Just cos i am not getting a promo shouldn’t mean you don’t deserve one!
Btw, i do not have a data plan, so not applicable to me. Just posting in case you might find it useful.
http://www.starhub.com/smartsurf.html
And you can tell who the "other Telco" is right?
Understand from my IT colleagues that the govt, as it moves to the SOEasy platform in the coming months, will be switching from Windows XP to Vista. I know very little about these IT stuff but even i can see this is a train wreck waiting to happen. Read the article here.
Windows is releasing Windows 7 to counter the damage of Vista and whole of govt is hoping to become more efficient and cost effective by switching to Vista? Hmmm.
This has to be a first.
The only time you see me talking about the same issue in successive posts is when i am whining about my life. However, due to a strange series of events, am blogging about this movie i had known nothing about, 3 times!
I have learnt something from the professionals and shall apply it here:
"Spoiler ahead".
Yup that is about all i have learnt, as you will see from my post that i have absolutely no review skills. But when has the lack of skill ever stopped anyone from doing something?
One comment from a friend kind of coloured my perception of the movie. He said they were all theatre actors.
How does that matter? Things get exaggerated on the stage cos only something larger than life will get across. On screen, that just comes across as bad acting. At the start, i felt that my friend’s opinion was actually correct. However, as the film went on, i felt things got a bit more settled.
Some random thoughts since i obviously have no structure in mind. You already know from my previous post that i saw a remarkable resemblance to a certain family in Sg. As you listen to the dialogues about suing everyone, it just sinks in more. However, i am unsure of how much to read into that setting. Is it biographical - does the writer know something we don’t? Or is it meant to be representative of Sg - that we as a people have been forced to live lives against our wishes? Or is it just about a patriarchal family in an East Asian society? Obviously, i will leave it to you to decide for yourself.
It was getting a lil annoying when you can see the jokes coming. Like when the ghost father says exactly what the children suggest he would have said. And the caricatures of the indian detective and his assistant. And references in the movie to how the movie inspector is behaving just like a movie inspector in an Agatha Christie story. Bleah.
How was the acting? Like i mentioned, it was a lil too theatrical at first. There seemed to be great emphasis on stressing every word and facial expression. However, as the story carries on, it slowly recedes into the background and the story tells itself better without the actors forcing it on you. And the language! It was all too Queen’s English for me. Anyone who watches this will swear Ris Low is not from Sg. There is the occasional ‘la’ but all the pristine grammar and diction make it so unreal. A local movie that i had difficulty identifying with. No doubt, they are of a certain class and had elocution lessons from age 2 but still!
One thing came to mind - how Forever Fever was ‘neat’. In that somehow everything sort of settled into place and the remaining loose ends did not trigger new questions. As i said, this is a spoiler, so i can tell you the ending makes you realise the whole movie was for nothing. But it is about the journey, no? And the journey was worth it. It was in the tradition of ‘whodunit’ where the answer is ‘no one’. The movie makers may have been gunning for a shock epiphany ending but i dun think it was carried thru that well. The Director doing a cameo is very M. Night Shyamalan but the ending wasn’t quite Sixth Sense.
Another point to highlight. When the (another spoiler!) topless female scene came on, i immediately thought it was gratuitous. However, after seeing the successive scenes, i felt it was necessary. I might even say it was one of those few times i felt the naked body was used very well for its significance to the story. Almost felt it was as necessary as the (almost) naked scenes in American Beauty, a movie i regard very highly.
One thing which resonated with me. As Deepavali just passed, had to face the inevitable question of when i was getting married. Thought people had decided to move on as haven heard it in quite a while. And this led to me eating a lot of chocolates. How? When they asked the question, i immediately popped a Ferrero Rocher stacked on the table into my mouth so i could mumble a ‘hmm. emm’ sorta thing. I ate quite a no of Rochers i tell you.
Now back to the movie-resonate-with-me part. The movie hints that the children sorta do what they honestly want after the parents pass away. And i was telling myself that i felt that i could only come out to my family after my mum passes on. No matter how much i think my siblings will not bother about this (i am guessing they cant all be so daft not to have guessed by now), i jus dun see how i can do this while she is around. Something tells me she wouldnt really care but knowing how drama-mama she is, she will make a big scene of it with everyone and i will never encounter peace again. A pity that, for some, the shadows of our parents suffocate us. Sure, you can say it is an individual choice but actions have consequences and not all of us can bear them.
