empty_vessels

77955

2010-04-27T01:27:00.001+08:00

5 years, 4 months, countless days and nights.

It is finished.

Hopefully on to bigger and better things.

The World According to Students...

2009-10-16T12:02:00.003+08:00

So apparently we kill 100 Billion sharks every year for Sharks' Fin soup.

But that's barely a drop in the ocean to feed the 65000 Billion people in the world.

TV

2009-09-15T13:23:00.002+08:00

Burn Notice and Leverage should have a crossover.

I've entered new territory in terms of TV watching and I've found that it's fallen into some interesting categories:

The Whedonverse alum (Bones - David Boreanez, Castle - Nathan Fillion, Dollhouse - Eliza Dushku)
The A-Team reincarnations (Leverage, Burn Notice)

Sadly enough, that's all the TV I can get into. Work calls and family as well. That said, I'm glad that there's still some TV to actually watch. Looks like reality TV hasn't quite killed the medium yet. :)

Remains.

2009-08-01T12:08:00.003+08:00

This song's stuck in my head. From Epitaph One, Coda of the first season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.

Haunting, beautiful and just a touch sad.

Burn down my home
My memories hardened
And the bread is crumb

Good times escape
While every mistake
Seems to be caught on tape

I will go rolling fast
Palms out in the rain
Feel momentum building
To lift off ground like an airplane

Love ties you down to the pains
A billion eyes are watchin'
Fossilized
They see what remains
Remains...

Gave up this town
What a waste that we're left with
When it's boiled down

Shine light on me
Your image reflected
Is all you'll ever see

I will go rolling fast
Palms out in the rain
Feel momentum building
To lift off ground like an airplane

Love ties you down to the pains
A billion eyes are watchin'
Fossilized
They see what remains
Remain...

Because we've stopped doing it in schools...

2009-07-09T08:14:00.001+08:00

If Sex Ed PSAs Were Realistic -- powered by Cracked.com

Just because I had to.

2009-06-07T21:33:00.003+08:00

Image courtesy of Cracked.com
Posting courtesy of iHate

Well, this is bad on so many levels...

2009-05-27T14:09:00.002+08:00

Sam follows Mallory into the HALLWAY.

MALLORY
Hi.

SAM
How ya doin'?

MALLORY
I'm sorry to be rude, but are you a moron?

SAM
In this particular area, yes.

MALLORY
The 18th President was Ulysses S. Grant, and the Roosevelt Room was named
for Theodore.

SAM
Really?

MALLORY
There's like a six-foot painting on the wall of Teddy Roosevelt.

SAM
I should've put two and two together.

MALLORY
Yes.

SAM
Look, the thing is, while there are really a great many things I can speak with
authority, I'm not good at talking about the White House.

MALLORY
You're the White House Deputy Communications Director and you're not good
at talking about the White House?

SAM
Ironic, isn't it?

MALLORY
I don't believe this. [starts to go back into the room, but Sam stops her]

SAM
Wait a minute. Wait. Please. Could you do me favor? Could you tell me which
one of those kids is Leo McGarry's daughter?

MALLORY
Why?

SAM
Well, if I could make eye contact with her, make her laugh, you know, just
see that she has a good time, it might go a long way toward making my life easier.

MALLORY
These children worked hard. All of them. And I'm not inclined at this moment
to make your life easier.

SAM
Ms. O'Brian, I understand your feelings, but please believe me when I tell
you that I'm a nice guy having a bad day. I just found out the Times is publishing
a poll that says a considerable portion of Americans feel that the White House
has lost energy and focus. A perception that's not likely to be altered by the
video footage of the President riding his bicycle into a tree. As we speak, the Coast
Guard are fishing Cubans out of the Atlantic Ocean while the Governor of Florida wants to
blockade the Port of Miami. A good friend of mine's about to get fired for
going on television and making sense, and it turns out I accidentally slept with
a prostitute last night. Now. Would you please, in the name of compassion, tell me which
one of those kids is my boss's daughter.

MALLORY
That would be me.

SAM
You.

MALLORY
Yes.

SAM
Leo's daughter's fourth grade class.

MALLORY
Yes.

SAM
[pause] Well, this is bad on so many levels.

Just a reminder...

2009-05-04T11:24:00.002+08:00

...that in all our diverse opinions, our differing traditions and the myriad of identities, we are still one.

http://www.playingforchange.com

The Crackpots and These Women

2009-04-24T12:07:00.003+08:00

Sigh.

Held my tongue for as long as I could, decided, really, time to pen my thoughts down on the subject.

The AWARE saga is coming to a head and I think it's only a matter of time before it all blows up. So, here's my two cents worth before the caca hits the fan:

Firstly, for an organisation that claims to champion womens rights, you need to champion the rights of ALL women. Let's go through the fundamental ones, shall we?

1) All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
2) Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Dignity. People have a right to have it. To be condemned because your lifestyle is considered "dirty" or "wrong" reeks of indignity. Sadly, the moral "right" seems oblivious to the fact that in their withdrawing of support for the rights of gays and lesbians, they are robbing a minority group of the dignity that is their right, as it is a right to everyone else.

The whole debacle has brought up an age old struggle that pits the "christian right" with the rest of the world and as a christian, I should take the side of the christians. I am a Christian and I think that according to the tenets of the religion, homosexuality is a sin. (I've always been disturbed by that fact due to my socio-political leanings, but oh well...) I choose not to weigh in on that issue because I believe that there're a few "larger" rules and regulations that we have that stop us from doing so:

1) “Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
2) “Stop judging, so that you won't be judged, because the way that you judge others will be the way that you will be judged, and you will be evaluated by the standard with which you evaluate others."

Which may actually be quoted by others because it's the perfect comeback to christians when they feel that christians are being overbearing. And we tend to be. It's in our nature to try to "save" as many people as we can. It's the Great Commission. Problem is that the Great Commission never really told us to interfere. It's told us to spread Jesus' teachings and that's something I can truck with. But spreading teachings and saving people from sin are completely different things. We do have the authority to do the former but the latter is up to God. Why is it that we seem so quick to be ready to do the latter rather than the former? I think I have some idea but I'm not ready to get into that yet.

But that's the thing, we are that judgmental aren't we? And I think what the world sees us as that because the most vocal among us really do put out the most noise. Unfortunately, most of that noise is judgments on other people and how they're all going to hell. We're like that teacher who spends all their time criticizing students' faults and saying that they'd amount to nothing. No one ever liked that teacher.

How quickly we forget that christians were once condemned for what they believed in. How short sighted we are when we cry about the injustices heaped onto other christians in other countries because of their faith. How sad it is that we often are so quick to throw those first stones.

What's sad about the whole AWARE saga is that a religious few are trying to impose their religion on an issue that is rather cut and dried either way:

It's wrong in a religious context.
There's nothing within a secular context that says that it's wrong.

I am a Christian. That is what defines who I am and what I think. The world, however, is secular. It is separate from my faith and should remain so because people out in the world are from various cultures and faiths. AWARE is a secular organisation working within a secular society. And within a secular society, who you are, who you choose to be with, what you do, etc... should not have any bearing on your rights. (Come to think about it, it SHOULD be the same way within religious organisations as well...) Therein lies the problem with the fundamentalists taking over an organisation like AWARE. The values that they are preaching tend to be values that should be kept separate from secular society. These values should not cross over because there is a social contract that says that they shouldn't.

Otherwise, let's start the free-for-all. Let the new members of AWARE start casting the first stone and repeal the law that makes it OK for us to get divorces. Let's ban abortions and let's make adultery a capital offence shall we?

No?

Right.

If christians are going to try to stop people from playing God, maybe they should start with themselves eh?

To the attic with ye?

2009-04-12T00:48:00.003+08:00

Dollhouse and Whedon's Masochism.

I've been following Dollhouse for the whole of the first season. (Thanks BT!) It was my first Whedon televisual fix for a while and the first that I'm actually following "live" as it airs in the States. Years of following Buffy, Angel and Firefly sadly after the fact have converted me into a Whedonite. I've read about his rise and subsequent fall(out) with the Fox network, which made it all the more strange (for me) when I read that he was going to do another show with them.

I know the circumstances behind that as well, what with Eliza Dushku being greenlit to create a show and getting Whedon to helm it, it made sense. Go to the best you've worked with and get them to help to create a show for you. But for Whedon to return to a company that gutted his previous work? Ouch. One has to wonder about Whedon's proclivity to pain that allows him to keep returning over and over to the company that's really put him through the shredder.

So it was with little surprise or dismay (more accurately, EXPECTED dismay) that I read that Dollhouse may not see another season. It's pretty much par for the course for Fox, that seems insistent to really put out the crappiest shows in the movies and television and add it's own stamp to the stupidification of the idiot box. I saw it coming since the project was announced. I mourn (if the rumours turn out to be true) that television is losing another great (thought provoking, clever, well written) show. But I am not above saying I told you so either (especially to anyone who doesn't actually see or hear me say it...).

Sighz.

Of Pay and Other Matters.

2009-04-06T12:29:00.004+08:00

So. My pay got cut.

It was expected as the civil service cut back on it's payments to staff due to the economic recession. (I'm not afraid to use the word and let's call the spade a spade shall we?) It was not as bad as I thought it could have been but the impact is certainly felt. With two kids to put through nursery and a house renovation under way, it would certainly have been better to have more money than less. And I think that anytime there's a pay cut, it feels bad. (A pay revision however is always welcome...)

So anyway, my pay got cut...but I don't really mind.

As I mentioned before, it's nothing new and it's something that I've been anticipating for a while. As civil servants, our pay should move along with the economic trends that affect our nation. After all, as civil servants, we serve the nation. That's our lot and that's what we need to accept. The one thing that really spurs me on to feel this way is that the $xxx that we get less a month or the $xxxx less that we get through the year will after all go toward worthier causes, right? There are people who are a lot worse off than I and I would like to say that we got a pay cut so that we can help others in need? That others do not need to be laid off? That by forgoing that (relatively) little per month, someone else can put food on their family's table? Those are the thoughts that help me to placate my (obvious) disappointment over the cut.

There's been a lot of scrutiny of civil servant pay, and I think that a lot of the anger and the frustration is certainly justified. There is a certain line that would certainly have been crossed when one considers the fact that what some of us earn a month will pay for the living expenses of a family (or several) for a year. I for one would have loved to see Mr French Cooking school sacrifice his $45000 vacation to buy dinner for every single person in his constituency. In sounding out my own frustrations over those practices, I realised that I would be totally hypocritical if I cried out for the pay cuts of those above me and ended up hoping that my own pay wouldn't get hit.

So here I am. Smaller paycheck...non-hypocritically saying that it's a good thing we're doing.

And think about it: If we can cut the pay of civil servants by about $100 (at least) per month, with a total number of about 60000 civil servants (ballpark figure...) working at the moment. That adds up to about $6000000 a month in savings? $6 million dollars could do a lot of good for people. $6 million dollars a month could buy a lot of food for people who can't afford their three square meals. It could mean more subsidized health care. It could help to save jobs. There's potential there.

I just hope that my (imposed) sacrifice will mean good things for Singapore. Despite my cynicism, I still believe that we do have a duty to those among us who have had bad breaks. And I think that because we have chosen to serve the nation, we should take the lead in helping out.

So here I am, tightening the belt because it's all for the greater good. I just hope that it does, at the end of the day, mean something to someone who needs it. And not go into the pockets of some undeserving shmuck who already earns too much money.

Tenuous at best.

2009-03-09T09:33:00.007+08:00

It's funny when people look at terrible tragedies and try to boil it all down to one single cause. These people are most often the naysayers, the prophets of doom and the panicked masses that try to find cause for insanity. I'm all for finding solutions and when we try to find causes for abhorrent behaviour, that's all well and good, until said people try to find the anomaly, the one thing that's different that we can attribute these acts to. Here's the reality of it: More often than not, it is a confluence of factors. People tend to ignore that and instead try to find that one variable that causes the house of cards to fall.

In the 80s, it was rock and roll. Heck, rock and roll was attributed to behaviour in the 60s and 70s too. With the 90s came movies and subsequently, when the computer went mainstream, video games. Today, we're still playing the same blame game, except that we've got more things to blame. Let's see. We have the internet. TV's still rampant. That rock music's still around. MTV still exists despite our better efforts. Everywhere we look, we can place blame.

Unfortunately, the powers that be tend to place said blame for all this on peripherals, never questioning if a machinery that has been modified and tweaked in a myriad of ways itself needs to be overhauled to take on said modifications. We take it as a given that it's all supposed to work because it always has. Therefore, if something goes wrong, it must be something that we did to it since that must be the problem.

Here's the thing, what if what we have done to the machine since isn't reversible and the actual issue is that the machinery underneath really can't handle the weight of all its necessary "enhancements"?

Let me explain:

Traditionally, roles were simpler. Work was more straightforward. Life was easier. Add to that a whole slew of productivity enhancements such as the PC, the cellphone and the PDA. Suddenly, you're a whole lot more aware of work at all times. Let's throw in the internet. Now you're connected to a world that "doesn't sleep". Shake in a handful of interconnectedness and the fact that you are no longer competing locally but globally and you're interconnected to a world that has raised expectations phenomenally and exponentially and boom! you have your end product. Can we remove any of these new enhancements? Try living in today's world without a cellphone. Try getting a job without any experience with the internet.

We've never stopped to question if the added stresses of a society that has undergone such radical changes over a short span of 10 years is perhaps a cause of the mayhem that we're witnessing today. We don't question the machine. Instead, we start by questioning the leisure activities of people who crack. What kind of video games did they play? What music did they listen to? Which celebrities do they idolise? It's all to do with what they do in their "spare time" (as if that phrase actually means anything today) rather than the society that they grow up in. Because that is surely what can help us, taking away more of what we consider to be fun. What we consider our escapes without actually dealing with the elephant in the room that nobody sees, the thing that we're trying to escape from.

Reality sucks. That's a fact. We're surrounded with news of more killings, stock market crashes and corruption and there's nothing that we can really do about it. Some people run away. Some run too far into their sanctuaries. There's no denying that. But if one is to find a root cause for all that, shouldn't we be looking at the thing that they are running from rather than trying to deny them their sanctuaries? Should we really be ready to point our fingers towards the things that actually give some people comfort in this world?

Interestingly enough, the Straits Times seems absolutely willing to do so. In fact, on Sunday, they decided to lead the charge. However, much like the emperor of old, said broadsheet decided to do so without any clothes on.

Let's dissect this shall we?

In trying to prove that video games causes violent behaviour, the Straits Times, being a bastion of good reportage and all that, gives us three examples of exceptional young men who went completely apeshit crazy and committed acts of violence...waitaminute...No...not all three did.

In fact, only one of the three actually committed an act of violence. The other two merely displayed some anti-social behaviour. waitaminute...actually, only the second one did. The third one showed an inability to conform to what was socially appropriate.

So what is the Straits Times' hypothesis then? Is it merely that video games promote a range of behaviours that are socially abnormal? But that's not what the article was about. So now I'm confused.

Actually, if you really wanted to dissect this, we can replace the term video games with a whole lot of arbitrary terms right? We could for instance replace it with "university education" or "studying". (After all, at least two of these "victims were students.)

