I was snooping around for new music when I discovered Olivia Ong. Most people will know her as the "Little Nyonya singer", but she is so much more than that. She is one of those people whom I've always known existed, but I never really took the time to listen closely to her work. Today I did, and I'm glad I took that time.
She is a gem of a singer, with vocals that are light and breezy, yet infused with a intimate familiarity that makes you feel at ease with her style of singing and the personality that exudes from it. It helps that the musical arrangements in her songs are minimal, which only serve to bring out the pure unadulterated quality of her voice. There are few things that give me more joy than sitting back and listening to her on a quiet Sunday afternoon, or over a slow lazy brunch.
I particularly love her rendition of the Jobim classic Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Concorvado)
Her rendition of Fly Me to the Moon is a gem as well. While I thought Julie London's version (the one used in the Goldheart Jewellery commerical) was the definitive version, I like her take on it.
She has many other songs, which can be discovered on Youtube. I just love Youtube sometimes.
On one of my lunchtime jaunts around the city at work, I also discovered another Taiwanese singer-songwriter Joanna Wang who does fantastic covers of English and Chinese songs. Although her album looked amateurish in design, her vocals blew me away, although I was not very forthcoming in admitting it.
Here, she takes the David Tao classic 愛很簡單 and reinvents it.
But this version of Can't Take My Eyes off You totally blew me away. Not only was it a refreshing take on a classic that's pretty frankly been done to death, thanks to the arrangement and the offbeat syncopated percussive beat, the edge that her vocals have really shine through here.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Auntie fights with a young girl on the MRT
Fuck off la auntie. People give you seat still call her China girl and try to take her photo. The seat got your name is it. Still say people punch you. You think you auntie so you can anyhow is it. Sure, your leg is injured, but that still doesn't give you the right to act like a bitch. If you really need a seat, ask nicely and most will oblige. And shut the hell up after you get it.
The funniest part is how you talk about getting the picture published in the papers. Sure, you got your wish, but I'm pretty sure the whole world can see who was the more mature person in this confrontation.
Definitely on Team Ah Lian here.
Some people have been calling for Alex Ong the bus auntie pusher to give this auntie a roughing up, but I've got a better idea. Since she's already seated, let's call for David Nalbandian.
Monday, June 11, 2012
The boss is on leave this week
No arrows, peace on Earth, and goodwill to all men. The roses sing and the sun shines brighter. I even have a space in my heart for dancing unicorns and ponies. It is amazing how a change in the daily routine can effect wonders on your life. I have just been given free license to watch all the Euro 2012 matches and come in late the next morning, and still leave on time.
I've included a picture of a dove shitting sparkly stuff. My mood is that good this week.
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Guy shoves an old lady off a bus
She wouldn't get off the bus, so I gave her a little help
According to comments I've been reading around, this guy is autistic and has been a victim of bullying. He may have pushed an elderly woman rashly, but the debate then becomes a question of whether people should be more sympathetic to him since it was probably a rash act and out of character, which I am prepared to believe it is.
Naturally, news outlets will pick on this and sensationalise it, and even more naturally, most people will be on the side of the old lady. Physicality in confrontations is never condoned, especially against the elderly. Hell, you can't even kill the elderly in movies, it's just wrong. The only merciful thing about news is, while the scrutiny is intense at first, it dies down pretty quickly. After 3 months, nobody remembers who you are, as they find a new person to hate on.
According to someone who has professed to be his friend on Youtube, the youth involved has apologised to the elderly lady, and she has accepted his apology. He made the rather unfortunate decision to try and rationalise his action on Facebook, which only led to more hating on him. If there is one thing about Facebook, it is how it tends to bring out some of the worst sides of people through cyberbullying. While you are not exactly anonymous on Facebook, hiding behind a computer makes it convenient to attack the self-esteem of others, and this guy is particularly vulnerable since he is already suffering from multiple psychological issues.
I'm not condoning his actions, but I am hoping people move on sooner.
To end this off, I shall include a video here of someone who picked on the wrong elderly person, a 67 year old Vietnam veteran who became known as Epic Beard Man. It's old, but it's still gold.
Now this is what I call a walloping
Somebody was sleeping on the job.
I saw this in the online edition of the Straits Times and two things struck me. How they used a picture that was obviously badly stretched, and the poorly formatted captioning. Looks like someone was sleeping on the job again.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
My Grandfather Road
Before we begin, perhaps a chorus for the fallen.
"Oh, look what you've done
You've made a fool of everyone
Oh well, it seemed like such fun
Until you lose what you had won"
Hurhur. How apt.
While I found her actions amusing, not least of all because she painted the road right outside my workplace, the consequence was inevitable because someone had to pay for labour needed to remove her artwork.
