mrbrown: L'infantile terrible of Singapore

Riding through Shanghai in style

Model Elyse Sewell, from America's Next Top Model's season 1, rode her bicycle through the streets of Shanghai and shot this little video.

You can also check out her LJ blog.

(via)

Probably the worst christmas carol singing evar

Listen to this at your own risk.

Transport Minister: Bicycles good for just intra-town travel

Oh since we are on the topic of transport, Mr Lim also said at the same dialogue session:

Moving to a cheaper form of transport, one resident asked: "I would like to know... whether we are having, in the near future, a pro-bicycle government policy, where it can provide shady bicycle tracks all over the island." For now, Mr Lim said using two-wheelers as a form of transport is good for just intra-town travel. And it cannot be applied uniformly across the island but has to be adapted for different communities.

I repeat what our transport minister said: "Using two-wheelers as a form of transport is good for just intra-town travel."

Just. Intra. Town. Travel.

Why ah? The bicycle will explode if ridden more than 2km, is it? Ang Mo Kio residents' legs will break off if they ride their bicycles to Serangoon ah? Lasers from outer space will disintegrate bicycles if the rider rides from Hougang to Shenton way ah?

Maybe the minister heard of some urban legend about bicycles we were not privy to.

I am sorry for having used my bicycle for riding beyond my estate then. I have been riding my bike beyond what it was good for, it seems.

Tomorrow I go and add an extra wheel to my bike to satisfy the good minister's definition of what is good enough for country-wide travel.

Oh, for your entertainment, a seven-year-old video shot in Germany:

So now our transport fares are not linked to oil prices

After years of being told our public transport fare hikes were because of fuel prices, today we learn a new thing about why public transport fares are NOT coming down, from our transport minister, Raymond Lim:

Mr Lim explained: "This is because the public transport fare is not directly linked to the oil prices. We link it to national factors, like the inflation level in Singapore, and the wage level in the whole of Singapore."

(via CNA)

Good thing Singaporeans don't have the habit of expressing themselves with their shoes. It would be hard to dodge more than one pair.

To reader Len: Yes, Singapore follows the Viagra Overdose School of Economics when it comes to prices — Easy to Go Up, Hard to Come Down.

Another Awareness Test

It is in HD (non-HD version can be seen at Youtube).

From www.dothetest.co.uk.

Dear Lord, we bless these SUVs...

Now this is just... sad.

The Greater Grace Temple in Detroit put three SUVs on stage for a service focused on getting God to convince Congress to approve a bailout for the US auto industry.

I didn't know God had a soft spot for SUVs.

According to a Reuters report: “At one point, Ellis summoned up hundreds of auto workers and retirees in the congregation to come forward toward the vehicles on the altar to be anointed with oil."

They didn't say what oil was used, myrrh or Middle East Crude.

Now I know WWJD really stands for "What Would Jesus Drive?".

(Photo via)

It was not a shoe that was thrown at President-About-To-Go George Bush

Featured comment from Wa Lan: "No wonder the Sing garment goes after you. Bush, al-Malaki and innocent people could have been injured or killed if it was an explosive device. What's the point of showing a clip of the three stooges via a silly loop? Immature and tasteless, Brown."

CNN: "Bearing in mind, that in Iraqi culture, throwing a shoe is the close to the ultimate insult..."

Yes, and in other cultures, throwing a shoe is a sign of respect, affection and love.

It makes you wonder though, that if the Secret Service could not stop a flying shoe or two, how were they planning to protect President Bush from more lethal weapons?

Or did they deliberately let that one through? Hmmm...

Contrary to media reports, it was NOT shoes that were hurled at George Bush in Iraq. This was spotted on the internet, the REAL footage from the incident, it seems.

Here is another possible scenario.

That's why in Singapore, you must not rock the boat

Excerpt from The Washington Post, A Public Enemy in Singapore, by Fred Hiatt:

Ambassador Chan [Heng Chee] says that her country must have a "tighter democracy" than America's, because it is a small, multiethnic city-state in a challenging region -- a rowboat next to America's aircraft carrier.

