The Dream Makers

The latest Channel 8 drama to occupy the 9pm time slot on weekdays is essentially a show within a show. Starring Zoe Tay and Chen Liping as frenemies, The Dream Makers was produced to celebrate half a century of Singapore television as well as Channel 8's 50th anniversary.

Expectations for this drama should be higher than average. That's because Mediacorp is making something which it is most familiar with. The drama also sees artistes like Vincent Ng and Dawn Yeoh making their comebacks after a long long time.

As expected, females are the mainstay of the cast. Actresses Jeanette Aw, Rui En and Rebecca Lim plus veterans Tay and Chen are what keeps the show going. Aw's on-screen boyfriend Qi Yuwu and Tay's good buddy Chen Hanwei are nowhere near to take some spark off the women.

The most interesting character in the show should be the one by Jeanette Aw. In the drama, she is a third-tier actress with first-class acting skills (the complete opposite in reality) hoping to make a mark after three years of anonymity. Standing in her way is Dawn Yeoh who is the TV station's Ah Jie.

Aw's character attempts to make her breakthrough via unscrupulous and conscienceless moves. Despite the depth of the character, it is predictable that Zhao Fei Er (Aw's role) will go on to gain fame and become a big star. Then, her relationship with her long-time boyfriend will take a turn as she becomes more and more materialistic.

Another entertaining character is the crazy Fang Tonglin played by the cool Rui En. Like Jeanette Aw, Rui En portrays a character that is the complete opposite of herself in reality, oops. It is awkward to see Rui En jumping around with exaggerated facial expressions in the show but at least she managed to pull it off.

Her partnership with Dennis "Auntie Lucy" Chew as siblings is one of the brighter sparks in the show. The chemistry between both was strong enough to showcase the love-hate relationship they share where one is a director at the TV station while the other is an entertainment reporter. Both have made a pact not to reveal their relationship at work due to the nature of their professions which makes things hilarious whenever they are with a mutual acquaintance.

If you have an interest in media production, mass communications or just the glitz and glamour of showbiz, this is one show which you should not miss. Beyond the scenes of TV station employees at work, the show within the show lays out the fact that everyone is a storywriter and director. The script we write and the scenes we direct determine the lives we lead.

The Central America dream

Less than three weeks ago, Nicaragua's parliament voted in favour of constructing a canal which will bisect the largest country in Central America to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

A few days later, the country's president signed a contract with Wang Jing, the owner of Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co., a Chinese company tasked to build the canal which is estimated to be around US$40 billion.

If completed, the waterway will be a direct rival of the Panama Canal. The latter has been used for international maritime trade for almost a hundred years.

The economical benefits of having such a canal are obvious for the poor country. However, don't get too excited for Nicaragua. Many non-engineering questions have emerged even before the first drill was made.

HKND, the company in charge, is newly-formed and has hardly any expertise or experience. Allowing it to take on a project of such magnitude puts this company and Nicaragua at a risk as huge as the canal can be.

Wang Jing, the chairman, is also highly suspicious. After everyone took his company's project with a pinch of salt, he decided to call for a press conference on Tuesday to quell the doubts. Question marks were still lingering after Wang's public appearance.

It is an open secret that Chinese companies do not undertake such large-scale projects without their government's backing. Wang denied that fact. Unless world trade grows at an astonishing rate in the next decade, there won't be adequate ships to keep Nicaragua and Panama busy. Hence, competition will be intense and profits are bound to drop.

At least four routes have been proposed for the canal, none of them not making use of Lake Nicaragua. This raises the issue that environmentalists are most concerned about. The route will cut the region's biggest freshwater lake and because of its presence, the lake will be much more connected to the sea. This introduces saltwater species to pollute the lake's ecology.

But with the economy in mind, the Nicaraguan government couldn't care less about the environment. That leaves us with a bigger question that involves a bigger country. Enter America.

America built the Panama Canal and was responsible of its operations for decades before the Panamanian government took over it in 1999. Two in three cargoes that travel via the Panama Canal are to or from American ports. The U.S. Navy is also a regular at the waterway.

The fact that a neighbouring country's canal will have an impact on the U.S. Navy's presence in a crucial region linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans may seem impossible. But do bear in mind that the Chinese Navy has already given support to Nicaragua. This brings about the question of whether Panama and Nicaragua are the Koreas of the Caribbean.

Nicaragua also reminds us of Thailand and the failed Kra Canal.

The Kra Canal was an ambitious project that was first dreamed of more than three hundred years ago. The dominance by Singapore, due to its perfect location on the world map, was threatened for more than two centuries until the British empire came to an agreement with the Thais.