But overall, i would say it was a good movie. Not cos it was a local movie and needs support, but because it was a movie i enjoyed. Sure, it wasn’t perfect in my view, but i think it was well-acted (really!) with good character development and a story that was entertaining, though it did get OTT at some points.
Go catch it!
Oh! My! Goodness!
Read this review of the Blue Mansion which reveals a lot of the character details.
An umarried daughter who was not allowed to marry her indian lover?
A son who was a CFO, in an unhappy marriage and had an affair?
Another son who gave up a scholarship in a field he loved? First marriage with a special needs son? Remarried after losing wife? (dunno if the gay bit is metaphorical though)
The mother as an empress dowager who actually ran the show?
Is it not obvious already who this familee might be?!?!?!
Just finished Welcome to the Working Week by Paul Vlitos. Male version of Bridget Jones’s diary. The whole book is actually just a series of emails.
Story is about a loser guy - dumped by girlfriend, lost roommate and caught for misuse of office email.
But it is really really witty and funny. Strongly recommended.
This article has a very interesting take on homophobia and its consequences.
Reminds me of one of the wives in Brokeback Mountain, whom i thought was the one who suffered the most among the lot.
But seriously, a term like "mixed orientation marriages"? Enough already.
Thankful that i am not gonna put someone else through this hell. Not that it never crossed my mind. When i was ‘questioning’ ie. wasn’t quite sure if i was gay when i was a teenager, i thought marriage was the only option. Thank goodness for my uni education which really opened my eyes to the notion that marriage was an opportunity, not an eventuality.
Sweet story of romance between an old couple who share everything:
Sharing in a marriage
‘THE TEETH.’
As usual, some stuff being forwarded from my email:
5 minute – Management CourseLesson 1: A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’ After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, ‘Who was that?’ ‘It was Bob the next door neighbour,’ she replies. Great,’ the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’ Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2: A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’ The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’ The priest apologized ‘Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.’ Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, ‘Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.’ Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.
Lesson 3: A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, ‘I’ll give each of you just one wish.’ ‘Me first! Me first!’ says the admin clerk. ‘I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.’ Puff! She’s gone. ‘Me next! Me next!’ says the sales rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.’ Puff! He’s gone. ‘OK, you’re up,’ the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, ‘I want those two back in the office after lunch.’ Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 4: An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, ‘Can I also sit like you and do nothing?’ The eagle answered: ‘Sure, why not.’ So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 5: A turkey was chatting with a bull. ‘I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree’ sighed the turkey, ‘but I haven’t got the energy.’ ‘Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?’ replied the bull. They’re packed with nutrients.’ The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree. Moral of the story: Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.
Lesson 6: A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lays there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him. Morals of the story: (1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy. (2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. (3) And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!
Congratulations! THIS ENDS YOUR 5 MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE!
Thought you might be interested in something significant tomorrow.
Sometime after 9 am tomorrow, it will be 09:09:09, 09/09/09.
Ok, so now there is another player on the block. Stereolab at Pan Pacific Hotel has started its Sunday nights. Attendance so far is not bad cos there is free flow of champagne and mini-burgers till 12 and free flow of vodka from 12 - 3.
Yup, you heard that right … Free Flow!
I dunno how they cover costs, cos, no one actually needs to buy a drink. And it is champagne!
Nevertheless, not sure if the crowd will keep coming once they end the free flow and start charging cover (i dun think anyone paid cover last night!)
Seriously, how on earth do they cover costs? In theory, they are making losses every one of these nights right?
Anyway, why look a gift horse in the mouth? Just enjoy while it lasts, i guess.
ps. unlike other places where free flow is ‘controlled’, here it really is free FLOW. Once the waitstaff see an empty glass (or flute for that matter) in your hand, they immediately whisk it away and hand over another filled to the brim glass.
Rumour has it that a certain organisation is sponsoring this giveaway but i have no idea why that company would do it.
Anyway, till it ends (which i heard is soon), let’s eat, drink and be merry!
One of those ‘take-a-step-back-and-think-about-what-life-is-really-about’ emails i received.
