mrbrown.com

Hey poor families, here are some one-year ST subscriptions for you!

[photo from Asiaone]

Update: NewNation.sg weighs in with a funny "Super gracious Straits Times to pocket money raised in charity auction" and makes a suggestion if you don't want to donate to this "charity" drive.

Meanwhile, the Moodometer on the Asiaone page touting the auction is at 90% for "Disgusted". Not the kind of publicity VW probably wanted for their donation, I think.

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ST runs a VW auction (COE not included)… and the proceeds go towards sponsoring one-year subscriptions to ST for 1,000 low-income families. Liddat is called charity ah? Not even going into the SPH School Pocket Money Fund?

The headline says "The Straits Times to auction Volkswagen car for charity" but it looks more like Volkswagen doing the charity leh.

I am sure poor families are dying to read your paper, Warren Fernandez, but giving cash or groceries is probably more helpful, no? They can read your papers at the RC, CC or library what.

Perhaps after the poor families collect enough of the donated newspapers, they can sell them to karang guni for a few bucks.

From Asiaone:

All the proceeds from the auction will go towards sponsoring one-year subscriptions to ST for some 1,000 low-income families. A yearly subscription to the ST costs about $300.

Dr Zeno Kerschbaumer, managing director of Volkswagen Group Singapore, presented the car to ST editor Warren Fernandez this morning at the SPH News Centre in Toa Payoh North.

Said ST editor Warren Fernandez: "We at ST are delighted to partner with Volkswagen once again for this worthwhile project. Those who bid for this car will help drive our efforts to reach out and support the less well-off in our community.

"We want to give the young in these families a precious gift: access to information and a window to the world and all its possibilities. That will help them get ahead in life. We sincerely believe a daily copy of the ST delivered to their homes will do that."

Ads seen around town

Interesting that this Citibank ad didn't mention the bailout in 2008 & its role in the subprime crisis.

What does this ad even mean?!

"Feel Japan: It's in your mouth"… In all fairness, I am told this is a very good toothbrush.

But how to see your date "in the dark"? Or is it a way to help you get in touch with your feeling?

Toilet money was non-political, says Rotary Club president

"No political intentions" says Rotary Club of Singapore:

"The club's president Kumar Tapan Rao told The Straits Times on Monday: 'The Rotary Club is not making any donation to any political party. We are raising funds for a project to help the elderly in Singapore.'"

Let's see:

1. You announce your $100,000 donation a few days before the by-election.
2. You give it to the PAP candidate's program.
3. The PAP candidate himself announces your donation.
4. The donation benefits the residents of the ward the candidate is contesting.

But it is all non-political?

Does Mr Kumar Tapan Rao think the public is stupid?

So if the Workers' Party also has a toilet upgrading program, will the Rotary Club donate $100,000 to that too? Because, you know, Rotary Club is non-political what. I hear Hougang also needs a wet market. Donate leh. I am sure the ELECTED representative of Hougang, Mr Png Eng Huat, will welcome any non-political donations from the Rotary Club.

In other news, Joshua Chiang did this really nice poster of Ah Huat and Ah Choo.

Reminds me of my little video of Kee Chiu nodding to that song.

I found it amusing that Joshua included, in small print at the bottom, "Not for use in Temasek Review and Temasek Times".

Obey Limpeh

Limpeh would like to know where Limpeh can get one of these awesome stickers.

[photo taken by Joash Sze En Loh: @joashloh]

DPM Teo on the Hougang By-election results

DPM Teo Chee Hean: "Hougang By-election results not reflective of Singaporeans' sentiment towards the PAP."

Dear DPM Teo, the number of seats that the ruling party has is not reflective of Singaporeans' sentiment towards the PAP.

We should also thank the Hougang By-election for revealing that the Rotary Club is as non-partisan as the People's Association. So how? Now that Png is the elected MP of Hougang, will the Rotary Club still be donating their $100,000 toilet money?

[photo by Edwin Koo from his awesome Let it BE: 2012 series]

A sign of the support for the PAP

Youtube link: http://youtu.be/isUlZOz7nqw

Leave the poor uncle PAP supporter alone and let him hold his Desmond Choo sign his way lah, you over-zealous PAP branch person.

