Saving Gaia & NDP...

saw on the news last night that the winners of the Saving Gaia competition won for themselves an air-conditioner and a fridge, among other things...
should not they be given more Gaia-friendly items such as one year supply or organic bread, brown rice, etc??

applied for the NDP tickets...
was not successful...
second year in a row...
will try again next year...

Michael Jackson 1958 – 2009...

woke up in the morning to the terrible news that Michael Jackson has died...
due to a cardiac arrest or heart attack...
was hoping for his comeback some time soon...
as he was to start his UK tour this year...
a tour that was sold out within hours...

fell in love with Thriller when it came out back in the 80s...
and then continued to follow his music...
my all-time favourite album of his has to be Bad...
a string of number 1 hits from there...

then came all the legal tussle he was charged with...
but they did not change the fact that MJ is a legend...
he will always be the King of Pop...

Next...

assuming today is Wednesday...
what does next Monday mean to you??
the coming Monday or the Monday after that??
i would think it is the latter...
to avoid confusion, please include the date...

Where Is Safer??

now that community spread of the H1N1 has started in Singapore...
is it safer overseas or in Singapore??
i think it would be equally safe (or unsafe)...
depending on whether you like your glass to be half full or half empty...
so it is time to plan my holidays...

Holes...

realised that there are holes in my socks...
time for some retail therapy...
maybe take MC on Friday to go shopping...

0524...

24 May...
was about to give up this number after one month...
luckily kept it...
starter prize of S$250 in the bag...
just in time for Father's Day dinner @ Parkroyal Kitchener Road...
lolz...

Father’s Day...

did not plan for any Father’s Day dinner this year...
cos the kids are sponsoring my parents’ Malacca trip next week...
but last minute mum called in the morning to say we are heading to Parkroyal at Kitchener Road for dinner...
price went up by $5 compared to other days...
but a lot more food, including oysters, wan ton mee and many others...
UOB had a 20% discount promotion...
value-for-money...

Rochester Park...

celebrated Ming’s birthday at North Border, 2 Rochester Park...
been a while since i last went to Rochester Park...
it was much quieter now...
on a Saturday night...
wonder how they survive...

so far i have been to 4 of the 8 restaurants there...
maybe it is time to complete them all before they are gone...
*evil grin*

Foreign Talents...

another 2 H1N1 cases...
both foreigners: one German and one Indonesian...
German is a researcher who had flu symptoms when he was in the US...
went on his daily activities for close to a week before being diagnosed...
even attended a concert on 14 June...
wonder what concert was that...

the Indonesian went shopping before going to TTSH emergency department...

how can anyone be so irresponsible??
especially when they are adults who should know what is best for them and for the people around them...
so much for foreign talents...
talents in spreading virus in Singapore...
KNNBCCB...

----------------------------------------

excerpt from Channelnewsasia:

The Ministry noted that unlike the earlier imported cases, a number of recent cases had engaged in extensive community activities such as working, shopping and participating in mass activities since their arrival in Singapore.

Some even travelled here, even though they were unwell prior to departure.

The 48th case is a 56-year-old German man who works in Singapore as a researcher at the Biopolis. He had gone to Philadelphia, USA on May 28 to attend a conference. He developed symptoms on June 4 while he was there. He returned from Philadelphia on SQ15 via Seoul on June 8. He came in contact with several people before he was quarantined a week later.

He was seated at row 52. He was not picked up by the thermal scanner at the airport as he did not have a fever then. He took a taxi home from the airport, and stayed at home for the rest of the day.

He went to work from June 9 to 12. On the evening of June 11, he went to a function at the French Ambassador's Residence attended by about 70 persons. On June 13, he went to a shopping mall and had social activities at Clarke Quay. On June 14, he attended a concert and did more shopping. On June 15, he did not go to work in the morning and called a 993 ambulance to send him to CDC2 around noon time. Laboratory results confirmed his infection at 2140 hours on June 15.

The 49th case is a 26-year-old Indonesian man who works in Singapore.

He returned from Melbourne on SQ228 on June 14.

He was seated at row 61, and was on the same flight as the 43rd, 44th and 45th cases who were seated at row 43. He was not picked up by the thermal scanner at the airport as he did not have a fever then.

He and his friend took a taxi home from the airport. On the morning of June 15, he sought medical attention at a GP clinic, and was given two days of medical leave.

Before he took a taxi to TTSH ED, he did some shopping first. Laboratory results confirmed his infection at 2140 hours on June 15.

