Into the New World

Angel vs Devil

2012-02-10T21:15:00.001+08:00

This was the topic which I had for my weekly mandatory e-journal entry this week. Unlike others who are definitely going to write about the happenings of the week, I decided to go the unconventional way by writing about something more about life. Here's how it goes, roughly. By the way, it was intended for my sergeant to read.

Everyone, including commanders, has an angel and devil in them. The angel will always tell them to do things which are morally correct while the devil urges them to do stuff that are politically right. When one listens to the angel, he will feel naturally happy and satisfied. When one listens to the devil, he thinks that he is somewhat guilty yet prides himself for doing something justifiable.

An example would be drawing a line, I did not specify if it is from an artistic or philosophical point of view. The devil will tell you to draw lines so that the overall image would look neat and tidy. However, somebody who is inexperienced or new at drawing lines might end up drawing crooked ones thus making the whole picture look unsightly.

The angel will tell you not to draw any lines. This would allow the paper to be blank and pure as it originally is. You can draw any picture you like on the paper without having to worry if it bisects any line.

If you did draw lines in the first place, chances are you might need an eraser for alterations. However, no matter how hard you erase, there will still be a little trace that a line was ever drawn before. So, the most favourable solution for us should be to listen to our angels most of the time.

Good will always triumph over evil.

2012-02-07T21:39:00.003+08:00

This might sound impossible or even shocking but at least half of my 42-man strong platoon are currently addicted to the old-school Pokemon Gameboy game. Since popular websites like Facebook, Twitter and Viwawa are blocked in camp, we decided to find entertainment for ourselves via offline methods.

All you have to do is to download an emulator, there is Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, Sony Playstation and what have you, from coolrom.com before downloading the desired game you want to play.

There, you have a gaming console right on your laptop without having to spend a single cent and the convenience of playing it whenever you like without using the internet. Now, from the original first generation of RBY to Fire Red and the latest Black, everybody just can't stop throwing Poke balls and fighting trainers on their computers.

Other old-school games that also trending among my platoon mates include Marvel vs Capcom, Metal Slug and even Pokemon Card Game?

I can't believe that I have so many peers who are still so keen to pursue their childhood years in the teenage days.

Summary of the week

2012-02-05T18:50:00.003+08:00

Oh yeah, I know, you know and we all know that I have not update this blog for a week. That is due to some internet connection problems I was facing when in camp earlier this week. Anyway, I shall do a summary of what took place over the week.

Monday
Our one and only platoon sergeant was away for some marksman thingy where he would be carrying his rifle from dawn to dusk so that spells freedom for us. The whole day was filled with boring lectures conducted by DXOs (Defence Executive Officers), the non-uniformed civilian staff of Mindef. The highlight of the day happened to be at night.

I was on guard duty that night and the CDSO (the big-gest shot) happened to be quite a fussy person who nags a lot and she's is a female, a female captain to be exact. The guard commanders, BOS and DO had no idea how to handle her. She keeps complaining how messy the guard room was when she arrived and shouted from a distance at people who didn't march properly.

Ok and I cheated. I only prowled one round instead of two during my second shift from one to three in the morning. My partner and I sat outside the library for almost an hour but continued using the walkie-talkie to inform the guard comm that we have reach each station when we were just at the same spot all the while.

Tuesday
Almost a duplicate of Monday except that there wasn't any guard duty for me and I tried out an online browser-based game called Adventure Quest. As many as half of my platoon were hooked onto it. Unfortunately for me, my interest in it only lasted for less than two hours as I realized that the monsters in the game looked hideous compared to Pokemon.

Wednesday
Outing! Woohoohoo! In the morning, we attended a National Education tour about water. It's those typical boring excursions led by a boring middle-aged tour guide talking about boring stuff. First, we headed to the NEWater factory at Bedok. It was my first time visiting the site as I did not know that the factory was located there.

The speaker talked about things like microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultra-violet etc. blah blah blah. It's a miracle that I can still remember the names. The place was rather cosy to tour around and relax. There was a corner where free bottles of NEWater were given out. I was somewhat slow and failed in getting one as there were surprisingly many other kiasu people.

Next, we travelled southwards down to the city where Marina Barrage awaited us. Again, it was my first visit. How sua-ku can I be in my own country? The tour guide explained how this multi-million project works and its uses but by then, everybody was busy looking around or talking among themselves. Even sergeant also couldn't care less.

The tour guide mentioned that Marina Barrage was responsible for alleviating flooding in areas like Chinatown and Kallang but I was more concerned that it ended up destroying Orchard Road to a certain extent.

Thursday
It was our first ever and only outfield activity. So much so for the word "outfield" when the event is conducted inside camp. Unlike the other signal vocations, we info-systems operators, have the least reasons to head outdoors for training as our job scope confines us to computers and air-con rooms.

This VHF (very high frequency) exercise was just made to let us have a taste of being a signaller. We were split into eleven groups of three plus two groups of HQ and every group had a radio set with them. If you get it, you would have figured out that we had to communicate through radio waves, speaking in a military manner that requires you to use code names.

I hope that is the last time I would have to wear my helmet in NS. It disables me to think ~~properly~~ whenever I put it on my head.

Friday
The toughest physical training to date took place. It failed to rain the entire day although dark clouds were constantly hovering above us since noon. Our hopes of having the event cancelled were dashed but the morale was still high as we were a couple of hours away from booking out of hell. Had to do two sets of circuit trainings instead of the usual one.

What's more, we had to run four rounds in camp this time! I told Ming Hui, my buddy cum the week's platoon IC, that I had to do some big business in toilet hence, escaping from the run. I stayed in the bunk while looking outside the window until the first person came back before walking downstairs and blend into the crowd of sweaty people.

No area cleaning for this week. What a huge surprise and shock for every one of us. That's the way man sergeant, this is only NS, so WSS (why so serious?)

Liverpool 2:1 Man Utd

2012-01-29T16:17:00.000+08:00

Roses are red, violets are blue, Man Utd 1 Liverpool 2.

Once upon a time, Wenger, Redknapp, Boas, Ferguson and Dalglish sat in a pub. Wenger goes to buy the first round of drinks, boas was the second followed by Redknapp and fourth was Ferguson.

It was Dalglish's turn but he only bought four drinks and Ferguson shouted "Where is mine?" Dalglish replied "I'm sorry but this is the fifth round and you aren't in it!"

2012-01-27T21:35:00.000+08:00

I had a haircut a couple of days ago and this is the first time in almost five months that I don't have to shave botak. When I first looked at myself via the reflection of a nearby glass panel, I felt kinda shocked for a second. My hair is finally starting to grow to a "normal" length although it is still considered short at the moment.

Oh yeah, and I shaved my sideburns to a proportion that looks neat so I look rather different currently. That's all for today. Goodnight!

2012-01-25T21:37:00.000+08:00

I was thinking about something today. If you still recall the days where you had lick stamps and paste them on envelopes before slotting them into the post box, what a hassle and waste of 20 something cents that was. Society has since transformed and the way people communicate nowadays seems cheaper and more convenient.

What I thought of was, how can snail mail be improved? Well, snail mail will still be as snail as before but think about it, what about the part on buying stamps? You can actually save that 20 something cents if the method which I am going to share works.

Tell a relative/friend that you are going to post him a letter with your own address stated at the front of the envelope. Here's what you can do, write your own address at the front of the envelope and write his address at the back of the envelope. However, above his address, write a simple header which informs the post office that that is the place to mail to if the letter is unable to reach the recipient.

Lastly, do not lick and paste any stamps on the envelope. Tadah! There you have a letter that looks like it is supposed to be mailed to your address but because there isn't any stamp, the post office will assume that it is an invalid postage. Hence, it will post it back to the "sender" which is your relative/friend when he is the receiver in actual fact.

I am not sure if this really works. I think I will try it out soon. If you intend to do so as well, do let me know if you managed to pawn the post office.

CNY Movie Review

2012-01-24T19:43:00.000+08:00

As expected, I have been doing a lot of walking as well as erm eating for the last two days. Apart from all the house visiting and bak kwa munching, I have also watched two CNY films, We Not Naughty and Dance Dance Dragon.

I would like to elaborate more on these two local movies. We Not Naughty, I must say, is another peak for director Jack Neo after his two I Not Stupid productions.

The concept of We Not Naughty is actually similar to I Not Stupid where rebellious youngsters, parenting and spotting hidden talents make up most of the plot. Jack Neo injects a healthy balance of his usual humorous style plus heart-wrenching scenes which touch you.

There are many debatable points about society in the show for viewers to think about and reflect. There are also a number of lessons to learn after watching it, depending on how one sees them.

As for Dance Dance Dragon, it is just a feeble attempt by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures to grab a share of the CNY market. The story is extremely direct and easy to digest, suitable for those who just wanna happily laugh throughout the festive season.

Not that I am endorsing Jack Neo movies or what but I would gladly award We Not Naughty with 4.5/5 stars. Dance Dance Dragon should deserve only 2 stars. J team pawns Mediacorp this Chinese New Year.

Happy Chinese New Year

2012-01-22T15:15:00.001+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to all readers! Here's a little piece of artwork by me to celebrate the arrival of the Dragon year! Hope it looks pleasant to you.

2012-01-21T21:25:00.005+08:00

Check out this awesome video featuring Asia's best dead-ball specialist, Shunsuke Nakamura!

1st week in Stagmont Camp

2012-01-20T21:38:00.002+08:00

I am finally back at home after living in a new environment for the past 4 days. In case you don't know, I am currently undergoing training at Signal Institute in Stagmont Camp, located somewhere in Choa Chu Kang.

They, the warrant officers and sergeants there, have been emphasizing not to disclose any classified information about our time there. So, as a preventive measure, I decided not to post anything about the trainings and programmes I had participated in on this blog.

Since I am unable to talk about the classroom, I shall talk about another crucial place in the camp then, that is none other than the legendary cookhouse! Unlike the one in Pulau Tekong, the cookhouse in Stagmont Camp is managed by Singapore Food Industries.

Although SFI and NTUC Foodfare are the two commercial operators engaged by SAF to run its cookhouses, both caterers differ a lot in terms of taste and service. So far, Stagmont Camp cookhouse has been satisfactory for me during my first week.

I can see that the SFI staff there take pride in their work. Every meal is planned with creativity, cooked with sincerity and served with patience. There is always something new and unpredictable whenever I head to the cookhouse. The staff there are also generally courteous unlike the China people in Tekong.

We had a Chinese New Year celebration this morning which included running three rounds in the camp for trainees like myself followed by a speech and mandarin oranges presentation by the Chief Signal Commander, a full colonel. There was also a Cai Shen Ye (God of Fortune) at the scene played by an obese soldier.

I can't think of anything else to share that doesn't reveal any confidential and sensitive information so I shall end here.

Oh yeah, I had a hard time going home during noon because there were tons of school students flooding the bus stop and buses. Had to walk over to another road perpendicular to the one I was at to take another bus service in the end.

2012 Taiwan Presidential Election

2012-01-15T20:18:00.001+08:00

From left to right: Small winner, small loser, big loser

It seems a little too late but I would still like to congratulate Ma Ying-jeou on winning the 2012 Taiwan presidential election. Although I prefer opposition candidate Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP more, I have to admit that Ma still has an edge over her.

Observers say relations between Taiwan and China are set to progress since KMT won the polls. I hope that Mr Ma can continue working well with China on trade matters but at the same time, enhance the independence of his country.

BMT posting: Signals

2012-01-13T21:28:00.000+08:00

1. You are posted to SIG INSTITUTE
2. Your vocation is SIG OPR
3. Your are to report to: Stagmont Camp, Blk 207, #02-16

This is what I got, staring blankly at my face, after refreshing the NS portal website for more than ten times this morning.

In case you don't know, I am posted to the Signal training school to learn all about erm, signals for eight weeks before moving on to another unit where I will stay there until ORD arrives.

After spending the whole day researching and reading up on Signals, I still don't understand what does it really do and how is it useful during a war.

The only thing which I do know is that my formation badge will be two flags bisecting each other. Oh yeah, and if you are wondering. Stagmont Camp is in Choa Chu Kang, a 20-minute walk from the MRT station.

Enough about my posting, I would like share my opinion about this e-posting system instead. At 10am sharp, I accessed the website and it didn't came to a surprise for me that the page took forever to load.

I manage to view my posting after more than 10 reloads and 25 minutes. However, when I clicked on the "continue" button, history repeated itself.

Clearly, this is not the best way for recruits to check their postings. A manual and more direct way would be either by post or phone call or even both unless Mindef buys more servers.

Last but not least, why must the posting be in short form? Can't they state "SIGNAL OPERATOR" instead of just "SIG OPR"? Fortunately I was able to decipher it.

2012-01-12T20:53:00.001+08:00

Went to Jurong Point with Teck Cheong and Nicholas today. Ate lunch there before watching the Sherlock Holmes movie. I will get to that in a moment. Anyway, it's the first time that we met up after passing out of BMT. As expected, the topics which filled our conversations are mostly related to military life.

Our post-BMT postings would be released tomorrow morning and I told Teck Cheong that I think he will end up as a medic as he possess a certain medic persona in him. As in not kind and gentle but someone who has the look to be a medic. You get what I mean right? Ok, maybe you don't.

Back to the movie. When I was younger, I used to like Sherlock Holmes as I have always been very interested in detective stories. However, this movie made me felt like I was wasting my time in the cinema. This is the first time in my life that I actually felt like dozing off while watching a film but since I had already paid $7, I had to endure.

The plot was was rather unclear and lack a sense of direction. I don't even know what is the objective of the bad guy and why is he the bad guy? Worse of all, the ending was abrupt but yet not insightful enough for people to think about it. We all concluded that watching the movie was like listening to a lecture in camp.

1.5 out of 5 stars. Catch it only if you can comprehend English that is spoken fluently in a British accent.

Commander?

2012-01-10T21:53:00.002+08:00

I have been thinking about where will I be posted to after BMT for the past three days or so. The thoughts grew more and more to an extent that I wondered if I will end up in the police force (it's possible) for the rest of my NS life.

I realized that worrying over such a thing will not make any difference to my life at all, acting and keng-ing will still be done, nonsense cookhouse food will still be served, hair will still remain the same colour etc.

What I would like to talk about is expressing interest in being a commander. This is one and only chance where you can have a bit of say about your post-BMT life during NS. I am sure there are more people who opted yes than those who chose no.

So, the question is, what makes being a commander so appealing and why are there still some like myself who declined the offer. First of all, what does being a commander mean?

To me, being a commander means being someone who is responsible for the well being of those who are under his charge. A commander doesn't have to possess leadership skills like what SAF always emphasizes on. Everyone has leadership skills and will display them whenever there is a need to.

Some purposely display it frequently but unnaturally during their BMT in an attempt to make sure that they gain a ticket to command school. In fact, it is just the frequency in which they display their leadership skills which make them outstanding.

I think that a potential commander should be assessed on his character, followed by his intelligence. Oh, and do note that those who like to oppose and feign are the unpolished diamonds. They make use of their brains only on the wrong things but at least they have the ability to use it for a purpose.

Anyway, after saying so much and feeling a bit bored, I shall end here abruptly. TO those who aim to be specialists (or sergeants) because you want a "higher" rank but don't want be an officer as life there is too tough, I urge you think twice, nah it's too late anyway.

Yes, you may look powerful in front of your men during your NS after completing your SCS but what about the days ahead. Do you think people will still bother to respect you during reservist? Think. Well, that's what I think.

LionsXII vs Kelantan

2012-01-09T18:19:00.000+08:00

I have been a faithful supporter of the national football team since I was young but do pardon me when it comes to this LionsXII team. I admit I do not know much about them except that it is a 100% pure Singaporean squad made up of mostly Malays.

Ok, so I'm here to give some analysis about LionsXII's first game in the Malaysia Super League which would see them welcome defending champions Kelantan at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Wah? It's only the first match and they have to pit against last year's winner? Things do not look favourable for LionsXII after I found out that they only won once by a slender 1:0 in their pre-season matches. What's more, Singapore Pools placed them at over $3 in its odds for winning.

I cannot comment on Kelantan as I know nothing about them except that the food there is heavily influenced by Thai cuisine due to geographical reasons. However, I am sure that they will be strong opponents.

