Well, President Nathan finally came forward to explain his rationale for releasing the funds and all but I'm a tat too lazy to write in to praise him for it so I'll just do so on my blog...hehe..
Well, they gave him an entire front page plus centre portion of the Straits Times paper that day. An interview to clarify points and such, not a bad read although I would have preferred more details (it seemed rather general) as to how he came to a conclusion. I would also have preferred to see more private sector CEOs seating on the Council of Presidential Advisors so that President Nathan would be able to get a clearer picture of what's happening in Singapore. Doesn't hurt to have more qualified advisors yeah? After all, the nature of the presidency is not well-disposed to giving out governmental favours (apart from official pardons for parole prisoners), especially not to businesses, so no worries where such advice can be drawn from. Anyway, the President has the final say yeah?
Nevertheless, its a good thing that we're getting more accountability from the government which would doubtlessly benefit all of us in the long run...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Annual Fertility Day!!! (Valentine's Special)
Ok,I'd readily admit that this post is long overdue but still, with a flurry of activity (and a good dose of laziness) over the past few days, I claim official pardon for this late post...
Valentine's Day conversation (with a friend whom I shall christen L)
L: So you have any plans for tonight? It's Valentine's Day!
Me: No, not quite, no date.Lol!
L: Sure or not? Shouldn't you be out with some hot babe tonight?
Me: Nahz, I'm just came back a few hours back and am currently resting before heading out for a Bachelors' Night Out...Yeah, that's about it...
That rest, is history not worth mentioning...
What started off eons ago as the execution of a priest (St Valentine), who refused to abide a law instituted by the Roman Emperor Claudius II that young men remain single, has morphed into an excuse for cheery flowers, over-stuffed teddy bears and ridiculous couples dressed in ridiculous colour-coordinated outfits.
Oh yeah, you know I'm right, newspapers start to publicise the merger and acquisition of the Social Development Unit (SDU) by the Social Development Service (SDS) as if it just won the Merger of The Century and was the miracle of this recession. Oh, how parents in Singapore are catching up to their counterparts in China in the Curious Case of Match-making. Wasn't that The Fad last millenium? Or was it Fort-millenium?
DeeJays Jamie Yeo and Glenn Ong became the Divorced Couple of the Year while Brad Pitt is going gaga all over the new and improvised Jennifer Aniston in a potential Makeup Couple of the Year (Divorce and Remarried - Reloaded).
Or pity Ugly Betty, who just needed a good nerd to love her (and at least 15 episodes of Extreme Makeover, make it an entire series). When exactly are Christopher Lee and Fann Wong going to get married anyway? They've already done a reel version of it. Arh...reel life VS real life? Apparently, not everyone's heart is capable of going on and on and on like Celine Dion's Energiser operated one.
In case you're wondering, I don't have a cesspit where my heart should be. I do believe in love, at least in the screens and I can do romantic I suppose but no pouncing about the moon or dancing amongst the stars.
Its really strange when you think of the kind of movies Hollywood releases during Valentine's. So Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are still at it, battling it out in an ongoing war which has been repeating itself for a few weeks now (they really must hate each other) while Andy Lau is discovering that even in this day and age, not everyone takes to the idea of pre-nupital contracts, even if they come from an industry veteran who should probably be halfway into retirement and signing up for the governments' HDB leasing initiative although he probably owns tonnes of properties in Hong Kong.
Valentine's Day conversation (with a friend whom I shall christen L)
L: So you have any plans for tonight? It's Valentine's Day!
Me: No, not quite, no date.Lol!
L: Sure or not? Shouldn't you be out with some hot babe tonight?
Me: Nahz, I'm just came back a few hours back and am currently resting before heading out for a Bachelors' Night Out...Yeah, that's about it...
That rest, is history not worth mentioning...
What started off eons ago as the execution of a priest (St Valentine), who refused to abide a law instituted by the Roman Emperor Claudius II that young men remain single, has morphed into an excuse for cheery flowers, over-stuffed teddy bears and ridiculous couples dressed in ridiculous colour-coordinated outfits.
