mrbrown.com

Minister Midas on a Product Update

Minister Midas has a product update to announce. It is not good news.

YouTube link: youtu.be/5fCDOTUt5bQ

The mrbrown WFH Show Season 4 #100: Eulogy

It is Day 100 Post Circuit-Breaker, Phase 3, Tuesday, 6th April 2021. A eulogy for Mom, who passed away peacefully more than a week ago.

Say hi to Pa for us, Ma.

She was the best Mom ever.

Bag Review: The Tom Bihn Guide’s Edition Paragon

My Guide’s Edition Paragon in Ursa has arrived and I transferred all my stuff from my Guide’s edition Wilderness Synik 22 to the Paragon.

It does not have the same organization as the pocket-laden Synik but it has a nice slim silhouette that belies its 20L capacity. It is taller and more right angled than a Synik 22 but slimmer in depth.

Internally, it’s basically one big space. So I found it handy to use a Freudian Slip meant for a Synapse 19 inside to give me more flexibility in storing my knick knacks. Because there is only one mini pocket on top inside and a larger pocket outside.

My EDC consists of many things I use for work.

So there is usually an Montbell trekking umbrella, a tabletop tripod, a few microphones like the Shure MV88+, MV88, two Sennheiser MKE2 lavaliers, Rode Wireless GO II wireless mic set (inside the Handy Little Thing), Sony field recorder (inside the Freudian slip), a small camera (in this case, the Fujifilm X70), USB-C and Lightning charging cables and a powerbank (inside the tethered Ghost Whales).

Also in there are my Moment filters for my iPhone, a toothbrush kit from Muji, contact lenses inside the tiny Ghost Whale, and secondary wallet.

I also tested my MacBook Pro 16-inch inside the sleeve behind. Fits great. I could never fit that in my Synapse 19 or Synik 22. So it’s nice to be able to schlep it with the Paragon.

It is definitely lighter than the Synik 22. The S22 is 1,100-1,200g. This Paragon is about 672g and even with the Freudian Slip, it weighs about 870g. Still lighter than the Synik 22. You do have about 2 litres less space though.

I like the flexibility of the big space inside the main compartment. I even manage to put an entire hoodie inside after I packed what you see here.

Think of this as a beefier Daylight Backpack. If you love the DLBP, you will love this too, especially if you want a laptop compartment and comfier straps.

I added the little red zipper pulls as accents to the already nice Ursa/Coyote colourway. I think the look works well.

Don’t Copy Singapore (sing by Kim Huat)

Kim Huat wants stealers of our NDP songs to know that they can’t deceive, they can’t deceive.

[The original song that this parody is based on, Count on Me, Singapore, was composed by Hugh Harrison and arranged by Jeremy Monteiro.]

Context: via.

YouTube link: youtu.be/efDUqXeVb-s

Kim Huat Explains Disney+

While watching TV with his friend Marc, Kim Huat explains what Disney+ has to offer and why he should subscribe.

Subscribe to Disney+ today! It has finally come to Singapore!

YouTube link: youtu.be/bOqbiTah_G4

ABS Kim Huat and the OTP

Don’t anyhowly share your OTP and get scammed! The Kim Huat Help Desk is open for business!

YouTube link: youtu.be/gfM2L2R8m9o

Kim Huat Welcomes Phase 3

Kim Huat reminds us to be vigilant and careful even as we enter Phase 3.

YouTube link: youtu.be/3shkoMMivTQ

Bag Review: The Tom Bihn Shadow Guide

Warning: Nerdy bag post ahead.

I was meaning to post a review in October but work and other concerns got in the way. So here it is: the Tom Bihn Shadow Guide 33 in Ursa colour.

In case you wanted to know what the colour Ursa (and the Shadow Guide 33) looks like.

I believe the smaller Shadow Guide 23 is now on pre-order, and the SG33 is in stock in both Black 525 and Ursa.

Personally I think the Shadow Guide 33 is a lovely backpack. Very useful if you need a big space to carry stuff. There isn’t as much by way of pockets and organization, compared to say, the Synik 30, but there is a useful laptop sleeve inside.

I like the SG33 because my main laptop is a 16-inch MBP. Which fits. In fact, the Shadow Guide 33 supports more laptop sizes than even my Synik 30.

The baby brother Shadow Guide 23 is more for smaller laptops like the 13-inch MBP or MBA.

The Edgeless Shoulder Straps are comfy, the back support is firm and the overall look is very modern. I can totally see this used as a travel bag, either One-Bagging it or with an accompanying side bag like a DLBC or Co-Pilot.

