Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year everybody!

Ok, that's all I've got to say. Bye!. See you next year (which means tomorrow).

2010 Top 10 people

This is my list of the top 10 people of the year in 2010. I think this year's list is much more in-depth than last year's one. Anyway, here we go.

Number 10


General Stanley McChrystal

This former Commander of the U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) caused quite an uproar in the middle of the year for his remarks in a Rolling Stone magazine article.

McChrystal and his staff made unflattering comments about Joe Biden, America's Vice-President, and other government officials. When questioned, he didn't deny the content.

The event prompted President Barack Obama to call the four-star general for a meeting at the White House where the latter tendered his resignation. Obama accepted it and days after the resignation, McChrystal decided to retire.

Not many people have the balls to take on the President, a man like Stanley McChrystal should deserve some sort of recognition.

Number 9


Angry Birds developers

First of all, in case you don't know, Angry Birds is a game that was released for iPhone in December 2009. With its ultra-addictive gameplay and cheap price, it took the entire mobile gaming world by storm this year.

Android and Symbian versions of the game were also created due to its overwhelming popularity. This catapult-puzzle game was developed by Rovio Mobile, a company in Finland and has sold over 12 million copies in Apple's App Store.

Gamers all around the world might be having fun (or difficulties) with the game. However, it is the people who created it who will have the last laugh.

Number 8


Konstantin Novoselov

Ok, maybe I should add Andre Geim in too since both of them are known for their work on graphene. I decided to put Novoselov name as I think Geim has already won more awards.

Both teacher and student (yes, Geim is the teacher) are also the recipients of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics. Novoselov is also the youngest Nobel laureate in 18 years.

The Russian scientist also won the 2010 Knights Commander of the Order of Netherlands Lion, a highly prestigious accolade for exceptional people.

Number 7


Naoto Kan

Last year, I had Yukio Hatoyama. This year, his successor also managed to garner a spot in my list. The current Japanese Prime Minister had a good taste of what ups and downs in life are all about in 2010.

The former finance minister a=only assumed office as PM in June after Hatoyama's shock resignation (actually not really that shocking).

Kan had to deal with problems regarding the economy, cabinet, and most notably the Senkaku Islands incident which strained relations with China.

The Japanese government stepped into the currency market in September by buying U.S. dollars to weaken the yen. It was a move welcomed by exporters, brokers as well as the public.

I wonder how long will he last as PM since Japan has a trend of changing governments in the last few years.

Number 6


Bill Gates

What is the world's richest man doing here in this list? Other than being a dropout student of Harvard, chairman of Microsoft and biggest shareholder of the company, he is also a philanthropist.

Together with his wife, they are the founders of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is basically a charity thingy. This year, together with Warren Buffet (world no. 2 wealthiest man), Bill has embarked on a mission to get more billionaires to pledge their support for charity.

This is the kind of people who deserve to be rich, the kind who has a charitable heart. When will it be my turn?


Number 5


Xavier Hernández

After living on Earth for 3 decades, it is high time Xavi did something big in his career as a footballer. Luckily, he did it and it wasn't just one.

In 2010, the Barcelona midfielder won the Spanish League, Spanish Supercup, World Cup and World Player of the Year award.

The class of Xavi is out of this world. No human passes a ball with his foot better than this man from Spain. He is also the only sports representative in this list.

Number 4


Kim Jong-il

Let's keep this short. This short crazy old lady (or you can argue that she's a man) have been making headlines around the globe annually. 2010 has been a year where he created (and destroyed) lots of things.

See? Mr Kim, you finally managed to beat the Americans in something! There isn't anyone from America who is above 4th spot in this list.

Number 3


Julian Gillard

Current Prime Minister of Australia and the first female to do so in the country's history.

She overthrew Kevin Rudd, then Australian PM, after snatching party leadership from him thus, becoming head of government.

During the August federal election, her Labor party and the Coalition each garnered 72 seats in the 150-seat parliament. Under the persuasion of Gillard, 4 crossbench MPs decided to side by Labor hence, letting Gillard and Labor to remain in power.

Number 2


So Nyuh Shi Dae (Girls' Generation)

Right now, it's Girls' Generation! This list looks a bit boring at first right? Right, but SNSD thoroughly deserves the runners-up spot.

If you say Hallyu blew strongly all around Asia in 2010, you might as well say it was SNSD who led the attack. Korean popular culture seems incomplete without mentioning this 9-girl group.

Their popularity has never decreased from South Korea to Southeast Asia to as far as America. They won the Disk Daesang Award (Best Album) and Artist of the Year in the Golden Disk and Melon Music Awards respectively.

They were also picked as "Star of the Year" aka most influential artist by a survey from Sports Korea.

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So can you guess who's Number One?
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Number 1


YOU YOU YOU

Yes, it's you. You survived another year. Another year of ups and downs. Give yourself a pat on the back. You deserved it.

Top 10 epic failures of Singapore in 2010

For this year's year-end special post, I will have not one but two Top 10 posts. Similar to last year, I will have my Top 10 people of the year post.

As for the second one which I will be posting today, it is the Top 10 epic failures of Singapore in 2010 where I list 10 Singaporean flops that occurred this year.

Number 10


National team knocked out of the AFF Suzuki Cup group stages

Unable to beat a team whose name is Phillipines, only scored the winning goal in the last minute against Myanmar and losing to Vietnam 0:1.

If the women's table tennis team being crowned world champions was the biggest success in Singapore sports this year, then the football team is no doubt the biggest failure.

Number 9


Battlestar Galactica's shut-down due to a technical glitch

The main attraction of Universal Studios at Resorts World Sentosa had to be closed because of some technical problems. Definitely a big embarrassment for RWS and the government.

Marina Bay Sands looks set to pawn the Sentosa IR hands down.

Number 8


Taufik Batisah singing the National Anthem wrongly (again)

The winner of the first Singapore Idol competition sang "berseru" instead of "bersatu" during the National Day Parade. This is not the first time he sang this Malay song incorrectly, and he's a Malay.

Number 7


Singapore YOG cheer by JJ Lin

There is even a Facebook fan page for people to join and show their displeasure at this awful song. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. Seriously, only those from the kindergarten will enjoy listening to it. And JJ Lin of course

Number 6


My World Cup bets with Singapore Pools

I decided to put myself in this list as well since I'm a Singaporean and Singapore Pools has "Singapore" in it. I cannot remember how many bets did I made but none of them turned out to be correct.

Luckily, the BPL helped to cut my losses by allowing me to win some money back from several matches.

Number 5


Irritating MRT jingle

Another one associated with music. Hearing three aunties making noise inside an already squeezy MRT train will only frustrate you more. At least SMRT did listen to the complaints and stopped broadcasting it after some time.

Number 4


Mah Bow Tan's denial that HDB flats are unaffordable

The more he denies and defends, the more agitated people will become. Citizens were blamed for the shortage of public housing as they had "fantasy-home dreams" when in fact, it was the PRs who drove up property prices.

Minister Mah, better pray that you can win in the next election because many opposition candidates are arrowing you.

Number 3


Flash floods in Orchard Road (and other parts of the country)

A certain PAP minister said that floods are "freak events which occur once in fifty years". However, the country has been flooded so many times that NEA has to issue flood alerts whenever it rains.

Marina Barrage also played a part in this "freak event" which the government conveniently avoid talking about. In fact, the government tried to shirk responsibility.

The blame was passed on from NEA to PUB and then to Singaporeans for wanting "everything to be perfect". That's the reality of our highly-paid ministers, nobody ever apologizes for screw-ups.

Number 2


Government urging citizens to welcome foreigners

The government's addiction to foreigners and treating them like citizens is nothing new. Prime Minister Lee continued to urge Singaporeans to welcome more aliens here during his National Day Rally.

