mrbrown.com

the mrbrown show (video): beat it (the singapore ping pong song) music video!

We thought you might enjoy this music video of our "beat it" song, aka "the singapore ping pong song".

This is a milestone for us. It is our very first music video. It was done LIVE actually. We had just finished recording the song for the show, and it was already very late at night.

Then I said, "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to do a music video for this song, and show the fans the inside of our studio at the same time? Plus our awful dancing?"

Before the gang could say, "Er, no lah, shy lah!" I added, "AND not only that! We will record this music video LIVE! Via Qik.com!"

So in one night, we hit two milestones. First music video, actually first video of a mrbrown show, really. And secondly, first time broadcasting live.

Needless to say, we were a bundle of nerves and flubs. Marc volunteered to video us with the mobile phone (although in the original song, all three of us songwriters sang it).

So if you were at my qik.com channel, or on mrbrown.com at around 11.30pm on Thursday the 28th of August, you may have caught our impromptu live stream. We know several hundred people did.

This is the Youtube clip of the off-the-cuff performance itself (complete with annotated karaoke lyrics), in case you missed that live event. We promise to give you guys more warning the next time we pull a live stunt like this, ok?

Enjoy.

the mrbrown show: beat it (the singapore ping pong song)

We know Monday's show is early but we couldn't wait to share this song with you. Sing along at mrbrownshow.com!

New media: This government doesn't get it

I received this well-written piece about PM Lee's recent announcements on New Media at his Rally, and the buzz around it. The author had tried get this published in a mainstream paper and failed. So I told him, heck, I'll publish it here.

New media: This government doesn't get it.
by Some Singaporean Dude

Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong shared at the recent National Day Rally about laws to make space for Web in the political sphere, including during elections. That update created quite a buzz in this newspaper with comments from Members of the Parliaments (MPs), Editors, public and academics alike. While this government has finally recognized that its rules are "way, way out of date", I feel that this government still hasn't "got it" when it comes to the New Media, or Web.

You can't control what you don't own

PM Lee added, at the rally, that the Government had to grapple with "how to maintain accountability and responsibility" and that some safeguards will still be in place. The Government intends to maintain some control over this New Media, or Web 2.0 as it is commonly known.

The essence of Web 2.0 is about "user-generated contents". In traditional media, there is a clear distinction between "Producer" and "Consumer" of contents or information. An example would be this newspaper (producer) and its readers (consumers). With Web 2.0, the line between producers and consumers of contents blurs because consumers have the capability to produce contents as well. A Feedback column of a traditional newspaper doesn't provide consumers the capability to produce contents because its editors can choose to ignore or tweak feedbacks. Not so easy on Web 2.0. Because Web 2.0 is made up of contents not entirely owned by any one person or party, nobody actually owns the Web. The government's intention to regulate or restrict it only proves its naivety, and reveals its lack of confidence on the New Media.

The proof point? Two years ago, Bloggers posted photos of Workers' Party (WP) rally online at a time of restrictive election laws, and when photos on mainstream media did not present the full massiveness of turnouts at those rallies in their reports. You can't control Web 2.0.

Fear factor. But whose fear is it?

There seems to be some concern over credibility and accuracy of contents on the New Media. PM Lee mentioned that Singaporeans needed to be savvy cyber citizens and distinguish between truth and falsehood. So who is to define what is "truth" and, exactly whose fear is this?

Blatant lies or foolish views on the Web are quickly exposed and dispelled because consumers of such contents have the collective intellect and courage to do so. What really is out there (on New Media) is more and varied points of view on a subject - not entirely falsehood - and that is the beauty of Web 2.0. You are not force-fed a singular point of view. A case in point is again the WP rally photo postings by Bloggers when the mainstream media would not initially post. Blogger Alex Au of yawningbread.org also provided alternative views and analysis of our Ministers' pay that are different from what our mainstream media report ed. Other cases include citizen-journalists who post contents where mainstream reporters do not have full access to, say at the instance of a tsunami near a beach. So views differing from the Government or the mainstream media need not be untrue - they are just different.

In the Today article "Come blog about it" (Aug 20), PAP MP Baey Yam Keng went further to say that reports on Government issues should be regulated like traditional media, "to establish the same quality of objective and responsible reporting". Yet the same PAP MP, when interviewed by Blogger Lee Kin Mun in The mrbrown Show, mentioned that the "society needs to be more tolerant" when it comes to creativity and the New Media. When Blogger Lee probed whether it was the "society" or "someone else" that needed to be more tolerant, MP Baey responded "actually both lah". So whose fear is the Government trying to address?

