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2011-05-14T23:51:00.001+08:00

大选期间
不断在网络世界里
寻找同本地政治有关的讯息
希望通过不同人的眼中
看待选情。

就这样
找到了李邪的博客
发现几乎每一篇
都说中我心坎里。

尽管大选已经尘埃落定
但有时间的话
还是可以去看一看
我想
还是会有种触动吧。

http://lixiebiancoo.blogspot.com/

选后反思

2011-05-09T13:07:00.003+08:00

5年一次的本地盛事就这样过去了。其实，心情还未沉淀下来。

本届大选确实振奋人心，结果正是我所期望的，相信也是许多新加坡人期望的。能在本地政治历史掀开新篇章的那一刻，同缔造历史的人近在咫尺，确实令人感动。当下，因为有任在身而没能像在场的支持者以样，完全感受到这份激情，但至今仍为这个结果感到雀跃。

感谢后港和阿裕尼人作出的决定。跟一些那里居民聊过后，他们都表示愿意撇开个人利益，为新加坡民主大环境尽一份力。新加坡选民确实成熟了。这虽然也只算是一小步，但却是关键性的一步。

本届大选对我来说也有很大意义，是第一次达到合法年龄可以投票（但最终还是因为我住的选区没有反对党来挑战而无法执行这个公民义务）、也是第一次以记者身份采访大选。对本地政治的了解深入了不少，也可以更坚定地说，我为自己是新加坡人感到骄傲。

即便本地政治不如其他更成熟的民主社会来的“精彩”，但我觉得这是健康的。政党主要还是以理性的政策、政治辩论来赢得选民的选票，而不是以人身攻击、抹黑等手段来竞选。不会互相开骂，而是理智的辩论，阐述论点。

自小都认为本地反对党都是一群少根经的人，为了反对而反对，不知所谓的人，因为以前只有他们被政要起诉，被警察抓时，我才会认识到他们。记得首次对政治有一点认识和兴趣是2001年的大选。当时年中四的我们，只要能说出内阁部长的名字，就已经算是有政治意识。而当年我只记得一个反对党-工人党，觉得他们的表现还不错，是比较值得信赖的。

10年后的今天，他们取得了大跃进，在大选期间的追踪采访，也让我觉得他们党内的纪律、组织能力等其实都不输给行动党。

多年来许多国人因为集选区制度，导致多年来都不需要投票，而培养了所谓的政治冷感。但今年，除了我在内的14万名国人，其余的都需要作出选择。而也正因为等了这么久才有执行公民权的时候，大家越觉得自己手中的一票是神圣的，而更关注本地政治。

因此，要感谢各反对党希望挑战所有议席的决定，因为这唤醒了人们对政治的注意和热忱，更积极去参与政治。这也让我们意识到集选区制度对反对党、甚至对人民是多么的不公平。就因为这个制度，我们必须一次过失去两位部长，却让备受批评的新人进入国会。

对于所有反对党人，我想致以敬意，因为要站出来，是需要一定的勇气的。而就因为有你们的先河，让国人看到这并非想象中的可怕，也让所谓的climate of fear越来越不成立。你们唤醒了国人沉睡中的愿望。看到我身边朋友一个个都被激励，以实际行动去支持他们所相信的理念，这只能对新加坡来说，是好事。

对新上任的工人党议员，我只能说，国人对你们给予厚望。你们接下来的表现，不止会被后港人和阿裕尼人评估，全新加坡都会非常关注。因此，希望你们能不负众望，兑现你们的承诺，让更多新加坡人希望他们是后港和阿裕尼人。

我期待国会复会后的新气象。

Rallies

2011-05-06T01:34:00.004+08:00

What is election without rallies?

A time where one gets the ticket to smear the govt and oppo parties openly. It's amazing how such stuff brings people together.

Never before do I realise how passionate Singaporeans can be. Never before do I realise how Singaporeans can unite over a cause. Never before do I realise the power of Uncles. Never before do I not see Singaporeans complain about having to standing in the hot sun or in water-logged fields getting their feet muddy.

The power of politics is to unite, but to split as well. Once u pledge allegiance to one party, you are inevitably against the other. I do not have to vote, but I'm still torn about what kind of government or parliament I want to see in Singapore.

While a 1 party takes a parliament is not the ideal, a clear cut 2 party system is not as well. Personal experience in Taiwan and Philippines has made me seen it's ill effects and appreciating what I have in Singapore. There are countless other examples to prove how a partisan 2 party system is detrimental. But yet, what the oppositions are pointing out in their rallies and are offering is so tempting as well. 有竞争才有进步是不争的规律。

It is beyond a doubt that what we have today is the work of the ruling party. The Singapore that we are all proud of. But there are still certain areas that we are unhappy about, and the proposition that we can make the Singapore we are proud of even better sounds good doesn't it? Personally, I'm not in favour of just letting any oppo voice in parly, but if we see a good one, I think we should give them a chance to prove themselves.

Then and again, I'm not the person with the vote in hand. So, here i zip.

MMS

2011-05-06T01:15:00.003+08:00

Well, it's been a whirlwind week, with too much info on either side that my puny brain can handle.

The liberalization of the internet and social media for campaigning meant that information is in explosive volumes, and that believe it or not, one can filter out stuff that you don't want to see or hear more easily.

For one, I would like to speak up on the criticisms on main stream media that has been made by almost every opposition party, saying that it's the mouth piece of government and gives unfair coverage to the opposition cause.

As a participant/contributor of the mainstream media, I tend to cringe whenever I hear this. We did do our very best to cover both sides equally. But the idea of fairness is actually subjective. What is fair coverage to you, would not be fair to the other party right? So what is fair? 50-50 coverage of the ruling and opposition parties? OR should we go down to the details to proportioning everyday's coverage based on the number of candidates each party is sending to contest like in the case of the party political broadcast?

When 1 party shoots down another, we got to report on it, as a fact, that A criticizes B for this. But at the same time, we will give B the right of reply. I think that is fair. Seeing both sides of the story. But due to deadline/space or any other constraints, it might not be possible to carry it in the same article or at the same time. That people need to understand.

In journalism, there are other factors of consideration when it comes to who gets more coverage. If you spout nonsense and say boring stuff, u prob might not be carried. In this election for example, an Aljunied GRC related election news, will take precedence say over Sembawang GRC, as we know ppl want to know more abt Aljunied than Sembawang. Is that fair?

Our yardstick of fairness might not be the same as yours. And as with politics, we can't make everyone happy all the time.

进入下半场

2011-05-03T13:25:00.003+08:00

来的快，去得也快。大选竞选期就这么9天，要决定未来5年的命运，要怎么最决定？

在协助大家做决定的同时，自己却没有这个权利，的确是有点失落。尽管觉得希望前来挑战的反对党对手绝对不是执政党的对手，素质绝对不会比他们好，但是我觉得有竞争，人民才会觉醒，会更了解在哦及手中的一票的意义。

虽不能说这次反对党的素质很高，但这次反对党大规模挑战执政党，只让一个集选区不战而胜，也挺佩服的。他们做到的，是让人们政治觉醒，让人们更仔细地去了解政治的意义，也让行动党更积极的去了解人们的意见。而这次各反对党最终能大规模避免三角战的发生，也显示他们的出发点都是为了国家利益，而不是党的利益，依我看，是很成熟的反对党作风。总总迹象来看，本地反对党已经成熟了，是时候给他们机会展现他们的能力。

有竞争才有进步是不争的事实。

投下反对票不代表抹杀你们之前的成绩。之前有好成绩，也不代表接下来就会继续有好成绩。我想，是时候换一下口味，尝试新菜色，让味蕾有新的刺激。

提名日花絮

2011-04-29T01:48:00.002+08:00

This comes a little late as it's hard to peel my eyes of election related news online these days. And with the rallies in full force, it just gets so much more action packed.

Was at the WP rally at Hougang earlier, a very 1st election rally I've been to. Well, my family had nv had to vote since I dunno when (1991 I supposed), not even this time round, so we really nv had to talk politics. Atmosphere was great with random ppl shouting support and boo-ing the govt. There was prolly 20 to 30K ppl there and I est that half the ppl I knew was there. Saw at least 20 ppl I know, not counting those that I couldn't spot amid the crazy crowd.

Back to Nomination Day craziness, actually I wasn't that crazy lah. I actually missed all the drama at my nomination centre cos I was stationed by the Notice Board. Seriously, our only view was the notice board and nothing else. Can't even see the crowd, can only occasionally hear them.

Now for my fav moments at Tao Nan School Nomination Centre:

- fellow reporter asking me what she should file for her prob 4th live report of the day. "How about I'm sweating like a pig, my hair is messy and my makeup is melting?"

- someone telling me SM Goh will be giving a doorstop interview later right where we are stationed. I asked him how he knew. He said, "I met him in the toilet and asked him if he can give a doorstop and he said yes." Wow. Maybe I should have stalked Tin Pei Ling or Nicole Seah in the toilet.

- While waiting for the Returning Officer to announce the confirmed lineup, all the reporters were wondering what was taking so long, and we came up with various stories of how Ms Tin is having an early showdown with Ms Seah.

- Following on that, a fellow not-to-be-quoted reporter said, "Did u see Tin Pei Ling's VPL? TPL VPL. She wear white damn obvious lah." That was a male reporter.

- When the various candidates are making their speeches and it was TPL's turn, the crowd goes "Kate Spade! Kate Spade!"

That was all I can remember for now.

Seriously, although PAP have like 3/4 times more supporters than the opposition combined, their supporters do not have as much viction as the oppo's supporters. Just by listening to their cheers and jeers, I would have thought that they were similar in strength, sometimes the oppo seemed even louder than the PAP supporters.

But if the numbers were anything to go by, it's prob an indication of the actual votes each party would get. Having louder dissenting voice, does not mean u can win.

It doesn't matter whether u draw the cross with a fat marker pen or a thin pencil, it is still one cross.

Let the smearing begin

2011-04-26T21:07:00.002+08:00

The event of the year is here! Like finally... In fact I've been waiting for it for a while.

Tomorrow is the start of the real action, and I think I might get too excited to sleep properly tonight.

These days, all I tend to talk about is politics. That is something I'd never imagine myself doing 5 years ago. But I'm truly glad to be part of this very exciting elections that seems promising of some real breakthrough.

All the opposition vigour and conviction of fightly against the odds have somehow rubbed off me. I don't think I can feel the same on the white-on-white camp except that most of the time they come out as very defensive.

How is one supposed to make a choice? Based on reports you see in the media? Based on what u see online? Based on looks/age/gender/race/gut feelings? What if the choice doesn't really give you REAL choice?

While I agree with the need more more alternative voices, I do not believe in condoning bad voices. So then, how do I make my choice?

A friend has suggested I blog more to share some of my personal experience since I've got the chance to have real personal contact with the different camps. Actually I would very much like to have a personal document of this as well. But I'm one who need to think thru my post thoroughly before I can post and after a long day at work with overflowing info and thereafter staring at computer screen and listening and re-listening soundbites, I tend to get too tired to sit down and sort out my thoughts for a coherent post. Nonetheless, I shall try.

This election is the 1st time I am eligible to vote (it still remains to be seen if I get to vote tho). This election is the 1st I get to cover as a journalist. It's going to be tough, it's going to be tiring, but now, I'm rearing to go!

Tourist for the day

2011-01-08T11:32:00.011+08:00

How well do you know Singapore?

U might have lived in Singapore for all your life but at the pace that Singapore is changing, I dun think anyone can claim they know Singapore well.

Singaporeans are constantly thinking of going overseas for holiday. The idea of being a tourist in a foreign land is so enticing, so relaxing. But perhaps it's just the mindset and not the place that matters.

So, we decided to be tourist to Singapore for a day. Around Tiong Bahru and Chinatown. And it was most amazingly relaxing. Of course it was helped by the cloudy, cooling weather that helps to put you in the mindset that you are in foreign land. Plus is you will not break a sweat going up and down the numerous steps along the shophouses in Chinatown.

Starting point: Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre

Sumptous local delights of 178 Lor Mee, 老陈 Fried Carrot Cake and 建柏 Chwee Kueh is the great start. Yums.

Take a slow stroll towards Chinatown.

Walking past my church kindergarten, a place I last visited 20 years ago. Feels like it did not change at all. Nolstalgia nolstagia. Tho the colour of the other kindergarten in front just turns uglier over the years.

Passing by Outram MRT, we decided to hunt for a yummy Japanese cake joint at Duxton Hill. En route, a great find. Bookstore all of a couple of months old called Littered with Books.

Photo credit: Littered with Books

It's so quaint. Never someone to buy many many books, but I always love the feeling of visiting bookstores. Makes me feel intellectual among the wisdom in those millions and billions of words. Tho it's really 自欺欺人。哈！

And the little afternoon tour ends with great cakes from Flor at 2 Duxton Hill.

Earl Grey and Napoleon cakes. Fresh cream, light pastry. So so yums. The Earl Grey is really very Earl Grey, so if you're not an Earl Grey lover, then perhaps you won't like it. Great way to end the touristy day tho. Sip tea, eat cake, people watch.

More tourist days to come. Hehe..

新年新气象

2011-01-07T00:44:00.004+08:00

The new blogger customised template is so awesome, I feel like changing the look for my blog everytime I log in. Which is evidently not very often. wahaha.

2010 is officially gone and here comes 2011. The next decade in the 21st Century.
I've been bothered by the fact that I haven't achieved anything significant in 2010. Somehow nothing seems to have etched in my mind. Or perhaps I've done so many things in 2010 that I just don;t remember them anymore.

After looking through my schedule book, I realised the most significant thing I did in 2010 is to pass my driving test and become a qualified driver. Not that I've gone behind the wheel ever since I passed. But still I think it's an achievement. I'd very much like to own a car but with the COE prices right now, that will remain a dream.

It kinda bothers me that whenever friends I haven't met for a while asks me how's life and how's work, I'll reply "it's pretty much the same." I'm not sure whether that's good, I guess to me it obviously isn't and so this prompts me to think what "the next step" should be. It's not that I'm unhappy now, but I just feel dissatified somewhat. There's a subtle difference there. But till now, I've no answer. Sian.

I've given up on making New Year Resolutions. Because I just don't keep to them. But then I realised having some goals or plans makes me look forward to the year more.

So here goes:-

In 2011, I wanna...

Visit Chek Jawa in Pulau Ubin
Learn to turn corners on my bike
Climb Mt Kinabalu
Countdown to 2012 in Taipei
~~Visit Philippines for UST 400th Anni Celeb!~~ (this one failed, cos it's happening on 28th Jan 2011!)

The list will expand, but that's all for now.. :)

《插班生》报到！

2010-09-12T13:07:00.006+08:00

如果你还不知道，你就落伍啦！

《插班生》发片啦！

请各位多多支持哦！不说太多，听了就知道！

运气，这东西

2010-09-09T02:01:00.003+08:00

一个人的运气是否有额度，是否会用完呢？

这个问题，时而都会飘进我脑海里。

因为我觉得我这一生太幸运了，一切都那么顺利，那么lucky！不可思议地让我有点害怕这一切的美好会有结束的一天。杞人忧天吗？或许是。但也希望提醒自己这一切不是必然的。

怎么说呢？从小到大，在学业上一直是顺利的。不算是特别杰出的学生，但总还是前面那几位。一直都遇到好的老师，好的同学。虽然不是每次考试都有佳绩，但到了关键的那几个考试，总算是令人满意。

课业以外，也遇到令自己很满足、很喜爱的活动。记得有一度周末总是排得满满的，而这些我想上的活动都刚好不会撞期。就是那么的刚好，那么的，lucky。

在家里，从小有祖父、祖母、外公、外婆陪伴长大。虽然祖父、祖母这一两年过世了，但很庆幸自己有20多年的机会认识他们，受他们疼爱。许多人连自己的祖父母都没见过面。所以，我是幸运的。Lucky。

虽然不来自大富大贵之家，但从小什么也不缺，要出国有的去，要上什么课，也没问题。父母会斗嘴吵架，跟哥哥和弟弟也常常会起争执、会斗嘴，但这是我们增感情的方式。这比不说话的家人好吧。

毕业后，也不需要找工作，工作就送上门啦。所以，我是没有找工的经验的。这不是lucky，是什么？

这两天，也是幸运天。前天成功考到驾照（虽然是3rd try 啦，但还是yeah!），昨天更不可思议。

早上下起一场倾盆大雨，我正准备出门去采访，担心叫不到德士，在犹豫是否应该Call Cab. 最后决定去碰运气，到楼下有遮盖的停车地点，看看有没有那么巧会有人在哪里下车。怎么知道就是那么巧，一走到楼下，就有人下车，我就这样叫到了德士，而且还不需要淋到一滴雨。结果还提早到了采访地点。到了那里才发现原来有好些地方淹水，其他记者都被塞在路上。回到公司，同事说，她早上在路上塞了一个小时，还因此迟到了。我就叙说了我早上的幸运事。另一名同时说：“哇，你平常一定做很多好事。”

幸运之神总是悄悄的照顾着我。

谢谢妳。

人生是一堂上不完的实验课

2010-08-20T00:55:00.002+08:00

人生总是充满着“寻找”。

寻找理想的学校。
寻找适合的科系。
寻找那份完美的工作。
寻找知心的人。

或许你已经知道自己要找的是什么，又或许寻寻觅觅后发现那不是你要的，但最终目标都是希望有个完美的结果。

所谓的“完美”，也会不断改变，所以就当它是一堂上不完的实验课，继续寻找心目中的“答案”吧。

昨天在Yes 933听到一首新歌《人生实验课》，由新的本地组合《插班生》演唱。有意思。

New Look

2010-07-13T00:41:00.001+08:00

Totally time for a new look. It's been planned for a loooong time.. finally put to action with the help of the awesome Blogger customization tool.