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more":
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift."
Marriage of Convenience is one of the Indignation events. Chanced upon Aiman’s works and they seemed good. No knowledge of the others’. Drop by if you can.
Just posting an ad i received.
Inaction and calculated reservation just might pay off! Read this from Mr Wang.
In Jul 09, there was a promotion for a free Macbook if you signed up for this cost-more-than-usual Singet package. Was tempted cos i felt like getting a new laptop and thought Singnet should do as well as my current Starhub. After all, my current Starhub contract should be over by now.
But it came with some Miotv thing which i didnt want. And i didnt know if i could maintain my cable tv if i had to sign up for this miotv thing as well. Didnt know if my current connection would be affected. Did i need to sign up for any new accounts which would disrupt my current click-and-surf connection? And the white Macbook (ie. old series) was not free since the 2-yr contract promo costs like $600+ more than just the std internet connection package, but still a saving as the laptop costs like $1600 almost now. At the end, while waiting and waiting and thinking and thinking … it was 1 Aug 09. Promo over!
Now i read about all these complaints and think … sometimes laziness saves the day.
But no new laptop then?
You kidding me?! Just bankrupted myself getting a new laptop! And it aint no slow white 13 inch macbook (hint hint!).
And another idea hit me. Always had this fantasy of chilling out at cafes surfing the net and chatting etc. Just never did it cos dunno how to use that Wireless free surfing thingy. Now found out i can sign another 2 yr contract and get free mobile surfing modem! But i realise my new laptop will also probably never see the world outside my room … but still. Maybe, just maybe 
Latest scientific update on the issue of orientation. Article here.
The 150,000-member American Psychological Association said in a report, released at its convention in Toronto, that mental health professionals ’should avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments’.
The convention was looking at reports including one on the efficacy of so-called ‘reparative therapy’, or sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE).
It reviewed the results of 83 studies carried out between 1960 and 2007 on the controversial concept, which appeals particularly to some religious conservative patients uncomfortable with their homosexuality.
‘Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation,’ cautioned Judith Glassgold, who spearheaded the work.
Over the years, aversion therapies with ‘behavior therapists … (included) a variety of aversion treatments, such as inducing nausea, vomiting or paralysis; providing electric shocks, or having the individual snap an elastic band around the wrist when the individual became aroused to same-sex erotic images or thoughts,’ the report noted.
Other examples of aversive behavioural treatments included shame aversion, in which the patient is publicly humiliated in an attempt to stamp out the behaviour, and systematic desensitisation, a method used to overcome phobias and anxiety disorders.
‘Scientifically rigorous older studies in this area found that sexual orientation was unlikely to change due to efforts designed for this purpose.
Contrary to the claims of SOCE practitioners and advocates, recent research studies do not provide evidence of sexual orientation change as the research methods are inadequate to determine the effectiveness of these interventions,’ the APA statement said.
The therapies were described as inhumane as early as the 1970s - but they have not gone away. And their side effects could include suicidal ideation, depression, impotence, relationship dysfunction, and high school dropout rates, the APA said.
‘From our survey of recent publications and research, most SOCE currently seem directed to those holding conservative religious and political beliefs,’ the APA concluded. — AFP
"I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back sometimes." - Alicia Keys at an award ceremony
You may be aware of the competition for a slice of the Sunday boys party between Zirca and Butter Factory. Seems KL too has sensed the lucrative nature of this night, especially for this weekend which will be a long weekend in Sg and some may get tempted to travel North [we usually go South ]
Love this campaign! I know this will never pass in Sg but, in a secularist state, it should. Kudos to Richard Dawkins who made me think deeply about this issue with his (in my view) revolutionary book, "The God Delusion".
A controversial advertising campaign featuring the slogan ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life’ was launched today on Britain’s trains and buses.
But despite its gloomy undertones the advert creators said it had a positive message which encouraged people to enjoy life instead of worrying about what happened afterwards.
The £140,000 atheist advertising campaign will be plastered across 200 bendy buses in London and 600 others across England, Scotland and Wales.
Comedy writer Ariane Sherine, (left) Professor Richard Dawkins and Polly Toynbee stand beside a London bus displaying the advertising campaign
The money will also pay for 1,000 advertisements on London Underground from Monday.
