"You claim to have 7.5 million views on your blog yet I've never heard of you?"
"I've never heard of you as a blogger."
Etc.
Furthermore, I often succeed in stimulating an active, lively debate on my blog posts with my readers and sometimes these conversations keep going even on old articles where my readers interact with each other on the issue. The quality of my interactions with my readers is something I am very proud of and that is part of the reason why I have able to get work as a travel writer for other websites as the editors there recognize the quality of my writing. But if you have never heard of me, then tough shit, it doesn't bother me at all. Such statements reflect a certain element of stupidity - let's put it this way. Rihanna is an extremely popular singer, what if someone wrote on her Youtube music video a comment like, "Dear Rihanna, I have never ever heard of you or this song." Even if she saw that comment, she'd probably just shrug her shoulders and say, "that's because you've been living under a rock for most of your life, you're just ignorant and not part of the modern world." As if she would be bothered. Duh. And likewise, if you have not heard of me as a blogger, do you think that bothers me? No. Not in the slightest because plenty of others have.
Earlier this year, I visited the Swedish town of Lund, it is a small place with a population of just 82,000 (see my Lund vlog below). I happened to have been in part of Southern Sweden and decided it was worth a day trip there. Now most Singaporeans wouldn't have heard of the town of Lund, unless you have traveled around that part of Sweden, you really wouldn't have a reason to know of it. But the fact that you haven't been to Lund or even heard about Lund doesn't mean it doesn't exist - that somehow it must be made up, fictitious. No, it just means that you don't really know the geography of southern Sweden very well. The world shouldn't be defined by the limits of your knowledge and if you haven't heard of me, then it doesn't bother or even surprise me. There are 7.3 billion people in the world and about 40% of them are on the internet (yeah just 40%), so that means there are about 3 billion people with internet potential readers of my blog, If include the travel writing I have done for other websites plus my Youtube channel, that still gives me around 8.5 million views: that's still a tiny proportion of the world's population who have actually read my writing.
Some of my blog posts are more popular than others, the top ten most read topics on my blog (this is what you readers have been clicking on most, generating the statistics) are as follows:
- Singaporean politics with an overtly anti-PAP angle
- the infamous Mr Alvin Tan of Alvivi
- winter wear (ie. how to dress for cold winter weather)
- Sun Ho, Kong Hee and CHC
- the whole Amos Yee debacle
- Ms Xiaxue (in particular, the Gushcloud vs Xiaxue controversy)
- the infamous Anton Casey
- further education
- learning foreign languages
- my travel writing
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| My writing doesn't feature myself that often actually |
Note that for these topics, I am not even talking about myself - I am usually talking about a famous person who is making the news (such as the singer Sun Ho) or giving useful on a topic (such as on shopping for winter wear). So many of my readers would have actually enjoyed reading an informative piece, like when I analyzed Sun Ho's music career, without actually knowing that I wrote it. But such is good writing, that piece was about Sun Ho - it wasn't about me per se, perhaps some readers may have enjoyed the piece so much that they want to find out more about me, but how many times do you actually read a great article in the news and then try to find out more about the journalist who wrote it? You may even go as far as to share the news story on social media, but many journalists are quite happy to sit back and let the article speak for itself, such is the nature of journalism when you want to comment on a topical story. So I don't really mind or care if people don't remember me and my face, as long as they read my articles, I'm happy enough. I'll only get pissed off when I spend days working on an article only for it to get very few hits!
"You don't sound like a travel writer, much less like a well-traveled person."
Oooh. How does a travel writer sound like, how should a travel writer sound like? In my previous post, I talked about the difference between sponsored pieces and independent pieces of travel writing. When you're sponsored to review a place, you're just not going to give it a bad review as you're sponsored. Admittedly, during one of my sponsored pieces of travel writing, things did go very badly wrong as I received really poor customer services during the visit - I even went as far as to speak to the duty manager (and got a groveling apology from the PR department for that incident). Did any of that make it into the article? No, because it was a sponsored piece and I knew that even if I had put that incident into the article, my editor would just censor me. That's why travel writers who do sponsored pieces always try to put a positive spin on everything, My editor's rule is simple: even if the visit didn't go well, just write about the parts of the trip that you did enjoy and leave out the things that went wrong. If you don't have anything nice to say about something, then don't say anything at all. So the next time you read a travel piece, you should really bear that in mind.