In fact, here's a little game at Empty-Vessels, try replacing all the words in italics with an arbitrary term of your own and let's see if you can come up with some creative hypotheses as to why people are going completely apeshit. I think that this thought experiment could surprise you.

(Otherwise known as "you too can write your own Straits Times article!")

Begin here.

March 8, 2009

A link between gaming and violence?

Experts say there is no direct link but in extreme cases, multiple risk factors are involved

By Jamie Ee Wen Wei , Mavis Toh , Huang Huifen

Three gamers were in the news last week for the wrong reasons. Two are dead and a third is in jail after they hurt themselves or others.

Is there a link between gaming and their aggressive or violent behaviour?

Studies by Iowa State University's Distinguished Professor Craig Anderson, one of the world's foremost scholars on media violence, show that playing violent video games causes people to think and act more aggressively, but he does not believe playing video games will turn 'normal 12-year-olds into school shooters'.

Social psychologist Angeline Khoo, said that the link between violent computer games and aggressive behaviour is co-relational rather than direct.

Dr Khoo, who is the National Institute of Education's associate professor of the psychological studies academic group, explained: 'When people read sensational news like this, they tend to think, it must be the evil game. But there are many people who play violent games and are perfectly normal.'

What most people fail to understand is that physical violence, like stabbing, is only an extreme form of aggression. It rarely happens, she said.

More common manifestations of aggression are verbal, like raising voices or spurting vulgarities, she said. 'The aggressive tendencies tend to be short-term. They can dissipate. For example, if you listen to soothing music after playing a violent game, you will calm down.'

Experts agree that in extremely violent cases, there will usually be a convergence of multiple risk factors. These include gang involvement, anti-social parents and peers, substance abuse, poverty and media violence. Males are more at risk.

On the ground, psychiatrists and social workers are reporting more gaming-related problems among youths. At Touch Cyber Wellness and Sports, counsellors have seen more than 140 cyber- related cases in the past three years.

Dr Brian Yeo, a consultant psychiatrist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said he sees at least one patient daily who has gaming or Internet related issues.

'Some of them have avatars, and when their avatar dies or gets killed, they can become very angry, and in extreme cases, they may throw things or scream at their parents, or threaten to commit suicide.'

Gamers are, however, upset that violent games have been fingered for the recent incidents.

Referring to the stabbing incident at Nanyang Technological University last week, Mr Nicolas Khoo, 31, co-founder of the Cybersports and Online Gaming Association, said: 'Such incidents happen to a minority of gamers...In this incident, there could have been other reasons that led him to do it, so why was gaming blamed?'

Those interviewed also said they have not experienced any violent behaviour, although they said their relationships may have suffered.

Ms Sabrina Ong, 25, a blogger and avid gamer, said: 'I don't become violent, but I tend to be more engrossed when I'm killing a character in shooting games like Left 4 Dead. I will shoo people away when they come and talk to me.'

Technician Eddy Zhang, 28, said: 'I became a bit reclusive. My girlfriend also broke up with me as she felt that I was spending more time playing games than with her.'

Dr Khoo said studies have shown that parental involvement is vital in managing the violent effects of gaming.

'For instance, if someone utters a profanity in the game, the parent can tell the kid, we are not going to imitate this person's behaviour. There will at least be some guidance.'

AsiaSoft, publisher of games like Maple Story, has created pop-up messages to remind gamers to take breaks. By the fourth hour, the gamers are asked to quit the game. Its spokesman said: 'It's all about moderation.'

End here.

David Hartanto Widjaja, 21

Online activities: A fan of the computer game World of Warcraft, the Indonesian student from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) spent as much as six hours a day in front of his PC.

What he did: He stabbed his lecturer, Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, 45, in the lecturer's office last Monday.

What happened to him: Shortly after the attack, Mr Widjaja fell four floors to his death at the NTU campus.

Captain (Dr) Allan Ooi, 27

Online activities: The Singapore Armed Forces doctor was an avid Warcraft player who became one of the top 10 Warcraft players in Singapore, and was among the top 100 in the world.

What he did: He had been absent without official leave since last October, reportedly cutting off all contact with people close to him.

What happened to him: He was found dead in Melbourne last Tuesday.

Xia Yun, 19

Online activities: He played games from the multi-player online gaming site, AuditionSea.

What he did: Two years ago, he met a 10-year-old girl at the gaming site, and eight months later, they had sex.

What happened to him: He was charged with two counts of carnal connection. If he is not granted probation, he faces jail of up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000 for each charge.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

2009-03-05T17:11:00.001+08:00

Send a heartbeat to
The void that cries through you
The pale princess of a palace cracked
And now the kingdom comes
The world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate
And in your darkest hour
I hold secrets flame
We can watch the world devoured in it's pain

~The End is the Beginning is the End, Smashing Pumpkins, from the 1st Watchmen trailer.

The Watchmen movie rocked.

:O

2009-02-25T22:38:00.000+08:00

Jaw drops.

Battlecry.

2009-02-17T11:58:00.000+08:00

Sharp like an edge of a samurai sword
The mental blade cut(s) through flesh and bone
Though my mind’s at peace, the world(’s) out of order
Missing the inner heat, life gets colder
Oh yes, I have to find my path
No less, walk on earth, water, and fire
The elements compose a magnum opus my modus operandi is amalgam
Steel packed tight in microchip on my arm a sign of all-pro
The ultimate reward is honor, not awards
At odds with the times in wars with no lords
A freelancer
A battle cry of a hawk make(s) a dove fly and a tear dry
Wonder why a lone wolf don’t run with a clan
Only trust instincts and be one with the plan

Some days, some nights
Some live, some die
In the way of the samurai
Some fight, some bleed
Sun up to sun down
The sons of a battlecry
Some days, some nights
Some live, some die
In the name of the samurai
Some fight, some bleed
Sun up to sun down
The sons of a battlecry
A battlecry

Look, just the air around him
An aura surrounding the heir apparent
He might be a peasant but shine like a grand royalty
He to the people and land, loyalty
We witness above all to hear this
Sea sickness in the ocean of wickedness
Set sail to the sunset no second guessing Far East style with the spirit of Wild West
The “quote-unquote” code stands the test of
Time for the chosen ones to find the best of noble minds that ever graced the face of
A hemisphere with no fear, fly over
The blue yonder
Where the sky meets the sea
And eye meets no eye
And boy meets world
And became a man to serve the word
To save the day, the night, and the girl too

Some days, some nights
Some live, some die
In the way of the samurai
Some fight, some bleed
Sun up to sun down
The sons of a battlecry
Some days, some nights
Some live, some die
In the name of the samurai
Some fight, some bleed
Sun up to sun down
The sons of a battlecry
A battlecry

"A year from today at least one of you is gonna look pretty stupid."

2009-02-07T12:31:00.003+08:00

Leo:
Luther. Ballpark. One year from today, where's the Dow?

Luther:
Tremendous. Up a thousand.

Leo:
Fred. One year from today?

Fred:
Not good. Down a thousand.

Leo:
A year from today at least one of you is gonna look pretty stupid.

~ The West Wing, Pilot.

A Goodyear Ahead?

2009-02-06T22:16:00.003+08:00

Anyone else think that the only reason why Temasek Holdings hired Chip Goodyear was because they could say sometime in news reports that he was hired because he was Chip?

*Ba Dum Chsh!*

We don't need no regulation...

2009-02-05T13:00:00.008+08:00

Well, more importantly, we can't be regulated. Self or otherwise. I mean, people can try, they certainly have before, but when countries like China are fighting a losing battle against the Internet, regulation just isn't in the cards.

Funny thing is that we're still thinking of the Internet in terms of traditional media without actually realising that we can't use the traditional mindset or SOP to ensure that the Internet is what we want it to be. Which I guess is a double edged sword. It's freedom of speech unleashed...with everything that comes with that.

Firstly, it means that even if a government (hypothetically) wants to regulate the content on the Internet regarding its policies etc, it would have problems doing so. Sure it could technically track bloggers / internet users down manually and ~~persecute~~prosecute them, but like the multi-headed Hydra of old, more will sprout up in their place and before you know it, the entire web's filled with heads. (Extended metaphor right into the realm of the incomprehensible...movingon)

Secondly, it means that any sense of self-regulation also tends to be impossible. Even if responsible, articulate bloggers wished to shut down trash sites, they'll encounter the exact same problem. (Especially the Prosecution bit simply because everyone's reading it...)

Even if we wanted to regulate the internet, it's infinite. How do you regulate it? The Internet (for better or worse) has made it possible for a person (if they were so inclined) to find anything they wanted to find if they just looked hard enough. If, for instance, your inclinations lay in getting your rocks off looking at Richard Simmons getting Karmic justice for his perpetual peppy ways, you can. If you wished to view a man stretching out his nethers, you could. I'm pretty sure that there are also groups that have interests in watching people who dress up as furry animals having sex...Well guess what, they can find it all. Heck...try checking out Craigslist sometime.

What is of interest to me is how we still strive to control the pandemonium that surrounds us in cyberspace. How we seem to think of the Internet as a medium that has a hierarchy. That there are those among us with the authority to rein in the chaos. Let's get it right here: there isn't.

What happens with traditional media is that the people who get spanked for their content have to fall in line because otherwise they lose their jobs. With that comes the loss of financial security, perks and (perhaps more importantly) their soapbox. The internet doesn't work that way. With condemnation comes a splintering of the already dynamic medium. Factions are created. A lot of the time, those factions have factions as well. It's how people work. We will group with the like-minded among us. Safety and strength in numbers and all that. End of the day, however, what this means is that if you decide that you want to be an anti PAP-vegetarian-gun toting-chain smoking-parakeet loving-hot pants wearing-polka dancing-car dealer, you can probably find an interest group that will support your specific inclinations even if the rest of society calls you a freak. That's the beauty of the internet. (Also the terror-inducing ugliness of it)

Which makes self-regulation (or any other regulation) impossible.

I'm not saying that the Internet doesn't require any regulation. But I'm also careful not to say that it does as well. Problem with regulation is that when we do start, where do we stop? Child pornography is one of the big no-nos in my book. As are snuff films. Stupidity, unfortunately, is something that we really need less of on the Internet, but we can't do anything about that. The same can be said about people who condone or incite violence. But then again, some would say that these are merely bugbears of mine. The majority may agree but there would be a minority that don't. And even if we were to condemn and take action against that minority, they'll just splinter off. And there isn't anything that we can really do about that.

So to have someone come out to condemn the "Internet" (more likely Bloggers on the Internet although I'd use the interchangeability sparingly) for not being "self regulatory" just boggles the mind. It is akin to trying to condemn the ocean for being wet. Sorry: Can't do anything about it even if we wanted to. That said, what seemed to be the topic for discussion certainly did show a particularly dark side of the Singapore Blogosphere. At no time should a man ever have been burned even if it was to show growing displeasure with the organization that he represented. I can sympathise with the sentiment behind it but the celebration of the act was preposterous. The admonition of the blogosphere for their failure to chastise the denizens of the net who condoned (and even applauded) the act was similarly as preposterous (Although I can see how some may be shocked by the obvious bias of the sympathy for the perpetrator over the victim). We don't work that way. It doesn't work that way. And the threat of regulation isn't going to work that way...

Lui Tuck Yew might as well be firing bullets into the ocean...

WHEN Yio Chu Kang MP Seng Han Thong was set on fire by a resident last month, a significant number of netizens posted unkind comments.

These included a list of 10 things he 'must be thankful for' as well as remarks that he deserved what happened.

On Wednesday, Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew said he did not think the Internet community did enough to rebut some of these comments.

'It is a squandered opportunity for a higher degree of self-regulation,' he told Parliament.

He made the remark with a tinge of disappointment as just a month ago, the Government had largely accepted a report by a government-appointed committee that said it was a good thing for the Internet community to exercise greater self-regulation.

The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society, or Aims, issued its report last December.

Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui's remark was in his reply to Ms Penny Low, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, who asked for his views on netizens' response to the attack on Mr Seng. She noted that they had voted quite unjustly in an online poll.

The poll asked who deserved more sympathy: Mr Seng or his attacker Ong Kah Chua. The ex-cabby received 200 votes and Mr Seng, 56.

RADM Lui noted there were some comments sympathetic to Mr Seng. But the vast majority were "unhelpful, a significant number were unkind, a small number were downright outrageous."

"It was disappointing, and my impression is that I do not think the community itself have done enough to rebut some of these unhelpful comments delivered by fellow netizens," he added.

Sigh...

2009-01-29T11:58:00.005+08:00

Seems like everywhere we turn, there are people who keep adding fuel to fires that should be put out. And I'm not just talking about "we the anonymous". In trying to mount a(n) (ill-advised) defence against the online masses (we are legion...), one has to resort to more than mere name-calling to actually make the grade.

We live in a world that is changed. No longer are we subject to non-thinking acceptance of propaganda. No longer are we happy to lounge around, ignorant, uncaring. No longer are we ready to accept flawed argumentation that passes off as logic in a world where complacency has led us to economic downfall and corruption of our ideals. We live in Obamaland now! Where the positions of power are filled by the smart and the worthy. Where one exhibits his or her intelligence and is not mocked, but celebrated. Where one's worth lies in the amount of hard work that he or she puts in for the money that they are paid. Where elite actually means that one is smarter than the rest, is better at what they do and can offer more solutions. Elitism is more than merely (undeserved) arbitrary wages that are more the result of cronyism and backdoor deals.

It truly is glorious.

But some fools still think that the old ways can work. These are the sloths that cling on to the rotting illusion that when authority speaks, one HAS to listen. That believe that people have not clawed their way into the light of intellectual enlightenment. They are the ones who believe that the status quo still stands and the powers that be are still invulnerable. That it is shocking that "greater mortals" are set ablaze by unhappy peons.

One of these fools is Eugene Wee.

As a defender of the status quo, he has to realise that his argument, in this day and age, can't possibly be anything more than fuel that fans the flames. (Apt, since he's talking about internet flamers...) He can't possibly think that standing on his (rather insignificant and already oft mocked) soapbox ~~The Piece of Crap~~ The New Paper and yelling at the tide isn't going to help much, considering that the tide really wants to burn said paper too. (Doubly so since his tirade tends to be more about credibility) Here's a clue Eugene, and say it with me: It Just Isn't Working.

His assumption is that if he can discredit the blogosphere as nothing more than people frothing in the mouth and baying for blood without a cause (or a clue), his mainstream readers are going to ignore what we are writing and go on with their lives.

Let me let you in on a little secret Eugene: We aren't the problem. We're just the voice.

The man who set his MP on fire. Odds are, he wasn't a blogger. He probably isn't an active participant of the discourse online. He was just an angry citizen. Think of us as the canary in the mine. We aren't really the problem that's going to cause the big explosion, we just chirp out when we sense that there's danger. And trust me when I say this, public sentiment isn't exactly on your "side".

As far as I'm concerned, that's the role that we've taken. We are the watchdogs because the mainstream media's become someone's bitch. We are the loudhailers of public opinion and it would be wise for people to hear what we're saying. I'm not looking to topple the government. It would be a rather deluded fool to believe that that would be in Singapore's best interests. But there are things that we aren't really happy with, and if the powers that be don't listen, then this unhappiness will grow. Where that leads, I shudder to think.

