mrbrown.com

The Chief Justice gets it

This piece of news caught my eye in the papers the other day.

ST: No jail for French m-cyclist

TODAY: Motorcyclist convicted of road rage wins appeal

Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong replaced the jail time of a French motorcyclist who punched a driver, with a $2000 fine because he felt it was too excessive, as it was not unprovoked.

The guy Mille punched was a driver, a Mr Chong, who tried to squeeze his car between another car and Mr Mille's motorbike, bumping his bike and sending it into a dangerous wobble.

I am not going to defend the punching/road rage, but the exchange between Deputy Public Prosecutor Gillian Koh-Tan and CJ Chan was very telling.

The DPP argued that Mr Chong Yuen had only caused a slight wobble with his collision. Mille "was unhurt and the motorcycle was not damaged," she said.

To which CJ Chan replied, "Don't you know it's very dangerous to knock into a motorcycle because the rider could fall and be run over by a car. You see the accidents. Who gets killed? It's the cyclists and motorcyclists."

CJ Chan also said, "Why was he (Mr Chong) in such a hurry? Doesn't he know that it's very dangerous to knock into a motorcycle?"

Amen and amen.

And when CJ asked if the driver was charged for his dangerous driving, the answer was no.

They should have charged that driver. It is time we came down hard on drivers who endanger the lives of vulnerable users of the roads.

The DPP's remarks, "He was unhurt and the motorcycle was not damaged" are symptomatic of a society that does not place the "burden of responsibility" with the driver when it comes to collisions. So tell me, when is a driver considered endangering a cyclist or motorcyclist? When the bike is a pile of twisted metal and the rider splattered all over the tarmac?

The minute a driver so much as comes too close, it already dangerous. That is why there is a 1.5m minimum safety distance law in place (that is hardly enforced or adhered to).

If everyone followed the DPP's thinking, then every driver can just buzz a cyclist (drive very close) or graze his tires, as long as the fella doesn't fall down and die.

I am encouraged by CJ Chan's understanding of the dangers faced by riders. Now let's see some tougher action on drivers who put other road users in danger.

In New York and Delaware, they passed "Vulnerable User" laws to protect to protect pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchairs and other users of the roads that don’t have a metal cage surrounding them.

Here, I'd settle for stricter (or ANY) enforcement of the 1.5m-when-passing rule.

Dover Park Hospice SUNday Walk 2010

Do go and support the Dover Park Hospice Sunday Walk to be held at Tanjong Beach, Sentosa. The walk is to raise funds for a purpose-built hospice providing palliative medical care to terminally-ill patients of all races and religions.

Date is 5th September 2010 (What day? Sunday lah. Duh). The carnival starts at 2.30pm and the walk will be at 5pm.

Registration details here. Facebook Event page here.

Tweets from National Day Rally 2010

It was fun watching the annual 3-hour extravangaza that is the National Day Rally by PM Lee Hsien Loong and tweeting at the same time. The rally even ended with the song "Home" by Kit Chan. I half expected them to shoot some major fireworks to end it with a bang.

Anyways, I had so much fun on twitter that I thought I'd share some of my National Day Rally tweets and those of others. You can read more at this hashtag, #ndrsg:

1. @mrbrown: Rapturous applause breaks out at the end of the Chinese segment of PM Lee's National Day Rally. Audience toilet break!
2. @mrbrown: Canada welcomes immigrants, so Microsoft hires talent there. Canada, as we all know, is the same size as Singapore.


3. @mrbrown: Had to take a break from PM's speech to help kid wash backside after poopoo. Back to tv. Yep, PM still on immigrants.


4. @coughybean: They changed the translator!! The previous one mentioned 生产孩子？ manufacturing kids? Wahahahah!!


5. @coughybean: #NDRsg hits two-hour mark without a single unexpected twist, closely resembling every M. Night Shyamalan movie this decade.


6. @ilovemudding:"At least if you miss one, the next train will come in a few minutes" #statingtheobvious


7. @_danielchoo: Raise the transport charges and ask for patience. Genius.


8. @kkyz13: 1 extra train for morning rush hour! OMG ONE EXTRA TRAIN!!! OMG I WET MYSELF IN EXCITEMENT. *sarcasm* (I passed him a twitter tissue, just in case)


9. @yuhui: Singapore growth rate: 2008: 1%, 2009: -1%, 2010: projected 15%. PM Lee says that makes it average 5%. Lots of analysts are ROFLMAO.