LionsXII will probably go for a 5-man midfield with captain Sharil Ishak as the attacking fulcrum. The lone forward will no doubt be Agu Casmir since the rest of the strikers are either injured or inexperienced.

No choice but to be biased here as I am a loyal Singaporean, a 2:1 win for the Singapore LionsXII will be my bold prediction for tomorrow's game.

Sundramoorthy would be so happy to see this.

2012-01-08T21:17:00.000+08:00

As you can see, I am the odd one out over here. But that doesn't really matter. What matters is the brotherhood we have forged after 4 months of sun, rain, mud and any other nonsense you can think of.

P.S. It was a torture to my nose while standing with them

Passing Out Parade

2012-01-07T22:10:00.000+08:00

Attended the (and supposedly my) BMT graduation parade today. Because of an accident, I ended up sitting in the stands in civilian attire instead of marching on the parade ground donning my military uniform. Well, sitting up there as a spectator was not an easy feat at all. Most of the audience would agree with me.

Although it was barely nine o'clock in the morning, the sun was scorching enough to make people lift up their invitation letters as a white flag to surrender and block the sunlight at the same time. I did exactly the same thing too but only after enduring for twenty minutes.

Honestly, the parade looked a bit playful and not serious. The speed used for the field packs to be placed down was too slow. There were still a couple of movements here and there even after six seconds. I have attended quite a number of rehearsals and my experience tells me that four seconds is adequate.

Anyway, we are only just recruits so it doesn't really matter at all. Oh wait, we are now promoted to the rank of PTE! But still the same pathetic salary.

I can't POP at The Float!

2012-01-06T21:32:00.000+08:00

I am supposed to be participating in a 24km route march right now instead of typing this. You might have guessed it. I am unfit to take part. Why? Well, I injured myself two days ago and it's for real this time.

I was rushing for time to fall in and just lost my balance while running. My body weight landed right on my left foot as I used both my hands to prevent my head from hitting the floor.

The entire process happened so quickly that by the time I looked up, I was hugging my left foot. When I first took out the boot I was wearing, there was a huge swell around the quadratus plantae muscle area, the one which you use to curl your toes.

I could not walk or even stand straight on both legs. In the end, I was wheelchaired by one of my sergeants to the medical centre to consult the MO and underwent ice therapy to heal the damaged tissues in my foot.

I have recovered quite a lot after more than 48 hours as I am able to walk normally although my foot still looks swollen. I wanted to visit the medical centre today to revoke my status and participate in the march and parade but the email reply we got from the MO was a no.

I will still be at the Marina Bay floating platform tomorrow though. However, I will be there as a civilian sitting in the grandstands instead of sweating non-stop on the field. Seems really ironic for somebody like me who has gone through so many rehearsals but can't join in the fun during the real show.

No wonder they say BMT will be a memorable experience. Too many memories for me to remember them all.

5 more days of BMT

2012-01-02T17:51:00.002+08:00

Less than five days to my BMT graduation parade, the next one hundred and ten hours or so will basically be counting down and parade rehearsals for me. We have completed everything that is listed in the course excluding the final route march which amounts to a considerable distance of 24km.

Lately, I have been hearing my people saying that they are going to miss their bunk, friends and the life they led in Tekong. They conclude that they are having mixed feelings because another side of them constantly tells them that army is hell since day one.

Most people who have went through BMT will tell you that living in camp is not hell. Instead, they will tell you that living in the jungle during field camps is hell, the barracks are the mortal world while your home is heaven.

For me, I just did and tried out what I wanted to do as a recruit to ensure that I have a memorable time there. These include cheating (harmlessly), eating and living in not so hygienic conditions, getting punished for unconventional reasons and being a free-of-charge labourer.

The only thing which I regret not doing so far is visiting the medical centre or rather I should say consulting a medical officer there. I have been on status (medically unfit) thrice, all of them was issued by a private practitioner.

That is because I am quite weak at acting sick or injured. Also, I think the MOs there are quite skilled in seeing through their patients' true colours

I hope the last four days will be tranquil and enjoyable. Oh and touch wood, I do not want to visit the medical centre even if it means having a lifetime regret.

Top 10 People of 2011

2011-12-31T22:02:00.005+08:00

I am back! Yes, I am back and so is this blog.

I have stopped blogging for almost four months due to my army enlistment but since basic training is coming to an end in six days and I have more spare time now, I decided to revive this place and have one last post for 2011.

Speaking of which, 2011 has been yet another interesting year for all of us. It's the year which Steve Jobs, Amy Winehouse, Muammar Gaddafi, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong Il and those mosquitoes which I killed died in.

Since it's the last post of the year, I shall end this orbital period of Earth with my annual top 10 people of the year post. Who will make it to the list? Don't waste your time trying to guess, just scroll the page down.

Number 10

Ralph Steinman

A cell biologist from Rockfeller University, Dr. Steinman was one the the two who discovered the immune system's sentinel dendritic cells more than three decades ago.

The scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of and research on dendritic cells and their functions. Unfortunately, Dr. Steinman had passed away three days ago when the Nobel Committee announced its winners.

Although rules state that Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously, the committee still went ahead in having his name in the roll of honours.

Number 9

Amy Chua

Yale University law professor Amy Chua shot to fame when her latest book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, was launched in January.

Chua talks about her efforts in parenting her two daughters. The book was supposed to be a memoir but ended up as a publication which argues why Chinese parents are better than their Western counterparts.

I did read some parts of it earlier in the year and I would say the content of the book is tantalizing enough for me to place her name in this list

Number 8

Girls' Generation

Last year, I ranked them at number two. The reason why this nine-member Korean group has stayed in the list but slipped six places is due to the continuity of the Hallyu wave and their successful breakthrough into the American market.

The Korean and English versions of the music video "The Boys" accumulated 10 million views in Youtube within three days. Needless to say, they have swept the major awards at major music awards events.

Number 7

Yam Ah Mee

Forget about Nicole Seah, Chen Show Mao or Lee Kuan Yew (where is he?) The biggest star of this year's general elections is none other than Returning Officer Yam Ah Mee.

Man, I didn't know that having neatly gelled hair and speaking in a monotonous voice can make one become an overnight celebrity.

Pursuant to section 49, sub-section 7E, paragraph A, I declare Yam Ah Mee as a miracle.

Number 6

Rebecca Black

Justin Bieber tasted what stardom was like at the age of 16, Miss Black also experienced it. The only difference is that she underwent this phase at a much tender age of 14 for negative reasons.

The music video "Friday", fully sponsored by her mum, was her first and feeble attempt at breaking into the entertainment industry. "Friday" is certainly one if not the most hated song for me as well as you.

I know what's in your head now, the chorus of the song replaying like a broken recorder.

Number 5

Tony Tan

Winning by an embarrassing margin of only 0.35% in the Singapore presidential elections, this former deputy prime minister has ended up as the most hated president in the republic's history.

Blame it on those brainwashed senior citizen voters if you want to.

Number 4

Kate Middleton

The Duchess of Cambridge married Prince William in April and all eyes were on how fashionable the girl can be whenever she attends a public event.

TV reporters and newspaper writers vie for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interrogate her and she never fails to live up to her title as Princess.

If Hollywood actresses seem too mundane for the average you, there is always a gem in Britain as an alternative.

Number 3

39.9% of Singaporeans who didn't vote for PAP

I didn't know what picture to post so I decided on a food which most Singaporeans love eating

This group of people chose not to support the ruling party because there have seen the true colours of it and i am not referring to white.

While analysts are quick to describe the general elections as watershed, I suggest that it is just the beginning of the end for the men in white.

Slowly but surely, a change in tide will soon occur in the local political landscape.

Number 2

Japanese People

The 9.0 magnitude Tōhoku earthquake on 11 March caused a myriad of accidents, deaths, damage and inconvenience to the land of the rising sun. However, the disaster failed to dampen the spirits of those who managed to survive.

Orderly and organized, they queued up to collect food rations and receive necessary help from aid organizations. The same cannot be said of Singapore where people of all shapes and sizes elbow each other for anything which is free of charge.

The calmness and positive mindset of the Japanese in such a situation definitely makes them the runner-up in my list.

Number 1

Ok lah, you know that I know that you know who is it
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You!

Congratulations to you for coming in first. You readers are the reason why this blog keeps going so keep it up and continue giving your support!

2011-09-08T20:44:00.002+08:00

I will be back in 2 weeks.

Bye Bye!

2011-09-07T22:02:00.002+08:00

The effects of Hallyu (Korean Wave) has hardly subsided after nearly three years. Since the start of 2009, numerous Korean groups have emerged, particularly female ones. Today, we shall take a look at the music industry of South Korea. Which girl group has what to boast? Who will survive? Who is just a passer-by? Who will outlive the rest?

Oops, this one is AKB48 of Japan.

I don't know the exact number of girl groups singing pop songs in South Korea but it should be no less than 25. After some research, I decided to group them according to ratings. Of course, the ratings are of my own opinions but without being biased (hell, how can I be biased in this kind of thing?)

Those who score a B or above are the ones who will prevail. they started off in the industry before/during the "girl group boom" era which is between early-2009 to mid-2010. Those who received a B- are also popular but struggling to see it increase.

The rest who are below B- still have a long way to go and if they continue to work hard and have a bit more luck, a B+ is still achieveable. This group are also usually those who debut after the "girl group boom" era, hence making it harder for them to survive in the market.

Without further ado, I shall list out the groups which I believe "can make it" or you can say able to survive in the pop scene.

The traditional Big Four of Wonder Girls, Girls' Generation, Kara and 2NE1 are a shoo-in. The remaining ones are After School, Brown Eyed Girls, f(x), 4minute, T-ara and Miss A.

Among the Big Four members, Wonder Girls is arguably the most successful since they are the original singers of "Nobody"-the most famous K-pop song to date. However, relying on only one song is unrealistic and luckily, they didn't do that.

Let's go slightly more in-depth by analysing each of the "can make it" groups.

Wonder Girls: A

The so-called wonderful years for Wonder Girls are nothing but just history. They never really made it big with a studio album or the image and concept they wanted to portray. However, these girls must have been blessed with endless luck to rise to stardom with one song.

Now, that's a feat very few singers in the world can achieve. However, they have yet to fully shed away their image from this song which was released for more than three years. When people think of Wonder Girls, they will usually only think of "Nobody".

"Nobody" has also been over-commercialized due to its popularity in many countries. Therefore, it appears to be seen if Wonder Girls can truly look like a musical group.

Girls' Generation: A

If this 9-member band doesn't deserve an A, then why bother calling them Girls' Generation? Never mind that it took them 18 months since debut to become well-known after releasing "Gee".

Although "Gee" pales in comparison to "Nobody" in terms of popularity, it is the song which propelled Girls' Generation to become one the most successful bands in K-pop.

Without much debate, one can say that SNSD (the band's other name) has replaced Wonder Girls as the leading girl group for more than a year.

It boasts other popular songs like "Tell Me Your Wish" and "Run Devil Run".

Kara: B+

The only group which can pose a challenge to SNSD. Debuting in the same year as the above two, Kara has seen ups and down since then.

The most notable controversy occurred early this year when four out of the five members filed a lawsuit against their agency. The dispute was resolved three months later and all five members teamed up as one again after much deliberation.

But no matter what, there is already a dent on their image and it is not wrong to suspect if their days are numbered in the industry. They deserve an A but internal conflicts made me opt for a B+.

Most successful single was "Mister" along with the butt dance choreography.

2NE1: A

Easily scores an A. Their powerful and heck-care image has won them many supporters. Top it up with electro-pop songs that sound so addictive and you get a an A-class group.

Their strong emphasis on female empowerment, reluctance to flaunt their legs and "un-uniformed" costumes make them stand out of the crowd and at the top.

Will continue to pose a threat to conventional girl groups like SNSD until they finally run out of ideas, something that is highly unlikely to happen.

Most of their songs will sound pleasant if you like the up-tempo, electro-pop genre.

And now, for the B graders. The following groups are good enough to make it to the shore and stay there for good but are also the first to be swept away if a huge wave visits the shore.

After School: B+

Has many members. As of now, there are eight after a few changes. Constant modifying of members will only make the band look messy and disorganized. Never really made it big with any of their songs. But the group name still rings a bell in many heads. "Shampoo" is their most decent piece of work so far.

Brown Eyed Girls: B

One of the oldest girl groups around. 3 out of its 4 members will be 30 this year. They have not release an album for more than two years and look likely to be overtaken by younger counterparts. Most successful single was "Abracadabra" and it looks like their only song.

f(x): B

Hails from the same label (SM Entertainment) as Super Junior and SNSD. Might not have risen to stardom so quickly had it not been "the younger sisters of Korea's two most successful bands". The youngest member, Krystal, happens to be SNSD's Jessica's sister so it is inevitable to think that f(x) relied on their label mates to gain popularity.

They also have a tomboy and a Chinese leader in their 5-woman team to make things a little unique. "Hot Summer" and "Danger" are highly addictive songs.

4minute: B

The first post-90 Korean girl group. None of the five members are older than 21. Their style are something in between 2NE1 and f(x) but with a 100% Korean ensemble.

Started off with a bang with hits like "Hot Issue" and "Muzik" and portraying a powerful image. Has seen subsided after a couple of years. Their musical style has become blurred somehow.

T-ara: B+

Do not mistake it as Kara or its label mate. Both ara-s are of different agencies. One of their members, Soyeon, used to be a SM Entertainment trainee and was poised to become part of SNSD but nothing materialized eventually.

Their most famous and only song of note, "Bo Peep Bo Peep", took the pop scene by storm since its launch. Ironically, their youngest member, Jiyeon, turns out to be the face and representative of the group. This 7-girl team is still quite a strong force till to date.

Miss A: B

They could have gotten a B+ but B looks more suitable at the moment. Made up of two Koreans and two Chinese, Miss A is not exactly a K-pop band. Being label mates with Wonder Girls hardly affected them at all as they portray an independent image of the latter.

Their debut single "Bad Girl Good Girl" is still their only song of note to date. Miss A is still a long way from getting an A.

Secret: B?

I would like to include Secret here because they are like sort of stuck in the middle. Still stranded in the sea but very near to the shore, hands not long enough to reach the fringe.

Their extremely successful single, "Magic" propelled the four girls to instant stardom. After that, things started to return back to square. Maybe After School or T-ara can loan them a member?

Other groups like Sistar, Rainbow, Dal★Shabet, Jewelry, 5dolls and SeeYa still linger around the B- to C area. Anything below C- equals out in my opinion.

Anyway, in the long run, I foresee the K-pop girl group battle to be between the conservatives and liberals. Conservatives refer to SNSD while the liberals are 2NE1. Do you agree with me?

Which slogan will outlive the other? "Right now, it's Girls' Generation!" or "What's up, we 2NE1!"

Oh anybody still remember Baby V.O.X and Fin.K.L? What's with all those . . . in the names of these once-famous-now-defunct bands?

September 11 attacks 10th anniversary

2011-09-06T11:45:00.001+08:00

Then and Now

A decade ago, New York suffered one of the most infamous terrorist attacks of the century as Al-Qaeda extremists crashed aeroplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon aka US Department of Defense headquarters.

Ten years on, the man who was responsible for the suicide attacks no longer exists on earth. It was not until four months ago that Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by special operations forces of the United States.

To all the victims of the September 11 attacks, rest in peace. Justice will always prevail.

finland education

2011-09-05T15:11:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, I was reading an article in Lianhe Zaobao which is an interview with distinguished education sciences professor, Pasi Sahlberg. Professor Sahlberg is from Finland and the interview discusses about his country's education system.

Unlike the Singaporean model where competitiveness and results are the norm, the Finnish education system adopts an egalitarian approach. In the article, Prof. Sahlberg mentioned that it is against the law to give ratings or marks as an assessment for a student before he/she reaches primary six.

Since the last four decades, Finland has thoroughly revamped its school system by abolishing ratings and standardizations of examinations both in and out of schools. In short, the Finnish do not believe in examinations.

In the entire 12 years of basic (9) and tertiary (3) education, the sole examination which the Finnish student has to take is the one which he/she requires for admission to universities.