Perhaps if she had applied to MICA and offered to decorate public property with her creative vision and pay all costs for its removal, they might have agreed. You only have to look as far as Singpost and how they defaced public letter boxes as part of a guerrilla marketing gimmick. But there was one big difference. The letter boxes actually belonged to them, so they could do anything they wanted with those. Anyway, I have it on good knowledge that most senior civil servants are not ready to embrace such radical change in any form, because they have sat in their chairs for so long their brains have atrophied.
Not least of all those in the LTA, the ministry that employs those uncompromising people who give you parking summons for parking slightly out of the designated parking lot. They wouldn't even give me a chance when I appealed saying that I only did so because the car beside me had also done so, only that when the summon auntie came around he had driven off so I had no proof of the dirty deed. Bastards.
And now, the article itself, atrocious grammar in full glory. The standard of writing in our newspapers is so bad these days, if I ever have a son I will teach him how to use the Straits Times to line the kitty litter bin before I ask him to read it. After all, now it is only good enough for wrapping shit with.
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Police have arrested a 25-year-old woman who is believed to have vandalised several roads in Singapore.
Between May 17 to 21 this year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) saw that the words "MY GRANDFATHER ROAD" were painted along Robinson Road and Maxwell Road and reported the matter to the Police.
It also reported that circular stickers printed with captions (bad phrasing, it should be "with printed captions) were pasted on a pavement around Lau Pa Sat and on a road traffic sign along Robinson Road.
The female suspect was arrested at her residence in the eastern part of Singapore on June 3. The officers also found several paint-stained stencils and several pieces of stickers printed with captions. These items were seized for investigation.
Investigation is ongoing. (woohoo, bad grammar in a national newspaper! the correct form of this should be investigations are ongoing or an investigation is ongoing, but I don't know who checks grammar in newspapers these days) The police are also working with LTA on earlier reports of round stickers found affixed on other pedestrian crossings at various places.
The case is classified as Vandalism under Section 3 of the Vandalism Act, Chapter 341. A person who is convicted for the offence shall be punished with a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding to 3 years and shall be liable to caning subjected to the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.
The police warned that it takes (I believe the police should be a plural term, unless you state it is the police force) a serious view of such irresponsible actions and offenders will be dealt with severely.
Netizens have reacted to the arrest by calling for the release of the woman, whom they have dubbed 'sticker lady.'
The petition, started by Facebook user Stephenie Choy, is collecting 20,000 signatures to ask the Government to ease their restrictions on public 'art' and reduce the arrested woman's charge from Vandalism to Miscellaneous Offences.
"If you agree that the arrest of this particular artist is unwarranted and that there should be less restriction in public art, please join this event, and leave your name on the wall," the aspiring future arts educator wrote.
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Just look at the shit this person is saying. Just because you are creative doesn't mean that the law is not meant to be followed, and it most certainly doesn't mean the arrest is "unwarranted". If you broke the law with full knowledge of doing so, then you deserve to be subject to the full measure of it. We are lucky in this case that the person who did so is actually someone with a sense of humour and a fair bit of artistic flair, but not punishing her would open the floodgates for other less talented vandals to go to town with public facilities.
And don't Singaporeans ever learn that nothing is achieved by collecting signatures and petitioning. Having 20,000 signatures and having 20,000 people baying outside LTA for the release of the artist has a very different effect. A piece of paper with 20,000 signatures is good for just one thing. Lining a kitty litter box.
It is unfortunate though, because the vandal is actually an advocate for aspiring local artists, as you can see from this outstanding website. http://www.rcgntn.sg/contributors/
"Oh, look what you've done
You've made a fool of everyone
Oh well, it seemed like such fun
Until you lose what you had won"
Hurhur. How apt.
While I found her actions amusing, not least of all because she painted the road right outside my workplace, the consequence was inevitable because someone had to pay for labour needed to remove her artwork.
Perhaps if she had applied to MICA and offered to decorate public property with her creative vision and pay all costs for its removal, they might have agreed. You only have to look as far as Singpost and how they defaced public letter boxes as part of a guerrilla marketing gimmick. But there was one big difference. The letter boxes actually belonged to them, so they could do anything they wanted with those. Anyway, I have it on good knowledge that most senior civil servants are not ready to embrace such radical change in any form, because they have sat in their chairs for so long their brains have atrophied.
Not least of all those in the LTA, the ministry that employs those uncompromising people who give you parking summons for parking slightly out of the designated parking lot. They wouldn't even give me a chance when I appealed saying that I only did so because the car beside me had also done so, only that when the summon auntie came around he had driven off so I had no proof of the dirty deed. Bastards.
And now, the article itself, atrocious grammar in full glory. The standard of writing in our newspapers is so bad these days, if I ever have a son I will teach him how to use the Straits Times to line the kitty litter bin before I ask him to read it. After all, now it is only good enough for wrapping shit with.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police have arrested a 25-year-old woman who is believed to have vandalised several roads in Singapore.