10. @mrbrown: Personally I feel PM's speech will be better with Keynote instead of PowerPoint… and of course, Bobbi's Pole Dancers.


11. @mrbrown: I tell you what. Here is $9000, I put into the government's CPF account, then we forget about the National Service. Deal?


12. @fakestcom: Breaking news: The next National Day Rally will be in one year's time. (Frankly, I feel that very day should be NDR. 3 hours of tv settled.)


13. @mrbrown: http://mrbrwn.co/dpNg9o Best paid political leader in the world tells his people to lower wage expectations.


14. @mrbrown: Don't worry PM! This month got many Singapore Spirit, watching getai & feasting! Sure thrive! http://mrbrwn.co/a3BAJR


15. @Fake_PMLee: MPs cheer #NDRsg speech. Yes, I expect nothing less from them.


16. @natashannz: The #ndrsg rally seems so much more interesting on twitter than on tv!


17. @csllim: aiya, just simply say "I want you all to do it without rubber"


18. @jenny_0326: Is it just me or did this year's National Day Rally sound like all the NDRs I've heard over the past 5 years? #singapore #ndrsg


19. @k0pio: how come this year's #ndrsg no mee siam mai hum


20. @huiminchan: Wonder what we will say to the next generation: 'You don't know hardship, during my time we only have one train every 2 min.'


21. @WhispersWW: PM should be proud of SG population if #ndrsg timeline is anything to go by-creativity, humour & expression r vital in a thriving society


22. @esotism: it would be so awesome if all #NDRSG tweets appeared on a huge screen behind the PM on TV


23. @rheumatic_anus: @Fake_PMLee I think you should explain further that the ONE extra train during peak hour is actually a very very very long train.


24. @rheumatic_anus: The best way to integrate immigrants with citizens is to intercourse them.


25. @kixes: Did the PM say that the 4 races of SGP are Chinese, Indians, Malays and The Others?! I KNEW IT, WE ARE THE ISLAND OF LOST!


26. @WhispersWW: Thoroughly enjoyed the #ndrsg timeline! Ironic, humorous, biting, observant and just plain expressive, engaging & interactive :-D


27. @AdrC82: Why this year no Jack Neo mentioned in #NDRSG 2010?

And finally, the tweet that made it to Top Tweets for #ndrsg (tankew tankew to all who retweeted):

@mrbrown: blahblahblah Foreigners good for us blahblah Foreigners good blahblah Make babies blahblah We need foreigners #ndrsg summarized

NDP Rally 2010: Pink overload

I think the PM should ask his National Day Rally production folks to go easy on the pink. My eyes are now seeing everything with a pink hue now.

CNNGo column: mrbrown on the proper use of metaphors

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: mrbrown on the proper use of metaphors

Excerpt:

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is finally over. Singaporeans can finally return to their lives and embrace the return of the center lane where drivers had to give way to YOG buses. It was not a smooth few weeks here. While we had highs like watching the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, cheering our Young Lions' heroic performance in the Under-15 football matches and seeing young Isabelle Li take the silver in table tennis, the YOG also made some people mad.

Take Abdul Malik Ghazali, for instance. This guy was so mad he posted very angry remarks on his Facebook page and an "I hate the Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee" page that got him arrested on charges of "incitement of violence."

What did the fellow say? Well, his diatribe against the recent floods, a terrorist's escape and the money spent on the YOG ended with the sentence, "THIS IS THE TIME FOR US TO BURN VIVIEN BALAKRISHNAN AND THE PAP!!!!! RALLY TOGETHER AND VOTE THEM OUT!!!"

The police seem to have taken issue with his use of "burn" which he later said was a metaphor, not meant to be taken literally.

Personally, I think his only crime was typing in all caps and the overuse of exclamation marks (I suggest a month's community service for every unnecessary exclamation mark). You may even take him to task for misspelling the name of our Sports Minister (it's "Vivian" and not "Vivien", and he's a bloke). But I think anyone with half a brain will realize that in the context of what Mr Ghazali wrote, he was not inciting any violence or asking folks to set a minister on fire. (cont'd)

the mrbrown show: upsize the youth olympics

Singapore ponders how to improve the YOG at mrbrownshow.com!