(Video of the scene at Hougang PAP HQ branch, before the announcement of the by-election results, shot off the the tv from Channel 8 news)

Stinkiest Hougang By-election MSM headline

Pursuant to Section 49, Subsection 7E, Paragraph A of the mrbrown Elections Act, I hereby declare Chua Mui Hoong of the Sunday Times, the winner of Lamest Headline for Hougang By-election:

"Hougang speaks, but for itself"

Even my readers and I playing the Guess the MSM Headlines game on Twitter last night didn't come up with a stinker like this one.

Chua Mui Hoong is truly a pro.

(If it was her editor or sub-editor who came up with this headline, then the award will go to him/her instead. I am very fair and just with my awards.)

Video: At the Last Rally

At the Last Rally from mrbrown on Vimeo.

A glimpse of the last rally held by the Workers' Party for the Hougang By-election, on 24th May 2012, at the open field of Blk 837, Hougang Central.

This is purely a documentation of the evening and is not an endorsement of the party in any way, nor was it commissioned by any person, organization, or political party.

I captured this with an Olympus OM-D EM5 using an Olympus 12mm f2 and a Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f1.4 ASPH.

Let's play Guess the Headlines for Hougang By-election

[video of WP celebrations at Blk 322, by Brendon Fernandez on Twitvid]

The results are in for the Hougang By-election:

PAP's Desmond Choo: 8,210 votes
WP's Png Eng Huat: 13,447 votes
Rejected: 294
Total cast: 21,951

Workers' Party retains Hougang, losing 2% from their GE2011 performance. 62.09% WP, 37.91% PAP. Congratulations are in order, Workers' Party.

DPM Teo Chee Hean was quoted as saying, "Hougang is not representative of other parts of Singapore". To which @miyagi replied, "Neither are you, DPM Teo."

Buuuuuuurn.

Yam Ah Mee tonight quite slack ah. Only need to come out one time.

Adri (@skinnylatte) asked of the CNA tv coverage: "How come now must talk about how Desmond Choo has improved, when he hasn't won? Why ah?"

I concur. The way tv news was covering it, you'd think the PAP won Hougang back.

AFP reported the results with the headline: Singapore ruling party rebuffed in by-election

Cherian George has a very good write-up entitled: BEYOND HOUGANG: WHAT THE BY-ELECTION MEANS FOR 2016

(Cherian, your article is very good but the title don't need to be ALL CAPS leh)

What is amazing is that despite the Yaw scandal, the leaks, the character assassinations, Hougang stood firm and steadfast with Workers' Party and ceded just 2%.

You have to be on the ground to feel their loyalty. When you think about it, in Hougang, the Workers' Party IS the Ruling Party.

My twitter friends and I had fun playing Guess the MSM Headlines for the Hougang By-election. Let's play the #GuessTheHeadlines Game!:

1. @mrbrown: PAP wins more votes in Hougang this time. #GuessTheHeadlines

2. @mrbrown: Support for WP in Hougang slips #GuessTheHeadlines

3. @mrbrown: Hougang Voters Deliver Stinging Rebuke to WP #GuessTheHeadlines

4. @mrbrown: Desmond Choo Wins Over More of Hougang Voters #GuessTheHeadlines

5. @FlareonRRRAGE: Png steals Hougang seat from Choo amidst questions of integrity #GuessTheHeadlines

6. @FlareonRRRAGE: Switzerland beats Germany 3-2 in Eurovision #GuessTheHeadlines

7. @liangkaixin: Png Eng Huat wins Hougang seat by 35% (oh this wouldn't happen??) #GuessTheHeadlines

8. @ErwinIsHungry: Support for PAP increases despite loss #GuessTheHeadlines

9. @ackabr: WPs lose influence in Hougang #GuessTheHeadlines

10. @crazycoolidge: Stunning upset for WP as PAP makes huge gains #GuessTheHeadlines

11. @aeszr: PAP comes ever closer to winning back Hougang #GuessTheHeadlines

12. @saynotospandex: Singaporeans choose WP even though PAP's Desmond Choo never had an affair #GuessTheHeadlines

‏13. @miyagi: Desmond Choo's grassroots work pays off: WP handed hefty swing in votes against them #GuessTheHeadlines

