NDP song part 2

This is a continuation of the 25 July post on NDP theme songs

Personally, I feel rather sympathetic for A-Do who is one of our local singers making big money in other countries like China, Taiwan etc. Stephanie Sun has done it, Tanya Chua has done it, JJ Lin has done it but he has yet to be given the chance to do it

I am referring to singing the theme song for Singapore's National Day Parade. A-Do has been in the entertainment industry for many years and his singing ability has been recognized by countless of listeners. This ex-construction foreman won the Best Local Artiste in the 2003 Singapore Hit Awards but the organizers actually decided to pick Project Superstar's winner as the Mandarin singer

That night, or rather the few moments, after Chen Wei Lian defeated every other contestant in the competition, a number of judges were frowning and didn't look pleased while listening to him belt out one last song to celebrate his coronation

Kelly Poon, the losing finalist, should have deservedly won it or to be even more detailed, she should be competing with Hong Jun Yang instead. Mr Hong got knocked out in the male final. By the way, did I mention that Wei Lian won the Best Newcomer award in 2006 to some big astonishment(which include myself)?

Back to the topic on NDP, A-Do can only do one thing every year during this time. That is to wait for his chance. Good luck to him. I really hope to hear him sing a NDP theme song some day. At least he can groove to the beat and dance a little to create some atmosphere since his eyes can see

If you were to ask an uncle sitting in coffee shop who is the singer for this year's NDP song, most of them will reply you with a "don't know" and maybe the few smarter ones will tell "Elec what ah? Election or Electricity?" So why not just let A-Do sing it and they will tell you "orh, it's that guy with a sore throat lah"

At least they know who the singer is, never mind that they cannot recall his name

JJ Lin sang a new version of "Home" in 2004 which was previously sang by Kit Chan in 1998. The tunes were quite hip-hop which suited the younger generation. This year's theme song is of soft-rock genre but it did not make as much impact as JJ Lin's rejuvenated "Home"

It does not take a rocket scientist to spot the difference. "Home" has all the inspirational and patriotic lyrics, something which "What do you see" lacks. "What do you see" gives me a very cold and dark feeling, as if I was listening to it at night even though the sun has yet to set

I would like to clarify something, I am not criticizing the song at all and am interested to know that our nation has finally 'break the ice" to enter contemporary music. It is just that this kind of songs need to be more solemn and inspiring

Last but not least, the song is still MIS (made in Singapore) so we should support our own local singers to give them encouragement

One more thing, this would be a dream combination for our NDP. JJ Lin is the lyricist, Tanya Chua the composer and the song will be a duet sang by A-Do and Stephanie Sun on the floating platform at Marina Bay. Yeah, and I'll be the parade commander. Haha, just joking

Can't upload pictures

I can't upload pictures again but this time, many people are facing the same problem as me. The upload picture icon and the entire edit html toolbar is gone! I checked the forum and found out that this problem seems to be only for Singnet users in Singapore. I fall under this catergory. In the meantime, let me wait and see what solution Google has to provide for us

Liverpool in Singapore

Liverpool may have been in Singapore for a couple of days already and are ending their trip soon after tonight's game with our national team. So while they are still here, I have thought of five things which might happen during the Reds' stay in the lion city

1. A fight on the field

Javier Mascherano and Noh Alam Shah clashed into each other while tussling for the ball in the air. Both players refused to admit that it is his fault and what else but a fight broke out. Their teammates pulled them away and it all ends with the referee showing the red card to both players. But Mascherano, never short of an opinion, continued to argue with the referee while Alam Shah took off his shirt and whacked the fourth official for persuading him to leave the field

2. LOL-ing time

John Wilkinson steps up to take a thirty metre free kick only to blast the ball right up into the air as if it was a rugby match like what he always does in S League and international games. Jose Reina, the Reds goalie, can't help but laugh at such a "lol" moment as he did not even need to move a single inch. The referee awards the Spainiard with a yellow card for time wasting because the latter was still giggling away while taking the goal kick