As with everything in life, it's still an ongoing process...

Be patient.

Vipassana

2010-07-10T02:43:00.003+08:00

Have u heard of Vipassana?

It's also my first time hearing it today and the whole idea sounds so crazy and yet kinda enticing...

Vipassana is a form of meditation, and is taught thru a 10-day residential course. In those 10 days, all you do is sleep, eat and meditate (for almost 14 hrs a day). You will not have any form of communication with you, nor any form of entertainment. (No computer, internet, tv, radio even books). You must not even talk to fellow meditators in the course for 9 days. (The reason dinner conversation became this was cos I was too full and said I wanna 封口，so it led to this other form of 封口。）

So, all you have for 9 days is you and your mind.

It's supposed to help u clear your mind, see things in a different light.

And all you'd be eating is fruits and vegetarian food. (think lose weight)

Best part is, it's a free course.

And it's actually held in Singapore at St John's Island.

But maybe I should try normal meditation first. 10 days is so no joke!

E.L.I.T.E.

2010-04-09T01:44:00.000+08:00

What is the definition of an elite? Who is an elite? Does going to an elite school automatically makes me an elite? How do you define an elite school anyway?

This is but a label put upon you. Sometimes I feel it's a label I rather not have, but at times I'm happy to have that.

But it always makes me uneasy to be called an elite. There seems to be so many connotations that comes with this label, bad and good, but seems to be mostly bad. Other than not wanting to be associated with the negative traits, I do not feel that I'm good (ie smart or successful) enough to be an elite too.

The ST article last Saturday does more or less resonate for an ex-Rafflesian like myself. Tho I'm only a third Rafflesian (only been to RJ rather than those who are on the Raffles family from Primary to JC), I think the issues in question are applicable to anyone who is lucky enough to be in good schools their whole life. mixing with friends from respectable and mostly loving /supporting families with a great learning environment. Can be someone from HCJC, VJC, TJC, NJC and come from the top 10 or 20 sec schs. It's no doubt the school environment and the people you hang out with shape who you are and how you think and view the world.

I think my first jolt to reality came when, at a inter-school leadership camp, where prefects from my sch (DHS) have combined camps with prefects from other, what they call neighbourhood schools. As we discuss the kind of disciplinary problems we have to deal with and help each other out on how best we can deal with them, you realise how insignificant your problems of catching ppl who have their shirts tucked too far out and wearing ankle socks are, compared to those who deal with students who smoke and steal and fight. You do not face them and you just can't understand. You come from a loving family, and so do most of your friends. You do not have to worry about monetary issues and do not have to work during holidays to make sure you have something to eat at recess when sch starts. You just have to study hard and be a good student. That's your job.

I'm as un-Rafflesian as one can be. I like Mandarin, I'm not good in English. I join the Chinese Orchestra, I study weird subject combinations (more than half of RJC students are in triple science). Many are rather surprised at my decision to chose RJC. And why did I choose RJC? Because I want to study Japanese at A Level (and that's the only place in Singapore that offers it), I want to improve my English, I think I will benefit from a different kind of environment.

Anyway, being Rafflesian or not is also a kind of stereotype isn't it? In the end I still made good friends whom I can clique with, more or less enjoyed my time at the school and come out with better command of English and understanding of what the "elites" are like.

It's so sad to be shedding tears just because you do not get 4 As or 5 As at A levels, relentlessly pursue excellence in every single way possible (be a leader, serve the max no of comm service possible, represent the sch in every competition possible) and not stop to experience what life is about, or think about what life is like for "commoners" out there.

In a way, my choice of profession is already very "un-Rafflesian" as my brother puts it. Most Rafflessians eventually end up as doctors and lawyers and bankers and be top civil servants, earning big money, and I'm but a poor (literally) journalist. They easily earn at least 30% to several times more than what I'm earning right now.

But then, I'm not quite "Rafflesian" to begin with.

Labels. They are never ending.

2010-04-02T03:10:00.002+08:00

it's another great day out with the girls today. nv fails to be energy and/or events filled. there was no USS or roller coaster like we envisioned it to be, but there was still trusty Sentosa and a fulfilling meal.

but then, it was the results of the random decision to do a personality test among all on the grp that amazes me. and so did the discussion over supper after.

we can be so different, and yet so complimentary. there is always a place for u in this world, a way you can contribute.

let the powers combine.

梁智强VS老虎伍兹记者会

2010-03-13T14:04:00.003+08:00

“梁智强”三个字，大家应该已经听腻了、看腻了吧？还是觉得意犹未尽呢？

前天采访了他的记者会，场面比巨星来访还轰动，情节也比8频道剧集还戏剧化。虽然接到任务时，心里是相当不愿意去采访这类纯碎属于娱乐八卦，干预别人私事的新闻，但能在本地体验到如此轰动的场面，也应该仅此一次。

不计其数的人也已经对此事件，通过各个平台发表了自己的意见。我也忍不住要插一句。

我说了什么？请点阅：958新闻室博客

《听说》

2010-01-17T19:56:00.002+08:00

我已经见人就推荐啦，但还是想要在这里推荐一下这部台湾小品《听说》。

没有带着任何期望，甚至不知道故事情节就跟随台湾朋友去看了这部电影。或许就是因为没有任何期望，所以它出乎意料带给了我惊喜。是一部让我笑得很用力，也哭的很用力的电影。当然加上男主角很帅啦。

我发现，不要带任何期待去看一部电影，收获总是比较大的。最近因为大家都把Sherlock Holmes说的很好而慕名进电影院看，却稍感失望。就像朋友说的，她在排山倒海的推荐下，看了《海角7号》，看了以后，就觉得也不过如此。而这部电影只冲着是台湾片和彭于晏（很帅的男主角）去看，也给她带来意外的惊喜。

所以，我也知道让大家抱有很大期望去看一部电影的败笔。所以，如果你要去看《听说》，请忘了我以上写的。:P

avatar 之狠篇

2010-01-07T01:10:00.002+08:00

阔别N年以后，我爸爸终于带我妈再度进入电影院。

是什么电影这么有魅力？就是史上以最快速度破十亿票房的Avatar.

可是3D电影没有中文字幕，害他们看得蒙查查。结果换来我妈说：

“看什么烂电影。人不像人鬼不像鬼，很恶心。打来打去炸来炸去，一点都不好看。浪费我3个小时坐在那边，还睡着。浪费11块钱。没有跟我讲是什么戏就拉我去看！”

深受好评的Avatar就这样给我妈骂得一文不值。我和我弟听了都不知道该从哪里开始跟我妈解释电影好在哪里。

我爸爸好不容易请妈妈去看电影，而且是3D Avatar，却被老妈骂得狗血淋头。好可怜的爸爸。

history lesson

2009-12-07T22:43:00.002+08:00

Did you know why the ABC market in Bukit Merah is so named?
Did you know what used to be where Ikea at Alexandra is now?

Was taking the cab home from work after my night shift the other day when I got a history lesson from the cab driver instead. Was quite irritated with him cos he can't quite stop talking from the moment I got in, and then he asked if my colleague was rich cos he fetched her home before and remembered she lived in landed property and even remember exactly where. First I was disgusted and then I was horrified. Who knows what he can do with these info. Taxi uncles are scary.

As much as I found him irritating, he was quite educational as well.

Apparently, Ikea used to be the warehouse for ABC stout beer. The area was a very bustling area, and Alexandra Village Market used to be the train station. Jalan Bukit Merah was non-existent then (then is prob abt 50 yrs ago). As there is a market behind the ABC warehouse, which is somewhat of a landmark then, people decide to call the market ABC market. Subsequently, ABC moved, the warehouse gave way to other things and is now IKEA, but people still call the market ABC market. It has an official name, but most ppl can't identify with the name, so the name stayed.

Now that's something I never know tho I've known the market since I was way little cos my Grandpa's factory used to be across the street.

Well, the taxi uncle actually asked me how long I had been staying in the area, and how come I did not know this story. No one ever told me that loh.. I mean it's "nice" of him to share this story, but dun need to say in that manner k. Just as I was warming up to him, he zham break in front of the red light and I almost got strangled by the seat belt. (I was sooo glad I had the seat belt on, as I've come to conclude taxi uncles after midnight is not always sane n alert.) Anyway, he was too engrossed in talking to realised the light turned red and as there was a speed camera there so he had to stop.

And just before I alighted, he said he was hoping I would be the one taking his cab when I was walking towards the taxi stand as he remembered where I stayed and that means he can still go town area to get more customers. He said my colleague stayed at too ulu a place so he'd rather not ferry her. OMG. I wish I'd nv have to take his cab again.

反思，一大堆的反思

2009-12-05T00:39:00.007+08:00

HELLO~~

久违了。好久不见。自从我投向Twitter的怀抱后，想要在这里挥洒的欲望渐渐消失。要不是燕姿，我真的不会纵身投入Tweet tweet 世界里。当然还因为有一群“损友”也成天tweet tweet，所以以tweet沟通，多了非常多乐趣。

所以，这里就保留给我在有长篇大论要讲时，才来的地方吧。

anyway，今天看了花木兰。在大家都唾弃它，影评也不是很好的情况下，还是决定看它。因为喜欢赵薇（看到片尾曲是燕姿唱的的时候，更让我想看它。不过觉得这首歌不够那种在战场打斗的气势）。所以，在买票一波三折的情况下，最终在Bugis Shaw cinema看啦。我的第一次尝试。（记得上次尝试在那里看是非常不愉快的经验，tat's another story altogether.)

花木兰这人物，没有认真了解过，不知是真实的历史事故，还是只是一部家喻户晓的虚构故事，反正还是觉得它是很正面的故事。这部花木兰不是完美的，但我还是相当喜欢。

赵薇还是没有令我失望。想当初是从看《还珠格格》开始认识她。岁月的痕迹也开始可以在她脸上看到。

整体故事其实有相当多诙谐部分，而且我觉得它把爱情的部分拿捏的蛮好的。I guess i'm still a romantic, 打斗的场景，点到为止就好。美中不足的，是前半部剪辑跳的太多，it's a little choppy, 而觉得花木兰身为将军，面对兄弟们发言时，架势和气魄还逊色了一些。

虽然花木兰和文泰最终并非完美收场，但是那份感情是非常“美”的。生命总有许多遗憾，这才真实，不是吗？

恰巧今天采访了一则修改BMT军训的新闻，谈到战争和女性受军训的事。因此，看了花木兰，感触异常多。战争，没人想要，但要是身处其中，又能奈何？身为女性，我是否愿意受军训，为保家卫国尽一份力？我的第一答案是，不要啦，太辛苦了。可对男生来说，也是辛苦的吧。不辛苦怎叫军训？

只能庆幸自己是个女生。anyway 没有结论，只是多了很多东西可以思索。

办签证感触篇

2009-10-09T22:40:00.005+08:00

你有到大使馆办签证的经验吗？

如果你和我一样，是持新加坡护照的话，应该不会有几次这样的经验。那请你为自己是新加坡人感到庆幸，因为不但为你省了很多麻烦、金钱，也让你少受很多气。

在我的记忆当中，只有亲身到大使馆办过3次签证，结果两次是空手而归，就包括今天。要不是需要以记者身份到中国采访，我也不需要一大早在烈日地下排队，然后遇到一个态度极差的柜台人员（重点她还让我在错的柜台排队），结果我的申请不被受理，还叫我打一个一直被对方切掉的号码。到底是怎样。大使馆的宗旨就是要 make your life difficult?

这绝对不是一竹竿打翻一船人的说法。之前到过菲律宾大使馆，柜台人员的态度也是极差。听一些几乎不管到哪里旅行都需要办签证的海外朋友说，他们在好几个大使馆的经历也都如此。大使馆办公时间短，福利也应该不差，员工怎么都那么哀怨，那么臭脸啊？好歹也是前线服务人员，也应该有基本的服务态度吧？

今天去了一趟大使馆，没有办到签证还是其次（其实去之前就有预感会办不到），而是所见所闻让我有感而发。

排队的时候，就遇见一位auntie带她的女佣去办签证。看不懂所需填的表格，所以我拔刀相助。这位auntie 是幸运的，有能力带女佣一起去旅行，去帮她在中国的住所打扫、在她到处购物时也可以帮她提购物袋。

在柜台，看到一对年过60的夫妇办签证。他们在柜台弄了半天没弄好，柜台人员一直说他们要填这个，没填那个，弄了半天他们似乎还是弄不清楚状况，而他们明明就跟彼此讲华语。申请者把表格填错了，至少心平气和的跟他说哪里错，而不是一味叫他改啊，他怎么知道要怎么改？后来两人看来非常无助，也看得出他们觉得很不好意思，又不知道哪里出错，我又有机会再出马了。

后来，两组老人都跟我说，他们是因为子女在网上帮他们买机票，才需要亲自到大使馆办签证，以前都是托旅行社办的，所以才会觉得不知所措。子女不是住的很远，就是忙工作，也只能在买机票上帮忙，不能代为办签证这种事了。我们年轻人认为很方便，能在网上买机票这回事，却带给了他们困扰。代沟，也就是这回事吧？

败犬女

2009-08-14T13:49:00.002+08:00

读了这期i-周刊关于败犬的主题专访，觉得我符合了几乎所有里面列下的败犬特征。

我=败犬？ OK 啦至少年龄还没到，但是觉得晃一晃就会过了。

看来我应该去看看《败犬女王》这部戏了。

讨厌

2009-08-13T11:49:00.003+08:00

我讨厌人家明明知道事非我意还要强加于我。

我讨厌没有被征求同意就对我的生活做出改变。

其实，我认为我是相当随便的人，大多时候，只要征求我的意见，我会不好意思拒绝而同意或答应。

但我也发现，我往往会因为这样而吃亏。可能不是什么大亏，但一点一点累积起来，心里可能就会出现不平衡。

我决定要学会说不，这是一种学问，一种艺术。但这会让我活得更像我自己。

当然，我还是会有任性的一面，对某些事情比较执着，尤其对家人。请容许我的任性。

HAPPY 44TH BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

2009-08-09T01:11:00.003+08:00

Would you say you love Singapore?

Somehow it seems like the uncool thing to do to say that you love your country in this country. What's wrong with being patriotic? It's not being PC or brainwashed by the country. Say it if you mean it.

Was having a conversation with a grp of frens and a fren said sth abt ppl in other countries seemed to feel so much more nationalistic than Singapore, wearing their flag wherever they go, proclaiming they are citizens of so-and-so country. We don't even bother flying it on National Day. Another fren drew conclusion that cos we are not as homogenous as some societies, it's harder to feel nationalistic. Is that so? What about America?