The dream was revisited in the 20th century but nobody really took it seriously. A conspiracy theory that Singapore and Malaysia bribing Thai parliamentarians not to vote for the canal's construction surfaced. If completed, a Kra Canal will dent the economies of both countries which have ports along the Strait of Malacca.

Since the mid-2000s, there hasn't been any new developments on the proposed waterway. Naturally, people begin to forget about it and the Port of Singapore still remains as the mainstay of the country's economy over the years.

The Nicaragua Canal is technologically possible. However, technical concerns aside, it is pretty much for cosmetic purposes on China's CV.

We shouldn't set our expectations too high for Nicaragua and HKND at the moment.

Cohesion @ Cineleisure

Most bloggers would start a long-awaited post with a "It's been a long time since the last update". I will tweak it a bit so this is how I would begin this post.

It's been a long time since I last blogged about my life, as in happenings or interesting events in my daily life. Today shall be the day I put a stop to the long chain of "life-less" blog entries. Yeah, you better read this one because nobody including myself knows when will be the next time I share about my life on this blog.

It was a good Friday to start the weekends today. My unit had a 6km run in the morning before doing static exercises which seemed to last as long as the the Hello Kitty queues. After all the physical stuff, it was book out time! Book out timing was at a record-breaking 9:30am today but we're not heading home.

Our destination? Orchard Cineleisure. If you are unfamiliar with Singapore's most popular shopping enclave, Orchard Cineleisure is behind Orchard Mandarin hotel, near to Scape Youth Park and opposite H&M. If that adds to your confusion, just know that it is the place where a slashing occurred two weeks ago.

Fortunately, all of us were safe throughout the time there. The gangsters were probably still asleep in the morning after watching unlucky Italy lose to unconvincing Spain on penalties. Anyway, my unit was having a cohesion and we booked an entire cinema hall in Cineleisure to catch the Brad Pitt-produced horror movie, World War Z.

My movie review? There are only three groups of people who should watch Uncle Pitt shaking his blonde locks. Number one. Fans of Angelina Jolie's spouse. Number two. Fans of zombie flicks. Number three. People who are a combination of one and two which probably makes them happy people before entering the hall and disappointed when exiting it.

The zombies outshone the mundane characters throughout the film. In fact, the most entertaining part for me was a scene of Pitt drinking a can of Pepsi. You would have to watch it to comprehend what I am saying. CG and sound effects were up to Hollywood-standards though.

Distributor Paramount Pictures has announced that it will be going ahead with a sequel. I am curious to find out what will be the name of it since the last letter of the English alphabet was used for the first movie. World War ZZ?

As the movie came to an end, so did our so-called cohesion where it was just a bunch of people sitting silently with eyes not looking at each other for a couple of hours. If I was the planner, a trip to somewhere rustic like Pulau Ubin or Sisters' Islands will perhaps be on the cards.

Before I end this post, let's hail the woman whose reaction to the hail became an Internet sensation this week! I can feel it. Drop, drop, drop, drop.

East vs. West

Few weeks ago, I had an interesting debate with friend S and friend P. It is all about East vs West but not the oriental or Western stuff which you are probably thinking about. It is much closer to home. In fact, it is about our home.

Friend S states that those who live in the eastern part of Singapore are generally smarter than the west-siders. Friend P and I, who both stay in the west, immediately oppose to what we deem as a baseless statement. By the way, friend S lives in the east, the north=east to be exact.

S decides to support his claim by telling us about his encounters with people who stay in the east. He claims that the average east-sider has more knowledge in every field when compared to a west-sider. Through his experience with west-siders, he believes that they are usually more traditional, hardworking and lacking in general knowledge.

On the other hand, east-siders, according to him, are more creative, are more updated on the latest trends and technologies and a bit more sociable. There is this "spontaneity" in those who stay in the east which makes them look more glamorous than the humble west fellows.

Of course, all these sounded ludicrous and absurd to friend P and I. Both of us agree that S was just stereotyping people. It was S's turn to oppose and he reckons that he can know which part of the country a person lives in after interacting with him/her for a while.

He gave us a few examples to justify himself. "G lives in Jurong West and when I first spoke to him, I immediately knew that he was from the west". "L definitely stays in the East as he is fashionable and knows quite a lot of stuff."

I was unfazed, so I decided to test S. "Where does D stay?" I asked. To which he replied "ah, of course west!". "Wrong! His house's in Tampines." I said, trying to control my laughter while putting on a poker face. We went on for quite a while and S was nowhere near being accurate despite a probability of 0.5.