I just made some virtual fireworks go off, I think

Just for fun, I sent a tweetwave by tweeting with the hashtag #yogwave and fireworks went off at the virtual stadium at http://bit.ly/yogwave!!! And just I did that, the other open browser window on my iMac was showing the live feed of the Closing Ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games, and yes, the fireworks went off there too.

Timing very good ah? Hahaha!

Join the fun and tweet #yogwave too!

mrbrown.com now has a custom short domain, mrbrwn.co!

You may soon see mrbrown.com links online, especially Twitter, with this URL: mrbrwn.co

That is my new custom short domain. Using the bit.ly Pro service, I am now able to shorten links to my posts on mrbrown.com with that URL.

I know, I know, I only save two letters, and I could have made it shorter but I like that you can still tell what it spells.

For example:

http://mrbrwn.co/aS6iwk

…will link to:

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2010/08/manila-cop-pewpew.html

Nice, yeah?

In fact, it looks like every link I shorten and share, even external ones, will be prefaced with mrbrwn.co, so you will know it's from me. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not, but I am a sucker for shiny internet toys.

Shorter, easier to share. Save some letters, save the earth.

Manila cop pew-pew

Not sure if this has been photoshopped but this was allegedly a photo from the Manila Bus Hostage fiasco, where Rolando Mendoza hijacked a bus of Hong Kong tourists.

If indeed this was a real Manila cop with his "gun", then the Manila police were way more ill-equipped than we thought.

At the BBC: Ten things the Philippines bus siege police got wrong

Also floating around the Net, suggestions have begun to describe the Philippines SWAT team:

1. Sorry, We Aren't Trained

2. Special Window Assault Tactics

3. Seems We Are Timid

4. Sorry, We Are Takot (Tagalog for Afraid)

Also seen online, this photo of Manila's new tourist attraction:

Truly a *facepalm* moment.

Do the WAVE for the Singapore Cubs online!

Now you can do the Tweetwave for the Singapore Cubs playing their match against Montenegro for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) football bronze medal.

Just tweet with the hashtag #yogwave and your Twitter avatar will appear in the virtual stadium at http://bit.ly/yogwave.

Woohoo! Kallang WAAAAAAAAAVE!

This I Know

You can skip this if you like. I wrote this post and this song for my wife and the little one we didn't get to hold.

Play "This I Know"

Right-click to download the mp3

Goodbye

One moment we saw a heartbeat. And the next, nothing.

Nothing but the yolk sac. No resident within. Like an empty home. Like someone left without saying goodbye.

We went for the check-up on Saturday, expecting to see more of him, having seen the first heartbeats 2 weeks ago.

I stood in front of the tv screen, numbed by Dr Lim's prognosis. Behind the curtains, my wife's quiet, almost pleading voice could be heard asking, "Are you sure? But we saw the heartbeat last time…"

But Dr Lim confirmed the miscarriage, saying it does happen, especially within the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy, and more so when the woman is older.

He kindly suggested we quickly schedule the D&C (Dilation & Curettage) surgery, to prevent any infection and potential problems.

Outside, we waited while the paperwork was being filled and the appointment with the hospital made. It felt like forever.

The wife sat with me, trying not to break down in front of all these other pregnant women in the waiting room with us. But she could only hold her tears back that long.

We informed our loved ones and friends, and words of comfort poured in.Their prayers covered us.

As we struggled with our grief and loss, we were reminded of what we were together for.

I was also reminded of her quiet strength. This was my wife, who survived a very scary first pregnancy, and who did not cave when faced with the realization that our firstborn has autism. She did not cave this time either.

Instead, we went about our business over the weekend, to do the things we had already planned to do, to go to places we already planned to go.

Occasionally, we exchanged glances, knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"Was it something I ate? Was it something I did before the pregnancy?" she would ask, in the moments between the calm.

"It's not your fault," I would say.

"Maybe it was all those doubts I had. Maybe Baby thought I didn't want it," she said, trying desperately to find a reason, a cause.

"You know that is not true. These things happen. It's not your fault. It's not our fault."

Other times, we said nothing, and just held each other.

The day before the surgery, she messaged me, "I prayed for Baby, you know. I thought Baby would be protected."