Graciousness & Social Responsibility...

there has been a lot of discussion lately on being gracious and socially responsible in Singapore...
from “Reserved Seats” on the MRTs to using tissue paper to “chope seats” to standing on your left on escalators to H1N1...
we can argue until the cows (or pigs in the case of H1N1) come home without a solution...
but all we can do is to start with ourselves to make that change...
do we blame the person standing on the right for blocking our paths or should we blame the one directly behind the person for not educating the person in front??

the problem with Singaporeans, in my opinion, is that we do not speak up when we are faced with an issue...
instead we will let it pass and then complain like nobody’s business about the issue...
but complaining does not solve the problem, does it??

if we really need the seats on the MRT, is it so difficult to ask the person sitting on the “Reserved Seating” to give up the seats to us??
but instead, we expect everyone around us to give in to us...
of course there is also the embarrassment when the recipient does not accept your kindness...
and then what do we do?? plonk our asses back on the seats?? or “ungraciously” walk away??

with the recent increased in H1N1 cases in Singapore, many of which were imported from countries like the US and Australia...
people are still travelling to these places for their holidays...
they do not stop to think for a moment about the health and safety of their families...
maybe we should blame the Government for this...
on the one hand, advisories were issued for travelling to these countries...
on the other hand, the Government is asking us to go on with our lives...
so being typical Singaporeans who listen to the Government all, if not most, of the time...
we continued with our travelling...
hoping and praying that we will not be the unfortunate ones to return with the virus...
the “it will not happen to me” mentality could prove to be fatal...
the worst is when one returns from an infected country, they pretended nothing has happened and continued with their lives...
not knowing that the virus is developing inside them...
risking the health of others whom they come into contact with...
where is the social responsibility in us??

just like in any situation, it takes two hands to clap...
the giver and the taker have to do play their roles...
and maybe the Government should take the lead too...
but i still believe each and everyone of us has to play our part...
to be the giver at times... and the taker at other times...

What’s Going On??

decided to take a break from facebook...
not posted anything, except for a Note about my ex-student’s visit recently...
maybe i need some privacy... some time to myself...

so what has happened over the last two months??
an excellent two months, i must say...
life has been wonderful... and colourful...

from the surprisingly lacklustre musical Cats to If There’re Seasons (天冷就回来) to 4 Arts Festival events (one fusion concert of jazz and classical music and 3 theatre plays)...
from Star Trek to Angels & Demons to Terminator Salvation...
3 summer blockbuster movies within a month...
looking forward to Transformers and Up...

attended the opening ceremony of the Arts Festival at the Marina Barrage...
my first time there...
quite a nice place to sit around, enjoy the breeze and soak in the sun...

celebrated Pat’s birthday at Charcoal (the Shatec-run restaurant at The Treasury)...
as well as Shaun & Thyetus’ birthdays at Paulaner Brauhaus...
met up with friends for lunches and dinners...
from Manpuku Tampines 1 to Boat Quay’s Big Bowl Porridge (大碗粥) to Old Airport Road...
put on a few kilos along the way...

completed the team event at the Sundown Marathon...
it was a challenge running in the evening...
more so after a drizzle when the air is humid...
managed a less than satisfactory 70 minutes for the 10.5km run...
gotta start running again very soon...
or the upcoming 21km Singapore Bay Run in August will be another terrible 3-hour event...

was thrilled that my ex-student, Wei Jung, still remembered to contact me when he was in Singapore for his summer holiday...
glad that he is surviving in Chicago... even more glad that he is planning on moving to California!!
we had lunch at Swensen’s Bugis Junction...
he gave me a limited edition 2008 Beijing Olympics memorabilia...
had a great catch-up session with him...

decided recently to quit social smoking...
time to spend time with myself...
and time to take care of my health...
although i have been very healthy in the past year...
since i left my previous employment...
concluded that my health problems back then was stress-induced...
now less job responsibilities in this new company...
and my health is superb...

July and August will be very arty farty...
have booked tickets to the following:
• Agapella’s 8th birthday concert
• Theatre Practice’s 4.48 Psychosis
• Wild Rice’s Own Time Own Target (missed it last year)
• Mus’Art Wind Orchestra’s Decade
• The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
• Dream Academy’s Sing Dollar: The Musical Comedy About Money

have also advance booked tickets to November’s Victor / Victoria, starring Laura Fygi...
my ticket is Kerry’s birthday gift to me...
cos the show will be 2 days before my 37th birthday...

planning on attending The Kangxi Emperor: Treasures from the Forbidden City exhibition at the Asian Civilisation Museum next week just before it ends its run...
will also be visiting the Da Vinci The Genius (www.davincithegenius.com) exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre in July...
there will also be the Singapore River Festival (www.singaporeriverfestival.com) over the next two weeks...

anybody dares to look me in the face and say that Singapore is boring??
lolz...