3. What a big mistake

Fernando Torres got mixed up with Jamie Carragher, Alexandar Duric and Daniel Bennet and in a moment of folly, passed the ball to an opponent. Ryan Babel screams at him for being colour blind but you can hardly blame El Nino for this rare mistake. Our national team has so many foreign talents not to mention that Bennet and Carragher are both from England and Merseyside as well

4. Xabi's final decision

After days of speculation, it is finally confirmed. Xabi Alonso will leave Liverpool after he was deeply touched by the Singapore fans. Irony? No, he is not heading for Real Madrid but moving to an S League club here. As quoted by him "I love the fans here, they are so enthusiastic unlike those in England who boo at you if you make just one wrong pass" The good news is all S League clubs will be considered by the Spanish playmaker but the bad news is he demands a 120000 pounds a week salary. Do your own calculations for conversion into Sing dollar

5. History repeats itself

Steven Gerrard aka Captain Marvel aka the Liverpool legend aka the player who should have won the World Player award if not because of C.Ronaldo made a last minute surprise appearance at the National Stadium. He badly wants to play even for a few minutes but Rafa Benitez told him that there wasn't any number eight jersey for him unless they rush down to Queenstown shopping centre to get one. Never mind, at least he made the fans happy with his presence so the Liverpool team decide to head down to Boat Quay for some drinking session to end their tour here. But bad things always happen, Gerrard whacked up a Chinese guy in the pub who refused to change the song and insisted on playing a Teresa Teng classic. The other ang moh players, feeling irritated decided to join in the fun and all got arrested. Michael Owen was glad that he didn't return to the Kop or he would have been in a similar state

What do you see

Have you heard the official theme song for this year's National Day Parade? Well, if you have not, it is titled "What do you see" and is sung by local alternative rock band Electrico. The lyrics and composition were done by them as well. The Chinese version is sung by the long-time MIA Chen Wei Lian



So what do you hear? For myself, what I heard was just another ordinary song that primary, secondary and possibly JC students are forced to belt out during assembly during late July and early August every year. Yes, many people criticized it for being too "in" but not me, maybe because I belong to the Millennial Generation

Some say that it is creativity while others say the song is too hip and not suitable for all ages. I agree that this year's theme song does sound a bit different from it's "ancestors". But I am not commenting that is is good. Instead, I think the lyrics should be edited. The song lacks that kind of patriotic feeling where you can find in older ones like the Stand Up for Singapore and Count Money Singapore, oops sorry it should be Count On Me Singapore

I still prefer the Stephanie Sun versions when I was back in primary school then. I recollect many years ago, there was this chessy dance which we, innocent young kids, were made to do in the hall against our will(at least for me and a few others)

As for the five recent NDP theme songs including this year's one, the only one that I remembered how to sing was My Island Home in 2006. To add on, I only recall how to sing the part which goes "my island home....." and that's it. I know there's a sentence which sounds like "a land of peace" also and that's really the end of the story

Rui En and Taufik Batisah were the singing duo in 2005. One look and you know that the organizers were promoting the guy who was crowned Singapore Idol in the previous year with another up and coming actress. Yes I don't remember how to sing it. I am so honest

Hady Mirza sang the theme song last year and you know what I mean. No he's not the second Singapore Idol, he's the Asian Idol ok? Wow, wow, wow! He really Shine For Singapore. Kit Chan was the singer in 2007 for the first time since her debut in 1998

I forgot how to sing all of them

Although I do condone creativity in whatever we do and am glad to see it in this year's NDP theme song, I have to admit that it is just another desperate attempt by the organizers to engage with the younger generation here

What do you think?

My current addictions

Here are a few things which I am addicted to currently

Durians

Actually it is not really an addiction but more like a vice. Like smokers needing to puff at least once a day. I consume this fruit almost every other day since its season started about two months ago. Well, might as well eat it to the max when there are lots of them now, right?