Wikipedia is a popular and free, multilingual, open content encyclopedia. Wikipedia's articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and nearly all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the internet. Near zero-control and regulation. Yet the British scientific journal Nature found that each Britannica article has an average of three errors while each Wikipedia article averages only four. Another proof point.

Stop telling. Start listening.

I read that a Ministry invited bloggers to preview and comment about a government-sponsored TV commercial on the family. That was a smart move because it came across as sincere, and the Ministry eventually got a greater feel of how people really saw its initiatives through "heartfelt" responses. So the New Media is the real and effective "Feedback Unit" unlike any other. This is the channel that the Government should use, not to tell its people what to do, but to listen to what and how its people wishes to progress.

They say, in Brand Marketing, that on the New Media you have to be prepared to lose control (over your Brand). It is the same for politics and policies. And that is okay because it is the people's life and that is how they want it run. The "Singapore Brand" or "Singapore Story" should really be written by its people. PM Lee mentioned that in preserving the integrity, quality and honesty of our political discourse, we have to "keep it straight, serious, think carefully about serious matters which concerns our lives."

Whether contents on the New Media are written in serious, funny, sarcastic, Singlish or academic ways should not be the main judging criteria of the Government on whether the content has a valid message that affects our lives.

Today, in its Aug 22 article, reported that Foreign Minister George Yeo supported media diversity, even if it meant there could be more "false truths" out there. (I wonder where he got that statistics.) He further mentioned that the Government needed to quickly react to "rumours", and that "rumours" getting out of control cannot be overestimated. To that, I will just say to the Government that there is greater urgency to respond quickly to its people's feelings and views because that cannot underrated.

References

[1] "New rules for policies in cyberspace?", Derrick A Paulo, Today, Aug 9, 2008.

[2] "Come blog about it", Alicia Wong, Today, Aug 20, 2008.

[3] "Conversations: What does MP Baey Yam Keng feel about new media, censorship and anonymity online?", The mrbrown Show, http://www.mrbrownshow.com/?p=719, Mar 5, 2007.

[4] "I'm not selling Wikipedia", Michelle Tay, The Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_268322.html.

[5] "Singapore government promotes obscenity", yawningbread.org, March 2007.

[6] "Trusted channels in the age of new media", Derrick A Paulo, Today, Aug 22, 2008.

ST reviewer blasted for watching only 10 minutes of musical and writing scathing review

Wah, power leh., if this is truly what happened. Watch 10 minutes of a musical can write review. I also want this super power.

From Yahoo Group artscommunity, written by hanseltansw:

Reviewing the Straits Times Reviewers On the 20th of August 2008, a certain film reviewer Mr John Lui from the Straits Times sat through the opening run of W!LD RICE's "Own Time Own Target", a triple bill of army plays written by Laremy Lee and Julian Wong. A few days later, a review appeared in the Life! section of the Straits Times in which he described Wong's "Botak Boys" as the "most throwaway script of the lot", claiming that:

"it is clear by this stage of the evening's entertainment that the barrel of stock army characters and situations has been tapped dry and the musical form is a means of recycling."

In addition to the rather scathing evaluation of Wong's musical, Mr Lui also made the error that "Botak Boys" was essentially a "romantic musical about the loneliness of a boy kept far away from his girl". If Mr Lui had been a little more scrupulous about getting his facts right, he would have been obviously aware that the protagonist of the musical had been pining for his boyfriend, while simultaneously struggling with masked mechanisms of homophobia.

When the Straits Times was queried about these inconsistencies, it became clear that Mr Lui had left the show ten minutes into the musical. In other words, Mr Lui had watched no more than a fifth of the musical, of which he felt he had acquired the jornalistic pedestal to unleash such an unfair, inaccurate and misinformed judgment on Julian Wong's piece. If this is the modus operandi of Straits Times' Life! section reviewers, I shudder to think how many shows they have laid judgment on without sitting through the entire night. If this is Life!'s idea of journalistic impartiality and integrity, then I have reason enough to doubt the professionalism, accuracy and respectability of the Straits Times as a newspaper that proffers both exhaustive, incisive public reflection and opinion.

