Health Screening Outcome

Remember that, as part of our 'family health screening campaign', I went for the Health Screening 2 weeks ago?

The results came back this week... and...

I'm ALL GOOD!! 

As in... every single category is OKAY!

Even the 'bad cholesterol' level is good!! 

As a reward, let's go for some hardcore bad cholesterol foods such as Jumbo Seafood! =))

Life is such a binge and purge cycle... SIGH... No meaning...

More seriously, I realise that quite a few around me, younger and older, do not own such a clean bill of health. I figure that it's not about gender, age, intelligence, genes... It's about how hard one works. If you work hard, your health will suffer. It's especially lousy if you live alone, because you'd end up eating out all the time. =_=

Lost & Found

Last night, 'Good Fren' and I had a late dinner at the East Coast Park Hawker Centre.

We were devouring the lovely Lagoon Leng Kee Beef Kway Teow, and watching this cute kitty chewing on leftovers at the next table. The scene is somewhat as demonstrated below:

BM: The kitty kat is so cute-tse! But so skinny.
GF: He looks like Tiger. The spoilt brat look.
BM: Tiger is NOT spoilt!! But yeah... He does look like Tiger. So cute-tse! Love!
GF: What is he eating? Plastic bag?
BM: No lah... I think prawns... with shell.
GF: I think the food is too spicy for the cat.
BM: *notices something else on the table* Eh... Papa! Someone left his wallet on the table!
GF: Where?
BM: There! *points* Beside the cat!
GF: *goes over to the table* You are right!
BM: Check for IC or namecard. *mumbles: Low Crime doesn't mean NO Crime*
GF: *opens the wallet* No namecard. Just IC. Name: XXX. EZ-Link card... Some cash...
BM: Where does he live?
GF: Marine Parade Road blah blah...
BM: Eh! That's Laguna Park! Next to where I used to live! Let's go return the wallet once we are done.

*walking towards the car*
GF: Your eyes are so sharp.
BM: If it wasn't for the kitty kat, I wouldn't have noticed.
GF: I was looking at the cat too, but didn't notice the wallet.
BM: I think it's because the cat looked too much like Tiger. 

*inside the car*
BM: You know how to get there?
GF: You show me.
BM: Ok. Eh... Papa... What if the guy didn't live in Marine Parade but in Woodlands or Yishun? I was thinking about it before you read out his address. That would be super sianz. Can't leave it with the nearest stall either. 
GF: HAHAHAHAH!
BM: But I know we would have returned it anyway. Just super sianz lah! Yishun leh! KNN! HAHA!

*Outside the apartment unit*
GF: *presses the door bell button* Eh? Nobody's home.
BM: *checks the balcony for light* Maybe they are still looking for the wallet. Panic. *evil smile*
GF: *tries the door bell again and knocks on the door*
BM: Don't have?
GF: *looks at neighbour's opened door* Let's ask the neighbour. *rings neighbour's doorbell*
BM: *soaking in the memories of the estate in which she had spent 25 years next door*

*Neighbour appears*
GF: Hello! Do you know the name of your neighbour?
NB: Yes. He's XXX. Why?
GF: Good. We found his wallet at East Coast Hawker Centre. *passes the wallet to NB through the grilles*
NB: *slightly surprised* Oh... OK... *pause* Thank you... I'll let him know.
GFBM: Thank you.

*Waiting at the lift*
BM: This estate is very nice, right? Spacious!
GF: Yeah... *small talk*

*Lift opens and a familiar looking couple walks out and heads towards the wallet owner's unit*
BM: Erm... *calls out to the guy* XXX? 
Guy: *turns around* Yes?
BM: We found your wallet at East Coast Hawker Centre.
Guy: *looks extremely surprised* Oh??
GF: It's with your neighbour.
NB: *appears at the door* Hey XX! Your wallet!
Guy: Oh! *still in shock and turns to us* Thank you!
GFBM: Hee Hee... *walk into lift*

Parque Via

I saw the trailer of Parque Via at Cathay (as usual) and wanted to watch it.

It's a story about Beto, a widowed housekeeper/ gardener who lived in and took care of a somewhat aged house for decades and suffered from what looked like agoraphobia.

Nothing in the film is wasted. What seemed like draggy and meaningless shots of Beto going about his daily routine eventually built up to a shocking but meaningful ending. I love the brutal pieces of news Beto keeps receiving from the TV set. I like the film very much.

"I just want it to be the same... 

Again and Again... 

Forever, please. 

Gracias."

Some like to conclude that,"Oh... it's all because the protagonist was lonely... He's such a lonely person... Poor thing..." That's utter rubbish. Some people prefer to be alone very much.

During the film, (I hate it when I do it this, but I can't help it) my mind starting wondering about the possibility for a Singaporean director to redo this film in the local context. Especially excited about finding a grand house soaked in faded glory and the seedy dance club scenes in Singapore.