I have children and I would love for my homeland to be the country that would provide them the best for their future. I love my country. I am a patriot, in ways that even I would never fully comprehend. And when I blog about people (I use the word in it's technical sense) like Charles Chong using terms like "Lesser Mortals", I shudder because it scares the crap out of me. I don't want the bad old days. I want economic prosperity. But when I see Temasek losing our money, I wonder why that is...and I'm not provided answers. I want leaders I can believe in. But when I look at our present Prime Minister with his "mandate", I know that I have lost the faith. And all that worries me.

That's why I blog. I give voice to my own uncertainties. And there are smarter people out there who do the same. We're not looking to incite violence. We're not asking for social upheaval. We just want the powers that be to listen to what we have to say because our concerns are valid. And we're doing a lot more than what you're doing, Mr Eugene Wee.

A whole lot more.

So when a fool dumps fuel into a fire that already burns, one wonders what his agenda is. Who is sowing the actual discord in our society?

Because this is all a very serious exercise. We're speaking about our concerns, Mr Wee. Just what in the hell are you doing?

THE online flaming brigade was certainly busy over the last two weeks. The target was senior civil servant Tan Yong Soon who wrote about his family holiday in Paris.

Then Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Charles Chong became a target when he was quoted as using the term 'lesser mortals' to describe Mr Tan's critics.

Online comments typically are hard-hitting and vulgar at times. Everyone, it seems, gets a big dose of courage when they wear a Harry Potter-style invisible cloak. Hiding behind fake names and untraceable e-mail addresses, it's easy to act like a warrior.

Online lynch mobs, of course, exist everywhere.

Last year, AFP reported that Internet thug attacks have become so nasty in the US that a new breed of reputation managers had emerged to help clients who have become victims of character assassination.

So, is the online mob a boon or bane?

Anonymity itself is not the enemy. In the case of corporate or government whistleblowers, anonymity encourages people to come forward with essential information that may reveal wrong doing .

The media, too, sometimes relies on anonymous sources when reporting sensitive stories. This usually happens when these sources agree to give up important information, which is otherwise unavailable, only if their names are not revealed due to fear of reprisal or embarrassment.

But a crucial point is that these anonymous sources are known to someone, like a reporter, and efforts are made to verify the information supplied.

But online critics are largely faceless. You can't tell if it's just a small group or an individual kicking up a storm, or if there is widespread discontent.

The value of online opinions rise considerably when people are prepared to show their faces and stand up for what they believe in.

If you won're not brave enough to put your name or face to strong views, others are unlikely to take them seriously.

Don't blame 'Big Brother' for not identifying yourself. See the punchy comments in the letters to newspapers. These readers have the guts to speak their minds openly.

Why can't more do the same in cyberspace? Blogs like yawningbread.org, wayangparty.com and theonlinecitizen.com have names to them. And Messrs Alex Au, Eugene Yeo and Choo Zheng Xi have earned themselves a growing number of readers.

As for the anonymous bunch, think of them as bacteria who feed on dead plants or animals. Online flamers feed on those who are 'dead' when public opinion turns against them because of some act or omission.

The flamers play a part in breaking down issues and dissipating pent-up anger. Their rants might lead others to disclose information that might expose hidden practices.

Just like good and bad bacteria

Like the bacteria that decompose tissue and nourish the soil, there is some good in having such online critics.

But there are also vicious online critics who can destroy reputations with baseless accusations.

They are like the bacteria that cause diseases in plants and animals, making them sick or even killing them. One bacterium caused the bubonic plague or the Black Death (so named because of the colour of the victim's face after death).

TB, anthrax, cholera, food poisoning, and pneumonia are all the work of ugly bacteria.

So, Mr Online Critic, please decide what kind of bacteria you want to be.

Keep your anonymity, if you lack the guts, but play a useful role - like the bacteria that eats oil ( a big help to clean up oil spills), and the bacteria used in sewage treatment plants to purify water.

Many bacteria are harmless when they are contained. For example, the bacteria, E. coli, live in the intestines of people, helping them digest food as well as producing vitamins.

But when E Coli escapes, it can contaminate water and food. The same can happen when the wild comments of faceless critics get into the mainstream.

They can wind up leaving nothing more than a pile of s***.

ROFLMAO

2009-01-23T09:27:00.005+08:00

Inspiration.

2009-01-21T15:25:00.003+08:00

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

I'm inspired. The afterglow still lingers 13 hours after viewing the speech. Maybe he can save us all. Ah...to stand and to vote in a real election. To make real choices. To bask in the glory of true leadership.

Sigh.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

OMGWTFDAIRYQUEENBBQ

2009-01-20T23:59:00.003+08:00

When one is backpedaling from the fallout from an ill-timed article about how a top civil servant spends his money in the face of recession, one really should not be issuing statements like that.

Agreeing that the rebuke in Parliament was “harsh”, MP Charles Chong noted that Mr Tan didn’t “brag” about how expensive the trip was in the article. “Maybe it made lesser mortals envious and they thought maybe he was a bit boastful. Would people have taken offence if his wife (a senior investment counsellor at a bank) had paid for everything ?”

Let's review exactly what's wrong with this statement:

Way to be really sensitive in today's really charged political/economic climate dude. You winz the interwebz. Do you really want to use rhetoric that emphasizes the rich/poor divide? This was what got the other guy into hot soup. You want to join him? How stupid ARE you?
Lesser mortals? Who talks like that anymore?! I can see what he's trying to say...(i.e. there are stupid people around that are making a bigger deal of this than they should although I humbly disagree with that) but there are better ways to make a point. More sensitive ways perhaps? Maybe refer to Singaporeans as peasants? Might make us feel a little bit better.
Do you really want to bring up the fact that the guy's wife is a senior investment banker who's still making BIG bucks? In this climate?! After people have been royally screwed by banks?

That said, this circus has been the most interesting news that I've read in Singaporean media for the longest time and perhaps this would sound the death knell for the people in charge who seem totally out of touch with their base. I mean, after all this, I think that the immolation of MPs might not exactly seem all that bad after all. Perhaps MP Charles Chong would be better served if he just suggested that we just shut the hell up and just eat our cake.

Idiot.

Tribes

2009-01-19T12:14:00.001+08:00

We all live in tribes whether we like to admit it or not. We exist in tribes that are defined by the schools we attend, the clothes we wear or even the television shows we watch. Tribes exist because they define our existences. They define who we are, and by those definitions, we become more aware of ourselves.

Tribalism of course tends to, more importantly, also define who we exclude (more often than not, everybody else) and who we include in our circles (inner or otherwise). By associating myself with a moniker of gamer, I’m automatically placing myself within the tribe of gamers. But even within that (relatively) large tribe, there are further subdivisions. More accurately, I’m a PC gamer. I don’t play console games and due to that fact, I also see console gaming as a watered down experience of PC gaming. (No offense, console gamers…no, really…) PC gamers can be further broken down into specific clans as well. I am an MMO player and that means that I associate myself with other MMO players. But wait. There is a further breakdown because I specifically play Warhammer Online, the best MMO at the present moment. World of Warcraft fans of course would be baying for my head at the moment but as far as I’m concerned, it’s only because they are flogging that dead horse. (no offens…Ah fergitaboutit) Break that down further and with guilds and all that within the game, I specialise my associations until they are so specific that that is what eventually defines me (at least as a gamer).

What does this have to do with today’s video posting?

Well, Microsoft, in retaliation to the Apple Mac “I’m a Mac” advertisements has rather cleverly tried to consolidate (or lead us to believe that they have) every single tribe out there with their new advertisement. With the “I’m a Mac” ad, Apple has managed to define the Mac existence as one that is encapsulated by “cool”, “hip” and “trendy”. i.e. IF you buy our product, you are cool, hip and trendy. (This is, of course, a myth, as proven by people who own iPods who are everything but cool, hip and trendy…) Microsoft, as the face of the PC, has instead, decided to go the other way. They state that by buying into their product, you are joining a tribe of millions. It states that even if you are the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, the PC tribe welcomes you. It states that even if you are not cool, hip and trendy, you still have a place with the tribe. Interesting counterattack, really. (That said, you’re still in the tribe with Eva Langoria and some dude that breaks the law, so you’re still in good company.)

At the end of the day, however, Microsoft is still trying to sell their “side”*. And despite the fact that they are all welcoming, Macs aren’t invited. This “side” however is arbitrary because Microsoft also sells Mac users their products. But it is a noble attempt at making PC users feel a whole lot better about themselves. After all, we all feel comfortable when we are in numbers. The advertisement sure does make that number seem all that much bigger, which, I suppose, is everything that tribalism should aim to achieve.

Touche, Microsoft. Touche.

This I found absolutely funny.

2008-12-16T15:01:00.004+08:00

In the states, channel guides have two-three word descriptions of the programmes. They're absolutely hilarious.

Among other gems, Rumble in the Bronx was described aptly as "Vacation Violence".

Las Vegas Food Porn.

2008-12-16T14:31:00.003+08:00

There are some people...

2008-11-16T14:13:00.003+08:00

...that are so damn ignorant that they should just die so that the rest of us really don't need to live with their stupidity.

I'm not advocating that one should not have an opinion about anything. Heck, I'd respect someone who disagreed with me as long as they have all the facts straight and they know what they're talking about.

But when I get to see this drivel ending up published, and a hundred and one different sheep baaing along in agreement, one wonders if there should be capital punishment for the crime of stupidity.

Simply because...

2008-11-05T09:31:00.003+08:00

...elections in Singapore are a sham, we're sitting at the edge of our seats watching the American elections. Ah...Don't you love the smell of fresh democracy in the morning?

Obama presently stands at 10 electoral votes versus McCain's 8.

Updates.

2008-10-11T12:01:00.003+08:00

Its funny how one thing happens and changes your whole point of view
Everything that seems to matter, has cast aside for a better truth
You're growing faster with every minute, second, photograph
I wish I could spend more time with you
~Corrinne May

And the struggle continues.

2008-09-17T13:21:00.002+08:00

This is AMAZING Marketing.

2008-09-09T13:51:00.003+08:00

A lot of what was said yesterday here and on other forums was entirely out of line. Of course you were disappointed and criticism is certainly warranted but frankly many of the posts made about the situation were borderline sociopathic. If having delayed access to a beta test really drives you to such depths of anger and fury then - and there is no polite way to put this - there is something wrong with you.

IainC of GOA posted on a Warhammer Online forum after customers got a bit crazy about not being able to login to the Open Beta.

Let's see if you can spot the mistake.

This is just funny...

2008-09-02T09:53:00.003+08:00

I wonder if the Straits Times has come up with a new-fangled definition of "Critical Thinking" that we haven't quite grasped yet in school. Here I was, deluded into thinking that critical thinking meant thinking for yourself instead of depending on others to form an opinion. And our newspaper has stepped up to "help" us think critically?

What has our local broadsheet been aside from the ~~government bitch~~ mouthpiece for for the all-knowing pharisees from on high? (Clad in white to preserve their purity) Have they given us any hope for critical thinking? Or maybe we are meant to teach critical thinking by questioning the credibility of a media source that is meant to deceive "we the people", to keep us thinking that everything is as it should be when it is not? I'd prefer the second option, which makes the Straits Times' claim that newspapers are the means of teaching critical thinking kind of a paradox.

Sep 1, 2008

Newspaper way to boost critical thinking

By Malini Nathan

A GROUP of 189 primary and secondary school teachers attended a Straits Times (ST) forum on media literacy and how to use newspapers as learning tools on Saturday.

Then, as a treat for Teachers' Day today, and as a gesture of appreciation for their continued use of the newspaper in the classroom, they were given a ride on the Singapore Flyer.

The forum, held on the Flyer's premises, was the fourth ST has held for teachers. Copies of the paper going out to primary schools subscribing to it are bundled with Little Red Dot on Tuesdays, while those for secondary schools are packaged with IN on Mondays.

Forum participant Chee Bee Phaik of Loyang Secondary School said: 'The forum was very helpful and I learnt a lot about critical thinking.'

Panellist Soo Kim Bee of the Education Ministry's Gifted Education Branch said Little Red Dot and IN sharpen students' critical thinking and creativity. She also urged teachers to develop a newspaper-reading habit among their charges.

In the forum for primary school teachers, three teachers - Da Qiao Primary's Ms Ng Sai Choo, and East View Primary's Madam Kamalnoorzaman Osman and Mrs Monica Berger - discussed how they used Little Red Dot in English lessons.

Ms Ng showed how her pupils used the newspaper for writing reflections and role-playing; Madam Kamalnoorzaman showed how issues raised in the news could be used in problem-based learning.

At the session for secondary school teachers, IN journalist and former teacher Lim Pow Hong said newspapers could be used to teach media literacy and to raise awareness of current affairs.

ST's associate editor Bertha Henson said that with such skills, 'students can discern the 'con job' from real content on the various media platforms they go to, especially now that they are bombarded with information and views from all directions'.

I find the last line particularly hilarious.

On other news, the discrediting of the Internet has taken a new turn...I don't really know what to make of this one except that while I see the attack on the internet as a source of information somewhat disconcerting, I also agree that youths today are the morons that are portrayed in this particular article.

Octopi in trees(!) Next kids will be believing that ministerial pay increases are totally justified in today's economic climate....waitaminute.

Nah...

Sep 1, 2008

Teen surfers prey to 'Web of deception'

Over-reliance on Net has students floundering in media literacy test

By Lim Pow Hong

A CERTAIN species of octopus in the Pacific north-west lives in a tree.

Sounds ridiculous?

Well, 34 out of 35 Singapore students who read the bogus website http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ believed such a creature actually exists.

The students, aged 13 to 19, were unable to distinguish fact from fiction in a Straits Times test of media literacy among youth.

The spoof site, set up as an online hoax in 1998 but now used by institutions to test Internet literacy, fooled nearly all the 35 local students into thinking the tree octopus story was 'well-supported by scientific research' and 'factual'.

The website yielded similar results among youngsters in Connecticut, in the United States, when it was used by University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education to test levels of online literacy.

There, all the 25 seventh-graders - 12 to 13 years old - tested in one study rated the website as 'very credible'.

An over-reliance on the Internet as a source of information could explain why teens are weak at judging whether information is trustworthy.

The ST survey found that half of the teens tested were fooled by the expert opinions cited on the site and 15 were taken in by the factual way in which information on the site was written.

Commenting on these findings, SIM University's Dr Brian Lee highlighted that it takes experience to tell when scientific research is fake as 'even adults get taken in by Internet scams supported by fake scientific findings'.

Dr Lee, who has spent more than 10 years studying Internet usage and popular culture, said: 'Students are conditioned to rely on the Internet as schools encourage them to use it in their schoolwork.'

In fact, he has noticed that even among tertiary students, between 80 and 90 per cent of them would cite Wikipedia as a source in their reports. However, most older students use other sources to back up information from Wikipedia.

It seems that those who are younger lack the skills to differentiate fact from fiction. Sarah Sim, 15, a Secondary 3 student at St Nicholas Girls' School, was convinced by the 'facts and pictures' posted on the site and the scientific name the octopus had.

'The website is very professionally done with good pictures and facts and the language used is formal. That's why I believed it,' she said.

It was the same for Jurong Secondary's Bryan Lee, 15. 'The physical description of the octopus is very real and I can't tell it's fake because of the photos.'