Other ministers also took turns to convince Singaporeans to accept these so-called foreign talents to no avail. Maybe we should hire some foreigner to be our ministers as well, they are definitely cheaper and better.

Number 1


YOG Organizing Committee

Number one epic failure of all.

School students were forced to stand in the rain. Others were threatened to sign up as volunteers. NTU students had to give up their hostels. The hilarious opening ceremony where clueless flag bearers walked around on stage.

Food poisoning of the YOG volunteers. Poor commentary by the commentators. Roads lanes were "reserved" for YOG buses. Singapore received worldwide attention (and laughter) for arresting a YOG critic over some harmless comments.

Most importantly, nobody wanted to assume responsibility when there were so many screw-ups. Plus, the YOG budget amounted to $387 million and the government insisted that it's worthwhile.

Most people who know me are aware that I am not fond of the ruling People's Action Party. I have been taking digs at them every now and then, whether it is in real-life or online.

So, to be fair to all (but when was PAP ever fair to the rest?), I decided to criticize the opposition parties of Singapore as well. But do remember, no matter how bad they look like in this post, they are still better than the men in white.

Singapore Democratic Alliance

This alliance which consists of the Singapore People's Party, Singapore Justice Party and Singapore Malay National Organization has been going down slope ever since the 2006 elections.

Chiam See Tong of the SPP is the only member of parliament in this opposition front. But sad to say, as the sole representative of SDA, he has been in the news recently for negative reasons.

First, it was SDA's secretary general Desmond Lim's fallout with Chiam. Then, last week, Sin Kek Tong who is SPP's chairman, voiced out concerns that Chiam had contributed less than the stimulated amount of his MP allowance to the party.

With their talisman going through a rough patch at the moment, SDA will find it hard to win more seats in the next election.

They definitely have to solve internal problems first before facing external challenges from other areas. Chiam See Tong has also decided to give up his Potong Pasir seat and  contest in a GRC this time, a plan which might backfire.

National Solidarity Party

Formerly part of the SDA but parted ways with it 4 years ago. The ideology of NSP is centrism. Centrism is defined as the ideal of having moderate policies which sit in the middle of left and right wing politics.

In short, NSP's approach is play it safe and play it smooth. They are neither here nor there so do not expect much changes if their members are elected.

Goh Meng Seng, secretary general of the party, has openly expressed his interest in contesting the Tampines GRC which is led by minister Mah Bow Tan. Goh had been debating about public housing for quite some time, an issue associated to National Development minister Mah.

Yes, they can provide a credible platform for citizens to voice their concerns but they still lack the power (and guts) to force a revolution.

Reform Party

I admit that RP is currently the one which looks the most credible. It was founded only 2 years ago but as the saying goes, age is merely just a number. However, nothing is perfect.

RP needs more experienced veterans to join their ranks. They have a strong bunch of members in their youth wing but one PAP minister can easily beat them hands down in a debate.

Moreover, the one and only person who looks more "powerful" is their secretary general, Kenneth Jeyaretnam who graduated from Cambridge University.

KJ himself is one who makes contradicting statements. He lamented Singapore's censorship when he himself is a king of censorship in cyberspace.

That is quite similar to classic PAP-style politics. Silencing those who make noise and oppose.

Lastly, what with the statement "Singapore's GDP is fueled partly by the constant condemning and rebuilding of HDB which are built to last 30-40 years"?

Does that mean that the buildings will start to collapse after 40 years? Well, not at least in Queenstown.

Singapore Democratic Party

Ah-ha. There, it's none other than the mighty SDP, not! Although I am a supporter of all oppositions, I will give my vote to SDP if all parties except PAP contested.

The good and bad thing about SDP lies in its secretary general Dr Chee Soon Juan. CSJ belongs to the extremely-endangered species of politicians in Singapore. He is an all-rounder who can debate on a wide variety of issues.

But, most Singaporeans, brainwashed by PAP, see him as an obstacle to Singapore's progress, both economically and socially.

While it remains to be seen what alternatives CSJ can offer, chances of him being elected are of only a decimal value.

Moreover, SDP's approach of liberal democracy, compared to RP's social democracy, will not fit the current political landscape of Singapore. SDP's tough stance will only do it no good.

Workers' Party

Seriously, why did I list them as the last one? Precisely, because they do not give hope. WP is like PAP's ally. Read up on Russian politics to understand the concept better.

PAP as well as the state-controlled media approves WP as a "credible" opposition instead of the rest. Why? Because WP will not be a threat to PAP's dominance.

WP is there to stay and show others that there are oppositions voices within the parliament. If RP or SDP were to be elected, expect lots of noises at every parliament meeting.

It's ideology is centre-left but I think it is just simply centre-right, making friends with the ruling party. Low Thia Kiang and Sylvia Lim, the 2 MPs of the party, failed terribly at debating with the ministers.

In a nutshell, all opposition parties agree on most stuff like abolishing the Internal Security Act and having a waive for Goods and Services Tax. They just need to pool their resources together to fight the giant, only then can they emerge victorious.

Volunteering with your heart

I think I shall speak for the innocent group of people who had been suffering from injustice for a long time. These people, like myself, are youngsters who always get "accused" of not participating actively in social/community work (or you can say CIP).

They always hear themselves being labelled as lazing around instead of contributing to society by doing some voluntary work. Most of the time, it is their parents who wronged them.

Like when they see other youngsters going from house to house to collect whatever stuff or a group of them in uniform doing social work, they will think that their son/daughter should participate as well.

I would like to take this opportunity to make this clear once and for all. If you happen to be reading this and have a parent like that too, make sure he or she reads this too.

Those so-called volunteers yes, I said so-called, 9 out of 10 of them are not volunteering with their hearts. Do you really think those students really choose to do community work on their own? It's for the sake of that few CCA points!

Do you really believe that these students will continue volunteering after achieving 30 hours of CIP? Well, of course they will if Singapore beats England in a football match.

I have seen countless of examples. My ex-classmates, current ones and friends outside, they are just let's-do-it-now-and-after-we-are-done-we-won't-do-it-again.

So, next time when you see a group of youngsters (especially those wearing the same type of shirt), think twice before making a conclusion. They wouldn't have exist in front of your eyes if CIP didn't exist to be mandatory.

Back to myself, I am not saying that I am lazy nor am I trying to boast that I volunteer with my heart. One does not need to let everyone know if he/she does charity/voluntary work.

To all parents out there, before you criticize your child for not taking part in these activities, think of the last sentence in the above paragraph. Maybe, he/she did volunteer but chose to remain silent over it.

That is what I call volunteering with your heart, not those who are a slave to some petty CCA points.

I received this weird, or should I say lame, email in the inbox of my school account today. It is sent by a China boy (ah, China again?) who is a current SP student.

And judging from the title of the email, I believe I wasn't one of the intended recipients. I am a pinky Singapore citizen.

For those who don't understand Chinese, this is roughly what the content is all about. [ ] denotes my own thoughts

"Title: hi, fellow students who are studying abroad

Hi Comrades

It was not easy using special channels to find everybody's email. Let me introduce myself: SP Business IT 2013 student from Beijing, male, born in year '91, been in Singapore for 3 years plus.

Have been studying in SP for almost 9 months, life has been quite fulfilling so far except that there is a lack of the unique atmosphere when interacting with my local classmates.

I believe everybody has similar thoughts as me right? Sometimes, when I chat with Singapore students, we can't seem to talk about something interesting.

Therefore, suggesting everybody to know one another via some communication channel (best is to create a Q group, [I think it's the QQ thing china people use as MSN] mine is full, whoever creates one let me know);

I usually like to hang around in the library, those who have a mutual interest can join me to enjoy the richness of books, also I really love the piano, I believe they are many countrymen whom are like me too right? There is a piano club at the school's Sports Hall, there is a piano there, welcome all that are interested to join!