Fifa Online 2

Enough said. Whether you watch, play or bet on football, this is the game for you. Unlike the traditional Fifa or Winning eleven games, Fifa Online 2 is not just simply about playing a soccer match with your fingers on the Qwerty keyboard

It tests your analytical skills when choosing the right players to buy and buying them at the right price. Also, there is zero violence in this MMORPG except for the "A" button which I press frequently to purposely slide my opponents and injure them

Last but not least, it also makes you use that business brain in your head in wheeling and dealing of players although it seems that I made more losses than profits in the auction market until now

Sleeping

I don't know why but I just need that bit more of sleep every morning nowadays ever since the second half of the semester began. I wake up about ten minutes later than what I usually do in the past

But who cares? Sleeping is the best activity a living thing(whether an animal, insect or human)can enjoy and what's more, I am never late for class, even if I am, there are surely tons of people who are even later than me

Radio

This one can definitely be classified as an addiction. To be more exact, it is listening to Yes 933 in the night between eleven to one or one plus. The show is really addictive and I am a living example. So people, don't say that I am an early sleeper with no nightlife. My nightlife is dedicated to the radio ok?

Ring Ring Ring, time for some English lessons

As per

This is a simple phrase which is old-fashioned and over exaggerated. We should not use "per" in our writing

Instead of
As per your request, say As you requested
As per your instructions, say As you instructed

Attached/enclosed herewith please find

Why do we need herewith? If it's not here, then where??? Get rid of it and also "please find". The sentence sounds rather passive with these words

I attach/I enclose
Attached is/Enclosed is

Back

Don't use phrase like return back or exchange back. You don't need to use a "back". Never have an expression like this

Bathe/Bath

This is the typical one where most of us, including myself, are confused with and tend to make mistakes. In a five-star hotel, you would take a bath(in the bathtub)but in an ordinary HDB flat in Singapore, you usually take a shower(standing up with a shower above you). So if you are saying you are going to bathe, change it to you are going to shower if you don't have a bathtub

Dated on
When you reply a letter, don't say "Thank you for your letter dated on XX XX XX". ZYou should write "Thank you for your letter dated XX XX XX" or "Thank you for your letter of XX XX XX" Just don't say dated on

Total solar eclipse

The longest total solar eclipse of the century occured today! Yeah and I got to see it first hand! Well on TV of course, I didn't fly all the way to China or Japan. Woke up at 7 in the morning just to make sure that I don't miss that phenomenal moment but had to wait all the way till 9 plus before the sun got completely blocked by the moon in China. When the sun was entirely covered up and darkeness arrived all of a sudden, I felt a kind of excitement in my heart even though I am not physically at the place

Anyway, last night or rather today morning when the time was 12.10am, I smsed a number of people this message, "Do u noe wat time is e solar eclipse tmr morning?"

And here are the different replies which I got

No idea..
Dono..
Tmr raining whole day.
Err i don't know
I think its around 8-9 plus in the morning.
Nope, i don't know

Can you guess which reply belongs to who?

By the way if you wondering, the English lessons will be postponed to Friday this week, I will put up five in one post

21 July

Some pictures(in case if you are complaining that this blog has little pictures


You will only get to see such a tranquil scene in school with nobody around if you reach there before 7.45 in the morning


Since it was too big, the guy decided to place the CPU beside the dustbin

The Ultimatum

The Ultimatum has come to an end recently but the debate on Zoe Tay vs. Fann Wong continues. So here is an imaginary conversation between two fans of both actresses on their idols and this blockbuster drama

Ok let me think of some names. Well, we shall let Jim be the Zoe Tay fan and Karen be the Fann Wong supporter so here we go