Teens also tend to rely too heavily on group-think when it comes to assessing credibility, going with the majority to determine a site's trustworthiness.

Dr Lee said: 'If friends endorse the information, it is likely that teens will believe it too.'

But all is not lost for these teens as he believes they will become more media literate when they mature. Students will learn how to critically evaluate information when they enter tertiary institutions as they have to learn these skills to write their research papers.

However, for parents, it is a matter of concern now. Madam Lim Geok Choo, 50, and a mother of two, worries about her 11-year-old son. 'He just takes everything he reads on the Internet as correct and real. There's no filtering of information and it can get worrying for parents.'

For students to become more media literate, Dr Lee advocates media literacy education from a young age, beginning as early as primary school or before they start using the Internet.

'Students should also learn to double- check information by asking their parents and teachers,' he said. 'When they read things on the Internet that make them uncomfortable, they should check with someone they know.'

Another way is to verify information with other sources, such as the print media, which is more credible as the editing process is more rigorous.

The only teen who was not fooled by the octopus was tipped off by the suspicious hyperlinks on the site.

Bernice Leong, 15, doubted the octopus existed when she realised the hyperlinks were leading her to sites featuring unsubstantiated creatures like Bigfoot.

The Secondary 4 student from Chung Cheng High said: 'I read widely online and I have never come across this particular animal before. It really made me question the existence of this creature.'

phlim@sph.com.sg

Moronism Part 132456565477976876..................

2008-08-14T11:14:00.004+08:00

Could we BE more full of ourselves? To hate someone, one has to care enough to do so. Singapore certainly disturbs "Westerners" due to the (perceived) lack of freedoms here, certainly. They tend to tut-tut the continual use of the death penalty. They admonish us for the ridiculous political process here that is constantly skewed toward keeping the incumbents in power. All that is true. But HATE?

Seriously?!

One has to assume that the author is trying to cash in on the fact that Singaporeans will be at their most patriotic and ride the waves of fervour to carry her argument. It does. Perhaps. In her creation of an imaginary "us" versus "them" divide, she really does make us seem a whole lot more than a mere blip on the radar of the world. But only barely.

Singapore has had questionable practices. But the world has never hated Singapore as a whole. In fact, that illusion of unity really is illusory. There is no unity in the Singapore that Chua seems to imagine exists. The "Singapore" that the world (read: Western world) has been uncomfortable with is "the Singapore Government" (otherwise known as the neo-colonists). They are the ones that the Western media targets (if they feel bothered to actually think about writing a piece on it) not us. And to lump us all together to try to get us to feel defensive towards (or possibly even enraged by) these accusations really is ridiculous.

These Westerners are amazed the same way I would be amazed by a person who has come out of North Korea who has a semblance of articulation within him/her. A person who could speak about ideas of freedom or rights despite the fact that he/she has grown up under the tyranny of a dictatorship. Similarly, I'd be as amazed at a three headed monkey but it's not the same as saying that I hate the place it's from. It's curiousity not about the product, but the very fact that the product exists despite the assumption that it shouldn't.

Chua tars us all with the same brush and Singaporeans should really think twice about accepting what she's saying. We are not one. We are two. Or three. Or a hundred. We are multi-faceted and we are diverse. And the West really doesn't have a problem with that. What Singaporeans should start scrutinising is the the one thing that they DO have a problem with and ask ourselves if we do too.

Aug 9, 2008

Why they hate Singapore

Western detractors are getting the jitters as others copy our model

By Chua Lee Hoong

SINGAPORE is small enough to be a suburb in Beijing, but it has something in common with the mammoth People's Republic. The little red dot and Red China are both countries the West loves to hate.

There are those who wish bad things to happen to the Beijing Olympics. Likewise, there are those who have had it in for the Lion City for years.

What's eating them? The easy answer is that both China and Singapore are authoritarian states. The freedoms taken for granted in the West - freedom of speech and assembly - come with more caveats in these two places.

But things are not so simple. There are plenty of authoritarian states around, but most do not attract as much attention as Singapore and China.

The real sin: Singapore and China are examples of countries which are taking a different route to development, and look to be succeeding.

Success grates, especially when it cocks a snook at much-cherished liberal values.

As Madam Yeong Yoon Ying, press secretary to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, said last month: 'Singapore is an example to other countries of how the free market plus the rule of law, and stable macro-economic policies, can lead to progress and success, but without Western-style 'liberal' democracy.'

Don't believe her words? Read these lines from British journalist John Kampfner, writing in The Guardian last month, lamenting the spread of what he calls the Singapore model.

'Why is it that a growing number of highly-educated and well-travelled people are willing to hand over several of their freedoms in return for prosperity or security? This question has been exercising me for months as I work on a book about what I call the 'pact'.

'The model for this is Singapore, where repression is highly selective. It is confined to those who take a conscious decision openly to challenge the authorities. If you do not, you enjoy freedom to travel, to live more or less as you wish, and - perhaps most important - to make money. Under Lee Kuan Yew, this city-state built on a swamp has flourished economically.

'I was born in Singapore and have over the years been fascinated by my Chinese Singaporean friends. Doctors, financiers and lawyers, they have studied in London, Oxford, Harvard and Sydney. They have travelled across all continents; they are well-versed in international politics, but are perfectly content with the situation back home. I used to reassure myself with the old certainty that this model was not applicable to larger, more diverse states. I now believe this to be incorrect.

'Provincial governments in China send their brightest officials to Singapore to learn the secrets of its 'success'. For Russian politicians it too provides a useful model. These countries, and others in Asia and the Middle East are proving that the free market does not require a free society in which to thrive, and that in any battle between politics and economics, it is the latter that will win out.'

Mr Kampfner seems in a genuine intellectual funk. He cannot quite understand why otherwise normal, intelligent Singaporeans would trade certain freedoms for economic progress, and accept the Singapore political system for what it is.

But perhaps he has got the wrong end of the stick. The problem lies not in the Singaporeans, but in his own assumptions. Namely: If you speak English, if you are well-educated and well-travelled, you must also believe in Western-style democracy. They are a package.

I was on the receiving end of similar assumptions when I was in the United States in 1991-1992. When Americans asked me, 'Why is your English so good?', often it was not out of admiration but bewilderment. Their next question revealed all: 'Why then do you (i.e. your Government) ban chewing gum?'

Another telling indicator of Western assumptions about Singapore comes from a remark by Singapore's Ambassador to Washington, Professor Chan Heng Chee, who went to the US at the tail end of the Michael Fay saga.

One year into her posting there, in 1997, she arranged for a retrospective of the late choreographer Goh Choo San's works. Her Washington audience was awed.

'People suddenly remembered Choo San was a Singaporean. They may have known about Goh Choo San, but to connect him with Singapore was not so obvious for them,' she said.

Sub-text: World-class choreography does not fit their image of a country with corporal punishment.

So the real difficulty for the West is this: We are so like them, and yet so not like them. We speak, dress, do business and do up our homes very much the same way as them. Yet when it comes to political values, we settle - apparently - for much less.

One observer draws an analogy with Pavlovian behavioural conditioning. So conditioned have Westerners become to associating cosmopolitan progress with certain political parameters, they do not know how to react when they encounter a creature - Singapore - that has one but not the other.

So they chide and berate us, as if we have betrayed a sacred covenant.

Adding to the iniquity is the fact that countries - rich and powerful ones too, like Russia and the Gulf states - are looking to the Singaporean way of doing things to pick up a tip or two.

I can imagine the shudders of Singapore's Western detractors should they read about a suggestion made by Mr Kenichi Ohmae this week.

In an interview with Business Times, the Japanese management consultant who first became famous as author of The Borderless World, said Singapore should 'replicate' itself in other parts of the world.

What he meant was that Singapore should use its IQ, and IT prowess, to help organise effective economies in other regions, as its own had succeeded so well.

To be sure, his reasoning was economic, not political. But for those who hate Singapore, a Pax Singaporeana would be something to work against and head off.

leehoong@sph.com.sg

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

2008-07-25T13:28:00.002+08:00

The world will look up and shout "Save us!"

... And I'll whisper "No."

Actions speak louder than words.

2008-07-09T11:30:00.004+08:00

It's funny how a maxim like that, cliched as it is, is so easily forgotten despite the constant repetition.

Our government says stuff about charity and how we should give. Do they ever lead by example?

One wonders.

PM's poignant speech on giving worth airing I HAD the privilege of attending the opening of The Giving Place, officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on Monday.

Although a simple event, it was poignant, simply effective and manifestly well presented.

I hope PM Lee's speech will be aired in its entirety on TV so generations of Singaporeans will understand the self-help values of our forefathers. Only by knowing the past, can we fathom the present and shape the future.

In his speech, he noted the tradition of giving, which started even in the early days when well-off immigrants gave back to help others who had just arrived. Schools, hospitals and other infrastructures were built with this money. He also explained how we, as a small city state, have chosen the proven approach of a low- tax and high self-reliance regime to build the nation. In the light of volunteerism, this often-noted statement comes to unique clarity. Also, his mention of many great American philanthropists will help spur leading industrialists in Singapore to heightened serving. I believe this speech should be on the 'must listen' list for all leading corporate figures in Singapore to know the past and possible future of this small city state.

The other highlight was the speech by Mr Stanley Tan, chairman of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). His humble story of his beginning and personal life journey to philanthropy should serve as guiding values for future leaders in the giving sector.

I believe the dedication of staff of the NVPC and the invisible helping hands who made the centre possible deserve the support and accolade of all Singaporeans. If more Singaporeans experience what I did on Monday, I am sure this country will see greater passion for a shared vision for a better future.

Ordinary Miracle

2008-07-01T00:12:00.001+08:00

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

~Sarah Mclachlan

Quote:

2008-05-20T12:13:00.002+08:00

"The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters. "

That escape: Crucial Issues aplenty, so let's move on...

2008-04-26T14:00:00.003+08:00

Reading Straits Times articles often makes my blood boil.

Especially recent ones on the Mas Selamat Kastari incident and the Committee of Inquiry findings disclosed by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament this week.

Too many Straits Times Journalists:

Obviously have no ability to think beyond what the PAP tells them to think, yet they think that they are in a position to pass judgment.
Seem to feed on what the government feeds them, and try to outdo themselves in sakah-ing the powers that be; and
Have no sense of perspective, seeming to think the escape of one detainee is an insignificant incident that does not affect Singapore's reputation on the world stage.

How many of those writing for the Straits Times really mean it, I wonder?

Or will they be like Mr Lee Hsien Loong who will readily defend the country's ministers whether they seem competent or not?

How many of them set up straw men or hurled red herrings and other fallacies to defend the government when the hint of governmental responsibility was suggested? How many pushed the party agenda instead of holding the ruling party accountable to Singapore's people even when the people cried out for aid in times of recession?

If a government official failed in his duty, will the press not rise up to defend the incompetence while pushing the blame onto others?

In both cases, there has been negligence - And the press in Singapore has readily risen to the challenge to quash all inquiries of the public that dare to challenge the omnipotent wisdom of the PAP.

Common sense will tell you that it will only be a matter of time before the public will figure out the lies that the broadsheet is spreading, or there will be no accountability left in no time.

This is not to say that the press will change. Even when a block of flats is found to be unsafe, for instance, due to shoddy workmanship, writers like Chua Lee Hoong will still find a way to divert responsibility away from those in power and push the blame to complacent Singaporeans, even if we tried to call attention to it.

If a hospital was found to have been awarding tenders to its CEO's family and friends, and if the Health Minister knew but did nothing, the press would still be able to spin the story so that we have a new governmental policy to reward the elites in society.

And the Mas Selamat escape? Singapore is now the laughing stock of the world security wise and face? Well...What does Singapore have besides its reputation?

If he were a homicidal maniac, he would have been shot in Outram Road MRT station. But since he's only the leader of one of the major terrorist cells that's active in Asia means that according to Chua, we're as safe as we were before we let the homicidal terrorist, probably pissed as hell about being imprisoned for 2 years, escape.

The escape has been a big stain on the reputation of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). But it has really placed Singapore on the world map for the SNAFU of epic proportions for letting what is now known as a limping man without pants on escape the long, efficient arm of the law. If you talk to people on the internet, the escape has been no more than a long line of screw ups that our lucratively paid ministers have witnessed under their watch.

But this does not mean nothing more has to be done. After such a high signature event, there can be closure only if there are two things: a new press with the actual gumption to be responsible to the people that it claims to serve, and heads seen to roll. Such is the way that human nature is wired.

To Chua - a PAP stooge who only serves as a tripod for the genitalia of the government that she so obviously seems to love, as those who have followed her writings closely over the years will know - there has been unprecedented transparency in the way that the MHA disclosed misinformation (What was he wearing? Pants. Yellow. Chicken suit. Limping only when he runs) over these two months.

Yes, there was moments of absolute clarity, such as when we were informed that a terrorist had escaped. MHA will no doubt have learned from this experience not to actually say anything at all.

Watch as the Straits Times then pulls a red herring comparison between a country that's over 2000 times bigger than Singapore and ourselves.

Word is that there will be a shirking of ministerial responsibility and a round of scapegoating by the next parliament sitting.

Meanwhile, there really are many other things that I would rather focus my mind on.

Like the next general election.

One has to imagine...

2008-04-24T08:42:00.002+08:00

...that this is what the Opposition Parties are talking about in their offices at the moment.

And one certainly hopes that they've got a plan, because like it or not, they're playing with the big boys now.

"SANTOS
Look, nobody hired you because you’d be a brilliant campaigner. You’re a beginner in all this. Yes, at the moment, you’re a liability, but you’ll get the hang of it. You’re here because you know how to run a country. The conversation I’m interested in is how do we build a four year plan where you don’t know what kind of Congress you’re going to have to work with.

LEO
That’s what transition is about.

SANTOS
I don’t want to wait until transition. I want a plan in place. I want to spend transition hiring a staff that can execute it and on day one I want to get to work, not dickering around for the first three months. You want something to worry about, worry about that."

The West Wing: S07E01: The Ticket.

...

2008-04-23T09:57:00.002+08:00

Salad Preferences.

2008-04-23T09:42:00.003+08:00

"Hi"

"I'd like to order a money salad with a heap of privileges, perks and prestige."

"I'd also like it upsized."

"Responsibility? Sure. But I'll like it on the side please."

"Easier to enjoy when the responsibility's nice but not all responsibilities are that nice."

"It'll cost integrity? Sure."

"No problem."

Luxury is...

2008-04-22T12:45:00.003+08:00

...a door for the urinal area of a toilet...

Because that's what I've always wanted but never experienced in an upscale shopping center like Paragon or a luxurious hotel like the Ritz Carlton...But apparently they've got it in the ISD detention facility. I love how my tax dollars are put to work...Don't you?

What's next? A look at Mas Selamat's personalized 5 star mattress with the memory foam top layer and the caviar that he gets served with 2 meals a day? (3 meals would be an extravagance...)

Perhaps it's time we started treating our criminal masterminds (oftendetainedwithouttrialforanunspecifiedamountoftime) like criminals (oftendetainedwithouttrialforanunspecifiedamountoftime).

Commentary...

2008-04-20T21:26:00.004+08:00

Typical...

