Valentine’s Day can be a day of joy for many, while for others, it can be a day of reminiscing, pain, hurt or dread. For me, this year at least, it is rather normal. I was supposed to wake up early for a morning jog with Warden, but I got lazy and by the time I got out of bed, it was too hot (I know excuses, excuses…).
Then it was the normal weekend routine of vacuuming the place, mopping and cleaning the toilet. Household chores are definitely the bread and butter of all romantic encounters *sarcastic laughter in the background*
Hope your Valentine’s Day is filled with fun, laughter (real happy ones) and romance.
In the aftermath of the unfortunate event that led to Yio Chu Kang Member of Parliament (MP) Seng Han Thong being set on fire last month, Senior Minister of State (Information, Communication and the Arts) Lui Tuck Yew commented that the Internet community here “squandered” an opportunity to show that it was capable of a “higher degree of self-regulation”. I tend to agree with his observations.
When I first read the news report about the incident, I was filled with dread. I will not wish the same thing to happen to my family and friends, nor to another human being. When Ms. Lo Hwei Yen was killed in Mumbai terroist attack, many Netizens offered their condolences to the bereaved family members. So why did many provide unkind words instead of encouragement to the Minister in question? Just because he is a member of the PAP?
The question of self-regulation in cyberspace has been debated countless times. Most notably in recent times, due to a spate of defamation charges and political confrontation, a civic network called the Thai Netizens Network, designed to promote and protect cyber liberty was formed, raising the issue of self-regulation in Thailand. Globablly, there seems to be a rising number of cases where bloggers have been jailed, usually for crossing certain social, racial and political lines.
Many Netizens bemoan the lack of journalistic freedom. They wish to express their own opinions. They want to condemn or praise someone else’s actions without repercussions. They demand to be heard and actions taken in response to what they express. That is all fine. They do deserve their rights. However, everyone of these people need to have a basic understanding that with the power of autonomy, there will be a stronger need to have accountability. Netizens do have to be responsible for their thoughts and actions, translated on the Web in their comments or blog entries. The price of failing to do so could very well be the freedom that they sought.
In closing, I wish to quote Peter F. Ducker on the nature of freedom, on which he said:
Freedom is not fun. It is not the same as individual happiness, nor is it security or peace or progress. It is a responsible choice. Freedom is not so much a right as a duty. Real freedom is not freedom from something; that would be license. It is freedom to choose between doing or not doing something, to act one way or another, to hold one belief or the opposite. It is not “fun” but the heaviest burden laid on man: to decide his own individual conduct as well as the conduct of society and to be responsible for both decisions.
Thus, I hope Singaporeans, and possibly all Netizens of the world, to make the right decisions. Be mature, be responsible and thou shalt have the crown jewel that is freedom.
P.S: In case you are wondering, the above picture has nothing to do with the subject 
This 3-Dimensional Chinese Calligraphy art, named “Spring Coming”, by Chua Boon Kee, was on display at the Esplanade. Using intertwining grapevine branches, the artist transformed the 2-dimensional Chinese words, 春晓, into 3-dimensional sculptural form. The words simply signifies the arrival of spring – which is also what marks the Chinese New Year celebrations.
This visual art is on display between 12 Jan 2009 – 22 Feb 2009 at the Esplanade main hall. In case you are wondering, Warden and I could not make out the Chinese characters
Here is a continuation of the photographs that I took during the Chingay Wonderland event in Sengkang.
What a huge boat!
Noah’s Arc came to town.
So did a giant caterpillar.
Finally we have some familiar Disney characters on board as well 
Last year, I covered the Chingay 2008 preview event. This year, as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations, Sengkang West brought in the Chingay procession to the Heartlands. Residents of the Ang Mo Kio GRC, under MP Dr. Lam Pin Min, were treated to a fiery showcase of the Fire Dragon Performance by the Tong Liang Fire Dragon from Zhongqing, China. The performance area was cordoned by temporary metal railings, and rightfully so. As I found out later, the sparks that were tossed all over the place, flew very near to the audience. Warden got on the end of a small spark and she quickly retreated to the back of the crowd. Otherwise, The Fire Dragon was a refreshing and exciting display.