I must say I don't always feel this way, and my numerous trips overseas and spending time out of Singapore and interacting with ppl from various nationalities actually gives fresh perspective as to what it means to have Singapore as my home, and gives me new found respect for my country and be thankful that I am a Singaporean. Things we so take for granted like a roof over our heads, clean water and not having to apply for visas when we travel are things that ppl do not have access to.

Another fren working at an MNC says that when typhoon hits Taiwan or Hong Kong, when there's snowstorm in London, basically when something happens in some part of the world, the Singapore branch has to take over the operations and the staff have to work harder and she has to take weird shifts to cover the duties. It's undesirable to her, but it also means that Singapore is relatively safe from disaster right?

This is not a perfect place, I'd very much like to see many areas being improved, being changed, but everything is a work in progress right? It's so easy to just leave when you are not happy with a place in this day and age, but would you ever find the perfect place? I think there's no such thing as a perfect place anyway. Do let me know if you find it.

I'd still like to leave the country, to travel, to see the world, but it would be to remind myself of how fortunate and blessed I have been.

It's National Day and I'd be working to cover the National Day Parade. Yes we have it every year, and it is kinda propagandistic. But it's still a day worth celebrating. Many of my overseas friends wow at the kind of celebration we have (tho sometimes I do wonder if iwe're spending too much money on this). Their national days usually pass without fuss, with parades that nobody watches cos it's early in the day. I would say our NDP is quite one of a kind, and there is a reason why ppl yearn to get tickets to the parade every year. It really feels very different when you are with the crowd. It's addictive, you'd wanna be back. And you feel proud to be a Singaporean.

It's National Day and what better time to declare your love for your country.

PS I've had a sneak peak to this year's parade and I think it's actually quite good. The art direction is by Ivan Heng, someone with lots of theatre background so yeah, it's really of some standard.

reflections

2009-07-17T00:31:00.007+08:00

the Indonesian Presidential Elections is over. SBY won with landslide victory. yeah you know already from various news sources. a fren said my blog is too newsy, and i only blog when there's news. but i can't help that i work in news and that's what i'm in contact with day in day out. so yeah more news to come.

i must say it's been a most rewarding trip, a trip that provided me with new found confidence and zest in my job, a trip that came at the most opportune time i must say.

marking my first anniversary on my job in indonesia, covering the presidential elections and getting mostly positive feedback so far is indication for me that i've made the right choice despite the emo-ness i went thru. i can't think of a better way to mark my 1st anni.

it's also been an eye-opener, much in line with my resolution to explore and understand southeast asia more ever since my philippines trips. there is indeed so much to know and learn about SEA, and now i have better inkling of the political system in Indon as well as the problems they face. at least now i know SBY from Mega-pro and JK-Win and I can say that I've been to Yudhoyono's residence! (tho i've nv even been to Istana in Singapore ha!)

所谓初生之犊不怕虎，and i think this best described me when i was there, assuming that it's quite safe and unafraid of what was to come. luckily i only heard the horror stories of indon only AFTER i came back. haha. and lucky that nothing has happened to me there. ppl there seemed friendly and willing to talk to me while doing my voxpop. tho there are those weird and uneasy stares that i get from the people sometimes, i think my phil training did me some good. in many many ways actually, indon reminds me of phil: a language i do not understand, bad traffic, slums, shopping = malls, country with colonial history, vibrant political scene, generally friendly people.

it only been a week since i'm back, and somehow sharing my indon experience on air today seemed really surreal already. reflecting on the trip, i don't know how i did what i did, but i did it! i surprise myself all the time.

when will Singapore's political scene be half as exciting? when will Singaporeans be willing to talk openly about politics? i look forward to that day.

enough of words, now for some pictures (that are all up on FB already actually).

behind the scenes: setting up the camera for CNA correspondent to do live reporting.

voting over, start vote counting. :Lanjutkan! (that's the slogan for Yudhoyono's team)

SBY in the lead.

At SBY's residence. Media galore. All ready to get a shot of the President as he conducts a press conference (yes, in Bahasa Indonesian). I'm contented standing by the speaker.

Saying goodbye at the CNA office.

Doesn't this CNA cameraman look familiar? Think "don't worry, be happy."

The only touristy shot. In front of the main traffic circle, a favourite spot for protests. (ooops even my touristy shot has a news spin to it. ha)

潜入印尼总统选举

2009-07-06T02:27:00.001+08:00

又要出国啦，而且是第一次去公干。

虽然是非常临近的国家，但还是一个不熟悉的环境、不熟悉的语言。

被问及是否要到印尼采访总统选举是，我的第一反应是：不要。

因为语言的障碍，加上本身不是很关注印尼政治，所以却步了。但是过后想想，老板会这样问我，就是认为我能胜任，给我一次宝贵的学习经验，那我又为什么要怀疑自己呢？

所以，最终还是答应了。决定的很匆忙，所以开始时觉得相当不安。但是又遇到非常愿意给予帮助的好人，觉得这次的行程应该会顺利。

我生命中总有一个接着一个的贵人，对此，我非常感激。

不过贵人不能帮我收拾行李，所以还是要自己做。回来再进一步分享。

我做到了！

2009-07-01T00:03:00.005+08:00

我会骑脚车了！
自転車乗れます！
I CAN BIKE!

I've CONQUERED the bicycle!!! I'm so proud of myself. haha. despite me having said that I wanna learn how to bike since 2006, I did not put it into action until about a month ago.

And in 4 sessions, I learnt to bike!!! Ok lah not very impressive results, cos my bro keep saying he learnt it in 1hr. But who cares, what matters is I can bike now! Wahahaha!

Tho I still can't turn corners.
Tho I will swerve from left to right uncontrollably sometimes.
Tho I rammed into a roller blader and almost made her fall.
Tho I still can't brake properly.
Tho I'll get stressed out when I see approaching bikers and people who are too close to me on the road.

At least I can bike now! And I'm confident I can overcome ALL that soon. Anyone who wants to bike pls jio me out. haha! soon I'll be able to do nite cycling and road trips on bikes. that sounds exciting! it's no longer a handicap. yeah!

***

anyway I've lapsed out of my emo-ness, and made my decision. I'll give it another year, I tell myself as I feel there's still so much to learn and it had been a really great experience so far. Maybe I tend to forget the unpleasant stuff, but I find this a positive trait of myself. Live and be happy right?

and on yet another note, congrats Diya for proving ur worth and getting the chance to go to Taiwan (yet again) to show the talents Singapore has! It was such a 百感交集 day, cos we were REALLY happy for Diya, but REALLY sad for Carrie at the same time. I nv tot I could have such a mix of emotions in myself.

经济不景气的受害者

2009-06-23T00:16:00.002+08:00

it's such an irony that i just did this news feature on the job market for graduates, and now i'm facing more or less the same situation as them. (listen to feature here.)

somehow i feel i've never been so vexed before. 困っている、悩んでいる。maybe i've been too blessed my whole life.

on a lighter note, pictures from East Coast Park outing yesterday.

bicycle learning and kite flying. one tiny step closer to learning to bike. maybe with a little bit more practice, i would be able to bike liao.. yeah!

my tiny kite which had been complained to be hard to fly, made it into the sky without much effort at all. what an easy kite flying experience. but while keeping the kite, it actually fell into the sea. oops! picture: my kite flying companion and bike instructor, Xin Pei.

the double bike that brought us to Bedok Jetty. Can't ride in my own yet LAH.

This weird old man paddling his way around the jetty on a makeshift raft. And i heard someone saying "Eh see Mas Selamat". Actually that was my first tot too. Haha!

One of the numerous ppl netting fishes out of the sea there. Wonder what they can catch?

Some white tiny fish called Gekgek. Dunno how to spell but it sounds like 假假 in Hokkien. Ha if you know what i mean. The tiny ones will be thrown back into the sea. They will only keep and eat the larger ones. Hmmm...

the many updates to be made...

2009-06-20T15:25:00.006+08:00

my last post was about going overseas.. and I've been back for almost a month from the trip! OMG time seriously flies. That means that life have been busy and occupied for me. that's good.

Taiwan trip was great! So nice to be back in Taiwan again after my exchange stint 3 years ago. Things did not seem to have changed much. Meeting my Taiwanese frens was the best part of the trip.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

The reason why we were in Taiwan in the first place. Youth Film Festival of Taiwan.

Before heading to Kaohsiung, a stopover at Taichung 逢甲夜市 to try their famous 大肠包小肠。in picture, the delicacy from 2 rival stalls located right opposite each other but each still had long queues and their own set of supporters.

Next stop: Sunny Kenting for some water games. Not foregetting to get sunburnt in the process.

After an activity packed, adrenaline rushing afternoon, it's off to 关山 to admire the sunset.

Back in Kaohsiung, we decided to find out what 槟榔 taste like. Verdict: Taste raw and makes my mouth numb and red. Not very nice but it's acceptable taste.

Finally back in Taipei. Gathering with my Taiwanese friends!

Going back to 政大 for the breakfast I missed so much! 古早味的蛋饼、萝卜糕加蛋、饭团和红茶豆浆！Yum yum!

And since we were back in 政大，a little tour of the place for Shunyi and a little walk down memory lane for myself.

And what else did we do in Taipei? Shop and go 夜市 of course! Above is 公馆夜市。We also were at 师大夜市、饶河夜市 and 士林夜市。4 夜市 in 3 nights. haha!

***

Little thing to share. After being shown at IDFA, New Zealand Human Rights Film Fest and the Youth Film Festival in Kaohsiung, H.O.P.E. will be shown in Mexico at the Monterrey Film Fest in August and also in Greece at the Kos Health Film Festival in September! Yeah! Tho I won't be able to make it to either fest, but it's still a happy occasion.

台湾我来也！

2009-05-23T00:35:00.001+08:00

又要出国了！

上次出国好像是两个多月以前到槟城。所以觉得是又要出国了。

这次到台湾，参加影展，当然少不了顺便旅游加探访朋友。

这次回去的心情应该会很不一样，跨别了3年时间再回到台湾，尤其台北，会是怎样的感觉? 好像有好多地方想重游，很多朋友想见，但是时间却是那么的短。

还真不巧，有朋友从香港来新玩，但我却要在同一天到台湾去。可惜没办法招待她。

又到了做最后准备的时候。我想我是越来越熟练了。

母亲的心声

2009-05-11T21:49:00.003+08:00

昨天是母亲节，你怎么和妈妈庆祝呢？

朋友在facebook上po了这么一段文章，觉得很有意义，和大家分享一下。疼惜母亲、爱惜母亲，不应该只限于5月份的第二个星期天，而是应该时时刻刻记住要做的事。这点，我也必须提醒自己。

《当我老了的时候》

当我老了,不再是原来的我。请理解我，对我有一点耐心。
当我把菜汤洒到自己衣服上时，当我忘记怎样系鞋带时，请想一想当初我是如何手把手地教你。
当我一遍又一遍地重复你早已听腻的话语，请你耐心地听我说，不要打断我。你小的时候，我不得不重复那个讲过千万遍的故事，直到你进入梦想。
当我需要你帮我洗澡时，请不要责备我。还记得小时侯我千方百计哄你洗澡的情形吗？
当我对新科技和新事物不知所措时，请不要嘲笑我。想一想当初我怎样耐心地回答你的每一个“为什么”。
当我由于双腿疲劳而无法行走时，请你伸出你年轻有力的手搀扶我。就象你小时侯学习走路时，我扶你那样。
当我突然忘记我们谈话的主题，请给我些时间让我回想。其实，对我来说，谈论什么并不重要，只要你能够在一旁听我说，我就很满足。
当你看着老去的我，请不要悲伤。理解我，支持我，就象你刚开始学习如何生活时我对你那样。当初我引导你走上人生路，如今请陪伴我走完最后的路。给我你的爱和耐心，我会报以感激的微笑，这微笑中凝结着我对你无限的爱。

[原文载自墨西哥《数字家庭》]

其实这也不知限用于妈妈，我想对待爸爸也一样。

天冷就回来

2009-05-07T01:46:00.003+08:00

既然上次评了《猫》，现在就来谈一谈《天冷》观后感吧！我不是什么影评人，但身为消费者，觉得钱花的值得，就会有总满足感，所至少看了《天冷》有这样的满足感。

前天看了《天冷》，是颇让我满意的。虽然称不上什么惊喜，因为两年前的我也看过了，但是戏应该是细了一点，而且主要演员的表现也较上一次好一些。当然表现包含歌唱技巧和演技，所以最大的不同应该是“小静”一角。石欣卉唱功当然不赖，所以就比上次的“小静”突出。不过有同事说，上次的小静形象比较适合角色，属于比较柔弱，想让人保护的那种，而在石欣卉身上就找不到这种感觉。但对第一次出演舞台剧的石欣卉来说，我觉得是不错的。至少觉得她最关键的一幕，看着阿乐终于能放手和Rose牵着手离开，那种欣慰中又带非常大的不舍的感觉，那种内心的挣扎，我感觉到了。

当然，让我再次观看《天冷》的推动力莫过于主要演员田伟鸿和董姿彦。他们的确没有让我失望，因而让我觉得或许新加坡的中文音乐剧有了新希望。能歌扇舞已经很不赖，还得会演，又要演得自然，演得不夸张。田伟鸿就符合了以上所有条件。董姿彦音色独特，声音很有穿透力，不过稍嫌演技有那么一点夸张。

还有饰演阿强的刘俊葳。其实两年前看《天冷》是冲着那些歌曲和当时饰演阿强的陈瑞彪去的，因为他是主要演员中我唯一比较熟悉的。可是过后对陈瑞彪有些许失望，因为他的中文有点变扭，让我看了也有点变扭，但我却深深对田伟鸿和董姿彦刮目相看。这次刘俊葳的演出，我认为是比陈瑞彪出色的。他的演唱功力的确很棒，中文也出奇的标准，外形和肢体也比较符合角色。

唯一缺憾应该是阿强的男朋友一角。相比上次的出演的郑展伦，彭达文就输了一大半。彭是英语戏剧出身，其实他在普通对戏时的中文是不赖的，但是到唱歌时，就总觉得有点口齿不清，更加上我觉得他的唱歌技巧还不太到家，所以就逊掉了。而且我觉得他整个造型有点怪。怎么要穿着上班族的衣裳，有点刻意而且有格格不入的感觉。最重要的是，觉得他和阿强拥抱的关键戏，没有上次的有震撼力。（或许是应为我已经知道他们要拥抱了吧？）

除了演技，还要说一下幕后的东西。因为是剧场出身，所以看戏时总会有职业病。之前对《猫》的不满，在于它没有更换布景，也没有现场伴乐。《天冷》两者都有，所以又多打了两个勾。现场伴乐是不赖，但觉得有些地方音乐声量大了点，切入点有点突兀，抢了戏。
（sidenote：乐团的主要小提琴手竟然叫林卉，跟我同姓同名也，还是第一次遇见）

布景方面，不铺张，简单朴实，相当适合剧情，而至少在换布景和道具时我认为他们有下心思。不过，还是有点不够熟练的感觉，尤其是那种隔着帘子，在后边搬动大型道具的后台人员。总可以看到微光从帘子中透过，还可以听到他们搬动的声音。还有灯光整体来说稍嫌太暗，一直以为是不是自己近视加深了。尤其是打在彭达文上的灯光，直到中场我都不能确定是他出演。

《天冷》胜在朗朗上口、耳熟能详的歌曲和非常棒的演员班底。音乐的确能让人感动，而有故事性的音乐的感动度就提升了10倍。这也是我喜欢看音乐剧的原因。而且我知道他们是现场表演，有实力与否，马上就听得出，比起录音或电影，舞台演员的要求更高。

《猫》在我心中就输在故事性不强，而且我也听不清楚他们歌词中要表达的意思，以致我对整体故事更加不了解，也就找不到感动度和满足感。

要成就一部好的音乐舞台剧还真难。好的剧本、好的歌曲、好的演员、好的呈现方式。

《天冷》再次呈现与本地舞台，让我再次能回味与这些歌曲，让我相当开心。不过，我更希望看到不断的有新的，好的中文音乐舞台剧在本地出现，总不能每两年就拿《天冷》来重演吧。

看了《天冷》让我有冲动想要回到剧场，找回那种参与其中的感动。

失望

2009-04-29T01:16:00.002+08:00

It's been a very arty-farty 2 weeks. Caught some films at SIFF, went to WKWSCI's FYP screening (albeit only for 1 day) and just gone to CATS.

