At about 5.30pm, the workers call it a day. Rats take over and their squeaks reveberate in the whole neighbourhood as they scurry across the carpark.

Some sounds are produced due to our biological needs. After the rats screech, a long meow is heard around the corner as the cat is not looking to catch mice but longing to mate.

Late into the night when the rats and the cat are asleep, the night is filled with a chorus of sounds by earthworms, lizards and crickets. Night crawlers usually spend most of their time at night having sex. So I suppose these animals are having sex outside my house while I'm trying to sleep. That's not very nice.

Slowly, I can't hear anything as I fall asleep and the bulldozing interrupts my sleep again the next morning.

This post has no meaning. I just need to get away from studying for a while.

To reward myself after the submission of the last assignment in my life (most probably), I decided to watch Despereaux on Tudou. It's called 浪漫鼠德佩罗 by the way. I've been wanting to watch it ever since it was released last year but I haven't got the time.

It's a great show for kids as it teaches values such as courage, kindness and forgiveness through a fantasy story. I felt rather intrigued with some parts of the show. Looking at how the Mouse World functions makes me think of our own society. Every society has its own norms and culture. But who sets these rules? Who determines how we should behave? Society? People around us? Or ourselves? Why should a mouse cower, scurry and be afraid? Why should we conform?

In order for society to function, there are laws to govern how we should behave. When Despereaux's father said to his wife that they should let the Council deal with Despereaux's behaviour, he could not give a reason. "They're the Council...because they're the Council." Similarly, is the judge or court always right? Who gives them the authority? Who determines what's right and what's wrong?

When Despereaux was tied up and lowered into the dungeon, Hovis, the Threadmaster (the rat without pupils in his eyes) said "Wear it proudly...There's no shame." When I heard that, I kinda felt like he was trying to tell me "It's ok to be deviant, there is nothing to be ashamed of." So if people ever say you're weird (like what Despereaux's classmates said to him), you should laugh back at them, because they don't have the courage to deviate from the norm.