2008-04-19T00:14:00.003+08:00

'He gave us a lot of freedom, but was always there to lend his support at each stage...He trusted me and shielded me from possible problems by taking care of dissenters for me.'

Such is the language of sycophants...and of those who require toadies to support their little tyrannies.

ROFLMAO

2008-04-11T13:43:00.001+08:00

The Times They Are a-changin'.

2008-04-10T12:25:00.005+08:00

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon

For the wheel's still in spin

And there's no tellin' who

That it's namin'.

For the loser now

Will be later to win

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside

And it is ragin'.

It'll soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize

What you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road is

Rapidly agin'.

Please get out of the new one

If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is

Rapidly fadin'.

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'.

Bob Dylan

One wonders if the government has heard as the whispers of dissent grew into a rumble as more and more repeated them.

I'ma tryin' this this Saturday...

2008-04-09T11:10:00.004+08:00

Bourbon Pork Ribs

From Derrick Riches,

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 pounds whole spareribs, trimmed and membrane removed
1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 cup beer, preferably ale
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients, except ribs, in a small saucepan until brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cook. Place ribs in a large dish. Cover with marinade and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Remove ribs from dish, reserve marinade. Place ribs on grill and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Cover ribs loosely with foil and cook for an additional hour or more. Reheat reserved marinade by bringing it to a boil and serve with ribs.

How to siam questions.

2008-04-05T14:26:00.004+08:00

The Straits Times today has a great email interview with the ~~Emperor~~ Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew where in it, he once again manages to escape the more difficult questions that he is posed. Wait...

An EMAIL INTERVIEW.

Note that this means that he has no excuses (like misunderstanding the question, tone and otherwise, getting carried away on a tangential thought etc...) for missing the point of the questions posed...Unless he (SHOCK) did. Because if he did, that means that he would probably have failed his GP essay and therefore not been in the top 600 students who are now in the Singapore reality show called "Singapore Idol: Prime Minister Edition". Where would Singapore be without him then? Lost I tell you! LOST!

*Ahem*

Anyway, because of password failure etc, I can only post a photograph of the transcript of said interview.

Question: Some people have argued that it's not just an issue of complacency, but also incompetence. Do you agree?

Answer: When you are complacent with handling a wily detainee, then you have been negligent.

I guess it's troubling when you have a person paid that much a year giving you answers like that.
As a teacher, I would say that he's gone off topic and has not addressed the issue inherent in the statement. As a Singaporean, I'm concerned that he's being paid THAT much to give us answers like that. As a political observer, I applaud him for siam-ing the question quite effectively.

I like how in all his tirades so far, he's been very focused on his lambasting of the security officers who screwed up (although I'm surprised that they haven't picked out a name to scapegoat just yet). I agree that the people directly involved would be the ones most responsible for the great escape. What's interesting is that the media seems more interested in converting said tirade into a lecture on how ALL Singaporeans need to be less complacent.

After all, we're hardly ever in the position to deal with these things are we? I thought that that's why we're paying our ministers such huge salaries? The reasons given were that if we didn't, we'd be screwed as a country and we'd have to work as construction workers and maids...right? And terrorists would break out of pris...uhm...never mind.

Now I realise that the reason that we pay such huge salaries to our government is so that accountability can be thrown out the window and questions can remain unanswered.

Thanks.

But I'd like my money back now please.

STOMP.

2008-03-30T23:05:00.002+08:00

I've ranted about how online journalism is the way to go because the broadsheets have abandoned all journalistic integrity here in Singapore but perhaps there is such a thing as going overboard.

STOMP is an example of that. Well, then again, STOMP's run by aforementioned broadsheets so I guess it's par for the course.

But it still irks me to read stuff like this drivel and realise that in giving the voice to the masses, we've given a voice to the masses...Which would not be a bad thing necessarily IF the masses were articulate and perhaps a little more educated. The problem with the masses is the simple fact that most of them are morons. And unfortunately, that means that the chatter out there is really white noise that drowns out anything of real importance.

What chance do big ideas like Justice, Equality and Right have when faced with small stories that gossip and slander?

And now we return to our regular scheduled programming...

2008-03-28T20:26:00.003+08:00

This has got to be the most humourous article I've read about Mas Selamat's escape. It's not quite as scathing as the rest of the articles I've read about it, nor does it gloss over the obvious inadequacies of the government the way that the Singapore broadsheets (and tabloids) do. It offers a rather nice (seemingly) objective view of the incident while still being able to be snarky about it.

Favourite quote: The public has swung into action, as it has with previous nationwide campaigns — to have fewer children, to have more children, to keep toilets clean, not to throw things off balconies, to speak good English, to smile and to commit “spontaneous acts of kindness.”

And coming in a close second: In a furious response, the government put the entire country on alert, setting up checkpoints, sealing its borders, patrolling its parks and its shores, even urging people to keep an eye on their bicycles in case the wanted man decided to pedal to freedom.

And it's in the New York Times. Interestingly enough, none of their sources happen to come from the mainstream media. Almost all quotations are from Bloggers. Which makes one wonder if the Singaporean media's ceaseless attacks on the blogging community tend to be due to their own perceived (and perhaps rightly so) inadequacies than any real desire to raise public awareness of the dangers of blogs.

New lens...But more importantly, new baby photos!

2008-03-27T22:07:00.003+08:00

Taken with the EF 50MM F1.4.

Guilt.

2008-03-07T23:05:00.003+08:00

I'm tired.

So. Very. Tired.

And it's not that I've been out of the house for 15 hours. It's not that I've been running around working the press release and trying to prepare to fight fires that never came. It's that I've been on an emotional roller coaster ride that's been so intense that it just left me completely drained. I've been pretty much coasting the rest of the way and I'm ready to drop into bed and sleep the sleep of the dead.

The results have been released and...well...they're not stellar. I spent the better part of the morning trying to justify the numbers (inflated national average by elite institutions...) and then wondering where I could get a sword to commit ritual suicide. My emotional turmoil really started when the numbers faded into obscurity and the students came into focus.

Statistically speaking, we didn't do very badly. But it's not about numbers and the day that it becomes about that is the day that I quit. It's about the students...and for the umpteenth time, I wondered if I'd done right by them.

I wondered if I had indeed done my best for them or whether I'd scheduled enough time and work to prepare them for the exams. I wondered if I managed to lead them to the right answers or if I'd managed to get them to produce the right answers. I'd wondered if I'd done my job.
Because the results sure seemed to scream at me that I hadn't.

End of the day, I asked myself the question (and others that kindly reassured me) if they really had learned something. Despite the reassurance that they had, I still wonder if it was worth actually getting them to enjoy the journey or if it would have just saved us a whole lot of heartache to just focus on the destination. Because it sure doesn't quite feel worth it at the moment.

What is needed in our education?

The questions? Or the answers? At the moment, it feels like the latter takes center stage in this. I'm just not sure which one students really need.

And I guess that it's just like me to leave that open ended...So I'll just end with a quote.

"Granny was an old-fashioned witch. She didn't do good for people, she did right by them... Like old Pollirt the other day, when he fell off his horse. What he wanted was a painkiller. What he needed was the few seconds of agony as Granny popped the joint back into place." ~ Terry Pratchett

The Great Escape...

2008-03-03T12:31:00.004+08:00

When you have a limping terrorist that gets away from the police, it really casts a shadow on the credibility of the recent wave of police ads that one can see in the cinema.

(I wish I had a link to that ad but even Youtube doesn't carry it.)

Basically the ad shows an athletic young man who's running on a track and then subsequently transforms (quite literally...like a transformer) into a policeman. He runs and runs and catches the crook who's running away from his female colleague (and of course he catches the crook instead of the policewoman who was chasing the crook to begin with...Girl power baby!) showing his athletic prowess.

Meanwhile, I'm also wondering why a police force that is so obviously lost in the woods doesn't release more details about Mas earlier than they did. If I'd lost a terrorist, I would've been dumping posters all over Singapore to ensure that EVERYONE knows what he looks like. I mean, have you seen this guy? His face is pretty generic.

I basically can't keep the face in my head no matter what and I doubt I'd be able to recognise him even if I saw him. BTW, the MMS hasn't gotten to me yet.

Ondine was theorising that the reason why they didn't release posters immediately was because they were confident in catching him...Well...IF I had allowed a limping man to get away from my "highly secure facility" I would really be questioning IF I could really catch him that easily and probably would want the public to be warned. But I suppose it's human nature to attempt to cover up your screw ups.

Interestingly enough, talk on Vent that night (during a WOW raid of Karazhan) was that he'd have very easily hopped into a cab and disappeared...and I think that it sounds like something that could have happened. After all, we have a world class transportation system that allowed a terrorist to get away from our world class police force.

I have been disappointed by Singapore systems before but I figure that this would be the most tangible that the system has disappointed me. Then again, it's almost like a Hollywood movie right in our backyard so it has added a certain excitement to the drudgery of life...

I hope they catch him soon though...Otherwise we'd have to do what Wahj suggested: Have 4 million Singaporeans join hands and form a ring around the island, then gradually move inwards a la The Truman Show, which, considering the success in all the efforts so far, could actually be more effective a method of finding the guy.

Plus it'll actually give me a day off from school.

The Oscars are coming.

2008-02-23T15:27:00.002+08:00

And this is pretty much how I feel about them most of the time...

And something that I have thankfully managed to avoid because I tend to think of "critically acclaimed" as synonymous with "pretentious snot".

Ah Meng.

2008-02-11T23:24:00.000+08:00

Ah Meng died over the weekend.

I really didn't know what to make of it when I read it in the papers. She was an icon of my childhood, something that I'd always associated with the Singapore Zoological Gardens and a cultural icon to many Singaporeans and even visitors from overseas. She'd met celebrities, heads of state and dined with starry eyed children whose parents paid for breakfast with an Orang Utan. And she was the one primate that I really looked forward to seeing whenever I made my way to the zoo. As a child, this was mainly because she was "sponsored" by HSBC, the bank that my father worked for, which I guess by natural extension (by the intellect of a 5 year old) made her family.

As a child of 6, I read in wonder as Ah Meng, in an act of rebellion, climbed up a tree in MacRitchie reservoir and stayed there for three nights before falling off and breaking her arm. I look back at that and I wonder if Singaporeans cheered as our national icon thumbed her nose at authority and just decided to do whatever the hell she wanted. Perhaps that act of defiance planted a seed in us and despite our concerns for her safety, we celebrated her short-lived freedom along with her.

Like the icons of the past, she's gone on to a better place (one would hope), one with trees where she can hang out for a day or three. Or for all eternity.

Fare thee well.

May durians line your way.

Hatchet Man.

2008-01-31T00:18:00.000+08:00

There are some things that I do in the course of being a teacher that really don't have anything to do with the job description whatsoever...

Then again, any good teacher will inevitably care too much.

Bugger.

Anniversary

2008-01-29T19:31:00.000+08:00

4 years ago to the day, I started this blog. It was designed to be my little soapbox on the internet. Push button publishing, they'd advertised, and with the encouragement of Anonymous Noises and a group of GEP students, Empty-Vessels was born.

It's been 4 years and this blog's seen me through many drastic changes in my life. Hopefully it'll see me through another bunch. I realise that I no longer post as much as I used it. It's not that I have less to say. Rather, I often think of things to post about and I start to type it and realise that I'd already posted about that already. In a bid to avoid repeating myself a little too much, I save said post into drafts and, like deadwood on the waves, it's eventually lost in the gradual motion of the posts as they ebb continuously onward.

It's been an...interesting 4 years and I hope that I still have something to say. Hopefully, the 4 years that have passed have filled the Vessel a little more and perhaps that's why it's making less noise today.

Either that or I really should start hollowing out the pipes again just so that the noise flows through. Either way, it's been a great 4 years and I'm looking forward to keeping this going for a whole lot longer.

Meanwhile, I think it's time to look for a new template.

Just a quick conspiracy theory...

2008-01-25T12:53:00.000+08:00

Public sentiment is beginning to turn against the current incumbent governmental party in Singapore, which means that the next election could see a change in a majority of governmental appointments.

The government has decided to raise ministerial pay in spite of rising costs that citizens have to face and contend with plus the oncoming uhm...Bagel... and add to that the fact that the decision is one of the more unpopular decisions made by the government for a while.

Does the government think that they're going to get reelected? If they don't (and they'd be quite silly if they did) then isn't this a case of "cut and run and make as much money as you can as you're heading out the door"?

But then again...this is just a conspiracy theory...

...right?

A first?

2008-01-01T23:24:00.000+08:00

So my daughter went on her first date today. It wasn't as traumatic for me as a father as I thought it would be. But then again, she had a chaperone and it lasted for all of 5 minutes.

This was getting a little too close for my liking but before I could question the young man on his intentions with my daughter, he moved away a bit.

They basically lost interest with each other after a while and the boy then proceeded to check out the pram that he was sitting in. Typically a boy to proceed to take interest in the ride over the girl.

But oh well...

At least I didn't have to wait for her till midnight (or worse) and arm myself with a shotgun.

For now...

T-shirt?

2007-12-29T17:59:00.000+08:00

<

I'd wear it...Because it has to be true!

Boxer II

2007-12-18T21:03:00.000+08:00

Intel Core 2 Duo 6550 @ 2.33ghz
4 GB DDR2-667 RAM
Overclocked 8800GT 512 DDR3 Graphics Card
500 GB Seagate HDD (That's half a Terabyte Baby!)
20x Samsung DVD writer
All enclosed in a Centurion 5 case
Weighs in at 10+ Kilos with a 22" LCD panel.

It's not as pretty as it could be but I've never been big on looks for my machines. Photos to follow as soon as I clean up the setup.

In the meantime...Frags away!

So...it's been a while.

2007-11-28T00:11:00.000+08:00

Since my last update:

Work has been busy. Satisfying, but busy. Despite my not actually going anywhere career-wise, I guess I can say that there has been some improvements in the work that I am doing. Looks like a good year ahead (I hope).
I've seen through my second batch of students. And this has been as satisfying or perhaps more so than my previous batch. (The new subject seemed to bring out the best in educational spirits, both for myself and for my students. More experimentation, more ground covered...satisfying)
Fatherhood has gradually sunk in. And it's not as scary as it all seems.
Finally getting some rest from the Sword of Damocles that has been lifted for yet another year. Passed with merit. Don't have to do RT.
Finished American Gods. Great book. Do yourself a favour and go read it.

Now, all there is to do is finish up a bit of work and look forward to Phuket and Bangkok. Fun times ahead!

Future gamer?

2007-10-30T01:33:00.001+08:00

Jordan was sitting with her grandfather when I saw her reach instinctively for the keyboard. I was quite impressed. And I managed to get this shot. :)

One last parting shot.

2007-10-22T23:24:00.000+08:00

Isn't it funny how the government uses the idea of the moral majority when it wants to maintain the status quo and when it doesn't, it completely ignores said moral majority?

Just not too long ago, the moral majority were complaining that despite the petitions against something that they saw as wrong, the government went ahead and did it anyway. Funny how the wheels have turned innit?

By that logic...

2007-10-22T23:05:00.000+08:00

"Neither side is going to persuade or convince the other of its position. We should live and let live, and let the situation evolve in tandem with the values of our society. Whilst homosexuals have a place in society and, in recent years, more social space, repealing Section 377A will be very contentious and may send a wrong signal that the government is encouraging and endorsing the homosexual lifestyle as part of our mainstream way of life."

