關於 despite even though difference ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

#Updates #Robynnblogs

The world really has evolved several stages since 2020, and also since the beginning of my career- and that’s the beauty of it all. Nothings permanent, everything changes and newer, more exciting things keep coming into the mix.

Tomorrow my baby will turn 6 months. What a massive milestone, for her and for myself. As I am learning everyday to be a better mother, I am also learning to become a stronger me. I have been wanting to update fans and friends on how I am doing - and yet every time I try, I just feel like “oh gosh. Where do I even start?” And before that thought process is over, I would be busy either feeding my baby, changing a diaper, soothing her, or putting her to sleep.

The first few months of my baby’s life felt like it flew by so quickly yet at the same time pre-baby feels like a lifetime ago - everything in my world has shifted. My whole focus was her - I was breastfeeding, (which, by the way, is HEAPS harder than giving birth), making sure she’s eating well, sleeping well, and pooping well. And, understandably, paranoid about any kind of germs in the house. There was no difference between day and night, it’s just wake time and sleep time. It made no difference for me what day of the week it was, what weather it was, what’s happening with my industry, or with the world other than the daily Covid news, because I just needed to stay home make sure that my little newborn is far far far away from covid. I barely saw friends, and hadn’t eaten in a restaurant for north of half a year. As I took care of her, I barely had time to wash my own face, go to the bathroom, or sleep for a long stretch of time. I also didn’t have enough breastmilk, so I would sit there and try to pump the life out of me, just so I could provide half of a meal for my baby. I tried everything - but I do know that low supply isn’t uncommon. So- as glamorous as mom life can appear to be on social media, don’t be fooled. It’s humbling, but it’s also life-altering and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

Emotionally, I’ve been so over the moon and happy. I enjoy spending time with my newborn baby, she makes me giggle and smile - even though I wish my mother was here to share old baby stories of me, and experience all of this together. But having a daughter really makes you feel more connected to your mother on a completely different level - I just know she’s happy and proud of me from up above. I’ve taught her how to semi-feed herself, how to fall asleep by herself, teaching her still how to roll, sit, and semi-stand (crazy!!), and I’ve played her tunes on my guitar like she’s the only fan in my fan club.

I also consider myself blessed that I never had issues with postpartum depression, despite suffering from mommy’s wrist. I had an amazing relationship with my 陪月/月嫂 who helped me immensely more than words can say. I have not been able to see my side of the family for over a year, but I’m blessed to have amazing in-laws and fellow mommy friends to share experiences with.

Nothing has been easy, but I am the most grateful for my husband - he was always by my side when I needed him. We change diapers together, we bathe our daughter, we sing to her together, and read bedtime stories to her together. I can safely say, that I’m MUCH happier than when I was towards the end of my music label contract. There have been some dark years there.

Hitting 6 months is a big deal for me. I can safely pat myself on my back and reminisce on THE single most biggest achievement of my life, my daughter. Obviously, 6 months is not long in the grand scheme of things, ie. her entire life ahead, but it is a big milestone for me mentally, and finally I feel it’s time to really focus on my own personally healing. I completely lost myself in taking care of her, and yet I felt the most alive and the most needed - and I found a new me in the process. It’s a beautiful kind of chaos and I embraced all of it. But yes, now it’s time for me again. finally.

Hitting this 6 month mark, I have decided to now wean from breastfeeding, take care of my body better, drink some wine, and write more songs for real. (If my daughter allows, lol). I am choosing to give myself some more me-time, read a book, get my nails done, and eventually get a haircut too. And.. start to think about dieting and training. Moms don’t get enough credit for deciding consciously to not slim down yet because they gotta breastfeed. But- with that said, all moms have their own struggles that no one knows of, so never judge!

A part of the stress that comes with social media sometimes, is actually comments on moms’ sizes, even praises of “wow you slimmed down fast!” As though that’s the most important thing of all. The toxic culture pains me and I just know it’s not the point. For me, it really was a conscious decision, just to be a mother first, above all else, at least for these first six months of her little life. And looking at her, strong, happy and healthy, I am truly so so proud of her for her growth and development.

And finally.. I’m finally ready to think about myself again as a musician. I know I’m lucky to be able to have a choice of being with her for 6 months; I count my blessings everyday. But as songwriting wheels become rustier, and as the industry evolves, I’m quite frankly not sure yet what a singer-songwriter mom looks like. I struggle to name artists in the Chinese speaking world that I could reference from - but I promise I’ll continue to bring music to those ears that still choose to listen.