I've been looking forward to catching CATS, and to think that I actually decided to spend over $100 to catch it (cos usu I go for restricted view seats which cost abt half that price), and I was actually quite disappointed by it.

When I watch a musical, I usually expect a good plot, good sets and of course good songs and music plus good singing. And in CATS, I find that there was the lack of a strong plot (ok despite it been running for like eons, I've nv known what's the plot so I went in to watch with a fresh mind), no change of sets whatsoever and the thing that irks me most, there was NO LIVE ORCHESTRA!

I guess I've come to expect a good live orchestra after watching Phantom and Forbidden City of which I enjoyed both really much.

So really, I don't know what makes CATS like so popular. Maybe the plot got lost in me cos I can't quite catch what most of the lyrics were. The dance were supposed to be good. They were pretty good, but then I find it repetitive after a while. Getting up close to 1 of the cat was pretty exciting. At least I found a redeeming factor - the detailed makeup and exquisite costume. There were those that could sing well, but sadly I can't say that ALL of them could. And I almost fell asleep in the first Act.

The funny thing was, while queuing for the toilet during interval, the lady in front of me was busy going onto Wiki using her iphone to find out what CATS was all about. Kinda my sentiments at that point. Then the lady in front of her asked the lady on iphone if it was her first time catching the show and commented that the previous time she caught the show, it was much better and it had a live orchestra and that she was pretty disappointed with this show. Hmm... initially I tot I was just too critical. But turns out I wasn't.

Then second Act was definitely more engaging than the first, but I still was disppointed as a whole. I think I put my expectations too high, thinking that a long running Broadway and Westend Musical MUST be something good.

I like to watch shows that evoke a certain feeling in me, I like to laugh and cry along with the characters and feel what they feel. But I felt nothing. Because there was no clear plot, no clear theme, except that it was about cats - different kinds of cats. My brother whom I watched the show with gave the explanation that maybe it's meant to be a lighter kind of musical, something purely entertaining.

Will be catching 天冷就回来 next week. This I already know the plot cos I caught it on its previous run 2 years ago. I'm looking forward to be touched by the songs. Hope it does not disappoint.

Life can't get better than this!

2009-04-07T00:02:00.006+08:00

Life can't get better than this. Shopping for free, and ahead of others... at Uniqlo Singapore!

Ha. This must have been the best perk of being a reporter so far. Voucher to spend at media preview of the Uniqlo store at the new Tampines 1 Mall. The even better part? I don't need to file report. Wahaha!

Cheers to Uniqlo!

So here's a little peek to the store. (Shall do my little part in publicizing it since I've spent their voucher :P)

Actually I've only been to a Uniqlo store once in Japan. Several diff stores at different locations in Tokyo la but still that was my first encounter. Still I'm pretty excited that they are bringing in the label. Like their basics and they are at pretty affordable prices here. Think Giordano, Baleno but with more funky designs and new designs once each one runs out. Store in Tampines 1 is pretty spacious. Not too bad a variety but no denim skirts yet.

And they do bring in the Japanese style of service, especially evident at the Fitting Rooms. They will unbuckle and unbuttons ur garments for you before you try them on. And u have to take off your shoes in the fitting rooms and no matter how to take them off, they will be placed neatly, in the right direction for you to slip your feet right in when you come out of the fitting room.

If Tampines 1 is too far for you, they'll be having another one at Orchard Ion by the second half of the year and another 6 outlets by 2012.

Yeah Uniqlo!

once a month

2009-04-03T00:26:00.004+08:00

I think posting an entry a month has become a habit.

Cos I'm just plain LAZY. In the mood today, so shall share some stuff.

First up, my short getaway to Penang. It's my little resolution to explore more of Malaysia from now on. When we think of holidays, it used to always be somewhere far like Japan, HK, Taiwan, US, Australia. Why not Malaysia. It's near, it's relatively cheap and there's really lots to explore as I've realised after some simple research. So Malaysia here I come!

Ever wanted to try Fish Spa in Singapore but think it's expensive? Ha just as we were thinking about it on our first day in Penang, we chanced upon a place called "Happy Feet". There, it costs just RM 25 for 30 mins of Fish Therapy. (We got it for RM 15 cos we posed as students, ha!) How does it feel like? I-T-C-H-Y! As you can see, I can even hold still to get a clear shot. But u do get used to it after a while. And the fish are huge with big teeth. There's another pond with smaller fish but they are lazier so to get our money worth, we decided to let the big teeth do more work.

The famous Kek Lok Si in Penang. Somehow it does feel very zen there. At least I felt quite zen. But only after u get pass the rows of shops trying to sell u souvenirs and what nots on the way up.

1,2,3,4... cows. Haha. The travel companions. (of cos excluding the stone cow)

When it comes to Penang, food is definitely No1 on our itnerary. But we were most excited to see A&W! All the childhood memories coming back... And how could u resist not having a rootbeer float when u see A&W?

Next up, I actually hope to raft in Malaysia or maybe go learn diving. So exciting.

That's the fun stuff.

On a more serious note, can't help but marvel at how my FYP topic can pop up again and again.

MOH has passed the Amendment Bill on HOTA, to allow compensated organ donation in Singapore.

Here's my take to the issue, reposted from Capital 958 website. (Caution: It's in Chinese.) Maybe u can tell me what's ur take too.

天打雷劈、骇人听闻

2009-03-02T23:34:00.003+08:00

当我还在对象征我国的鱼尾狮被“天打雷劈”的事感觉不可思议时，却出现另一个震惊全国的大事。

在我母校，离我过去4年上学不远处的地方，竟然有学生拿刀子刺伤教授后，割脉跳楼、自杀身亡。

这世界怎么了？新加坡怎么了？

据闻他可能是因为教授督导他的FYP方面起冲突导致命案。虽然我们大致上都很在意FYP, 但是也不至于会到为它去杀人或自杀的地步吧。为情所困、为爱杀人倒是曾经请闻，但是为了功课作出这些事业太不值得。一直以来成绩优越，在面对挫折时就崩溃了吗？懂得面对失败也是一种学问。

后来想想，庆幸自己的FYP是一组人一起做的。所以不管遇到什么问题、什么困难、什么不顺心的事，都有人一起分担，坐下来发一下牢骚后，仍然可以并肩作战、重新出发。

在新闻室工作，每天除了股市跌幅、哪间公司裁员、哪家金融机构出现亏损的负面新闻外，到了本地还是负面新闻。

post CNY

2009-02-11T22:53:00.004+08:00

CNY seemed to have passed so quickly this year. before I realised it and am done with my new year visiting, it's already over. maybe cos I started working from 1st day of CNY, so it passed extremely fast and without fuss.

Just finished re-exploring Singapore the past weekend. It's TIRING as usual, bringing people around and having to plan everything nicely. Physically and mentally tiring. But I still truly enjoy the Singapore River Cruise. Altho it's prob the 3rd time I'm taking it in tha past 5 years. Whoever had not taken it before should go ride it!

I strongly feel that STB should give concessions to Singaporeans who are bringing their foreign frens on those over priced attraction entrance fees man. After all we are doing our bit to promote tourism in Singapore. But it's going to blow a hole in my pocket soon.

And everytime I play host to foreign frens, I marvel at how STB managed to do such a good job in creating all the icons that is a must-see and must do for tourists, keeping them happy and coming back. Merlion, Night Safari, Sentosa, Flyer. All man-made, yet uniquely Singapore.

we just have to take a picture with Mr Merlion. (act I'm not sure if it's a Mr)

the beautiful Singapore night view. my fren says the lights on the flyer reminds her of octopus tentacles.

View from the River Cruise. I think the just added the lights on the Cavenagh Bridge. And it changes colour. I'd rather they din.

At the Night Safari. It's a chair I'm posing on.

Next time you are tired of shopping along Orchard, can get into the Vistor Centre for free foot massage using the Osim massager.

the day dark clouds hovered...

2009-01-10T01:24:00.003+08:00

I walked into office with a letter from the HR addressed to me sitting on my desk.

"Strictly private and confidential. To be opened by addressee only." It stamped in red.

My colleagues looked wearily at me, with slight worried looks in their faces.

"We're all going to get a pay cut," one said, "look." And she handed me a printout of the email that was sent out just that afternoon from the CEO.

I took a glance. It was 2 whole pages long with a 4 page attachment of FAQs to the new measures in place.

"Quick open the envelope and tell us what's in it," another colleague said.

I took a closer look at the envelope and my heart sank slightly. I opened it and took out the letter carefully.

It read, "This is to certify that Lin Hui is employed in the company as a part time broadcast journalist..."

*WHEW*

It was the employment certification letter I requested from the HR for my brother's university financial application. NOT the dreaded "goodbye" letter.

Upon realizing that, I could feel the tension ease around me.

"Chey! We thought your letter was part of the cost cutting measures the company is undertaking! Since you are a contract staff... "

Yeah, you guys made me worried for a while too. But then, I feel loved. That everyone cares about my presence. Hah.

I've just past the 6 month mark on the job, and the fear of losing my job already hovered. What an eventful start of my career.

But well, I'm still employed, tho there'll be approx 10% pay cut with corresponding less work days. It's going to be a 5-4-5-4 work day month. I'm going to have much more days off, forced leave days and more long weekends.

So do ask me out more often. But please restrict to asking me out for cheap activities and budget meals as I'm gonna be earning less! *yikes* (not like I'm earning a lot now)

How about teaching me to ride a bike for a start?

《小娘惹》疯

2009-01-08T00:21:00.002+08:00

虽然来的有点晚，但我还是决定转贴。

原发布与958网站的新闻室日记栏目

***

娘惹疯席卷本地，势不可挡。

最近同身边亲朋戚友聊天，总是离不开《小娘惹》话题。要是你没追看，不知道剧情发展，就很可能被冷落啦。

一）谈身边有多少人中了“娘惹毒”

本地电视剧一向不受太大好评。嫌编剧没新意、演员阵容大同小异、演员演技不突出是最常听闻的批评。但这次却发现，平时不看本地剧集的一些朋友，如今却要天天追看《小娘惹》。而“中毒”程度也有所不同。为了确保能追看，一集也不错过，一些人在这期间的生活规划便围绕着《小娘惹》的播映时间。出门一定要在8、9点以前回到家，吃饭不要去太远的地方或干脆只在周末出街。另一些则特地去买了硬碟录影机，把时间预设好，天天把戏录下来，就不必担心错过任何一集精彩剧情。更有一些人干脆买下有电视功能的手机，就可以无时无刻，不论身在何处，在干什么，一到播出时间就能第一时间看到《小娘惹》。

二）谈剧情、人物

宣传打得如此响亮，而越令人期待，人们就越看得仔细，剧情中的破绽与不合理性便成了大家茶余饭后的话题。在承认自己有追看这部剧后，接着总会先数落剧情一番，但最后还是不得不同意自己仍然会追看下去。而《小娘惹》剧中人物众多，“坏人”令人恨之入骨，“好人”让你从心坎里怜惜，因此成就了不少经典人物。投选“最令人讨厌人物”更成为一项不错的活动。

我曾出席一个国际纪录片影展，而一位影展筹划人说，他到影展去不只为了看戏，而更主要的是谈戏。有越多人谈论、越有争议性的影片，对他来说就是一部好片。

新颖的娘惹题材、漂亮的戏服、浩大的演员阵容加上大力的宣传让《小娘惹》的收视率节节攀升，还成为新传媒15年来收视率最高的剧集。在当下的经济低迷环境中，当各大媒体都只有负面新闻时，能让人抽离现实，投身进入一个好坏分明的世界中的机会异常深得人心。与其谈生活如何艰苦，倒不如把《小娘惹》评头论足一番来的痛快。

新的一年=新的开始？

2009-01-01T22:40:00.002+08:00

热烈欢迎... 2009年的到来。

不因为今年将有什么重大事件发生，而只因为它来了，就欢迎一下吧。

又是回顾过去、展望未来的时候，而我想2008年对我来说应该是我人生当中最“重大”的一年了吧。

完成毕业制作、从大学毕业、到日本毕业旅行、动手术矫正鼻子内部结构、进入社会工作、到阿姆斯特丹参加纪录片影展 - 每一项都是大事。经历了这么多，真不敢相信全都在08年这一年内发生。似乎把一年当3年用了。

正式开始到新闻室工作，是兴奋的。它让我的08年过的格外充实、精彩。08年对全世界来说都是“重大”的一年。全球多个国家举行大选或总统选举，政治轮替一个接一个发生。国际和本地的重大事件，都让我犹如置身其境。振奋人心的北京奥运会和本地F1一级方程式车赛；令人悲痛的四川大地震、中国毒奶事件、孟买恐怖袭击、全球经济风暴 - 这些都让我在半年内对世界改观不少。加上自己制作的菲律宾肾脏买卖纪录片，真的是让我看尽人性，感受到自己的渺小。

面子让北京奥运会不惜代价、寻求完美（F1 也一样吧）
贪婪与自私让婴儿受罪、经济体系垮台、损人利己的事不胜枚举
怨恨与不平让更多人无辜受害

这世界总有那么多的不完美，但却因为如此，凸显出完美的可贵。08年结束之际，制作了个温馨的节目，体会到拥有善心的人还是存在的。

09年起步艰巨，我期待“改变”。

Let the pictures do the talking...

2008-12-08T00:34:00.005+08:00

It's been more than a week since I've back from Amsterdam and there's still no updates.. Well, everyone's been asking how was Amsterdam and I must say I did not spend a lot of time exploring the place. I guess our primary objective was IDFA, and secondary being touring the place so that was what we ended up doing.. I'll just let pictures do the rest of the talking...

(I'm still missing lots of pictures of myself cos they are mostly in Shun's camera, since she'll be the one taking photos of me.. haha..)

Do click into the album where u can read captions...

it snowed!

2008-11-23T08:28:00.001+08:00

IT SNOWED IN AMSTERDAM!!

i'm freezing.

days in Amsterdam

2008-11-22T03:15:00.002+08:00

I'm in cold, COLD Amsterdam.

It's been a pretty cool 2 days in Amsterdam, literally and figuratively.

I'm doing nothing much but watching Docu films all day long. Awed by some, touched by others and getting angry too. That's documentaries.

And we also made time to visit the Van Gogh musuem. and I actually sneaked some photos which I later realised I'm not supposed to be taking. haha

Our film will be premiering tomorrow morning! So excited...

And it does seems like it would snow in Amsterdam soon. It's been drizzling and hailing quite a bit today. And the wind is making my hair messy all the time.

Will explore more of the city soon. But I do miss eating soupy stuff esp cos it's so cold here... cos all I'm havng here is bread, bread and more bread.

pre departure jitters

2008-11-19T01:18:00.002+08:00

it's the all so familiar feeling of pre-departure jitters.

where you feel like there's still so much to do
and yet you don't really know what is not being done

there seem to be so many things to take care of
and so much you still do not know about the place you are going to

when you feel like you need more time to prepare
and you kind of dread leaving altho you've been looking forward to it

and this time it's even more so cos there IS really a lot to do before I leave
like picking up the postcards, and burning the DVDs, and shopping and P-A-C-K-I-N-G

and cos I've been working really hard recently, all I feel like doing at night is sleep or laze in front of the TV set, so I've not been reading up much on my upcoming destination..

and cos I've nv experience sub-10 temp, I'm not sure if what I bring is warm enough, or would it be too warm.

plus all the nitty gritty details like how much memory should I prepare so I can snap happily away, which bag should I bring along..

there's always so much to do...

still it's coming true.. it's going to happen.. I'll be on my way to AMSTERDAM in less than 24 hrs and soon I'll be sitting in a packed theatre (hopefully) and watching my docu with so many others who may laugh and cry and cringe as the characters in the docu do.

Obama is the man!

2008-11-05T23:38:00.003+08:00

The duel has ended and OBAMA had emerged victorious!

It had indeed been an exciting race to the White House, with history made either way. And it is the race the WORLD is watching and I'm amazed at how emotionally involved I got in it, and also how Obama had got the world behind him. I'm not biased.

Which other US president had Indonesia, Kenya and a town called Obama all the way in Japan backing him with his race to the White House?

