Lesson from Life 05 March 2009

The PM Lee said Singapore GDP growth may hit minus 8% instead of -2 to -5% a week back. This morning it was reported that MM Lee (father of PM Lee) said it may even hit -10%! Though he did say Singapore will come out of the slump faster than anyone else as we have good foundation and strong reserve!

So much grim news so I decide to have some light-hearted to relief the stress!!

"Opera keeps vandals in NZ at bay
No defacing or damaging of art works and sculptures in city centre since music was switched on. -AFP -->
Thu, Mar 05, 2009AFP

WELLINGTON - New Zealand opera star Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has been credited by a local mayor with keeping vandals away from his city centre because they find her singing 'bloody hideous'.


Bob Harvey, the mayor of Waitakere City near Auckland, said classical music has been playing through speakers in an area between the city's transport hub and council offices for the last three years.

There has been no defacing or damaging of art works and sculptures in the area since the music was switched on.

'We have been playing... Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky and a dash of Dame Kiri,' Mr Harvey was reported as saying in the New Zealand Herald Thursday.

'I think probably it is Dame Kiri that does it, but (young vandals) don't stay around long.


'If it's not your music, and you really don't like it all, why would you, how could you, stay around?' Meanwhile, in the southern city of Christchurch officials are planning to play Barry Manilow songs to deter aggressive youths who gather in a central shopping plaza.“

New Zealand, a place I called 2nd home for 3 years as I did not university undergraduate study there in the late '70s through early '80s! I like the country very much. Made some great friends, all Asians, who returned to Singapore/Malaysia or Hong Kong to live and work!

Lessons for me are:

1. behaviors can be aroused by music. Rock musics for energizing people. Classical for calming people. There are some truth to it but there are always exceptions!;

2. Human being must acknowledge that they have control over their behaviors. It cannot be left to the simply explanation of: "I went berserk because of this music or that!'. That would have been plain excuses. I enjoyed rock musics but I have yet to experience loss of control of my behaviors where I vandalized anything!!;

3. If there are vandalism after the playing of the classical musics, do not despair. It is probably some rockers trying to prove the Mayor wrong. The fact is, the potentially restless (and most likely jobless?) youth will not stick around to listen to the alien classical musics. So, there is no or less opportunity for them to commit any meaningless acts!

Human being must take responsibilities for their own actions and behaviors. That to me is the most important thing to take away from this corny explanation of 'classical music reduces vandalism'! ;-))