Comedy writer Ariane Sherine, who received support from the British Humanist Association (BHA) and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins, is the brains behind the campaign.
Ms Sherine said she became angry after noticing a set of Christian advertisements carrying a website address which warned that people who reject God are condemned to spend all eternity to ‘torment in Hell.’
She said she wanted to promote her own message that people can believe whatever they wanted.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign in central London, Ms Sherine said the sheer number of donations received had demonstrated the strength of feeling in the UK.
She said: ‘This is a great day for freedom of speech in Britain and I’m really excited and thrilled that the adverts have been approved and I hope that they will make people smile on their way to work.
‘I am very glad that we live in a country where people have the freedom to believe in whatever they want.’
Buses will carry the slogan in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, York, Leeds, Newcastle, Dundee, Sheffield, Coventry, Devon, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Swansea, Newport, Rhondda, Bristol, Southampton, and Aberdeen for four weeks.
The creators behind the campaign, which will feature on Britain’s buses and trains, insist its message is positive
Professor Dawkins unveiled one of the London Underground advertisements at today’s launch.
He said: ‘Across Britain we are used to being bombarded by religious interests, not just Christians but other religions as well who seem to think that they have got a God given right to propagandise and to take over things like Thought for the Day.
‘In the House of Lords we have bishops sitting as of right, and we are still very much dominated by religious interests.’
Other supporters at the launch including philosopher A C Grayling, Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee, and Graham Linehan co-writer of the Father Ted comedy series.
Mr Linehan said he was supporting the campaign because it was ’such a positive one’.
‘I think it gives the lie to the idea that atheists believe in nothing,’he said.
‘Atheists just believe that we all have a capacity to be good to one another without having the threat of eternal torture hanging over us.’
Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the BHA, said the campaign had an ‘overwhelmingly positive message.
She said: ‘It is designed to reassure people that it is okay not to be religious. People can live a happy, enjoyable and rewarding life without religion.’
Andrew Copson, spokesman for the BHA, said a further £20,000 had been raised for the BHA’s campaign against faith schools.
The campaign was welcomed by Theos, the public theology think tank and even various religious figures.
Paul Woolley, director of Theos, said: ‘We think that the campaign is a great way to get people thinking about God.
‘The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever face in our lives.’
The Methodist Church also welcomed the campaign.
The Rev Jenny Ellis, spirituality and discipleship officer, said: ‘We welcome the atheist bus campaign as an opportunity to talk about the deepest questions of life.
‘The God many atheists have rejected is not the God we recognise and this campaign has opened up a dialogue between Christians and atheists which allows these types of misconceptions to be challenged.’
Got this in the email:
A SOULFUL RELATIONSHIP by Rev. Ronald McFadden
If you’re not married yet, share this with a friend. If you are married, share it with your spouse or other married couples and reflect on it. An African proverb states, "Before you get married, keep both eyes open; And after you marry, close one eye."
Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don’t let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem, make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don’t fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren’t really important. Once you decide to commit to someone, over time his or her flaws, vulnerabilities, pet peeves, and differences will become more obvious. If you love your mate and want the relationship to grow and evolve, you’ve got to learn to close one eye and not let every little thing bother you. You and your mate have many different expectations, emotional needs, values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. You are two unique individual children of God who have decided to share a life together. Neither of you are perfect, but are you perfect for each other? Do you bring out the best in each other? Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare, and control?
What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust,
past pain? You can’t take someone to the altar to ‘Alter’ him or her. You can’t make someone love you or make someone stay. If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and "a life", you won’t find
yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain. Manipulation,
control, jealousy, neediness, and selfishness are not the ingredients of a thriving, healthy, loving and lasting relationship! Seeking status, sex, wealth, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship. What keeps a relationship strong? Communication, intimacy, trust, a sense of humor, sharing household tasks, some getaway time without business or children and daily exchanges (a meal, shared activity, a hug, a call, a touch, a note). Leave a nice message on the voicemail or send a nice
email. Sharing common goals and interests. Growth is important. Grow together, not away from each other, giving each other space to grow without feeling insecure. Allow your mate to have outside interest.