The following day, the Straits Times offered a retraction NOT in the Life! section where the article was first published, but in a tiny column-paragraph (entitled "what it should have been") on page 4 of the main section stating that the review was "incomplete" because the reviewer had "left before the end of the show". The retraction sought to correct the error that the protagonist was pining for his girlfriend, which, as the correction pointed out, was "pining for his boyfriend". The retraction made apology for the factual errors, but made no apology to Mr Julian Wong for a review that was clearly pathetically marginally informed and evaluated with such heavy-handed ignorance. If Mr Lui fathoms that he can excavate the essence of a musical by sampling ten minutes of the show, I wonder if he writes his film reviews by simply fast-forwarding the supplied material to jucier bits.

The Straits Times has made no apology for the ignorance, failure and shortcomings of Mr John Lui as an irresponsible reviewer. Furthermore, its retraction has proven less than adequate, lacking in proper detail in explaining the insufficiency of Life!'s review. Instead, it offers the impression that Mr Lui's article was accurate although "incomplete", without revealing the shameful fact that Mr Lui had missed nearly four fifths of the entire musical. I am thoroughly displeased with the handling of this situation, and should Mr Lui continue to depend on the backing of the Straits Times as an institution to cover up his inadequacy and complacency as a reviewer, then I suggest that the Straits Times should seriously consider refraining from providing ANY theatre review whatsoever until they reinterrogate the principles of journalistic integrity with which their reputation rests - both to theatre companies, artists and the public who demands no less than invested reporting as a bare minimum.

More changing headlines: Inflation hits poor harder

The first two changes were spotted by an eagle-eyed Sammyboy forumer, on the Straits Times site:

At 1.05pm, it reads "Inflation hits poor harder".

At 2.04pm, it reads "July inflation up 6.5%".

The blurb says, "For the first half of the year, it was up 7.1% for Singapore households, with poor families harder hit."

I went to look at the current headline, and it reads "July inflation slows".

The blurb now says, "It rose 6.5%. For the first half of the year, it was up 7.1% for Singapore households, with poor families harder hit."

Maybe the headline too long for the revamped ST font, so must change.

the mrbrown show: we need you baby

PM say we are not making enough babies! New measures are in place to make sure we do! Fall in at mrbrownshow.com!

Gahmen should regulate immoral university orientation events, says letter writer

Just saw this letter in ST Forum: Making friends or making out?

I am appalled to read that in universities, the orientation programs involve making a guy take sweets from a girl's mouth and do push-ups on top of a girl. At 19 to 21 years old, these young impressionable minds, practically babes in the woods, could be influenced into a life of shallow relationships!

I think we should legislate and ban orientation events to protect these young minds. For instance, it should be against the law to make guys take sweets from girls' mouth. And ban guys from not selecting less attractive girls to partner with at these events.

Not only that, there should be mandatory jail time and caning for those who label students who are uncomfortable participating in these activities as "squares". God forbid we teach our 20-year-olds to think and decide for themselves, and develop some backbone against peer pressure.

University students are practically kids, although they have the bodies of adults. We must protect them from the evils of the wanton and lurid world of university orientation activities. Today, they may be taking sweets from each other's mouths, tomorrow, who knows? They may be actually kissing people they don't like or complete strangers in some club or disco!

Perhaps the goverment can consider assigning chaperones to accompany these university freshmen at these activities, to provide moral guidance and make social and sexual decisions for them.

Letter from ST below the fold:

How to Ride Your Bicycle in Singapore (And Not Die): The Left Hook

How to Ride Your Bicycle in Singapore (And Not Die): The Left Hook from mrbrown on Vimeo.

A little video I put together about left hooks, after watching this story from News 10 NBC, via Dave Moulton's blog. An American police car almost right hooks a cyclist in a story about the Rorchester mayor's Zero Tolerance initiative and the news report paints it as the cyclist's fault.

Do be careful of Left Hooks when you ride, because as this video shows, even the police can make mistakes (and in this case, blame the rider).

Ride safe out there, folks.

Quips from the Beijing Olympics

Jade Seah, presenter for "Today in Beijing" (or as someone called the repeat telecast of it at noon, "Yesterday in Beijing"), messes up a name and says the "F" word off-camera. Mediacorp admitted to and apologised for this lapse.

All this while, I thought it was because the athlete's name was supposed to be Wang F**k.

via I.Z. Reloaded

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Meanwhile, on China's CCTV4 channel, our table tennis captain Li Jia Wei is interviewed and she says:

自己是个北京人, 又是中国人。 我希望能在自己的本土， 自己的地盘上， 能够取得一枚奖牌 。

Watch video here (26:31 is where she says this)

My Chinese no good, so one of you should do the translation.