I still hope that one day - little Naomi can see mama on stage. Looking down at her as she sleeps, I always imagine what she would be like as she grows up - and I hope that one day she will be able to pursue what she loves to do and focus on the truly meaningful things in life.

Thank you for reading through this thinking-out-loud random catch-up session blog thing. I’m just so glad I survived 6 months of motherhood. This stuff ain’t easy! Sending love and thank you all for the support, as always. More updates later!

xRobynn

#updates #robynnblogs

Yesterday, October 11th, was National Coming Out Day.

I never had to come out to anyone. From the time I was little, my gayness could be seen from space. I couldn't have hidden it, even if I wanted to. It turned out to be a huge blessing, because I never had to spend any part of my life pretending I was somebody else. And I never had to live in the fear that people would reject me if they found out. So I learnt from a very young age to accept and love myself, and I've never viewed my being gay as a flaw or weakness, despite whatever religion and backward society had to say.

I credit a lot of this to having accepting parents and sisters who've never made me feel bad for being who I am.

It's sad though, that my story is an anomaly.

I hear such harrowing taled from young gay men who are disowned and ostracized by their families, simply for being gay. Some who can't find acceptance anywhere, resort to self-destructive measures, in order to cope. Some who can't cope, resort to suicide.

The world is changing. There is more acceptance and tolerance for LGBTIQs today. But the stigma still exists.

If you have a child or a sibling or a close friend that has recently, or is about to come out, let them know that you're there for them. Let them know they are not alone. Coming out can be such a scary and isolating feeling. Knowing that there is somebody there on their side can make such a huge difference.

I LOVE YOU ALL ❤️

Experts are made, not born!
They don’t come from no where.
精英是被训练出来的，他们不会凭空而生。

以下是朋友在日本观赏一个很烂的乐队后，问日本朋友说，“他们那么烂，为什那么多人来看他们？”。日本人的回答，值得我们好好省思。
From the Japanese, “if we don’t support them (a local Japanese band) when they are lousy, how they can get better?”......

This gave me a new paradigm of thoughts! Let’s reflect!

What Pete Teo said in his latest article: In Search of A Bigger Canvas, with his permission, I decided to translate it. Hope you Enjoy it.
一位令人敬仰的艺人Pete Teo 写了一篇文字，我觉得颇有共鸣，是以尝试翻译之。这是我的尝试：

寻找大一点的画布

我是从来没有跟任何公司签过约的。我的演艺生涯基本就是独立艺人的身份行走。那并不容易，不过我觉得我算做得不错了。如果你有兴趣的话：这是我走过的路，你看看吧。
首先你需要了解的是：你可以走的路是被你所在的市场的大小所主宰，这个要素比你是否有才华更重要。在马来西亚这个小市场，你是逆流而上的。小的市场意味着你缺少机会。
缺少机会你就成长得很慢。作品的数量对艺术家来说很重要。如果你三年只能拍出一部电影，而你的中国同行一年可以拍一部，五年后你还是一个新人，而他或她已经是一个老手了。
唯一可以改变这个事实的，就是进入大的市场。你可以移居过去，或者在马来西亚做你的作品然后输出去。如果国语不是你作品的媒介语，输出外国更是明显的事实。不过呢，不管怎么做都是难啊。

基于个人的理由，我选择留在马来西亚。所以我尽力的将我的作品推出海外。我演艺生涯的前十年我都是在日本和韩国巡演。可以这样做，你特别需要运气。
不过呢，你越努力的做，你会越幸运。很多人认为才华是艺人的一切。其实，才华虽然重要不过却不足以让你成功。努力是很关键的呢。记得，你的同行们也是很有才华的哩。所以，努力是成败的关键。
既然出口我们的艺人是那么的重要，我不明白为什么我们的政府机构如此的漠视我们土生土长的才华。比如，FINAS并没有致力向海外推荐我们的艺人。希盟政府对这件事也没有任何远见和展望。

恰恰相反，所有的噪音都集中在拨款和施舍。当然资助年轻刚起步的电影人是很重要的，我却不同意官方拨款给已经成名了的电影人。我觉得不如将这些款项导入到税收优惠政策或者建立起出口管道。

当然可以取得资助是很好，不过你得接受的一个事实就是：作为艺术家你得为自己负责任。如果你尽在那里呻吟，你除了得到一个坏名声之外，什么也得不到。倒不如行动起来，因为空口不做什么都是假的。
这任务很困难，不过大家一起做就可能比较容易了。所以，请跟你的同行们互通信息互享资源，大家携手合作。相信我，一个人打拼你可能事倍功半；可是当大家一起来做你们的机会会翻倍。这不是在玩零和游戏。