You can’t always be together. Give each other a sense of belonging and assurances of commitment. Don’t try to control one another. Learn each other’s family situation. Respect his or her parents regardless. Don’t put pressure on each other for material goods. Remember for richer or for poorer. If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment, withdrawal, abuse, neglect, dishonesty, and pain replace the passion. The difference between ‘United’ and ‘Untied’ is where you put the "i".
So Josie and her Pussycats have been slapped down. The Christian community is reeling in half shame, half relief. The liberals are having drunken sex, the conservatives are crossing themselves, and we’re all happy that Singapore civil society is not always about whether or not it’s ok to eat sharks’ fin soup. Oh the excitement, the thrill, the sight of thousands of women screaming and jostling at a non-SALE event. The lull after the AWARE EOGM is like the ennui that comes after the end of the EPL season. What do we do now? Who’s going to entertain us? How are we going to fill up the echoing void we call life? Perhaps we can ponder over the invaluable lessons this big cat fight has thrown up. After all, retrospection is best done as early as possible, right before hindsight sets in. Things could have been very different. If the vote went the other way we would be looking at a very conservative AWARE. So where did Josie and her Pussycats go wrong? Five easy lessons on how not to lose an EGM and win many many friends. Leave your teddy bear at home Religious beliefs and private morality are like worn-out urine-stained teddy bears from your childhood. It provides comfort and assurance. It gives you that warm feeling that can only be replicated when a Catholic priest touches your bum. But you don’t go about carrying your old teddy bears to the office or dinner parties. Like teddy bears, religious morality should be kept at home or the church, and not paraded like you’re a 5 year old child all over again. By all means, play with your teddy bear at home. Feed it, talk to it, stroke it, hug it, pray with it, but don’t wave its arm at me and ask me to say ‘hi’ to it. Be open about your girlfriends Having members of your exco coming from the same church is not a tactical takeover. It’s a classical psychoanalytical explanation for lesbianism. Look, you share the same background, come from the same ethnic group, you glance furtively at each other, you all dress alike, you deny you know each other, you protect each other, you yell at others who yell at one of youŠ let’s face it, Freud will tell you to get off his couch and stop wasting his time. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having girl cliques. The ‘old guard’ is a well known girl clique. But be open about it. Don’t sell fear The key galvanizing point in this whole saga was that AWARE was promoting lesbianism and homosexuality in schools. The fear was that there would be "an entire generation of lesbians". It’s a bit like saying teaching mathematics in school will lead to an entire generation of mathematicians. But that’s the Christian right for you, small on reason, big on fear. Religion is basically the selling of two valuable commodities - fear and guilt. If you can launder these two emotions in tandem, people gladly do anything you ask. In truth, the sex education programme by AWARE was devised with the consultation of teachers and religious leaders. But this fact was an inconvenient truth for the Christian right. Furthermore, the quoted passages about keeping the term ‘homosexuality’, ’sexy’ and ‘lesbianism’ neutral were not even in the actual syllabus but from the instructor’s guide which students had no access to. Finally, as one sex educator observed, teachers spent 30 minutes talking about abstinence and only about 2 minutes on homosexuality, but guess which whips the Christian right into a frenzy? Your Pastor must not be living in La-la Land Church of our Saviour Pastor Derek Hong was quoted as saying, "It’s not a crusade against the people but there’s a line that God has drawn for us, and we don’t want our nation crossing that line." Well, Pastor Numbnuts, Christians in Singapore only make up 14.9 per cent of the population, so your God is hardly in the majority. To believe that your Christian God has drawn a line in the sand for Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims and atheists is nothing short of arrogant. Our friend was this close to having the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act shoved up where the sun don’t shine. Your puppet master must not, preferably, be a psycho I think God has a Thio Su Mien complex. Is there anyone quite as breathtakingly egoistic and self-centred as the Nutty Professor? I mean calling yourself ‘Feminist Mentor’ should be a crime against imagination. Pretty soon everyone’s going to use the term to denote authority, even ministers! Oh, ok, scratch that. But the lesson here is simple. If you want to orchestrate a takeover, make sure your puppet master is not completely psycho. She believed she could not ’surface’ in the early stages and she believes this battle is nothing less than a spiritual warfare between Good and Evil, and that the Devil is behind Constance Singham, Braema Mathi, Dana Lam and the rest of the ‘old guard’. But worse of all, she actually believes that her successful career makes her a feminist. Illusions of grandeur are nothing