The sicker truth is that most of us who are typically apathetic in politics and girded with the ‘Okay what, the gahment is doing a good job what..’ perception, are blinded by the masquerade of democracy and even the snoozing of our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Teo Chee Hean, during the recent Budget ‘debate’ in parliament. FYI, he is recently appointed Chairman of the Productivity Board to help increase productivity of Singaporeans.

Source: Temasek Review

Now, lest you have no idea or have forgotten what Democracy is, take a look at the following video of a British parliament seating (House of Commons), where the opposition leader literally shredded British Prime Minister Gordon Brown:

If an opposition does this to our Prime minister, you’ve probably seen the last of him.

Before heading to HCM, bibi and I caught Broadway Beng – Jiak Liu Lian at the ‘liu lian’.

Bibi has always wanted to watch it and when I was given a ticket by Youth.sg to review the show, it became an easy decision.

The show was great – I laughed more than I thought I would. Though I’m not a big fan of Hokkien, I think it’s a unique part of our culture and it would be a pity if it becomes extinct come the next generation.

Read my review of the show at http://www.youth.sg/content/view/7594/51/

Their music lives on

One of my favourite band – Delirious, have decided to call it a day after 17 years of divine music. From songs like I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever to everlasting hits such as History Maker, they have literally composed a few chapters of my life (And many around the world).

Their songs have lifted me up when I was down and inspired me when I was out. Their passion and love for God and people – truly inspiring and pure. And their fan base spans across the globe – christians and non-christians.

They are not your Linkin Park or U2. They are better and bigger – in heart.

They may have called it a day, but their music will live on and continue to inspire.

http://www.delirious.co.uk/

No, you're not in China

In our meeting, I strongly urged Mr Obama to shut down McDonalds before the whole world turns obese.

So one morning while I was on the bus (no cabs again), I took a deliberate observation of the passengers in taxis on the road. And this was my initial finding: 9 out of 10 cabs had a solo female passenger on board.

Telling myself that it must be a coincidence, I conducted a second round of observation and got almost similar results: 8 out of 10 cabs had a solo female passenger on board.

This made it an astonishing 17 out 20 taxis I observed having a solo female passenger on board. My prejudice against females was at an all time high at that moment (but it didn’t last long as I love women too much). My secondary observation was that every female passenger whom I saw in the taxis was young (18 – 25) and they were dressed decently and looked to have make-up on (Based on my expert judgment of women)

These findings led me to my following casual hypotheses:

1. Young women in Singapore are generally less punctual than men, thus resorting to taking taxis.
2. Young women in Singapore spend more time preparing themselves (e.g. make-up), causing them to run late, thus resorting to taking taxis.
3. Young women in Singapore tend to have poor time management/estimation.
4. Young women in Singapore tend to be less tolerant of taking public transport (bus/train).
5. The biggest group of non-drivers is young women.

*Young women = 18-25 years

I have a few female friends whom I knew are frequent taxi riders in the morning. So I asked them for their reasons/motivations in taking taxis.

One of them said, “Lazy to take bus, so take cab loh. Somemore don’t need to squeeze with those aunties and uncles,” while another said, “Sometimes wake up late so no choice got to take cab.”

Now, before you start throwing stones at young women (Especially when you are looking for a taxi), please be reminded that these observations and hypotheses are purely based on a one-off observation and may not be entirely accurate and true after all. To strengthen it or to prove their innocence, it would be good to conduct your own observations.

On the more general side of life, there seem to be this phenomenon about taxis in Singapore that I am sure Singaporeans would passionately testify to – When You Want a Cab, There Are None. But When You Don’t, There Are Tons.

Being an avid taxi rider myself, it is something that baffles and frustrates me all the time. It got so bad that I used to pretend I’m not looking for a taxi, hoping that it will change my ‘luck’. I know that’s embarrassing and a little extreme but I am pretty sure I am not alone. I hope.

On the serious note, I believe there are simply not enough taxis to meet the demands of Singaporeans, especially during the morning peak hours. Or are Singaporeans simply too dependent on taxis? What are your views?

He has probably summed up all the hoo-ha about speaking ‘good english’ in Singapore. And with Miss Ris Low ‘s latest claim of being the ambassador of the ‘Speak Good English’ movement, it has become nothing but a joke.

He’s absolutely right, before we start to speak ‘good English’, why don’t we start off by speaking proper English. And adding on to what he said, it’s not about losing Singlish altogether, it’s about using it at the right time.

In fact, we should be ourselves and use Singlish for all we want when we’re out with friends or family.

And for those Singaporeans who try so hard to sound like a English guru by deliberately omitting Singlish or constantly making sure of no grammar or sentence-structural errors in their conversations with friends, it’s time to loosen up and be yourself -  A Singaporean.

Just deliver when it’s time to.

Your title challenge lies in the balance. And so was your pride. It was do or die.

But You know Anfield will always be there for you through thick and thin. Just like how they did during your match against Manchester United, your most bitter rivals.

As You marched out, your hair stood as the Anfield choir sung to your favourite tune: You’ll never walk alone. You knew you didn’t deserve it, losing 4 games in a row.

But we’re not Old Trafford. We’re Anfield.

The only thing You could do is to do your best and give us a sweet victory. And you did.

Thank you Liverpool (And yes, thank you Lucas) for showing the true Liverpool spirit.

But the truth is it really doesn’t matter if you’ve lost the game. Because You’ll never walk alone. Never.

With the launch of Windows 7 yesterday and all, it’s really hard to be convinced with Microsoft after what has happened to Windows Vista, which in my opinion, is the worse thing that has ever happened to humanity.

And what’s ironic is that I’ve been paid by Microsoft for the past 1 year and though I’ve to say as much as I would love to remain loyal, it has shot itself on its foot by all the life-sucking and hair-pulling ‘Not Responding’ messages I’ve encountered throughout my life. (yes, and at work too).

I’ve always felt that Microsoft have given the world so much promises and technological solutions. But the amount of time the world have wasted in front of their computers waiting for it to “Respond” have in way slowed the world down.

So I’ve decided to try a Mac. And I would say I can’t see myself turning back.