Sengkang is actually a rather quiet place at night. I hardly had the chance to see so many people loitering along the streets, much less with many kids running around well past their bedtimes on a Sunday evening. After much awaiting, the floats finally arrived! The restless crowd finally stood up and welcomed the first batch of floats. What beautiful lights!
As the line of floats stopped, I realised that people were actually climbing up the floats to have their photos taken! I thought that was interesting, but getting down from one of the floats proved a little bit trickier, as people were rushing to get up while Warden and I were trying to get down. With a DSLR in hand, trust me you don’t really want to make any false steps on the shaky vehicle.
I thought it was a very unique way to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the residents. Let’s hope there are more celebrations and less gloom this 2009.
The last time, before this late morning, that I went to SAFRA Tampines was a couple of years back to take my IPPT (Individual Physical Profiency Test). Today, I went with Warden and my father-in-law (Captain Warden), because the Japanese Restuarant called Sakura had not started operating yet.
Apparently this place keeps a whole shelf of board games, for a group of friends or family, who enjoy each others’ company. They can pay for the packaged deal, which includes a meal plus two hours of game time. Not a bad concept I suppose.
The food, however, leaves much to be desired. Captain’s tomato-based pasta was too salty, while mine was kind of tasteless. Warden’s Beef Lagsane was equally dismal.
Ok, guess it is not the best place to go for a good meal, but it was quiet, it had Wireless@SG, it provided newspapers and some magazines, and yes if you want to try out some of the games at a small price, go ahead.
With the economy downturn, there is probably one major thing on eveyrone’s mind this Lunar New Year – how to survive this crisis? But in the midst of all the financial turmoil, let us not forget other things that more important than money. Here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy, fulfilling and prosperous Chinese New Year!
PS: These Famous Gold Premium Fortune Cookies are pretty yummy btw. And they are pretty fun too! The fortune messages have 4-D numbers included!
The story brings to mind the blockbuster movie “Die Hard” starring Bruce Willis. The hero seems to be portrayed as a representation of blue-collar worker, completely out of his league amongst the bickering high-and-mighty elitists. The difference here is that Bruce Willis’s character, Officer John McClane, was a seasoned police officer, whereas Jake Landry was once admitted into Glenview juvenile detention centre, with a juvie record. Which was where he picked up all his survival instincts. The many flashbacks to his time spent in the detention centre served as interesting windows into his background and mental finesse.
Joseph Finder throws in little titbits from everyday life that we are familiar with, which adds a little to the realism of the situation, I suppose. One of those paragraphs which brought a smile to my face was,
Dogs are underrated as girlfriend-substitutes, I think. Gerty never complained when I came home late from work; if anything, she was even happier to see me. She didn’t mind eating the same thing day after day. She never insisted on watching Desperate Housewives when I wanted to watch football, and she never asked me if I thought she looked fat.
In the aspect of language style, the author will use words like “watchamacallit” – a shorter version of “what you may call it”. I was a little surprised as this is the first time that I actually see this word used in a book. Perhaps it is the coming-of-age of modern writers who harness the new generation with new slang and words invented by our generation. Some may like the style, some may not.
This book is fast-paced, like many James Patterson books that have reviewed (such as Kiss the Girls). It is a very easy read, even more so than Patterson. The little twists at the end, as closing to the story, were satisfying. A good read for me.
Back in 2006, Warden was looking for the album of this artiste called Wendy Lands. Shortly after my post, she had gotten a copy of it via Amazon, and it has been sitting among our CD collection since. I had not encoded a copy of it into my iTunes collection, until this afternoon.
What I hear, I like very much! Some people say she does not have much of a voice, but I beg to differ. It is the way she delivers her voice, coupled with the music of Polish composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman, that draws me to the music. Some people might ask Szpilman who? For the uninitiated, Wladyslaw Szpilman was the subject of Roman Polanski’s Oscar Nominated film ‘The Pianist’. Do I hear voices going “Ohhhh…”?
Szpilman’s music, jazzed up with newly interpreted lyrics – cooks up images of strong coffee and cafes, and I can imagine myself lounging around reading a book on a slow Sunday afternoon.