According to what I researched as it was not stated in the article, those entrance exams are usually not the typical loads of MCQs which is commonly used by Singapore schools. They comprise of longer and more complex questions that go beyond just testing a person's memorization skills.

In one paragraph, Prof. Sahlberg puts it rather bluntly but honestly by saying "our teachers do not teach because of exams, students do not learn because of exams."

The absence of assessment, streamings and competition, however, did not lower the quality of education in Finland. Prof. Sahlberg thinks that teamwork is more crucial than competition. Also, one should not learn how to compete via competition but through teamwork.

Although, the Finnish education system differs from the majority, it is still at the forefront in maths, science and reading ability at the triannual PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) for the past decade.

For years, the myth that Singapore's education system is "good" has been moulded into a fact by many. However, they might have to think twice when using its Finnish counterpart as a reference.

Like what Dr Chee Soon Juan wrote in his letter to Barack Obama in 2008 "If you squeeze an apple hard enough, you will extract some juice. Its the crushed pulp that we mourn over."

The joy of learning has certainly deteriorated or even ceased to exist in our school students nowadays because of the good old education system we trust in.

35% equals pass

2011-09-03T21:44:00.000+08:00

This is quite hilarious. I wonder if school students will be influenced by our new head of state.

h&m

2011-09-02T21:17:00.003+08:00

Taken from www.hm.com.sg

Fashionistas and the fashion-obsessed in Singapore will certainly know what 3rd September means for the local fashion scene. If you are one of them, you should have guessed it by now. Swedish retail-clothing company H&M is poised to open its first shop here tomorrow.

H&M or better known as Hennes & Mauritz is perhaps the largest high-street retail-clothing chain to open in Singapore since the arrival of Japan's Uniqlo. The shop in Orchard Road happens to be H&M's first opening in Southeast Asia.

The company is known for its collaborations with designers like Stella McCartney and Roberto Cavalli. It is also regarded as one who offers fast-fashion apparel. However, the main thing has got to be the word "high-street" which it is described as.

High-street, in my opinion, equates to quality products at prices affordable to the masses. That means you can own a piece of quality clothing that is comparable to branded ones at a more affordable figure.

In terms of "concept", Uniqlo and H&M are very much the same. Excluding the country which they hail from, the differing factor between the two are that Uniqlo goes for high-street casual while H&M opts for a high-street chic approach.

I foresee the addition of H&M to Singapore's fashion sphere to be a total success, if not, redefine the trends and choices of the industry here.

Well, you can call it a revolution or maybe a liberation to inject more democracy into the local fashion landscape.

If it caused a flurry in Japan, a place already full of fashion outlets, I don't see why it can't spark off a new wave of H&M-ism here when it starts operations tomorrow?

ten facts

2011-09-01T20:44:00.000+08:00

Please take a minute to read this

I know ten facts about you and I shall list them here

1. You are reading this now

2.You are realizing that is a stupid fact

4.you didn't notice I skipped three.

5 You're checking now

6. You're smiling

7.You are still reading my comment

9 You didn't realize I skipped eight

10. You're checking again and smiling about how you fell for it again.

11. You are enjoying this

12. You didnt realize there are only supposed to be ten facts.

black rice

2011-08-30T21:16:00.000+08:00

Today, I would like to share with you some information regarding food and health or you can say it's a fusion of both of them. In short, I would like to recommend this super food to you.

Once upon a time, you heard how good and nutritious brown rice was and why people are choosing it over the ubiquitous white ones. Now, meet black rice, the cousin of brown rice, which is even more powerful.

Actually, black rice is really just brown rice with a different pigment. The main thing is the bran. When uncooked, it is purplish in colour but looks dark enough to be classified as black.

If you agree that blueberries are costly and want a cheaper alternative as a source for anti-oxidants, why not try some black rice? (Please continue to eat fruits too for more vitamin C)

Black rice has more anti-oxidants, fiber, Vitamin E yet contains less sugar and costs less as well. It is also a good source of iron and amino acids.

If you would like to check it out and cook some, do take note that the rice cooker you utilize for your usual white rice may not work well with these dark-coloured grains. The same applies to brown rice as well.

This is because, unlike white rice, the husks of brown and black rice are intact so it is necessary for them to be cooked for a longer duration. A simple solution to this problem is to soak the rice in water for about one hour before cooking.

Do give it a try and give your health a boost!

tony tan list of nicknames

2011-08-29T20:58:00.003+08:00

So two expected events happened over the weekend in an unexpected manner. PAP-endorsed man Tony Tan won the presidential election by a pathetic 0.34% votes while Manchester United humiliated Arsenal 8:2 in a one-sided match.

I will only be talking about the first event since countless of arrogant supporters of the Red Devils have mentioned about their win.

I shall list a number of nicknames and tags for my country's new head of state. See? I am so concerned about him.

1. Most-disliked president in history

2. Unglamorous winner of the 2011 presidential election

3. A president with only 35% of the people supporting him

4. Someone having cosy ties with the ruling party

5. Good friend and watchdog of Harry you-know-who

6. Unifying figure according to himself

7. Dividing up Singaporeans in reality

8. Set to be Nathan No.2

9. The difference only lies in their races, languages and religions.

10. Brings (less) confidence for the future.

11. An agony when seeing and hearing speak Mandarin on TV

12. Speaks Mandarin with random pauses and funny eye expressions

13. Undisputed person do endorse Brylcreem.

14. Reason why thick black spectacles never go out of fashion

15. Supporter of the PAP's ultra-flawed foreign talent policy

16. Makes our CPF money look suspicious with him around

17. Unproven to be clearly independent of the government

18. Doesn't seem likely to prove it during his 6-year term

19. Just a PAP puppet

20. Will only last as a one-term president

2011-08-26T13:54:00.003+08:00

Alright, this may sounds weird to you but Libyan rebels who crashed their way into Muammar "most stupid leader of Libya" Gaddafi's residence discovered a photo album containing pictures of former US Secetary of State Condoleeza Rice.

It may not sound surprising to you if you happen to know that Gaddafi used to speak highly of Dr Rice during his reign.

In 2007, during a television interview, Gadaffi said stuff like "I support my darling black African woman" and "Leezza, Leezza, Leezza..I love her very much, I admire her.."

Fast forward to 2008 and Dr Rice made a trip to Libya, a milestone in American history, where she she met her so-called Libyan fan. Gaddafi even invited the US official to his home for a meal.

The Libyan leader also presented gifts to his visitor amounting to more than 200,000 USD although the latter is prohibited from accepting gifts according to rules.

Ironically, it seems that ties between America and Libya started to strain again ever since the US changed governments during the start of 2009. Rice might have been the healing pill had she remained as the in-charge of her country's foreign affairs.

2011-08-24T20:21:00.000+08:00

I am planning to join this contest. No, I mean I have decided to join this contest. It is one where participants submit their own stories and compete who has the best one. I already have a few sets of them in my mind which have been floating around for quite some time. The ideas are in my brain just that I never really transformed them into words with my hands.

I do have a problem though. The story which I believe is the best of all is too lengthy to be used for a storywriting competition. The worst part is I haven't penned down the details yet. I think I am more of the type who is better at twisting and turning story lines instead of writing them from scratch.

Anyway, you would need a Twitter account to follow Channel 8 on the microblogging site and I can hardly recall what is my password after isolating it for almost a year (actually it is two but I remember I did login once during last year for fun).

Do you have an exceptional story to share? Do take part in this contest too and see if yours can beat mine!

PE 2011 FAQs

2011-08-21T21:43:00.006+08:00

Are unsure about what the upcoming presidential election is all about? Or are you unable to explain the differences between it and the general elections? (Darn, they are actually almost alike just that it's a one-man show now)

Fret not because I, as always, have been kind, gentle and helpful to people so I decided to come up with some FAQs about this electoral battle. However, do take note that information on this blog have not always been factual and sometimes ridiculous.

You might need to read this if you want to act like you know a lot to impress your friends.

Why are the surnames of the four candidates all Tan?

Tan is most common family name in Singapore. Therefore, there is a high chance that someone with that surname might contest in an election. It is just a coincidence that the four presidential hopefuls share the same surname.

Moreover, there isn't a single Tan in the Cabinet (current ministers) but there are two powerful Lees in the parliament(although one has stepped down). So maybe the Tans think that it's time for them do make their ancestors be proud of them.

So confident that we can afford to be upside down!

Why is Tony Tan's logo a pair of spectacles? Shouldn't it be a lightning?

Tony Tan has quit the PAP and the election which he is participating now is the presidential one. It is above politics and nonpartisan.

Then why did he choose spectacles?

The Presidential Elections Committee did not allow contact lenses or sunglasses as an election symbol.

The slogan looks more suitable for the general elections

Why did Tan Kin Lian choose hi-5 as his trademark in his campaign?

Shaking hands can be tiring if you do it non-stop for nine straight days. It may also hurt your wrist if you overdo it. Hi-5-ing people is a more practical way to engage voters and you can do it easily with both left and right handed people.

Alright, I know, you know. He might have watched the popular kids show, Hi-5, the night before and came up with this splendid idea.

Don't worry my wife, you're still and always No. 1

How the heck did Tan Cheng Bock get confidential information like our addresses to mail out brochures to every single household in the country?

According to electoral rules, the names and addresses of voters were made available in the form of CDs to the candidates.

However, environmental activists will probably not vote for this guy since they see this as a waste of paper.

What about the liver, kidneys and intestines?

Why is Tan Jee Say so eager to take part in another election after losing one during the general elections in May?

Well, he wants to give Singaporeans a choice and he will be a non-PAP president who has never been affiliated with the ruling party in his entire life.

On second thought, it might be more believable to say that he is an opportunist who is out to seek revenge and making use of this chance to be a rebel against the PAP. Quoting the title of a Lady Gaga song, "Born This Way".

If you type his name in Youtube to search, this is the first video at the top of the results page

Is Tony Tan the man who has the highest chance of winning?

If you are talking about winning over the PAP, some unions, CCIs (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and a bunch of Teochew clan associations, then he is certainly the undisputed champion.

If you are talking about winning the votes of the people, then I would say it is a 50-50 probability. In my opinion, 3 out of 10 Singaporeans will choose him. It is how the votes are split among the remaining 7 to determine if Tony will be victorious.

A bonus answer to this question for you. The ones who are likely to be the three who will mark a cross beside Tony Tan's face on their ballot slips are an elderly couple and someone who works as a civil servant.

Skip to 1:28 to listen to the Tamil version

Tan Kin Lian spoke about the flaws of his rivals. Does that mean that he is the flawless Tan?

Definitely not! Well, you see, no one is perfect but Kin Lian is really the "least-flawed" candidate. He is multi-lingual as seen on Nomination Day where he used 4 languages in his speech. Damn it, even Lee Hsien Loong only used 3 for his National Day Rally.

He claims that he is truly neutral and independent. He has never contested in a general election hence, can act independently of all political parties.

He forgot to clarify why did he not contest in an election when he was still a PAP member. Maybe because he was not yet "polished" to be sent to the battleground? If one fails to even make the cut to be an MP, how to be President?

I apologize if you are not a Teochew Nang

Does Tan Cheng Bock have adequate financial experience to fulfil the role of safeguarding the reserves?

Cheng Bock studies medicine and is a physician by practice. He is also a non-executive chairman of a company and is not directly involved in the management.

Unlike, the other three Tans, Cheng Bock does not possess much experience in finance. Honestly, we can say that he is the one with the least experience. But who knows? He might be a thrifty man who knows what/where to shop for good lobangs. Might have to ask his wife about this.

All you fans of Little Nyonya Nicole, your idol has spoken

Tan Jee Say mentioned that, if elected, he will provide checks and balances on the government. Does that mean that he will be constantly finding fault with PM Lee and co.?

Judging from his political background where he contested in the general elections in May as a Singapore Democratic Party candidate (and failed to win!), there is a high possibility of him clashing with the ruling party.

The heated exchange of him with PAP-endorsed candidate Tony Tan at a forum hosted by The Online Citizen is just a trailer of what we expect to see of him when he becomes president.

PM Lee and his ministers will most probably not vote for this man unless they want to have more headaches in their work.

Special Question

Tony Tan, Tan Kin Lian and Tan Jee Say should eat lots of apples during their campaign.

Why? What about Dr. Tan Cheng Bock?

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

One final video to suan all the Tans and make myself look independent and objective

That's the end of my FAQ segment, I hope it quelled some of your doubts and not increased them after reading. Thanks for reading!

Face to face 2

2011-08-20T20:52:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, if you have about an hour to spare, why not click the play button and check out this uncut and unedited video about the four presidential hopefuls taking part in a forum organized by The Online Citizen. Part 2 is yet to be released.

PE 2011

2011-08-18T21:07:00.001+08:00

So, Nomination Day was yesterday and it is confirmed that the upcoming presidential election will be a four-cornered fight consisting of four men by the surname of Tan. However, other than having the same surname, they differ from each other in a myriad of ways.

Today, I shall give you my own analysis on Singapore's first presidential election in 18 years.

***

Disclaimer: This post was written without doing any research beforehand. It only represents the writer's point of view and impression of the candidates. Hence, readers should not take offence should they find it displeasing. However, the writer would like to assure all that he did exercise caution before penning his thoughts.

***

Below is a humble self-drawn diagram by myself about the ideologies of the four gentlemen vying to be the head of state of my country.

As you can see, the diagram is divided into four parts, liberal/conservative for top/bottom and capitalist/socialist for right/left. However, I have added some extra diagonal ones in between the vertical and horizontal lines for a more detailed approach.

If you are eagle-eyed, you should have, by now, noticed that one name sits in a different region from the rest. That is "JEE SAY" (Tan Jee Say).

I placed Tan Jee Say on the right (capitalist) because of his emphasis on the economy in his campaign. Moreover, he has a rich background in economics having studied and worked in that field.

Tan Jee Say is the only one who should be in the vicinity of the liberal area as he is the only one who is truly independent of the ruling party.

Like Jee Say, Tony Tan opts for a more "glam" approach in his campaign. He also speaks about the economy and portrays more of a capitalist than being interventionist for social reasons.

However, the difference between Jee Say and Tony lies in their political backgrounds. There is still a very conspicuous white shadow wherever Tony Tan is at, if you catch what I mean.

Due to his cosy ties with the ruling party, it is inevitable that Tony will be perceived as biased no matter how independent he proclaims himself to be.

Likewise, Dr. Tan Cheng Bock, situated at the opposite end on the left, is also a conservative after being a PAP member for decades.

However, he differs from being a liberal left-winger (top-left quadrant) as he believes in striving for the greater good or rather interest of the majority. Just like his campaigning where he talks about promoting mulitracialism and bonding Singaporeans together.

Cheng Bock is also not similar to Tony as he is always prepared to "interfere" when there is a need to. Just like the days when he used to be a Member of Parliament before quitting in 2006.

Lastly, it is Tan Kin Lian. Honestly, I do not know much of him except that he used to be the CEO of a life insurance company whose name is also that of Singapore's most popular supermarket.

I decided to label him as communitarian due to him having the moral courage to be the voice of the common man. (He looks too common anyway). He might be popular among the grassroots but winning the pro-establishment votes may seem to be a bit difficult.

That's all, thank you for your time. Please vote wisely on Polling Day.

napfa test

2011-08-14T15:59:00.003+08:00

Oh man, time flies like a spaceship. My Napfa test is finally around the corner. It is either make or break, do or die and pass or fail for me this coming Wednesday morning.

I still have no idea whether am I able to pass the sit and reach exercise since I can't find a place that has that "thing" to practise with. Also, standing broad jump used to my trump card during the days when I wear uniforms to school. Now, it is sort of a hindrance and headache.

Ironically, pull-up and 2.4 km run, the two test items which I used to fail in are now the two which I am quite confident of passing. Sit-up shouldn't be an issue since I practise it frequently.

As for the shuttle run, I believe I just have to sprint like there are ten tigers chasing me from behind when taking the test.

Anyway, the main objective of today's post is to share my thoughts about this physical fitness test.

Firstly, I do not understand why must it commence at 7.30 in the morning? What's more, it is held at Toa Payoh stadium. A thousand and one stone throws away from my home. That means I have got to leave my house by 6.30 am.