Between May 17 to 21 this year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) saw that the words "MY GRANDFATHER ROAD" were painted along Robinson Road and Maxwell Road and reported the matter to the Police.
It also reported that circular stickers printed with captions (bad phrasing, it should be "with printed captions) were pasted on a pavement around Lau Pa Sat and on a road traffic sign along Robinson Road.
The female suspect was arrested at her residence in the eastern part of Singapore on June 3. The officers also found several paint-stained stencils and several pieces of stickers printed with captions. These items were seized for investigation.
Investigation is ongoing. (woohoo, bad grammar in a national newspaper! the correct form of this should be investigations are ongoing or an investigation is ongoing, but I don't know who checks grammar in newspapers these days) The police are also working with LTA on earlier reports of round stickers found affixed on other pedestrian crossings at various places.
The case is classified as Vandalism under Section 3 of the Vandalism Act, Chapter 341. A person who is convicted for the offence shall be punished with a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding to 3 years and shall be liable to caning subjected to the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.
The police warned that it takes (I believe the police should be a plural term, unless you state it is the police force) a serious view of such irresponsible actions and offenders will be dealt with severely.
Netizens have reacted to the arrest by calling for the release of the woman, whom they have dubbed 'sticker lady.'
The petition, started by Facebook user Stephenie Choy, is collecting 20,000 signatures to ask the Government to ease their restrictions on public 'art' and reduce the arrested woman's charge from Vandalism to Miscellaneous Offences.
"If you agree that the arrest of this particular artist is unwarranted and that there should be less restriction in public art, please join this event, and leave your name on the wall," the aspiring future arts educator wrote.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just look at the shit this person is saying. Just because you are creative doesn't mean that the law is not meant to be followed, and it most certainly doesn't mean the arrest is "unwarranted". If you broke the law with full knowledge of doing so, then you deserve to be subject to the full measure of it. We are lucky in this case that the person who did so is actually someone with a sense of humour and a fair bit of artistic flair, but not punishing her would open the floodgates for other less talented vandals to go to town with public facilities.
And don't Singaporeans ever learn that nothing is achieved by collecting signatures and petitioning. Having 20,000 signatures and having 20,000 people baying outside LTA for the release of the artist has a very different effect. A piece of paper with 20,000 signatures is good for just one thing. Lining a kitty litter box.
It is unfortunate though, because the vandal is actually an advocate for aspiring local artists, as you can see from this outstanding website. http://www.rcgntn.sg/contributors/
Monday, June 04, 2012
Run run run.
"Going through the pain barrier, that's what makes the muscles grow. There's this pain, this aching, and going on and on and on. That's what divides a champion from a non-champion - having the guts to go through the pain barrier." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Exercising is really a lot about managing pain, or how you think about pain, especially if in every training session your only goal is to beat yourself. I downloaded an iphone app recently called Endomondo, which is a sports tracker, and since I've done that it has become impossible to cheat myself. I know exactly how far I run, how fast I run, and every single run becomes yet another attempt to beat that timing I previously set.
And on every run, every step of the way, I think the same thought. I want to stop. But there is another thought that keeps me going, and that thought is simply that I will not stop until I have completed the distance I set out to run. And sometimes that is very hard. I run until both my calves cramp up, and there's a weird pulling sensation in my thighs. I run till I literally feel like my lungs are on fire and I want to puke, yet I keep on running. Even if its at a slow jog, I keep on going. And sometimes, I do something crazier. I increase the distance. I tell myself that I will do 5km, and when I hit that distance, I force myself to do 1km more. At that point the pain chorus inside me crying out to stop is resounding, and it takes every single last ounce of determination inside me to block it out every step of the way till the end of that last 1km.
This is not supposed to be an inspirational post. It is anything but. It is just a reminder to myself that nothing in life comes without sacrifice, and a lot of it. And the other thing that is important is consistency. It means nothing to run 15km once a week, but it means everything to run 2.4km 7 times a week, and do that day in day out, even when you don't have time. Even when you come home from work at 9pm and haven't had dinner. Even if it means that you have to wake up at 5am just to squeeze a run in. You lace up anyway and hit the tarmac.
There is a simple reason why I chose the distance 2.4km. I really hated that run during my IPPT days. I spent countless hours in remedial training because I absolutely sucked at that. In fact, it took me 3 years to finally pass my IPPT. So when I had to find something to train, that was it. Yes, I hate running the 2.4km. And I don't want to spend another second in RT. Three years is enough. That is why I'm going to do the 2.4km every day.
The weird thing about all this is, do it enough and soon you will find that you miss that pain. Somehow, when you don't run, you can't rest, because something feels like its missing. Maybe I'm crazy, but pain has never felt so liberating.
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