Surprises

Life is full of surprises. Just when you thought the financial world started to lack entertainment, up came Cyprus (not Gangnam Style Psy) looking desperate to avoid a financial collapse.

In case you are wondering what or where is Cyprus, it is an island country in Europe whose most famous person was Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. But that's not the main point. Love can't buy you money and Cyprus is the biggest evidence at the moment.

Anyway, Cyprus lawmakers will probably find a way to solve this huge problem of theirs before the so-called deadline set by the European Central Bank. In the meantime, ATM machines will see long queues of desperate people just like in Singapore when McDonald's gives away free Egg McMuffins to celebrate National Breakfast Day.

Just when you thought Cyprus, euro zone and bailouts started to get a little boring, here comes another shock, one that is closer to home. A video claiming that Sarawak state chief Taib Mahmud is a corrupted man with Singapore being part of the cast went viral a few days ago.

Rule number 23 of surprises, extracted from the Law of Surprises. With every surprise comes a few predictable events.

After the video was uploaded, a wave of comments calling for Taib Mahmud's resignation appeared. The main character of this furore denied the allegations and the Monetary Authority of Singapore screamed for innocence after being accused of being haven for tax cheats.

By the way, if you are thinking what the heck is the Law of Surprises, let me tell you that it doesn't exist at all. Surprise! Ok maybe not. The next predictable events after the surprise are you being slightly angry at me and scrolling down to read the remainder of this post.

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard enjoyed a Singapore-style walkover this week thanks to Kevin Rudd who was unwilling (and probably afraid) to challenge her. She was re-elected unopposed but there was a price to pay. Surprise. Three ministers have called it quits.

But the most surprising thing did not come from that woman with a bob hairstyle. Kevin Rudd announced that he will never run for the leadership again. So red hair beats blondie this time, again and for good.

On a sidenote since we are drifting into fashion for no reason, Lindsay Lohan appeared for her latest court date in a 3.1 Phillip Lim top with matching sheer pants. She looks great but too bad it was a journey to the courtroom and not down the red carpet.

Over at sports, look who's got a new girlfriend? Cristiano Ronaldo? Nah, that happens as frequent as he scores a goal. It's Tiger Woods! The once and still mighty Tiger has revealed his relationship with Lindsey Vonn, an alpine ski racer. You probably only know the other Lindsay since Singapore doesn't have winter.

And it only gets better. Cyprus and Taib Mahmud must be so jealous. Tiger Woods, currently the world no. 2, might reclaim the top spot in golf this week if he wins the upcoming Arnold Palmer Invitational where he is the defending champion.

Back in Singapore, it has been reported or you can say exposed that Tampines Junior College is hiring English tutors to help its international scholars. Two tenders, looking for General Paper (GP) and O Level tutors, were called by TJC on Gebiz, the government procurement portal site.

No prizes for guessing but we all know the motive of this. The so-called international scholars whom I suspect are from a populous country with lots of history are so weak in the English language that they require additional help outside of the classroom.

So why are these zhuang yua...I mean scholars here in our country? Why is the government providing such foreign scholars a place in our schools? So Singaporean students are so bright that they do not require any tuition for GP?

Life is full of surprises. This must apply to the next general election.