I think it should begin one hour later at 8.30 or even 9. This is to provide convenience to participants who do not live near the area.

Secondly, the sit and reach exercise should be scrapped. It is not a test of one's core muscles or the flexibility of our bodies. In fact, it is an unfair test since everyone, regardless of your height, start from the same position.

It is easier for shorter people like erm, myself to pass this station since our legs are not long. Whereas taller people will be at a disadvantage as their knees are further away from their body.

Thirdly, the passing range for pull-up should be lowered as too many people since a long long time ago have difficulties overcoming this obstacle. For D grade, one has to accomplish at least five within half a minute. I reckon that it should be reduced to four.

Lastly, failing one station should not be equivalent to failing the entire fitness assessment. A big and sturdy person may score well in pull-up and sit-up but fail marginally in the shuttle run segment should not be labelled as unfit enough.

He has a high volume of muscle mass which constitutes to him having a low centre of gravity. Since shuttle run is a test of agility, he may have problems as plyometric movements are part of the exercise. So, he doesn't deserve an overall fail just because his body mass, not his muscles or energy system, failed him at one station.

If someone fails only one out of the six stations, he should be allowed to retake it again within a certain period of time, example two weeks. This is to be fair and understand that a person may just need more intensified training to pass a certain exercise.

Get a skinny marathoner from Africa and ask him to lift huge amounts of weights, chances are he will not be able to accomplish the task. However, his cardiovascular fitness cannot be doubted since he beats everyone else in a running competition.

Everyone is different and nobody can be perfect. Perhaps, Mindef can be more liberal in the way they assess the fitness of pre-enlistees?

Presidential election preview

2011-08-12T11:39:00.002+08:00

As most of us know, the upcoming Presidential Election will likely be a four-cornered fight. Four men coincidentally by the surname of Tan will battle for the right to be Singapore's head of state in a fortnight.

The four Presidential hopefuls are (clockwise from top left): Tan Kin Lian, effective only at grassroots level but doubful in representing the country on the international front.

Tan Jee Say, former top civil servant who lost in the General Elections in May and wants to take revenge by making a comeback.

Dr Tony Tan, the most famous Tan among the four eligible candidates, who is also closely linked to the men in white and heavily endorsed by the latter.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock, the former MP who constantly disagreed with his party's ministers and policies but shockingly still chose to remain in that party after many years.

The two crossed-out faces are Andrew Kuan and Ooi Boon Ewe. Both of them tried their luck in the previous contest in 2005 but were disqualified. Being naturally thick-skined President wannabes, they decide to try again.

The Presidential Elections Committee is not that dumb to contradict itself by issuing that two monkeys a certificate of eligibility this time. By the way, Mr Ooi is a private tutor and doesn't hold high posts in an organization in his life before. What?

Since people say that the Presidential Election should not be politicized and the President is above politics. I chose not to state any political parties in this entire post.

However, I will do so when I give a more detailed analysis of the four eligible candidates in an upcoming post somewhere near Polling Day which falls on 17 August.

ostrich

2011-08-11T20:13:00.002+08:00

Check this out! Watching the first 45 seconds already made me hungry.

LFC greets singapore

2011-08-09T20:25:00.001+08:00

Wow, this is so cool. The official Liverpool FC fan page actually wished Singaporean supporters happy national day! Needlessly, those who commented were mostly Singaporeans who seemed to be super elated by this greeting. I wonder if Liverpool is hinting that they are planning to employ some Singaporean staff for the club.

Allow me to do some recommendations. How about Izwan Mahbud as your reserve goalkeeper and understudy to Jose Reina? Oh, and a certain young gentleman named Raymond can be understudy to Kenny Dalglish as well.

Singapore boring?

2011-08-07T21:56:00.001+08:00

For this year's National Day special post, I shall drift away from being historical and political. Instead, I find it imperative to inject some fun into this post to celebrate my country's 46th birthday.

Singapore has come a long way and still has a long way to go. From a fresh and innocent girl to an auntie now, many things about her has changed. These include the infrastructure, environment, economy and even the amount of foreigners living here.

However, one the few things that has not changed is the "boring" tag used to describe the Lion City. Is Singapore really that bloody boring or is that just a myth started by Westerners and some bored Singaporeans?

Let's analyse to see which are genuine boring stuff and which are stuff worth wasting your time to do in this small little city-state.

Going to the Istana: Boring

Oh come on, should be a cool thing right? Neh, the gates are only open to the public on some public holidays. Otherwise, on any other day, you would see two guards immobilized in a rusok-senja-ta position facing each other while walking past the gates.

The only thing that people can legally do there is photographing. Chances are you might get arrested for wearing an opposition party outfit even if you are just strolling on your own in the Istana.

Going to Sentosa: Not Boring

Sentosa used to stand for So Expensive and Nothing TO See Actually. As for now, we can add an "Almost" in front of the "Nothing". It's still the Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong beaches and none of them look like a world-class beach.

But with the launch of Resorts World Sentosa, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for the Singapore Tourism Board after all. I shall go straight to the main point and point out the iFly Singapore.

This indoor skydiving wind tunnel lets cowards like you fulfil your dreams of parachuting minus the clouds. Anyone who is seven years of age and above are eligible to take the plunge. Man, even George Yeo tried it out to kill time after losing the General Elections!

Take the Singapore Flyer: Boring

The biggest observation wheel on earth doesn't equate to giving you the biggest satisfaction in the world after paying almost thirty bucks for a ride.

It encountered at least four breakdowns since its launch in 2008 with the most notable one in December that year where 173 passengers had to hold their bladders for six hours.

What do get to enjoy for thirty bucks? I have not checked it out yet but with my geographical knowledge about the Marina Bay area, you would most likely be seeing cars on expressways, blocks of flats and some greenery.

Nightlife: Not Boring, hell no

Like fellow Asian cities, Hong Kong, Seoul and Bangkok, Singapore has a vibrant nightlife with a myriad of nightspots to choose from.

Although you tend to hear your friends mention clubbing at St. James, Zouk, Butter Factory or shisha at Arab Street, there are still outrageous amounts of places which ask you the question "Why sleep?". If everywhere else is full house, there's still the Night Safari.

And can you believe it? None of the places mentioned above have been visited by me before. I am really a boring person.

Reading newspapers: Boring, except for the entertainment section

With only one printed media company which is closely linked to the government, you can easily predict what sort of news would appear in the front pages and what will be censored completely.

In fact, reading newspapers is more like reading newsletters in Singapore. No wonder, Gen X and Y have turned to the Internet for good during their spare time.

Speaker's Corner: Boring ring...

This free speech area does not differ from your void deck other than standing on grass instead of cement. It falls other three legislative acts, Public Order 2009, Public Entertainments and Meetings and Parks and Trees Regulations.

The first one bans the making of demonstrations publicly anywhere in the country even if it is only one damn person. The second states that only "approved" places can be used for "speaking".

As for the last one, I do not study law so I do not comprehend why must trees get involved in this.

Counting the number of PRCs you saw when outside: Not Boring

If you take the MRT, shop in the heartlands or go to Chinatown, you will most probably be counting one more every thirty seconds.
This is bound to keep you entertained throughout your train ride in case the battery of your smartphone runs low or there's nothing worth buying at the shops.

If that fails to prevent you from being bored, why not calculate the number of Filipinos, Burmese or Vietnamese you encountered to see who is the champion? That is provided if you can differentiate their li-an-goo-eech first.

Lunch at the hawker centre: Boring

This may sound debatable but hang on, let me state my reasons for labelling it as boring first.

It's lunch time, your stomach is protesting and all the tables are occupied by either plates of food or tissue papers. Your colleagues try to look for an empty table to no avail. Your mind starts telling you to go somewhere else when a hand waves at you.

An auntie from a drink stall signals for you and your colleagues to approach her while gesturing that there's an available spot. The moment your butt touches the seat, the auntie will be asking what drinks would you people like.

Then slowly but reluctantly, one by one, each of you will say the name of a beverage and most of times, you will have to repeat it as the auntie is erm, an auntie.

In the end, you would either settle for vegetarian bee hoon (and console yourself that it's good not to eat meat) or the chicken rice stall which hardly attracts more than two customers at a time.

That's what makes it boring to dine in hawker centres when the sun is at its highest.

Reading this blog: Not at all

I hope this post wasn't that boring after all. How can a blog written by me be considered boring? Ok maybe it is, but if so, then why are you still reading it?

Fair increase

2011-08-05T13:09:00.001+08:00

Without a single doubt, the Public Transport Council (PTC) has granted approval a 1 percent increase to bus and train fares.

The good news of this bad news is that the amount of the raise is less than half of the 2.8 percent proposed by SBS Transit and SMRT. The 1 percent increase is equivalent to an additional two cents per trip for adults.

Those who opt to pay via cash will need to fork out an extra ten cents per journey. That is definitely a whole lot more.

It is reported in the news that 85 percent of commuters are affected by this fare increase. Well, they can put the blame on the 60.1 percent who marked a cross beside a lightning during the May elections.

Fares keep going up and up while service standards continue to deteriorate, Does this sound logical at all?

Please vote wisely for the upcoming Presidential Election (provided if there is more than one eligible candidate). It is our final chance to save ourselves and this country

IE low iq

2011-08-03T19:13:00.000+08:00

According to a research by consulting firm AptiQuant, users of Microsoft Internet Explorer browser have an average IQ lower than those who use Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and even Apple's Safari.

Aptiquant apparently gave free online IQ tests to 100000 people before plotting the scores against the browser on which the tests were taken.

Firefox, Chrome and Safari users achieved a slightly higher than average result of over 100. It is pleasantly surprising to know that the smartest lot (over 120) were those who surfed with the old-school Opera and unknown Camino browsers.

Since the report was published, Internet Explorer fans have made no secret of their anger at it. Some have even threatened to pursue legal action.

Within the group of Internet Explorer users, those using version six attained the lowest scores while users of version 8 fared better according to BBC News.

Well, this test is somehow true in the sense that IE 6 users are too dumb to upgrade. Or you can say too dumb to switch to using a different browser.

On the fringe

2011-08-02T20:46:00.000+08:00

On will be the first Mediacorp Channel 8 drama which I will be following this year. Yes, I have not watched one for like for than half a year. So much so for being a patriotic fan of local productions. The last drama which disciplined me to sit in front of the television every night was Breakout - the show which had a number of erratic and abnormal characters.

None of the Channel 8 serials aired this year caught my attention or managed to made me continue watching it after having viewing half of the first episode. I almost wanted to watch CLIF but after watching the debut episode, I knew that it's gonna be a Fail show. The police don't even wear gloves when searching a suspect's house?

The main reason why I decided to watch On The Fringe is to show my support for Li Nanxing. He has been my favourite local actor ever since my primary school days. Furthermore, with arguably the most successful Singapore-born actress Fann Wong and reigning Best Actress award winner Rui En in the cast, this show should be worth watching.

It would have been a perfect production if I were the one to play the role of Li Nanxing's son. Haha, just kidding, my image how can act as gangster? I look more like some wealthy boy from the social class right?

Home

2011-07-31T21:12:00.001+08:00

Forget about Kit Chan being the original singer of it, JJ Lin re-singing it unpleasantly as a rap five years later or even the failed attempt by a whole lot of attention-seeking Singaporean celebs (though some of them are unknown to me) singing it for this year's Total Defence campaign.

The ever-popular and only song that Kit Chan relies on to gain a bit of spotlight here is back again, but with a spoof and loads of parodies this time. Chua Enlai as the main character in the video more than enough sums up what kind of entertainment you are about to enjoy upon clicking the play button.

This is what you call genuine creativity from a dull and boring place called Singapore. Kit Chan, as a veteran in the entertainment industry, should understand the phrase "withdraw when it's enough". "Home" has been a hit among the young and elderly but re-singing it again and again with the same style will only make it more and more tasteless.

Oh and before I forget, how the heck did they manage to find someone who resembles Tin Pei Ling so much to act as that unpopular woman in white?

IamSingaporean

2011-07-30T21:30:00.000+08:00

Don't play play hor, every Singaporean (and I don't mean PRs) ought to check out this website, www.iamsingaporean.com. In conjunction with the upcoming National Day where Singapore will celebrate its 46th birthday, this website was launched to celebrate the uniquess of being a Singaporean.

All you have to do is to connect your Facebook with this website and the latter's programme to search your profile on the social networking site for proof of Singaporean-ness like using Singlish words and complaining just about anything. The number of times you checked in at a hawker centre will also be totalled as the amount of "chopes" you ever made.

I am 81% Singaporean. Quite a decent result but I think I deserve to score at least a 90.

Singapore vs malaysia

2011-07-27T17:13:00.003+08:00

What a bunch of losers! Balek kampong lah!

Singapore and Malaysia will face each other again in the second leg of their second round World Cup qualifier tomorrow at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. In case you don't know, the Malaysians were humiliated 3-5 by Singapore during the first leg last Saturday.

Oh, and what bad losers were they with the Tigers' captain Safiq Rahim claiming that Singapore is noting without their foreign imports. Coincidentally, all the five goals scored by the Lions in the first leg were from naturalized players while Safiq is banned for the second leg due to a red card.

Maybe it is because that he won't get the chance to compete with players who are better than him that prompted Safiq to make such comments. It is certainly true that the Malaysian team as well as the Malaysians who supported them are sore losers.

If you lose a match, you can blame it on the referee, weather or even yourself but never your opponent. Your opponent is there for you to beat but if you fail to take the chance, then don't put the blame of him/her.

Seriously, if Malaysia was really that good, they would be able to win any team with players of any nationality. The fact that foreigners chose to take up citizenship in a tiny country compared to one that is 476 times larger than it explains the difference between the two.

Moreover, the Malaysian defence cannot even stop a 41-year old striker called Aleksandar Duric in the first leg. How are they going to fare when playing with younger opponents who have more agility and energy to boast?

Of course, Singapore is not going to have it comfortable despite having a two-goal advantage. The Bukit Jalil Stadium will be a living hell for the Lions with 80000 Malaysian bad losers cheering on their team.

Singapore's main problem for the upcoming match is the right-back position as Ismail Yunos is suspended after copycat-ing Safiq Rahim by collecting a red card in the same match.

Isa Halim looks set to be the replacement although there is also a possibility that Juma'at Jantan will be shifted from left-back to cover that position with Shaiful Esah taking over the former's role.

Either way, Singapore will still go on to advance into the third round hence making Malaysians aka ultra sore losers (the word "Ultra" is what Malaysia fans call themselves) hate their Causeway neighbours even more.

My prediction? A 1-1 draw where Singapore either score from a penalty or rely on some stupid goal. Most probably netted by a naturalized player.

top 50 most delicious food

2011-07-26T13:05:00.002+08:00

Taken from insing.com

Recently, Cable News Network or better known as CNN cooked up a list of the 50 most delicious foods on earth after its reporters scoured the planet, as claimed by them. Without even looking at the list, one can conclude that it is just an opinionated thing.

Anyway, I have decided to give my own opinion on this. However, before doing that, I would like to let you know that Singapore's name appeared not once but twice on the list. Sadly, the two Singapore delicacies, chilli crab and chicken rice, settled at a modest 35th and 45th place respectively.

The controversial champion was Thailand's massaman curry, an ubiquitous food that can be bought at almost every street in the country. Number two was another humble dish that consists of a few ingredients called neapolitan pizza from Italy.

Filling up third to fifth place were chocolate that came from Mexico, Japan's iconic food, sushi and China's popular Peking duck.

In my opinion, some of the questionable food which made it to the list include hamburger of Germany (No. 6), donuts in America (No. 14), egg tarts from Hong Kong (No. 16) and erm ketchup (America) which managed to attain 39th place?

The real taste of hamburgers have been blurred after being over-commercialized and too common in every country excluding North Korea. Also, when CNN mention hamburger from Germany, are they referring to the ones cooked in Hamsburg where the food originated from?

Donuts hailing from the United States is another vague one. Who the heck understands what kind of donut is it? Oh, and why must it only be from America? I believe those made in Bangladesh will be equally tasty.