This is the official government stand on why they cannot repeal a law that makes homosexual sex illegal.

So by that logic, the government (by not making the following illegal) are encouraging:

Smoking.
Alcoholism.
Visits to your local prostitutes.
Pre / Extra - marital sex.
Teenage pregnancy.
Gambling addiction.

The list does go on. Yay! I'ma gonna go out and drink/smoke/fornicate/gamble like it's 1999!*

And all because my government encourages me to do so by not making these things illegal.

*But not engage in homosexual activities because that's illegal...

It's nice to know...

2007-10-22T14:59:00.000+08:00

...that the moral bastions of Singapore truly think that it's a law that prevents people from becoming homosexual.

Because if we decide to repeal a law, we will just spiral into depravity.

Oh, the humanity!

Idiots.

I think it's especially indicative that the letter header states "we the majority". It's quite comforting that we're sailing in a ship of fools. Meanwhile, the argument from the other side really is a whole lot better that leads me to believe that homosexuals / homosexual sympathizers really are smarter than the average heterosexual / heterosexual sympathizer. Which leads me to think that meritocratically speaking, we really should be run by gay leaders. At least we'll get better arguments out of them.

"There's wrong and there's wrong and there's this."

2007-10-18T21:52:00.000+08:00

While Singaporeans go about their daily lives and spend their time worrying about how to make their next grand or so, there's an old lady that sells tissue paper at $1 for 3 packets that goes about picking scraps off the table to place in a plastic bag to take home.

There's no editorial here. Take it as you will.

I'm a skeptic. Not a cynic.

2007-10-15T01:30:00.000+08:00

I preface my classes with the aforementioned statement. However, it has come to my attention (via one of my students...Deb, you know who you are) that I tend to be seen as a snarky cynic. I tried to dispute it but I realised that it was quite the impossible task. I am snarky. That's my persona as a teacher. But a cynic? Yes, I tend to be quite anti-establishment when I'm talking about things in class, but that's all part and parcel of being a thinking person in a Singaporean society. It calls for either cynicism or a form of insanity, and I would much prefer the former to the latter.

I've come to realise that the reason that I tend to be snarky as a teacher is simply this: I don't really have anything else but that. As a disciplinarian, I'm quite useless unless I really lose my temper, and that is rarely lost. I run a relatively long fuse (which leads to a HUGE powder keg but that's another thing altogether) and I don't like blowing up. So, no, getting angry rarely results in anything useful for me. What that sadly leaves me with is sarcasm. And I do that relatively well. The sarcasm also tends to come out only in very specific circumstances: Actually, only one kind of instance, and that happens a LOT here in Singapore.

Stupidity.

I hate stupidity. I have little patience for stupidity. One might wonder why I went into teaching if I hated stupidity that much. I have this to say in my defense however. I really didn't think that students would be that stupid.

Before you scoff at the naivete, I'll clarify. The stupidity that I'm talking about really isn't the lack of knowledge on the part of the person. That's not stupidity, that's ignorance. And that, I've realised, students would have in spades. And that's fine. I really didn't know all that much as a student. (I really don't know as much as I wish I did now as an adult too) That's a problem that can easily be fixed.

The stupidity that I'm talking about is the kind of stupidity that drives people to do stupid things like organise fights just for the heck of it without considering (a) the consequences or (b) an escape route to vanish into obscurity so that the authorities do not catch you. The kind of stupidity that makes one think that he/she can leave work that's supposed to be done over 2 years to a week before the exams. The kind of stupidity that causes people to kill themselves over small matters. Or the kind of stupidity stop people from using their own judgment and instead trust entirely what's on a piece of paper. Or even, perhaps the kind of stupidity that allows us to continually swallow the lies that we know to be untrue.

It's that kind of stupidity that plain pisses me off. Unfortunately, it's the kind of stupidity that I live with everyday. But it's not limited to just schools. I live in a country that's rife with this kind of stupidity. It's so ingrained in us that we cease to see it anymore and we tend to gloss over it...all the while living with the little niggling bit of rationality in our minds that makes us feel a sense of unease when faced with it.

And that's what gets me snarky. I don't really like being snarky. It's not in my nature. (Although at times, it is cathartic) But there's so much that goes on around me that I've ceased to get angry anymore and I prefer to just snipe from a position that's far enough away that I don't really need to care that much anymore.

Well...I guess that kind of sums it up in a nice alliterative way: Just call me the Snarky Sniper.

Actually...no. Let's not.

How exactly NOT to answer a question.

2007-10-07T07:57:00.001+08:00

Our beloved leader, man of the people, father of our nation, question dodger.

How interesting that when you look at his rhetoric and really examine what he's saying, it's all towing the line and hammering the querier with the same thing over and over until they're blue in the face and then you claim a victory. Case in point:

THE forum had just ended when spirited literature major Michelle Chiang, 21, wanted to ask a final question on the arts.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew paused briefly, decided to stay on to tackle her question - and a lively back-and-forth between her and the leader began to play out spontaneously.

Miss Chiang's burning question: 'Do you see a natural contradiction in censorship codes and Singapore's efforts to promote artistic expression?'

Mr Lee questioned his questioner, and the essence of their exchange, which moved from censorship to homosexuality, follows:

Mr Lee: 'What is the problem you see?'

Miss Chiang: 'For example, at the Singapore Arts Festival, there have been films that were censored to such an extent that the artists decided to withdraw their films from the festival.

So in this case, Singaporeans did not get exposed enough to artistic works, within Singapore.'

Mr Lee: I don't see that as a great deprivation.'

Miss Chiang: 'The thing is we can travel out of Singapore...'

Mr Lee: 'No, no, you don't have to travel out. They will come. You can see it on the Internet...'

Miss Chiang: 'Yes, but with regard to local artists' creations, there have been impediments because of the censorship code so there's a limit to what we can produce.'

Mr Lee: 'I just find it unbelievable that your artistic expression...is being suppressed because of the censorship code. It cannot be. What is it you want to say, do, draw, paint?'

Miss Chiang: 'OK, I'm not saying that pornography, for example, will help in artistic expression...Films relating to politics and explicit art are limited.'

Mr Lee: 'What is explicit art?'

Miss Chiang: 'As in maybe films that depict homosexual roles.'

Mr Lee: 'Surely you can find expression through many other areas...

The movement is towards a globalised world culture. But we have to retain certain values of our own...Eventually, if that becomes the mainstream, with homosexual acceptance in China, in Taiwan, in Hong Kong, it will come to us. But we will go at a speed which makes our people comfortable. At the moment, if you move in this direction, you're going to make a lot of people unhappy and it's not necessary. Let's treat this in an adult way... If you're born homosexual, then so be it, but must you parade it and must you go out of your way to antagonise, embarrass or defy people with more conventional views? I think it is not necessary.'

Notice that the question asked was not the question answered. Watch how he dodges and slides from point to point, all the while throwing the questioner off by going on the offensive and hijacking the thread and twisting it so that you end up talking about what he wants to talk about.

More interestingly enough was the question that popped into my head as I read the article. "Hasn't progress in many fronts occurred because people asked questions that made society uncomfortable?" Let's see...Women's rights, racial equality, independence, scientific revolutions. All these occurred because someone was willing, no, daring enough to bring the topics up in the general public and yell it from the rooftops no matter who was embarrassed by it. Perhaps that's what Singapore needs a good dose of.

But back to my point. If you take a look at the points raised by our dear ~~Emperor~~Minister Mentor, you'll realise that he doesn't really address the idea of censorship and creativity and instead goes on an offensive to force the questioner to eventually ask a question that he has an official stand on. Which is a little worrying for our nation's future. This is indicative of the government we have. With every report on the news about Myanmar (and the associated corruption etc...) we seem to just quote from the government phrasebook of approved political stands. Yes, we do admonish Myanmar. No, it's not in our place to tell them what to do. Yes, we do have businesses in Myanmar. No, we are incorruptible so all the deals with have with Myanmar are above board and legal. Yes, we do treat corrupt government officials but there is the Hippocratic oath. (Which Singapore as a country NEVER took)

The same goes for questions about the CPF. Why can't we get higher returns? Well...We're investing in safe government bonds for you. Singapore Inc. will never fold and therefore, we can give you money. Bull frikkin' crap. I get higher returns on fixed deposits (which the CPF is) and said fixed D's guarantee me a higher return over a shorter period of time. That said, realise that if we're buying into a company, it means that the company profits as well. If we are buying into government bonds, then the government profits. Where is all the profit going to? If Singapore Inc. really is growing at that substantial rate, why are its investors getting such a low return? And where do the profits really go when all is said and done? What does happen if we the citizens actually take our money out of CPF and invest it ourselves? And don't you give me any of that crap that says that I'll blow it all and end up poor and destitute. Is the government's concern more about me or about the fact that suddenly, they've got a whole lot less money to invest in failing enterprises?

Hey. We pay you guys ludicrous amounts of money. We did NOT pay for robots with preprogrammed responses. If the ~~PAP~~government wants us to be a thinking nation, howsabout you lead the charge? Can the canned responses and actually answer our questions for a change? We've been fed the same crap for way too long and I think it's time that we got the answers to the questions that we asked, instead of the questions that you want to answer.

And let's do this straight, shall we?

A truly great National Day song.

2007-08-19T23:10:00.000+08:00

I've been to cities that never close down,
from New York to Rio and old London town.
But no matter how far or how wide I roam,
I still call Australia home.

I'm always traveling, I love being free,
and so I keep leavin' the sun and the sea.
But my heart lies waitin' over the foam,
I still call Australia home.

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world,
away from their family and friends.
But as the world gets older and colder,
it's good to know where your journey ends.

Someday we'll all be together once more,
when all of the ships come back to the shore.
I realise something I've always known,
I still call Australia home.

But no matter how far or wide I roam,
I still call Australia I still call Australia, I still call Australia home.
But no matter how far or wide I roam,
I still call Australia I still call Australia, I still call Australia home.

It's unashamedly Australian. And it certainly has its detractors. But this is a song that I'd actually listen to on the MP3 player if I could find the right version. That and the fact that the country in question is actually mentioned.

:O

2007-08-02T14:43:00.000+08:00

There's art.

And then there's this.

There's a certain level of distaste in this video that offends even my dulled sensibilities. She's called The Geisha now?! Let me break it down here...

Hello! Orientalist thinking. Why on earth are we back to "Me Asian woman love you long time."? The posing, the costumes and the fact that the whole song is unintelligible. Lyrics like "When di body ready wine it up In da club on di dance in china it up" really don't reach out and say, "I'm a strong Asian woman" but instead sends the message that's more along the lines of "Me really likey strong white man. He can Chop my Suey and I'll Mushu his Pork." Have we really regressed or is this the only way that we can claw our way into the American market? And by the way, if this is to be your FIRST English album, please for the love of all that's good and holy, Speak English!
Wow. Way to show off your bod! w00t! Not. Aside from the fact that you're selling out through the gratuitous sexy barely-there oriental drapes, the massively underdressed geisha look went the way of the Fug. What possibly possessed you to wear that?! Was it an instinctual choice that told the world "you should really check out my abs" (which, admittedly, for a 37 mother is quite bleeding impressive) or was it a planned wardrobe malfunction, where the full geisha outfit was sent to the cleaners where it shrank to the size of a kleenex? Either way...Please. Beyonce's going to do it, because, well, she's young and hot enough to do so. Rihanna, I've heard, is up and coming and she's got about 20 years on you. And the Pussycat Dolls are young, ~~talented~~ ~~jailbait~~Very young...You get where I'm going with this. Underdressing's the territory of youth. At 37, you REALLY want to say, I've matured. I'm grown and dignified.
Nice that when people say that they grow and challenge themselves, it usually means that they're really desperate now and would like an opportunity to take off ones clothes if anybody's still watching. OK. Now say it with me. "I. Sold. Out." It's quite simple. When you're reduced to provocative music videos (even before the album's come out) and going with a producer that's more like a pimp than a producer, you really need to take on a reality check and just admit that perhaps, just perhaps, you're taking things in a direction that you never really intended to take in the first place. Take a time out. Figure out another direction.
And for goodness sakes, you're a ~~pastorworship leader~~ ??? of a church. Should you really be representing yourself in this way? You've got a flock that will still be "encouraged" to buy your new album when it comes out. Are you sure that the message you want to send is the message you are sending?

All that said. This music video's just going to be one of the many that will dazzle the MTV crowd with nary an impact. A flash at best before the next big thing hits. At least if you had only that spark, perhaps you should shine with what's best in you instead of the muck that appeals to the lowest common denominator. After all, even the youth have managed to do so.

Then maybe audience will love you long time.

Spoilers.

2007-07-26T23:40:00.000+08:00

In every sense of the word, The Straits Times spoils things.

With all the millions spent in secreting the ending to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, ~~The Straits times~~ Spoiler Central has seen fit to reveal EVERYTHING about the book in an article talking about the franchise's future, without even the common (internet) courtesy of indicating that there be spoilers ahead. A mere 5 days after the book was launched, the front page of the ~~Straits Times~~ piece of crap lauded the ending of the book as did the life section of the ~~newspaper~~ glorified toilet paper. The article inside basically dissected the book and revealed all like it was Christmas at a strip joint.

In the spirit of staying spoiler free, I embargoed all discussions of the book in classes (as much for my benefit as well as students who try to stay spoiler free) and
thankfully managed to complete the book before said ~~article~~ message from the hell that bad writers end up in appeared on my front doorstep. I'm pretty sure that there were victims that succumbed to the assault as they innocently flipped open the papers and were viciously beaten senseless by the product of inconsiderateness upon gazing on the upper fold of the front page.

Spoilers should come with warnings. The article should have come in a special sealed section. People should have a right to enjoy the books / movies / plays they want to enjoy without some moron yelling out the ending. At the very least, they should have a right to cover their ears.

The Harry Potter series had little going for it more than plot and character. It doesn't boast the best writing. If you're going to give away the plot, what really is there left to enjoy? It wouldn't hurt to let people know that you're effectively going to spoil their reading of the book by giving it all away.

After all, it's just common courtesy.

Foreshadowing?

2007-07-13T21:33:00.000+08:00

I guess it bodes well for me as a father to know that my daughter kicks up a HUGE fuss when someone takes her clothes off.

Happy Birthday to you...

2007-07-11T23:22:00.000+08:00

...and not in a good way either.

Breadtalk's celebrating it's 7th birthday. And that's all well and good. Specials galore. Bread up the wazoo and all that jazz...Except if you happen to be eating at Mos Burger opposite said Breadtalk and said Breadtalk is playing a happy birthday song (the 2007 techno remix with lian on vocals) ad nauseum.

So we didn't partake in the festivities because we hightailed it out of there, fries and drinks in tow before our brains melted out of our ears.

And all the while, I'm thinking, if listening to that song all the way through your 8 hour shift doesn't drive you to kill your colleagues and stuff them in the pastry machine, obviously there isn't that much left in that empty shell that you once called your body.

I remarked that it seemed enough to start a food war between the Mos Burger-ites and the Breadtalkers. I could just imagine the arsenal of fries and buns flying through the air.