"In an aircraft carrier, you can be playing soccer in one corner and have jets taking off in another, and the carrier remains stable," she told me. "In a rowboat, it makes sense for everyone to row in the same direction."

I hope this clarifies the kind of democracy we have in Singapore, the everyone-row-in-the-same-direction kind of democracy.

Afterthought: Is tighter democracy something like a looser dictatorship?

Town Council investments saga: Minister tells TC Manager not to reveal any more info

Sometimes the finger is faster than the brain, when it comes to hitting Reply in email.

The Online Citizen has a post about a Roland Soh who sent an email to his MP, Dr Ahmad Magad of Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC, and received a reply that I suspect was not meant for his eyes.

Here is the email Mr Soh allegedly received:

Wei Kin

Further to this, at the meeting with Minister yesterday it was decided that we will NOT disclose any further details beyond what we have already uploaded on-line and will be publishing in our Vibes newsletter.

Additional follow up queries should be replied with politeness, indicating that our disclosures are and will be consistent with Corporate Governance Standards. Pls follow up accordingly.

Thanks.
Best Regards,
Ahmad Magad

The General Manager/Secretary of the Pasir-Ris Punggol Town Council is a Ms Kwok Wei Kin, so perhaps that was who Mr Magad was referring to. But hmmm, who is the "Minister" ah?

I think we can classify this email as "Epic Fail".

Bangkok Post article: Riding the middle footpath in Singapore

Don Sambandaraksa who writes for the Bangkok Post rode his bicycle in Singapore and concludes Singapore drivers are crazy. He also draws a connection between his ride and our programmed society being unable to cope with circumstances outside our neat existence.

First of all, I am not sure what road he rode on, but riding in Singapore is not THAT dangerous. There are crazy drivers in any part of the world, and bicycle riders need to learn to adapt to traffic conditions wherever they are. Not to say we can't improve cyclist safety measures here though (yes, I am referring to you, LTA).

Secondly, I found the connection he drew rather tenuous. Sure, we have rules, regulations and orderliness but that does not make our society less resilient. It takes a resilient people to survive and thrive under a government that is always trying to tell you what to do, ok?

Hey, at least our airport is still open.

Read his whole piece at the Bangkok Post. Thanks to reader dokistar for this link.

Excerpt:

In a nutshell, the usually boring, law-abiding, orderly Singaporean that is famous the world over turned into an aggressive, horn honking, engine revving crazy driver that is more fit for rush-hour Bangkok or Bangalore than Singapore. Moreover, it was an aggression that was totally uncalled for. I biked a lot in the UK, in Manchester, and have never seen this level of road rage before. Odd.

"They don't like others on their space," one of my local friends later told me over dinner. The drivers do not like anything different. They like the predictability, the order of being told exactly where they can go and what they can do.

Introduce something different, something without any rules and regulations, and the usually strict, orderly driver breaks down and reverts to his native, aggressive state, honking, revving and just displaying road rage at the poor biker because they do not know what else to do.

It was fun to infuriate these people, and to slowly cycle past them later as they got stuck in traffic. Strangely enough, there were almost no cyclists on the road apart from a few poor Indian cyclists on rickety old bicycles.

But it was after nightfall when the local bikers did come out and I began to realise how chaotic Singapore's biking scene can be. Almost nobody had lights on their bikes. Nobody was on the roads and nearly everyone was cycling on the footpaths. Some were cycling against the flow of traffic. Few were watching the cars around them. It was almost total chaos. Something was obviously not right.

There are two frameworks of law and order. One tells people what to do, the other tells us what not to do. Sounds simple. One tells us the centre path where we should walk and expects us not to stray far from it. The other shows us the limits of acceptable behaviour and we are free to do anything we please as long as we do not cross those limits.

Both sound reasonable, but in practice there is a lot of difference between a society that functions because it is programmed to, and another that functions freely within set boundaries. The difference lies in what we usually refer to as self-immunity.