First said so much [I don't understand this line so I did a direct translation]

So, join Q:195252432, wish to contact via SMS also can: 90877972

Wishing all comrades Happy Holidays!"

How was my translation? Not bad right? Think can go be a subber right? (person who does the subtitles for a show)

Whether, it is real or not, I think I am going to reply him anyway. At least state some reasons why Singapore students are giving the cold shoulder to their China counterparts.

How should I address him? What's his damn name? Maybe just call him a kid from North Korea's only ally.

Tron: Legacy

Went to watch Tron: Legacy today. I thought it's worth writing a review since it was quite a nice show. Please refrain from reading this post if you don't want any spoilers.

I watched the 2D version as I read from the newspapers that 1/5 of the show is not in 3D anyway. I would say this film, together with Inception, are the only two movies that can rival the alien-themed Avatar.

Tron's computer graphics were done not only with excellent skills but also with bountiful amounts of sincerity. Compared to Avatar, this film has more human touch to it and you can relate to the characters with ease compared to those blue aliens.

The biggest setback is its old-school plot. Boy enters/experience a brand new world, boy is in danger, boy is going to get killed by the baddie, a girl appears and saves him. Together with an old hag, they combine to fight against the baddie. End of story.

Other than being able to rival against big big Avatar, Tron: Legacy also has something else which makes it belong to the category of scarce movies. It is one of the rare films that doesn't have any kissing scenes. Well, the theme is science-fic anyway. What do you expect? Expect some superb and dazzling animations then.

By the way, I would gladly award 4.5 stars out of 5 for it. Minus 0.5 marks because I don't understand how did they find food to eat in the virtual world.

19 Dec

I wanted to blog yesterday but due to some technical errors, I was not able to do so. Anyway, I am currently facing another mental block again. So while I continue to look for inspiration, here is a list of things I did recently/had been doing.

-Tinker and tweak with Wordpress which is hosted on my Wampserver

-Borrowed the book To Kill A Mockingbird from library and currently stuck at chapter two

-Borrowed the book The Kite Runner from library but have yet to start reading

-Doing an independent research on and study of Korean pop culture and how it affects Asia

-Embarking on a new story writing assignment. This time it will be a novel. Presently at the stage of creating characters and their relationships

-Drafting my "Top 10 people of 2010" article

-Composing a song that is a summary of the year

-Learning/exploring new magic tricks

-Cycling at the park

Ok, I shall stop here. Happy early birthday to Dr. Mahathir who is celebrating it tomorrow. 85 years old already still want to act hero? Oh wait, Singapore has a 87 year-old man who still don't want to retire.

According to a Pew Research Center study in America, older people are catching up to the younger generation on Internet usage.

While associates of Gen X and Gen Y still dominate in areas like surfing the net with smartphones, some regions have seen a rise in a number of older folks.

One notable area is the usage of social networking sites like Facebook. There is approximately a 30% increase in the number of uncles and aunties (aged 45-55) on these sites in two years.

However, the speediest rise in users of social networking sites turn out to be the 74 years old and above category. Usage was four times more compared to two years ago.

About 83% of the Millenials belong to the virtual world online while the older adults amount to 61%. This figure is almost double of what there was in 2008.

It is evident that social networking has become part of our lives, whether it is online of offline (real world). It is interesting to see how "digital" human beings will transform into in the next decade.

Most annoying Christmas song

Recently, there was this online survey conducted by an advertising agency in Bulgaria. Apparently, it asked surveyors to pick the Christmas song which they hate the most.

As expected (I guessed it correctly), the 1984 song Last Christmas by Wham! was declared the winner with more than 28000 voters choosing it. That amounted to 19% of the votes.

Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas was the runner-up with 15% of the voting population selecting it. I agree that both songs are on par in terms of irritation.

I remember blogging about the song Last Christmas in 2009 where I stated that the lyrics are absolutely dumb. "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save all the tears, I'll give it to someone special"

Ok, so you had learned your lesson last year right? And you are still giving it to the wrong person every year for the past 26 years?

Traditional Christmas songs with nostalgic cliche and annoying tunes move aside. Animals are the "in" thing now.

China inflation

It is confirmed. China's inflation is the highest in the world, at least for the past two years. This should raise concerns over the tightening measures of the world's most populous country.

Chinese leaders have vowed to contain the inflation and ensure stable growth for the country but it remains to be seen what action will be taken.

An 11.7% increase in food prices was the main factor why the consumer price index jumped by 0.7% from October to November. Another increase in residential prices which amounted to 5.8% also accounted for the hike.

Fruits claimed the top spot in food prices with an jump of 28.1% year on year. Eggs, grain and oil take second to fourth spot respectively.

There are several reasons to this statistical change. One would be strong fiscal spending and that prices are still "affordable". However, this enlarges the danger of a backlash next year.

The bad weather also played a part. The price of vegetables went up but it is evident that non-veggies food were the main culprits this time. Vegetable prices had already started increasing few months ago.

Anyway, expect prices to be stable by the end of 2010 with government measures on the way to curb this annoying rising index.

Real Madrid winter season collection

Yup, that's me.

I am dressing up for Real Madrid's winter season collection and this is my avatar. Pictured here is an adidas jacket with white track pants and of course, the conspicuos golden scarf. Never mind the dog in front of me.

Aff Suzuki Cup final post

Alright, this shall be the final post on the AFF Suzuki Cup since Singapore crashed out of it on Wednesday night.

Singapore's loss did not seem acceptable. They did not even give their one hundred percent when playing the match against Vietnam. Knowing that a draw is sufficient to advance to the semi-finals, they should just use the "park the bus" method.

That is, to have ten men behind the ball and defend in numbers. There is no need to attack at all (since the strikers aren't in good form either). This method would surely bring a positive result although it might anger the Vietnamese.

Who cares? It is still legitimate and as long as it benefits Singapore, why not use it? Vietnam undeservedly won the championship two years ago anyway. Now, I just hope Malaysia can finish them off.

There are many tactical flaws in the Lions, all thanks to coach Raddy Avramovic. Like playing 4-3-3 against Philippines before guai guai switch back to 4-4-2 when it is ineffective. Most people can tell that it is ineffective right before the match.

Choosing Muhammad Riduan over Khairul Amri when the latter is obviously the finer player among the two. Using Aleksandar Duric when he is already forty years old.

Maybe we should start a petition to sack Raddy once and for all.

Mozzie Dance

Excuse me, are you dancing?

Check out the latest mozzie dance by a erm, mosquito. I filmed this in my room last night

AFF Suzuki Cup Preview 3

Singapore will face Vietnam in their final group game of the AFF Suzuki Cup tomorrow. The Vietnamese badly need to win this match or they face the prospect of being eliminated when they are both the hosts and defending champions.

The Lions would only require a draw to advance to the semi-finals. The other two teams of the group, Philippines and Myanmar, also play a decisive role to whom gets qualified. But either way, Singapore still looks safe for a spot in the semis.

Vietnam will give Singapore a tough time and the latter have not emerged victorious whenever both sides meet for more than a decade. Plus, the game is held at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi which can house 40000 noisy home supporters.

I expect Singapore to just squeeze out a goalless stalemate with the Vietnamese controlling the game. Goalkeeper Hassan Sunny should get ready to suffer several moments of heart attacks while playing.

I hope Vietnam gets eliminated eventually because they did not deserve to be the winners two years ago. Thailand would certainly agree with me on this point.

As for the Singapore squad, Aleksandar Duric is currently the top scorer with 2 goals but I believe the Lions would have scored many more if he didn't play.