Korean Language Class

It has got to brighten your day when your Korean Language classmate comes back from her trip to China with Korean stickers and sweets for you.

행복요!

I'm gonna stick some on 'Good Fren' thinkpad. He's so gonna kill me.

These days, because of my Korean classes, I try to translate everyday terms into Korean in my conversations with 'Good Fren'.

For example, 'Good Fren' tells me he is going to have lunch in the canteen with his colleagues. Instead of acknowledging with the usual "Orh...Ok.", I'd go,"You are going to a 식당."

Or when I call him on his mobile, I'd shout out loudly,"아버지, 안녕!" It literally means "Hi Father!"

Sometimes, he would reply to me in Japanese (coz he used to take Japanese language lessons and *ahem* had a Japanese girlfriend) in retaliation.

After a while, 'Good Fren' couldn't take it anymore, and went,"Enough of this Korean Madness shite oredi!!"

하 하 하 !
As if I'm gonna stop.

Nowhere Boy

Nowhere Boy is the story of John Lennon's and the Beatles' formative years. It can get rather draggy at some bits coz there is a lot of dialogue. But the film, in general, can be summed up by 1 word. SEX.

I couldn't understand it at first. Were the makers of this film so hard up (pardon the pun) for it to be a box office hit?

The film is not 'SEXY' in the "there is a sex scene every 5 mins" way, but is 'SEXY' because of the way the protagonist was featured.

Super close-up shots of his pink lips and peachy skin. Sex tryst in the woods with a hot chick. (At some point, I thought I could smell testosterone being released into the theatre.) A rather Oedipus Complex-like attraction to his biological mother, complicated with his aunt and mother fighting over him, a sexed up young man who couldn't keep his dick nor his rhythm in his pants for more than 2 minutes...

Afterwards, I realised why this is so...

The actor acting as John Lennon is Aaron Johnson. If you remember, he was the goofy boy in Kick-Ass. He is 20 years old this year. And the director of this film is Sam Taylor-Wood. She is 43 years old this year and just gave birth to... check this out... Aaron Johnson's daughter in July this year. No wonder she's so adept at portraying the sexiness of Aaron Johnson. She's showing off her pride and joy.

And by the way, Aaron Johnson hardly looks like John Lennon. The former's too beautiful. But as long as the director likes him, who are you to care/comment, right? She especially doesn't care about what you think of her life and work because she has overcame 2 bouts of cancer. Since she has claimed back her life twice, she ain't gonna live her life for you. Nothing else matters.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

I must say... The trailer is better than the film.

The film has its signature rousing moments, e.g. Michael Douglas, delivering his speech to an eager crowd, points out a social phenomenon called the NINJA Generation. No Income, No Job or Assets. You laugh... Perhaps this is true of our society too.

However, I despise the human side of Gordon Gekko, and his daughter aka the 'poor little rich daddy's girl'. Those two totally screwed up the film. Not with their acting... But the lame 'we are after all human' qualities of the characters. It is... afterall... a film, right?

Don't take my word for it... Also check out CNN's review.

The 14th Dalai Lama – a Manga Biography

I want a copy of this!!

Review: The 14th Dalai Lama – a manga biography – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

The book is the statement.

FTs are better than LTs

Regardless whether you are 20 or 50, you have to read this article in the ST today:

S'pore tops expat income

It says roughly

1 in 2 EXPATS in Singapore makes 

more than US$200,000 (S$265,000) annually. 

This is the highest ratio for expats in the world. 

On top of providing them with a clean, green, safe, world class environment, expats, in general, make more in Singapore than anywhere else in the world.

But that's not the point of the article. Look again.

The article then goes on to cite a recently (last month) released report by Singapore Department of Statistics last month.

Check this out... Out of all (working) households in Singapore, less than 10% of employed Singapore households makes the same as those lucky expats as described above. Notwithstanding that these SG households are more likely to be dual-income entities, relative to Expat households.

Let's assume that:

No. of Singapore households (including PRs)

= 4 million / 4 per household = 1M

No. of Singaporean households making more than SGD265k pa 

≈ 10% x 1M ≈ 100k

No. of Expat (households) making more than SGD265k pa 

≈ 45% x 300k ≈ 135k

Do you see what's happening?

If some of these SGD265k jobs which expats now hold were not filled by expats, MORE Singaporean households would be able to enjoy annual household incomes of more than SGD265k.

Of course, the perennial argument is that if not filled by Foreign Talents (FTs), those jobs would not exist in the first place, because Local Talents (LTs) simply do not have the right qualifications, nor exposure, i.e. the all-important 'international experience'. 

Well, I say, this is all too euphemistic. 