Kenya even declared that tomorrow shall be a public holiday so that the nation can celebrate for this man, whose father was from Kenya, and still had relatives there.

In true democratic spirit, the world had witnessed the first Black US President. It moves me just seeing how people reacted with tears of relief and true jubilation at their newly elected President. But of course there is the other camp that had reacted dismally at the lost of whom they support. But it is the intensity of the emotions, either way, that struck me.

Would we ever get to see this in Singapore? Would Singaporeans get passionate about politics?

Then and again, the intensity of the emotions came from pent up frustration from the previous administration's failed governance. Just look at other countries in the region which had similar predicament recently and we have no lack of examples - Taiwan, Thailand and to a lesser extent Malaysia.

Does it always take failed leadership for the people to stand up for change and to feel passionate about the country? Would I rather live under a stable, steady and capable government's rule and never know what it is like to feel passionate?

Would you?

making my day

2008-10-27T02:27:00.002+08:00

It was an activity filled Saturday with me shuttling between 3-4 places and meeting many, and I mean MANY ppl cos I was covering the Singapore Hit Awards. BUT the saddest thing is I did not manage to take any photo at all cos while the artistes were in the Media Centre, my main concern is getting soundbites from them and I had no extra pair of hands to be taking photos.

And I did not even get to watch any of the performances by the singers, except the opening performance, cos we were all stuck in at backstage, in the Media Centre, afraid that we might miss out when any of the singers pop by.

While my first reaction when I knew that I was going to cover SHA was "yeah!".. now I'd rather be in the audience seat, enjoying the performances and not worrying about what to be filing back to the station from the backstage. Luckily there were journalist frens that I met which made the wait backstage a lot less boring and also gave me a peace of mind cos at least I know someone else will be helping me keep a lookout, or giving me a helping hand while I'm busy running in and out.

Still, there was something that made my day that day. It had nothing to do with SHA. It was my contact lenses purchasing experience. All about good service.

It started out with me having some discount coupons to buy contact lenses at specific optical outlets. And cos the coupons were going to expire soon, I decided to make my way to the Suntec outlet and expected an ordinary contact lens buying trip.

But the moment I stepped into the store, the staff greeted me with a great smile and asked what I wanted. After I expressed my wish to buy contact lenses, she immediately ushered me to the machine and offer to test my eyes for me. (I remember previous buying trips only asking me what lens I want to buy and did not offer eye testing service unless you ask for it).

And I thought that was it, and she was going to sell me lenses already, but no, she ushered me into the room for more accurate consultation on my eyesight, to determine if I need astig corrective contact lenses since I'm not currently using them altho I do have astig.

After consultation, she told me I'm doing fine without having to wear lenses with astig and proceeded to sell me lenses. She even told me something no one ever told me before - that due to the curvature of my eyeballs, I'm more suited to use smaller lenses, but they do not stock them, so I'll have to wait for them to make the order, which of cos I said ok. (Wow.. I've been wearing and buying contact lenses for 4 years now and no optician had told me that before!)

And cos I decided to change the brand of contact lenses I'm currently using, she decided to throw in a trial pair, which also made me quite happy. (I think they were all supposed to do that when u change brands but not all opticians I go to voluntarily gives me that)

I know it does not seem like anything out of the ordinary or great but it just felt like a really good shopping experience for me. I felt the sincerity in her service attitude and it's been a looong time since I encountered that in shops in Singapore.

IDFA!!!!!

2008-10-18T00:17:00.003+08:00

Still can't believe I'm going to be heading to Amsterdam in a month. Well that is if everything goes as planned.

Still can't believe our documentary got accepted in IDFA. It's the best World Premiere we could hope for.

Sooo looking forward to attending the festival. It's really a huge thing for me, for us all.

Happy, excited, disbelief.

Now there's still a lot of planning to do.

Amsterdam beckons...

随想

2008-10-09T23:32:00.004+08:00

常常都觉得应该多在部落格上写些什么，但是每天工作时都在打字了，回到家也觉得懒得动脑筋。但想想，部落格应该是不用动脑筋就能写出来的东西。

职业病。总觉得写出来的东西都要有条不紊，都得引起某个思索范围。

最近去了双年展，拍了不少自认不错的照片。但是每次碰到照片就很懒。因为要从记忆卡上载到电脑里。筛选后还要再从电脑上载到网路上。好繁琐哦。过两天放假时再上载好了。

这个周末要和朋友们好好的聚一聚。好期待。开始工作以后长期待和朋友相聚。因为我知道只有常常叙旧才不会同朋友疏远。

期待周末。

***

知道我在电台工作的朋友常要我通知他们什么时候可以在电台上听到我的声音。很不幸的，这非常困难，因为身为记者，采访的项目时间不固定，不到新闻播出时也很难肯定新闻播出的时间。不过，我们也会做feature, 也就是比较深入，也比较长篇的新闻报道，这节目叫《步步追踪》。每天播出由记者或DJ制作的节目。随着播客 podcast的普及，我们也开始赶上潮流，把节目放上网。

要听我之前制作的节目可以到这里搜寻。其实目前只有一个在网上。9月24号，探讨本地公众是否因为中国毒奶粉事件，已经对中国制造的食品却步。

after F1... now what

2008-09-29T23:50:00.002+08:00

I'm never really excited about F1, and now that it's over, it's just life back to normal. It's been a really crazy 3 days at work. And I still did not get to understand what F1 is all about. Tho I did get quite close to the track during the race yesterday.

5 F1 (blur) cars in one shot. Must be an achievement since I'm using a point and shoot camera.

Actually I was there with my colleague hoping to catch some F1 action, and she was there to work but we ended up doing a hunt of where public could get free spots to watch F1. Here u go... things ppl do to catch F1 for free.

ppl climbing up this slope at Marina Sq. We act went up there too just to see what it's like.

Spiral staircase near McDonald's at Marina Sq facing Esplanade. Night skyline dunch ya think? Good free view.

Anyway, chance upon this today at work. Was interviewing the President of World Toilet Organisation today. I must say I did not take the organisation seriously before this. But after understanding what they are trying to do, I think it's pretty commendable. Trying to get proper sanitation for ppl, especially those living in slums. After having visited slums in Philippines, I seriously think we should do more to help these ppl. So ya, pass this on if you can. Donate if you want.

I Sing For Toilets from Gino Federici on Vimeo.

***

I still can't believe that Khaw Boon Wan is looking at compensation for organ donors in Singapore. And this came AFTER he made a visit to Philippines, especially going to Baseco!!! We are following Philippines' footsteps! NKTI must have brainwashed him or something. Lesaca is probably the mastermind. Most of you reading this would have no idea what and who I'm talking about. Baseco is the exact place I went to to find exploited kidney donors. And it's a slum.

Singapore is going to become kidney hub.

100种生活

2008-09-22T00:40:00.002+08:00

要不是被朋友拉去了卢广仲的活动，我就不会认识这个非常有特色，而且有才华的歌手。

出席活动之前，对他的认识几乎是零，连他的成名曲是什么都不晓得。不过他的歌曲都非常有辨识度，而且有亲和力，让我听了一次就喜欢上了。而且因为词不像那种常有的情情爱爱的调调，非常写实，相当有新鲜感。

尤其觉得主打歌《100种生活》的词是我身为刚毕业的大学生的心情写照，找到了共鸣。

整个世界停止不转动很寂寞

走在海边数着萤火虫好困惑

想要的生活怎么有一百种

不想掉进这深深漩涡

整个海洋摆动柔软地举起我

孤独给我自由犹豫得好感动

想要的生活怎么有一百种

该怎么走谁来告诉我 wow

每当我背对星空抱着地球

发现自己其实脆弱不敢说

当我背对星空孤独摸索

爱情渐渐萎缩我猜不透

无边的宇宙哪里有我想要的生活

我那一百种要在很就很就以后才会懂

我一百种生活

还有《早安晨之美》让我非常怀念台湾的早餐店。蛋饼、萝卜糕、馒头、饭团、三明治。想到流口水啦！

后来了解了一下，发现他是因参加台湾政大的金旋奖比赛后被唱片公司发掘的。大学的歌唱和歌曲创作比赛也可以成为这么棒的平台真难得。又开始后悔在政大交换时怎么没有去参加金旋奖（当工作人员啦，不是参赛者：P）。

我都非常欣赏创作歌手，尤其欣赏会自弹自唱的歌手。卢广仲都符合条件啦。而且他就是很有喜感。没有英俊的外形，但是我总觉得才华比较重要。

1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze

2008-09-19T01:38:00.002+08:00

Hasn't kept up with my blog posts.

But if u still dun know how many medals Singapore won in this Paralympics, u deserve to kok ur head on the wall.. or on the floor. which ever u like.

1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronzes.

Team Singapore for Paralympics will be back today. I'm truly proud of them.

A summary to my feelings on Paralympics here.

Good night.

Singapore's 1st Paralympics Medal!

2008-09-10T02:43:00.002+08:00

Singapore's got her first Paralympics Medal!! A bronze medal but no less pride goes into it.

There had been so much talk around the Olympics as it happened, but how many actually realised that the Paralympics is taking place and actually is interested in knowing the results? I think the Paralympics sportmen actually deserve as much respect, if not more, than those who represent the country for Olympics. But I've come to know that if the Paralympics sportmen win a Gold for Singapore, they'll only be getting $100,000. That's just a mere 10% of the amount for a Gold in Olympics!!!

Paralympics sportsmen have to face even more difficulties while training hard to represent the country. Their disability probably already cost them a bomb to treat, plus the money to be spent to allow them to continue training, the kind of effort they have to out in for everyday activities, much less into training, stretching themselves.

Our first Paralympics medal came from Equestrian, from 29 year-old Laurentia Tan, who suffers from cerebal palsy and is profoundly deaf. I felt so touched when I heard her soundbite, proudly saying "I'm proud to win a medal for Singapore." It was only 8 words, 4 seconds of speech and even slightly muffled but it showed all the more effort she had put into this sport that she loved.

And she does have other achievements as well. Laurentia is a university graduate and is working as a mental health worker in London where she is based. Goes to show so much that persons with physical disability can well achieve more than what you and me could.

Well, I supposed she came from a privileged background which provided her a chance to achieve her potential. But I think what they really need is a platform to show that they can contribute duly to society.

Incidentally, I saw a local documentary today on the profile of a cerebal palsy patient. She was not as fortunate as Laurentia. She lost her mum when she was 12, her dad left her and she was sent to a home when her grandma could not longer take care of her. Her biggest wish in life was to be a useful person, to contribute to society and she finally found her calling in art. She went on to paint many master pieces which helped raised a lot of money for the home.

They all yearn for a platform to make themselves useful, to contribute to society. But as able people, does the idea of contributing to society even come as naturally as it does to them?

running on adrenaline

2008-08-30T02:11:00.002+08:00

I'm running on adrenaline the whole night. Left office only at 1am and had dinner only after I reached home. Why?

Cos I was covering the STTA press conference. Covering the conference is only half the excitement. I had to file 'live' report back to the station. It's my debut filing live and I felt the anxiousness from the moment I was told of the assignment as soon as I got into office today.

I have more or less been following the saga that had gone on for the Singapore Table Tennis team. The Gao Ning incident, Lee Bee Wah wanting to sack the manager, Head Coach Liu Guodong's job being on the line. It has gone on and on, casting a dark cloud on the Women's Team victorious return from the Beijing Olympics with the medal that Singapore has been waiting 48 years for.

And the media knows that the whole saga perpetuated BECOS of the media. I would not have known who Gao Ning and Yang Zi are if not for this saga. So in a way, it has risen the profile of the men's team which have been living under the shadow of the women's team for the longest time.

Anyway, yesterday's press conference was the first time I saw so much media at one event. Every single news platform was represented and each publication/platform had like 2 reporters, and there were at least 5 photog. We even had live feed back to the office. It felt like THE event to be at.

The Table Tennis Team were also there in full force. From the president to the coach and manager and everyone from the men's and women's team. And that was when I realised I have no idea who the reserve woman player is, what is her name. Nor the other male players other than Gao Ning and Yang Zi. It was as if if did not matter if they were there or not.

But seriously, I think it's time to let the matter rest and a more or less happy ending have been set. The men's team will get their own head coach, Liu Guodong will stay as the women's coach and manager Antony will move on to SNOC after he's done with matters pertaining to the Olympics at STTA.

And after tonight, I have new found respect for Dr Vivian and Teo Ser Luck, seeing that they have handled the situation pretty well and I think it's only right they called for the press con to set the matter to rest.

While I think my debut live report is far from perfect, not even good, and I had to race for time to release soundbites and packages for every hour after that, on an empty stomach, I felt a sense of satisfaction that is indescribable at the end of the day. I think I'm still on adrenaline rush now. Remnants of the chain of events that happened today. And this is how I'm reminded why I chose to do what I am doing now. This is job satisfaction.

我看北京奥运

2008-08-25T01:02:00.006+08:00

08年北京奥运会已经圆满落幕。届时，有种不舍。因为可以说今年的奥运是我最投入的一次。

今年的奥运在亚洲举行，而且又是中国。身为华侨的我，就已经有种自豪感，也更想去追踪关于主办奥运的一些周边新闻。加上没有时差，可以让我观赏到自己喜爱的项目。因此觉得奥运非常贴近自己。

而最重要的原因是，身为新闻工作者的我，追踪今年奥运成了工作的一部分。奥运开幕式当天我在工作，必须留意开幕式的点滴，制作成新闻。陶李游100米蝶泳决赛时，我也在工作，全新闻室的人都非常紧张地在关注她的表现。李佳薇打铜牌战时，我也在值班，关注她每一步的表现，希望她为新加坡再添一面奖牌。就算没有新加坡选手出赛，我还是可以大方的在办公室里看奥运转播，上网追踪奥运赛事，因为是工作的一部分。

我必须说，我给北京奥运的网站打101分，因为资讯确实非常的及时而且全面。很多时候当电视没有转播我国选手的塞程时，我们都是靠网站的及时赛况了解当下的赛况，而心情也会被网站上显示的分数牵动着。虽然只是看着数字在跳，但是全新闻室的同士还是非常的紧张，甚至比看现场转播还紧张。

这就是奥运的魅力。它可以让你屏气，让你心跳加速，让你雀跃也让你失望。最重要的是在观看比赛时，有很多时候我都被这些选手们感动了。为他们的努力，他们的成就或是他们坚持不懈地精神而感动了。这一面面金牌后面，包含着多少汗水，多少牺牲，多少人的期望。

新加坡拿到了跨别48年的奥运奖牌。4百万人，48年的期许，这奖牌意义非凡。感谢李佳薇、冯天薇和王越古3位乒乓女将为新加坡圆梦了。虽然她们原籍中国，但是我觉得在运动场上，运动精神第一。选手代表哪个国家还是其次。荣耀首先是运动员本身的。说奖牌是买来得也好，但看着她们穿上印着新加坡国旗的球衣奋战，还是带给新加坡人一种自豪感和观注赛事的动力，让新加坡人认识了乒乓这个运动。最重要的是，在他们身上我看到了她们对乒乓的热忱，还有她们最求梦想的执著。不是每个人都可以有这样的坚持，所以不管怎样，我还是很开心有这3位杰出的女将为新加坡争光。特别是冯天薇。在他身上看到顽强的心理素质，在落后时绝不服输。虽然没有看到她对垒张怡宁的女单复赛圈，但单看比数进展就令我非常敬佩。虽然最终是输了，但是每一局都不输超过2分。1分1分的紧扣着对方不放，这种精神让我为她感到骄傲，真的是虽败犹荣。这次奥运中应该没有另一个人让张怡宁打得如此辛苦，相信她是捏着冷汗打的。所以要向冯天薇敬礼！期待她将来再为新加坡争光！

on ndp and olympics and everything in between

2008-08-15T23:01:00.004+08:00

finally.. a day of total slackness today after an exciting, and slightly exhausting week...

actually it's been an exciting day today just watching the semis of the Table Tennis Women's Team event. heart racing with each point they fall behind by. even tho none of them were born Singaporean, there is still this pride that they are going to give Singapore her first Olympics medal since independence. I guess it felt most close to heart as Li Jiawei was playing cos she felt the most Singaporean among all. Her 3rd time representing Singapore in Olympics. We've seen her grow in Table Tennis, saw her fall in and out of love, seen her at NDP saying the pledge... I guess it's these little things that made us (or me at least) to be able to acknowledge her as a Singaporean. I've nv even heard of Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu before this Olympics, so pardon me for not being able to feel for them, altho Feng did really well and is really the heroine for Singapore now. SILVER for Singapore!

on a separate note, I went to the Padang on National Day for the second year running, hoping to soak into some celebratory mood and of course to see the fireworks. did not start well cos it was raining, then there were these tentages blocking our view from the huge screen and finally, because of the rain earlier on, the air was really stagnant causing the smoke from the fireworks to not be able to disperse fast enough so we only managed to see the fireworks in the first 2 mins or so. the rest were all hidden behind thick smoke. still it wasn't a trip wasted cos I made a new fren! haha.. and she turned out to be my senior from DHS. the world is just too small. i think everyone in Singapore is probably just 3 degrees apart at the most. ha!

and on Sunday, I was at the 12 Lotus premiere. quite surprised to be sitting right behind the cast. well, can't help but want to compare it to 881 and after some long hard thinking, I still think I preferred 881, esp in terms of storyline, tho I think 12 Lotus does have great cinematography. 12 Lotus has a very solemn story definitely but I felt it did not develop very well and the characters do not resonant as much. well of cos I feel sad for Lian Hua and all, but the feeling is not as strong as that I felt for Little Papaya. Also, there some points were I will actually question the development. Well, Royston still had his signature weird song sequences ala 881. I was more awed by the fact that he could sing a Hokkien song so well. Still worth a watch but I think it might not go down as well as 881 for most.