new. Napoleon, Hitler, Moses, parking wardens, they all suffer from it. It’s a personality defect that’s all too common. But when it’s coupled to another equally common defect - the belief that one is absolutely 100 per cent unrelentingly morally right, it becomes a very dangerous combination. Dr Thio is not uncommon in believing she is great. She is not uncommon in believing she is on the right side of morality; all Christians feel that way. She only became such a public caricature when she exhibited both defects simultaneously. It’s no exaggeration to say that Josie and her Pussycats lost public sympathy because of two personalities - Derek Hong and Thio Su Mien. The emergence of these two people effectively swung public opinion against the ‘new exco’. Dr John Chew, head of the National Council of Churches, was forced come out and distance the Christian faith from Hong, while thanks to Thio’s "respect your elders" outburst, Khaw Boon Wan’s silly suggestion to ship our parents to JB actually sounds reasonable. At the end of the day, when Josie and Kittycats look back, they would do well to realise that they’ve been arrogant, misguided and utterly intolerant. But unfortunately, as with all folks who believe they are doing God’s work on earth, they’ll think that the sinners of Singapore are hardened of heart and just aren’t ready to embrace the word of God. Amen.
Haven written anything on the AWARE saga while it was going on. Not that i thot it was not important. On the contrary, i think it was, is and will be a milestone in civil activism in Sg.
While it raised consciousness at an unprecendented level, i am afraid it may all sizzle out. AWARE is about civil society, but civil society isnt just about rights - it is also about responsibilities. Great that the 300-strong membership exploded to about 3000, but what responsibilities do these people believe they have apart from their rights to their inclusive organisation?
If volunteers for their programmes do not increase, if we do not see more of these people involved in the major programmes of AWARE, then i am afraid we are not as matured a civil society as we might think we are.
The real success of the issue would be when these people who were passionate enough to attend the EGM partake in the programmes and really walk the talk about what they said AWARE means to them.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
In one of my earlier posts, i had pointed out that low interest rates are one reason why super-high-saving Sgeans do not seem to have enough at retirement.
I was motivated to save consistently by POSB’s My Savings Account. Interest rates for at least $1500 a month was at about 1.5% p.a. Of cos, i cant afford that monthly contribution. At a much lower amount manageable to me, the rate was still a decent 1.00% p.a.
Today, checked my acct online and was wondering why my interest accrued for this month was so much lower than last month - even though adding in this month’s contribution, i shd logically be earning more. Found that the rate had dropped from 1.00% to … 0.40%! The highest rate was 0.6%.
This is ridiculous! High yield accts in the US were giving as much as 3.5% p.a. before the crisis when Sg rates were like 1%. With inflation usually above 3% (and over 6% last year), $ in the bank is actually losing value!
Guess i shd head out to the designer boutiques soon then.
From the ST Online Discussion Board by "Eagle2004":
Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).
Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar.
Taking advantage of her customers’ freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.
A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit.
He sees no reason for undue concern because he has the promissory notes of Heidi’s customers as collateral.
At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then sold and traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.
One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager of the bank, ( subsequently fired due his negativity), decided that the time has come to start demanding payment from Heidi for the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar.
Unfortunately Heidi’s customers cannot pay back any of their debts to Heidi.
Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations to the bank and claims bankruptcy.
DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95 %. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by only 80%.
The suppliers of Heidi’s bar, having granted her generous payment terms and also having invested in the securities are faced with a new and desperate situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy and her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.
The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties. They came up with a miraculous rescue plan that saved the bank.
The funds required for this massive rescue are obtained by levying a new tax on all the non-drinkers.
Was surprised when i saw the World Expo segment on last night’s news. Tan Kay Ngee was cited as the “principle architect” of Kay Ngee Tan Architects.
Thought it should be “principal architect”.
This morning, checked out Channelnewsasia.com for the article. Found it was written as “principle” as well.
Checked dictionary sources online and confirmed it should be “principal”.
Yes, my life is so uneventful that i was obsessed with this issue.
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