The injury-time goal against Myanmar clearly showed that Duric was sluggish and communicated half a second slower with Agu Casmir the scorer. Luckily, Agu's finishing was clinical or else everyone would have blamed Duric for his "lagging performance".

Raddy Avramovic had once again exposed his flaws as a manger. He made two substitutions at only half-time which includes replacing the ineffective Noh Alam Shah and bringing on Khairul Amri.

If Avaramovic had foreseen this (before the game), Singapore might have enjoyed an easier time in the first 45 minutes. This shows that the Serb doesn't know how to fully utilize the resources at his disposal.

I would be a much better coach of the national team

Breakout

The complicated and sophisticated relationship map of Breakout

This show will commence tonight. Might not be as nice as Unriddle but definitely better than the over-hyped The Little Nyonya a couple of years back.

It is the same scriptwriter again. Ang Eng Tee unbelievably won "Best Script" in the 2009 Star Awards for The Little Nyonya which had many illogical scenes.

Yes, it is always him who writes the script for blockbuster dramas. But the media industry in Singapore is really facing a shortage of quality scriptwriters.

Similar to last year's year-end blockbuster drama, Together, Breakout's characters are also unique to one another, putting emphasis on characterization. In my opinion, I think a stronger plot would be more crucial for a blockbuster drama.

Before I forget, look who we have again. It's Jeanette Aw the actress who gains widespread hatred when acting demure. Need I also emphasize on the expressionless face of hers when acting?

MST coming

Ok, mid-semester tests (don't understand why they call it a test when it's an exam) are coming again. So this means that I will have less time to update this blog.

However, rest assured that I will update it whenever I am free or when an idea/inspiration strikes my head. Having said that, I have declared myself on annual leave for five days subject to management approval.

Oh yes, and right after MST would be school holidays and they will be used for doing FYP. And finally, it will be the last 2 months of me as a student of Singapore Poly.

Time really flies. We are already in December. New's Year Day was like only last week.

Was reading about Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report 2010 and remembered that The Straits Times aka No.1 propaganda newspaper made a report about it some time back.

The Straits Times claimed that Singapore is ranked 2nd in Asia Pacific and 4th in the world in terms of average personal wealth.

Sure or not? One might ask. Well, it's only one side of the story.

That is not an accurate calculation as only 3.6% of the population (not revealed in the newspaper) owned more than USD500000. The majority which is around 55% fall in the 10000-100000 range. Approximately 23% are in the 1000-10000.

With all these figures, who the heck are the wealthy ones in Singapore to be labeled 4th in the world?

On the other hand, using median wealth per adult (in USD) would be a more balanced and accurate approach. And the average number of Singapore only amounts to 30092 when it comes to median.

Unlike mean (or average), median takes the value which separates the higher half from the lower half.

Here is an example to paint a clearer picture

Let's say there are 7 people living in Raymond Kingdom and their wealth are

1. $50000
2. $60000
3. $65000
4. $65000
5. $70000
6. $75000
7. $80000

Here, the numbers are quite fairly distributed. The average wealth in this case is $66429. The median would be number 4 which is $65000. Quite close right?

How about this?

1. $50000
2. $60000
3. $65000
4. $65000
5. $70000
6. $75000
7. $500000

The 7th person is obviously the odd one out. So, the median still remains status quo at $65000 but the average would work out to be $126429!!!

While The Straits Times can continue to boast about all the "fictional facts", Singapore is sadly ranked at 25th spot in terms of median wealth. I better not put up the list in case of copyright issues, you can google on your own.

And sad to say, Singapore is the only one in the list where median wealth is less than GDP per capita.

AFF Suzuki Cup preview 2

The 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup officially starts today. Singapore will play their first game of the tournament tomorrow when they take on Philippines. The result of this match looks quite predictable but as the saying goes "The ball is round."

The Lions should stick to 4-4-2 with a flat midfield. Here is the probable line-up for tomorrow's match.

Hassan Sunny; Baihakki Khaizan, Daniel Bennet, Rosman Sulaiman, Juma'at Jantan; Mustafic Fahrudin, Shahdan Sulaiman, Ridhuan Muhammad, Sharil Ishak; Aleksandar Duric, Noh Alam Shah.

Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic is expected to pair the 40 year-old Duric and fiery Noh Alam Shah in attack. Although Duric does not match the styles of the other attacking players like Alam Shah, Sharil and Ridhuan, he is still expected to start.

That is the weakness of Raddy as a coach. He puts personal records ahead of team tactics. So what if Duric has scored more than 300 S League goals?

He looks better off as a substitute 2/3 into the game where he can launch aerial assaults on weary defenders. Instead, the Lions can opt for 4-2-3-1 with Sharil as the central attacking midfielder supporting Alam Shah.

Spain, Liverpool and Real Madrid all use this formation to deadly effects. 4-4-2 looks a bit too direct for Singapore. The point is just to offload long balls for the forwards to chase.

Notable absentees from the squad this time include Hariss Harun (what a pity), John Wilkinson (yeah, cos he sucks) and Shi Jiayi (personal reasons).

I am not sure what happened to Shaiful Esah, the one and only left-footed player in the national team. His name was also missing in the list. If Shaiful was called up, he could be deployed on the left wing and that would be exciting to watch.

With three central midfielders missing, Shahdan Sulaiman will certainly get to start in tomorrow's game. Although still quite an unknown name among fans, I can assure you that he has the potential to make it big.

The deep-lying playmaker can form a formidable partnership in central midfield with defensive linchpin Mustafic Fahrudin and the creative Sharil.

Another player whose name is also less heard of also stand a chance of starting the match against Philippines. He is Rosman Sulaiman slotted at right-back at the expense of the experienced Noh Rahman.

I think this is the position where Raddy will have the biggest headache as both players cancel out each other in terms of technique.

I foresee Hassan Sunny to beat Lionel Lewis for the goalkeeping role. Both are good players but at the moment, Hassan looks more reliable and steady. Expect Izwan Mahbud, the third-choice goalie, to find his trip to Vietnam more of a holiday than work.

Final score: Singapore 4:0 Philippines. Noh Alam Shah at the double, Sharil Ishak netting one and the Filipinos scoring an own goal.

Invincible Youth calendar

I thought of purchasing this. I really love this show and it is the one and only Korean show that interests me anyway. But the process of signing up an account at this website is tedious and there are no Singapore contact numbers to dial for assistance.

Does anybody has a yesasia account to help me?

AFF Suzuki Cup preview

Taken from nottscountyfc.co.uk

The official website of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010-www.affsuzukicup.com-praised Radojko Avramovic by claiming that Singapore have a "fabulous record" in the competition under his coaching.

Singapore won 2 straight titles in 2004 and 2007 under Raddy. That does not equal to a fabulous record. In fact, I strongly believe that the progress of the national team can only be positive if Avramovic quits.

The Lions relied more on luck to win the two finals.

In 2004, Singapore barely scrapped through to the final when they played Myanmar in the semis. Raddy's team was losing 2:1 after 90 minutes of the 2nd leg. The aggregate was tied at 5:5 during then. Singapore plundered in 3 goals during extra time to enter the final.

Indonesia was not the toughest opponent among all the teams so the Lions weren't really in for a stern test. Singapore's toughest rivals would be Thailand and Malaysia in terms of technique and psychology respectively.

2007 was even luckier for the Lions. They didn't even do well in the group stage, two draws with Vietnam and Indonesia plus a 11-0 thrashing of Laos where Noh Alam Shah netted 7 goals.

The referees of both legs of Singapore's semi-final against Malaysia were from China and Hong Kong. I think it was a bit biased, they should have chosen someone from Middle East or something.

And again, Singapore barely scrapped through to the final because Khyril Muhymeen's shot was saved by Lionel Lewis in the penalty shoot-out.