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| Let's not pretend that things go well on every single trip I take... |
In sharp contrast to the travel stories which sing praises of the location (the food was wonderful, the locals are so friendly, the hotel was absolutely gorgeous, the beach was totally pristine, everything was so perfect etc), you get the other extreme: people who hate everything and complain non-stop. Gosh, I remember meeting a British tourist in Tunisia who complained that Tunisia was dirty, chaotic, disorganized, congested, unfriendly locals, there was a language barrier and he couldn't wait to get back to England. And I was like, surely you knew all this before booking a holiday to North Africa, it is what it is. People travel to exotic countries in Africa to see something quite different whilst on holiday, if you weren't prepared for the culture shock, then you should have had a holiday a lot closer to home.
Furthermore, I think there's an element of pride and vanity in most travel writing. As I scrolled through my Facebook feed this morning, I saw that my friend Judy had posted a lovely picture of herself on a beach in Barcelona. The caption was, "another beautiful day in Spain, this city is absolutely stunning." Needless to say, the comments on that photo were all very positive, like "wow, wish I was there with you, I'm stuck in the office today!" There may be an element of Judy wanting her friends to feel jealous of her, that's why we post selfies like that on social media. How many of us actually post pictures of ourselves say when we are bed-ridden with the flu and looking absolutely dreadful? There's an element of vanity that affects all of us, not just travel writers - thus I am wondering how many travel writers are willing to be as honest as I am about the things that do go wrong on our trips - not many I suspect, they are too vain: they want their readers to think that they are such travel experts that nothing can possibly go wrong on their trips. In fact things can go wrong even more well-traveled people - my good friend Sue is most well-traveled person I know. She has worked for the UN world food programme and has traveled to so many countries all over the world for work; oh she has so many fascinating stories about things going horribly wrong. But that's her being totally honest with me in private as we catch up, she's not trying to portray herself online as some expert travel writer.
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| "Wish you were here - I have the beach to myself and this cute dog." |
"You are childish - you use vulgar language! I hate you!"
Oh fucking hell, you're fucking upset because I use the word fuck in my fucking blog and on social media? Fuck fuck fuck. If you don't like the word fuck, then kindly fuck off somewhere else on the internet. To be honest, the word fuck doesn't appear on my blog (or any of my social media) that often but I use it when I am fucking fed up and want to show it. I live in a country where you hear the word fuck on the radio and on TV all the time - it is definitely not bleeped out and certainly, people are not going to complain. It's really not a big deal, some people swear, others don't. But to try to discredit someone just because s/he has used the word 'fuck' is just fucking stupid. Take a look at this clip of Gordon Ramsay - he swears a LOT. Even if you can't stand the way he swears all the fucking time, you cannot change the fact that he is one of the most successful celebrities chef in the world who is making a lot of mone through his chain of multi-Michelin star restaursnts. If swearing bothers you that much, you should go work in a kindergarten where you can be in a totally child-safe environment, free from any swearing that may encounter in the real world.
Chill. My classmates laughed at me for suggesting using a digital weighing scale to replace of a gas syringe in measuring the rate of reaction.
ReplyDeleteMy idea is that if I get the results, nothing else matter. You have a big base of readers (like me!) and you are a very interesting perosn to talk to. Don't waste on your emotional energy on these insignificant things, instead, channel it on something else. Personally I find these "fights" to be emotionally draining and ruins my day, so whenever someone makes me mad, I take a deep breathe and tell myself that what I do is what matters, I am not what they say I am.
There will always be haters. I bet someone has said you have no EQ - but it is actually just that you didn't treat them "right" in their own perspective.
Hi Dakota, thanks for your kind words. You're right about such fights with haters. It's pointless.
DeleteWhy even blog about the haters? They are jealous idiots.
ReplyDeleteI know - but sometimes one just gets sucked into it and I was venting my frustration about their stupidity.
DeleteToday I had to remind myself not to get tangled in online forums (self-deprecating humour always helps in this situations). The issue at hand was the government's decision to raise fees for foreign students studying in local state schools. Essentially, I argued that education is a universal right; and that is why some countries (with socialist principles and policies) grant legal immigrants access to free state school education.
ReplyDeletePamela Sim: Linda, we dun have a socialist nor a capitalist practice's. Going in view of the current policies we are in between. As I have highlighted and explained 1) We follow the rules as we stayed as Overseas Singaporeans overseas in Zurich. 2) In Rom everybody do as the Romans too. 3) Emphasise with the foreigners or some of them. If their pay are high they would have brought their families over logically, am I right to say that. Otherwise they are mostly back home. Hence your concern is not an issue to begin with. If want to live like a pauper in Singapore and a like a king/queen back there. Given the amount of time spend on. Then it has more to do with the cost and effects of their individual decisions. Also, many Singaporeans do have an insight about overseas. Either they have lived overseas themselves or they have families overseas. We are no sotong and our Policy Makers have made wise decisions which make us from 3rd world to 1st world. This undeniable success is proof that we are on the right track and we dun need unnecessary interference. Free for education in both primary and secondary schools is only but in Zurich and in some Cantons, not all. Which is compensated by your high taxes. In Policy Making, there has to be always a Balance, the need to view from all points and situations. FLAWLESS in perspective and both hands on. Sorry Linda, you are not one of us.