The aesthetic is more modern than previous Tom Bihn bags, which may please some fans looking for a more urban look. I think the Design Lab experiments are very welcome.

Ursa as a colour surprised me. I didn’t expect it to look as nice as it does in real life. I like it so much, I ordered a new Paragon Guide’s Edition in Ursa. Like Wilderness Green, Ursa has become one of my favourite new colours from the TB range.

You can see the Wilderness colourway in this photo showcasing the Wilderness Synik 22, the Ursa Shadow Guide 33 and the Mars Red Icon tote.

Now all I need is to be able to travel again and really use these bags thoroughly.

For Telegram Verification

For new (and old) Telegram users, my Telegram channel is:

t.me/mrbrownlor

Kim Huat and 2021

Kim Huat welcomes 2021 with some rail bad news.

YouTube link: youtu.be/0Klw_wLrWBc

2020 Vision: a Photo Essay

I look back on 2020, the year our lives turned upside down.

(Read the full post and see more photographs at https://brown.exposure.co/2020-vision or view the embedded version below.)

2020 Vision by Kin Mun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure

the mrbrown show LIVE!: Coda

After four shows from 25th to 27th December 2020, we finally completed our run of the mrbrown show LIVE! and it was an awesome run. Four shows at KC Arts Centre, all sold out or almost sold out, and a livestream on the last show that had a nice number of viewers too.

We are exhausted but satisfied.

After all the months of hard work, it was a thrill to see the fruits of our labour. I have to thank SIFA, the crew, the band, Marc, Miyagi, producer/director/arranger James Lye, and my family for all this. Also all the family, friends and fans who came to see the show.

Special thanks to Adwin & SK of Audio-Technica SEA for the use of their mics, Pantheon Percussion for the custom-built drums, Whitney and Aeson of Salon De Maison who styled my entire family's hair for every show, and Mr Koh of Pearl's VisionCare at City Gate for my glasses (and Midas's).

Here are some photos from the rehearsals and shows, some by me, some by Daniel Tan (IG: @shredcow).

James Lye, our fearless leader and general slave driver:

Koh Yi Da, on keybaords:

Eugene Soh, Band Leader:

Low Han Quan, on drums:

The three muskeeters: Marc Nair, me, and Miyagi, during rehearsals:

The dressing room at KC Arts Centre:

First time seeing a standee of my show:

My youngest, Joy, Makeup Artist for Marc and me:

Scenes from the show:

When the show ended on Sunday evening, the family and I grabbed a taxi home in the heavy rain, I rushed to settle dinner for the family with help from Isaac. No time for celebrations, because family duties await. There was laundry to be done (so many costumes to wash) and Faith was waiting for dinner at home with Auntie.

Me? I just wanted to sleep for the entire Monday after the last show.

#ThisIsSG: the browns

mrbrown shares the different passions and dreams that each member of his family pursued in this difficult year of the pandemic: Passions that kept them all sane and motivated. Passions that improved their own lives, and maybe even the lives of others.

YouTube link: youtu.be/Lsv6UqxDgnY

Kim Huat and the Pyjamas

Kim Huat also wants a piece of the new influencer online business.

YouTube link: youtu.be/bPZQtOtRw2I

Foster Care in Singapore: Michael and Irene’s Journey, Part 2 of 2

In my previous post, I wrote about how my friends Michael and Irene came to become foster parents. At the time of writing, they had four foster children, one in Primary 2, two taking the PSLE, and one in Secondary Two.

When I stepped into Michael and Irene’s home, it looked both familiar and new.

Familiar because the wife and I came here fairly often before they were married, and Irene always kept a clean and neat home.

New because gone was the large furniture and the display cabinets of her Precious Moments toys, replaced by a box of neatly placed children’s school bags, and a smaller sofa.

Michael and Irene did not just make room in their hearts for the children they foster, they made room for these children in their home.

You can see that they have their Work From Home laptops in the living room but that was something they can put away at a moment’s notice. In my home, when I set up our Circuit Breaker WFH and HBL spaces, I had to throw away a ton of junk, and we still aren’t anywhere as neat as this household of four girls and their foster parents.

In the girls’ bedrooms, there is the usual assortment of toys, games, assessment books and clothes. Everything in its place. Later, I was told by a proud Irene that this is maintained by the girls themselves.

There was a sense of order, of structure, and peace.

And when you listen to the stories from the couple about the difficult circumstances the children came from, you understand why this structure is so important. It represents a sanctuary of stability for their challenging pasts, a place for them to grow into responsible adults, and for them to feel loved and cherished.