Oh yeah, you know I'm right, newspapers start to publicise the merger and acquisition of the Social Development Unit (SDU) by the Social Development Service (SDS) as if it just won the Merger of The Century and was the miracle of this recession. Oh, how parents in Singapore are catching up to their counterparts in China in the Curious Case of Match-making. Wasn't that The Fad last millenium? Or was it Fort-millenium?
DeeJays Jamie Yeo and Glenn Ong became the Divorced Couple of the Year while Brad Pitt is going gaga all over the new and improvised Jennifer Aniston in a potential Makeup Couple of the Year (Divorce and Remarried - Reloaded).
Or pity Ugly Betty, who just needed a good nerd to love her (and at least 15 episodes of Extreme Makeover, make it an entire series). When exactly are Christopher Lee and Fann Wong going to get married anyway? They've already done a reel version of it. Arh...reel life VS real life? Apparently, not everyone's heart is capable of going on and on and on like Celine Dion's Energiser operated one.
In case you're wondering, I don't have a cesspit where my heart should be. I do believe in love, at least in the screens and I can do romantic I suppose but no pouncing about the moon or dancing amongst the stars.
Its really strange when you think of the kind of movies Hollywood releases during Valentine's. So Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are still at it, battling it out in an ongoing war which has been repeating itself for a few weeks now (they really must hate each other) while Andy Lau is discovering that even in this day and age, not everyone takes to the idea of pre-nupital contracts, even if they come from an industry veteran who should probably be halfway into retirement and signing up for the governments' HDB leasing initiative although he probably owns tonnes of properties in Hong Kong.
Friday, February 13, 2009
A Letter Too Sensitive For Publication in the ST Forum???
Well, I emailed the following letter to the Straits Times forum a few days ago.What spurred me to write in was an article published by the Straits Times main paper (6 Febuary2009) in which I uncovered some distorted logic in Mr Tharman Shanmugam's (Minister of Finance) explanation for declining the release of details of the President's deliberation on the budget.
Keeping to the 400 word limit(I wanted to write more a build up an even more solid case but then again, word limit...), the letter is as follows:
I read the article “Govt details steps leading to President’s OK” (6 February) with grave concern.
Mr Tharman had reportedly dismissed Mr Inderjit Singh’s request for the President’s deliberations, citing that Singaporeans should trust the individuals who are in charge. For a system which has long pride itself on a transparent, efficient and clean government, such a drastic change in its stance has certainly raised eyebrows, especially during these tough times. While I believe few Singaporeans would begrudge Mr Tharman’s well-meaning intention to ensure fiscal responsibility where matters of our reserves are concerned, surely fewer still would want a veil of secrecy surrounding the decision-making process. It is even more essential, during these uncertain times that the public is reassured about how such a landmark decision concerning our nation’s savings was conceived.
With well-respected and trusted leaders such as Mr Bernie Madoff and Mr Chen Shui-bian coming under tight scrutiny for possible abuses of client’s and public funds respectively, public trust has been eroded. One was a businessman who ran a billion-dollar wealth management empire for more than four decades while the other was propelled into Presidential office by a popular vote. These were two figures whom the public trusted enough to handle millions of their hard-earned savings, only to watch it all collapse into nothingness. The public were led to believe that a system of checks and balances was in place to protect their interest but the system failed them.
While it would be vastly unfair to draw parallels to our own President, who by all accounts have Singaporean’s utmost respect, emphasis on accountability should not be neglected under any circumstances. Only then can we continue to build a competitive system beneficial to all Singaporeans and free from taint of corruption and deception. Considering that there are two sets of “keys” to unlock the reserves and a stringent set of requirements to be met before any withdrawal can take place, I’m confident that our reserves would not be so easily squandered on less meritorious purposes overtime even if the President’s deliberations were to be made public. Likewise, I have faith that Singaporeans, with their strong pragmatic mindsets, would not be so easily taken to casually tapping on our reserves.
Hence, I strongly urge the government to release the entire set of deliberations to the public, that our trust in the institution would be further strengthened.
Actually, I had 2 motivations for this letter:
1) I honestly wanted a greater degree of accountability from the government. I mean if MPs can query the government in a logical, civilised manner...why can't I?