Hong Kong's egg tarts are certainly a decent piece edible material but it is of utmost disrespect and a total insult to Portugal that the latter's one is not featured at all. Authentic Portuguese egg tarts are a class above the rest. Just like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ketchup can also make it? Then what about sambal chilli, kimchi, peanut butter or ikan billis? I guess I need not elaborate on this unless you are a great fan of tomato sauce.

If fast food is included, I bet KFC's deep fried chicken will be the only one that can garner a spot on the list. McDonald's french fries might be unforgettable to most people but not good enough to be listed within the top 50.

Actually, I think that fish head bee hoon should be included. Chinese people from other parts of the world like Taiwan and even ang mohs adore this delicacy a lot due to the velvety texture of its carefully-bolied soup.

After writing all the above paragraphs, I am feeling hungry now and I mean very. Here comes my "Out to Lunch" tag.

A Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health

2011-07-25T15:44:00.000+08:00

Was reading an article about how to eat well and save the earth at the same time during noon. It is about this book titled "A Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health".

This 90-page publication draws the line for you between the food that you heck-care-just-eat to satiate your cravings and those where your conscience will be clear and crystal clear after consuming them.

The books emphasized that different kinds of meat and differing health and environmental impacts. Topping the list of carbon polluters is lamb, which amounts approximately 40 kg of carbon dioxide for every kilo consumed.

Taking the runner-up spot is beef which generates about 27 kg per kilo eaten. The book further justified the findings by allowing readers to understand from another perspective.

Enjoying a mere 110-gramme slice of lamb shank is tantamount to driving a mid-sized car for 21 kilometres. The same amount of beef is equivalent to just over half of that distance.

It is also mentioned that Americans eat (much) more meat than most developed countries, with a century of kilos produced annually for every adult man, woman and child.

Coming in third for generating the most greenhouse gases is cheese due to the fact that considerable amounts of milk is required for producing this diary product.

Seeing how critical the writers are of meat consumption, the conclusion of the report shouldn't be too hard to predict. That is, vegetables are virtuous.

But then again, some would argue that eating too little meat or going for a vegetarian diet is not the right way because of a lack of protein and how nutritious can a herbivore meal be? It is a vicious cycle.

amy winehouse death

2011-07-24T20:51:00.001+08:00

British singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home on 23 July 2011. The cause of it is yet to be known. As her death continues to shock celebrities and fans all over world, the media crowded outside her house to pay their respects to a musical talent gone too soon.

Winehouse has only two studio albums to boast in her entire showbiz career. However, one of them sold more than a million copies, won five Grammy awards and was also nominated for Album of the Year.

Her distinctive and unique style like the trademark beehive hairdo which makes her impossible to spot from fifty metres was also what made her stood out from the crowd. Needless to say, her powerful vocals was the main reason why she has propelled to fame.

The 27-year old was also credited to have paved the way for female singers with unconventional styles in the mainstream music industry. One of them who indirectly benefited from Winehouse's presence in showbiz was Lady Gaga.

A clash of talent, success and poor impulse control can be summed up into a name called Amy Winehouse. The singer's problems with drugs and alcohol regularly overshadowed her musical achievements and this self-destruction carried on until the day she rested in peace.

Her death is certainly not the end of a decline that started more than half a decade ago. In fact, her legacy will continue as people will switch to remembering her for positive reasons.

Like what pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman wrote "the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing"

In memory of the talented British pop singer, I say each and every one of us buy a bottle of (genuine) honey to remember her for that unrivaled and outrageous hairstyle.

Street soccer competition

2011-07-22T08:30:00.000+08:00

The day has finally arrived.

My competition will be held this evening and if you are still guessing what the hell am I participating in, I shall stop torturing you and reveal it.

H2O Energy drinks. Check. Powerbar energy gels. Check. Stylish (and fashionable) adidas apparel as attire. Check. Good old unknown brand sports shoes of mine. Check. Watching lots of football videos on youtube. Check.

Yes, you guessed it (at last). I am joining a street soccer competition. There are eight teams in total split into two groups to play round-robin. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals followed by the final.

Each team consists of four players and one reserve. Every team must have at least a female member. Each match comprises of 2 five-minute halves but I don't how long is the half-time break.

I have been maintaining a strict diet for the past few weeks to keep in shape and maintain my fitness for this event. People might think that I am too taking it too seriously but I believe in no pain, no gain.

Ok, that's all for now. Hope to blog about some positive news about the competition soon.

transport minister talk big

2011-07-21T09:46:00.001+08:00

I was surfing The Straits Times' website earlier today and happened to read an article titled "Ministry to focus on transport service quality".

The first paragraph of the article was unbelievably shocking. Shocking in the sense that it is a big lie that has been told for countless of times.

It was mentioned that Lui Tuck Yew aka the PAP minister who is always seen taking public transport but hardly improving the system noted that more needs to be done to increase the standard of transport here.

He informed that his ministry is examining how much to reduce intervals between trains during non-peak periods. He also said that the current quality of service delivered by operators are not good stringent enough.

Well, I say why not reduce ministerial pay, starting with him, and use the money to improve the transportation infrastructure in Singapore? The money can also be used to subsidize transport fares for the elderly.

It is obvious that Mr Lui is just being a copycat to Raymond Lim who was succeeded by the former as Transport minister after talking big and doing nothing much year after year.

Since he is from the unpopular PAP, Mr Lui is likely to follow in Mr Lim's footsteps and be given the boot out of the Cabinet for being a canon king (da pao wang). Then, he wouldn't even dare to step into an MRT anymore for fear of being booed out of the train.

Thai elections

2011-07-19T21:26:00.002+08:00

Congratulations to Yingluck Shinawatra for being granted eligible to be Thailand's first female Prime Minister.

The Election Commission has give the Puea Thai Party leader the approval stamp today after her party emerged victorious in the general elections more than two weeks ago.

At the same time, the commission also cleared and cleaned up outgoing premier Abhisit Vejjajiva of flouting any election rules which included buying of votes.

This means that the leader of the losing Democrat Party can still earn a parliamentary seat. However, that's not important, because Thaksin will be back soon.

Airport Fashion

2011-07-18T21:52:00.001+08:00

A number of K-pop stars left their country for Tokyo, Japan through Gimpo Airport on July 12. They were scheduled to perform at the KBS Music Bank K-Pop Festival – Music Bank in Tokyo.

Well, here my two (or you can say one) cents' worth about some airport fashion. So much so for being someone who has never been to an airport to take an aeroplane in his life before.

6-member boyband, B2ST impressed me with their contemporary styles which look practical. The guy on the right, I don't know his name, stood out of the crowd with his colourful vest. He also ditched the ubiquitous blue jeans for a daring pair of pink pants which hardly made him look ah gua.

Goo Hara of Kara also scored good marks for her overall appearance with a healthy balance of elegance and toughness from top to toe. She should change that orange bag to something else to prevent others for mistaking her for a trip to the supermarket.

Unexpectedly, one of the worst-dressed turns out to be the face of K-pop's leading girl group, SNSD. Yoona, on the right, looked a different class from her well-dressed members. Plus her trademark alligator laugh, I can only say what a pity.

So I guess that's what airport fashion is about.

2011-07-17T21:23:00.001+08:00

Enthusiastic Indian fans with Martin Kelly and Dirk Kuyt (Taken from Liverpool FC Facebook)

Yeah! Liverpool FC, the best football club in the world, has arrived in Singapore, the best country in the world! I heard that they will be training at the tiny little Bishan Stadium. Too bad the Reds are unable to play an exhibition match because there is no decent stadium large enough to accomodate the bulk of fans here.

mama lemon

2011-07-14T21:44:00.002+08:00

This is definitely a worthy contender for the title of "Worst TV Commercial of 2011". How lame can advertising firms go? And how low can Pornsak go to take up an offer for such rubbish advertisement?

transport fares increase

2011-07-12T17:52:00.003+08:00

We all saw it coming and it has finally arrived. The two (and only) public transport operators in Singapore, SBS Transit and SMRT, have submitted applications seeking bus and train fare adjustments to the Public Transport Council (PTC), appointed by none other than the unpopular PAP.

SMRT stated that "escalating energy and manpower costs" as the reason to seek for a maximum fare adjustment of 2.8%. This is indeed ironic as public transport operators are not allowed to pass on to customers their direct costs according to the Transport Ministry.

Having concluded the general elections with another win (an embarrassing one though), it is highly likely that PAP will approve the applications and continue to rule Singapore without genuinely listening to the concerns of the people.

An increase in prices should mean an increase in terms of service and comfort level. However, do remember that the "S" in SBS and SMRT stands for Singapore. Making empty promises has become the norm especially in the public transport industry.

Since the two public transport operators have "chut pattern liao", it is all down to the PTC to review the fare adjustment formula. In fact, the meaning of "review" here is not whether to approve, reject or even decrease the fares but increasing them by how much without enhancing the service level.

Dog wedding

2011-07-10T20:56:00.001+08:00

I think this event is totally stupid.

Not too long ago, the capital of Peru, Lima had a massive dogs' wedding. Multiple doggy couples came dressed for the occasion to officially tie the knot.

The canine couples would be legally married upon stamping their inked paws on the matrimonial documents. Well, of course with the help of their owners.

The organizer of this stupid event, Ingrid Chavarri said "I did it to be representative and to also let the pet participate in the family and also for me to explain what it is to be a responsible pet owner."

Responsible pet owner? The money and resources used to hold this event could have been better utilized. There are still so many people in this world who have problems having three meals a day, let alone getting married.

It is a definitely an insult to human beings, the smartest living thing in the world, that dogs have such unthinkable privileges like having a marriage ceremony.

At every part of this world, there is a group of people urging others to save the earth. However, there will always be another group who do the opposite for silly reasons.

Like the organizers of this event, throwing flower petals on the ground for dogs to walk on and wasting paper to produce matrimonial documents for the animals to put their paw prints on when they don't even know what the hell is it.

Oh, and do the dogs even enjoy wearing wedding dresses?

World's most expensive car

2011-07-09T21:28:00.001+08:00

All of a sudden, I was curious to know which is the most expensive road car in the world so I did some research on the Internet and all sources point to the same answer.

The undisputed Bugatti Veyron

I am not really a fan this car brand so I thought I will just post a couple of pictures of cars that I like to make this post look pleasant to me.

Lamborghini Reventon and Koenigsegg CCX!

2011-07-07T21:34:00.000+08:00

Oh yeah, Scottish midfielder Charlie Adam looks set to join Liverpool after passing a medical. He will be the second person to join the playing staff at Anfield after Jordan Henderson was bought from Sunderland. With two new central midfielders becoming Liverpool players, those like Christian Poulsen and Alberto Aquilani are expected to leave to make way for the newbies.

There are rumours that Raul Meireles, who was voted PFA Fan's Player of the Year last season, will be sold in attempt by the Reds to cash in on his increased valuation after a successful debut season. Honestly, I would prefer Meireles to be the one to go and Aquilani to stay.

Liverpool can easily sell Meireles for at least 20 million euros compared to the 13 million which they paid to purchased him a year ago. Aquilani will retain his No. 4 shirt once again and definitely still has the spark to make it big at Anfield.

Personally, I think Liverpool should take advantage of Korean striker Park Chu-yong's situation and made him another signing of theirs during this transfer window. Park's current club AS Monaco has just been relegated to the second divison of French football and the player has made no secret of his desire to look for another employer.

He has publicly claimed that he would welcome a move to the Reds and the latter's director of football, Damien Comolli, is thought to be interested in landing the South Korean captain. Manchester United and park Ji-sung are the perfect reasons why Liverpool should not hesitate in signing an Asian player.

Manchester United have not only knocked Liverpool off domestically but have since overtaken their rivals in terms of popularity in the East. Countries in the East are more nationalistic where if a Thai player were to play in the Premier League, chances are 90% of the citizens will be watching that match.

So I say, Liverpool should be bold for once and venture out further. If the Park Chu-yong deal cannot be concluded, there is always a guy full of potential from Singapore by the name of Raymond. Well, he likes to sprout nonsense on his blog but do no underestimate him.

Collar Pin

2011-07-05T15:04:00.000+08:00

Earlier in the day, I had been surfing websites of companies which manufacture corporate gifts. Do not be mistaken, I am not making a bulk order T-shirts or umbrellas. I am searching for sources where I can place orders for customized collar pins without any minimum order quantity.

Yes, without minimum order quantity which can mean only one item for one customized design. Ok, I admit I am planning to buy for myself, not for some committee or organization. The choices of collar pins I possess at home are quite limited which explains why I am looking for more.

I called quite a few companies but only a couple of them do not have the minimum order quantity policy. One of them gave a quotation of one hundred dollars for a single custom-made badge. My reaction was to immediately say thank you before ending the call.

I guess I shall just have to buy it at pasar malam, cheap, wide variety and most importantly can purchase any amount I like. But there is no pasar malam near my house at the moment!

Thailand elections

2011-07-03T20:23:00.001+08:00

Taken from straitstimes.com

Ok, it's quite obvious as to who will emerge victorious in the 2011 Thailand general elections. Puea Thai Party, whose leader Yingluck Shinawatra is the sister of the country's ousted former premier Thaksin, have secured 249 out of the 500 seats up for grabs.

Thaksin had earlier mentioned that his party will not seek to have a one-party-rules-it-all system. Instead, the Pheu Thai Party will invite other political parties to join and form a coalition if it wins enough seats to form the government.

This would indeed be a very magnanimous move by the Pro-Thaksin party and further signifies that it is keen to uphold democracy and restore peace within the country.

I hope all parties in Thailand can work together to serve the people and make the country the land of a thousand smiles once again.

S R Nathan to retire

2011-07-01T21:40:00.001+08:00

If you have yet to hear about it, news has it that Sellapan Ramanathan aka the man whose potrait photo and his wife's are hung in school halls for the past decade or so has decided to retire as president of Singapore.

It has been quite clear that S R Nathan will not seek re-election again as there is bound to be competition in the upcoming presidential elections. With Dr. Tony Tan, who has indirectly been given the approval stamp by the PAP, being the hot favourite to win at the polls, it is inevitable that S R Nathan needs to "give way".

However, unlike the late Ong Teng Cheong whom Mr Nathan succeeded in 1999, the latter will not be missed by many citizens of Singapore. Judging from the responses I got from people that I chatted with, it seems that this second Indian president of the nation will be remembered in history books as "the sixth and just another president of Singapore".

So what is my take on the supposedly three-cornered fight between the tiTANs? Well, I have no comment on it at the moment but do expect to see me mentioning about it when polling day is around the corner.

As for now, let's move up north to Thailand where the land of a thousand smiles (and red shirt protesters) will hold its general elections this Sunday. Yingluck Shinawatra and Pheu Thai Party go go go! Abhisit Vejjajiva out out out! Thailand hardly changed under your governance.

Home-cooked food

2011-06-29T13:16:00.002+08:00

When people mention the phrase "home-cooked food", what do they really mean? Food which is cooked by your mother? Or a meal that was prepared inside the kitchen of your own house?

What if your dad is a chef and the restaurant is closed for the day so he whipped up some dishes in the kitchen he works at for a family dinner? Is that considered a home-cooked meal?

Clearly, the meaning of home-cooked is unclear. It is a poor adjective to vaguely describe something edible which was informally prepared by the use of heat in a place that is habituated by human beings.

I have studied and realized that certain methods of cooking are not really associated to home-cooked in the opinions are other people. Let's us assume "out-of-home cooking" to be known commercial cooking.

For example, baking, which utilizes dry heat from convection to cook, is one type that is from the first generation of commercial cooking. Most people would buy a cake at a bakery instead of baking one on their own whatever the occasion is.

Think about it, if somebody were to bake a cake or bread at home and place it in front of you on the dining table, would you think that it was in a home?

Allow me to quote another example, let's say if someone were to deep-fry thirty chicken wings in their house's kitchen and place them on a large plate, would you really perceive the food as 'home-cooked"?

Most people would think that something which is done (cooked) repetitively should not be listed as home-cooked. Home-cooked, in most people's minds, is exclusive, comfortable and prepared whole-heartedly.

In commercial cooking, food is usually prepared in quantities, hence it is inevitable that quality will decrease in such a scenario. This might explain why some human beings prefer having a meal that is home-cooked instead of dining out.