Karen: come on be realistic man, Zoe really looks a lot older than Fann in the show
Jim: so? Fann Wong looks like a geisha with her make-up
Karen: but at least she is still younger
Jim: eh Zoe Tay is a mum of two kids already leh
Karen: Fann Wong is a....wife of Christopher Lee leh
Jim: huh?
Karen: ok whatever
Jim: Zoe is the Queen of Caldecott
Karen: Fann is a Hollywood star
Jim: where got?
Karen: what never? she act with Jackie Chan and that ang moh a few years back
Jim: walau, like that also call star? then Jackie Chan is sun already lah
Karen: at least better than Zoe, even China show also don't have chance
Jim: who bothers about your boring China shows
Karen: just admit defeat lah
Jim: what defeat? eh I think Zoe acted better than Fann in The Ultimatum
Karen: no lor, Fann was better
Jim: she only play as some good girl that is so stubborn
Karen: Zoe even more absurd, kill so many people in the story
Jim: because the show has too many characters already so need to kill some
Karen: like who?
Jim: ermmm actually all characters also important but I think Felicia Chin one quite extra
Karen: ya I agree, she doesn't relate to the plot at all
Jim: but she's the transformer of the show man
Karen: oh yes Felicia really looked so "un-girl" in the drama
Jim: I like to watch she and that bake cake guy together at the beginning so funny
Karen: you're right, after that when she show her true identity not interesting already
Jim: what not interesting? it's so boring lor, watching her whack the poor guy over and over again
Karen: the story is really a bit screwed up
Jim: that's why the viewership so low...
Karen: but at least the story is logical unlike The Little Nyonya
Jim: ya la I still don't get it how it can win best script award
Karen: the only interesting character is Tay Ping Hui's role as a thief
Jim: yup I like that one too, quite exciting
Karen: seems that the only 100% good character in the show is Fann Wong
Jim: because she never kena anything right?
Karen: all the bad guys had something happened to them, so old-fashioned
Jim: by the way, remember Li Nan Xing?
Karen: oh he's the guy that confuses everyone watching the show
Jim: he made this serial look very lame, I don't understand how the real god of gambler appeared at the end
Karen: it was so sudden maybe they not enough money to film longer, got budget
Jim: what budget? they got so many sponsors lor
Karen: really a lot...
Jim: everytime when the show end, I have to wait quite long for all the sponsors' name to be announced before I can see the trailer for next day's show
Karen: in a whole, I think that this show is more of a failure than a success
Jim: I strongly agree

China Apple

Yesterday during lunch I recommended this drink to Zhiteng



It is none other than the legendary China Apple. If you have not heard about or see this drink before, it is a an apple flavoured can drink from the land of 1.3 billion people

Yes. It tastes like hell. After taking two sips, Zhiteng gave up and started asking me to refund him one dollar because of my poor recommendation. So I told him the truth, actually I also think that it sucks

Then we all started laughing and I tried a sip too. Damn it, the taste never change even after ten years. It is really a horrifying drink to consume and I wonder if anyone would enjoy drinking it

Quote of the day

"这是我喝过最难喝的drink(This is the worst drink I ever drank)"

Zhiteng on the China Apple drink

***

Although

When you start a sentence with "although", you don't need to use the word "but"

For example, "Although this Gucci bag is very expensive, I will still buy it when I receive my salary"

ITP talk

In the afternoon today, went back to school for the Industrial Training Programme talk. Actually I have no classes on Wednesdays but because of this event I had to spend an extra $1.30 on transport for going to and coming back. It is my fifth time going to SP's convention centre after more than a year since the freshmen orientation

Don't blame it on H1N1, blame it on the stupid brains of the management in SP. Because of this virus thing, everyone had to have their temperatures checked before entering the convention centre. But the dumb thing here is that they made the students queue outside the entrance. As everyone lined up behind one another, it turned out to be a human wall blocking others walking to and fro the area. All these resulted in human traffic jam, confusion and unorderliness