14. @kevlars: Hougang ceded to JB #GuessTheHeadlines

15. @fakeSMRT: Desmond Choo puts up strong fight. winning more votes for PAP #GuessTheHeadlines

16. @TommyWee: Hougang's Resolve Will Crumble By 2020, Won't Stay A Ghetto Forever #GuessTheHeadlines

17. ‏@Eurieth: Png wins seat amid character and integrity allegations #GuessTheHeadlines

@lupcheong reminded us of the BPL fiasco, when he tweeted: "Luckily the Hougang By-election wasn't on MiO TV, otherwise we'd only know the results tomorrow."

Ouch.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

Dear Hougang Residents, we salute you for exercising your right to vote in the face of no public holiday.

We also salute the civil servants who kena arrowed to do by-election duty today, a perfectly good Saturday.

For your entertainment, my friend Kirsten has assembled these epic animated gifs on her website which cracked me up: ENJOY.

NTUC not toothless body, says NTUC in an advertorial?

Our "union movement" buys advertorial space to tell you how union they are?

When I clicked through to the article about not being a toothless body, it looks like a news article. So is it an advertorial or a news article?

Or did they buy an advertorial to highlight the news article?

A short rant about our World-Class Public Transport

Dear SBS Transit, you have TWO buses, 45 and 53, that take people to Serangoon MRT Station from Lorong Ah Soo, and back.

How about you increase the freakin' frequency so we can freakin' get on with our lives?

A Public Service Announcement for Cooling Off Day 2012

Cooling Off Day is now in effect for Hougang by-election.

Please turn on your air-conditioners or, if you wish to be more eco-friendly, your fans, because it has been quite warm lately. Even after it rains, it goes back to sticky, humid and warm. Being warm and sticky is bad for political decisions.

Spend some time during the day to breathe deeply and let the emotional high of attending rallies leave your system. Spend some time to reflect rationally and calmly on issues raised during the election before going to the polls, on the toilet bowl, perhaps.

Let the metaphorical mud from the mudslinging drain from your face. Wipe off the splattered blood of character assassinations from your nose and hands, and prepare your mind and body for the rational decision ahead.

Listen to calm songs. Forget the chants and the cheers from the week of rallies. Try some Richard Clayderman, or if you want something a little edgier, Kenny G. These are fine music choices to ready your mind for a serene and well-thought-out vote.

Avoid getting angry about things. Try not to drive these two days, because Singapore roads are filled with drivers who believe they own the roads, since they paid so much for their COE and ERP. If someone cuts your lane suddenly, don't let that influence your vote. If a parking auntie summoned you, don't take that hostility to the polls. If you missed three trains at Hougang MRT because they were packed to the gills, don't make that the basis of your choice.

Remember, stay cool… cool… cool…

If reading the local papers and watching the local tv news makes you want to explode with rage at the biased coverage, read a comic.

But avoid controversial comics like Marvel's Civil War, because it is about superheroes who battle superheroes due to a disagreement over politics. Also, Civil War had a sucky and sudden ending. I returned it to the library feeling very uncalm.

Also avoid reading comics like The Punisher. He is very controversial in his stories and kills anyone that commits a crime. He would blow you away just for littering. Also, they have never made a decent Punisher movie, which can make a fan of his comics very angry and unable to think rationally about his vote.

Perhaps you can spend your Cooling Off Day at the wet market; drink some kopi, enjoy the cheap and good hawker food. Oh wait, Hougang residents may want to go somewhere else. Your wet market at Hougang Avenue 3 was torn down in 2008.

Finally, a Cooling Off Day pro-tip: Ensure your admins don't accidentally post on your campaign Facebook page again.

Demon-cratic Singapore #323

Wow, I am honoured to be featured in the Demon-cratic Singapore comic. (Click on image to see larger version.)

[via Demon-cratic Singapore]

Not very subtle lah, ST

Is it just me or has ST election coverage returned to the old ways, pre-GE2011, since Warren Fernandez took over?

This kind of obvious, kiddie-quality, slanted nonsense made me laugh out loud when I saw the front page of the Straits Times.

It's like reading the newspaper when it covered the elections in the seventies and eighties.