Now a photo treat. NDP 08 as seen from Padang!

picnic at the Padang, while waiting for the parade to start...

the flag fly past.. love this shot.

signature shot of Singapore.

this really sweet family of 5 trying catch some NDP action. my parents would nv had done this.

spectacular performance by the Black Knights. definitely the greatest highlight that day.

so this is where our taxpayers money go. train pilots to perform at NDP.

sarang hae Singapore!

雨后总会有彩虹！

nice sky ain't it?

one of the few nice fireworks shots. think the fireworks were a little disappointing for those at the padang cos the smoke was blocking a lot of them from view.

毕业感言

2008-08-02T23:33:00.004+08:00

It's over. My life as an undergraduate is officially over since last Saturday as we don the Harry Potter Gryffindor House look-alike gown and put on that "mother-board".

It was not the most exciting ceremony around, listening to people's names being called and waiting for your name to be called to enjoy that 20 seconds of fame on stage. But sitting there with the 100-odd people whom you've braved the last 4 years together is indeed fulfilling.

Once again I feel the love I had for school. For WKWSCI actually. For the people that make up my batch. People who know what work hard and play hard meant. People who are enthusiastic about work, who take pride in what we do, who slog together overnight in school, people who bitch about the sucky project group mates together, people who have been great group mates., people who stick to passion. Teamwork had been a crucial part in SCI and I thank god that although I had my fair share of SPGs, the greater part of my studies have been blessed with great group mates. Well and also the faculty that made lessons so much more interesting and bearable, faculty we could openly challenge. I could not have imagined how my life would be like looking and numbers and formulaes for 4 years and doing past exams papers to prepare for exams.

My parents and grandparents. I think the ceremony meant even more for them than it was for me.

我们是台妹。去过台湾的小妹。

The Kinky Scandalous Six once again.

And our fav jumping shot.

Wish I had more time to take photos with everyone that played a part in my 4 years in SCI.

Just yesterday, I went back to school once again, well in a glorified manner cos I was there to collect prizes. And I was actually late, so the ceremony was over and I had to listen to Lee CW give the freshies a lecture on what life will be like in WKWSCI. The mundane division talk, scoring system, what is edventure, who you can approach for assistance blah blah. Suddenly I realised I did not sit thru that when I was a freshie cos I pon first day of school. Must be pay back that I had to listen to that AFTER I'd graduated.

完美的记忆

2008-07-24T20:34:00.007+08:00

Just as I was reminiscing the 19 days spent in the land with the best sashimi in the world with the Scandalous Six, and wondering if we would ever be traveling together and having such a ball of a time together again, Dee showed us this video she made.

Photos and songs that mark the great trip! 19 days of laughter, fun, craziness, screams, baggage lugging, rushing for trains, deciding which good food to eat, counting corners to find hostels, frantic photo taking and everything else came rushing back.

Thanks Dee. Truly touched.

一对一的对换

2008-07-24T00:43:00.002+08:00

今后，又可以在另一个地方看到我的网志了。其实也算是工作的一部分啦。

昨天刚上了我工作以来，以记者身份的第一则blog post。

就在这里。

没事可以上958 网站看看。（应该不会有多少人去，哈哈。）其实我们很努力让网站上的新闻更新。偶尔也可以看到我采访的新闻在上面，照片也是我们自己拍的哦。所以我们不只要当新闻记者，也是摄影记者，不过当然没有专业的拍的好看啦。

累

2008-07-19T12:57:00.002+08:00

这个礼拜上班有累的感觉。休息太久了，需要时间调试自己。

这个礼拜的累，也因为在一个星期内值了早班、中班和晚班。身体和脑筋都不知道要怎样应付。

的确，当了正式职员就有更多的责任，包括在958的网站上写blog. 毕竟是代表公司、代表新闻室的blog, 所以文法一定要正确，所以要先从练习一下。

换个话题。

我确定我有大众脸。连续3天有人跟我说他们觉得我很面善，但我确定没有见过他们。那天在公司还有一个我不认识的人跟我笑了。是那种对你见过面但不太熟的人的笑容。我第一个反应是以笑容回应，但不确定他是不是在跟我笑。后来看了看身边没有其他人，他也看起来蛮正常的，才确定他是在对我笑。

我估计我每遇到的10个素未见面的人当中，会有一、两个说他们觉得我很面善。我真的有大众脸。

Celebrity Collage

2008-07-16T13:54:00.005+08:00

A celebrity commented yesterday that I have 明星脸。haha. Actually I think I have 大众脸。 A lot people I meet for the first time tells me I look like someone they know or find me familiar.

I saw this on my friend's blog and decided to give it a try. So do you I look like these celebs? (Tho I kinda dun know who some of them are.) Or do I look like someone else you know? I would like to know who you think I look like. Haha! Kinda interesting.

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Who Do I Look Like?

2008-07-16T13:41:00.002+08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

我是上班族

2008-07-11T02:27:00.007+08:00

7月7号：我正是成了上班族。

The only reason I'm still awake at this time is cos it's my off day tomorrow. The past few first days of work have been quite tiring... mentally. I been feeling really sleepy and tired and don't really wanna do much after I get home other than eat dinner, bathe and sleep. I think I've been slacking for too long and still have not gotten used to the pace of work in the newsroom.

But it gets quite satisfying after a fulfilling day of work. Finished 4 packages this week, got to to my own VOs, nice start. And there will be more challenges to come. I think the biggest challenge will be filing live reports. I'm nervous just by the thought of it.

Anyway, 7th Jul is also the day I collect my Convocation Gown. It was only when I looked at myself in the mirror while trying out the gown that I thought, "I'm really graduating".

I didn't think that Convocation is a big deal, and I was really preparing to give it a miss if I had gone for Work and Travel. But now with the academic gown in hand, I'm really looking forward to the day I'm going to wear that and commemorate the survival of 4 yrs of numerous sleepless nights and crazy deadlines, saying goodbye to SPGs but most of all celebrating the friendships that have been made.

Now a treat. I crazily went for K Lunch with the J trip buddies，Jan and Carrie before heading for my first day of work. It's stressful to sing with great singers around you know. But it's also great to hear them sing.

Here's Diya's rendition of 你是我的眼。Sweet.

the calm before the storm

2008-07-06T21:06:00.002+08:00

my final day before starting work tomorrow.

have been busy meeting sec sch frens and jc frens lately and it's so nice to see that everyone is doing really well. most have graduated, starting work or started work. most of my gal frens are blissfully attached. ppl getting married. hmmm.. when will it be my turn?

i'm abt 90% recovered from my nose surgery. able to breathe normally thru my nose now, after a "nose toilet" session a couple of days ago at the clinic, my first follow up. i got to see the insides of my nose which was well... hairy and slimy. and i'm out and running about a lot already. haha.. a sign that i'm well!

and it's nothing but good news recently. ha going to win quite a bit of cash prize for the various awards that i'll be getting from school. a nice ending to my school life i would say. getting my academic gown tomorrow. never realised how i look forward to be wearing that until now. a real sense of achievement. I AM PROUD OF MYSELF!

我想我已经休息够了，做好了心理准备开始工作。回到一个熟悉的环境，和熟悉的人一起工作，面对全新的挑战。虽然还是不确定这是否是我最终的梦想，但至少我知道我是喜欢这份工作的。问我5年后的我会是怎样？我真的不知道。

我的生活准则是：走一步算一步。

back with a new nose

2008-06-28T11:03:00.004+08:00

i'm back!! at home at least... but won't be back in action so soon cos i'm supposed to be avoiding crowded places to prevent myself from getting cold or flu which would aggravate my nose.

it's been a hell of an experience getting my nose "fixed". lost like a couple of litres of blood and still suffering from a blocked nose cos i'm not supposed to blow my nose and just try to let it clear by itself. (and when will that come? i want to breathe thru my nose!)

here's to the before and after of me (and my nose).

me still nice and cheery before the operation, oblivious to the suffering that is to come after the op.

this is me a while after the op. all puffy-eyed and unable to even give a little smile. bleeding thru my nose. and at some point i was puking blood and felt like a vampire cos the blood from my nose is back flowing into my mouth. yucks.. i know.

this is me a couple of hours into the night, feeling much better as i'm no longer bleeding as profusely and there were Jen, Jing, Shun and Diya with me, trying to entertain me which was not very wise cos i could only breathe thru my mouth and laughing hard means i can't breathe. also does not help that my ear was blocked badly cos of the nose pack that was stuffed in my nose. think there was a lot of pressure build up in my head.

spent a night at the hospital with a whole room to myself, not cos i stayed in A class ward but that there was just no one else. which was good cos then my visitors got to stay till 10pm before the nurses chased them home. haha.

many many thanks to Xinpei who was the first one to come visit me and brought me a little yellow flower. and to Jing, Jen, Shun and Diya who were with me till 10pm and did not have their dinner.

i'm still having a perpetual nose blood of sorts but i no longer need the white gauze over my nose other than when i go to sleep. and that's expected for about a week after the op. sigh.

the flowers that helped cheer me up at the hospital. from Xinpei and Jingyi. it's a bit cui cos there was no vase at the hospital, only transfered it after i got home. but it's still sitting on my desk now.

nose job!

2008-06-24T23:40:00.002+08:00

OMG OMG OMG!! can't believe i'm going to get a nose job in less than 10 hrs from now.

yes. i'm going under the knife not to look prettier but to unblock my nose. and hopefully get rid of my nasal voice for good.

i think i was pretty zen when i decided to go for the operation but i'm getting a little nervous now. i'm going to be under general anesthesia for about an hour to get the septum of my nose (which is the part separating the two nostrils) corrected cos it's now crooked and is making one side of the nostril really narrow.

it's actually not the first time i'm going under the knife and now that i'm going thru that again reminds me of the ordeal i went thru when i was like 8? i was also at SGH and trying to get a lump off my back. it was also a small op but when u are 8, it's like a really big deal to have needles stuck in your hands and being wheeled into the operating room alone. kinda scary. the last thing i remembered before i went under anesthesia was a nurse chatting with me and asking me to take deep breathes. well, at least i think it was a nice nurse.

i dun think i would be coaxed like i was 8 this time but i hope the nurse is still nice. hates fierce nurses who barks at you like u whole them a million dollars.

i'll need to be fasting from 12am (which is abt 10 mins away) so i shall go get my last sip of water. and i'll prob be MIA for a week.

will try to give updates of how my nose look like after the op. haha! if i'm up to it.

wish me luck!

photos up! phew!

2008-06-18T23:25:00.002+08:00

Yeah!! Finally done with photo uploading and found a way to embed the slide show on my blog!! (Tho it's really tiny cos I can't figure out another place to put them liaoz.) Pls view all 7 installments. Haha

Choosing and uploading photos have been keeping me off boredom the past few days. (Act not like I don't have anything else to do, but i'm just putting them off - things like settling my FYP account so that I can get money from SFC!)

Anyway went for something exciting the other day too! A movie premiere with Mr President and stars like Zoe Tay. (Ok not forgetting Diya too since she was the one who gave us the tickets :P) It was a charity movie premiere for YMCA for the movie Get Smart. I seriously DO NOT understand why they chose this movie cos it involves the plotting of an assassination of a President in LA and there was a line in the movie that goes something like this.

"Why did you choose to bomb LA?"
"Cos the President will be there."
"Oh, then it's too bad for the stars."

And we were watching the movie with our President among the various stars from Mediacorp. Hmmm....

As for the movie, it was funny, but the best I can say is it's low grade laughter. Would not have paid to watch it. And it does not help that we were sitting on the third row and I was getting giddy with all the fast action happening right in front of me.

Japan photos!

2008-06-16T11:22:00.002+08:00

I've finally gotten down to uploading photos. But sieving thru 8000+ photos is no joke so it'll be done in batches.

First installment. Kinky Japan Grad Trip Day 1 & 2. Features us at Aeon Shopping Mall in Narita, Mt Fuji and Hakone National Park.

I will try to put captions if I'm i the mood to but right now it's more of uploading photos first.

Enjoy!

reformat.restart.refresh my life

2008-06-15T00:25:00.002+08:00

finally got down to reformatting my lappie after my task bar disappeared on FYP judgment day. now it's like new again and it somewhat signifies my life henceforth. and since i'm in the mood to reorganise my life, i'm looking to upload Japan photos soon, now that I've got the photos categorized according to dates, thanks to Jen. Promise it would be up by next week.

just signed my one year contract with Mediacorp last week. selling my life for a year. it's not that i do not like the job, in fact i'm afraid that i would get too much in it and end up like when i was during internship - have no life. i'm a workaholic.

results out, job sealed, i'm just about to start the next phase of my life but not after a good hard break! it's GSS so time to shop!

drowsy sleepy zzz

2008-06-05T23:47:00.002+08:00

i'm very drowsy now... very drowsy from the medication i got after i finally decided to go to the doctor's for my bad bad cough. since i can still claim from my travel insurance.

should have asked for non drowsy medication. i tot it should be find but it's not. i got interview tom morning and post grad trippers gathering tom afternoon. argh. dun wanna be drowsy.

but i'm going... going... gone.

post grad trip

2008-06-05T23:00:00.004+08:00

i always tot that no one actually checks my blog so i got really lazy to write anything..

but recently to my surprise, ppl ARE actually visiting my blog and are hoping to know wat has been going on in my life and i'm kinda touched. so for these ppl, i promise i will post more often, and spice it up a little with more pictures.. (even i am sick of my blog, i think it's time for revamp again. but till i'm in the mood to design - i'm one miss procrastinator)

so now, here's ONE picture to show u how crazy i got in Disneyland.

not a very well taken picture but these are the card holders i actually bought in Disney. On impulse. because they are just sooo cute. and soo Disney. i have no idea who i'm giving them to still. can let me know if u wan one. ha while stocks last.

It's actually the second time i've been to Disneyland AND Disneysea but i still truly enjoyed myself there. I think it's that kind of place you'll never ever get sick of. It's just magical to be there and the child in you really just creeps out. Plus i've always believed that WHO you are traveling with is more important than WHERE you are traveling to. So i'm really glad i'm blessed with great traveling mates this time that made everyday a blast.

and my fav pictures from the trip - the jumping shots! don't we look good half way up in the air?

Sayonara Nippon!

2008-06-03T23:35:00.002+08:00

Back from my 19 days Kinky Japan Grad Trip!! (And I'm missing Japan already)

Summary of trip

Places visited in Tokyo:
Mt Fuji (where I saw real snow for the 1st time!)
Hakone Park
Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneysea
Asakusa (witnessed a huge festival there)
Odaiba
Yasukuni Shrine (the controversial shrine)
Ginza
Tsukiji Fish Market (with the BEST sushi in the world)
Harajuku
Shibuya
Shinjuku
Omotesando
Ueno

In Kyushu:
Fukuoka (had yatai dinner)
Nagasaki (atomic bomb museum, peace park)
Kumamoto (Mt Aso, RAFTING)
Beppu (Hells of Beppu which was super boring and totally out to cheat tourists; tried sand bath; played with fireworks!)