As S continues to insist that there is nothing wrong with his belief, P decides to make it "the more the merrier". We asked friend I who lives in Tampines and he actually agreed with S. S must have felt so good when he first heard it. We questioned Z, from West Coast, and he disagreed with S without thinking.

Throughout our so-called survey, we actually discovered that we do have friends who are still not familiar with places in Singapore. Friend Z, who hails from Queenstown, was puzzled when we asked him about Hougang. He was unsure which part of Singapore was Hougang in. I dare say at least 99.9% Singaporeans know which part, East or West, of the island is Hougang in.

In the end, we came to an unconvincing conclusion. Friend S was just stereotyping as the amount of people he came across in life is not adequate for him to make such a claim. However, it seems that a number of east-siders are actually on his side. Non east-siders, including those up the north in Woodlands, all think that it is just a coincidence.

Friend P and I think that east-siders are just a little arrogant, but not smarter than the rest of Singapore.

What do you think?

We came home tonight

On a cooling Monday evening, two boys were walking towards the supermarket. It was a splendid time of the day. Stomachs feeling full from a dinner of sardines and green bean soup. Important tasks for the day were completed. Less than an hour to go before their favourite drama airs on TV.

They bought a variety of food, household items and the cigarettes which their tobacco-addicted father craved for. The boys were still a distance from the legal age of smoking. However, knowing the supermarket cashier for a decade can change the way how things should be. The cashier was an old lady, in her sixties, and she had always adored the boys ever since they dropped their first milk teeth.

The boys always picked the old lady when they were at the supermarket. Even if her counter had a long queue, they were willing to spend those extra minutes for they knew that the additional time wasted would grant them the freedom of purchasing tobacco.

When they returned home, their father was asleep on the sofa which has been torn and worn out over the years. Only the owners of such sofas were able to rest on them so comfortably. The television was still turned on, with the news programme ending in three minutes before the drama starts.

They woke their father up and he struggled for a while before acknowledging them with an irritated response using his shoulders.

"Pa, the cigarettes are on the table, don't smoke too much. Take care of yourself."

The man woke up after a minute had passed, finally. He scanned the living room. There was no cigarette box on the table, the news anchor was reporting on an accident and the clock was half past ten. He had fallen asleep for a good two hours.

"We have received breaking news. About an hour ago, two boys, aged 16 and 15, were killed in a tragic accident involving a container truck at ...."

He blinked twice in a nanosecond to make sure that everything was real. Unfortunately, it was real. The man saw the names and photos of his sons on TV. A old lady who was witness was being interviewed.

"They always came here in the evening to buy cigarettes for their father, I never questioned them. If I did, I would be creating inconvenience for them. They are already leading such a hard life with their useless father. They, they..."

She could hardly continue speaking clearly as tears flowed down her cheeks.

The man dropped to his knees while his eyes continued to stare at the television. He scanned the living room one more time. No cigarettes, no grocery bags, no sons.

There was only an isolated figure, crying so hard that tears did not come out of his eyes.

NBA Finals 2013

Congratulations to Miami Heat on winning the NBA championship after a pulsating Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs this morning. Both sides were tied at 3:3 before today's match. I was expecting Spurs to emerge victorious for No. 7 because they had won all the odd-number games (1, 3, 5). It was a disappointment that the old guards of San Antonio were unable to prove that age is merely a number for the last match of the season. However, credits to Lebron James and co. for fighting all the way where they finally took the lead in the fourth quarter. LA Lakers have been a huge letdown in this campaign, hope they can buck up and bring back the purple-gold dynasty.

Jem

Finally opened is the mall called Jem

after four long days due to a jam

wonder if the mall does sells jam

and is there somewhere for people to jam

The night before at the entrance of Jem

kiasu Singaporeans were seen queuing up, like traffic jam

there's a Taiwanese singer known as Jam

why not invite him to jam at Jem?

Snow less White

Long long time ago, there was a guy who looked just like the average man you see on the train. You can totally imagine him with his headphones, spectacles and jacket even though it is a sunny day. Yes, there are weird people who love wearing jackets even when the weather is unforgiving. Probably due to a psychological lack of security.

But jackets and the blazing sun are not the main issues. It is the guy whom you are going to read about. Since he hates the sun and loves to be in cold weather attires, let's name him Snow. I wonder if Snow White shares the same interests as this Snow guy, like bonding with short people, eating apples and wearing jackets.

Snow has become an overnight celebrity. His supporters are backing him while those in the opposite camp view him as a traitor. Apparently, Snow disclosed a classified number of classified stuff from classified sources to classified recipients at a classified date when he was still employed at a classified government agency.