The final against Thailand was even more epic. Singapore won a controversial penalty with 7 minutes left but the Thais walked off the pitch and wasted 15 minutes of everybody's time.

Luckily, Mustafic Fahrudin managed to convert the spot kick and gave Singapore a 2:1 lead on aggregate ahead of the second leg.

Singapore was absolutely no match for Thailand in the second leg. The Thais controlled the game and Khairul Amri's horoscope must have been in tip-top form for him to score the equalizer thus crowning Singapore winners 3:2 on aggregate.

Luck won't last forever and Singapore were eliminated in the semi-final when they played Vietnam two years ago. Raddy's tactics are also too predictable.

So, for Singapore football to move on, Radojko Avramovic has to move on as well.

NMIC Badge

I bought a badge today.

I think it is really cool.

Really very cool.

This badge speaks on behalf me.

AFF Suzuki Cup

Taken from www.affsuzukicup.com

The 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup will start on the 1st of December. I would be giving quite a considerable amount of coverage on it because Singapore is one of the participants!

And they are going to win it for sure. (I always say this once every two years)

A quick glance at the groupings will tell you that Singapore was drawn into the easier group or rather drawn with easier opponents.

The legendary Lions are in Group B with Vietnam aka the super tai ko winners of the 2008 competition, Myanmar aka the kings of fouls and cheaters and Philippines aka the land of maids and call centre agents.

Groups A consists of Indonesia aka the ultra-suay runners-up of 3 times, Malaysia aka the hardly here nor there team, Thailand aka the one that will give everyone a hard time and Laos aka the team that will be happy if they can secure a draw.

Singapore's first match will be against the Philippines but it is the final Group B game on the 8th that most people look forward to.

The Lions play Vietnam and it would be a perfect opportunity for them to avenge their loss in the semi-final a couple of years back when some Vietnamese idiot scored the only goal of the match at Kallang and silenced the entire home crowd.

That's all for now. More coverage coming soon.

North Korea fired artillery shells on to an island of South Korea earlier in the afternoon today. At least two people were killed and many others were left injured.

A presidential statement released vowed for retaliation. It said "Our military...will sternly retaliate against any further provocations".

Instead of just shooting back at their noisy Northern neighbours, here's what Seoul can do instead.

1. Ask Japan, China, Russia and US to help bomb North Korea.

2. Request China to cut all supplies to North Korea.

3. Borrow some nuclear bombs from Iran.

4. Useless six-party talks to be restarted.

5. Send the president down for peace treaty talks.

6. Send Obama down for negotiations cum lecturing.

7. Send China down to pretend to talk.

8. Send SNSD down to talk to North Korean soldiers.

9. Send KARA down as well.

10. Ok, let's add After School, Brown Eyed Girls, 4minute, 2NE1 and f(x) too.

11. Ask China to ban NK from the Asian Games and confiscate all their medals.

12. Ban them for the next 50 years.

13. Ask all potential tourists to boycott visiting NK.

14 Ask Raymond for help.

Newborn Baby

It always sounds weird when you hear somebody say she had just given birth to a newborn baby. That sentence does not seem to look incorrect at first but read it again.

When somebody had just given birth, the baby is definitely, confirmed plus guaranteed a newborn. So when one says "I had just given birth to a baby", the newborn part is assumed.

Giving birth to a newborn baby just doesn't seem to sound right. it is like saying "Do you want to eat cold ice-cream?" Sounds wrong right?

So to all future mothers out there. Please, do not say that you had just given birth to a newborn baby. It is not as if you can pull a 12 year-old son out of your tummy.

Spot the difference

These are two pictures of a carpark in SP which was unusually empty on a normal school day. Can you spot the difference between these two pictures?

Average Sydney Face

This is quite an awesome picture that I would like to share with you guys. It is the composite image of 160000 faces from Australia's largest and most populous city, Sydney.

In short, this picture shows the average "Sydney Face"

A Gangster's Diary 3

This is the third and final three-part story about the diary of a gangster. Read the first and second ones first if you had not done so

***

Day 10

First thing in the morning that Ah Zui do when he reach office is run into my room and tell me he had supper with Miss Charlotte last night.

I told him that he got high chance already just to make him feel happy and he really believe me. I wonder why Miss Charlotte's taste so lousy one?

Anyway, our VP who is also Financial Controller of the company requested for a meeting with everybody today. Everybody calls him Sa-Kor ($3 in Hokkien) but nobody knows the reason.

The main topic of this meeting almost made me want to laugh. Sa-Kor said we should stop vandalizing people's houses to collect debts. It tarnishes the image of our profession and professionals like us.

Instead, we should give them longer grace periods, decrease interest rates, have complimentary gifts and give out memberships to secure more regulars and attract potential customers.

Logistics department can also save up a lot time and effort from stocking up paint and other equipment. Finance department can also cut costs and use the funds for other purposes.

Sa-Kor also said that HR is in the midst of recruiting younger gangsters who are bilingually proficient. He also said that a few have already joined us and will be introduced into our department soon. One of them even got a degree in computer science.

So many newcomers joining the underworld nowadays. Is it because police's salary too little already?

Day 11

Time now is 5.30pm. We gangsters can hardly enjoy our weekends because we need to work unless some big big dachi happen. I realized that I spell dachi wrongly in the previous entries.

But I am free this week! So I ask Tiffany out and we decided to go to the Sentosa casino. At first, I felt very strange inside because I am always a casino staff but now I am the customer.

Ours and theirs more or less the same with the only significant difference being their staff got uniform whereas ours is qin cai.

Then we went to watch a movie but this time I was the one who decide. It was a horror show. Scare the shit out of me man! I remembered to switch my phone to silent mode but nobody called me.

Today's English lesson is cancelled as Miss Charlotte's boyfriend's mother is in hospital. Hahaha Ah Zui, time to wake up from your dreams man!

Day 12

I was eating breakfast at the kopitiam with my friends, Black Dragon and Ah Mong. Suddenly, we saw two groups of teenagers scolding each other from far. About 3 or 4 on each side. One of them walked up and pushed another.

They started to fight.

So the 3 of us looked at each other and immediately dashed over to stop them. Black Dragon shouted "fighting doesn't solve anything!" I wanted to continue by saying "Only money solves everything".

It turned out that they were all classmates and one group lost to the other in a DOTA game because the latter cheated.

Speaking about DOTA, I almost forgot to ask Mabel about the pirated Warcraft game I ordered last month. Mabel is the manager in charge of all those fake pirated games and DVDs. I think her nose is fake as well.

Day 13

CEO asked me to ask Sa-Kor if there are enough funds to buy prizes for this year's company dinner. Because of our background, no sponsors dare to find us so we have to use our own money every year.

Since it is the 40th anniversary celebration this year, CEO wants it to be a grand one. There are rumours that the chairman will also be present during then.

I don't understand why CEO can't ask Sa-Kor on his own. Just because I had known CEO for more than 10 years doesn't mean he should approach me regarding work matters.

In the noon, Tiffany called me to say that she needs to go to Thailand next week for some project thing. I wanted to tell her that I will contact the Thailand branch staff to be her bodyguard there but if I said that, I would have revealed the truth about my job.

Not telling her it doesn't mean not doing it. I called the Thailand branch in the afternoon and had a hard time trying to speak English, Mandarin and Hokkien to someone who replies in Thai.

I realized that my English has improved ever since I started writing this diary. Too bad, tomorrow would be the last entry. I don't whether should I feel happy or sad to finish this assignment.

Day 14

It was a busy day today. I had to meet Kim Loong Gang this morning as one of my hia di fought with one of their staff. The whole group of five people all in Gothic clothing with golden hair.