• Firstly, the argument is based on an unproven hypothesis, i.e. I have not seen any studies proving that those SGD265k jobs would cease to exist if FTs were denied entry.
• Secondly, it is no secret that when making hiring decisions, managers tend to hire people like themselves. Hence, if FTs are placed in positions to make hiring decisions, they would hire people like themselves in terms of qualifications, background, nationality etc. As a fellow Singaporean puts it,"They (FT managers) will hire people whom they can communicate with. It's only natural."
• Lastly, 'international experience' is yet another euphemistic hoop to keep out LTs. My MBA classmates, with 'international experience' no further than that of their country of origin, were hired by MNCs in Singapore and are now expats in Singapore. One of them even managed to change industry totally, i.e. she had no prior experience for her new job. If that is 'international experience', then this is a really shitty time to be a Singaporean white collar, coz your work experience in Singapore, even in the relevant industry, ain't considered 'international'.

If citizens really come first, then it's high time for SINGOV to re-look at its free-for-all employment policies. Because even if SINGOV truly believes that its policies today encourage meritocracy, this is NOT practised on ground at the everyday level.

If left untreated, Singapore is going to suffer an extreme lack of local leadership /management talents 5 to 20 years from now, when the rest of world's economies rebound significantly. By then, the so-called FTs would have been setting their gaze elsewhere, leaving those positions in Singapore unfilled. 

Meanwhile, because many Singaporean white collars have been precluded from such career developmental opportunities now, they can't filled these positions effectively after the FTs have left. And so, either lesser-grade FTs will then flood the market, or those MNCs would really truly move out of Singapore altogether.

Hence, the costs of the current so-called miracle growth show would still be borne by Singaporeans... at least those who have nowhere to go to and are left hanging around.
....................................................

Separate Question: Why are we letting in the other 55% of FTs who make LESS than SGD265k?

Someone's Answer: So that those FTs who make more than SGD265k would have kahkias (subordinates).

The Infidel

You must have seen this huge movie poster outside of the Cathay.

The Infidel is the type of film which, even if we did have the budget, cannot be made in Singapore... At least not within the next decade, I reckon. Coz it's simply too rude... too politically incorrect... and too funny.

Subtitles were conspicuously missing. It's tough to subtitle cultural nuances anyway.

Regardless of subtitles, the message was clear and repeatedly emphasised... Under all the rituals and beliefs, all are the same.


Btw, Mahmud's wife (Archie Panjabi) is SUPER HAWT!!

....................................

Here's a reported story similar to that of Mahmud's, except it is a lot more grave.

台警难当

This has got to be Crime Watch +.

Watch out for the Crime Prevention message halfway through the dance. Very cute!!

Restaurant Ten 十养

Remember Metropole Herbal at Clarke Quay? It has shifted to 7 Purvis Street (+65-63339901). Back where it started (Seah Street), but this time, it has reinvented itself as a modern restaurant in a shophouse.

If you want to avoid the crying babies at the large round tables on the first floor, head up upstairs for cosy seats.

Apart from the Chinese characters in the restaurant's name, there is nothing else in it to visually suggest that this started as an ultra traditional Chinese HERBAL restaurant.

While we crushed the pickled radish in our mouths and sipped chilled boiled chrysanthemum with honeysuckle, we ordered from one of the 3 set lunches.

And our favourite Eight Treasures Tea 八宝茶.

Despite its ugly appearance, this mini abalone is fragrantly infused with 当归. I usually dislike braised stuff. But this is not disagreeable at all.

Eggwhite with scallops in Potato Basket. One of its signature dishes since its Seah Street days, and this is better than it was during its Clarke Quay days.

Hashima Chicken Soup. I love this soup. It's light, favourful, yet not overcompensatingly salty. A difficult realm to achieve in the world of soup boiling.

Of course, the cod fish dish is a must. Instead of the white steamed or deep-fried buns, we were surprised by these as we popped opened the bamboo steamers.

The Cod Fish tastes better at Purvis Street.

The chef has found a way to get rid of excessive fish fat, yet preserving the delicate flavours of the cod.

So far so good...

Until, we were served with this deep-fried tofu. At first glance, there are so many things so wrong about this dish. It's purely vegetarian, it's fried, and most uncomfortably, it's damn yuppie-wannabe-looking. *check out the shot glass and the silly table spoon??? Something I couldn't bring myself to forgive.

One is supposed to cut open the tofu, sprinkle the dragonfruit and pour the carrot in egg sauce over it. How poser is that???

What's in the tofu? Mushrooms, water chestnuts etc... I was about to give up on this dish... Gimme back the traditional Metropole Herbal!!

But wait a minute... Keep an open mind... and an opened mouth... Mmmmmm... The strange combination is counter-intuitively YUMMY?!! What??? How can this be possible???

It's quite obvious that the chef knows what he's doing and is trying to push the boundaries.