2) To verify the rumour that certain letters which deliver the truth are being black out for fear that it would create more work for certain ministries and make themselves more accountable to the public, hence a personal experiment.
The result?
The letter was rejected "due to space constraints".
Yeah, probably that might have been the case had I not stumble upon a letter written by Albert Tye and published on 11 February 2009, Straits Times Forum praising Ms Ho Ching for stepping down from her position as CEO at Temasek and encouraging her to support her husband in state duties.
Like how is a letter praising Ms Ho Ching's resignation more important than one seeking to improve the overall system of Singapore's governance? The same thing happened the last time I wrote in a letter to rebut Mr Janadas Devan's (a Straits Times Editor) logic on a certain article (And I had a super strong argument which totally owned his!)
Argh! I give up, with my personal blog, I can continue my own brand of rebuttals as and when I feel like it...Without "space constraints".
On a side note:
Of course the editors at the Straits Times and the Media Development Authority (the institution which censors publications) reserve the right to decide what goes into the forum and what does not and I have utmost respect for them.Nevertheless I too reserve the right to express my thoughts and stake out my stand on issues, backed by logical arguments, for the betterment of our nation!
'The truth, the truth and nothing but the truth!' Sounds familiar?
Keeping to the 400 word limit(I wanted to write more a build up an even more solid case but then again, word limit...), the letter is as follows:
I read the article “Govt details steps leading to President’s OK” (6 February) with grave concern.
Mr Tharman had reportedly dismissed Mr Inderjit Singh’s request for the President’s deliberations, citing that Singaporeans should trust the individuals who are in charge. For a system which has long pride itself on a transparent, efficient and clean government, such a drastic change in its stance has certainly raised eyebrows, especially during these tough times. While I believe few Singaporeans would begrudge Mr Tharman’s well-meaning intention to ensure fiscal responsibility where matters of our reserves are concerned, surely fewer still would want a veil of secrecy surrounding the decision-making process. It is even more essential, during these uncertain times that the public is reassured about how such a landmark decision concerning our nation’s savings was conceived.
With well-respected and trusted leaders such as Mr Bernie Madoff and Mr Chen Shui-bian coming under tight scrutiny for possible abuses of client’s and public funds respectively, public trust has been eroded. One was a businessman who ran a billion-dollar wealth management empire for more than four decades while the other was propelled into Presidential office by a popular vote. These were two figures whom the public trusted enough to handle millions of their hard-earned savings, only to watch it all collapse into nothingness. The public were led to believe that a system of checks and balances was in place to protect their interest but the system failed them.
While it would be vastly unfair to draw parallels to our own President, who by all accounts have Singaporean’s utmost respect, emphasis on accountability should not be neglected under any circumstances. Only then can we continue to build a competitive system beneficial to all Singaporeans and free from taint of corruption and deception. Considering that there are two sets of “keys” to unlock the reserves and a stringent set of requirements to be met before any withdrawal can take place, I’m confident that our reserves would not be so easily squandered on less meritorious purposes overtime even if the President’s deliberations were to be made public. Likewise, I have faith that Singaporeans, with their strong pragmatic mindsets, would not be so easily taken to casually tapping on our reserves.
Hence, I strongly urge the government to release the entire set of deliberations to the public, that our trust in the institution would be further strengthened.
Actually, I had 2 motivations for this letter:
1) I honestly wanted a greater degree of accountability from the government. I mean if MPs can query the government in a logical, civilised manner...why can't I?
2) To verify the rumour that certain letters which deliver the truth are being black out for fear that it would create more work for certain ministries and make themselves more accountable to the public, hence a personal experiment.
The result?
The letter was rejected "due to space constraints".
Yeah, probably that might have been the case had I not stumble upon a letter written by Albert Tye and published on 11 February 2009, Straits Times Forum praising Ms Ho Ching for stepping down from her position as CEO at Temasek and encouraging her to support her husband in state duties.
Like how is a letter praising Ms Ho Ching's resignation more important than one seeking to improve the overall system of Singapore's governance? The same thing happened the last time I wrote in a letter to rebut Mr Janadas Devan's (a Straits Times Editor) logic on a certain article (And I had a super strong argument which totally owned his!)
