![](https://web.archive.org/web/20161201082210im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Editor_-_bufonite_star.jpg)
— Wikipedian ♂ — | |
Born | circa 1990s Singapore |
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Nationality | Singaporean |
Country | ![]() |
Current location | Singapore |
Languages | English, Mandarin, Cantonese |
Time zone | SST (UTC+8) |
Ethnicity | Chinese |
Sexuality | heterosexual |
IQ | indefinite |
Education and employment | |
Occupation | undergraduate, part-time white-collar worker, NSman |
Education | GCE Advanced Level |
Hobbies, favourites and beliefs | |
Hobbies | editing Wikipedia |
Contact info | |
click here to email me (registered users only) |
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Account statistics | |
Joined | 3 October 2005 |
First edit | 3 October 2005 |
Edit count | ≈64,000 (and counting) |
Permissions | Autopatrolled, Reviewer, Rollbacker |
Wikipedia:Babel | ||||||||||
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Contents
Places I have lived in or visited
About me
I am an overseas Chinese born and raised in Singapore, a Southeast Asian island country. I have Cantonese and Hakka ancestry – my paternal ancestral home is in Guangdong while my maternal ancestors were Hakka Chinese Indonesians from Sumatra. I am fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. I am currently reading for a bachelor's degree (double major) in a public university in Singapore.
I first joined Wikipedia in 2005 when I was in high school and have been editing more frequently since 2008. I semi-retired from Wikipedia in early 2014. The userboxes on this page help me speak other things about myself that I wish to reveal.
About using Wikipedia
I enjoy using Wikipedia as a source of knowledge even though its reliability is questionable and that it exhibits strong systemic bias. Editing Wikipedia has been one of my hobbies since I committed myself to the WikiProjects I am involved in. I semi-retired from Wikipedia in early 2014 but still return to editing from time to time.
My personal views on Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a democracy even though it is not supposed to be. Consensus is – and has always been – determined by the number of participants taking a particular side in a discussion. A dearth of minority views often culminates in the drowning out of a few dissenting voices, especially when that handful fails to display resilience in defending their beliefs or lacks the courage to challenge their opponents for fear of being deficient in knowledge of how Wikipedia works. Since the tyranny of the majority holds sway in Wikipedia, I do not see why they shouldn't acquiesce in the decisions of their rivals (aka the majority) as opposed to bearing the brunt of their adversaries' aggression and retaliating.
Wikipedia is certainly making fine progress on its way to becoming a bureaucracy well decorated with red tape. Many editors, including me, frequently cite policies and guidelines and have become so familiar with the shortcuts we toss them around casually from edit summaries to talk pages. (And on this page too!) Ironically, sometimes I run foul of certain 'laws' myself, especially WP:OR and WP:FICTION. I came into conflict with editors who employ these 'statutes' as weapons to achieve certain goals or advance their personal prejudices. In the process of doing so, they misrepresent or distort the fundamental principles on which these policies were created. Based on my experiences, a significant number of the aforementioned preconceived notions contain traces of Sinophobia and reek of intolerance towards non-Anglo-American cultures.
Although vandalism may appear to be the biggest threat to Wikipedia, the most disturbing issues are systemic bias and a deletionist culture stemming from said bias. Vandalism may be reverted instantly by mechanical means (eg bots and tools), but systemic bias and deletionism are behavioural characteristics inherent in certain editors which cannot be eliminated. Wikipedia's demographic patterns may sometimes exacerbate the situation even though now there are more editors from the less represented communities.
About editing Wikipedia
The type of users I regard most highly are those who adhere to Wikipedia's etiquette guidelines and provide constructive suggestions for improvements when they find flaws with my editing. I am very grateful to them for their valuable advice. On the other hand, I detest people who persistently complain and whine about problems without recommending solutions or offering to render assistance. Examples of such whining behaviour include irresponsible tagging and, when taken to an extreme, tag-bombing. If they feel that something is not right, then they should stop whining and fix it (in a civilised manner, of course!) If they are not sure, they should stop poking their noses into places where they obviously don't belong!