Oh, the inanity.

More photos.

2007-06-28T21:41:00.000+08:00

This bunch is from the previous days due to the fact that I've been less than industrious with my camera and I also left the memory card in said camera in the hospital.

My li'l girl with her best impression of her brother and his "zen" expression. Also a little endorsement for the iPod mini and the JVC speaker stand. (Thanks Tym).

My li'l boy looking like he's on his mobile with Bluetooth finger attachment. Effect spoilt by the fact that he's eating his other hand. :)

More to come.

And if you're thinking that this blog has become a blog where I just gush about my kids.....Well....It has. I apologise but they're all I'm thinking about right now. :P

And it's my blog anyway.

*Gush*

Speechless...

2007-06-27T23:32:00.000+08:00

And rightly so.

And how I'm feeling right now needs to be put to words but I'm all worded out.

They arrived on the 26th. I wish I could have blogged about it then but I stayed in the hospital because I didn't want to leave them on the first night.

I'm exhausted. So I'm going to just let Toby Ziegler say it for me...

(I'm pretty sure it's misquoted but I'll just say that this is how I feel)

Leo: The babies are okay?
Toby: Yeah. They're great. And if somebody was hurting them, I'd drop napalm on Yellowstone to get them to stop, letting some prisoners out of jail wouldn't be nothing, and I've known my kids for about 45 minutes.

Son

Daughter

The Dea(r)th of Good Television.

2007-06-13T21:10:00.000+08:00

Battlestar Galactica is ending.

It had a good run. Or so they say. 4 (after its final) seasons. An entire fan community. Critical acclaim by the media critics. And the alteration of real life cuss words. But the Galactica ends its voyage after 92 episodes. Impressive. Most impressive.

Frak that I say!

In a war of attrition that's been going on for some time now, Television's been killing its brightest and its greatest. The slaughter began with the call to arms as Reality TV led the charge. Cheap and easy to produce, the battlefields quickly became saturated by the hordes of brainless programs that appeal to both the masses (because of the sheer inanity of it all) and the corporate fat cats that run the networks (because of the low cost of production). And it's sad when you see all the shows that fall on the wayside as the juggernaut which is brainless television programming forces its way through...Battlestar was the latest to fall, joining a pile of shows that didn't quite hit their prime.

Tru Calling. Cut down in it's prime with nay a chance to develop, a Tru pity that she couldn't time travel to prevent her early demise.
Veronica Mars. The spunky female investigator who did not survive to graduate college.
Angel. Vampire. Dusted just when the season was heading somewhere.
Firefly. Like the Galactica, Serenity got her wings clipped but resurfaced for one last adventure on the big screen in Serenity.

That said, there are still shows on TV that entertain without being TOO insulting to the intelligence. There's Heroes, which is certainly entertaining but not too cerebral. There's the upcoming Sarah Connor Chronicles which looks like it's going to either bomb or blast off and there's the ongoing Bones which feels like CSI meets Angel with a bit of Veronica Mars thrown in (which unfortunately for the series, although compelling, has nothing on the original series that it borrows from).

So while I lament the loss of great shows that actually made me think, I'll keep watch over the horizon for better programming. Failing which, it may be time to sit back, turn on the boob tube and let the brains dribble out of my ears.

Life is Messy, Love is Messier...

2007-06-09T23:00:00.000+08:00

...but this movie's the messiest.

Catch and Release was a movie that I was really looking forward to. I caught the trailer during a movie and I really perked up when I recognised Kevin Smith in them. I mean, how bad could it be if Kevin Smith decided to be a part of it?

It could be BAD. Really, really bad.

It was messy. Like really, really messy.

There was a plot...somewhere. It was your basic sappy love story...except...it didn't make sense.
It didn't make sense why the leads fell in love. It didn't make sense why the supporting cast needed to be there. It didn't make sense why the plot had to revolve around the death of the fiance. It was formulaic, granted, most of the romantic comedies out there are. But this was a formulaic love story that was wrapped in a mystery (why they needed a supporting cast when they weren't really all that pertinent to the story at hand) and subsequently entangled in a whole lot of ribbons (plot points that just draaaagged the story...). It tried to be edgy. It tried to be dark. It ended up confused and (shall I say it again?) messy.

Which leads me to my final concluding thought as the credits rolled:

"Let Susannah Grant write. Let her direct. But for goodness' sakes, don't let her do both!"

Andy Ho. Synonymous with idiot.

2007-05-13T10:36:00.000+08:00

Andy Ho, senior writer in The Straits Times, is an idiot. Time and time again, he's proven to be:

1) The Government's bitch when it comes down to politics.
2) Ignorant and misinformed when it comes down to everything else.

Which might be indicative of the quality of the ~~mindless drivel~~ writing in The Straits Times. Here's his latest gem:

"Research in several countries shows that the main problem with plastic bags is not their environmental impact per se but littering. They are so light that plastic bags can easily become windblown litter.

But littering is generally not a problem here. In countries where it is, discouraging their use might be justifiable. For instance, in South Africa, its Environment Minister (only half in jest) called the plastic bag his country's national flower: It can be seen snagged on trees and hedgerows, fluttering along road fences and bushes, littering school yards, polluting rivers and so on.

The other morning, I drove up and down Mandai Road out in the suburbs and counted all of four stray plastic bags. In the afternoon, I counted just one in the Toa Payoh streets around The Straits Times office."

A little simplistic perhaps. If one were to actually research this topic, one would actually come across the actual problem with plastic bags and that is disposal. I LOVE the fact that this Senior Writer's doing exactly what I tell my own students not to do when trying to bring up evidence and that is personal anecdotes.

Fail lah.

Next, he addresses the ideas of landfills in Singapore:

"What about the fact that plastic bags choke up landfills since they are not biodegradable? Singapore has just one landfill left at Semakau island. This accepts only ash from the four incineration plants (at Ulu Pandan, Tuas, Senoko and Tuas South) as well as trash that cannot be incinerated, like construction and demolition waste. Thus, plastic bags don't appear at Semakau anyway.

Instead, they are incinerated just as 91 per cent of the 2.56 million tonnes of waste generated last year were. During incineration, energy is (re)captured as heat which is then used to boil water to produce steam which drives turbines to generate electricity."

Yeah...let's burn our plastics...It produces energy for us. Except...Didn't our secondary school teachers tell us that when you burn plastics, you're actually releasing poisonous gases into the environment?

Uhm....

That and the fact that said ash from the burning of plastics tend to produce toxic ash, one might question the environmental non-impact of burning plastics.

I also love the little sprinkles of style that he injects into his ~~fictional diatribe~~ argument like

"Some supermarkets in Singapore have taken to asking you to 'donate' 10 cents for every plastic bag you use when shopping on the first Wednesday of every month. The aim is to get consumers to reduce the use of plastic bags due to their environmental impact.

However, the move is like a regressive tax that hurts the poor much more than the rich. More importantly, is it really necessary?"

and

"Of course, more could be done to encourage people to adopt the reusable plastic bag. Yes, the affluent could choose to blow US$960 (S$1,400) on a Hermes fold-up shopping bag. The rest of us just need to be reminded not to litter with the plastic bag."

The first stylistic icing is discourse aimed at all the "bleeding hearted liberals" who are the ones kicking up all the fuss to begin with. And the second is a false dilemma that Ho creates.

For the first, I can simply say that he's a conservative writer and this article is lashing out at the "bleeding heart liberals" that are trying to aid the environment. I mean, the environment really isn't on the forefront of right wing types. Excusable? Yes. Idiot? Definitely.

For the second, there's no excuse. Yes, it's going to cost more to preserve the environment. But it's not prohibitively expensive. Such idiotic proclamations really do not help the us in any way. In fact, it lulls us into a dangerous complacency.

And that, perhaps, is the most insidious aspect of his article. Andy Ho's claiming that we're not really at fault for all this environmental damage. That it's happening, sure, but we in Singapore really aren't part of the problem. And that's the attitude we've got here in Singapore. We're going to accept that there is a problem but we're not the ones who have to fix it.

Well, guess what? We are the problem. And we need to fix that. And if it means that we've got to make people realise that plastics aren't good for the environment, let's do that.

Because if nothing else, it's a good start.

Interlude.

2007-05-10T12:07:00.000+08:00

"I know you're supposed to be my steering wheel
Not just my spare tire"

Arrested Development, Tennessee.

WTF?!

2007-05-01T10:38:00.000+08:00

I was reading the ST forum (hazardous to one's health...I know...) and I chanced upon this gem...

I AM writing about the review of the criminal code. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's recent comments about liberalising laws regarding homosexuality have got my family and me very concerned.

My expatriate friends find Singapore a conducive place in terms of its low crime and cleanliness. More importantly, they comment that it is a wholesome place. One does not find pornography sold openly in a neighbourhood shop. Having lived in the West myself, this down-

to-earth wholesomeness is what makes Singapore special.

Singapore today faces the challenge of a declining birth rate and families are breaking down at the same time. To legalise homosexuality will compound these problems, given that homosexual couples do not reproduce.

The homosexual lobby in the West is extremely aggressive. It is the same here. Observe how it is now considered intolerant when one criticises them.

What would it be like to have a homosexual teach our children that it is normal to be gay? You might scorn the idea but this is what is happening in the West.

Homosexuals lead a promiscuous and hedonistic lifestyle. What else can you expect when you do not have children to live for or be in a loving and committed relationship? This increases the risk of STDs, Aids, etc, further increasing the risk to the general population.

Homosexuality is not going to go away. All I am saying is that we do not make it easier to be a homosexual by legalising their activities. Singapore is our home and I am proud to be Singaporean. Let us keep it a wholesome place.

Jonathan Cheng Hern Sinn

...and I was just thinking, how nice the world would be if we removed all the bigots, the racists and the idiots. I love how he automatically associates promiscuity with homosexuals while assuming that legalisation of homosexuality means that more people will become homosexual. Like it was the LAW that was stopping people from being so. I mean, it boggles the mind when one wonders how some people can grow up with such flawed logic in their heads...until one considers the flawed products of the Singaporean system.

Congratulations Mr Jonathan Cheng Hern Sinn. Now go get eaten by a crocodile so that we can become a smarter society.

Mmmmmm....Dooonuts....

2007-05-01T00:45:00.000+08:00

Moral of the story?

2007-04-24T07:13:00.000+08:00

You could wait a hundred years and still not get another one of these stories in the news:

"A schoolboy who climbed over a fence into a crocodile enclosure and taunted the animals with sticks and a catapult was dragged into the water and eaten."

It's a modern cautionary tale of why you really shouldn't climb into a pen of carnivores and beat them with sticks. It would be tragic if it weren't so funny.

And by tragic I mean they had to shoot a crocodile to find some remains of the boy.

A time to give away...

2007-04-18T19:23:00.000+08:00

My comic collection was decimated yesterday. It was two boxes of comics and 15 years of memories.

It was a little weird seeing them go out the door. Admittedly, I haven't really looked at them in years but as I sorted the lot out, I realised that I remembered each and every one of them like I'd bought them yesterday.

So, as I waxed lyrical about Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio and even the scourge of comic book anatomy, Rob Liefeld, I realised that in giving away my comic books, what I was actually doing was packing away my childhood. Weird feeling, believe you me. It's not that I miss it or anything. It's just a touch of nostalgia.

It would be a secondary school ritual to head down to the comic book store (back then it was Leisurecraft Orchard at Orchard Emerald) with all my allowance in tow and picking up my order. Yes, I actually had an account with Leisurecraft that meant that I would just head in and pick up my regular order. Friday would be new comic book day and that usually meant that my allowance went to my collection. (Secondary 3 and 4 were years where I would often go without lunch) But it all felt worth it. Sitting at Burger King with JL reading comic books was a secondary school ritual that was just about the best part of my teenage years in school. Geek in the making.

More than that, actually.

Fanatic.

I mean, I have X-men #1 in all five variant covers (in triplicate mind you). A couple of other regular orders and a sealed version of the first print of Superman #75. (Black mylar bag pristine and double boarded)

But they've all gone to better homes now. I donated my collection to a group of kids who will probably appreciate them a whole lot more than I can afford to now. I think of it as setting the next generation of geeks down the right path by starting them on some of the greats. And I'm surprisingly OK with that.

Because in packing up my childhood, I'm preparing some space so that my own kids have theirs. Shelving old memories and setting up a new home for new additions. And maybe, just maybe, if my kids start picking up comic books on their own, I'll bring some of my collection home.

But for now, fare thee well.

If only they'd seek wisdom...

2007-04-14T23:21:00.000+08:00

The arrogance of the ruling party has got to be the thorn in its side.

I flipped to this chapter in the bible just now and I realised how apt it all seems. It's a chapter that talks about Solomon's son as he ascends the throne of Israel. And the mistake he made when he listened to the council of the stupid and ignored his people.

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."

⁵ Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.

⁷ They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell the people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." ¹³ The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
"What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, O Israel!
Look after your own house, O David!"
So all the Israelites went home. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, ^[a] who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Oh when will they ever learn?

Of Salaries and Bonuses.

2007-04-10T21:58:00.000+08:00

Perhaps it's best to say that I really have some self interest in this topic before I begin. When I heard that civil service pay was ~~going up~~ being adjusted, I was quite happy. Yes, granted that it probably was because the ministers really decided that they wanted a larger slice of the pie, but that also meant that as a civil servant, my spending capacity would be increased as well.

What was interesting was that sometime in the weeks between the announcement and the subsequent declaration, I heard a sermon about the injustice of the income gap between the rich and the poor. And that it was the way of the world and not what should be. It gave me food for thought.

I'll have to admit that the reasons that I gave for the gripe over the proposed ~100% increase in ministers annual salaries was largely based on sour grapes. I mean, we work hard for what we achieve, it's common for all Singaporeans. So why should ministers get paid so much? Broken record. Over and over.

But when I really thought about it, I came to the realisation that we haven't really done all we can in Singapore. There are still the poor and the destitute in Singapore. They're around us even if we don't notice and they certainly are living in the shadow of our prosperity. Swept under the rug and forgotten.

And that nailed the niggling doubt that I had over the proposed increase of civil servant salaries.

In patting ourselves on the back for a job well done we have, in a sense, just told the poor that they really don't matter. Should we as servants of society really be rewarding ourselves so richly when the rich-poor divide continues to grow? Should we be saying that the progress that has left people behind is a good thing? Can I really say that the extra 3-5% that I'm getting is deserved?

Because when I see stories that tell of people living in one room flats not because they choose to, but because they can't afford to do any different, I really start wondering if we have done such a good job after all.

I think that we've still got a long way to go as a society. As mentioned before, we are economically successful, I will not begrudge our dear MM that. But I would like to believe that success is more than that.

I have to.

So while I grumble away about my measely pay increase, I'm going to keep this in mind. We've still got a long way to go. And I'm going to make that change happen.

After all, I have the impressionable youths in my hands. I might as well make use of them.

And I might, after all, mould the future of our nation.

I feel the love.

2007-04-10T07:10:00.000+08:00

3-5% more love to be exact.

Nice to know that the appreciation for teachers runs that deep.

Happy Easter.

2007-04-08T08:52:00.000+08:00

He is risen indeed.

I always wondered if that's why they call it Easter. Like Yeast.