Argh! I give up, with my personal blog, I can continue my own brand of rebuttals as and when I feel like it...Without "space constraints".
On a side note:
Of course the editors at the Straits Times and the Media Development Authority (the institution which censors publications) reserve the right to decide what goes into the forum and what does not and I have utmost respect for them.Nevertheless I too reserve the right to express my thoughts and stake out my stand on issues, backed by logical arguments, for the betterment of our nation!
'The truth, the truth and nothing but the truth!' Sounds familiar?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Singlish - Singapore's English?
I'm back! Lots of free time now that NS is over so I'll probably be updating this blog more of often!
Well, call it a steal but I borrowed the concept of 'Singlish' from a friend who blogged about the usage of Singlish...Was asked to comment on it and comment on it I did but at the risk of flooding her comment section, hence may I present....My very own "Singlish" entry!
Today, we shall consult Singlish linguist Sina Kosta...
Singlish has often been termed a creole interlanguage which has stubbornly defied the government's attempts to put an end to the corruption of the genuine English language as purported by the elite. May I so emphasize that the only ones who probably speak Queen's English these days are the British and those who were educated during the Colonial era. HEck!Even the other "Native Speakers" of the the English language (Australians, Americans,etc) have taken to slangs and colloquialism not unlike Singlish.
A check with wiki's definition of Singlish revealed that someone actually came up with a classification for English speakers in Singapore. Here's the summary:
Acrolectal: British English, less the thick Brit slang. Most often utilised during formal occasions or in business speak to project an image of professionalism.
(Novices in Singlish, if not totally oblivious)
Mesolectal: Halfway there, most commonly utilised form of Singlish in Singapore.
Basilectal: The ultimate graduates and masters of the Singlish language. Most often utilised by the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians of the Singlish World. Often incapable of articulating a proper sentence in perfect English (Just a totally misunderstood lot really).
**WARNING** Average native speaker of English would not be able to understand Basilectal at all - its that powderful**WARNING**
Here's an example of their sentence structure:
Acrolect ("Standard") -"This person's Singlish is very good."
Mesolect" - Dis guy Singlish damn powerful one leh."
Basilect ("Singlish") - "Dis guy Singrish si beh"powderful sia.
And now back to our interview with Sina Kosta...
Singlish is definitely an economical form of communication and I would support its usage as being unique to our motherland, yet easily accessible by recent migrants. Its distinct quality lies in the fact that one can easily identify a fellow Singaporean whilst in a foreign country the moment he/she opens his mouth.
For one, it takes a local upbringing to grasp the naunces of Singlish (like whether the 'lah' or 'lidddat' should come at the start or end of a sentence) and not to forget the fact that years of cultivation it takes to master the right tone of a 'har?'...I mean anyone can insert 'lor', 'meh', 'larh' into their sentence but somehow the newly-arrived ang moh expat who lives down the street simply doesn't seem to get it right. Agreed?
The vocabulary of the language in itself is a beauty, a blend of various languages - Baba Malay, Bahasa Melayu, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil and whatnot revolving around and often substituting words from an English core.
Oh, and did I mention economical?
Take for instance a corporate board meeting or school project for that matter...
Head of Operations: Our customers bo chap our latest extra value meal leh
Chairman looks at the Head of Marketing: Liddat how?
Imagine how different the conversation would have been if proper English were used:
Head of Operations: We seem to have a problem attracting customers to buy into our latest extra value meal product.
Chairman looks at the Head of Marketing: Any suggestions from the marketing viewpoint?
Observe the difference? Now you understand why Singapore often tops the chart for efficiency...just imagine a thousand such meetings occurring islandwide?
Another perculiar observation would be the grammatical usage of a "Den" (Singlish for 'then', or perhaps not alway the case...) which really is a very flexible term:
1) As a convenient term for "therefore"
- Late for school den kena scolding mah
2) As a would be verb
- Later den say
3) As a replacement for the comma:
- Suay lah! Was makan-ing my Nasi Lemak this morning. Den hor, got bird shit on my food!