Others:
Osaka (Universal Studios, Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori)
Kyoto (Kiyomizudera - a famous temple, Gion - to see Geisha)

It's been a great trip with great people and Japan is just an awesome country. People are nice and courteous and mostly considerate, service is great, food is good and is full of things that are so wow! But mostly I'm very happy that I've not lost my Jap ability even after 5 years of not using it. It's a bit difficult to hold conversations but at least I could get myself understood and get around really well.

And I'm really happy that I got to meet my Japanese frens again, those that hosted me when I last visited Tokyo and Osaka. It's so nice to have friends that one can visit there and it's a pity and I can't meet with with them all. Wished I could spend more time to visit all my frens and to go to Waseda University which at a point in time was my dream school.

I am seriously considering my friend's mum's suggestion of working in Japan. My Jap is not THAT good but enough to get by. BUT Japan seems like a place full of workaholics. We see people in suits even on weekends. And it has the highest rate of death from overworking. Hmmm... KIV.

But maybe I'll make Japan (and Taiwan) places that I would visit on a regular basis after this. For the friends I have, for the great people and great food and of course great shopping(although it's a bit ex to shop there, but they have lots of quirky stuff that I'm so tempted to buy.

Looking forward to the gathering of the Scandalous Six to exchange photos and probably make a scrap book of the experience in Japan.

It's truly an unforgettable trip. Thanks Jen, Jing, Shun, Hsu and Diya for making it unforgettable.

久違了！

2008-04-30T23:54:00.003+08:00

親愛的部落格：

不好意思最近都忽略你了。還以爲沒人會來看，今天卻被人發現我最後一次的entry是大年初一的，超尷尬。蜘蛛網要來清理一下。

這一個月來，或者說這整個學期的情緒真的是非常緊綳的。明明是大學的最後一個學期，幹嘛還覺得有點喘不過氣。但是現在一切結束以後，也沒有覺得很輕鬆。我想腦筋都坏掉了。

最近都充滿者離別的感傷。算是畢業了吧，要離開校園了，離開受保護的地方（其實CS真的很多時候都在自生自滅）到殘酷的職場上去了。雖然轉換過程應該不會太辛苦，畢竟還是自己熟悉的環境，但是還是有差的吧。很怕自己很快就會jaded.我要堅持我的理想！（但它又值多少錢呢？）

另外，我的兩個臺灣朋友也走了，回臺灣了。畢竟她們是我兩年前在政大交換是的同班同學，跨別一年以後，竟然還可以碰上，而且在一起玩得蠻開心的。（雖然平時也沒什麽時間跟她們出去玩啦。）讓我好惆悵，想要去見一見我交換時交的朋友們。真的是緣分。

還有就是搬了新家。雖然只不過搬到對面街，但是還是會很捨不得住了23年的家。我在那裏出生的也。從懂事以來的記憶都在那裏。新家雖然是裝潢的美美的，東西都是新的，但是感覺總是遜色不少。剛知道要搬家時還充滿憧憬，腦子都在想自己的新房間要使怎樣的，但是搬了就很懶得去幹什麽。當然也是沒有時間的關係。

總之今年將是我人生大改變的一年。希望一切是往好的方向。

Happy RAT year!

2008-02-07T14:42:00.000+08:00

祝大家在鼠年里有鼠不完的钞票！

大年初一啦。今年是我第一年完全不庆祝农历新年。起得晚，然后就慵懒的在家里看电视、DVD。不必买新衣新鞋，就平平静静地过年。

超久没有来po 东西了。从菲律宾回来之后就忙着剪辑、上课、工作，还有忙着搬新家的事。

忽然间意识到自己要毕业了，彷徨了一阵子。见到大家是常被问道：“你毕业了要干嘛？” 虽然有点头绪，但是还是有茫然的感觉。这是个重大的决定！读书时，什么决定都好像很自然，也不必想太多。现在可要头痛啦！

最近也开始意识到自己老了！开始有觉得不像过生日。

好惆怅啊。怎么大年初一这样。

4 days to home!!

2007-12-31T12:00:00.000+08:00

1... 2... 3... 4... days to home!

Yeah! My FYP is finally close to be done here in the Philippines. Spending 4 weeks here is no joke. And I feel so much better after getting into the landfill yesterday.

It's not most ppl's idea of a happy day but seriously, being in the landfill yesterday really puts me so much at ease and relieve, after trying to get in for the past 4 weeks! I don't think anyone can understand the euphoria of being in the landfill other than my groupmates... haha.. and it was actually a lot better than expected, the smell is really not that bad and it was truly an eye-opener.

Thanks to all the Filipinos' help, support and cooperation, we are able to come so far. Just one more day of shoot for our last subject and it would be a nice wrap.

I'm just sad that I din have time to do touristy stuff like visiting the attractions, esp the beautiful churches. Who says u need to go to Europe for that? I guess I'll still be back in Phil but definitely 100% for play next time! It's a country with so much depth after getting to know it. And I feel ashamed for the stereotypes Singaporeans have about Filipinos.

Tata.. till i get back to Sg!!

HAPPY 2008!

greetings from Manila

2007-12-06T21:56:00.000+08:00

Greetings from Manila!!

It's been a hell of a month... really..

Projects, exams, brother in UK, demise of my grandpa and now FYP in Philippines..

I can't believe the amt of things I'm going thru the past month alone, not to say the past year.

But I'm ok now in Philippines. Crossing fingers things will go well for my FYP and I have a grade A FYP.

Internet connection in Philippines is hard to come by unless in an internet cafe. Will try to post periodic updates when I have time.

Now to find more kidney donors and recipients.

4 jabs in a day

2007-11-15T00:09:00.000+08:00

my arms are aching so much, it's distracting my concentration to study...

taking 4 jabs at a go is no joke.. all these in prep for the Philippines trip..

Hep A
Tetanus
Typhoid
Influenza

Woah.. feeling weak now.. as my body is fighting all these anti-bodies..

wonder if there's any side effects of having too many vaccinations...

now back to studying Media Law... headache!

long time no see

2007-11-04T00:21:00.000+08:00

久しぶり！还就不见！long time no see!

well.. obviously many things happened during this time.. so much so that i totally forgot about the existence of my blog..

but the greatest of all is that my elder bro is leaving for UK next Tuesday for 1.5 years.. The last time someone was away was me.. on exchange but that was only for 5 months..

1.5 years... hmm.. seems long..

will i miss him?

happy day

2007-09-23T01:11:00.000+08:00

Flight SGD02 has been a success so far and what i'm most happy about this production so far is not what i've achieved in terms of publicity but about getting the support from friends and family.

it's nice to have so many like-minded people share the passion to do theatre, but it's even better when you see people enjoy the performance, even though i'm not on stage performing. it's a kind of satisfaction that comes from the bottom of your heart.

i think it's also been years and years since my whole family had been to any of my performance. really glad they like the show, although maybe my dad less so, but still there are still bits that each one loves and i guess it's the strength of this 17 stories - everyone would be able to find something that they like. and for once, i am able to use this as a topic of conversation in my family.. think it beats everything.

well, i think getting people to take the first step is difficult but once u've impressed them enough, it's even a greater challenge to keep them interested and want to come back. at least now my family and friends know more about why i'm always missing in action, coming home so late and seemed so stressed out for the last couple of weeks. FYP with this theatre performance is quite a killer, plus there's still school work.

but for me, this mantra kind of always worked - 船到桥头自然直。there's no point worrying too much but take one step at a time and things would usually work themselves out.

publicity time!

2007-09-15T11:16:00.000+08:00

today is the first day in more than a week that I can wake up at my own time... woot!

too much is happening but they can be summarized as below.

Come catch 紫飞机 at Play Den at the Arts House, 21st to 23rd Sept (that's next Fri to Sun). Well, can check out today's ST Life! for the write-up too!

Next up, catch this video!

It was on our website at http://thecolouredsky.com but there's some bandwidth issue there that restricts the hits on the video so it's now on the trusty youtube! Do spread it around, put on your blog, do anything you want! (It's my groupmates wish to make it the most watched video.. haha!!)

Well and we'll be returning to the Philippines again in October. It's be another enriching trip.. we have so much on our sleeves I don't think 9 days is going to be enough but well, it's still exciting.. tho LOTS of work!

-buried to my neck with work-

next phase

2007-08-03T22:49:00.000+08:00

started work at radio chinese news again and it kinda felt weird. not an intern anymore.

it's familiar territory with familiar faces but the job seemed a little alien to me. i think i've just been bumming around and not using my brain too much lately that it took me really long to finish my story today. i would have finish it in half the time 2 months before but today i kinda just took my time to do it. plus after waking up pretty much as and when i like for the past month, i had to force myself to wake up before seven today. oh.. work! prelude to school!

school's starting next week. going for lessons and taking exams are kinda alien to me now. wonder how it would feel like to go back to the school environment where everything is about grades, studying and handing up school work. also seeing the people i haven't seen for 8 months now. the commuting will be sth new too since i've not secured a hall for myself. it is definitely a test to me being a good student.

but i'm really excited that my friends from NCCU are at NTU for exchange. to think that i was in their shoes 1.5 years ago. but it's just a really nice feeling to have friends coming from abroad and you know you could play host to, at least it's a nice feeling for me. hope they'll have a great exchange experience!

manning a different kind of hotline

2007-07-16T00:30:00.000+08:00

i was manning a different kind of hotline tonight. a hotline that actually gives me a sense of satisfaction...

it is the SPD Charity Show hotline for more than $30 donation.

the hotline was really damn hot.. at least for my line, cause i think it's like one of those default ones that gets connected first before the rest

so for 3 hours i was happily taking down the amounts ppl wan to donate. $50, $100, $200, $500. and for once, everyone that called are nice ppl, cause they are ppl who want to make donations.. a very welcomed change from all the complain calls, prank calls, rubbish calls.

plus it feels good to know that thousands of dollars were pledged for a good cause just by me being there to answer the calls. for me the highest amount someone pledged was $500, about 3 of the calls. and i heard some other volunteer had a person pledging $5000. cool!

so this is the kind of hotline i want to man, even though i get ear ache after that.

the forbidden trade

2007-06-27T13:25:00.000+08:00

recently went on a trip to the Philippines to check out their kidney trade.

it's my first time to the Philippines and going there as a documentary maker/researcher really showed us a different side of the society, coming face to face with the poorest strata. something tourists do not usually see.

well, we did not even have much time to do much of the touristy activities. then and again, whenever we asked the locals what is there to see in Manila, they tell us there's nothing. But i was very intrigued by the churches and cathedrals that dates back to it's Spanish Colonial rule days. Definitely places I would visit the next time I go.

So, we mainly visited the slums and some poorer provinces as these are the places with a larger cluster of kidney donors. As much as many would like to argue that they donate out of compassion for the sick, it's really the money they are after becos they are so poor, this US$2000-3000 is a sum they would nv be able to get by slugging their lives away. Of cos the actual amount that the recipient paid for the kidney transplant is way higher than the amount the donor gets, prob about 10 times the amount, and these goes to the hospital, doctors and the kidney agent.

Well, as with such situations, there are always the sob stories to be told and the fact is that of the many people we spoke to, donors themselves and people who knows donors, they expressed that none of them had their lives improved after the donation. So now they are back to square one, but without a kidney.

this is really an open secret in the Philippines and most people know of this becos of an expose journalistic news program done by Jessica Soho some time back. still, the trade is flourishing and the government even has an organisation to regulate the trade, in a bid to stop exploitation of the poor.

thinking back to the NKF saga, the amount of money they embezzled could have gotten so many patients in NKF new kidneys, not just from Philippines , but also China, India, Iran and also Turkey. well, i'm not asking everyone to go and buy a kidney now but it does seem like it's more economically viable to spend the money u'll spend the next 10 years on dialysis to buy a kidney, to get a new leash of life. (ok now i'm growing accustomed to the idea)

now for some photos..

A typical house in the slums at Baseco, Manila

Some of the better houses built by the numerous overseas NGOs giving aid there.

One of their main recreational activities...

A street in the slums...

The dump site is the kids' playground...

The awesome sunset at Baseco. It's a slums by the bay, so they get this beautiful sunset everyday.

Kids.. Lots of kids.. And they are instantly drawn to a camera when they see one.

More (and better) photos of the trip can found at our project website http://thecolouredsky.com/islawalangbato

nature trail

2007-06-02T11:21:00.000+08:00

yet another person got killed by a falling branch. these days are filled with freak accidents.
actually there is probably quite a bit of these previously too, just that i did not pay attention to them.

anyway i was made to do a follow-up story on the killer branch incident at MacRitchie. i was tasked to go get some soundbites alone. upon reaching the carpark meant for those wanting to go for the Tree Top Walk, the only thing i saw was a dirt path (actually it was a nature trail la) leading towards the suspension bridge which was another 2.5km walk in amidst the trees. But the tot of going into the forest alone is quite scary and of cos i was paranoid that something might happen to me inside n prob no one else will know if i went in alone.

so i waited. and luckily a couple showed up juz 10 mins later wanting to walk the Tree Top Walk not knowing it's been close following the incident. good luck for me cos that way i get to have soundbites from them and also companion to go up the trail. Thanks Mr and Mrs Loke. You were really great company and we had a hearty chat the way up and down, which took abt 2 hours (of cos we stopped outside the Tree Top Walk and turned back)

it's these little things about meeting these people that make me like my job as a journalist.and it was my first nature trail walk in years, albeit in jeans and polo tee but luckily the weather was not too hot yesterday. and i nv knew there were so many nature trails in singapore if not for speaking to Mrs Loke.

along the way there were also many others who knew of the incident but we still gung-ho about going to the Tree Top Walk. i was too after seeing in but not being able to get in. Mr and Mrs Loke whom were my trekking buddies yesterday were nature lovers who've been to many other nature trails locally and overseas and had set foot on many other suspension bridges in the midst of the forests. cool. kind of rekindled my love for nature and to et close to the trees and animals, away from all the pollution and the concrete jungle.

i'll definitely be back to walk the Tree Top Walk. anyone gamed to come along? i'll remember to be extra careful of falling branches and run when it shows signs of going to rain tho.

The Tree Top Walk

I WANT TO COMPLAIN!!!

2007-05-29T11:39:00.000+08:00

i'm in an incredibly bitchy mood since yesterday since i've attended the worst organised event and met the worst EVER PR since i've started my internship.. well which resulted in me filing an inaccurate report. totally pisses me off.

first the event started early at 8plus am (early by all journalist standards) and we went there to find out they prepare no press release, no fact sheet, NOTHING for any of us. insisted it's only going to be a doorstop and will provide info later.. me being the greenhorn thinks it's ok but my colleagues form a different desk can't take it and started bitching to the PR and she finally gave us ONE piece of fact sheet.

then when we ask the PR about the information provided, she cannot answer 9.5 out of 10 questions we pose. What bloody PR is that? her answer is always, 'I can check for you', 'I'll let you know later'. Redundant person altogether.

I'm particularly irritated by the PR cos the only thing she's excited about is talking the her GSS experience and how she was the one who sent her boss the email at midnight - cos she went shopping before that - and saying that's cos she has a life. all for work-life balance. HELLO! wake up your ideas. if she only has the same amount of fervour in getting me the right facts.

and trying to get facts and figures from her is like i'm trying to make things difficult for her. it's your job ok. so dun whine to me and pass sacarstic remarks at me. and it's ur job to handle the red tape in ur (governmental) organisation to get me the facts, not tell me there's nothing. on top of that she has the cheek to tell me things contrary to what the facts show. and i was stupid enough to take her word for it, well hence a report that was not accurate and different from what the rest of the media was reporting.

well it's also partly my fault for not consulting with my editor again when i got the contradicting figures.

still she totally spoilt my day. perhaps even my week.

the sort of people that works for the governmental organisations.