The presence of the watchlist function is one thing I like about Wikipedia. It allows me to track all recent changes and maybe catch a vandal once in a while. I am equipped with Huggle and Twinkle, which I use them occasionally when I feel like fighting vandalism. I have a strong aversion towards IP users because, from my experience, many of them are either a typical Wikipedian vandal or disruptive editor out for mischief. Besides, it is difficult to accurately identify the culprit because they usually have their identities concealed behind a commonly shared IP address. The worst form of injury they can inflict lies not on the articles in question, but rather, in the aftermath of their misdeeds – when innocent users experience collateral damage resulting from the measures implemented to keep those miscreants at bay. I strongly urge IP users to create accounts if they genuinely wish to contribute to Wikipedia.
I have little tolerance for insults, abusive remarks, personal attacks and anything of similar nature. Despite so, it is heartening to see that only a handful among the registered users I have met so far actually attempted verbal assaults on me. In general, by assuming good faith, I find the majority of Wikipedians nice and approachable.
I dislike people who pick on minute problems with my editing (eg errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation) and criticise me for the sake of criticism. They are usually either unaware of how to play the devil's advocate in a constructive manner or are oblivious to the fact that they are making a pathetic (and sometimes, malicious) attempt at doing so. When I try to view their actions from a more objective perspective, I see them making mountains out of molehills and "looking for bones in eggs" – a Chinese saying to describe people who look for flaws that are non-existent – or simply being (overly) anal. Those who flaunt their talent in the fine art of ad hominem will not cut any ice with me; it will only make me (and probably others too) less receptive towards the likes of them, especially if they already have a history of anti-social behaviour on Wikipedia!
I am very picky on Chinese-to-English translations because I have seen extremely revolting work done by editors who almost certainly need to improve their levels of literacy. If they cannot demonstrate a decent command of the English language, I suggest they refrain from editing on the English Wikipedia! They will only make things worse and create a mess for other editors to clean up (if these editors even bother to do so). They may be very enthusiastic about a certain topic and really wish to help, but competence is necessary. WP:IAR is neither a carte blanche nor an excuse for them to produce sloppy writing, add poorly sourced material, or commit any unsightly mistake – especially if they have already been editing Wikipedia for a reasonable period of time.
If your actions fit into any of the categories of negative examples mentioned above, and you are reading my userpage with a vindictive or resentful mind (and probably with the intention of seeking ways to strike back at me), you are, by the very fact that you hold those thoughts in your mind, taking things too personally. You need a cold shower. Acting in bad faith will get you nowhere; it will only hasten your journey towards being blocked or banned under the most serious circumstances.
Contributions and interests
I contribute mainly on the English Wikipedia and occasionally on the Chinese Wikipedia. I have also translated articles from Chinese to English. My topics of interest include history, literature, law, politics, religion, philosophy, East Asian cinema and television, and science fiction.
My areas of focus in history are pre-modern Chinese history and European history from the 18th century onward. I have made extensive edits to articles related to the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BCE) and the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE) and I am currently in the process of revamping and revising these articles. I also edit articles on the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties and other eras in Chinese history from time to time.
My preferred genres in literature are wuxia, historical fiction (Dumas) and high fantasy (eg Tolkien, Rowling). Among these, I contribute primarily to wuxia-related articles, especially those pertaining to the works of Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng and Gu Long, and their innumerable adaptations (films and television series). I initiated WikiProject Water Margin in 2009 to promote Water Margin, my favourite of the Chinese Four Great Classical Novels. Nearly all the articles within the scope of this project are maintained by me.
I have created and edited articles on East Asian cinema and television, including pages on filmmakers, actors and singers.
You can check out a more detailed but incomplete list of my contributions, my contributions to DYK, and the awards I have received from other Wikipedians.