除了音乐人的身份之外，我也属于那一代被称为马来西亚新浪潮导演的其中一员。有那么几年，我们在国际电影节上面辛苦的暂露头角。不过到了最后我们还是败下来了。原因虽然很复杂，简单来说可以归咎于我们的离散。我们得从中学习。

这个世代在国外寻找机会的艺人当中，数Bront Palarae 特别特出。他勇敢的在亚洲各个城市耕耘，他努力，有智慧，有行动。还有其他像他这样在行动耕耘的马来西亚艺术家，他们给了我们希望。

请谨记，马来西亚有很多的人才。有很多复杂的原因导致这些人才无法闪耀，不过更关键的是，他们没有信心和曝光的机会。在严厉竞争的世界里，你得有自信。

不管你是一个艺术家，还是对艺术有兴趣的人。你得了解，人们的认可培养信心。来自本土的认可可以筑起艺术家的自信，可是最快批评任何本土艺术家的人们就是我们自己人，而且往往是同行们。

我不是说不容许有善意及正面的批评，我们当然应该严谨的评论，这有别于不经大脑的恶意批评。这里的分别就是“意图”。让我告诉你一个故事：

有一次我受到我一位日本乐迷的邀请去看他镇上的一个乐队。这个乐队惨不忍听。我忍不住问这家伙为什么他会支持这么烂的乐队，他的回答令我反省。如果他们烂的时候没有人支持，那他们怎样变好？

你看，这就是我们和日本的差别。我们时常踩我们的艺术家来自我感觉良好。日本人也会批评自己的艺术家可是他们却带着正面的意图。这就是虽然日本的草根艺术圈子也像我们一样那么参差不齐，他们却有着国际水平的艺术圈而我们没有。
我有一次在东京和Tun Mahathir 讨论过这个问题，他当然是哈日的，不过我不觉得他了解国际水准的人才是需要本土的栽培的。或许他尝试过，然后灰心了。不管如何，我们还是得加油。
我说了这么多，主要还是：小市场当然有很多阻碍，不过才华和努力同样重要。智慧很重要不过你也得靠运气。同样关键的是，栽培艺术家需要整个社群的力量。

我们缺乏的就是这最后的关键。到处可见的是：我们因为觉得不重要，所以没有公共政策来培育年轻的艺术家。我们也不了解孕育世界级的艺术家需要的种种，我们以为世界级的艺术家是凭空诞生的。

最后，什么样的人民就有什么样的政府，同样的，什么样的人民就有什么样的艺术圈。就像任何的群体，它源自个体。所以，简而言之，你必备才华，努力，运气，是的，你也需要培育的。

祝你好运。

This is the Original:

IN SEARCH OF A BIGGER CANVAS

I have spent almost the entirety of my career as an unsigned indie artist. It hasn’t been a walk in the park but I guess I’ve done pretty good. This was what my road looked like and, if you are interested, how you might traverse it...

The first thing to understand is that you path is almost entirely determined by the size of your market, even more than how good you are. In a small market like Malaysia. you fight uphill all the time. Small market means lack of opportunity.

Crucially, lack of opportunity also means you grow slower. Velocity of output is vital to any artist. If you made 1 film every 3 years compared to a peer in China who makes 1 film per year, you’d still be a newbie after 5 years while s/he’d already be a veteran.

The only way to overcome this is to tap into bigger markets. You can do this by moving to work in a bigger market, or stay in Malaysia and export to foreign markets. This is especially so if you don’t primarily work in BM, the biggest sub-market in Msia. Either way, it is hard.

Due to personal circumstances, I chose to remain in Malaysia. This means maximising every opportunity to play / exhibit my work offshore. As a result, the first decade of my career were largely spent on the road in Japan and Korea. You need to be kinda lucky to accomplish this.

Yet, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Most people think talent in an artist is everything. It isn’t. Truth is, talent is necessary but insufficient for success. Hard work is crucial. Remember, most of your peers are talented too. Thus hard work is the difference maker.

Given the importance of export markets to our artists, I’ve been baffled by the lack of support from our public institutions. FINAS, for instance, has done little to facilitate exports in the past. The PH govt is likewise showing no vision or leadership in this matter.

Rather, all the chatter has so far been about grants and handouts. While important to help young filmmakers get started, I see little need to fund established filmmakers through grants. Much better to divert funds to tax incentives and the setting up of export channels.

Either way, good though it would be to get help from public policy - it is important to accept that you are fundamentally on your own. If all you do is sit and moan, then you ain’t gonna accomplish much other than a reputation for moaning. It is better to act. Talk is cheap.