On the surface, it looks as if home-cooking has an edge over commercial cooking in terms of taste and the "warmth" it gives when eating it as it was prepared by a human using his heart.

However, we can easily counter the above statement. Commercially produced food like canned luncheon meat, sardines or a carton of barley water can be considered as "home-cooked" so long as they are eaten in a place dwelled by people.

To add on to the irony, some of these commercially produced food are being marketed and labelled as "home-cooked". Unless the person's house is also the factory, I really don't understand why would we classify such food as home-cooked.

In a nutshell, the term "home-cooked" has been blurred after numerous ways of cookings and dinings by people. Just like an overcooked pot of stew.

Firefox 5

2011-06-28T21:12:00.000+08:00

Do you know if this is version 4 or 5?

Fans of the alternative web browser Mozilla Firefox like me should know that a new version has been released on 21 June. Surprisingly, it was made available for download just three months after its preceedor, Firefox 4, was out.

The general user interface has not been altered but some of the new features of it are good enough to be reasons for you to upgrade.

They include more and better support for CSS animations and devices running on Android platforms, increased speed and stability and the ease of locating the "Do Not Track" button which was drowned deep inside the settings panel in version 4.

The only negative part about it is that not of your add-ons will work straight away after upgrading but just be patient and let the developer solve it for you.

Anyway, allow me go off-topic for a while and talk about Firefox 4. I am currently using it on both my office and home desktop as well as that lousy Acer laptop of mine and I always encounter the same problem no matter which computer I use it on.

It starts quicker than Firefox 3 but the real issue is after it starts. The first thing which you do, whether it's typing a url or clicking the settings panel, will make the whole browser hang for about twenty seconds.

That can be pretty frustrating if you are in a hurry. Luckily, Firefox 5 does not have such a problem and you can swiftly perform any task upon starting it up.

My advice, as a Firefox user, is that if you have not tried Firefox 4 before, forget about it, just go for version 5, it's exactly the same (I swear) on the outside but more powerful internally.

Railway station craze

2011-06-26T22:03:00.000+08:00

We are aware that the Tanjong Pagar railway station will go into history come 1st July. Don't worry, I am not going to be an overnight fan and post some last-minute pictures about it here.

Instead, I would like to take this opportunity to hit out at those people who flocked the railways and station at the eleventh hour to take pictures of it and do other dumb things like standing on the tracks as if the trains have ceased operations.

It is just a lame trend that trendsetters start and followers join in the fun blindly. The over-hyped and ubiquitous product from Apple known as the iPhone is a very good example of blind followers.

Michael Jackson leaving the world two years ago was also another instance of what it means to have hypocrites cherishing you only after you're gone. Just look at the number of overnight supporters he got singing and dancing his songs after his death.

So I say, this railway tracks and railway station craze out of nowhere is a feeble attempt by hypothetical people to portray and showcase their love of this historical icon although we know that not much of it is mentioned anyway if the closure of it did not occur.

09/09

2011-06-25T17:17:00.002+08:00

09/09

Anybody wanna guess what date is that?

Nokia N9

2011-06-23T21:09:00.002+08:00

Introducing the all new Nokia N9!

Liverpool blue jersey

2011-06-21T20:51:00.000+08:00

Oh man! Liverpool kits never fail to be one of the ugliest football jerseys in my opinion and the latest away kit for the upcoming season is no exception.

Just like Barcelona will never wear white and LA Lakers will definitely not choose green for obvious reasons, it is understood that the Reds will refrain from picking blue, the colour of their local rivals, Everton.

The whole attire is mainly in white but the conspicuous blue stripes contrasting with the background is more than enough to make some Liverpool supporters see red.

Let's see how many dumb fans of the Kop will fork out money to purchase a piece of trash associated with the lousy Everton team from the same city.

Slim Down

2011-06-19T16:34:00.001+08:00

Man, I think I have slimmed down over the last two months or so. That is supposed to be a good thing right? But hell no, I am having difficulties when it comes to shopping for pants! Most of the size 29 pants out there used to be suitable for me but now they are all kind of loose when I don them.

I am quite sure that my waistline has decreased by at least an inch. Even those which could be worn comfortably previously feel a little wider nowadays. Oh, and the best part is I don't like wearing belts (my personal fashion preference) so needless to say but I will still say, I don't own a belt.

Actually, it's not that I don't own one but I am pretty fussy (or you can say idealistic) when it comes to buying clothes and accessories. So it is not that I did not buy, it's just that I have yet to find a suitable one that I am willing to buy.

Anyway, back to my problem with buying pants. I was thinking, if I were to continue doing more sit-ups and crunches, what length will I slim down to? Or maybe I should just eat a bit more to "restore" that missing one inch to my waist?

Well, I guess purchasing a belt would be the most practical solution at the moment. I still have to train for my competition in mid-July which I mentioned about three days ago so exercising is a yes.

I believe it's got to do with my diet as well. I "reformed" and changed the way/things I eat for more than two months. It is not considered a strict, model-like diet but one that requires the eater to have discipline and perseverance.

Until then, I will see if I can find a belt which suits me.

Song to remember

2011-06-16T21:16:00.001+08:00

By now, it is widely known that Channel 8's year-end blockbuster drama is called Song To Remember, a serial set in the 1930's of Singapore about three songtresses and their "dramatic" lives.

Well, look who we have for the main antagonist of the story, it is the ever-versatile Chen Hanwei. As for the plain old lead female character who struggles throughout the entire plot which Channel 8 blockbuster dramas always have, it is surprisingly Joanne Peh who will be acting as it instead of Jeanette Aw.

Let's hope the filming crew do provide hot water for free to her if they want to get into trouble and delay shooting. If you catch what I mean, good for you. If not, you can google her name plus hot water to understand.

Energy Gel

2011-06-15T21:39:00.000+08:00

I am pondering over whether should I purchase the PowerBar Energy Gel set at energygeladdict.com. The current promotion means each piece will cost approximately $2.33, quite a reasonable price in my opinion.

However, the offer ends this Friday so I need to make up my mind by tomorrow. Maybe I shall head down to GNC and NTUC to check out the retail prices. But I am sort of sure that it will be more expensive than those sold online.

By the way, if you are wondering why do I, someone who doesn't participate in marathons, biathlons or triathlons, need these carbohydrate gels, you will know the answer soon. I can give you a hint. I am joining a competition in mid-July. Happy guessing what will I be competing in.

NBA

2011-06-14T21:24:00.000+08:00

I knew it! Dallas Mavericks would go on to defeat Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. I have always supported Western Conference teams over their Eastern counterparts and am glad that the NBA title has returned to the West for the third consecutive year. But I still think LA Lakers are the best. Baised me.

2011-06-12T19:05:00.000+08:00

I'm playing Angry Birds on Google Chrome! This is great, who says you need to own a smartphone to enjoy this widely-popular game? Yeah, I am using Chrome to play but I am writing this post in Mozilla Firefox.

Speaking of which, I just realized that I have yet to upgrade to Firefox 4 for my home's desktop. Gonna do it now in case I forget again.

2011-06-10T11:48:00.001+08:00

I will be changing the direction/objective of this blog from today onwards. After blogging about politics and international news for the past one year or so, I will be shifting my focus to more "fun" but also important topics with emphasis on fashion and pop culture.

Rest assured, I will still be posting articles about other stuff which I believe can attract and interest people to read this blog. As for sports, I might be cutting down on it. Actually, if you have noticed, the amount of sports news have declined since last year.

Quoting an old-school political saying, "we need to liberalize and reform!" That is what this blog is undergoing at the moment.

The only things that will remain status quo are the blogskin and the sarcasm used when writing posts.

2011-06-08T21:38:00.000+08:00

Jordan Henderson, welcome to Liverpool! This guy will definitely be a hit at Anfield, I guarantee.

iCloud

2011-06-07T12:38:00.000+08:00

Apple Inc announced that it will be having a free digital hub called iCloud (non Apple fans please pardon this stupid name) which lets users to store pictures, music etc. on the internet and gain access to them on different devices.

CEO Steve Jobs, who looks certain to be on his way to paradise for real this time, unveiled the latest innovation of his company at the World Developers Conference at San Francisco Moscone Center on Monday (America time).

Jobs was quoted saying "some people think the cloud is just a hard disk in the sky". He later added "we think it's way more than that, and we call it iCloud".

Omg, that's so interesting, I am trying really hard to laugh at this but just can't do it. It's either I got influenced by the expressionless Yam Ah Mee or the joke only sounds funny to the worshippers of Apple products.

Anyway, I don't find this to be a very great thing in the IT industry. A user would need to have internet access before he can use the iCloud.
Moreover, if bandwidth is low, the user might end up frustrated or in the worse case scenario, the user gets disconnected in the midst of downloading.

No wonder it's free of charge.

Flood

2011-06-05T21:17:00.001+08:00

Pictures taken from www.straitstimes.com

Flooding in Singapore (again)!!!

So who should take the blame this time? NEA? PUB? Singaporeans? Or the men in white? It is pretty obvious who is the indirect culprit.

Collect cert at SP

2011-06-03T09:34:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, Marcius and I went back to SP to collect our certs. Nothing much has changed in the campus. The so-called sanctuary is still under construction until now, causing inconvenience to the students.

We had lunch at Foodcourt 3 before heading to InnoVillage which is located on top of a hill behind the main library as Marcius wanted to apply for the alumni card. I have no idea why the alumni relations office must be situated up there as informed by the person who answered the hotline.

We had quite a tough time looking for the office. Most of the pretty-looking rooms there looked like those where people discuss projects and do research in comfort although we know that they are just surfing the net and chatting inside an enclosed place.

We combed 90% (the toilets made up approximately 10%) of the area but still could not find the office. In the end, I called the hotline again and the same woman answered the call. I told her we were next to this game research centre and she asked us to stand where while she comes over.

She came over almost immediately, from the corridor which is perpendicular to the one we were at. She told us to go to first floor, turn left and then right. We believed, thanked and parted ways with her but ended up heading towards the toilet.

We were sure that the woman gave the wrong information so we went back and turned left twice instead. True enough, we managed to find the office which is also the reception. Actually, it was the first room we walked past when we entered InnoVillage.

Marcius took a form a filled it up while I tried to find out why the couch which I was sitting on was so damn comfortable to rest on. An uncle came over and asked us if we are interested in the alumni pendants currently on sale. It's quite obvious what our reply was.

After that, we strolled all the back to the student service centre at T16 and collected our certs. Along the way, we passed by many different places and relived memories of us at those places.

When we were students there, we were too used to walking around the school that we don't find one place to be different to another. Maybe this is all about psychology.

I am sure this will not be the last time I am visiting SP. Like what the alumni site says "your association with SP is a life-long relationship".

Downtown Line survey

2011-06-01T15:12:00.000+08:00

I just completed the Downtown Line stations' names survey on LTA's website earlier today. It is a poll for the public to choose which names do they prefer for the new stations.

Before and while doing the survey, I was thinking that there will be prizes but realized that there will be none after submitting my answers.

Actually, excluding the first one which gives people a choice between "Fort Canning" and "River Valley" for River Valley Station, the rest are pretty dumb.

Both questions eight and ten have two selections where the difference is only a word "view". Really doesn't make a difference at all.

Question six lets you decide between "Mattar" and "Merpati", either of these two names are not significant enough to ring a bell in most Singaporeans, let alone the foreigners which make up one-third of the population.

In a whole, this survey is not really up to standard. More choices and a wider variety of them should be provided to allow people to make a more desirable selection.

Po Chai Pills

2011-05-30T15:47:00.001+08:00

Taken from Wikipedia

Do you know Po Chai pills? The one which people consume as diarrhoea medication. It may look humble with its traditional packaging and design and don't underestimate its ability to cure your upset stomach.

Anyway, I thought of a joke about Po Chai pills today and shall share it with you all here. Don't worry, it's not going to be disgusting.

Once upon a time, there was a Singaporean Ah Beng and an ang moh from America. Let's call the Singaporean as Beng and the American as James.

James: Damn it, I took those pills from the clinic but am still having the runs.

Beng (hands out two bottles of po chai pills): Try these out, take two.

James agreed and went home with the po chai pills.

The next day James complained to Beng again

James: Hey, those pills were useless too

Beng: Did you take two of them?

James: Of course I did, how long later should I take another two?

Beng: Huh? But I only gave you two!

James: I took two beads, there are still lots of them left!!!

Champions League Final

2011-05-29T21:27:00.001+08:00

Man Utd's Park Ji-Sung doing a K-pop dance together with Pedro of Barcelona

Damn David Villa, why must his leg be so itchy and go score that third goal for Barcelona? If the score remained at 2:1 until the final whistle, I would have pawned Singapore Pools for good this time.

Honestly, my first prediction was Manchester United losing 3:1 but I was quite certain that it is not going to happen. So I decided on betting the exact score of 2:1 to Barcelona. I was pretty close but yet so far.

Lionel Messi has, once again, proven that he is the best footballer of his generation with an excellent goal and a magnificent performance. He must be kissing that pair of soccer boots he wore for the final on his bed last night.

By the way, I refuse to congratulate Barcelona on winning the trophy. Instead, I would like to say "Boo" to Manchester United and all its fans. Make England lose face only, not once but twice.

Champions League Final

2011-05-28T21:28:00.000+08:00

Will Barcelona lift the cup again after two years or will Man United avenge for their defeat in 2009?

After much consideration, research and logical thinking, I have decided on what to bet for the Uefa Champions League final and have done it earlier today. I am going to be superstitious and not reveal what my bet is until the match is over.

However, if you know me and understand who I like or detest in football, it is not difficult to guess what my selection is. Even if I did not bet, it is also relatively easy to predict which team am I going to support for one day.

All I can say is that the undisputed best club in the world with the planet's best footballer and play with skill and beauty will win the Champions League? What were you thinking? I'm talking about Liverpool here! Why aren't they in the final?

I am not going to watch the match. I don't see the importance in it to sacrifice my sleep time. Hope those who watch it will have an entertaining and exciting time.

Peugeot Quality Time

2011-05-26T21:14:00.002+08:00

This is a very cool commercial. I only watched it once on TV but decided to search for the video in Youtube and post it here to share with you all.

Making money

2011-05-25T17:37:00.002+08:00

Earlier in the day, Janice smsed me (and many of her friends) informing that she has a couple of tickets to the K-Pop Heal The World 2011 concert in Singapore and she is selling them, at half the original price.

My first reaction was to just buy them at this drop-dead-gorgeous price and sell it off at an obscene amount in the black market. I might probably be able to profit more than three hundred percent from this thought.

Well, thinking twice, I decided not to. Most likely, I would have to create an account on ebay or post threads in numerous forums to "advertise".

I can get someone I know to post for me on ebay but that would mean less money entering my pockets. Also, I don't want to end up selling the tickets to somebody I know when we meet.

You never know who is who on the Internet. The good (ok maybe not so good) impression people have of me will be gone after the transaction. What if that person goes around telling other about me?

Alright, maybe I am overly paranoid. Such a good chance to make money and you still choose to decline? No wonder I am still not rich until now.

But being rich in terms of money is not all about life.

Water Tank

2011-05-23T21:17:00.000+08:00

Most of you would have known about the news of that certain block in Woodlands which had a corpse in one of its water tanks by now.

Residents complain, make noise and unwilling pay that lucky owner of the provision shop downstairs to buy mineral water. SO what else can be done? I heard that every household is entitled to a compensation of ten lousy bucks only.

1. Sack the town council?

It was proposed by some of the people staying in that block but that is highly unlikely because this is a constituency under the lightning party. No responsibility is required. Honestly, if the town council deserves the sack, the one at my Clementi neighbourhood should have been fired long ago.

2. Sack the MP?

Sadly, the unlucky MP for this group of unlucky residents is a newbie who just started his political career in the recent elections. Chances are he will ask PUB for their "opinion" and divert the noise to other authorities but still get $15000 a month.

3. More compensation?

If you ask an eight year old kid, he will probably tell you that ten bucks is inadequate to even buy him a Transformers toy. I propose the compensation to be multiplied by at least ten times.

$100 is a fair and square amount, regardless of how many heads and legs (animals included) there are in each flat. The MP should also every house and deliver a carton of mineral water. Ah, wait a minute, elections are already over.

