Things I've never owned

Actually, more like "Things I've never owned and never will own".

i) Pager:

This was all the rage during my uni years (about 10 years back). OK, so technically, I am STILL in uni now, but that's besides the point. Anyway, back then, everyone, and I mean everyone, carries a pager. Indeed, the watchwords of that era was "Hello, si'an (say si mi lang quickly) kah pager?" and "Wah... seng lee zoh tua!". These days, pagers are like for SAF personnel only (I think).

I found carrying a pager a hassle. And I dislike getting disturbed when I am out and about. When I declared to my pals back then I will never get one, sceptism was all I got in return. But given that the pager era is long gone, it looks like I really will never ever own one.

ii) Handphone:

This took over from the pager as THE rage shortly after I graduated. Now, if I found the smallish pager a hassle back then, the handphone was (and still is) an even bigger bother to me. So the designs have gotten smaller and smaller over the years, but it is still one handphone too big.

My detest for handphones grew when the SMS came along. Here I am, a handphone-less pedestrian strolling along Orchard Road minding my own business, there is everyone moving in the opposite direction SMSing and threatening to steamroll me. So I have to act Mr. Crab and weave through the oncoming traffic. Irritating, to say the least.

OK, so I did mention "holding onto" a handphone before, but it technically doesn't count. One, it wasn't mine. Two, I never carried it out of my home with me.

An acquaintance once called the handphone tacky. I couldn't have found a better way to put it. She is the only friend I have without a handphone, incidentally.

So I've also declared to my pals that I will never ever own a handphone. More scepticism returned. Some, whom I have not contacted for some time will chide me "You mean you STILL have not gotten yourself a handphone?". A more recent one really takes the cake.

"Don't you realise you are causing US trouble?"

iii) Car:

Because I am a very green person. Because in Singapore, you don't really need a car. Because I would rather invest the money than spend it on a zero investment return (indeed negative!) and rapidly depreciating car. Because I don't really enjoy driving that much; It was only fun for maybe the first few driving lessons, then the novelty of it was lost pretty quickly for me. Incidentally, I got my driving licence over here and got it converted to the Singaporean one. Rumour has it that it is easier to pass here and that swayed my decision. My opinion is yes, it is easier to pass over here. BUT, the difference in testing standards is diminishing quickly.

iv) Camera:

Because I've never liked being photographed. Never had one during those analogue days and never had one when it went digital. But I have to admit in this list of "I don't wanna haves", the camera has the highest chance of being dropped from the list. Because taking pictures without me in it can be quite fun, as I've found out after starting this blog.

v) Jeans:

I have sensitive skin. The material available during my teens was pretty thick and in Singapore's weather, would cause my skin to react badly. So I've always gone for pants. When I got older and my skin condition better, it became a matter of personal preference.

vi) Sunglasses:

I never really saw a need for sunglasses until I came to Sydney. But even then, I didn't get myself a pair.

In Singapore, the sun is directly overhead at noon, so the glare is minimised. Over here, the sun is glaring at you at some acute angle all of the time. Not only that, I've realised it is often cloudy in Singapore, thus cutting out even more glare. Here, we regularly get cloudless days. End result, a tolerable amount of glare in Singapore vs an eyesore amount of glare in Sydney. So I never saw a need for a pair of sunglasses back home.

As mentioned, I refuse to get a pair here. It is my way of declaring to myself "You're not staying here any longer than you should.".

182 days to go.