Fellow internet exposer Julie Lasagne has lauded Snow, calling him a "hero". I wonder if Iron Man and co. will invite him to join them in Avengers 2 the movie. Many other public figures have also openly voiced their support for Snow and expressed gratitude towards him.

Mr whistle blower is currently living/hiding/stuck in Hongkie Land. His choice of hiding has raised many eyebrows but not the stock markets this week. I bet that it is due to his love for martial arts and jackets. He is probably shopping for a certain yellow jacket which used to be a trademark of a late Hongkie star.

Anyway, as the world continues to debate over whether Snow's actions were heroic (enough to rival The Avengers and Man of Steel) or criminal-like, let's take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Who cares about a jacket-lover's fate when he is going to extradited sooner or later? Rupert Murdoch is getting divorced again and he is on par with Tom Cruise, albeit at a ripe age of 82.

P.s. I don't know if Snow like jackets or not, I just have a feeling he does.

A Thing Of The Past

I thought of this while reading the newspaper this morning.

So many generals, are we seeing stars?

Former chief of defence force Neo Kian Hong stepped down from the military's top post about three months ago. I attended the change of command parade at SAFTI Military Institute then where I got to see him in his uniform for the first and last time. Three months later, news has it that he will be appointed Permanent Secretary (Education Development) at the start of next month.

The ex-guardsman, who holds a masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the latest addition to a growing list of former SAF generals who hold/held important leadership roles in the country. Needless to say, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, the youngest general in SAF's history, is part of this list.

Other politicians who were from the military include home affairs minister Teo Chee Hean, transport minister Lui Tuck Yew, acting community development minister Chan Chun Sing and acting manpower minister Tan Chuan Jin. If George Yeo did not lose Aljunied GRC in 2011, the current cabinet would probably have 6 former generals.

But that's not the end of the story. SMRT's CEO is Desmond Kuek, General Neo's predecessor while Temasek Holdings' portfolio managing director is Ng Yat Chung, the predecessor of Kuek. A*STAR's chairman Lim Chuan Poh is the predecessor of Ng and the list goes on.

So why are so many of the military's top brass taking up big roles within the civil service? It is an open secret that becoming a top civil servant after relinquishing their appointments in SAF is part of reciprocating the government for "taking care" of them through the years

But the question is, are these generals and admirals really the right man for their jobs? Lui Tuck Yew is under pressure from never-ending overcrowding issue on public transport and COE prices. The economy still relies heavily on cheap foreign labour with Tan Chuan Jin heading the manpower ministry. And what has Chan Chun Sing really done since entering politics?

In a country like Singapore, where everything including the internet has to be controlled by its rulers, it is fair to say that important positions ought to be occupied by those who have a strong association with the military. Only then can things be commanded, regimented and disciplined, if necessary.

Kitty Backlash

As a fellow Singaporean, I can clearly understand how many of my countrymen were feeling this week. Shocked, frustrated and infuriated. Many have made use of the Internet to vent their anger and show their displeasure. I bet KFC and Burger King's revenues were higher than average this week due to an expected backlash.

Nope, I wasn't referring to the internet blackout where bloggers in Singapore participated in to protest against the new licensing regime by the Media Development Authority. Something even more important happened this week. History has repeated itself, the McDonald's Hello Kitty toys have ran out of stock.

The promotion, which started less than ten days ago, had given uncle Ronald McDonald and his staff a rude shock due to Singapore's ridiculously high demand for that Japanese cat without a mouth. Too bad we are unable to ask Hello Kitty for her thoughts on being the last remaining Japanese idol amid the Korean wave.

Take a look at McDonald's Facebook page and you will realize that it has become somewhat of a marketplace. Buyers, sellers and some desperate fans post comments to buy and sell and beg the fast food giant to relaunch the plush toys respectively. The page's administrators must have had a hard time browsing through and deleting comments.

If I were the head of finger lickin' good or any other fast food chain, this would be an awesome opportunity to rub salt into my rival's wound by launching my own range of plush toys (with a much higher supply) and use sarcastic slogans. Something like "We exceed your expectations" or "No Kitty? Never mind, how 'bout a XX toy instead?".

I mean there's nothing wrong shooting imaginary arrows and bullets at your competitors right? Look at what political parties PAP and WP, telcos Singtel and Starhub, plus bloggers cyber catfight veterans Xiaxue and Dawn Yang, have been doing to one another over the years.

I firmly believe that McDonald's has to compensate the fans who failed to get a Hello Kitty. We can get the most hardcore ones to paint themselves white and seal their mouths for as long as possible. An "expressionless contest" can be held to see who can mimic the ultimate Hello Kitty poker face.