Next, up another yuppie-looking mutation served.

With newfound confidence, I pressed my fork through the jelly substance... and popped some in my mouth. Mmmmm... The light fragrance of coconut filled my mouth... And the gritty translucent pear puree in the shot glass glided down my throat, completing the meal on a refreshing, cleansing note.

A strange end to what I'd envisaged as a traditional Chinese HERBAL meal, but curiously satisfying.

爱情的模样 (五月天)

不知道以后的人，会怎样看/听这首非常 Gen X (年轻时候)的歌?
应该会觉得以前的人很傻，很肉麻吧？

爱情的模样 
(五月天)

你是巨大的海洋
我是雨下在你身上
我失去了自己的形状
我看到远方爱情的模样
曾经孤单的旁徨
曾经相信曾经失望
你穿过了重重的迷惘
那爱的慌张终于要解放

你是谁教我狂恋
教我勇敢地挑战全世界
在一样的身体里面 一样有爱与被爱的感觉
我爱谁已无所谓
没有谁能将爱情划界限
在一样的身体里面 迷样的魔力却是更强烈

星星在夜空中闪 亮星空下我不停流浪
只剩我无知的奔忙
因为你眼光都化成了荒凉
这世界全部的漂亮
不过你的可爱模样 你让我举双手投降
跨出了城墙长出了翅膀

The Ideal Girlfriend List

A friend in his late 30s complained to me about his persistent bachelorhood.

• About how he cannot find a girl he likes... 
• About how all his last girlfriend wanted was to go cheonging and for him to tag along in his BMW. 
• About how he likes girlish girls like Kim Yuna, Rebecca Lim etc.

This is a typical story. I've heard it many times from different guys. Sometimes from bachelors, other times from married men in their 30s.

I think the problem is all with how these men are in love with the idea of THE IDEAL GIRLFRIEND. And regardless of age, these men still hang onto their hopes of securing that ideal girlfriend someday.

So, who is the ideal girlfriend? Typically, she:

1. is chio (alluding to a slim symmetrical oval-shaped face with East-Asian features)
2. has a slim body, with equally slender limbs.
3. has those perky 'handful' boobs
4. has long hair
5. has clear skin
6. has a sweet smile (alluding to 'good character', coz bad people don't have sweet smiles.)
7. is shorter than the guy
8. is equally or less educated as/than he is
9. makes less money than he does
10. has a pleasant disposition, but doesn't talk non-stop
11. is always willing to give him 'boy time'.
12. likes to have sex

In all likelihood, she probably looks like this:

Well, it's a popular list... the end product is not bad either. However, we are making a huge assumption here, i.e.

Is What You See 
Really What You Get?

#1 - #7 are highly visible. These are used as convenient and immediate 'Pass/Fail' criteria. All, except #7, can be surgically enhanced or created.

#6: Sweet smile is hardly a good proxy for 'good person', or any of those happy endings we so very much like to own.
But hey... We are afterall all too human... That's why advertisements with sweet-smilers sell so much shite to us.

#8 - #9 are more or less 'facts', which can be established by the guy through his network or after a couple of conversations.

#10 - #12 are what I call the 'delayed deal-breakers' which usually crop up much later into the transaction. Detecting the authenticity of these factors takes time, especially when they can be easily faked and/or put on with more gusto and more closely to ideal during the initial period.

Lastly, most of these guys don't seem to be able or want to understand that even if they'd managed to secure a genuine 'ideal girlfriend', it takes a lot of work to sustain the relationship.

And when the list/ ideals break down, what happens?
It's heart-break time.

It's time to gripe to Blinkymummy, or thrash females with your buds at a pub or online.

Seriously? Using the Ideal Girlfriend list to look for a Life Partner is simply a disaster waiting to happen. Unfortunately, many can't tell the reason why.

Japan teacher reprimanded for murderous maths quiz

A Japanese primary school teacher has been reprimanded for giving his pupils a maths problem in which he asked how long it would take to kill 18 children at a rate of three murders a day.

This is up there in the league of getting students to raise a pig with the objective of eating it in due course.

LOVELY!

Any prizes for the correct answer?!!
*waves both hands in the air* Choose me! Choose me!!

Family Health Status

Tis the season for our family's 'health campaign 2010'. =))

Late last month, 'Good Fren' got himself checked at work for cholesterol levels, blood pressure etc. We brought the cats for vaccination, physical examination, and urine-testing last week. And yesterday, I went to one of the polyclinics for my health screening.

The wonderful bruise you see in the picture of my arm is a result of blood drawing from rather fine veins. You can make out the outline of the plaster. The sticky residue seduced bits of our red duvet cover.

As always, the nurses were not too pleased with the veins I'd provided them with. They immediately wanted me to admit that I'd bruise very easily, because the swelling became visible the instance she removed the needle. OMG! INTERNAL BLEEDING! It's an EMERGENCY!!!