"I know. Me too. But He had other plans," I messaged back. "Baby is in good hands."

Then it was the day to do the D&C. We got up at 5am to get some breakfast for her before her fast, and checked in at the hospital at 9am.

We waited in the Day Surgery ward, chatting and reading the papers together, and replying to messages of concern on our phones. When the talk came round to the kids, we found ourselves laughing when we exchanged stories about what Faith, Isaac and Joy did recently.

"I am still burpy and nauseous," she said, referring to the lingering symptoms of pregnancy.

"It should pass," I said.

"You know, this is the first time we've come here for something other than a delivery."

Then she was wheeled in for the procedure. By late afternoon, she was discharged and we went home.

That night, we had dinner at Mom's.

After dinner, Isaac and Joy climbed on my legs and jumped up and down. Then Isaac and I got into a debate about who to support for a YOG badminton match. I said Thailand, he wanted to support China. I told my 6-year-old son China does not need your support but he insisted.

When I asked about some badminton rule, Dad joked and said, "Ask me lah. I am the Champion Armchair Sportsman."

We all laughed. Indeed, Dad is an Armchair Sportsman of Olympian standards and knows all sports, while playing none.

Faith giggled and pulled me towards her when I asked for a kiss. The wife sat on the sofa, looking a little tired from the day.

After we shooed the kids to bed, we watched some tv and the wife said, "Today at the playground, Isaac said he already decided on a name for him," and told me the boy's name Isaac chose.

"How did he even know it was going to be a boy? It was just 8 weeks."

"Ya. And Joy wanted to listen to my tummy," she smiled, and then added quietly, "They haven't forgotten."

"We'll have to tell them soon, somehow," I said. "I'll think of something."

And then she fell asleep on my lap. I sat in the dark, saying my goodbyes.

CNNGo column: Youth Olympic Games 2010: mrbrown tours with the torch on a 'happy bus'

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: Youth Olympic Games 2010: mrbrown tours with the torch on a 'happy bus'

Excerpt:

I spent a Saturday afternoon smelling the teen spirit of the Youth Olympic Games. By that, I mean really smelling it. I was on an open-top Hippo bus converted into the Coke Happiness Mobile, riding with 17-year-old male and female cheerleaders as it followed the Olympic torch through the heartlands of Singapore.

Dismiss any glamorous images of girls in short skirts and pompoms a la "Glee" and "Heroes". The young people I was with were togged in practical red tees and white caps, and we all perspired together under the sun for six hours. If I had any doubt that there was any YOG spirit left in this country, these young volunteers showed me there was still hope. (cont'd)

MOE says can now bring any water bottles you like

Wow, two mentions in the papers, in one day. Must be a record.

It seems the MOE wisely retracted the no logo order, the one I mentioned in an earlier post. I like how it was called a "miscommunication" and the retraction a "clarification".

Regardless, kudos for the swift action.

Excerpt:

But after a flurry of criticism online on local forums and blogs, the MOE said there was a miscommunication and sent out a clarification to schools at 2am yesterday. The revised advisory merely said students could bring water bottles.

The initial ban on branded water bottles was brought to light by a parent who posted on a forum a letter from his child's school, asking them not to bring bottles with the Nike or adidas logo.

The letter quickly spread to other forums and blogs, angering netizens, who wanted to know why even spectators' belongings should be scrutinised.

'Since when did schoolchildren forced to be spectators at a sporting event have to adhere to branding guidelines? I understand if the athletes are covered by sponsor restrictions but SPECTATORS too?' asked popular blogger Mr Brown on his website.

Hello, Yin Peng and family, in Shanghai!

I saw this in the Forum page today and I was very touched.

Thank you Ms Lum, for your kind words (jeez I hope she was referring to my site, or else I will very laokui one, haha).

I am happy that my nonsense helps to bring a little Home to you in Shanghai.

I certainly hope the two hours your family spent wasn't due to the poor internet speeds in China or due to my site loading too slowly. Hahaha!


Yours sincerely,

The certain gentleman named after a particular mundane colour

Excerpt:

Even the dashing, stern-looking parade leaders participated in carefully scripted videos showing their softer sides. Family, friends, my wish for Singapore. It was just too much mush for me. Where was the straightforward stuff, the plain old displays? Bring back my 'boys and girls run and form all sorts of patterns' displays.

