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PM Lee reshufflin'

PM reshuffles cabinet, adds new drawers.

The Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA) and Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) will now be the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), and the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).

Sports dunno go where liao.

So effectively, PM takes two ministries, MCYS and MICA, and makes them three. Like so (not really safe for work).

Grace Fu becomes Fu Minister.

PM, every day he shufflin'.

[Image from www.peopleactionpartyrocking.com. Click the link, you know you want to.]

Olympics 2012 table tennis update

RT @frhn: So I heard at the Olympics yesterday, Singapore faced Germany in table-tennis and China won.

Oh snap.

I heard the same thing happened with the Spain vs France match.

In other news, the wife and I are re-watching the Bourne Trilogy because of The Bourne Legacy. The older movies hold up well.

Wife: "Not sure if Skyhawk will be any good."

Me: "Hawkeye."

Because punctuation matters

The poor fella was mauled by a tiger and then shot dead? Punctuation matters, ST.

Gifted My Ass

Mr Kelvin Ong Wee Loong, the founder of AristoCare centre, was told by MOE to stop lying about his credentials. Apparently, the private tutor who charges an arm and leg to help your child qualify for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), was never a pupil or a teacher of the GEP, as he claimed.

He is so gifted that he cannot remember if he was in the Gifted program himself.:

"In response to the revelations, Mr Ong said it was his mother who told him that he was from the gifted programme and he could not verify it because he does not have the records from the past."

He also claimed to be from ACS (Prinary) but the school has no records of his ever attending the ACPS.

Maybe he was in the Gifted Program for Pathological Liars.

AMK Town Council signage FAIL

[photo by Cyril on FB]

It made my brain hurt just reading it.

The NUS Sex-for-Grades scandal

The hottest news this week is the case of the NUS Law lecturer being charged with six counts of corruptly obtaining gratification from a former student. "Corruptly obtaining gratification" is such a dainty phrase for "Asking for sex for a good grade".

I corruptly obtain gratification every day too, by playing games during office hours but I don't think it's the same thing.

The lecturer also allegedly received a Mont Blanc pen, an Apple iPod as well as two tailored-made shirts from his former student. She also paid for one of his bills worth $1,278.60.

Wow. I wonder what was going rate in the law faculty for #NusSexforGrades? I bet the requirements were stiff.

I suppose at #NusSexforGrades Law School, you must possess great drive to succeed.

@Shinypants78 quipped: "Heard it's hard to get in. You need good oral skills too!"

‏@ErvinHan suggested Law School is a place to become a master debater, if not a cunning linguist.

@yitzhakkhoo complained that #NusSexforGrades is an insult on all the ugly lawyers who had to rely on pure hard work. :/

I think we should give credit where it's due, especially since the student may have worked all night on her penal code paper and nailed it.

I wonder, at #NusSexforGrades, do they teach law students that the pen is mightier than the sword?

There may be a new post opening at #NusSexforGrades : Law Lecherer. I heard their Law Faculty is a good place to get ahead.

And they say bloggers are the ones "scandalizing the judiciary".

I just realized that #NusSexforGrades is a letter away from another hashtag altogether.

Hardest working agency this year: CPIB

This year, the CPIB has so many corruption cases that i hear they are opening a chain of coffee joints islandwide so that there are convenient lim kopi locales.

I hear the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau plans to name their coffee place Lim's Kopi.

Individuals who are under investigation may choose to visit any Lim's Kopi branch for their kopi sessions. Cases that involve a large group of people from one organization or religious group are advised to choose the larger branch located at Suntec mall.

Persons of interest who are being Invesitgated on multiple counts of corruption and may need to be interviewed many times may apply for a Lim's Kopi loyalty card. 30 stamps gets you a free kopi and a special visit to our premium members-only branch in Changi.

Lim's Kopi will be located at convenient places, easily accessible via public transport. There will also be ample parking for fancy cars and expensive folding bicycles.

One can pay for coffee at Lim's Kopi with cash, credit card, NETS or ez-link cards, but not SPH shopping vouchers or money from ill-gotten pocket money funds.

Lim's Kopi baristas do not serve queue jumpers or grant preferential treatment to senior civil servants. Baristas will not grant sexual favours just to make a coffee sale.

Lim's Kopi menu includes Kopi See-PIB, Kopi Orhgong Until Kosong and the popular You-Are-Toast with Butter (just shout "Wah Ai Bua Gu You!").