Yes, love.

I felt it when I entered the home. It was obvious the children adored Michael and Irene, and the couple loved them back just as dearly.

I felt it when I took their photos: one family portrait, one couple photo, and one of the foster siblings together. I gave them the photos as keepsakes.

You cannot make up the affection and love that they showed one another.

It did not always run smoothly, Michael and Irene told me. There were many challenges.

Remember, these aren’t children who grew up in their care. They came from other situations, where they may have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

Each child comes with his or her baggage, and I am not talking about the bags that carry their clothes and belongings.

Yet, with patience and understanding, the couple managed to break down the walls that got in the way of their relationship with each child.

“Do you get to adopt the children you foster?” I asked.

Sometimes it happens but rarely, Michael told me. That is the not the goal of fostering, he said. Foster care does not necessarily lead to adoption nor is that its purpose.

The purpose of foster care is reintegrating the children back to their natural families, to take care of the children until their own natural family is ready and able to take them back again. To give their natural families time, as It were, to find their footing, and become capable of raising their child again.

Adoption is a permanent thing, where the adopted child assumes the rights of the natural child in the family. In contrast, foster care is a temporary arrangement to care for the child’s immediate needs in times of emergency, and provide them a safe, stable and loving home.

And the couple told me that each child in their care looks forward to going home to their own families, if possible. Reintegration does not happen overnight, but it is a gradual process which begins the moment the child enters the foster home. It is the hope of many who are in the foster care system.

I mulled over this for days after I finished my chat with them. How does one take on children who are not your own, with no expectation that they will be yours, and just love and care for them on behalf of another family, with the end goal of giving them back?

Surely this takes an immense amount of love and magnanimity on the part of the foster parents. It baffles my mind, and my heart.

And yet, here we are. Couples like Michael and Irene exist, willing to step forward and help. Some foster parents have no children of their own, and some do. All love and care for the foster children they take on.

Interestingly, Michael and Irene consulted each child before they fostered the next, even though they have the space and capacity to just proceed to take in another child after their first.

“Do you want a Big Sister?” they asked the first one before deciding on the second girl.

“Yes, I do,” said the first. And so Cheh Cheh came into the home. Then another Cheh Cheh, And another.

“Each child is a part of our home, and we wanted their buy-in before we brought home another foster sibling. We try to prepare the kids for whatever decisions that may impact their time with us.”

This is not part of any protocol, but to the couple, it seemed to be a sensible thing to do.

Another challenge they faced was the choice of school. For instance, their first and youngest child was about to enter primary school. “We did not know how to go about this school thing.”

As parents of our own children, we had about six years to prepare for their eventual entry into school. For Michael and Irene, they had about a year and a half to figure it out. With the help of the foster care officer and a kind principal, the youngest, who was transferring due to her own school closing, was able to enter the school near their home as the foster sibling of one of the older ones.

Another challenge was the first time they went to Family Court, ready to take over the care of the foster child.

“No child should ever have to be in Family Court,” said Michael, his face wincing at the memory.

Imagine a child of four, not understanding that she is not going home after court, and two families in court together.

It can be a messy and emotional rollercoaster for both families.

And yet, all this is done to ensure the child’s welfare is taken care of. The child’s wellbeing is paramount, and painful as all this sounds, it is done in the best interest of the child.

“What kind of help would you like to see, to support you as foster parents?” I asked them.

“More volunteers,” they replied.

Besides Foster Parents, there is also a need for volunteers such as Befrienders, Mentors, Transport providers and Tutors.

Michael and Irene also had a lady volunteer who helped drive one of their foster children to school every day. Volunteers who do this are also registered with the MSF.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. This is even more true in the case of foster care.

Michael and Irene strive to provide all the necessary comforts of family life for their foster children, to give them a safe and nurturing space they may not have experienced in their natural families for whatever reason. And above all, a place where they can feel loved and cherished.

I hear it in the laughter from the girls’ rooms. I see it in their interactions. I sense it in the neat rows of clothes hanging in the cupboards, and the library books and text books stacked neatly on their desks.

Order from instability. Hope from the ashes of despair. Love that comes from a positive family life.

This is what Michael and Irene, and many foster parents like them, give to vulnerable children in Singapore. Let’s hope there are more people like them out there, willing to stand in the gap.

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If you are interested to find out more about the MSF Fostering Scheme, you can join their upcoming sharing sessions. More details can be found at https://mrbrwn.co/msffostering2. Alternatively, you can call 6354 8799, WhatsApp 9645 8231 or email [email protected]