Sincere.. Are we not?

Hey,

Hows it going?

















... I doubt none of you responded to that with somethin like "great, youself?" cause then it would be somewhat funny don't you think?

But really, every single day when I meet someone i don't know particularly well i'd be greeted with that same greeting or somewhere along those lines. You get the picture.

It's magnified in a way, cause when i work i sometimes find myself asking that question. If you didn't already know, i work in a lunch bar in Uni. A very busy one at that. But i really do enjoy working there to an extent. My bosses say that all the time.

Theres nothing wrong in being polite here. After all, it creates a somewhat friendlier atmoshphere i'd say. Which is good.

It's better then being greeted by the occasional grunt and moan or blank stare whenever you meet a customer back home.

So, what is my point here?

Sincerity.

Thats the clincher.

To be honest, there's no sincerity when you're saying it. It so machanical here it's like a Malaysian saying "lah". It's second nature.

I don't think the checkout person at Coles really wants to know how you're doing when you take you groceries to the checkout counter yet they still say it sometimes even without catching a glimpse of your face.

Isn't it a shame?

My argument is why bother showing a glimmer of intimacy when you don't mean it?

Of course the argument goes a little bit of something is better then nothing of something.

But my gripe remains that if you really dont give two hoots abt the person in front of you, why bother?

It's no more sincere here then it is back home. The attempt is there tho. But the buck pretty much stops there.

I don't have a particular conclusion, its just an observation i made which won't particularly change the world. I just wanted to say something.

On a unrelated note, I visited Rottnest Island.

Finally.

..for FREE!

So for somethin which would have cost me about $160 on just transport and a tour i got it for nothing. Sweet ey?

But really, there's nothing to shout about.

Australian rave on and on about their beloved island but frankly its just an overhyped barren island. Nothing but beaches, stretches of open grass fields, a lighthouse, a few shops, a lodge, and Quakkas. Oh.. and lots of bicycles. No cars are allowed on the island except for service vehicles.

But being on Rottnest was just half the "fun".

Because i managed to go due to Brett's ties with the Agriculture Dept. of WA we were on the same tour as a group of Iraqis who are part of an excercise by the Aussie Government to foster better ties and allow these Iraqis to gain more knowledge about agriculture which is somethin close to the locals hearts.

Anyways, so they'll be here for a 4 months i think. They're in Curtin as well to learn english.

So Brett and I found ourselves pretty well engaged in conversations with a number of these guys cause they just kept coming to us. I guess its cause we looked different?

But it was interesting talking to them. I talked to this guy abt his family back in Baghdad, and from a smile his face descended to a gravely frown. He told me how he has to call back everyday just to make sure his family is alright. His kids cant even go to school cause the schools are always getting bombed.

I seem to attract the family orientated guys. They just come up to me and talk about their homes and their sadness, the hardships they now face and how happy life was before the war. They were also really keen to know more about Malaysia.

Brett on the other hand, attracted more of the political activist.

Poor guy, Brett's this down to earth, salsa dancing, ice hockey playing, witty, Canadian farm boy whom Shu-Wen often describes as Grandpa-ish at times.

I guess it was due to the fact that his country is a participant of the war.

After a while it got a little too much, so after the tour we pretty much just left on our own to explore the island. It was a much deserved Iraqi break as how Brett described it.

But in the end the trip turned out way better then i expected it to be. I learned so much about a culture i never really knew much of and i got to see a Quakka! The animal that shitted on Nora's jeans=)

Brett made a joke just before we left that if we heard anyone of the Iraqis ticking, throw them of the boat..

Lucky we didn't need to resort to that.


Have a nice day then.
(I'm being sincere here..)