It was 7pm and there was still no sign of what I was hoping to see. My sons looked bored.

So, I switched off the TV and, almost telepathically, all of us went online and logged on to our favourite Singaporean blog. This website, by a certain gentleman named after a particular mundane colour, filled our next two hours with immense Singaporean humour and candid self-mockery.

Yes. That's what I call home. Happy birthday, Singapore.

Lum Yin Peng (Ms)
Shanghai, China

Faces from the street

Warning: image heavy post ahead.

I thought it would be fun to share some of my photos taken of the folks who lined the streets, as the Olympic Torch made its way through Ang Mo Kio. These are faces of real people, many of whom just happened to be there when our noisy bus and convoy went by. I loved the ready smiles and waves we got from them.

I don't care how cynical or enthusiastic you are about the YOG. I just like taking pictures of happy faces.

If you see yourself here, say hi in the comments, won't you?

Insing column: mrbrown and the Botanic Gardens

Latest weekly Insing column is "mrbrown and the Botanic Gardens"

Excerpt:

We looked at the sky on National Day with some dismay.

Rain was coming down and we had gotten up extra early to get ready for our outing to the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden with the kids and our friends, the Teos.

The wife had arranged this little outing with Jo, the other mommy and only told me about it the night before. Being the obedient husband, I could only say "Of course, what a great idea!"

I had great plans for the National Day holiday, which involved patriotic things like sleeping in. So out went that grand plan. But a man has to fulfill his Duties to Fatherhood so I made the necessary sacrifice. Also I didn't want to get another lecture on how I should spend more time with the kids from the Boss and Director of Parental Guilt Trips.

For a moment, I saw the rain and thought, perhaps I could crawl back to bed while feigning great disappointment. But the wife was already on the phone, calling Jo to see if it was raining at her side of the Singapore.

"Jo says it is not raining a drop at her end. So I think we should just go," the wife said optimistically after she hung up.

So we piled into the car and drove towards the Botanic Gardens. (cont'd)

CNNGo column: Car wash, abalone and cheap fuel: One night in Johor Bahru

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: Car wash, abalone and cheap fuel: One night in Johor Bahru

Excerpt:

One of the things my mates and I like to do is to pop over to Johor Bahru (JB) in Malaysia for some good and cheap food. And petrol, and car wash, and groceries.

We wanted to avoid the traffic jam that is bound to happen if we tried to drive across the Causeway any earlier. So one recent Friday night, we decided to do a midnight run.

Yes, we were going to enter Cowboy Town in the dead of night.

You see, to Singaporeans, JB was a town rife with crime and car-jacking. Sure it is great to shop in a place where your Singapore dollar is worth 2.2 of their ringgit but we all hear stories of people getting their cars stolen and folks getting mugged, especially at night.

The words of my mother, a veteran of JB shopping (she does her grocery shopping there every other week), echoed in my mind: "Don't go to JB at night! It is not safe!" (cont'd)

Insing column: mrbrown and the youngest one

Latest weekly Insing column is "mrbrown and the youngest one"

Excerpt:

Some mornings, I wake up a little later for work because of a late night of recording (or a late night of gaming too, but let’s not tell the wife). One such morning, I walked out of my bedroom in a slight daze, at around 8.55am and in the living room, I spotted Joy, my 5-year-old, making herself comfortable on the sofa, watching our big-screen TV.

A big-screen TV that was playing Majulah Singapura, the national anthem. And Joy was singing along.

For a moment, I stood there, wondering why in the world a kid would be watching the national anthem on TV. And wondering if I had stepped into the dream world of Inception. Maybe this was a Level 3 dream inside a dream inside a dream.

"Good morning, Papa!" Joy said cheerily, "zhou san!"

"Zhou san," I replied in Cantonese, then pulled all my mental energies together to ask the next logical question, "Joy-joy, why are you watching the national anthem on TV?"

"Okto going to start!" she replied, as if I was asking the silliest question in the world.

So there I stood, in my pajamas, staring at my kid who had planned to catch the free-to-air kids TV channel right from the start of broadcast. (cont'd)

the mrbrown show: single in singapore

Singles! Fear not! Gahmen help you at mrbrownshow.com!