So drop by Lim's Kopi by CPIB! I hear the lights are bright and the aircon is cold.

P.S. I've been told I am not obvious enough with my admiration for the CPIB's tenacity and impartiality in this tongue-in-cheek piece, so let me just come out and say it: "Thank you, CPIB. You guys keep our country clean and free of the scum and corruption that is so common in other countries. Thumbs way up."

More tributes to MBS Man

Others have joined in with their interpretations of International Man of Mystery, #MBSMan with the PSD file I shared:

@motorman: #MBSman in the White House situation room.

@Vuuble: The Creation of #MBSMan (and Adam).

@nicshields: #MBSman points out our nearest Emergency Exit.

@veronicalow: #MBSman joins the Russian gymnastics team for London 2012.

@nickpan: NDP 2012 Theme Song - Love At First Light feat. #MBSMan.

@voxeros: #MBSMan is Mambo KING!

@adrianwongfs: Planet of the MBSMan.

@asuna88: #MBSMan playing London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

@gordon_td8316: #MBSMan meets Kamen Rider.

@radhumandummy: #MBSMan enjoying his time at ZoukOut.

@kccl35: #MBSMan holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

@kccl35: #MBSman strikes again! This time he touches himself!

@samsies_: #MBSman lends Ip Man a hand in fending off Master Hung's "Hung-Ga fists".

Good thing I didn't tell her about the Hasselblad

Me: "You bought another handbag? That looks pricey."

Wife: "How much was your last camera lens?"

Damn, the woman is good."

Where in the World is MBS Man?

I couldn't get the Marina Bay Sands photos out of my head, so I did a few more photos (thanks for the help, Kai!). Click on the photos to enlarge.

MBS Man with Hilary Clinton.

MBS Man joins the Avengers.

MBS Man Rises.

The MBS Man goes to the moon

I could not resist. I think we have the beginnings of a new meme.

The MBS Man: Marina Bay Sands' Next Top Model

Update: Added more MBS Man photos because our hero came back to take more photos!

The Marina Bay Sands Social Pavilion is a social media booth where you can take photos of yourself with various backgrounds of the place and the photos get uploaded to the Marina Bay Sands Facebook page.

This gentleman doing his stoic Usain Bolt pose has become somewhat of a viral personality. I've taken to calling him MBS Man. Here is MBS Man, International Man of Mystery in other photos taken at the booth.

MBS Man makes a call at the Infinity Pool.

MBS Man makes a call at Louis Vuitton Island Maison.

MBS Man looking stoic at the Infinity Pool.

MBS Man looking stoic in front of the ArtScience Museum.

MBS Man looking stoic in front of the ArtScience Museum at night.

MBS Man looking stoic in front of MBS.

MBS Man looking stoic at the Shoppes.

MBS Man and Friend, at Louis Vuitton Island Maison.

MBS Man in a his purple shirt, at the Infinity Pool.

MBS Man in his purple shirt, at Louis Vuitton Island Maison.

MBS Man in his purple shirt, at the Helix Bridge.

MBS Man in his purple shirt, off to see Annie.

MBS Man in his purple shirt, touching the tip of the MBS.

The MBS Man, he is EVERYWHERE.

For some additional commentary on this social media experiment by MBS, read this and this.

And for some fun MBS photos, check him out on the moon, and other places!

Pop goes the popcorn

Joy, just before we watched the premiere of "Brave": "Papa, may I have popcorn?"

Me: "No. There's much sugar in it and it'll rot your teeth."

Joy: "There's no sugar in popcorn. They just put pop & 'cramel'."

Me: "Ca-ra-mel. And it IS sugar. Melted sugar."

Also, my 7-year-old daughter is now speaking with a Scottish accent after watching Pixar's latest offering.

Now hoping Joy doesn't ask for a bow and arrow. Or ask for red curly hair. Or ask me to wear a kilt.

Ok, I may not mind the bow and arrow bit.

I am pleased to see a movie that portrays strong women characters. Indeed, family IS king.

Sesame Street at Universal Studios

The wife and I brought Isaac and Joy to Universal Studios on Saturday, their second time there. We wanted to let them see the new Sesame Street performance and I wanted to try out the new Transformers Ride.

We got there early and were greeted by Mel's Dinettes. It's always fun to watch the ladies perform their 50s and 60s numbers. So much energy there.

