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Top 5 fictional and non-fictional deaths of 2011

Everyone should have heard of the unexpected death of some REAL famous humans in this year. From Steve Jobs to Kim Jong II, it really caught most of us by surprise. Judging from the attitudes from those around, I would put in a personal note that it is business as usual for most of us. Here goes, the top 5 deaths (be it fictional or non-fictional)

1.       Death of the Time-Lord

It comes as a shock (and left many in suspense) where the Time Lord (who is unable to regenerate anymore) died in ‘The Impossible Astronaut’. When we progressed further down in the series, the 2-hearted Time Lord, indeed, did not die. But still, this is still considered a death (to me).  But the prospect of him dying, well, is too unbearable. 

2.       Steve Jobs

Again, many were caught off guard on the death of Jobs. Many shed tears upon news of his death. For others, a joy (to all Android fans) and to the rest, a day unlike any other. Death of Jobs did became one of the many conversation starters, and the most common response is “So Jobs had died of cancer”. That’s all. I’ve my first Macintosh, the G4 many years ago, running OS X (unfortunately, it conker out before Job’s death). And comes to the numerous condolences and Creative (a Singapore-based company which won a lawsuit against Apple) had a tongue-in-cheek advert regarding Apple. It seemed all is not well even after his death.  

3.       Osama

This terrorist is finally dead. It sure hit headlines, which left many happy. A few days after the Royal wedding, comes another piece of good news. Let the good news roll please. A pity he’s not caught alive, so the US could question him on his intention of committing mass murder. Does one truly think Osama’s death is the solution to his evil doings?

4.       Amy Winehouse

  An English singer and song-writer, Amy Winehouse was found dead at her home in London. At a young age of 27, she have a bright future ahead. But alas, she’s now dead. But at least for her, her music lives on.

5.       Kim Jung Il

The apparent first-in-command of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (or DPRK) had died. He died due to a heart attack while on a train trip. His untimely death again, caught many people off guard, especially at troubled times. With conflict around the South China Sea, the death of Kim may well shape how the region will be like. With his heir, not being really well-liked by North Koreans, it might well create a power struggle, having a need for allies China and Russia to step-out to resolve it. Or worst, North Korea might have a military treaty with China, allowing China to base their troops there to launch an attack on Taiwan (with made-in-N. Korea nuclear missiles).     

Hello, MBS

Just some photos of Bread

Sociology and anthropology in play

 To fully comprehend onto the recent spike of events occurring, we need someone with some knowledge in the fields of sociology and anthropology to decipher it. With child abortion to some youngster slapping her mother, to now, a youtube video threatening a 14 year old. Wow, and what amaze me is the frequent train breakdowns.

Singapore had experience a wave of gangs in the 80s and 90s. With some help from police, these gangs are relatively unheard of in the 2000s, until now. All the worst news we’ve heard of are minor cases like tweeting about his O-levels in the exam hall or having sex in public. Everything to be ashamed of, but nothing of a big deal. The worst off? Just flunking your exams or having a baby (with a high chance of abortion). But now, it have things to do with the triad society. 

For a long time, triad societies in the 90s were high profile. With them at the local coffee shops (the locals termed as Kopitiam), drinking beer in the middle of the night, and starts swearing at each other. With random fights every other day, the mainstream broadsheet newspaper just did not report each and every fight. But with the arrival of the new millennium, triad societies had to be low key to survive.

Police had tried successful to curb the acts of such unlawful acts. Curfew were enforced strictly (like no teens were allowed without adults supervision after 11pm) since gangs in the 90s were rampant with teenagers. Triad activities now were just loan shark activities (with some football/lottery bookies) unlike the drug peddling and prostitution in the past. (well, prostitution business are still part of their trade, but it is rare now after pimps are illegal). Triad activities are commonly known as a counterculture.

The spring of all such activities now might partially be due to the hugely popular drama series starring ex Hollywood actress, Fann Wong. The show? “On the Fringe”. This show starring Fann is about triad activities among the veterans and the youngsters (who are in a gang called WCS-We Can Survive). Although this show aims to prevent youths from falling astray, however, it instead glamorised triad societies on a whole. Which is better? Being jobless, lonely, unable to pay off the home loans, and no money for food or being in prison, well-fed, with people to talk to? It seems radical if you chose the latter.

It seemed like a cycle, but can we reverse the cycle? It looks like a job which takes forever, especially with the rise of tension among youths (like the riot triggered by youths in the UK just recently). But nonetheless, it is an uphill task.

A tale of 2 teas

Round the civil district, there consist of many bubble tea shops. Including the usual Gong Cha (Raffles City), Eskimo (Esplanade Exchange), Bubble Tree (Marina Sq), one in Suntec(but the tea sux) but forgotten about the name, and now 2 new outlets.

1. Millienia Walk, Cup C+

The only time when one need to visit this small little (but now getting more upmarket) mall is when visiting Harvey Norman, studying with a laptop at Starbucks (one of the best interior design), buying Pullman Bakery curry bread (which is ultra nice) or just visiting Parco.