The Minister Mentor Speaks.

2007-04-06T15:05:00.000+08:00

SYDNEY - MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew called for a sense of proportion yesterday, pointing out that the annual wage bill for ministers and all office holders is $46 million - or just 0.022 per cent of Singapore's total economic output.

It was an 'absurdity', he said, for Singaporeans to quarrel over whether ministers collectively should be paid $10 million or $20 million more, when an economy worth $210 billion was at stake.

'The cure to all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government,' he said in his first comments on impending salary increases for ministers and top civil servants.

'You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again.'

Singaporeans' asset values would also disappear, he warned, adding that 'your apartment will be worth a fraction of what it is, your jobs will be in peril, your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other people's countries'.

He was speaking to the Singapore media at the end of his visit to Australia, and four days before Monday's debate in Parliament on a revision of ministerial salaries.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed on March 22 that public service salaries had fallen to 55 per cent of the private-sector benchmarks to which they are pegged. He said the Government had to close the gap.

According to the benchmark or formula, ministers should be drawing $2.2 million or more a year, but their actual salaries are now $1.2 million.

Minister Mentor Lee was the first to raise the idea of a benchmark by which to peg ministers' pay to top private-sector salaries - which he did in January 1994.

Later that year, Parliament approved the benchmarks, which were set out in a White Paper on competitive salaries for a competent and honest government.

Yesterday, MM Lee asked Singaporeans to consider how it was that a resident population of just over three million people could support and provide jobs for another 1.3 million foreigners.

'How does that happen? Why can't the 1.3 million people get jobs in their own countries? Just ask yourself that question.

'It must be something that we're doing which is right, that creates economic prosperity and growth.'

He said the present system of benchmarking ministers' pay to top private sector salaries was 'completely above board' and allowed the Government to recruit 'some of the very best' to lead the country.

It was an 'absurdity' to argue over whether or not ministers were being paid too much, he added, as their total salaries came up to $46 million a year, or 0.13 per cent of government expenditure. This was 0.022 per cent of gross domestic product.

These figures are before the revision that is expected to be announced on Monday.

'We are quarrelling about whether we should pay them $46 million or $36 million, or better still, $26 million. So you save $20 million and jeopardise an economy of $210 billion? What are we talking about?' he said.

As Minister Mentor, he said his pay of $2.7 million a year was lower than the $4 million a year that today's top lawyers earned.

It was also a fraction of the earnings of the top managers in the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), which he chaired.

When it was put to him that people hoped for leaders who were willing to make sacrifices and who were not there for the money, he replied that these were 'admirable sentiments'.

But he added that 'we live in the real world'.

It had taken a lot of persuasion to get three doctors – Ng Eng Hen, Vivian Balakrishnan and Balaji Sadasivan – to leave their lucrative practices to enter politics in 2001. Even with the benchmarks in place, the decision meant huge pay cuts for two of them, he said.

His bottom line: if the Government could not pay competitive salaries, Singapore would not be able to compete and 'we're not going to live well'.

Ahem.

Apparently, MM Lee has decided that the S$10-20 Million difference in pay for the ministers really is peanuts. Nice.

Meanwhile, spending $250 a month to improve the lives of the poor and destitute (of which we can help with said 10 mill, about say...40,000) isn't really all that important.

And you also have to love the way that he argues for it. IF we don't pay the ministers this salary, Singapore WILL plunge into aforementioned destitution and civilisation as we know it will collapse.

Sigh.

Paying through the nose.

2007-03-29T12:34:00.000+08:00

Just a quick question since everyone's talked about it to death already:

Lee Hsien Loong's basically said that ministerial pay has to go up because they're really scared of losing them ministers to other industries because they're lagging behind on payscale.

"How many ministers have we lost to private industries in the past 10 years?"

If it was a pandemic I would argue that there definitely is a need to really tag ministerial pay to top private CEOs etc. But seriously, since LKY, has anyone REALLY been spectacular enough for private companies to headhunt them away from the civil service? The way I see it, there's not one single minister that I would pay top dollar to whisk away from his/her governmental position.

Savages!

2007-03-29T08:20:00.000+08:00

The one key difference between Singapore and Melbourne? Not once did my pregnant wife have to stand while travelling on public transport in Melbourne. Seats were gladly abandoned for the obviously pregnant lady on trams and trains and offered graciously.

Melbourne: Most livable city in the world. Expensive. Climatic nightmare. Great people.
Singapore: Considerably less livable city. Relatively cheaper. Nice warm climes. Civil savages.

What really is a livable society? Is it one where taxes are lower? Is it one where we have our creature comforts? Our flat screen TVs? Our cheap cable? Broadband in every house? A stable economy? I don't think so. A livable city has to have a heart. And I think that Singapore sold its heart a long time ago for a pretty penny to invest in our future. We've made the cold, calculated gamble and we've won. Or have we? Do we live in the most livable city in the world? Far from it. We're living in the most technologically advanced cesspool in the world and we're drowning in its luxuries. And because we're all drowning, there really isn't too much thought for the people that you step on in order to stay on the top.

Satre said that hell is other people.

He must have been thinking of Singaporeans.

TMNT.

2007-03-26T21:50:00.000+08:00

I read the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Or TMNT for short) when I was in Primary 6. A friend brought in the black and white comic book and we crowded around to read it as he carefully turned the pages while supporting the spine in his other palm. (This was back when we thought that comic books were worth their collective weight in gold and we tried our best to keep them in "mint" condition.) I recall thinking how cool it was and without the articulation and the cultural studies baggage that came with university, I didn't think anything about the parody of (Orientalist) pop cultural references of the 1980s that was Eastman and Laird played off.

Almost 20 years down the road (has it been that long?) I watched the fully CGI-ed version of TMNT on the big screen. And has my opinion of the franchise changed with the aforementioned baggage?

No.

It was AWESOME! I realise that I'm saying (writing) this knowing full well that a counter-cultural comic has become such a mainstream movie, but I really did walk out of the theater thinking how nicely my childhood memory of the Ninja Turtles showed up on the big screen.

Now, note that I'm not a fan of the turtles that became (chronologically) a cartoon series, a comic book by the publishers of Archie and 3 movies with actors in rubber suits. I'm a fan of the dark and gritty Ninja Turtles that bled black on the comic books and wore the uniform red headbands. Back when the Shredder was menacing and the threat of death and change were very real themes in the plots. (The turtles, in a plotline were chased out of New York city by The Foot) These were the Turtles that I remember.

The movie brought me back to it.

Labelled by the critics as a hollow reboot of the franchise, admittedly, the film is flashy and not very substantial in itself. The plot is relatively simplistic (beat bad guy, save the world) but I would argue that the plot really isn't the point. The theme of family and the coming together of said family is the real focus of this film while the plot itself is inconsequential. This is illustrated that the pivotal fight scene of the show is not the final fight between the forces of good and evil but the quarrel between two brothers that ends up as a rooftop fight that blew me away.
This was the continuation of the tension that was hinted at (and sometimes outrightly thrown in your face) between Leonardo, the level headed leader and Raphael, the hot headed idealist. This was the continuation of the comic franchise that I grew to love in the 1980s.

This was what TMNT was to me. Cool. Dark. Whole. Complete.

And not a rubber suit in sight.

One month and a bit.

2007-03-25T22:19:00.000+08:00

Apologies for my long absence.

It's been a month and the month has been hectic. It's been yet another start of the school year and that usually means that I'm not going to be the most happy person around. That said, let's play a little catch up.

In a month (not in chronological order), I have:

Had my haircut miscommunication that's caused me to look like I'm fresh out of BMT. Reminder: The numbers are for the razors and not for the top of the head.
Gotten an early reminder about why I really hate the bureaucracy of teaching.
Returned to Melbourne.
Returned home (as usual, disgruntled).
Watched 3 movies.
Failed to watch 300.

More details to come about the 6 points.

Really.

No.

Really.

Uhm...Bluecoats and the Civil Service.

2007-02-21T11:28:00.000+08:00

Forbidden.

You were denied access because:

Access denied by BlueCoat WebFilter content category. The requested URL belongs to the following category: Art/Culture/Heritage

I think it was ok when they were censoring nudity, porn and other questionable materials. Now we're censoring Art/Culture/Heritage? Well, comrades, the revolution MUST continue.

Uber? I think not.

2007-02-15T10:03:00.000+08:00

When your burger franchise can only boast about a $101 burger (with ground wagyu beef by the way...which makes little sense*), you really have nowhere to go but down. Really. Think of it as basic economics:

Your product isn't value for money. You're aiming to create a gourmet burger franchise and you're going to charge customers the equivalent of 2 Churascarra meals for one burger, it had better be one hell of a burger. Perhaps throw in free flow fries, coke and every single condiment that your customers can ask for. (Mango chutney? Sure. Hot sauce from Louisiana? Yessir. Two kilos of sauteed onions? Coming right up.) Also, I've heard that the buns are stale and that just wouldn't do. A $101 burger should have buns that are baked as soon as the order gets in coupled with the freshest greens and a presentation that makes The Iron Chef look like amateur hour.

Your product and your target audience really don't mix. People who are going to spend $101 on a meal are going to really want to dress up for such an expensive meal and they are not going to dress to the nines to go to what is effectively a burger joint. Even if you had the right product, it's the wrong ambience. You do not want to be the sucker that eats a $101 burger when everyone else is around you mucking about with $9 burgers.

Uberburger managed to get almost everything wrong and its timely demise is as natural as the cycle of life and death. Now I'm just wondering if they're giving away their Wagyu Burgers for a discount.

* The amount of fat in normal hamburger would really make the fat in the Wagyu lean by comparison...Go figure. And Foie Gras? In a burger? Seriously?

I know who's going to win.

2007-01-30T12:59:00.000+08:00

The Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD battle has just been decided and the winner is going to be...

[Drumroll]

HD-DVD.

Click here to read why.

With the latest development in format wars, Sony has decided to take the high road and not endorse pornography in Blu-ray, thus forcing the industry to seek alternatives for delivering High Definition content, i.e. HD-DVD. If you're wondering why pornography really is the deciding factor, consider this: VHS came to prominence when said porn industry chose VHS over Betamax.

20 or so years down the road, has anyone heard of Betamax? (Which by the way, was also developed by Sony...)

Cheers to Sony for sticking to their guns. But they're taking their last stand in the format wars...and HD-DVD has just brought out the big guns.

Pull!

Narrowing the income gap, the Dubya way!

2007-01-21T10:23:00.000+08:00

So the Singapore government's part in narrowing the income gap:

The grand plan.

Ahem.

Increase taxes on EVERYONE. (It's called GST)
Drop corporate taxes by 1%.
Watch as the middle and upper classes pull away in their BMWs and Ferraris (respectively) as the poor get gypped.

Thank you.

The Apple iPhone...First Thoughts.

2007-01-12T09:43:00.000+08:00

And no, I'm not going to bash it. I have to admit that I really think they've definitely released some cool hardware. But look at it. Really look at it. A touchscreen iPod-phone?

One word.

Smudging.

I mean, really. As is the MP3 player front has already got tons of problems with smudging on glossy surfaces. (Which MP3 player maufacturers seems to really like...) and you're coming out with a touchSCREEN MP3 phone? Doesn't that mean that unless you powder your fingers often, the average iPhone's going to be smudge-heavy? I can just imagine the first peripheral that they will release for said iPhone. The iRubberglove. Or the iWipecloth.

All that said, it still looks really cool.

No really.

Futility.

2007-01-06T15:02:00.000+08:00

It is with much amusement and a slight sense of worry that I see that 2000 or so years after the fact, they are still trying to kill Jesus Christ.

Life...or something like it.

2007-01-02T20:45:00.000+08:00

Firstly: Happy and Blessed New Year to all. I'm not in a reflecting kinda mood and so I'll spare the look back on 2006. I am however in an anxiety riddled back-to-school kinda mood, reflected by my dreams last night about seeing a building in the distance and refusing to head toward it.

It's been a weird couple of days since 2007 struck and I've got to say that I've not been feeling 100%. It's not that I'm getting sick or something, it's just that I'm feeling a little bit detached from my body. Which is weird. But nothing much to fret about, I'll be right as rain by tomorrow.

My one BIG resolution this year is something that I've been toying around with for a long time and I think I may actually get somewhere this year. (Assuming that both Rook and myself manage to pull it off.) It's a project that I feel has been 15 years in the making and I would love to see it come to fruition this year. And I guess that this would be my way of making it happen. (Mainly putting myself out there a la Tym and getting off my butt and doing something about it.) More news re: this to come.

But mainly, I'm looking forward to a surprise or two this year. So here we go.

2007.

Bring it on.

Some observations from the field.

2006-12-21T10:25:00.000+08:00

Firstly, one wonders what to make of this...

Luving Lionel exemplifies Singaporeans who want to strive for their career without having to sacrifice their time for leisure. Appearing confident and suave, he attracted Sassy Sonia, who then became his girlfriend.
Every weekend, Luving Lionel gathers Sassy Sonia and his good friends, Critic Crabbie and Macho Meng to splash the 'Merlion' way in Sentosa. Luving Lionel also enjoys globe-trotting and envisages taking Sassy Sonia around the world with him.
Sassy Sonia is refined, sophisticated and an epitome of luxury. Her fashion statements are derived from the finest quality of merchandises and Sassy Sonia often sees herself as a fashion stylist. During her free time, she enjoys whipping up local delights such as nasi lemak and chicken rice and, she also scours every corner of Singapore to sniff out the best local delights with her food guru, Critic Crabbie.
Critic Crabbie: A food critic who loves to talk and get involved with Singaporeans’ loves and lives. This idealistic and expressive crab hopes to write a book on Singaporeans' issues but before that, her latest mission is to understand Singaporeans’ love for food (and particularly, chilli crabs).

Macho Meng is an animal activist and he works as an ambassador of our Singapore Zoological Gardens. He has a vision to protect as many near-extinction animals as he can. Whenever Macho Meng has the time, he would work out at the gym so as to look good for photography sessions with visitors in the Zoo.

If one is wondering why the descriptions above are a little confusing, all this was taken off the website luvinglionel.com which is slightly different from the version that was pasted on the side of the toy display at Toys 'R' Us at Forum Galleria. In it, it has a slightly more sinister (read: Propagandist) version that they're hoping that little children will read. Then again, when you have a character who "strive[s] [in his] career without having to sacrifice [his] time for leisure" I wonder how many kids are actually listening...

Secondly, 24 hour rain may be bad for the flower business (as well as low lying areas) but it sure makes Singapore a whole lot more tolerable. Lower temperatures = Good. And didn't the gahmen actually solve the flooding problem some time ago...? No? Then perhaps we should reconsider the increase in minister salaries?

Thirdly, this is tres cool and it's all mine! Yes. I have finally gone ahead and replaced my dead Zen Muvo TX (512 MBs) with a Zen Vision M (60GB) and it rocks. Aside from the awesome video (a lifesaver on flights), I have recently discovered (a little late, I know...) the joys of podcasts. I spent some time with the Extremetech editors talking about tech stuff (geek heaven) and I'm presently downloading vodcasts off Crankygeeks.com. Oh, the joys of a 60GB player...

Finally, I think the picture speaks for itself.

I was thinking of the caption, more than a handful is a waste... :)