4) As a replacement for "What happened then?"
- Coxta: I was brushing my teeth this morning
- Kosta: Den?
5) As a sarcastic remark (Roughly translated as "If not me, then who?")
- Coxta: Wah! You painted this house on your own arh?
- Kosta: Ah Bah Den?
6) Of course, with Singlish being extremely economical in nature, there's a short-form for the above point 5.
- Coxta: Wah!You painted this house on your own arh?
- Kosta: Dennn?
I shan't go into more details with the "lahs","lorhs","Wat","Mah", "leh", etc but they're all highly interesting and specialised vocabulary unique to Singlish.
Man am I proud to be a Singaporean!
Please note: Sina Kosta is overwhelmingly biased in favour of Singlish and hence you might just want to take his comments with a pinch of salt (or satt)
Well, call it a steal but I borrowed the concept of 'Singlish' from a friend who blogged about the usage of Singlish...Was asked to comment on it and comment on it I did but at the risk of flooding her comment section, hence may I present....My very own "Singlish" entry!
Today, we shall consult Singlish linguist Sina Kosta...
Introduction
But first, some background information:Singlish has often been termed a creole interlanguage which has stubbornly defied the government's attempts to put an end to the corruption of the genuine English language as purported by the elite. May I so emphasize that the only ones who probably speak Queen's English these days are the British and those who were educated during the Colonial era. HEck!Even the other "Native Speakers" of the the English language (Australians, Americans,etc) have taken to slangs and colloquialism not unlike Singlish.
A check with wiki's definition of Singlish revealed that someone actually came up with a classification for English speakers in Singapore. Here's the summary:
Acrolectal: British English, less the thick Brit slang. Most often utilised during formal occasions or in business speak to project an image of professionalism.
(Novices in Singlish, if not totally oblivious)
Mesolectal: Halfway there, most commonly utilised form of Singlish in Singapore.
Basilectal: The ultimate graduates and masters of the Singlish language. Most often utilised by the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians of the Singlish World. Often incapable of articulating a proper sentence in perfect English (Just a totally misunderstood lot really).
**WARNING** Average native speaker of English would not be able to understand Basilectal at all - its that powderful**WARNING**
Here's an example of their sentence structure:
Acrolect ("Standard") -"This person's Singlish is very good."
Mesolect" - Dis guy Singlish damn powerful one leh."
Basilect ("Singlish") - "Dis guy Singrish si beh"powderful sia.
And now back to our interview with Sina Kosta...
Singlish is definitely an economical form of communication and I would support its usage as being unique to our motherland, yet easily accessible by recent migrants. Its distinct quality lies in the fact that one can easily identify a fellow Singaporean whilst in a foreign country the moment he/she opens his mouth.
For one, it takes a local upbringing to grasp the naunces of Singlish (like whether the 'lah' or 'lidddat' should come at the start or end of a sentence) and not to forget the fact that years of cultivation it takes to master the right tone of a 'har?'...I mean anyone can insert 'lor', 'meh', 'larh' into their sentence but somehow the newly-arrived ang moh expat who lives down the street simply doesn't seem to get it right. Agreed?
The vocabulary of the language in itself is a beauty, a blend of various languages - Baba Malay, Bahasa Melayu, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil and whatnot revolving around and often substituting words from an English core.
Oh, and did I mention economical?
Take for instance a corporate board meeting or school project for that matter...
Head of Operations: Our customers bo chap our latest extra value meal leh
Chairman looks at the Head of Marketing: Liddat how?
Imagine how different the conversation would have been if proper English were used:
Head of Operations: We seem to have a problem attracting customers to buy into our latest extra value meal product.
Chairman looks at the Head of Marketing: Any suggestions from the marketing viewpoint?
Observe the difference? Now you understand why Singapore often tops the chart for efficiency...just imagine a thousand such meetings occurring islandwide?
Another perculiar observation would be the grammatical usage of a "Den" (Singlish for 'then', or perhaps not alway the case...) which really is a very flexible term:
1) As a convenient term for "therefore"
- Late for school den kena scolding mah
2) As a would be verb
- Later den say
3) As a replacement for the comma:
- Suay lah! Was makan-ing my Nasi Lemak this morning. Den hor, got bird shit on my food!