It is time for McDonald's to rethink its plush toys promotions in order to meet demand and prevent itself from being the receiving end of a brutal attack from other fast food chain's marketing campaigns.

P.S. I am one of the desperate ones. But I ain't gonna beg.

Saving Gaia music video 2013

Have you seen the latest Saving Gaia music video? If you have not, then don't bother looking up for it on Youtube. That's because I have embedded the clip in this post! No, that's not the reason and perhaps not the main reason why you shouldn't waste time checking it out. The main reason is it still sounds like crap after Earth orbited once around the sun. Whatever, you will still play the video anyway. Don't say you weren't warned.

Anyway, after failing terribly with a bunch of school kids in 2012, the organizers seemed to have grown wiser after a year by inviting the stars of Ah Boys To Men to feature in this year's song. There are three things which we can conclude from the decision of hiring those young guys.

One. The producers do not have a big budget. Going for youth instead of established artists is economically sensible. Two. The producers are smart to utilize them since their popularity are still high. Three. The intended audience are females. Do the producers think that females are less likely to save the earth? If not, why not get Auntie Lucy? Oh wait, she's a guy. So embarrassing.

The lyrics are pretty much the same while the tone is still as monotonous as ever. The presence of the onscreen soldiers make the song more listenable by 0.3 of a percentage point. The scene at 0:40 was laughable enough to be passed off as a failed attempt at trying to show what going green is all about. Noah Yap would never look like someone who drives that kind of car.

I think somebody should create a song called "Save Our Ears". The chorus goes like this. "Save my ears, for the future, save my ears, for the children, save my ears, for humanity, save my ears, today!"

Golden Point Award

Oh well, I have made up my mind to participate in this year's Golden Point Award. It is the country's biennial competition for creative writing. There are two categories, short story and poetry and it wouldn't take you for more than a couple of seconds to know which one am I taking part in.

My poetry writing skills are too humble for a competition. At best, I can only carve out a poem, peppered with colloquial Singaporean English, that reflects about life (in Singapore). The end-product will most likely look like a piece of work labelled under the genre of satire.

I am still deliberating whether to submit an existing piece of work, the short stories which I have written over the years, or enter intense brainstorming mode to come up with a new and original one. The latter would be no doubt be more challenging and time-consuming

However, I am not confident with the ones I have in my arsenal. I am not really optimistic that all of them will be crushed when coming up against the works of other talented writers. Problem is, I still haven't got a clue what concept or plot am I going to pen.

If you do have an idea, why not share it with me and make life easier for me? But why would anyone do that when they can just submit it on their own in the first place?

SEA Games 2015: YOG version 2?

After a quarter of a century, the smallest country in Southeast Asia will host the region's biennial sports event again. The SEA Games will return to Singapore in 2015, from the 5th to 16th of June. The little red dot was also host in 1983 and 1993.

While I am glad that Singapore is finally the host again, memories of the epic fail Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2010 will definitely be back to haunt me and many other Singaporeans.

Lim Teck Yin, the CEO of Singapore Sports Council, said that the event will stay within budget.

"One of the strategies that we are trying to use to manage our budget is to come out with our procurement early enough so that if we need to look for alternatives which are more cost effective, we will be able to do so and have time to do so."

The inaugural "international kids sports day" caused an uproar then when it ballooned to about $300 million. The amount was triple of what the organizing committee had initially stated. Many other flops like food poisoning and the "exploitation" of school students also contributed to the tarnishing of Singapore's image.

Although Lim is positive that the organizers will not screw up the budget, he did not reveal its amount. Isn't it meaningless to tell people that you will not exceed your budget when you did not even state it in the first place?

It's like a student promising his parents that he will achieve his target score for the Chemistry examination but declined to say what the target score was. He comes home with say, 78 marks and tells dad and mum that his target score was 75 and he has succeeded.

I have a feeling that this is what the SEA Games organizing committee have up its sleeves. After a few months or even a year, a press conference will be called and the so-called finalized budget will be announced, with emphasis that it was not exceeded.

Financial issues aside, the accommodation is also questionable. Instead of an athleles' village, the sportsmen and sportswomen will be staying in hotels within the city to increase the convenience of travelling to their competition venue, mainly the Singapore Sports Hub.

YOG 2010 was also infamous for "kicking out" NTU students from their hostels to allow competitors to live there. There were even YOG lanes on expressways and roads. Vehicles had to give way to approaching YOG buses on these lanes.

Looks like the SEA Games planners had put in effort to review YOG 2010 by minimizing the area between the venues and competitors' home.

Last but not least, please do not get JJ Lin.