mrbrown.com

My feelings for the whole weekend, summed up

RAIN, Y U NO STOP?!

I am sure some leader out there feels something similar.

IPA Sunny 16 Dog Tags Giveaway

One of my favourite photography sites, The Invisible Photographer Asia, is giving away these cool dog tags. Go their site for instructions.

Last day today, deadline is 2359h.

Full disclosure: I am friends with Kevin, the site founder. But I am doing this purely because I think it's a cool site.

Sponsored Post: Chicken vs Taxi Snatcher

Actually, I wish a chicken would also help me deal with taxis who put up their On Call sign when you are trying to flag one on the street.

Hard Truths (mrbrown edition)

Hard Truths 1. You may never get to vote in this lifetime.

Hard Truths 2. Those who CAN vote will complain & complain about the Govt but when elections come, will end up voting them back in.

Hard Truths 3. People want an opposition in parliament but not in THEIR estate please.

Hard Truths 4. Singaporeans will forget all their grievances if you dangle a carrot just before elections.

Hard Truths 5. Some things are not forgivable. Like the S-League.

Hard Truths 6. The year of the rabbit may be a good year for carrots to work

Hard Truths 7. Foreigners are the solution to economic growth, low fertility rates and just about everything.

Hard Truths 8. No matter how right your argument is, They are more right.

Hard Truths 9. When elections are around the corner, every minister, president and their mother will publish a book.

Hard Truths 10. When elections are around the corner, the newspaper will print pages and pages of excerpts of these books, saving you the convenience of buying the books.

Hard Truths 11. When the Minister Mentor says, "We can integrate all religions and races except Islam" and that Muslims can integrate better if they were "less strict on Islamic observances", it is a hard truth. When anyone else says it publicily, it is probably going to be an invitation to drink kopi and get to know the Religious Harmony Act better.

Hard Truths 12. Before election: Gahmen will give us chicken leg. After election: Gahmen will collect one chicken from us. (via @aromacookery)

Hard Truths 13. F1 can make noise at Marina Bay/Civic District for 3 days; Thaipusam cannot make noise between Serangoon Road & Clemenceau Ave for 1 day. (via @bubblevicious)

Hard Truths 14.You may lose your home so that the govt can build an expressway. (via @bubblevicious)

Hard Truths 15. No choice… No other better player… Wat to do? (via @packetron)

The Singapore Love Poll

On the suggestion of a friend, I popped over to The Singapore Love Poll (singaporelovepoll.sg) to take their fun little quiz. I was skeptical at first (gahmen etc etc) but it really was quite cute.

You can try it whether you are married or single, male or female.

The quiz asks you some questions about marriage that you may or may not have thought about. The one above was something we only resolved years after we got married (I am still guilty of not replacing the toilet roll sometimes. Sorry dear!).

And don't take too long with some of the questions. You have been warned, haha!

I wonder what my wife's answers will be like. Actually, I reckon ours will be very similar because A) we went for marriage counseling before we got married and B) we've thrashed out many of our differences in the 20 years we've known each other.

Oh, we still have a ways to go because the journey doesn't end at the wedding. But the poll was fun to do. Perhaps you can try it with your loved one.

Minister joyfully inspects Orchard Road road works

"As heaven's rays caressed the face of the Minister of Freak Floods, he laughed with amusement as the Senior Civil Servant of Drains standing next to him pushed the foreign worker into the drain."

Hey, that's what the newspaper photo looked like to me, ok?

Of boomboxes, drums and gongs

I have to ask, sooooo is the Govt also extending the Thaipusam ban of music from boomboxes, drums & gongs to Chinese New Year too?

Maybe restrict all Chinese New Year music to just hymns (is there such a thing?)?

Lion dance troupes will only be allowed to dance without their drums, gongs and cymbals. And malls should be banned from playing loud Chinese New Year songs from boomboxes too.

And during the Seventh Month, the Government should extend their ban to cover the noisy auctions as well. Getai singers will only be allowed to sing without a band and a microphone. Auctioneers will whisper the bids.

Oh while we're at it, the Government should also consider a ban on Christmas caroling too. So noisy, right?

And ban Malay wedding bands from playing at the void decks too!

Ban ban ban! It's the Singapore way!

Thaipusam 2011 documentary short

Documentary Short: Thaipusam 2011 from SPOON on Vimeo.