Both parties apologized to each other and had dim sum. We laughed and talked about our profession and the industry.

Went to casino with Ah Zui as we are in charge of the money-lending corner today. It's been a month since I last did this. There were so many people queuing up and I was calculating and writing non-stop that I forgot to go toilet.

The day after tomorrow, we will be launching a new loaning package to attract more customers. Interest rates will drop down to only 8%.

We had already pasted some posters as advertisement in the casino but there are still many gamblers who can't wait to borrow money to satisfy their addiction.

In the evening, I had to rush down to our company's store house to collect 2 laptops for my staff. Only managers know where is the store house located at so I bo pian must sacrifice.

Then I need to rush back to office to put the laptops there before meeting Tiffany.

I told her that I won Toto yesterday so we dined at a restaurant and had spaghetti. I almost thought of using chopsticks to hold the noodles. I think that I am so sua ku.

After dinner, Tiffany asked me something that shocked me. She said "tell me honestly, what do you work as?" I kept quiet for a moment and laughingly said "why you suddenly ask?"

"because you were lying"

"no, you see, I'm finance manager"

"Stop it, I just want you to be honest"

There was a short period of silence. Then I reached into my bag and took out this diary for her to read.

This entry wasn't yet written when she was reading it just now. I just want to say that no matter who I am, I will always be the Ah Kong that you know.

A Gangster's Diary 2

This is the second of the three-part story about the diary of a gangster. Read the first one first if you had not done so

***

Day 6

The I&E (import export) VP is damn budget. His car which we tompang to JB is a second hand Toyota. Ah Zui and I thought must be either Mercedes or BMW but we just stone there when we saw it.

I better not talk about what we did in JB because it's confidential. I wonder if my workers got slack or not while I am not in office.

Then when we were back in Singapore, the car passed by a place. It is where Tiffany and I meet for first time two years ago.

That day raining so I rush to a bus stop for shelter. Actually, I was rushing for time to a meeting at some ulu place. Tiffany was sitting there waiting for bus.

I saw her holding an umbrella so I just shout "Oi, can borrow or not?". Then I show her my ang kong. She very steady and just reply "erm, take lor". I ask her write her number on my hand so that I can return her next time and then zao.

So this is how we know each other. The umbrella is still with her until now.

Okok, I know this is boring so I stop here.

Day 7

Our casino is open 24/7 just like the 2 IR but our entrance fee for citizens and PR is only $10. Foreigners all free. CEO say we must also be responsible casino operators and have entrance fees for citizens and PRs to curb gambling problems.

Sometimes, I don't know whether should I agree or laugh at him. But he's my big boss so bo pian lor.

Ok, so today I went there to see see and maybe help out. Sibei crowded sia but the people there are like 1 person playing, 8 others watching him.

Ang Sua staff must wear their staff pass in casino to easily identify ourselves. I forgot to wear mine and almost kena whack by one hia di when I enter the "Staff Only" area.

I helped to serve drinks and snacks for the VIP rooms. Got this New Zealand ang moh inside play blackjack at $50000 per round. Wonder if his father is Microsoft boss?

I feel like playing also but impossible because I am a staff. Unless I quit my job which also highly impossible.

Day 8

CEO say that at times, we should work with the police to fight crime and catch those real baddie pai kias out there. We can recruit those ginnas and train them to be good gangsters like us.

Ang Sua gang only do business that does not endanger the safety of the public. The guns that we have is all for show only cos there is no bullet inside. Lame right?

I kena assigned to Senoko. My first reaction is "simi sai?, Senoko there all factory where will have pai kia?"

In the end, they ask me go patrol Yishun Central the Funland there. Ya, that kind of place then will have pai kia. LOL, but I end up playing there and wasted $25.

I called Tiffany and told her if she want to park tor since she stay at Chong Pang. In the end, we makan at the hawker centre and watch another boring movie at GV Yishun.

This time is about a group of middle aged people and they also talking throughout the movie. I don't understand why got people like this kind of show? I even more don't understand why got people film this kind of show?

But the worst part is I forgot to switch to silent again. Then everyone heard my "zi bah ban" ringtone when Ah Zui called me.

If this kind of show also got people like, then lim bei can also go be director liao. Confirm can earn zi bah ban.

Day 9

We had English lesson again. This time, Miss Charlotte came to our office to teach us. She say I got improvement. I pretend to act blur but my heart inside the feeling is sibei song.

I heard Ah Zui ask Miss Charlotte if she got boyfriend. She smile and ask him if he free for supper later.

Walau, if I not with Tiffany, I confirm jio her also and gurantee will win Ah Zui as I more yan dao. Eh shit, what am I saying? Pui pui pui. I only love Tiffany forever like the sea and the mountain promise.

Earlier in the day, my department attended a fashion workshop for gangsters. VP of Human Resource say everybody need to attend this course to present themselves better to customers/clients.

Let me summarize what was taught. There are mainly three kinds of dressing for gangsters. Gothic, Obiang and Ah Beng. Most Singapore gangsters prefer AH Beng style although the trend now is Gothic.

Youngsters aged around 16 or 17 prefer Gothic. They wear black from shirt to pants to fingernails. The only thing that got colour is their dyed hair. Older gangsters dislike this as they think it is unlucky.

Obiang is what people of 60's, 70's and 80's wear. Colourful dressing that make sure everybody will look at you when you are in public. I usually dress Obiang as I like this style.

Ah Beng is the most informal dressing. T-shirt, shorts and a pair of legendary slippers. Hair colour is usually not black and at least one arm or leg must be fully tatooed.

Our company got no dress code, you can wear anything you like in office. However, when we are out, we must dress accordingly to the occassion and venue.

I think this course is a waste of time. Weekend is coming! TGYMIF-Thank Guanyin Ma It's Friday

A Gangster's Diary

I have decided to continue with posts about gangs and secret societies since they are all the rage in the country now. I have written a short story which is a diary of a Singaporean gangster. It is more of a funny story than one which talks about the underworld.

It is rated PG so all ages are suitable to read it. The story is split into three parts. Today's post will feature the first of the three parts.

***

Day 1

hello, my name is Kong or you can also call me ah kong. my real name is ng kong han. this year 25 year old. I am writing this diary because my English teacher ask me to. she is hired by our CEO to help improve our ang moh as we targetting ang moh market in America.

teacher ask us to all write something every day for 2 weeks as the first homework. she say no vulgarities but singlish is allow so long as we express ourself. i ask her is it need write very fast cos express means related to fast. she just LOL over there.

I am a finance manager of Ang Sua gang or also can call 27 as the code. Our company has several branches in Asia like Malaysia and Thailand. We got many business like loan money, casino operations, import and export goods etc.

my job is to lend money to people in need of it and go find them when they never return on time. My department now got 7 people under me plus another manager call ah zui. ah zui is my brother for many years and we together work in different department before

my zhar bor Tiffany (same age with me) now taking her master at dono NUS or NTU university, the one most west in singapore lah. She studying civil engineering. I dono what is it about also but confirm is good lah

Tiffany dono what I work as. I just told her finance manager since it's on my namecard. I dono if I will ever say the truth. Her ang moh and chinese both also very tok kong but she dono dialects

it is 5.10am now, I just reach home after working. I order mcdonald breakfast delivery so while waiting for the guy to come i am writing all these. that's all for today

Day 2

time now is 12.50am. just finish work and reach home. just now went to choa chu kang with ah zui to paint 2 house. one owe $2000, the other $20000. the one that owe 2000 makes us very pek cek. sibei waste of time over there

the house at 10 floor, the block got 2 lift, one on each side. the lift nearer to the house got urine inside, we go inside 2 seconds buay tahan liao. so we walk to the other side but then got 2 mata sitting there.