Sometimes I seriously believe that we students are much much smarter than the teachers and even the principal who draws a fat salary every month and do almost nothing to contribute to the school. Even in secondary school, the management is so "toot" and inflexible. All these starts from the head and is passed down to the lower people who follow blindly

Ok back to today's happening. So everyone queued patiently for their turn to get their foreheads scanned by a what do you call it scanner or thermometer device. As expected, the whole thing started late

The speakers were boring and dull but the audience were enthusiastic. They talked about silly things like you can't be late for work, you must dress appropriately and last but not least, please go home and don't attend this talk if your temperature is above 37.6 degrees. Hey come on man, how will we be able to enter this place if our temperatures were above 37.6 when we had them checked outside? Let alone listening to you saying nonsense here?

As the talk grew more and more boring, people started finding things to do to kill time. Some switched on their laptops for some online entertainment, others played their PSP while a few talked on their handphones and a number of them listened to music on their MP3 players

Then went the "boringness" reached its climax, people started to leave the place like movie-goers leaving the cinema because the show was too boring. More and more people followed and after a while you could see people walking out of the place in almost every part of the convention centre

Well for me, I sat all the way to the end because I won't know how long must I wait to get to sit in there again. Moreover, this is the first time all the School of EEE students from my batch getting together in one place since the orientation last year. During then, we were still strangers to one another but one year later we are now friends all at the same place

Now time for English lesson, sorry about the typo errors for yesterday's post

Alphabet

Many people use this word incorrectly. It is wrong to say there are 8 alphabets in this street name. It is should be eight letters. Alright, give me a name, say ermmm Mao Ze Dong ok? There are nine letters in his name, get it?

There is only one alphabet in the English language which is all the lyrics of the ABC song. In short, there are twenty-six letters in the alphabet

So how many letter are there in the alphabet? Twenty-six? No it's twenty-four, because ET went home!

14 July

Alright, it's blogging time! For the past one week, it has been a relatively dull period for blogs. Seems that there was some sort of a pandemic in the local blogosphere that infected everyone with a mental block. Which means people had no inspiration to blog in short

Whether you are a regular reader, occassional one or just some stranger who ended up here after clicking links from you friend's friend's friend's blog, you must be thinking of this. So what does this guy have in store for me finally?

Actually the answer is nothing much. Stocks around the world went up today. Yeah three cheers for this good news but how long will it last?

Urumqi is still unsettled after a week. Honestly I think the name Urumqi doesn't sound "cheena" enough to be a place in China. I first knew about this place when playing Geography Challenge on Facebook. Then, in the section where you are supposed to click the exact location of a place on the world map, I clicked somewhere in North Africa when I saw it. I thought it was some Muslim area in Egypt

Anyway if this blog doesn't provide you the entertainment you require for your daily online needs then check out the Star blog section at Stomp. This week's topic has set several star bloggers ranting about things and spicing up their entry with juicy contents

Well, if you haven't realized, I have actually wrote quite a number of words already so I think I'm starting to get back my inspiration. Before I end this post, I shall teach or rather share with you all some tips and mistakes we commonly make in the English Language. I will have one or two of them at the end of every post for at least a month so stay tuned. I shall start from the letter A

Above-mentioned

This is one of those old-fashioned phrases from our great-grandfather's generation which refer to whatever was in the subject heading or paragragh above. This phrase should not be used in modern 21st century writing. It sounds so "out"

Instead of "Thank you for registering for the the above-mentioned course", say "Thank you for registering for this course"

If the subject is in plural form, then use the word "these" instead of "this" but never "above", "above-mentioned" or the typical "said"

10 interesting pictures

Finally, I managed to upload pictures! Well I just tried and it works now. Here are some interesting pictures that I have taken. It may not be the best but I have tried my best, so sit back and relax




Check out how this guy parks his Mercedes. Was he rushing for time or just plain hao lian-ing it?



Bicylce's version of taupok!