4) As a replacement for "What happened then?"
- Coxta: I was brushing my teeth this morning
- Kosta: Den?
5) As a sarcastic remark (Roughly translated as "If not me, then who?")
- Coxta: Wah! You painted this house on your own arh?
- Kosta: Ah Bah Den?
6) Of course, with Singlish being extremely economical in nature, there's a short-form for the above point 5.
- Coxta: Wah!You painted this house on your own arh?
- Kosta: Dennn?
I shan't go into more details with the "lahs","lorhs","Wat","Mah", "leh", etc but they're all highly interesting and specialised vocabulary unique to Singlish.
Man am I proud to be a Singaporean!
Please note: Sina Kosta is overwhelmingly biased in favour of Singlish and hence you might just want to take his comments with a pinch of salt (or satt)
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Singapore IS Overpopulated!!!
Yeah, you know how its like...All of a sudden, everywhere you go seems to be more crowded with peoples, black, white, yellow, gray, purple, pink people everywhere! Allow me to elaborate...
Was planning to meet up with friends yesterday at Clementi before heading to a birthday party. So I picked up a present at Viviocity around 7.15pm and realising that I was going to be late, decided to hail a cab at the taxi stand...guess what? the queue at the taxi stand seemed to snake on forever and if that wasn't bad enough, taxis were arrviing in a tickle at best, probablye freaked out by the queue of cab-hungry Singaporeans/Foreigners.
Deciding that it would probably be faster transiting via MRT, I hopped onto MRT and did a switching at Outram Park Interchange. That was where the horror begin...
MRT after MRT was packed with people to the max, and no it wasn't anything like Hari Raya last year whereby everyone had space to move about...This year, the trains were packed to the max such that no batch of passengers waiting to board the MRT was every 100% successful, with a few passengers left behind to wait for the next MRT to arrive.
And for your information, most of the people on the MRT car I was in weren't Malays! Call me xenophobic but there happen to be a hell lot of non-Singaporeans hanging around near the entrance of the MRT with no commonsense to move further in where there happened to be an empty space? And you'd think it was just foreigners...apparently, the queue at our polyclinics are equally bad! Imagine having to wait 1 hr to register, 40 mins for your turn to see the doctor for a 7 min consultation before squandering another 20 mins of your life waiting to collect your prescription from the pharmacy....
Productive Time = 7 mins
Unproductive Time = 2hrs (120mins)
Polyclinic Assessment = Screwed!!!
Seriously, I most certainly did not pay my MRT fares to get squeezed and suffocated on a commute, no matter how communal its meant to be. For goodness sake, if the Land Transport Authority wants to increase our transport fees annually, then at least provide us decent transportation services. They can start by increasing the frequency of MRT arrvials. The worst part of this is that the newspapers come out with headlines proclaiming how wonderous and efficient our public transportation is and the need to raise train fares in light of rising global oil prices - I don't see how that's the case now that oil prices have gone below $96 per barrel and considering the number of passengers who have to squeeze into an MRT..now I'm so motivated to get my driving licence and vehicle... Don't remind me of ERPs!
Was planning to meet up with friends yesterday at Clementi before heading to a birthday party. So I picked up a present at Viviocity around 7.15pm and realising that I was going to be late, decided to hail a cab at the taxi stand...guess what? the queue at the taxi stand seemed to snake on forever and if that wasn't bad enough, taxis were arrviing in a tickle at best, probablye freaked out by the queue of cab-hungry Singaporeans/Foreigners.
Deciding that it would probably be faster transiting via MRT, I hopped onto MRT and did a switching at Outram Park Interchange. That was where the horror begin...
MRT after MRT was packed with people to the max, and no it wasn't anything like Hari Raya last year whereby everyone had space to move about...This year, the trains were packed to the max such that no batch of passengers waiting to board the MRT was every 100% successful, with a few passengers left behind to wait for the next MRT to arrive.