I had a good time pressing on the bruise all throughout my Korean class last evening. =))

The vet called me up the day before and told me that Tiger and Blinky's urine test results were all good. It's a huge relief. Blinkz and Tigz are in their 60s, and we have attempted to limit what they consume and how much they consume. Looks like it's working.

However, we are not as disciplined with ourselves. Noticed the many food entries in this blog? I bet both of us have high 'bad' cholesterol levels.

While 'Good Fren' jogs in the mornings, I must make sure that our evening walks either cover a greater distance or take place at a faster pace, or both. To think that I used to be placed Top 10 in the TJC road race, or be able to complete a 10km swim. These days, I can't even survive a 2km jog without passing out.

=_= Chuiz.
......................................................

It's really counter-intuitive that while you can use your Medisave to pay for that heart bypass surgery or cancer treatment, you can NOT use it for health screening.

Isn't it more important to detect health problems in their nascent stages, rather fix the disease only after it becomes full-blown and visible?

Not even asking for the tests to be free-of-charge.
Just asking to use Medisave for basic health screening tests, which are likely to cost a few hundred bucks per year. Amounting to about $15,000 for 50 years.

Don't Call Me 'AUNTIE'! Call Me 'MISS'!

FWAH!! Reading this letter to the press makes my blood boil!!

Sep 14, 2010
Drop the 'uncle' and 'auntie' habit


IN LINE with the current Speak Good English campaign, I suggest that the organisers look into educating the masses on the proper terms of address for people as well.


Very often, at places like wet markets, hawker centres and heartland shops, one can hear the shop or stall owners addressing men and women who appear to be in their 40s as "uncle" and "auntie". It is ridiculous to see even middle-aged and elderly people address these men and women that way.


It is not right, nor respectful, to use these terms so loosely - by those who are about the same age as the ones addressed.


It is high time we replaced "uncle" and "auntie" with "Mr" or "Sir", and "Miss" or "Madam". These are more respectful forms of address and will tie in well with the Speak Good English campaign.


Kho Puay Hong (Ms)
......................................

What HIGH TIME????
Auntie Puay Hong must have been called an 'Auntie' while shopping in the heartlands, got dulan, and so decided to write to the forum in her attempt to change a very fundamental way of Asian life.

In many Asian cultures, addressing someone, who maybe a stranger and is not a young adult, as 'uncle' and 'auntie' is a form of RESPECT, i.e. you recognise his/her seniority and 'position'. On top of that invisible meaning, there is an additional layer of endearment when these terms are used.

For example, to address a middle-age (married) female, one would use the following terms in Asia:

• Mak Cik (Malay)
• Obasan (Japanese)
• Ajumma (Korean)
• *Please insert more examples*

It's downright pretentious to expect to be addressed as 'Madam' or 'Miss' in the heartlands.

If you are so keen on that, then perhaps you should be shopping at Cold Storage where the Filipino cashier will call you 'Mom'. Shiok or not?

I would hate to go to the wet market or kopitiam and be addressed as 'Miss' or 'Madam'. I'm used to being call 小妹, 美女or 姐姐. =))

Maybe the day when the vege/fruit sellers at Tekka Market starts calling me "Auntie", I too would be writing to the press, government bodies, MPs, blogs, everywhere... to exclaim that everyone has to kick the 'Auntie' and 'Uncle' habit in the name of the Speak Good English campaign.

Urine Samples

I've been sticking my hand under Blinky and Tiger today, just to catch a sample of their urine. This will be sent to the lab to run some tests, i.e. to see if they have developed ailments which commonly afflict senior cats.

Contrary to 'common expectations', I did not cringe at all. Even when the warm golden jets soaked my hand. I was more concerned about not getting enough urine sample in a single try.

In fact, the collection was much easier than I'd imagined. And surprisingly, Blinky and Tiger didn't jump away from the litter box even after they felt my hand wriggling around their behinds. =)

*fingers crossed*

Sandcastle 沙城

I went on a date with a 20 year old yesterday and caught Boo Jun Feng's Sandcastle at Golden Village Europa (GV's version of Cathay's Picturehouse).

I met him at Harbourfront MRT Station. We had a discussion on how to buy the tickets. Whether he should be using his student card or I should be using my DBS credit card. In the end, the ticketing person told us that because it was a public hols' eve, that his student card doesn't apply. But if he had a SAFRA card, we would get a discount that was better than using my DBS credit card. HAHA.

With the tickets in my pocket, we looked for lunch.

Where he shared with me his dietary constraints and preferences.

It's certainly looking like a good first date.

With about 20 minutes to the film, we looked for yogurt.

Some how, yogurt bars like this seem to be sprouting up everywhere.

Isn't this just yami yogurt with colourful deco and small hangout area?