A noob and a psychopath in action at the foodcourt



Guess who's he. Sorry no prizes awarded for correct answers



Empty bus during peak hour. Strange, wonder if it has got to do with me?



Look at what they are doing! There's something up there



These Indian warriors battled out bravely with their long sticks




And it is a....actually I also don't know what were they doing



Which idiot/moron placed all these in the lift?


And lastly...


What the hell? The toilet has NO door!!! Really, I'm not kidding you, it was taken in my school. Our society is getting more and more open-minded

Indonesian Presidential election

Ok today is the big day for all Indonesians. The results of their country's presidential election would be announced in about three hours time according what I read from the newspaper. So who will win? president Yudhoyono, vice president Jusuf Kalla or former president Megawati?

It's been a long time since I last wrote about politics so I shall do it now although this post seems a bit late. There are three groups of candidates for this election which include president Yudhoyono and the governor of Bank Indonesia, Boediono, VP Jusuf Kalla and former Indonesian military leader Wiranto and last but not least former president Megawati and Gerindra leader Prabowo

Interestingly, Jusuf Kalla and Wirato were known as Jk-Win and this name was part of their election campaign. On the other hand Megawait and Prabowo were referred as Mega-Pro. This show the creativity of the Indonesian media. And Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono were just called SBY-Boediono. Short and simple

If there were betting odds for this election by and bookmaker(or bookie), I think SBY would be the favourite with JK as the black horse and Megawati the underdog. SBY can have a handicap of 20 percent votes even since he is the most popular

So all the best to three candidates but my money will go to SBY

Technology is making my head spin

I still can't upload pictures to this blog and I don't know what is the problem with Blogger. I tried using Firefox, Safari and the excellent Internet Explorer and it was still the same. When I try to upload a picture, the browser will state that it's uploaded successfully but there is no picture in the entry at all. Can someone help me on this problem?

Oh by the way, I just had a new problem, my handphone is hanged now for no apparent reason no matter what button I press.

Technology is making my head spin

Can't post pictures

I can't upload pictures!

Why why tell me why?

What's wrong with my account?

Speak good Mandarin

I have a new target recently. My latest addition to a growing list of unrealistic goals is to speak good Mandarin. Not as in with a China accent that you get to hear easily on the streets everywhere. But, the proper kind where you pronounce the words clearly and bite you teeth and curl your tongue at the right moments

If you are still unsure about what I mean, here is an example. Do you notice that everytime when you watch local Mandarin channels on TV, you will hear this certain male voice being broadcasted. Whether it is an advertisement or a TV programme trailer, it is always the same person same voice

He speaks very fluently with a manly tone. You can go switch on the TV and observe it yourself. Actually you might have already noticed this voice before but because it is so excellent it did not really catch your attention. Yes this guy or rather his voice is the main reason why I have set this new goal

I dream that I can speak like him one day. I would be scoring distinctions in oral examinations. Yeah easier said than done

Another motivation is the current speak Mandarin campaign which marks it's 30th anniversary this year. There is this Chinese challenge contest which had posters with questions found at bus stops at MRT stations islandwide like this one

People who know me will understand that I am sort of a more ang moh pai person. Ok maybe 60% English, 40% Chinese. But I want to make it 90% English and 90% Chinese. Good luck to myself and this new unrealistic dream of mine

2 July

As usual it's an ordinary Thursday where everyone is looking forward to Friday and then the weekend. And like finally at last, this so called holidays of ours will be over and it's back to school. When it's schooling days you prefer the holidays and when it's the holidays you sort of miss schooling days. Contradicting human beings aren't we?

Well electricity bills will increase again from this month. H1N1 is still haunting people like those poor RP students. The first Asian Youth Games has begun officially, Singapore has won two gold medals so far and our football team lost to China 3:0 yesterday which means I lost a bet to Zhiteng. And many people are paying tribute to Michael. Doing moonwalks, singing his songs, dressing like him and last but not least, wearing masks...Wait is it for him or for H1N1?