2007-05-28T22:38:00.000+08:00

I've seen quite a few ppl posting these personality tests results on their blogs recently. well, so i decided to try them out too. maybe it's just me trying to find out what i'm really like. i thought this one is quite accurate, or rather i wish i really am what they said i am.

is this what you think of me too?

The Real You

Here is the analysis:

You've got great self-confidence and you're full of charm. Most guys who get to know you will be attracted to you. You are far from sweet and proper; your intriguing personality fascinates them. Most guys find it easy to fall for a girl like you. (ok the guy part is so not true)
You really care about other people's feelings and are quite serious about the issues that affect your life. You are sincere, and your concern for the well-being of others makes many people want to be your friend.
You are a bright, cheerful and bubbly person. You are thoughtful and considerate, and like to have fun. Everybody feels comfortable around you because of your pleasant nature. When you walk into a room, people's eyes are likely to be drawn to you because of your charm. (i doubt the last line tho)
Guys see you as being a thinker and a careful person. They will be really attracted to this quality in you, but you need to learn to speak your mind, otherwise people will find you too shy and quiet. Learn to relax and lighten up--it's okay to have fun sometimes. When you learn to develop your fun-loving side, guys are going to flock to your side.
Your boyfriend believes that you are a strong and independent person. Your confidence and cheerfulness make you an attractive person to be around, but sometimes you need to pay more attention to what other people, including your boyfriend, are thinking.

101 things to complete

2007-05-26T11:56:00.000+08:00

It has been the busiest week for me on internship so far. PI report, court case, feature production, file live report... yesterday still got that whole water spout thing.

But mainly because of Singapore Arts Festival.

But I feel accomplished! Did my first feature by myself and also filed 2 pseudo live report from Padang yesterday, before and after the opening performance.

The opening performance was pretty good, just that I was too worried about my report when watching the show to enjoy it thoroughly.

Some sneak peeks to the show, 'Dreams in Flight':-

The first scene: Shadow play. Nothing very exciting to me, but still it was nicely done.

10 Spanish acrobats in a turning wheel. The wow factor comes from it being hung above the audience and that the wheel is roving all the time. I would love to be in that wheel actually.. like so fun.

The human net formed by 36 volunteers. Almost ended up as one of the volunteers but I was given too short a notice. I would love to hang from 40m high man.. so cool.. and perform for like almost 20,000 people in all. The view up there must be damn good! Now i a bit regret nv go and volunteer cos I tot it was too much commitment to perform for 3 nights and go for 2 days' training. Argh! Once in a lifetime leh.

Well Singaporeans' fav, fireworks brought an end to the performance. It was pretty nice but not THAT spectacular. But i was quite horrified when i got a reply from a public that he will be back today to watch the performance for the fireworks. *roll eyes* I think Singapore just need a Fireworks Festival and we will draw record number of audience.

Well, the show will still be on tonight and tomorrow night, 8pm, at Padang. And it's free so do catch it!

on death

2007-05-16T23:59:00.000+08:00

i seem to be facing a lot of deaths recently.. in the news at least..

everyday there will bound to be some deaths in road accidents and what not.. latest being that fallen trees killed people.

well i guess we can still sometimes joke about it, like no deaths means not serious, means we don't need to do follow-up and dun need to report.

but when death occurs, means we have a story. it's really saddening but that's what news is about. and so far i have not been given the task to speak to the relatives/friends of the deceased but i do believe it's hard. more than hard, it's probably excruciating. knowing the kind of grief they are going through and yet we need to get them to talk, to tell us the story, to provide us with the sound bite. i don't know if it has anything to do with being unethical but at least it's not really compassionate. or rather i won't say we are not compassionate but we just need to get the job done. so the hope is that there will be less of such cases.

back to the fallen tree. all i can say is life is unpredictable. imagine you are trying to keep a healthy lifestyle so you can live longer, hence you go out and have morning jog everyday BUT you get hit by a fallen tree and just lose your life. how ironic.

i guess this is life.

busy like a bee

2007-05-14T00:16:00.000+08:00

bzzzz... busy busy busy... pretty up sums up my life now

constantly worrying about one thing after another. my feature program, fyp, pi report, upcoming production... there is indeed much to keep me occupied these days.. perhaps a bit too much.

it's come to the stage to write my pi report... a time to reflect on the past 4.5 months on the job and all i must say i've pretty much enjoyed every moment. maybe not the moments that i got scolded over the hotline for no rhyme or reason but every other moment had been pretty enjoyable. there was no sai gang for me (unless manning hotline counts), minimal overtime, no overworking, no being side-lined. got to try my hands on news from entertainment to government workplans and doing hotline reporting, pretty much everything there is. So i'm not really counting down to the end of the internship like many are and i know i will definitely miss the people there. i'm counting my lucky stars here.

anyway, just want to share some really moving moments that i experienced on saturday while i was out covering a yellow ribbon project event at changi prison. and what a coincidence, cheryl tan was there too. act we were the only 2 press there. so glad to see her cos otherwise i would really be quite out of place.

the prison had been a place i've wanted to visit and well without this internship i would probably not have the chance to. although we did not really get to see the living quarters of the inmates like i hoped to. still the event was a really touching one being that it was in conjunction of mother's day and the families of some of the inmates who took part in this cooking competition were allowed to haf lunch with them. and for most of them, it's the first time they get to see the inmates close up, without a piece of glass between them and they could feel and hug them. for many, it was just too emotional a moment when these inmates presented them with the mother's day cake and rose (of cos having a live band singing 'you raise me up' and the lights dimmed definitely put one in the mood)that they juz teared on the spot. and not juz mothers, many of the fathers broke out in tears too. it was such a heartwarming moment, yet heartbreaking at the same time. i think cheryl was in the brink of tears. and interviewing the families, i can somewhat feel the emotional trauma they go through having their children and family members in prison.

felt so much for the report that i did in the end. poor cheryl had her story axed as they could not show the faces and reveal the real names of the inmates. so we were the only one carrying the report! it was a very meaningful event just that i think there's a bit of media fatigue on the yellow ribbon project, hence the lack of coverage.

Capitalist "America", Socialist Korea

2007-05-11T12:42:00.000+08:00

Capitalist "America", Socialist Korea?

Some 'interesting' video juxtaposing footages from American and North Korea. Well, food for thought.

I can never understand North Koreans, how they bow to 'the one' person there and think that he's the greatest of all. I once told someone that if I had a real death note, Kim Jong Il would be one name I want to put in it. But then, we cannot say the North Koreans are not happy. We'll nv know. Happiness is an elusive thing. We might say that they are happy with what they have because they do not know better, but at least they are happy. So what if we know better, it just makes us unhappy that we are not part of the 'better'.

thoughts on recent events

2007-04-25T13:02:00.000+08:00

since today is my off day.. decide to post more.. haven't been motivated to post much..

recently, the newsroom received a feedback email from a public and we were discussing how accurate this feedback is and how we could improve based on the feedback.

then i heard my colleagues talking about the times where there was Mediaworks and how the competition changed the news values. The focus shifted to more local news, and when the didn't have enough or realised they miss out on sth, they were told to just copy from the papers by the management. On the TV side, they go all out to shoot accidents on the roads but in the end cause traffic jams and inconveniences, leading the police to ban such acts.

This somehow sounds like Taiwan media to me. Local, sensationalized news. Now that it's back to just Mediacorp, we are reevaluating what our stand is. Can go back to doing what we think is right and not be bogged down by what competitors do and trying to outdo them.

So i'm not an advocate of media competition. Not cut throat competition at least. But it seems like any form of competition eventually becomes cut throat, at least when it comes to news. But there is a need for drive for the media to shape up and improve. And i think the drive can come from the public's feedback and complains. And i realised that most do take feedback and complains pretty seriously.

So don't keep quiet and let the people know what needs improving! Just complaining under your breath is not going to change anything.

admin professional's day

2007-04-25T12:49:00.000+08:00

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day!

nv heard of this day? that's cos it's used to be called Secretaries' Day. And how come i know? That's cos I had to do a feature on this out of desperation cos we got no topic to do on..

Guess what? I was only told on Monday i had to do it.. so from contacting the people to arranging for interviews, to getting the programme out to be aired today, it took me less than 2 days.. Super stress.. and this is my first feature programme at 958 la..

To think that we all took like more than 2 months to do a 青青校园 program back in school. But of course this one did not have music or any kind of sound design and all.. and i dun even need to voice it myself.. but still.. it's for broadcast on 958 leh..

Welcome to the real world. Racing against time.

愚昧

2007-04-18T11:34:00.000+08:00

was totally irritated by this hotline caller early in the morning yesterday

he's a 'serial caller' of sorts, whose name have been blacklisted in our 'list'

but what irritated me was his constant complain about CNA programs, and also the way he goes about doing it..

he called, i picked up

he goes on to complain, as if scolding me what he sees, as if we should just show what he wants to see.. and then he slams the phone.. like what the @#%^

but most of all, i'm irritated because he insisted the Virginia Tech killings is all but a domestic affair and CNA should not be giving so much coverage on it.

HELLO! please wake up! it's the greatest campus gunshot incident in history, it killed 33 people of various nationalities, there COULD be some Singaporeans there, the killer was suspected Asian (now confirm South Korean) and it questions US gun laws..

everyone around the world is interested to know.. if you are not interested then go away from the tele and stop complaining.. if you are disinterested in this, i dunno what you can be interested in.. other than dishing out complains..

wake up your ideas man!

20 and 2

2007-04-15T13:48:00.000+08:00

20 and 2.. i'm 22..

no longer 20 and 1... i'm 22

birthday is essentially just like any other day in the year.. it's not like i grow another white hair on this day or grow an age ring around me like trees do (ha thankfully)..

still.. it has a special place in your heart, knowing it's your birthday.. that N years ago on this day you came to this world..

last year i was in Taiwan, away from home, away from my family..

this year i'm with my family around me.. it feels like it's been a long time..

my damn delicious bday cake from Hilton Hotel.. dun ask me why there are 3 orange 'balls' on the cake.. i also want to know why..

-20 and 2-

procrastinator

2007-04-03T22:47:00.000+08:00

my internship logbook was due at the end of march

but i'm still not even half done writing it

i'm doing everything else except writing my logbook.. like writing this entry :P

i've been reminding myself thru my msn nick for the past week.. but it's still not done..

-the procrastinator-

bad taxi experience!!!

2007-03-30T00:30:00.000+08:00

had the worse taxi experience ever today!!

was rushing for an event at vivo so was keening awaiting a taxi and i was really relieved when this one showed up.. but it turned up to be a really horrible experience.. and it made me realised how vulnerable we passengers are and they can actually like bring us anywhere and there's nothing we can do about it.. luckily i still made it to the event on time..

anyway it's this super hamsap taxi driver in his late 40s that totally freaked me out.. first he told me the back door of his cab is spoilt so i had to sit in front.. ok.. so i sat in front tho i though it's weird.. and the next moment he said it's his first day hiring this cab and i should give him an ang bao for good luck.. like 'huh?!'... that's not so bad..

he then started singing praises at me.. and then about himself.. says he's a really good singer and wants to teach me singing, say i should go into TV and he can be the king of property and i can be the queen of tv land (like 'huh?!' again!) and then the worse part came, he demanded we be friends.. i was totally lost for words..

and i realised he was not keeping his eyes on the road but on me.. i nv knew i had such powers seriously.. that was when i think he planted the stupid story saying the back door is spoilt to make me sit in front.. omg.. and he was driving damn slowly possibly purposely taking a longer route to vivo then is needed.. and he kept saying we should exchange no.s.. that point i was contemplating rejecting him or juz simply giving him a fake no.

finally.. and i say finally, i reached vivocity and was all ready to jump off the cab.. and he still demanded he wanted my number.. i figure it's easier to juz give him a fake identity and number so i did just that.. got my change in lightning speed and sped off..

one HELL of a scary taxi ride..

_____________________________

luckily what's to follow is much more pleasant.. cos i get to meet with JJ Lin up close.. he's not exactly the most good looking guy around but hey he's talented and he's not bad looking la.. plus he's pretty nice and sincere.. i believe 1 most impt trait an artist must have is sincerity! can't stand those who don't even want to look you in the eye or just give half hearted answers like they dun even bother to process it in their brians..

tho i had to wait more than an hour with the whole lot of other reporters from all sorts of media for my turn which happens to be last on the list but that's cos i wanted to do the interview together with limin who was there for chinese tv news.. she was so poor thing having to handle the dv camera and digital camera by herself and with a malfunctioning tripod.. figured she couldn't be interviewing and shooting at the same time.. so i did the interviewing and she did he shooting in the end..

and so the highlight of the event.. photo with JJ.. (lighting sucks tho!plus my camera is not the best around)

2007-03-28T09:56:00.000+08:00

my previous entry got copied and pasted on digital life this week..

not happy... not happy at all..

wanting to share it online and wanting to share it in print is 2 different things altogether.. giving ppl (unwritten) permission to read it online does not mean that i'm giving others full use of the content anywhere else..

still i guess that's the internet.. perhaps i should seriously switch to using a blog with lock entry features or friends only features...

1st time live on 958

2007-03-22T23:07:00.000+08:00

had my first taste of being live on local radio.. and during drive time somemore manz.. so for those who heard a lin hui btw 815 to 845 on Capital 958 sharing her sad stories while she was in TAF club.. yah that was me..

actually i was 'sabo-ed' by my colleagues cos i happen to be made to do a reax report on MOE scraping TAF programme from next year. then i told them i used to be in TAF too.. and becos of that, plus also i think the DJs were desperately looking for topics and subjects to go on air to discuss some current topic, i got a call yesterday night to get me to go on air this morn..

and yes i used to be real fat.. like REAL fat.. my weight in p4 is more than my current weight.. (that's all i can reveal :P)

and yes all members in TAF in my pri sch were made to wear bright orange t-shirts to school everyday to differentiate us from the rest.. so they can make sure we run before eating during recess and to make sure the canteen dun sell us unhealthy food like soft drinks and fried food..

sounds like a sad and depressing experience? actually it wasn't that bad la.. i think at least it inculcated in me that exercise is important for healthy living.. but whether or not i do it now is another thing.. haha.. and i guess i was juz the sway batch that kena the orange shirt thingy.. cos the program juz started and they were trying things out.. i think that onli lasted a year or 2.. still i can still remember it like 12 years on..

it kinda amazes me on how much i can rem from so long ago.. either my memory is good, or it really did have a great impact on me..

and i do still feel fat.. not directly a result of the program (they keep trying to draw a link) but cos which gal dun wanna be skinnier? and of cos i have my siblings to remind me that i'm fat all the time too.. hah

2007-03-21T08:09:00.000+08:00

amazing race asia 2 is open for applications!!! and i haf made a peg with my dear ex roomie to take part!
eh.. but i dunno how to drive... and cycle... and we need a audition video that will compel the producers to give us an interview! sounds like a daunting task at the moment..
brain is dead with all the work.. anyone can offer anything cool for the audition video for me n my dearie ex roomie?
*deadline is 30 March*

la cremeria chocolate hazelnut temptation!

2007-03-05T21:34:00.000+08:00

chocolate and nut ice-cream lovers out there, you HAVE to try this ice cream

it's the La Cremeria Chocolate Hazelnut Ice-cream!!!

OMG i just ate it after dinner and boy i think it's even better then those ice creams you get from Haagen Daz or Anderson's. It's not chocolate bits that goes with the chocolate ice cream but it's gooey sticky semi-liquid rich dark choc! and plus the slight hazelnut taste and the real nuts that gives you something to chew on.. it's like the greatest ice cream i've had in a long time... the best part being that i din even haf to pay for it and it's sitting nicely in my fridge now!! i do think it's pretty affordable and can be found in all major supermarkets... go try it ok.. (i'm not getting paid for advertising this alright)

anyways it's been a long time since my last post.. let's just say a lot have happened since and mostly because i've been sick the past week but still forced myself to go to work.. so it's really just work and sleep, work and sleep for many many days.. then well something happened that is still leaving me in shock and some getting used to.. and it's just been busy busy lah..

still wanna congratulate my brother for getting 4 As in his A levels.. wah 1st one to get 4 As in the family ok.. now i'm no longer the one with the best results.. boo hoo.. but i'm really happy for him. then and again, 4As dun guarantee that you can get whatever scholarship or enter any university or course of your choice. So, why are we even studying so hard for anymore?