Anyway, in the theatre, he met his juniors. The two girls were watching the film like a pair of love birds, with their heads on each other's shoulders. I found that weird. I had a what you may now call 'BFF' back in JC, but there was no physical contact. That'd be too... intimate.

Speaking of JC, the boy in the story was from TJC. Once again, I confirm that the TJC uniform looks like shite. In the flesh and on film. Sigh...

Apart from TJC, there are multiple points of connection with the film.

• It seems the lead actor are friends with my 20 year old date. Reminded me of the circuit when I was young(er). 
• The East Coast beach is all-so-familiar. Reminded me of my childhood. 
• And what's most significant, is the theme of Chinese students demonstrating in the 1950s.

The film is also accented with issues which our tiny pregnant society struggles with: E.g.

• Filial piety + Personal faith = baptising Ah Ma before she dies, and/or putting together a Buddhist funeral for Ah Gong, but not offering incense or participating in the rites.

每个人心中都有一个桃花源。
The concept of holding onto one's Utopia is immensely and incessantly romantic.

No Crying, Screaming, Whining in this Restaurant

I applaud the old lady who owns this restaurant for setting this rule for her restaurant.


Watch the defensive/denial reaction of the mother of screaming kids to the rule. She thinks it's ok for her kids to be screaming/crying in the restaurant just because 'other kids cry too'. She doesn't even grasp the principle at hand.

The old lady is not preventing families with kids from patronising her restaurant. She's just saying if your kids start crying, screaming, whining... They should be removed from the premises.

I wish local restaurants would do the same too.

MODERNITY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCENERY by Mr Fumihiko Maki

I wanna go for this, but do not have $200 for it.

Apart from corporations and high income individuals, how many others can participate in something like that at $200 per head?

Villon's Wife

This must be fate.

After I saw School Days with a Pig, I went to Cathay and caught Villon's Wife.

I thought I was seeing things when the teacher in School Days with a Pig appeared halfway through Villon's Wife. It seems Mr Satoshi Tsumabuki is everywhere.

The husband character in Villon's Wife was inspired by the French poet, François Villon, who was supposedly a poet, a thief and vagabond. Using that character, a story about a Japanese lady and her writer-husband was created, subsequently known as 'Villon's Wife'.

Ahhhh... The dark creative type... Struggling with his own monsters and himself... Seduced by the concept of suicide... Unsuitable for life partnership... for parenthood... yet so perfect to fall in love with.

In a drunken stupor, he said,

"I am like the monkey who peels the onion

until there is nothing."

It is an unbearably familiar mode of being.

He also realises how pliant and pure his wife is, but refuses to believe that she is merely so.

"There must be some mud beneath that."

The monsters he has to wrestle with are his own pain and his own pain only.

This is one of those films in which I felt the immense need to learn the language so as to enjoy every last shred of the story.

Somehow, the Picturehouse was 50% more filled than usual today. I had to share my row with at least 5 other people! On my right was a pair of local love birds. Watching the film was obviously not the boyfriend's idea as he was making all sorts of silly remarks, trying to show he knew what's going on. I bet the chick secretly hopes for a Villon, but has settled for him instead in the mean time.

On my left were 3 lone men. Very strange for a Picturehouse film... Age ranging from 30s to 50s. I think at least 2 of them were Japanese. The guy beside me (with his glasses above his eyebrows) was in my seat when I got there. I didn't think he understood English very well, but read the situation quickly. He also rushed out of the theatre halfway through the film to take a call, and returned some time later.

Maybe these lone men were there to admire Villon's Wife, i.e. one who doesn't exist in reality.

School Days with a Pig

Will your teacher in a Singaporean school:

• Bring a piglet to a Primary 6 class
• Check with you if you would like to raise it, then eat it when you graduate
• When the time comes, put the decision to a vote?

Of course not, silly!

Just imagine the extraordinary pressure the school will have to bear for this young teacher's 'experimental teaching method'! All the letters to the forum, to MOE, online etc. The religious views involved... *gasp*... Unthinkable! Super discount on the CEP of everyone who's involved!

In any case, our education curriculum does not include a lesson on 'our food' and 'our life'. NIE is not equipped to 'teach' such a topic, and so our NIE-trained teachers aren't either.

(Maybe if the subject was a couple of grasshoppers, fishes or plants, it'll be ok.)

Of course... Something like that... has to be Japanese.

And it is based on a TRUE story, and filmed with a partial script, i.e. the actors are allowed to react to the situation according to their own emotions.

What's your decision, counting down to graduation day?

To keep the pig or eat it?

For those who have missed this on Okto on Sunday night... Too bad!

Korean-Mad Part 2

As you may already be aware of, our tiny household is currently being invaded by the Korean language.

There are Korean labels all over the apartment.