One of my readers said, "I can't bring myself to read the ST these days without the urge to set fire to it."

You can have all the layout redesigns in the world but thinking readers won't read your paper if they can smell the old "nation-building" ways coming back.

Except to laugh at it, maybe.

Hougang By-election: WP's Gerald Giam at WP Rally

Youtube link: http://mrbrwn.co/K9ttQX

Maybe I should start charging political parties money for using my name at their rallies. Or name myself mrbrown™.

In reference to PAP MP Denise Phua's speech, Gerald Giam says:

"Then she went on to say that we don’t even need opposition MPs. She said that we can go check out the Internet to see the views of ex-Nominated MPs and bloggers like mr brown. She said that they do not have allegiance to any specific political party and have minds of their own. She said that they are the real check on the PAP.

Wow! Really? Bloggers are the real check on the PAP? I was an active political blogger several years ago. If I had heard this her speech back then, I wouldn’t have bothered going through all this trouble to join the Workers’ Party and contest in elections. I would have just stayed at home and blogged away to bring about real change to Singapore!

By her logic, we can just all go into Facebook to debate and make laws there. Why bother with Parliament?

In fact, even blogger mr brown, whom Ms Phua mentioned, was tickled. Here is what he wrote on his blog in response:

“I am honoured. Does that mean I get to vote on bills and speak in Parliament from now on?”

I think Ms Phua has a fundamental misunderstanding of the Parliamentary process."

Thank you for mentioning my name at your speech, Mr Giam. Not to belittle the role that parliamentarians play in our political landscape but change and checks don't just come from elected politicians alone hor. Just sayin'.

You know who are the real checks on the ruling party AND the opposition parties? Regular folks like us, who hold the right to vote, and who hold the right to decide who gets to govern us. Some of us have blogs. Some of us use Facebook. Some of us talk at coffee shops.

Regardless of the space we choose to voice our concerns, and to exercise our citizenship, remember that we are the hands that open the doors to send you to Parliament, and we are also the hands that can yank you lot out.

Disregard the voice and the will of the people at your own peril.

Hougang By-election: PAP's Denise Phua at PAP Rally

At her rally speech for the Hougang by-election PAP rally on Sunday, PAP MP Denise Phua mentioned me as the "real check on the PAP", because, according to her, I have no allegiance to any political party and have a mind of my own (Facebook video link).

I am honoured. Does that mean I get to vote on bills and speak in Parliament from now on? I am free on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for Parliament debates. Tuesdays I can't because it is my gaming night.

When I told the wife that MP Denise Phua said I'm a check on the PAP, my wife told me to check if the kids sleep already or not.

I think the wife believes the only thing I have the authority to check on is whether our children have finished their homework already or not. I think she is probably right.

Speaking of election rallies, I can imagine the Hougang By-election PAP Pre-rally Briefing:

Rule 1: Comrade speakers going onstage tonight, no matter what you say, do not mention the word "Repent".

Rule 2: When in doubt, see Rule 1.

I can also imagine the Hougang By-election WP Pre-rally Briefing:

Rule 1: Don't start with Good Evening, Y'aw!

Some of us seem to wish the by-election is islandwide. @perpendi wrote on Twitter: "Secretly wishing the by-elections were being held in Chai Chee instead."

Er, Chai Chee By-Election sounds wrong leh.

the mrbrown show: vote you maybe

So many elections in two years! Very tired one leh! Ok lah, call me at mrbrownshow.com!

Play "the mrbrown show: vote you maybe"

A photo doesn't always tell the whole story…

A few sites were posting first photo above (original photo from TOC, taken by Chan Zhi Jian, Jeremy) to show how "ungentlemanly" PAP candidate Desmond Choo was towards WP candidate Png Eng Huat, at the Hougang by-election nomination day.

The reality was seen in the second photo.

Come on, lah. Want to whack ruling party also whack correctly lah.

Chanel News Asia? A new perfume?

CNN video on why Facebook co-founder, Eduardo Saverin moved to Singapore has clips from "Chanel News Asia".

Also amusing, an earlier version of the CNN post had the caption, "Why Facebook co-founder moved to China":

After someone pointed out to the grober news agency that Singapore is not China, the caption was changed.