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Linda: Yes though I am born in SG to SG parents and I have held an SG passport all my life but I am certainly not one of you and never will be. Forgive me for being SO presumptuous pamela sin for trying to show empathy and understanding. I am a minority here and will always be treated like a 3rd class citizen in my own country and my opinions are neither wanted or valued. Accept my most humble apologies. So excuse me now for I have said my piece. I have never ranted against anyone personally in this thread and just stated what I know. I have no quibble with anyone. Thank you.
Like · Reply · 10 mins · Edited
Linda, I do not mean to quibble with you. However, l do agree that foreign students ought to pay more tuition than locals. I saw the fees that they have published, and they are still very reasonable compared to other developed nations.
ReplyDeleteLegal immigrants are not foreign students. The former are residents, but foreign students are international students whose parents do not pay taxes. In Canada, foreign students pay a lot of money even in public schools. I wouldn't want my tax dollars spent to educate these international students.
Yes - i agree to disagree Di - but i think the point is that she should not have hit me below the belt. Her last comment " you are not one of us" really riled as i already said clearly in previous posts I was a local Eurasian. Some maturity in debating people please. I just wanted to highlight how you should deal with people who are vile online.
ReplyDeleteYes - i agree to disagree Di - but i think the point is that she should not have hit me below the belt. Her last comment " you are not one of us" really riled as i already said clearly in previous posts I was a local Eurasian. Some maturity in debating people please. I just wanted to highlight how you should deal with people who are vile online. She need not have said the last line and her argument would have seemed rational. She assumed I was a foreigner (i have a german surname) when I clearly reiterated several times I am Singaporean born and bred. I cannot reason with such people so I will not bother to engage with them.
ReplyDeleteAh I think I had read about ur comments somewhere on FB. To each his own and why are u even responding to her opinions about you? I do often get remarks as such from fellow Singaporeans (not via social media but face to face) due to my name and thinking. Sometimes it gets personal and they started to judge me. Worst I was once labelled as a Banana at one point of my life for a certain period of time. It actually points down to respect. Clearly that person is not even respecting you at the basic level. As such, for me I won't apologize for who I am and never feel sorry about my ethnicity and nationality.
DeleteAh, so the problem was Pamela Sim thought you were a foreigner! Which, even if you were, is irrelevant. Singaporeans are very prickly when foreigners (perceived or actual) criticise the government, the nation, or the people. They do not know how to hold an argument. The education system have not allowed them to do so.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the fuss with the immense xenophobia. If you don't like how crowded the country is due to PAP's policies either:
Delete1) Vote PAP out!
2) Move to another country with alot of land.
Hating on foreigners is not an option not like they will go back home while our government is welcoming them in with open arms (and legs aka whore).
Heck, if it were me, and Germany suddenly started accepting all sorts of immigrants i would buy a plane ticket and fly out tomorrow!
Hi Choaniki - one thing I need to point out is that Germany is a much, much bigger place than Singapore so the effect of welcoming Syrian refugees isn't quite the same as the way the PAP government has welcomed so many PRCs, Pinoys and Indian migrants. The newly arrived refugees in Germany are well managed - they are given education and all kinds of help to ensure that they integrate into German society, so for example, they are given German language lessons, to ensure that they pick up the language.
DeleteBut here's a startling statistic for you: do you know that the PAP has welcomed more than twice the number of PRC migrants compared to Germany (and the number of Syrian refugees they have accepted)? PRCs in Singapore = more than 1 million, estimated total in number of Syrian refugees who will be accepted in Germany = half a million.
And how big is Germany, how small is Singapore?
Do the maths. I can't believe people still wanna live in PAP-land.
I think that Singaporeans are largely a subservient or apathetic lot. It is very easy to give up after a while, and people tend to think that being blaise and indifferent mean that their lives will go on "as usual". Most of the people I know who have been overseas for a long while and did not have voters' rights restored chose not to either, because the PAP is going to win with the way Singaporeans are so scared all the time. It is the only country where the opposition has to assure the voters that they are not going to have a "freak election" LOL. Hahaha.....
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