Awesome work by Kevin WY Lee, using the Panasonic GH2. From invisiblephotographer.asia. Also check out his photo essay.

the mrbrown show: the baby crisis

Photo by saidunsaids

2011 and we still haven't licked the baby problem! In fact, it got worse! Solve it at mrbrownshow.com!

Play "the mrbrown show: the baby crisis"

The Feeling is First Class, Changi

My videographer Ryan and I were involved in a very special project for Changi Airport recently. For two full days, we staked out at Changi with a photography team to find out what passengers felt about Changi.

It proved to be quite an eye-opener. People really loved our airport and said so. These were real passengers, using the airport either to go somewhere else or to come to Singapore, and despite some of them getting off some really long flights and being tired, they were happy to sing Changi's praises.

We spoke (kinda ambushed, almost) to them at various places at Changi. The Departure Hall, the Arrival Hall, the baggage belts, and also the special spots like the Butterfly Garden and Koi Ponds. We also covered the shopping areas for all the terminals and the Slide@T3 (which I tried and it did turn come out very glamorously for me).

Here are some of the photos we took of the passengers we spoke to. They will be featured in a series of ads for Changi. That they are real fans of Changi makes it more special.

Kenneth Collins from the UK said, "I've never experienced such kindness and such help."

"Before I know it, I am through the gates and picking up my daughter!" said James Lyons of Ireland.

Christopher Meecham from the UK said, "I like the way it always seems to reinvent itself."

Real people, real stories, real praises for an airport which I am personally very proud and fond of.

It was a most tiring video shoot for us but boy, was it fun and gratifying.

You can vote Changi Airport for The World's Best Airport at Skytrax. Go and vote, ok? I want us to win this year again.

Not an Electronic Sanitary Napkin

At first I thought this was some new high-tech lady's hygiene product but according to the papers, it is a "stick-on water-resistant heart monitor the size of a leaf is set to debut here next year".

MOE to groom Mai Tu Liao teachers

These new teachers are always-in-a-hurry type, issit?

Rockson returns and pisses off young successful businessman

Update 2: TODAY newspaper mentions the fracas but omits Rockson's name. So now he is He Who Shall Not Be Named, is it?

Update 1: AsiaOne and Shin Min reports "YPAP leader regrets behaviour in vulgarity war"

From the article: "The two then exchanged remarks, taunting and calling each other names."

Not much of an "exchange", if you ask me. I counted only FOUR tweets from Rockson Tan in the entire "exchange", and only TWO of those contained vulgarity. And NONE of his tweets even technically counted as responses.

In contrast, er… the "tirade of words" kinda came from pretty much one person.

---------------------------

Wow, I step away from blogging for a day or two and a Twitter war erupts online.

It seems (very) foul-mouthed and (very) infrequent blogger, Rockson Tan (him of the infamous TT Durai rant in 1995) tweeted about Nuffnang boss, Mr Cheo Ming Shen a.k.a. @bossning, with regards to his comparison of Lee Kuan Yew as the Nelson Mandela of Singaporeans.

In his tweet, @rocksontan used a rather rude phrase to describe Ming:

"Cheo Ming Shen say LKY is equivalent of Nelson Mandela to Singaporeans?!! Who is this c******kia? http://twitpic.com/3qr7mm"

And it resulted in a flurry of angry tweets from the offended party:

(link to download bigger screenshot of the tweets)

I have met Ming before, and he struck me as a nice fellow, so this must have happened at the heat of the moment.

The Temasek Review picked up on the Mandela story (Ming was one of the earliest to buy the autographed copy of Lee Kuan Yew's Hard Truths book, for $10,000, which goes to charity) and also on the exchange of vulgarities on Twitter.

The Online Citizen (TOC) also picked up on the story on their Facebook page:

"For the record, rocksontan went personal on me and called me a “c******kia”, now I dunno about you guys, but if somebody gets personal with me, I get personal back with them." Mr Cheo Ming Shen - Young PAP Chairperson for Toa Payoh East

TOC also linked to Rockson's blog post.

Yes, Rockson actually wrote a blog post (caution: vulgar language), something that happens like once a year:

Nab**! I didn't know this c******kia is also Young PAP Chairman of Toa Payoh East! I only know he was boss of Muffnang, a internet company that sell blogger advertisement and internet banner to big company that dunno people don't click or look at banner anymore (at first I even thought it was sell c****** one).

