The Right to Watch TV

This is the right time to comprain, surely. I've just received the summons to pay my UK TV license. And the cost? A princely sum of £131.50 (SGD 393)! In contrast, the rate charged back in Singapore is SGD 110. Wah lau, don't they know I'm just a poor student?

In Goodenough College, we get to watch TV streamed directly onto our laptops. It's quite a neat set-up. Sitting at my desk, I can tune on to BBC Three on one window, for instance, while working on a presentation on another. We have access to all the mainstream terrestrial channels from BBC and ITV, plus a splash of other more exotic channels, including foreign language broadcasts.

For the most part, I've not found myself watching much local television. It gets too distracting, especially when I'm trying to study. Perhaps I've not really been paying apt attention to the schedules, but the offerings I come across never seem to be particularly appealing. Entertainment programming appears pretty low-brow. I tend typically to watch BBC News 24 or CNN International to stay in touch with all the crap that's happening in the world. And, of course, I need to check out the latest weather reports. You can't live a full life in London if you're not obsessed with the weather.