And for your information, most of the people on the MRT car I was in weren't Malays! Call me xenophobic but there happen to be a hell lot of non-Singaporeans hanging around near the entrance of the MRT with no commonsense to move further in where there happened to be an empty space? And you'd think it was just foreigners...apparently, the queue at our polyclinics are equally bad! Imagine having to wait 1 hr to register, 40 mins for your turn to see the doctor for a 7 min consultation before squandering another 20 mins of your life waiting to collect your prescription from the pharmacy....
Productive Time = 7 mins
Unproductive Time = 2hrs (120mins)
Polyclinic Assessment = Screwed!!!
Seriously, I most certainly did not pay my MRT fares to get squeezed and suffocated on a commute, no matter how communal its meant to be. For goodness sake, if the Land Transport Authority wants to increase our transport fees annually, then at least provide us decent transportation services. They can start by increasing the frequency of MRT arrvials. The worst part of this is that the newspapers come out with headlines proclaiming how wonderous and efficient our public transportation is and the need to raise train fares in light of rising global oil prices - I don't see how that's the case now that oil prices have gone below $96 per barrel and considering the number of passengers who have to squeeze into an MRT..now I'm so motivated to get my driving licence and vehicle... Don't remind me of ERPs!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Hiatus!
Dear all,
I will be taking a break from blogging for the month of Sep 08 to work on another project. Watch out for my come back in October!
Lotsa Love,
Costa
I will be taking a break from blogging for the month of Sep 08 to work on another project. Watch out for my come back in October!
Lotsa Love,
Costa
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Snapshots For Aug 08~
It seems like the term "blogging" has often been defined as logging down one's experiences in life, the kind of stuff that would attract voyeurs who want a peek into your life...
While this blog will definitely be less about me and function more like my channel of expression, I've decided to give it a more personal touch in this article...no frisky details,I'm way too lazy for that, just a couple of shots...
2.30pm - Met up with Han after lunch with my parents at Suntec in an attempt to squeeze our way through the ridiculous crowd at the Comex IT Show but we eventually gave up all the shoving, squeezing and strategic planning to find the most accessible route to the convention hall.
5 pm - Left for church while Han met up with YJ.
7.20 pm - Linked up with Han and YJ at Taka before heading to Cineleisure for dinner @ Hip Diners...Food was disappointing though
Miserable, lousy and oily meatloaf.
Thankfully, Tao Huay at Rochor saved the day and filled our stomachs...I'm too lazy to go into the details or upload anymore photos so that's all for the moment, perhaps I'll modify this portion when I have the time to...
Sharks, Han's head got caught in the pic...wanted to capture YJ's head "floating in the air".
Our first stop was at the American Club where all of us had Hennessy and Heneiken with some really special guests that night. Really REALLY special guest that is.
Posing with the birthday boy for an attitude shot:
My bro here had just gotten elected as NTU's President for Photog!
Jason and his friend
Look who's shaking
Grandma's Birthday 
The menu was Fantastic, with lobster on longevity noodles, double broiled shark fins soup (a hell lot of shark fins ok, entire chunks of them, each about a finger long!)
While this blog will definitely be less about me and function more like my channel of expression, I've decided to give it a more personal touch in this article...no frisky details,I'm way too lazy for that, just a couple of shots...
Of Hip Diners and Tao Huay
2.30pm - Met up with Han after lunch with my parents at Suntec in an attempt to squeeze our way through the ridiculous crowd at the Comex IT Show but we eventually gave up all the shoving, squeezing and strategic planning to find the most accessible route to the convention hall.
5 pm - Left for church while Han met up with YJ.
7.20 pm - Linked up with Han and YJ at Taka before heading to Cineleisure for dinner @ Hip Diners...Food was disappointing though
Miserable, lousy and oily meatloaf.
Thankfully, Tao Huay at Rochor saved the day and filled our stomachs...I'm too lazy to go into the details or upload anymore photos so that's all for the moment, perhaps I'll modify this portion when I have the time to...
Sharks, Han's head got caught in the pic...wanted to capture YJ's head "floating in the air".