4. Waiver of utilities bill.

I propose that the whole block of residents enjoy a waiver of water bill for one month. This would be a good move to placate and pacify the financially-drained, mentally-traumatized and psychologically-shocked people and make them drink the water again (since it's free and they are Singaporeans)

5. Compensate a new flat

Hahaha, fat hope! Actually, I do know of somebody who happens to be staying at that now unpopular block in Woodlands and that is what he wished for. Maybe the MP and his bootlicking grassroots leaders should move there and prove to everybody that the water is safe for consumption.

Too bad, elections have concluded or else you will see all kinds of wayangs to "help" the affected residents.

NBA

2011-05-20T21:42:00.000+08:00

Yeah, Oklahoma City Thunder beats Dallas Mavericks to level the score at 1:1. I hope Mavericks will lose because they defeated LA Lakers in the semi-final.

New Cabinet

2011-05-18T21:54:00.003+08:00

How can I not talk about the new ministers of Singapore? Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a big change to his cabinet this afternoon. Here are the changes and my reactions to them.

Deputy Prime Ministers: Teo Chee Hean, Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Seriously, do we really need not one but two assistants to the Prime Minister? Why does Mr Lee need two back-ups? What is he trying to state? He still needs more support?

Speaking of which, Tharman is the obvious choice to become the next DPM in the post-Wong Kan Seng (shall talk about him later) era. He has the brains and vision to be the second highest-ranking person in the government.

As for Teo Chee Hean, the probability of him taking over as Prime Minister in the future is even higher now with the latest reshuffle.

Defence Minister: Ng Eng Hen

Not much of a surprise. He is expected to be "transferred" to another ministry after a disappointing performance as Education minister. The Defence Ministry is no doubt his next destination.

Finance Minister: Tharman Shanmugaratnam

It's Tharman again! That is a brace for this guy. Let's see how much more hair will he drop from all the counting and calculating of figures.

Foreign Minister: K. Shanmugam

Not much of a surprise either since there are very limited choices in parliament. I thought Lim Hng Kiang would take over George Yeo aka the scapegoat for this post though.

Home Affairs Minister: Teo Chee Hean

From the armed forces to the police force, Teo would be a reliable bet for his new position. Wong Kan Seng would need to learn a thing or two from him.

National Development Minister: Khaw Boon Wan

Hahaha! The shortie Mah Bow Tan has been kicked out and replacing him is another unpopular shortie PAP minister! Khaw does not seem to be the best choice as housing minister though.

I wonder if he will be able to decrease HDB flat prices to as low as $8. Go google "khaw boon wan eight dollar" if you don't understand what I mean.

Law Minister: K. Shanmugam

Another Indian minister scores a brace! It is 99.99% expected that Shanmugam would continue to head the law ministry. As Law Minister, he has been rather "dormant" so appointing him as the schedule-packed foreign affairs minister was a wise move.

Health Minister: Gan Kim Yong

There is a high chance that Gan will screw up the healthcare system of Singapore like what Khaw Boon Wan did. Polyclinic prices are not going to go down because he took over the health ministry.

He needs to learn how to slim down first before becoming a health minister.

Transport Minister: Lui Tuck Yew

Raymond Lim is gone as well. Well, a good punishment for him anyway. Raymond (with the surname Lim) has been boasting about increasing bus and train frequencies every now and then when he was minister but we all know that he's lying.

Lui is a decent choice for this challenging job but I still think that he will not be able to resolve the ERP issue. MRT trains will still be equally packed in the near future.

Manpower Minister: Tharman Shanmugaratnam

It's a hat-trick for Tharman! I wonder if his salary will triple whilst holding three different portfolios in the cabinet.

Tharman will only be holding this position on a temporary basis. Expect this post to be taken over by someone else within the next three years.

Trade and Industry Minister: Lim Hng Kiang

No change. Lim is one of the few quiet ministers who prefer to shun away from the limelight. A good strategy indeed as he managed to keep his job without producing much good news.

Education Minister: Heng Swee Kiat

Who the hell is he? He was the former managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and only joined politics at this year's elections. And now, he's going to become a millionaire minister!

Swee Kiat, you are damn Heng although I don't understand why the PM chose you.

Environment and Water Resources Minister: Vivian Balakrishnan

Vivian deserves to be given the boot as well but I guess he was given one last chance as he is still "young". Expect to see some creative yet sustainable proposals by him during his reign.

Information, Communication and Arts Minister: Yaacob Ibrahim

No comments.

Community Development, Youth and Sports (Acting) Minister: Chan Chun Sing

What the hell is this guy doing in the cabinet? He did not even contest a single election in his life and is now a minister (never mind the word 'acting")?

Two thumbs down for this appointment. The worst decision of all. Hope he will not follow Mah Bow Tan's footsteps in the future.

Ministers in Prime Minister’s Office: Lim Swee Say, S Iswaran

Lim Swee Say still holds the unglamorous title of minister without portfolio with a new partner this time. Iswaran, with his new appointment, looks set to be part of the PAP suicide squad in Aljunied GRC at the next elections.

Emeritus Senior Minister: Goh Chok Tong

The biggest joke has to be saved for the last. Now what is Emeritus Senior Minister? Why not call Fandi Ahmad as Emeritus Striker of the national football team then?

I shall exclude the ministers of state as those are just small-fry.

Lastly, I would like to say, George Yeo, you are not alone.

So Klose

2011-05-17T20:01:00.002+08:00

Miroslav was so Klose yet so far. An incredibly bad season for Bayern Munich indeed. Well, Liverpool is always there to accompany them.

Blogskin and new games

2011-05-16T21:30:00.002+08:00

After one whole month of contemplating, I have decided to stick with the current blogskin because of three reasons.

Number one, I like this blogskin. Number two, readers like this blogskin. Number three, I am too lazy to look for another one and don't want to risk being criticized for finding an inferior one.

I have also added some games to this blog once again in an attempt make it a more entertaining experience for visitors. Please click on the games at the left and try them out. Feel free to give feedback like whether are they fun, is the loading time too long etc.

More plans to the site will be announced and implemented in the near future so do visit this blog frequently.

The same question

2011-05-15T21:07:00.000+08:00

Many many people, so many that I have lost count how many were there, have asked me this question. A question about me where I do not have a definite answer. When are you enlisting?

Sometimes, when I can't be bothered to answer it for the nth time, I would just shoot back the universal "I don't know". If I am in a good mood, I might joke around and say that I am too precious to be risked in a war, that's why they excluded me.

After answering that question, I would ask myself, do I need to inform him/her when I receive that sacred orange letter? Then I would continue to shoot another question in my brain, so how many people do I need to inform in total?

Also, so what if I inform them? Are they going to have big reactions? "Oh Raymond, let me treat you to a scrumptious meal first, the food inside there is bad" or "I will buy you a non-camera phone as a gift before you enlist".

You might argue that informing them is a means of contacting and communicating. I beg to differ. So what if I told them? Will they make the first move and call me after half a year to ask what is my vocation?

The answer is pretty obvious. Well, this is all part of human nature. People ask me such a question because they ran out of topics to talk about. So being pretentious has become the norm for everybody. I stay quiet or away from the crowd every now and then as I dislike being a hypocrite.

You might strongly disagree with what I state but that will only further justify that I am correct.

SM and MM to retire

2011-05-14T18:21:00.001+08:00

Breaking news from Channel NewsAsia!!!

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Saturday said they have decided to leave the Cabinet for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his team to have a fresh clean slate.

In a joint statement, they said: "We have studied the new political situation and thought how it can affect the future. We have made our contributions to the development of Singapore. The time has come for a younger generation to carry Singapore forward in a more difficult and complex situation.

"The Prime Minister and his team of younger leaders should have a fresh clean slate. A younger generation, besides having a non-corrupt and meritocratic government and a high standard of living, wants to be more engaged in the decisions which affect them.

"After a watershed General Election, we have decided to leave the Cabinet and have a completely younger team of ministers to connect to and engage with this young generation in shaping the future of our Singapore.

"But the younger team must always have in mind the interests of the older generation. This generation who has contributed to Singapore must be well-looked after."

- CNA/ms

Wonder who will be the two new free-riders to take over the seats which are vacated...

The Clementi Mall

2011-05-12T21:21:00.000+08:00

As a Clementi boy having lived here for my entire damn life, I am proud to let everyone know more about The Clementi Mall, the pride and new symbol of the same old small and serene town.

Blu Jaz

2011-05-11T21:51:00.002+08:00

Taken from www.blujaz.net

Two days ago, I went to this restaurant/cafe/bar called Blu Jaz. It is located at Bali Lane, somewhere near to Raffles hospital. Its menu consists of mainly pasta and western food although there are also local dishes like chicken curry.

I ordered fish and chips (one of the cheapest set on the menu) and its taste is worth its price, nothing more or less, just right for something amounting to $7.90. The fish was fresh and was cooked with better technique compared to the over-rated Botak Jones.

Its website, www.blujaz.net, claims that it has decent prices for its meals. Well, at least for me, I still find the prices a bit too much. A glass of lime juice costs $2.50 while french fries requires you to part with 5 whole bucks!

The worst thing about this restaurant has gotta be the lighting. I don't know if they were trying to save the earth or what but the place was so dim that I had difficulties trying to read the menu.

The staff there seriously need to understand that lights are supposed to be switched on when the sun sets, at least when you need to read something.

There was a mini-stage there as well where a drum set, keyboard and other things a musical band would use for performing are placed at. There was this ang moh 'warming-up" his drums by beating it softly and monotonously.

A little bit irritating but the chatters of other people in the restaurant were more than enough to drown the sounds of the weak drum beats.

Oh, one more thing. The only thing blue about Blu Jaz is its signboard. It is conspicous enough for you to notice it from 500 metres.

Overall, I would only rate it at 5/10. One thumb down for this trying-to-act-modest middle-class cafe.

World's strongest bank

2011-05-10T15:00:00.001+08:00

It is a pleasant surprise to know that Singapore's Overseas Chinese Banking Corp bank has been ranked as the world's strongest bank by Bloomberg.

A strong performance for the fiscal year of 2010 is the biggest evidence to why OCBC managed to edge out the other two local banks to shine on the international stage.

Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) only managed to achieve fifth and sixth place respectively. UOB has been disappointing lately, allowing OCBC and DBS to advance ahead of it.

Svenska Handelsbanken of Sweden clinched the runner-up spot while two Canadian banks, National Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, make up the list of the top five.

Standard Chartered and CitiGroup came in at a modest fifteenth and sixteenth respectively while Credit Suisse Group of Switzerland managed to secure number thirteen.

I don't expect OCBC to defend their title of the world's strongest bank next year. With the economy slowly tuning upwards in favour of the West, be prepared to see the Canadian banks and others in North and South America to be the winner next year.

Post election analysis

2011-05-08T21:04:00.002+08:00

People are reeling over the loss of George Yeo, Chiam See Tong and Nicole Seah while others are venting their anger at Tin Pei Ling after she "kate-spaded" her way into parliament via the help of Goh Chok Tong.

Actually, it isn't really a lose-lose situation for all. I have decided to give a post-election analysis today to commemorate this memorable election in Singapore's history.

Let's talk about George Yeo first. There are still many possibilities for him after losing to Workers' Party.

1. Run for the presidential election.

2. Ask Tommy Koh to run for president and take over his job as Ambassador-At-Large

3. Swop places with Tin Pei Ling in a by-election for Marine Parade GRC since Miss Tin broke the rules on cooling-off day.

4. Join an opposition party (not impossible after being fed up for becoming the scapegoat of PAP's failed policies)

5. Be a full-time househusband.

From the above five suggestions, number two sounds the most practical since he's a former foreign affairs minister and Tommy Koh fits the bill as the republic's next president.

If George Yeo were to opt for number one, he might have to face his ex-cabinet colleagues Lim Boon Heng or S.Jayakumar. Now, that would really be one ugly fight if former PAP ministers were to compete against one another.

However, George Yeo's departure as an MP may be a blessing in disguise by normalizing democracy in this nation after sending five quality opposition candidates into parliament.

Next up, it is Chiam See Tong. He miscalculated and paid a hefty price for taking up such a gamble. He lost Potong Pasir as well as the chance to win a GRC. He should have ventured into a GRC when he was younger.

Accordingly to official numbers, Mrs Lina Chiam only lost by 78 votes (including overseas votes) to the PAP. There is already a petition for Potong Pasir resident to request for a recall election and send a Chiam back into parliament.

It appears to be seen if the Elections Department would entertain such a request. It would be interesting to see whether Mr Chiam or his wife would stand as the candidate should a recall election really occur.

As for the new Non-Constituency MPs (NCMPs) this time, there are three slots up for grabs after WP claimed six of the minimum nine by winning a GRC and a SMC.

The top three biggest losers of last night were Lina Chiam of SPP (49.64), WP's Yee Jenn Jong (48.99) and the WP team of East Coast GRC (45.17). Since WP would have 8 seats in parliament, they should be gracious and give up one to another alternative party.

Nicole Seah would be an automatic choice. She really should enter parliament and make Tin Pei Ling look like a fool. Nicole would also be indirectly representing her party's secretary-general, Goh Meng Seng, who is critical of the PAP's flawed housing policies.

While the young Nicole flies NSP's flag in parliament, her older party colleagues like Mr Goh, Tony Tan, Hazel Poa and Gilbert Goh can focus on preparations for the next elections.

Till then, NSP should learn from their mistakes and field an A team (like what WP did in Aljunied) to counter the PAP. Their main concern would be the need to recruit more quality candidates of minority race.

As for SDP, the party which rose from the ashes to pose a formiable challenge to PAP, they were just caught off guard with the sudden announcement of polling day.

Their A team at Holland-Bukit Timah did not have ample time to make their presence felt in the constituency. They shouldn't have let newbie Alec Tok contest in Bukit Panjang SMC, a ward which they have seriously worked the ground for many years.

This is definitely not a watershed election (although George Yeo and co. might argue) as PAP still holds majority of the seats in parliament. However, with all the drama, gossips, dynamic characters, highs and lows, it is certainly the most interesting and exciting polls which Singaporeans have ever witness.

Ending this post with some pictures.

My daddy's soul will always haunt you men in white!

Bring it on! I'll crush you all with my right hand.

Alamak, isn't that a little too much flowers?

Hahaha, so what? I'm still your housing minister after all!

PAP watch out. We're here to hammer you guys!

Useless cooling-off day

2011-05-06T21:37:00.001+08:00

Today is the useless cooling-off day so I shall steer clear of anything related to the 2011 general elections and the political parties.

I still remember I started reading political news some 4 years ago, the year I took my O Levels. Since then, I have been reading, analysing, debating and criticizing many countries' elections.

Come to think of it, some elections which I clearly remember following include Taiwan's 2008 presidential election, the Malaysian "tsunami" election in 2009, last year's Indonesia and Phillipines' presidential elections and not to mention when Barack Obama contested as president.

Now, my beloved country Singapore, will see its citizens head to the polls tomorrow. Time really flies, I used to think when will it be Singapore's turn to have some elections news in international press like Reuters.

Hope the title of all newspapers' headline news would be "Change has come for Singapore" on Sunday morning.

Let me be a bit random here after days of watching the intense campaigning. Congratulations to Jang Geun Suk and SNSD for acheiving the first and second spots respectively in Japan's Oricon chart.

It is ironic that Korean singer are dominating their neighbouring country's music charts when they do not even speak the language. It is even more ironic that Jang Geun Suk's new Japanese song is called "Let Me Cry" when he should be laughing all the way after selling so many albums!

Very intersting election

2011-05-05T21:51:00.001+08:00

This is definitely a very interesting election to watch because

1. So many PAP ministers have cried during the campaigning period.

2. So many high-calibre people have chosen to join the opposition

3. So much creativity from the PAP's election strategy. From smear campaigns to utilizing the state media to apologizing half-heartedly and to the extent of having a local celebrity blogger endorse Aljunied GRC candidate George Yeo.

4. PAP using Facebook to engage netizens. An ultra-failed plan. Definitely not Lee Hsien Loong's idea, might be the over-ambitious Teo Ser Luck's plan.

5. Finally, as parties rebutt and criticize other parties at rallies and via the media, commoners also do it with their friends at work, on the bus or when eating.