F*** man, if I know he is YPAP, I won't anyhow call him c******kia on my Twitter lor.

PAP people is very powerful one, even the Young one. They can call their lawyer sue you, call ISD come and catch you, and even cassette you as politics association. (read the rest here)

Wow, what a fracas. There is even 13 pages of discussion at HWZ about this.

Interestingly, a twitter account called @PAPLightning (probably a parody account) also jumped into the fray:

We need to encourage more people like #cheomingshen so they have the courage to speak their mind, no matter how stupid others think they are

Talk about rubbing it in.

New Spinning Fad?

This is how normal people dress when spinning at the gym:

Photo by US Army Korea - IMCOM

This is how "International Artiste" Denise Keller dresses for her spinning sessions:

Those heels must really shape the calves.

And if you work really hard at the gym like Denise does, you too can one day twist your head like that.

CNNGo column: Surprise! You are now a political association!

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: Surprise! You are now a political association!

Excerpt:

Singapore's online community was abuzz with excitement after The Online Citizen (TOC), a popular group blog that discusses politics and current affairs, was told by the government it will be gazetted as a political association.

This means that they cannot accept donations from foreign sources, among other restrictions. For instance, they will also need to list the identities of its owners, editorial team and administrators.
Why being gazetted should be look on as an honor

I think TOC should feel proud about being given this honor. To be so influential that the ruling party thinks you are a potential shaper of opinions at the coming elections, and need to be gazetted, well, that's like getting a National Day Award!

Some of you might be thinking, perhaps it may be better to run a website that discusses politics anonymously in future. Or maybe the entire TOC team should just shut down the site and start a new one with secret identities. (cont'd)

CNNGo column: A wintry postcard from Atlanta

Photo by Jonathan Y

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: A wintry postcard from Atlanta

Excerpt:

I am in Atlanta right now and it is freaking cold. I am talking high of 2 degrees Celsius and low of -2.

When I first looked at my weather app to see what the temperatures were going to be in Atlanta before embarking on my 25-hour flight here from Singapore, I saw 22 and thought, that doesn't seem so bad.

It's almost Singapore air-conditioned office temperatures. But now that I am shivering in my long johns, I now know that was in Fahrenheit.

I packed as many winter clothes as I could. Long johns, two sweaters, very thick gloves, a thick jacket, a wind breaker and a wooly hat. Being a dweller of the Equator, I knew that I was not equipped to handle cold climes.

My only concern was that my wooly hat, which I picked up in New Zealand, said "All Blacks" and I was getting odd looks from some African-Americans in Atlanta. I guess they don't play rugby here. (cont'd)

CNNGo column: The WikiLeaks-Singapore saga, part 2

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: The WikiLeaks-Singapore saga, part 2

Excerpt:

Like a gift that keeps giving, WikiLeaks has released yet another leaked U.S. cable that involves Singapore.

This time, the cable shows our straight-talking Minister Mentor describing the Myanmar (or Burma) leaders as "stupid" and "dense." He was even quoted as saying that dealing with the regime is like "talking to dead people."

That immediately conjures up mental images of zombie generals for me. Which is probably a reminder for me to cut down on those "Left For Dead 2" (L4D2) gaming sessions. Perhaps in "Left For Dead 3: Burma" you can play as Harry, the tough old guy who clears a room of zombies with just his rapier wit and barbed tongue.

Who needs a shotgun or a chainsaw when you have weapons of mass elocution like that?

I am not sure how it will affect Singapore and Burma ties. We do appreciate the Burmese leaders spending their money shopping here and seeking medical treatment at our fine hospitals. Hopefully they take "stupid" and "dense" in the right spirit and not out of context. (cont'd)

the mrbrown show: just queue

Photo by hakaider

The power of the queue to solve all your education problems is at mrbrownshow.com!

Play "the mrbrown show: just queue"

Waiting…

Spent the morning with my dad at Hougang Polyclinic. He had an appointment and this being one of the most crowded polyclinics in Singapore, I decided to pass the time taking photos of those waiting with us.

There were those waiting to see the doctor:

Waiting to get their medication:

Waiting to get registered:

Waiting for new patients to step through the door:

CES 2011: Day 1

A little video of the first day at CES.