Sam's Birthday BASH @ Zouk
Our first stop was at the American Club where all of us had Hennessy and Heneiken with some really special guests that night. Really REALLY special guest that is.
Posing with the birthday boy for an attitude shot:
My bro here had just gotten elected as NTU's President for Photog!
Jason and his friend
Andy, Adrian and Randall in high spirits
Posing with my bodyguard!
Took this shot with a tip or two from the Photog President.
Look who's shakingGrandma's Birthday
Celebrated my paternal Grandmother's 80th Birthday @ Man Fu Something Restaurant over at Oriental Hotel. Pictures were posted by Ronda...Can't seem to expand them without disrupting the quality though...hmmm....
Was a rather considerable family gathering but I'm only going to display our family shot.
The menu was Fantastic, with lobster on longevity noodles, double broiled shark fins soup (a hell lot of shark fins ok, entire chunks of them, each about a finger long!) Once again, would like to wish my Grandmother a wonderous and Blessed Birthday!
HORTPark Reloaded
HORTPark Reloaded
I had never heard of a "HORT Park" till this month and when I finally heard about it, I visited it twice. The first trip was with YA, which was supposed to be organised by our cell. We started walking from Mt Faber, through Hort Park to Bukit Chandu hill where we visited the museum cum memorial centre at the top of the hill. The memorial centre was a tribute to the soldiers of the 3rd Malay Regiment (If I remembered correctly) for their valient efforts in defending the hill against occupational forces from Japan.Therein we ended with lunch at a zhi cha foodcentre at the base of the hill.
Cell buddies (Psalm not in picture, busy leading the group)
Hilltop Garden
HORT Park, which is really Horticulture Park, a rather nice and green place.
Luncheon with Lyn and Ling
Hilltop Garden
Along the bridge...
HORT Park, which is really Horticulture Park, a rather nice and green place.Luncheon with Lyn and Ling
Caught up with childhood buddies Lyn and Ling for lunch at Marche, Vivo. We have known each other since we were crawling and are all grown up now. Had a pleasant time chatting with them, not to mention ogling the hamsters and puppies at Pet Safari...esp since Lyn's back for her summer vacation!
Shu Juan with her Gingerbread Martini
Shu Juan and Shu Sian
Me with my "Sweet & Charming" while Ivan strikes a pose with his Hunk Martini, which tasted awful...Thankfuly I opted for "Sweet & Charming" which was light and refreshed the senses with its citrus essence.
Oh No! What's happening??? Radio-cosmic waves are granting the 4 of us new powers!
And I blew Ivan's head off in a beam of laser!
A Majestic Drink and Supper
Well not exactly...in fact, the pub was located just next to this designer hotel (the Majestic Hotel). It all began when I received an invitation from Shu Juan, Ian and Shu Sian to explore Arab Street on a Tuesday. However, due to other commitments, I decided to join them for a drink instead at this location which supposedly had a 3-storey tall tree in the centre of the building...makes you wonder how the tree got all the sunlight and water without affecting the patrons, not to mention what steps the managment would have to take to ensure that the tree stayed in shape (and a bald tree is not an excuse for artistic tendencies).
As suspected, the CONCEPT of the bar was that of a 3 -storey tree tall tree rather than the existence of real tree. Kena conned.
Shu Juan with her Gingerbread Martini
Shu Juan and Shu Sian
Me with my "Sweet & Charming" while Ivan strikes a pose with his Hunk Martini, which tasted awful...Thankfuly I opted for "Sweet & Charming" which was light and refreshed the senses with its citrus essence.
Oh No! What's happening??? Radio-cosmic waves are granting the 4 of us new powers!
Myself and Ivan powering up!
And I blew Ivan's head off in a beam of laser!
Act cute.
Act Cool.
Late-night supper served at Maxwell Market. The porriage and siew mai were delicious!
Our best food show host pose.
Late-night supper served at Maxwell Market. The porriage and siew mai were delicious!
Our best food show host pose.
Adventures with Silicon Man, Abang, Kungfu Panda and Fat Ahgong (don't ask me why)
Had so much fun with you guys but I'll save our tales for another time....Now for blissful sleep...zzzZZzz
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