Tomorrow, is cooling-off day. I really wonder what the heck is there to cool. They should at least make it a public holiday. How do you expect people to cool down when they are busy at work?

Lee Hsien Loong on Facebook

2011-05-04T20:32:00.002+08:00

Taken from PAP's Facebook page

Hi, I'm Lee Hsien Loong

Welcome to my webchat!
This is my first time doing this
So please dont flame me, I'm a newbie :-)
I see many of you are interested in how we can engage youths more
Shall we start with this?

I decided to "like" PAP on Facebook just so that I can webchat with the Prime Minister. However at the rate of comments flooding in (100 comments per 100 seconds), I doubt he will be able to reply me. I must say it's a good attempt by Mr Lee but we would prefer if you can have a live television debate with other political parties.

Non-PAP cabinet

2011-05-03T21:54:00.003+08:00

I thought of doing something avant-garde and decided to write this post about how a cabinet without any PAP member would look like (in the event that all PAP candidates lose).

It definitely does not look "freaky" although PAP ministers claim that it will be a freak result should opposition parties win.

Prime Minister: Chee Soon Juan (SDP)

Ok, I know what you are thinking. This guy has entered and exited the prison more times than I did at the East Coast Park toilet. However, they were all politically-linked.

The PAP ruled Singapore with an iron grip, trying to destroy their political opponents. The stronger they appear to be, the larger the damage was done to them.

Dr Chee is a liberal democrat who will lead the country to new heights while taking care of the needs of the lowest levels of society.

The Lees have done fairly well in terms of the economy and infrastructure. Chee will add to by improving the country socially, politically and democratically.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister: Kenneth Jeyaretnam (RP)

KJ graduated with Double First Class Honours in economics from Cambridge University. He is the man most suited for this post among all the opposition candidates.

It will be a marvellous achievement for him and his father, the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, who has been the enemy of PAP for many years.

Senior Minister: Chiam See Tong (SPP)

As the name says it, we need somebody who is ernm, a senior citizen? Mr Chiam has lots of valuable experience as an MP since 1984.

His job would be to assist the younger generation and ensure that nothing too conservative or liberal be implemented. However, it appears to be seen who will succeed him in the near future.

Foreign Affairs Minister: George Yeo (unknown)

Why not him? Yes, he is from PAP but he can always be pulled over to join another party and continue to serve the country as the minister of foreign affairs.

I suggest Mr Yeo to join WP and the latter should sent an invitation to him since they are the ones that beat him in Aljunied GRC.

The only difference is that he may have to take a massive pay cut from his original million-dollar salary.

Defence Minister: Tony Tan (NSP)

Tony is a former SAF scholar who studied Engineering at Cambridge University. A strong, firm and decisive person, he is easily the man for this challenging job.

He also mentioned about reducing national service to twelve months which would be very much welcomed by many citizens.

Trade and Industry Minister: Tan Jee Say (SDP)

An investment adviser who studied at Oxford University. His has years of experience in civil service as well the private sector. Used to be a civil servant in ministry of trade and industry before too.

Health Minister: Ang Yong Guan (SDP)

A psychiatrist leading this ministry would be a brand new change for our healthcare system. The mental state of Singaporeans ought to be improved after decades of brainwashing by the PAP.

Law Minister: Chen Show Mao (WP)

A Rhodes scholar whose education background includes Oxford, Stanford and Harvard. An experienced lawyer who is a partner of well-known law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.

There are a bunch of lawyers hailing from the opposition camp but Mr Chen everybody else hands down. Hope he can review and reform Singapore's mandatory death penalty.

Home Affairs Minister: Sylvia Lim (WP)

An ex-inspector in the police force, Sylvia should be able to comprehend the structure well. At least, she can ensure that all detention centres are secure to prevent any escapes.

Manpower Minister: Low Thia Kiang (WP)

Mr Low can work closely with Tan Jee Say to increase productivity for Singaporean workers instead of relying on foreigners which is not a sustainable solution.

A minimum wage policy should be implemented for the overall good of the labour force here.

National Development Minister: Goh Meng Seng (NSP)

Mr Goh, an economics graduate, is a good alternative to the ineffective Mah Bow Tan for housing issues. He and his party have proposed some good policies which are able to address the issues citizens face regarding public housing.

Community, Youth and Sports Minister: Vincent Wijeysingha (SDP)

A social activist and a rare breed of politicians who are willing to serve the people wholeheartedly. The low-waged and poor can finally see hope with him holding this post.

Definitely ten times better than the current PAP one who overspends but never apologize.

Actually, there are still a few more ministries which I have not mentioned but there is still ample quality within the opposition to fill the voids, it's just that I think they are still not the finished product to be labelled as a minister.

Vote for the opposition, the time to change has arrived!

Then what about me?

You can be minister of erm, I don't know what to say

GE 2011 predictions part 3

2011-05-02T20:13:00.003+08:00

This is the third and final part of the three-part series on predicting the results of the 2011 general elections. Today, I will discuss the remaining nine GRCs which are contested. I almost had to include Tanjong Pagar if not because of 35 seconds.

Holland-Bukit Timah

PAP vs SDP

If Aljunied GRC is the most exciting battle to watch, then this one is definitely the runner-up. The opposition consists of a PhD holder, a former government official, a well-known doctor and an educator. Such a team is strong enough to rival any PAP side on paper.

The SDP team also consists of three candidates who have ministerial potential (should the opposition topple PAP). Vivian Balakrishnan leads a relatively weaker team which includes two first-term MPs, a new candidate, all three without any experience in fighting an electoral battle.

If the opposition can step up and convince voters in the next few days, I don't see why they cannot put the sword into Vivian's throat and end the minister-whom-overspent-at-the-YOG's political career.

Final score: PAP 44%-56% SDP

Jurong

PAP vs NSP

The battle of the unknowns. Only Tharman Shanmugaratnam's name catches my attention when I looked at the list of candidates standing in this ward. NSP are just having some fun here, they would be happy if they can secure 45% of the votes.

Sadly, that is only a dream, Reality is that this opposition team is not strong enough to make the swing voters support them. Idealistic they may be but absolutely not realistic.

Jurong GRC has always seen dull contests so the result should not be an unexpected one. NSP has already lost half the battle before war is declared.

Final score: PAP 64%-36% NSP

Marine Parade

PAP vs NSP

I promised to be unbiased but I can't help but think that Goh Chok Tong and co. will end up as the losers here. The NSP team are a competent side which includes the popular "female general" Nicole Seah.

Moreover, the PAP team has the legendary Tin Pei Ling in it. This is bound to cost them a considerable amount of votes as many people are opposed to having such a low-quality MP whose biggest regret is not bringing her parents to Universal Studios.

Pei Ling's fellow newcomer, Tan Chuan Jin appears to be too cocky and arrogant. He speaks as if he will definitely win when he is just hitching a ride from SM Goh. I foresee that if PAP wins this one, there will be a public protest to stop Tin Pei Ling from entering parliament.

NSP should play the man-to-man attacks like what PAP is so fond of doing. Attack the two newcomers of PAP and hope that the neutral voters will agree with what they say. This would be the closest fight of all.

Final score: PAP 49%-51% NSP

Moulmein-Kallang

PAP vs WP

Low Thia Khiang was tipped to contest in this GRC. Without him, the WP team looks a par below to the PAP where half of the squad are ministers.

Voters here are likely to opt for stability by voting for PAP. Grassroots leaders will play an important part in helping the PAP to publicize.

WP's intention of standing here is just to give voters a choice. Voters are happy with the opportunity to vote but I bet they won't give WP much face.

Final score: PAP 55%-45% WP

Nee Soon

Led by John Yam, this WP team is at three times better than the one at Moulmein-Kallang. The PAP team is headed by Law Minister K.Shanmugam and it would be a tough fight for both parties.

PAP would be sweating over this one but they should be able to emerge victorious at the end of the day. It appears to be seen how much of a gap will the two parties have in terms of votes.

As minister of law, there seems to be nothing much that Shanmugam can be attacked about. So the topics here would be mainly on bread and butter issues.

Final score: PAP 53%-47% WP

Pasir Ris-Punggol

PAP vs SDA

Teo Chee Hean and co. beat the SDA by 27.4% of votes in the last elections. This time, they face the same opponent but expect the result to be slightly different.

The main man from the opposition here is Harminder Pal Singh. He was eloquent and makes some good points during his party's election rallies. However, the SDA of today pales in comparison to the one five years ago.

The alliance have been weakened by the absence of NSP and SPP. Also, Goh Kim Seng has pulled out of the team at the eleventh hour, further softening the team.

I hate Janil Puthucheary in the PAP side but I have to make do with seeing him becoming an MP when he has not even served National Service and "boasts" that his NS is saving kids' lives.

Final score: PAP 55%-45% SDA

Sembawang

PAP vs SDP

The main man here is definitely Khaw Boon Wan who is also minister of health. His four other teammates are just there to fill in the voids. On the other hand, the SDP consists of a wide variety of candidates.

James Gomez and John Tan, both academics, will spearhead SDP's attack in this ward. Gomez should be able to defeat the PAP if he can brainwash enough neutral voters to believe that PAP is hypothetical.

Mind games will be the pivotal factor here. Judging from the response in this area, Khaw Boon Wan might need to get ready to pack his bags for Johor Bahru.

Final score: PAP 47%-53% SDP

Tampines

PAP vs NSP

Nothing much to discuss here, except that Mah Bow Tan will lose lots of votes because of his screw-up of the housing system. NSP just need to harp on this issue throughout the entire campaign.

The interesting part would be how many votes will Mah lose and are they enough to give NSP a victory here? Goh Meng Seng and co. should also talk about the facilities here since there is still much room for improvement in this GRC.

Final score: PAP 48%-52% NSP

West Coast

PAP vs RP

At last, it is my constituency. Unlike the suicide squad at Ang Mo Kio, this RP team is more credible and sincere. It includes Andy Zhu and Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the chairman and secretary-general of the party.

None of the five PAP candidates here are worth mentioning. Lim Hng Kiang is simply the worst minister in the cabinet. There is also my former MP, Arthur Fong who is just a useless fake ang moh.

The PAP team alos consists of the controversial Foo Mee Har and picked-from-the-public-sector Lawrence Wong. While the former looks like Amy Khor No. 2 who only talks and talks, the latter is just a yesman in parliament.

RP are very sincere in winning this GRC. It is their first electoral battle anyway and they hope to end it with something won. I hope people can feel their sincerity and give them their support.

PAP only cares for you when elections are coming.

Final score: PAP 48%-52% RP

And there, I have finished predicting the results of all 26 constituencies. Now, we'll just have to wait for polling day to see how right or wrong am I.

Oh, and here is an interesting picture to share with you all.

GE 2011 predictions part 2

2011-05-01T21:18:00.002+08:00

This is the second of the three-part series where I predict the outcome of the 2011 general elections. I will cover ten constituencies today, four remaining SMCs and five GRCs.

Radin Mas

Sam Tan (PAP) vs Yip Yew Weng (NSP)

A newly carved-out ward at this year's elections. At one time, this SMC looked as though it was going to have a messy five-cornered fight. It is easy to comprehend why so many parties want to contest here.

Sam Tan is a one-term MP with no experience in campaigning. Moreover, the residents there have not cast a vote for a long time so there is no reason why there won't be a backlash against the PAP.

Yip Yew Weng looks like the ideal guy here. He is well-educated, is a political veteran and speaks a variety of dialects. The people there are mostly the elderly hence, Mr Yip should be able to click with them easily.

However, don't forget that since they are the elderly, they would still stability by voting PAP. PAP can win this one if they make the effort to brainwash enough neutral voters from the older generation.

Final score: PAP 57%-43% NSP

Sengkang West

Lam Pin Min (PAP) vs Koh Choong Yong (WP)

This seat is definitely not one of WP's priorities. You rarely hear news about opposition in this area. PAP to win this one comfortably.

Koh Choong Yong claims that he has lived in this ward for a decade. That does not necessarily mean that those ten years are of public service.

Higher frequency of public transport arrivals is one important issue here. Both candidates will, no doubt, address it if elected. Therefore, PAP can win this one without much complication.

Final score: PAP 60%-40% WP

Whampoa

Heng Chee How (PAP) vs Ken Sun (NSP)

Again, PAP have the upper hand in this ward because they have been the representative here. Heng Chee How has done a fairly decent job as an MP, something commendable since he is from PAP.

Ken Sun and his party gives people the impression that they are there just for the sake of joining in the election fun. He looks more like somebody whom will find fault with the government instead of taking care of his residents or proposing new ideas.

PAP licks this one up without moving its head.

Final score: PAP 69%-31% NSP

Yuhua

Grace Fu (PAP) vs Teo Soh Lung (SDP)

At one of SDP's rallies, Teo Soh Lung said "My PAP opponent is the senior minister of state for education. What has she done for Singapore?"

I tried my best to come up with an answer but sorry I will have to use Tin Pei Ling's infamous trademark. I don't know what to say.

Miss Teo was only introduced as the candidate for this SMC rather late. It was widely expected that her party colleague, Jaslyn Go, was the woman who will challenge Grace Fu. It doesn't really matter which woman was chosen because both carry the party's flag.

Grace Fu has been rather disgraceful as a senior minister of state. She is not cut out to be an office-holder. Neither is she capable of serving her people effectively. SDP must make full use of the remaining campaigning period since Miss Teo might still appear "new" to voters.

Final score: PAP 45%-55% SDP

And now, on to the GRCs. I don't see a need to introduce all of the candidates in the team since only a couple of people in a side are the main players.

Aljunied

PAP vs WP

According to the mainstream media, this is labelled as the biggest battle in this election. Accordingly to me, this is the Singapore political version of the El Clasico. WP's Barcelona squad taking on the Real Madrid team of PAP (all-white).

This WP team includes Low Thia Khaing, a counsellor, a postgraduate law student, a corporate lawyer and a law lecturer.

There are fears that George Yeo of PAP might lose his post as minister if the opposition were to win. I believe that Aljunied voters understand that losing a minister is not the end of the world for Singapore.

Even Low Thia Khiang has decided to venture out of his comfort zone in a bid to gun down a GRC. How can people not give him face and vote for change?

Final score: PAP 46%-54% WP

Ang Mo Kio

PAP vs RP

Finally, I get to mention RP but there won't be much to talk about about them. This RP team at AMK GRC is basically a suicide squad although they claim they aren't. PM Lee should win at least 65% of the votes to consider it as a real victory.

I think he won't since PAP has allowed so many foreigners into the country for the past five years.

Final score: PAP 63%-36% RP

Bishan-Toa Payoh

This is another interesting battle to watch since it features opposition veteran, Chiam See Tong. Mr Chiam's decision to move out of Potong Pasir appears to be a big gamble as SPP still looks a little shaky at the moment.

If the entire nation were to vote, I believe PAP will lose since there is Wong Kan Seng aka the man responsible for Mas Selamat's escape. Mr Wong still has a strong support base in this area because of his long track record.

I hate Josephine Teo from the PAP team. She is one who talks without thinking but sadly she will still continue to be an MP after this election.

Final score: PAP 55%-45% SPP

Chua Chu Kang

PAP vs NSP

The CCK team of NSP consists of scholarship couple, Tony Tan and Hazel Poa. It also has NSP's chairman, Sebastian Teo, but he looks more like a supporting role in the team.

PAP is led by Minister of Manpower, Gan Kim Yong. Not a very strong team in my opinion, none of the other four PAP candidates ring a bell in me. PAP needs to depend heavily on brainwashing to win votes.

NSP, with the help of Tony Tan, should be able to pull off a remarkable victory by winning this GRC. A close fight looks highly possible.

Final score: PAP 47%-53% NSP

East Coast

PAP vs WP

PAP are favourites to to win this one. They have a strong team which consists of Raymond Lim and Lim Swee Say. Not to mention Lee Yi Shyan and Maliki Osman.

On the other hand, WP only has Eric Tan while Gerald Giam is a potential star in the making. The rest are just there to make up the numbers. That is why GRCs were implemented, to help PAP win.

Not much of a chance for the opposition here, PAP deserves to beat them fair and square.

Final score: PAP 60%-40% WP