I was kinda hoping she would also mention she was a 新加坡人 too tv is liddat, sometimes you forget say certain things under the glare of tv lights.

--------

Meanwhile, letter writer Mr Quek York Tong, wrote this to the Straits Times:

"I wish to express my deepest and most heartfelt congratulations to Singapore for winning its second Olympic medal after a long long 43 years wait. This ended 43 years of intense hope, anticipation, disappointment, anguish and financial resources spent. More importantly, it proves that even though we are not getting the creme de la creme of the sports men and women from overseas (as reported in the Sunday Times 17 August, "The man behind the medal"), Singapore can achieve.

This is surely a success of our foreign talent scheme in sports, despite the occasional hiccup like when a national soccer player went AWOL around the world. After getting an Olympic medal, may be it is time that we revive our World Cup dream. Perhaps by using the lure of a Singapore passport, we can entice half or even the entire Brazilian football team to Singapore. We can spot the young talents in the streets of Rio de Janerio and groom them. Perhaps we can win a F1 race by applying the foreign talent scheme to top drivers. Perhaps we can venture into new events like cycling, skiiing and baseball. But before we go too far and high, let us hold our breathe and have a grip on our adrenalin. Do the ends justify the means? Would any self-respecting nation, sports man and woman derive any pride in this manner?"

And Mr Quek's letter was shortened and summarised as this:

"'Surely a success, despite the occasional hiccup.'

My heartfelt congratulations to Singapore for winning its second Olympic medal after a long, long wait. It proves that even though we are not getting the creme de la creme of the athletes from overseas, Singapore can achieve. This is surely a success of our foreign sports talent scheme, despite the occasional hiccup.'

Like that also can ah?

Qik video: Riding my shortcut to work

From my live channel at qik.com/mrbrown, a little bicycle ride with me through a little back alley pathway that leads to my office.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Live video streaming from my Qik Channel: www.qik.com/mrbrown

Update: Qik's infrastructure seems to be unstable at the moment. If you can't see the latest video, just try again later. To see the older videos, you just need to click on the "qik" logo on the bottom right, and a thumbnail menu will pop up, and you can choose which older video to watch.

Inspired by PM Lee's use of Qik at his National Day rally (and an email from Singaporean minxuan, who works at Qik), I decided to try this live mobile video streaming site, Qik.com. I have to say, I am impressed.

Link to the first Qik video I ever recorded: here.

Wah lau eh, more than 500 of you viewed the lunch Qik video I posted, within less than 2 hours. I feel very shy leh.

My channel on Qik.com is www.qik.com/mrbrown. I'll certainly be trying it out a lot more now I know what it is capable of.

Headlines: LTA to install more cycling...

... SIGNS on popular cycling routes

Because you know, SIGNS have this magical power to protect bicyclists. When cars see the signs, they will think, I will not aim for the riders, just this once.

Also, signs are more economical to put up than proper bike lanes.

May I suggest other places to put up these magical signs, like the entire Hougang Ave 3 and Jalan Eunos stretch and the Katong area. While cycling enthusiasts may not use those roads for training, there is the other kind of cycling person called the foreign worker and I feel they need protection too. They are not training or enthused about cycling in itself, but just interested in getting from point A to point B safely.

CNA:

SINGAPORE : Beginning August 18, more signs will be put up along roads in the central and western parts of Singapore to warn motorists of the presence of cyclists.

The roads, which include Kranji Way, Upper Thomson Road and West Coast Highway, are popular with cycling enthusiasts who often use them for training.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) - which spearheads the project along with local interest group, the Safe Cyclists Task Force - believes this will make the roads safer for the two-wheelers, and get more people cycling.

Last October, it conducted a successful pilot in Changi

Summary of this year's National Day Rally message by PM

Don't worry if you were watching the ping pong finals and missed the 2008 National Day Rally on the telly. Here is the summary of the message:

"Actually gahmen got help you with rising costs but you don't know only, because we never say loud loud. By the way, you need to have more babies."

Sammyboy's kopitiam forum has moved

In case you didn't know by now, Sammyboy's Alfresco Coffee Shop's at Delphi's has closed. It is now at Sammyboy.com (or singsupplies.com) and powered by vBulletin.

Gosh, it's about time. Delphi's forums sucked terribly, had too many ads and interstitials, and poor search. It ran on FRAMES, for goodness's sake.