we hide behind a pillar and wait but they still over there. then a 3rd one come join them and they continue sit there. I told ah zui never mind, we just climb stair.

walau we climb until 6 floor already punchek. when we reach 10, we all wet liao. so quickly spray spray then runaway (down the stair again).

the other house just few block away. that one at 2nd floor so no problem. also spray spray then zao liao. i have been doing this very long already so got many experience.

nothing else to write. tmr i watching movie with Tiffany, she say it is a very nice ang moh show. Aiyah, whatever lah, so long as can park tor i happy liao

Day 3

me and Tiffany go to watch movie just now. boring like hell man. the movie 2 hours but i sit inside like 2 years. it's about 2 middle-aged woman talking and talking. the whole movie i only see them talking to each other, nothing else

watch such boring movie already very suay, then i forgot to switch my phone to silent. one of my colleague tua beng suddenly call me, then my phone ring in the cinema. malu sia

some more my ringtone is zi bah ban then when ring, the whole cinema can hear "na si wah wu zi bah ban". some head turn behind, some start to laugh. I almost want put my head into the popcorn box. Tiffany like no feeling, she still watching the movie as if never hear

writing this diary is fun and tiring cos i can write anything i like but need find dictionary very mafan.

Day 4

we have many office in singapore. actually total how many I also dono. i don even know who is the chairman of the company. is he Singaporean or not? i ask CEO but he always diam diam

today ah zui plan meeting for our department and another finance department also. Total got 16 people attend. got lots of tachi to talk about

we plan to meet at the usual place near esplanade but today got too many people there so we think better not meet there. i suggest go take singapore flyer, all of them agree because inside there nobody can hear us also

so 16 of us talk and talk inside the cabin. then when we finish the ride, we realize still not enough so take 2nd time. then 2nd time still not enough so take 3rd time

then add up our total bill is $1416. heck care lah, claim from company can liao.

today i ask ah zui what he wrote in his diary and he show me his. alamak, so few words only sia. compare with mine no fight lah. later we having 2nd english lesson with other managers of our company

i today then know that teacher is call charlotte lee and she is CEO's niece. she is a primary school English teacher but also a part-time staff in Ang Sua gang. we all got shock when she say this and show us her staff card as prove.

i still don't how to pronounce her name. all of us keep on say "zhar loti"

lucky miss charlotte is quite pretty so our 2 hour lesson not that boring. she say my english still got a lot of room for improvement. I tell her room not enough, need a bungalow of improvement

i so lame

Day 5

Firstly, I need to write with capital letters at the start of a sentence. "I" should also be in capital letter. I need to use fullstop also.

Some words I use can be change to other words to make the sentence look nicer. I agree with Miss Charlotte and promise I will work hard.

I called Ah Lian from HR department today. Ah Lian is in charge of recruitment and scouting. Many of our hia di were discovered by her. I told her about one secondary school boy I met last night.

He want to smoke under my block but his lighter no more spark. I was walking pass so I lend him mine and chat with him. He said he from number 11 in Sembawang but want to jump ship.. He gave me his number so I passed it to Ah Lian to contact.

The Vice President of import and export department called Ah Zui and me to follow him tomorrow morning go JB. His staff kena mass food poisoning from eating satay.

That's all. Off to bed now, need to wake up early the next day.

Gangster poem

Since gang fights and the return of gangsters have been hogging the headlines recently, I shall take this opportunity to write a poem about gangs. This post is rated PG (Parental Guidance) since it has some violence.

See what see? Not happy?
You think funny? But sorry...
Better start to get ready
I come over and make you si

But you also got hia di
Lucky I got eight with me
then you also eight with you
so fair lah, then fight already

Take out parang, grab a bottle
go around whacking in a circle
last man standing is the winner
non-stop fighting each other

Suddenly someone shout "mata lai liao"
all become scared including the ang kong siao
run away so fast like usain bolt
but few days later still kena caught

Mutton coin soup

I ordered mutton soup for lunch at Foodcourt 1 during noon and the auntie helped me jia liao (add extra ingredient).

She dropped a ten-cent coin into the soup while passing me the change. Blame it on the position of the bowl, my inability to catch it in time or her decision to pass the change with so many coins?

The change was one dollar and fifty cents. She could have just grabbed a one-dollar coin plus a fifty-cent one. However, she decided to be creative at the wrong time and picked a number of twenty-cent and ten-cent coins.

So it is not unexpected that one of them falls off her hand. After the coin-fall, she asked if I wanted to change another bowl. I told her it's alright.

It took me quite a while to find the coin which was submerged in the dark-coloured broth. In the end, I used it to buy a drink at the stall next to the mutton soup one. Wonder if the uncle realized that it has yang sao wei (?

Lianhe Zaobao is pro-China

The headline news on the first page of today's Lianhe Zaobao isn't that "heavyweight" to claim first spot. The title of that news is also the headline on its website (as shown below).

To me, it seems that zaobao is trying to bootlick China and console the masses of PRCs in our country. I don't see a need to report on the security as a headline news.

If the newspaper were to only report on the result of the China-Japan football match, then it looks fine. Or else, they should just move the whole article to the sports section and then report the score with the security.

Obviously, zaobao is trying to cover up the embarrassment of the poor Cheena team that got humiliated 3:0 by the Japanese just like what happened during World War II.

The Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Dao) incident might have increased the tension of this match but I don't see what's so proud about China the host being able to prevent any conflicts among the fans.

Is Lianhe Zaobao trying to tell readers that China is poor at security all the time so yesterday's peaceful game was a milestone achievement for them?

Providing security is the basic task that all hosts must do. You don't see things like "Real Madrid did an excellent job in security when they hosted Barcelona at the Bernabeu", do you? You either see Messi or Ronaldo's name.

Lianhe Zaobao is pro-China to some extent. But Singaporeans are certainly not. I'm referring to those who are born and bred here.

Guys eat Rice

I had been observing this since the first semester  of my SP life. When a group of students, especially when most of them are guys, eat together at a foodcourt, all of them usually eat rice.

A common sight in any SP foodcourt is a group of guys sitting together, with their heads slightly tilted down, eating a plate of rice dish. And the strange thing is that all of them would order from the same stall like Chicken Talk (Muslim chicken rice stall) in Foodcourt 3.

I swear that I had never seen 4 or more guys all eating noodles together in SP. In contrast, girls seem to be more flexible as you can find different groups of them eating different things.

So I had always wondered why is it rice for guys? Maybe eating rice together is a more effective way of bonding? Or maybe eating rice looks more "cool" when you are with other guys?

Or is it that eating noodles makes one look more gay? Because you need to scoop rice with your spoon and chew it which makes you look more man? Maybe eating rice is faster and saves more time than other types of staple food.

I am a guy but I have no idea why is there such a "trend". Well, maybe we can use the iPhone users theory to better understand it. When one person does it, and a few others blindly follow, the rest act like dogs and follow too.

Mcdonald's Monopoly

Cropped from mcdwin.com

This year's McDonald's Monopoly Singapore is a scam. Everybody should stop patronising this red-yellow fast food chain and go eat KFC's new roasted chicken burger.

I remembered clearly that during last year, for every upsized Extra Value Meal (EVM) I bought, I got 4 game labels which means 8 game pieces. A regular EVM would only entitle you to 2 game labels.

This year, McDonald's decided to halve things. An upsized EVM purchased will only have you receiving 2 game labels, half of what you get last year although you're paying the same amount.

Ronald, don't you even have a conscience? Be careful, one day you might get squashed by the King that sells Whoppers.

No slippers in labs

Let me see. Ok fine, I shall continue to talk about my dearest school today. The management has proved that it is very "efficient" time and again with some very "efficient" management.