This morning, the aircon servicing men came by for the quarterly follow-up. The leader was an Indian foreigner worker, whilst his subordinate looked PRC and didn't speak much, so I simply assumed that he was from the PRC.

As they were going about their thing, the 'PRC' guy kept staring at the labels around the apartment. I thought he was trying to read them to figure out what they meant.

On their way out of the apartment, I said "Thank you", and the 'PRC' guy replied in Korean?!!

BM: Thank you!

Guy: Gomabwayo!

BM: Eh? You are Korean?

Guy: Yes.

BM: Hee Hee... Annyeonghi Gaseyo!

Guy: Annyeonghi Gyeseyo!

He must be thinking how crazy I was... labelling everything at home... from the door, to mirror, to fridge, to chair, to photo frames, to 'Good Fren's standee... =))

I didn't realise that MOM gives approval for the hiring of Korean foreign workers. That's kind of 1980s, isn't it?

Rare Family Sunday

Remember my cousin who only knows 'Good Fren' as 'Good Fren'?
'Good Fren' gave him Maths tuition today. And we suspect that he still doesn't remember 'Good Fren's real name.

After that we had a really long chat with his father and brother, (in which the brother fist-bumped me), before moving onto dinner at Newton Hawker Centre.

It's a little weird... But totally enjoyable.

My late aunt would have loved it too.

School Bus Life Lessons

Do you remember those school bus trips?

Because I used to live in Marine Parade and my school was in town for a couple of years before it moved to Ang Mo Kio, the school bus was a regular feature in my childhood. Long bus trips which started every morning before the break of dawn.

And in the school bus, one learns important life lessons.

Life Lesson #1 -
Majority Bullies Minority
Back then, CHIJMES was not a food and beverage establishment. It was a school, a church, a nunnery and orphanage. And as a school compound, it housed 2 schools, St Nicks and this other CHIJ branch. Along with me from my estate, my school bus would pick up these 2 elder girls (a pair of sisters who lived in my block) from the other CHIJ branch to head for CHIJMES every morning.

While we were all in the same uniform, the sisters were minority and the St Nicks girls, regardless of age, were the majority. I remember that apart from the last row, each seat could take 2. By the time the three of us got up on the bus in Marine Parade, the girls before us would have been in their seats, with their bags on the empty space beside them. I soon realised that for me, I could just pause at any seat and the bag would be moved. But for the non-St Nicks sisters, no bags were moved. They would have to find a seat elsewhere. Either in front near the bus uncle where he kept his yucky greasy stuff, or at the back where it is very warm due to proximity to the engine.

Once, the sisters couldn't find seats and complained to the bus driver about the seat situation. The bus uncle, in turn, told the rest of us to move our bags. That made them even more unpopular.

Fundamentally, I didn't understand why the 2 sisters were being discriminated against. They were perfectly polite and decent chicks who kept to themselves. In fact, one of them was rather pretty. Maybe that's why. But I doubt it. It's more because they were 'different'. They were simply not 'us'.

In any case, I soon learnt another lesson about polite and 'nice' people.

Life Lesson #2 -
Polite & 'Nice' doesn't mean Shite
About 10 minutes after the bus picks me up, this St Nicks 姐姐 would board. She was at least 4 to 5 years my senior. She had a boyish haircut, small eyes, sunny smile, altogether a kind motherly face. A young short-haired Ajumma, if you will. She would eat bread with pork floss on the bus. It was her breakfast.

Once, she sat with me, and I fell asleep on her shoulder. That's how we started to chat. And soon, I started to look forward to her presence onboard every morning. It's a comforting ritual. She had this soft reassuring voice which added to the 'big sister' effect. I loved it. I never had an elder sister, and wanted someone to look up to and learn from.

One day, amongst other random stuff, I asked her how babies were made. With her sunny smile, she held my hand and told me that whenever 2 human beings were in contact, cells would be exchanged through the skin. That's how babies are made. I remember wanting to withdraw my hand from hers. She must have sensed the tension in my hand, and so reassured me that because we were both female, no babies were in the making. However, if she had been male, I would be pregnant in no time.

Somehow, despite how much I liked her, I didn't believe her. So, I went home, dropped my bag, and headed for the book shelf. I took out the 'hardest' chapter from my encyclopaedia set, i.e. Biology coz it had many big words a 9 year old couldn't understand. I sat there for the entire afternoon, trying to find the part on cells moving across the skin to impregnate the woman. Eventually, I decided that either I had been lied to, or my supposedly wiser school bus 姐姐 was full of shite. I must have sulked for a while after that.

Life Lesson #3 -
Break from Routine is Unsettling
For some months, the arrangement was such that I would be dropped off at Marine Crescent where my nanny was. That was when we were in between maids.

Once, the bus totally skipped my nanny's place. I was shocked, but didn't dare to challenge the bus uncle. People from my generation are like that. I just sat in my seat, chewing on my handkerchief. Like a silly deer in headlights.