The task is difficult, but it is easier if you hunt as a group. So remember to share resources and contacts. Help each other. Trust me, work alone and you will likely not get out at all. Hunt as a group and your chances multiply by many fold. This is not a zero sum game.

Other than being a musician, I also belong to a generation of filmmakers known as “Malaysian New Wave”. For a few years, we beat the odds in the international film festival circuit. Yet In the end we failed. The reason is complex but came down to our failure to continue to hunt as a group. We must learn from this.

Of the current generation of artists working to establish offshore opportunities, Bront Palarae stands out. He ploughs the field all over Asia and shows no fear. He works hard, act smart and walks the talk. There are others like him. They are the hope.

Please remember that, despite everything, Malaysia is a talented land. The reason most of our talents have often been wasted is complex - but it is underlined often by a lack of confidence and exposure. You need self-belief to be out there where competition is fierce.

Whether you are an artist, or just an interested layman, you need to understand that confidence comes from validation. And the most basic source of arts validation comes from local support. Yet the quickest to damn Malaysian artists are Malaysians themselves, often fellow artists.

I am not saying there is no room for objective critique - of course we must be critical - but there is a difference between thoughtless bitchiness and critique - and the difference is: intention. Let me tell you a true story to illustrate my point...

I was once invited by a Japanese fan to watch his neighbourhood band. The band sucked to high heavens. But when asked why he supported a band that he knew to be terrible, his reply was revealing:

“If we don’t support them when they are shit, how can they get good?”

See, his reply is the difference between Japan and Malaysia. We thrash our own often for selfish validation. They criticise their own too but with positive intention. That’s why, despite having grassroot scenes as uneven as ours, they have a world class arts scene and we don’t.

I once discussed this with Tun Mahathir in Tokyo. He is of course a big admirer of Japan. But I am not sure he understood the importance of local support in nurturing world class artists. Perhaps he tried but was disappointed. Either way we must try harder at it.

I have taken long to get here, but my point is: there are many elements required to overcome the handicap of small markets. Talent is important but so is hard work. Smartness is important but so is luck. Equally crucial is ability to nurture artists as a community...

It is this last element that we are most missing. The evidence is everywhere. From lack of public policies that nurture young artists (as if they are unimportant), to lack of understanding of how world class artists are formed (as though they exist in a vacuum).

Ultimately, much as we deserve the government we have, we also deserve the arts we have. And as with everything that involves the collective, it really begins with the individual. So, in a nutshell, you must be talented, hardworking, lucky, and yes - nurturing too.

Good luck.

LeBron James has been carrying the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout these playoffs. That was a natural effect of the Kyrie Irving trade. The Cavaliers don't have another scorer who can carry the burden, forcing James to dominate just to give his team a chance in the playoffs against superior overall teams. That has led to some mind-boggling statistics, including this one: James has scored 40 or more points in six games this postseason. Those would be Games 2, 5 and 7 of Cleveland's first round series against the Indiana Pacers, Game 2 of their season against the Toronto Raptors, and Games 2 and 4 against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Those numbers put him in rarified air in NBA playoff history.

The last person to score 40 points in a game six times in an individual postseason was Allen Iverson, who did so during his legendary 2001 run. The NBA record is eight, which belongs to Jerry West during his playoff run in 1965. Standing between James and West is Michael Jordan, who did it seven times in 1989. Here is the difference between James and those legends, though. He could still play 10 more playoff games. The Cavaliers are tied with the Celtics 2-2, and if that series goes seven games, it would be three more chances for him to add to his total. If he plays a seven-game series in the NBA Finals afterwards, that would be 10 games in total. Since James is scoring 40 points in 40 percent of his games this postseason (six out of 15), that would get to him a ridiculous 10 40-point games in the playoffs if he maintained his averages through Game 7 of the NBA Finals. There is no guarantee that he will play that many games, but it shows that James could very easily set the record this postseason.

The best part of this run, though, comes in a stat that doesn't even seem possible. Despite all of these 40-point games, James has never once in his career topped 50 points in a single playoff game. His career-high is 49 points, which he scored against both the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets earlier in his career. James can score as much as anyone if he has to, but that is not his game. Even though he is potentially the NBA's best scorer, he is also one of its best passers. Just as Phil Jackson once challenged Jordan not to win the scoring title, James knows that in order for his team to win, he is better served not scoring 50 or 60 points. There is a limit at which his scoring stops helping. He knows that he needs to get his teammates involved.

That is what makes James' statistics so impressive most of the time. He can score 40 points in a game while also dishing 10 assists. He does whatever his team needs to win. And now, they are only two wins away from the NBA Finals thanks to him.