This new Sammyboy's Alfresco Coffee Shop seems to be aiming for a kinder and gentler feel, while retaining its reputation for freewheeling, and often witty and insightful, discussions of politics and life in Singapore. There is an infraction system in place. If you don't enjoy flame wars, you may enjoy the discourse here more. Also, it is a forum not owned by any local mainstream media (conspiracy theorists will disagree with this, haha!), if that matters to you.

Er, don't go the wrong forum hor. Sam Leong also runs a NSFW Asian Values Forum which discusses the commercial sex scene (you do know that Singapore is a country that bans porn but legalises prostitution, right?).

the mrbrown show: the singapore chase for olympic gold

No gold silver also good! But we need to widen our search for sporting talent if we want our gold. Compete at mrbrownshow.com!

ERP woes hit the Third Reich

Seen on Youtube, a remix of a Hitler movie.

Update: Below is the same clip used for an original parody about Xbox Live.

Riding the Xootr MG kick scooter

I've been looking at other forms of alternative transport besides bicycles and the local distributor for Xootr (pronounced zooter) loaned me this Xootr MG kick scooter to try.

It is a kick scooter but on steroids. This is not your kid's Razor scooter (or Razor knockoff, as seen everywhere). While kids can certainly ride it, the design is very suitable for big kids like me too.

First of all, the deck (the base) is bigger than regular kick scooters. That means you can put both feet on the deck and ride more comfortably. My MG model's deck is made of solid magnesium, while you can also get decks made of wood and carbon fibre.

Secondly, the wheels are really smooth. They are larger than most kick scooters and feel more stable. The bearings inside, I don't know what they use but they is incredibly smooth, almost frictionless. One push and off you go, gliding for a really long time.

There are fenders you can include, and there is a front AND rear brake as well. I added my own bell and blinkie light.

When folded, the whole thing can be carried with an optional strap, and it weighs about 4.5kg. Quite manageable, and more compact to lug around in a crowded train or a mall. You just remove a locking pin and flip a lever, and the whole thing folds down.

It rides really well on pavement but you have to be careful. It does not like curbs very much, or bumpy bits you find on many sidewalks, so avoid those. I usually jump off if I have to, and walk a bit, before jumping back on when I am back on good smooth ground again.

After a while, you learn what can trip up the scooter and avoid those. Like drain grills, curbs higher than 1cm, and wet pavements.

Going up slopes is okay as long as the incline is not too steep. Downhills are fun but you have to ensure you don't go too fast. Those brakes are not designed for stopping at high speeds.

I tried scootering from Katong to Eunos MRT and it took me about 15-20 minutes. I go banking at Parkway Parade sometimes, and scootering there shaves off at least half the time it takes to walk. It is also way more fun. I keep thinking of errands to run so I can use the thing.

I have yet to try it on the park connectors at East Coast Park, but I reckon it would be great there too.

I rode it once to a US Embassy lunch, wearing a shirt and tie. Riding in formal clothes to the Orchard MRT was a blast.

Nice to have another personal transportation tool to add to my avoid-feeder-buses plan.

What is Joy?

Joy is hunting for chocolate coated ice cream for the wife, who has a craving for it.

Joy is hunting for that ice cream at 11.55pm at night, on your bicycle ride home from work.

Joy is taking a detour from your usual bike ride home because you have to buy ice cream for the wife.

Joy is a pannier on the bike, to carry your stash of ice cream home.

Joy is discovering a walkway-cum-bicycle-path shortcut home from Upper Serangoon Road via Carlton Road because of that detour.

Joy is seeing the look on your wife's face when you do get the ice cream she wanted, in three flavours.

Joy is a wife going to sleep, contented with an ice cream treat.

Joy is waking up in the morning, and seeing your toddler daughter, Joy, asleep in her room, her round face nestled in a pillow.

Joy is riding to work after the rain, in cool 26°C weather.

Joy is light rain falling on your face, just as you and your bike reach the office.

Faith dressed up for National Day

Faith's Special school, like regular schools, had a half day on Friday, National Day eve, where they had celebrations. She went on stage in her Vietnamese dress (I believe there was a Best Costume contest). The maids spent Thursday evening altering the dress to fit her.

Isaac, her younger brother, wore a red top and white pants, a national colours outfit, and told me he played the rattle on stage in his kindergarten.

Summary of this year's National Day message by PM

Update: Paiseh, I called it the National Day Rally speech, it should be the National Day message.

In case you were watching the Olympics opening ceremony instead and missed it, here's a summary of the National Day speech by PM Lee, courtesy of my brother:

"This year no good."