"Where is he bringing me to?

Will I see my parents again?

What about my toys?

And my smelly pillow?

Will he allow me to get an education?

Should I still do my homework?

Should I jump out of the window at the next traffic light?

Is this the end?!!!"

I didn't even dare to cry. That was how scared I was.

Those thoughts kept me occupied for another 10 minutes, as the bus drove into my estate and stopped right at the lobby of my block. Suddenly, I saw a familiar figure at the bus door, smiling. HEY! THAT'S MY MUMMY!!! I grabbed my stuff and jumped off the bus (through the door).

Of Lan Gaming, Addiction & Loan Sharks

Remember what our cleaning lady said to me in Apr this year about her neighbour's teenage son borrowed from loan sharks to feed his lan gaming addiction?

Well, either the same boy made it to the headlines or another teenage son did.

Mum fears he’s easy prey 
for loan sharks

We all need to realise that LAN GAMING IS AN ADDICTION.
..........................................................

LAN Gaming as a Team Sport
Just like how boys/men like to get together for a game of soccer, basketball etc, LAN Gaming is the team sport of the millennium. It is not difficult to understand why it is exhilarating to meet up at a LAN Gaming Centre with your friends to thrash another team of strangers online.

• Being part of a team feeds some kind of human desire to be part of something bigger than oneself. And that one 'has friends'.
• Each kill provides INSTANT GRATIFICATION. One can see and hear the kill instantly. There is no delay in the high. 
• It is fashionable to be playing the latest LAN Game.

Boys love Team Sports
Compare the above-mentioned properties of LAN Gaming with those of a conventional team sport, say basketball. Basketball was all the rage when Michael Jordan was at his prime. Most boys were playing basketball before, during and after school. They formed a team. They shot hoops. They bought the latest gear (ball, shoes, jersey, shorts, pencil cases etc.)

The instant gratification of scoring a 3-pointer or completing a lay-up is similar to making that kill in LAN Gaming. The thought/act of entering a LAN Game probably fires up the pituitary gland, leading to production and release of endorphins, and that coveted high. And any kind of high can be potentially addictive.

This explains why your son, boyfriend, husband, lover etc keeps asking for 'personal time' away from you, home etc. This time is also commonly known as 'guy time with the buddies'. He is feeding his addiction, regardless whether he is playing soccer or LAN Gaming.

FATIGUE: Physical vs Virtual
However, there is one key difference between playing a physical team sport and a virtual team sport. And this difference makes all the difference (haha!).

In a physical sport, there is a limit how long your boy can last in the game. Regardless how happy he is in his basketball game, physical fatigue will stop your boy after a couple of hours. His body simply does not allow him to carry on further than that.

He may not run home immediately into your arms, but be comforted that he is not playing soccer for the entire day.

This involuntary cessation of the sporting activity is the best form of control in the absence of self-control. With a couple of team members dropping out, the rest may stop the game altogether and call it a day.

Now, look at the virtual gaming situation. Here, the boys are in comfy chairs, in an air-conditioned room, movements are limited to their eyes and hands, with the occasional swearing/laughter. Physical fatigue does not set in until many hours later. They do this once, thrice, 7 times a week with each session lasting 2 - 8 hours.

This means once they start their game, the boys are constantly in a state of high for many hours. This has to inescapably condition the body and mind to believe that this is the default state to be in. In other words, the body and mind will feel awkward if they are not in a state of high. This is the classic root cause of (behavioural) addiction.

Reasoning with the Addict
This is an absurd statement: Reasoning with the Addict.
There is every need to PREVENT anyone from becoming an addict.
If prevention did not stop your boy, so-called DRASTIC (REHAB) MEASURES will have to be taken.

As to who should be responsible for prevention and drastic (rehab) measures, it's a separate discussion altogether. Somehow, our society has become rather confrontation-adverse. Anything that requires one to be strict with another is seen as unacceptable, and often avoided by the individual. This also means, individuals like to pass this to the State.

There is no 'right' or 'wrong' is passing such responsibilities to the State. However, one must recognise that the State only acts when individual problems become a phenomenon, i.e. gets to a certain scale, and/or lead to significant costs to the State (e.g. political costs). Hence, not every individual's problem will receive State solutions, and/or in a timely fashion.

Addiction & Loan Sharks
And as with every other type of addiction, it renders one desperate. And in desperate times, one becomes susceptible to suggestions by opportunists, such as loan sharks seducing your boy to borrow cash to continue feeding his LAN Gaming obsession. This is not different from gambling addicts borrowing from loan sharks to keep gambling.

Remember: You don't hear of boys borrowing from loan sharks to feed their soccer or basketball obsession. So which is more dangerous? Addicted to basketball or LAN Gaming?