Now, there's another reason, Bubble Tea :). A friend told me of this shop (the "我更你講hor...") in twitter when i listed out the bubble tea shop around Singapore. Him, being not a big fan of bubble tea is utterly useless on the taste (sshhh).  Passion fruit mixed with Green Tea, in a large cup cost just $4.80 (if i'm not wrong). Though slightly more expensive, but confirm worth every single penny. According to the staff there, the Passion Fruit is seasonal and imported from Taiwan. First taste, it taste great. The mixture of the sweetness of the passion fruit mixed with the green tea is a perfect match. Like romeo and Juilet or me and Starbucks. But subsequently, the taste of the passion fruit is too overbearing. Have one ever eat lemon on its own? Well, the taste is like as acidic as lemon. But thanks to the green tea, the flavour tried to complement with each other. Only if we can add in some sugar syrup, then it'll be better. Should try Green Tea the next time.

2. Esplanade, ArTease [near Thai Express; Colours of the Bay]

Pretty sure almost each and every Singaporeans know of this bubble tea brand. Having an outlet at Cine (Somerset MRT), it sure draws in a huge crowd. With this new outlet at Esplanade, arts cum bubble tea lovers are now in for a wonderful treat! Artease is famous for their tiny and chewy bubbles (tapioca pearls). It is even way awesome than Eskimo tiny pearls!! I've all along ordered my bubble tea without any pearls, but for ArTease, I must make a concession. See, that's how irrestiable their pearls were. (And me, to forgo lunch thereafter). They too, sells other food other than Bubble tea. But based on my experience at their shop, there seemed to have no central air-con unit (so, it's gonna be real stuffy and humid, like the Thai Express nearby).

Running and running

One might wonder off and view the endless boundary of the clear blue sky. What defines the blurry line between illusion and reality? How the magnificent birds flying, soaring above the horizon. Place where dreams comes true. Well, it is not paradise, but it isn’t hell either.

If the time may come one day,

I would follow you through the 7 seas

For I alone

Might not be able to see through dusk

For

I’m running away,

Away,

Away from time.

I know I’m being silly

Running away from the present

To the future.

And at the unforeseen untold future,

Running away

Yet again from the present of the future

The past of the present.

Martime Museum

Sentosa, a tiny island at the south of Singapore. With much attractions, including Universal Studios Singapore, Images of Singapore, Underwater world and more, it is a island with much offerings. Recently, Sentosa just opened another new attraction, the Maritime Museum.

The entrance fees for students cost just $2 (UP$5). Let the pictures do the talking ((:

Some plants

Replica of a chinese junk

Chinese puppet show

DIY ship building

Part of the Vietnam exbit...their famous 'Sunflower Hats'

FInal product of the ship

Tearing the contents out

View outside the museum

Durex Adverts [NSFW]

Came across some of Durex print adverts on their condom products. Not sure the year, but it sure is pretty awesome and creative.

It’s intriguing how complex ideas can become reality

The first ever social cinema had arrived in Singapore. With this platform, viewers are able to share their thoughts and views on the shorts together. Create Tomorrow, a website to change your perception about engineering and to create a platform to provoke, fire and spark curiosity on your thoughts. And with Create Tomorrow’s first film fest, it certainly is serious onto changing one’s perception of engineering with 3 shorts to boot.

The first short film, Hi, I’m An Engineer helps sets the mood for subsequence films. The film is light-hearted and funny. The story revolves round Khai, a civil engineer on his first speed dating session. The first few women he met are sceptical on his job of being an engineer. Throughout the film, Khai clarified the misconceptions most people had about an engineer. His job scope is onto overseeing the construction of air-cons, and some of the projects he had undertaken includes the Helix Bridge as well as M.B.S (Marina Bay Sands). After numerous rounds, he grew discourage as the women wants their boyfriends to be a lawyer, with a high pay. Of course, Khai dismissed the perception that engineer are lowly paid with low career prospects. Thus Khai decided to change his occupation by introducing himself as a lawyer. Unknown to him, the women, Ling, too is a lawyer but she introduced herself as an artiste, where she paint things, people, canals, buildings, roads. And both clicked well when they say the same phrase at the same time. In all, with nice BGM and art direction, it is a nice movie. However, there is no dialogue at all, with just wordings floating round the video.

The second short film, Flight revolves round Jeremy whose father wanted him to become a pilot. Ever since he had completed his Basic Military Training (BMT) stint, his father had wanted him to sign on with the air force. But every time the question pops up, Jeremy seemed unhappy. His father too wanted to be a pilot. However circumstances prevails him to be one. Thus, he pinned his hopes on Jeremy. Jeremy had been selected for the air force, but kept the news to his dad. Upon confrontation, Jeremy revealed he wanted to build planes, and not fly them. With such a heavy theme, and the director, everything all sums up together.

The last short film, Building Dreams is a documentary about Ian, a computer engineer at LucasArts Singapore. Yup, it is again about engineering. It basically talks about his job scope, the fun of it, and also, some of the fun experiences he had about his job. Still remember he talked about his childhood days, when he hacked every game he had. Wow! And also, his job is quite fun.

In all, all 3 short films helps to clear misconception about engineers. So, to everybody, engineers can too, be as highly respected as lawyers or doctors. It can been seen Create Tomorrow tries extremely hard to bring in the content to us, but with more practises, it can be perfect.