How many years has SP been around? 52? 55? Alright, the answer is 56. I feel so ashamed of myself as I had to use Wikipedia to find out the answer when I'm already in year 3.

Anyway, for 56 years of providing tertiary education, 56 years of preparing people for the workforce and 56 years of developing skilled employees, SP haven't done one thing until recently.

As recent as only this week, lecturers as well as technical service officers are telling students that slippers are officially banned in labs. Students wearing slippers will have to leave the class starting from next week.

Every student in SP knows that slippers/sandals are not allowed in labs but nobody really bothered to care. Lecturers also seemed to have a heck-care attitude over this matter.

It was not until this week (or maybe last week) that an "official email" was sent out to notify the staff of this new "rule". So all SP staff had to guai guai and follow along in case their year-end bonuses get affected in my opinion.

It is quite strange that that email was sent out all of a sudden. Why did the management only take a firm stance now? What were they doing all along these years?

This strict order could have been in place five or ten years ago. I seriously don't understand why did it only happen now.

Maybe some student got his/her feet injured while wearing slippers in the lab and decided to sue the school. So the latter had to force everybody to wear shoes from now on. That's only my speculation

SMRT jingles

This is how the MRT map will look like in 2020 (when you use some imagination).

I find that the annoying songs sung by the Dim Sum Dollies in SMRT trains and stations rather pointless. This local musical cabaret group should just stick to singing in concert halls. Let Phua Chu Kang and Rosie continue to rule the trains.

"Train is coming, train is coming" Seriously, who doesn't know if a train is approaching a station? Are Singaporeans so pathetic that we need someone to tell us our public transport is arriving soon?

Also, there is the ridiculous "Inside, Inside, Inside" jingle. How to move inside when the train is already so crowded? People are already tired after a day at work and they still have to endure this irritating song.

Finally, there is also the "Give Up your Seat" jingle. It doesn't really serve much of a purpose too. Phua Chu Kang had already done a good job to improve the graciousness of commuters last year.

Maybe the Dim Sum Dollies should sing the "Give Up your Seat" song to some of the MPs in Parliament.

"People can board the train, it is whether they choose to.” -Saw Phaik Hwa, CEO of SMRT

Static iPhone users

Every now and then when you login to Facebook, you will see friends updating their statuses on the go. Like when they are on public transport. Somehow, I think many of them are lying on Facebook.

I frequently see people posting things like "it's super squeezy on the train!" or "the MRT is full of people!". My question is, if the train was really so packed, how the heck did you manage to type that on your iPhone or whatever smartphone that you own?

Obviously, these friends of mine are either fabricating or just trying to exaggerate things in hope that it can grab attention and someone comments on it.

I think we need at least two hands when using a smartphone to surf the net. One hand seems a bit impractical. So if you can lift up both arms with your elbows bent, that means there's adequate space around you.

How can that be considered as squeezy? Wait till you (try to) take a train in Mumbai and experience what the people living there undergo.

This is another reason why you shouldn't get an iPhone. It makes you static because you are just using it as you need it to survive every moment. Oh wait, you are already static if you had followed the crowd and bought one.

Debates

Finally, another debate show will be aired on Singapore TV again come 23rd November. I am not sure how many were there before this upcoming 9th International Varsity Debate but it was five years ago that I last watched one on television.

Other than detective shows and animal documentaries, another all-time favourite genre of TV programme is debates. I still recall that when I was in Sec 2, I glued myself in front of the TV trying to catch and digest every word the debaters were speaking.

Debates are a wonderful way for you to test and display your everything-that-you've-got. I consider debates as arguments but done in a posh and elegant manner.

I had took part in numerous debates when I was back in school. Of course, there is no real winner in a debate or else it will not be called a debate. It is just a judgement of whose reaction and thinking is better.

My favourite topic of all is "Is it better to be a male or female?" I always ponder over this topic since a long time ago. I would very much like to see it being debated by a group of guys and girls where the guys are on the female side on vice versa.

It would definitely be interesting.

I was absolutely right about the Technopreneurship notes. It is almost useless except that you can use it as rough paper when practising Maths. One lecture only make up of two pages.

There are some blanks in the notes which students have to fill in. The "scared" answers to those blanks will be revealed by the lecturer in class. Actually, more than half of Thursday's lesson was out-of-topic.

Again, the lecturer was talking about his daughter. This time it was her enrichment classes at some popular centre where parents need to wait for one year to enrol their kids into.

He also spoke about SP's night classess for the part-time diploma courses. I seriously can't see what does this got to do with the module. Oh yeah, maybe there was excess time so he was trying hard to stretch the lesson longer.

Let's see what extra stuff does he have next week.

S League 2010

How often do you hear me talk about our local S League, let alone discuss about it? Well, I'm going to give my two cents worth about it today and it could turn out to be worth two hundred dollars.

All the teams are left with only one more game to play. Nothing much is left to compete except the championship.

Woodlands Wellington are destined to be number one from the bottom this year. Beijing Guoan can jolly well pack their bags and return to their villages where violence is common there.

Balestier Khalsa deserves a Best Improvement Award. The doubles Gs United, Geylang and Gombak, are fighting for a respectable fifth place. Singapore Armed Forces has finally ran out of ammunition which made them the 2006-2009 winners.

However, the main characters are still Etoile FC and Tampines Rovers. Home United's chance of being crowned is only a decimal value of less than one. Tampines is behind Etoile by a point but have a better goal difference of 6.

In my opinion, I reckon that Etoile will go on to clinch the title hence, being the first foreign team to do so. Their final match is against Albirex Niigata. Shouldn't be a tough game for the French club.

Tampines host Balestier on the same day as Etoile vs Albirex. Tampines face a must-win battle and hope that Albirex can at least squeeze out a draw. But I think Etoile will give it their all since it's the final hurdle.

Singapore Pools' odds for Etoile FC as championship winner is $1.33. One week ago, it was only $1.07 but has since increased because Tampines narrowed the gap between the two contenders.

A 33% percent profit from 95% percent win bet looks decent. If you wage $250, you can easily win more than $80. Etoile definitely have the ability to win their final game.

Bet Type: 20, Competition No.: 0101, Selection No.: 05

This is the two cents worth that I am talking about.

Local names for coffee and tea

I was doing some school work about coffee and came across this. So much so for being a Singaporean when I don't even know the names of the bevarages here. I had always wondered what name was for what type of coffee/tea. Well, can't blame me, I am no coffee-drinker.

Local names for coffee and tea

At kopi tiams, coffee and tea are usually ordered using their local names.
Coffee

• Kopi, coffee
• Kopi-gau, coffee (strong brew – "gau" is "厚" in Hokkien)
• Kopi-po, coffee (weak brew – "po" is "薄" in Hokkien)
• Kopi-C, coffee with evaporated milk
• Kopi-C-kosong, coffee with evaporated milk and no sugar ('kosong" means empty in Malay)
• Kopi-O, coffee with sugar only
• Kopi-O-kosong, coffee without sugar or milk
• Kopi-O-kosong-gau, a strong brew of coffee without sugar or milk
• Kopi-bing or Kopi-ice, coffee with milk, sugar and ice
• Kopi-xiu-dai, coffee with less sugar
• Kopi-gah-dai, coffee with extra sweetened milk

Tea

• Teh, tea with milk and sugar
• Teh-C, tea with evaporated milk
• Teh-C-kosong, tea with evaporated milk and no sugar
• Teh-O, tea with sugar only
• Teh-O-kosong, plain tea without milk or sugar
• Teh tarik, the Malay tea described above
• Teh-halia, tea with ginger water
• Teh-bing, tea with ice, also known as Teh-ice
• Teh-xiu-dai, tea with less sugar
• Teh-gah-dai, tea with extra sweetened milk