I have a few more photos of their performance (I was testing a new lens) but I shall refrain from posting too many here, in case it makes me look creepy.

We watched the 11.30am performance of the Sesame Street show. It was not too long, but the kids loved it and they got to take photos with Elmo, Ernie, Grover and Bert. Joy was a little disappointed that Cookie Monster wasn't there. I told the kids he was probably on leave.

After the Sesame Street show, we went to the Transformers Ride and saw the 70-minute queue. Ouch. Fortunately, we had Express queue tickets and we walked right in. I felt some dirty looks as we walked by and felt a little bad.

Outside, a pair of Chinese tourists asked the host in Mandarin, pointing at us, "Are they from China?". I think they thought there was a special queue for tourists from a certain country.

It was an awesome ride. Usually, I am skeptical of simulator rides because you end up nauseous from all the shaking. But they did this well, with 3D glasses and movement within the compound, so it really felt like we were in a Transformers movie and right smack in the battle.

The wife, who normally dislikes the scary roller coasters, found this acceptable and even went for a second round. My son, adrenaline junkie and Transformers fan, took the ride three times.

Joy was not a fan though, and came out of the ride crying. I had to buy some overpriced popcorn to placate her. Strange thing is, she was totally fine with the Jurassic Park Canopy Flyer ride, which was quite a fast ride (the wife declared it her first and last time). Joy wanted to go a second time, saying, "The ride was too short."

Joy also wanted to watch the Waterworld show, which I was quite bored with already (I have seen it four times). Isaac insisted on sitting in the Soak Zone. I asked the wife if she brought extra clothes, she said "Yes, underwear too."

My wife is a wise woman.

The day was really hot but we were thankful for the Express lane. We also didn't go to the major rides like Galactica and The Mummy because our Mummy was not a fan, so we saved some time.

By the time we got back to the car (good grief, the parking was $26!), the kids were at low batt and knocked out. I guess fighting Decepticons can take the wind out of you.

Nat Ho's father missing, please help (Update: He's been found.)

Update: Nat Ho's father has been found. We are all collectively relieved for Nat.

From Nat Ho's twitter: "Dear friends and fellow Singaporeans, thank you for ur help and prayers. My Dad has been found and is now safe w my Mum and Bro headed home."

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[I have removed the photo as Mr Ho has been found. -mb]

Please help actor Nat Ho (@iamnatho) look out for his father who is missing (photo above).

According to Nat, he may be depressed and he also left a suicide note which was discovered at 2.45pm.

His father's name is Ho Shih Meng or Daniel. Age 55, height 168cm, weight about 73kg, medium-tan complexion with average stout build. Last see at Jurong East on 23rd July 2012.

Please inform the police or Nat, or Marion at nine-seven-four-one-zero-six-eight-seven, if you see him.

I don't think LKY knows he is on Facebook

Hey, does Lee Kuan Yew know his photo is being used for some Win-a-Macbook contest ad on Facebook?

Methinks this company will soon be another donor to LKY's favourite charity.

The Downtown Line tragedy

[image by Matthew Wong of Home Team News]

Update: At 2359hrs this Fri­day, 27th July, Tran­sient Work­ers Count Too (TWC2) will stop col­lect­ing dona­tions for the vic­tims of last week’s Down­town Line con­struc­tion site accident.

If dona­tions marked “Bugis MRT acci­dent” are still received after the dead­line, the orga­ni­za­tion will email the donor ask­ing whether he/she would like a refund or if the dona­tion should be put towards the organization’s gen­eral fund. Refunds will be made promptly.

If how­ever the dona­tion is received after the dead­line marked “Bugis MRT acci­dent” but with­out con­tact infor­ma­tion, there will be no way to pose that ques­tion, and the dona­tion will be accepted into the organization’s gen­eral fund.

Response has been awesome and it is gratifying to know that people care.

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On July 18, 2012, the underground scaffolding at Downtown Line's Bugis MRT worksite collapsed, killing two workers and injuring eight.

The scaffolding collapsed when the two workers were pouring wet concrete into a mould and they were buried alive by cement.

SCDF personnel (seen above) spent nine hours looking for the two missing Chinese nationals.

Saddened by this tragic event, a few of us bloggers scrambled to see if we could to help provide an avenue for public donations. We approached various government ministries and agencies to see if they could help. In the end, a non-profit organisation that helps low-wage migrant workers, Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), stepped forward very quickly.

TWC2 will help collect and disburse the donations. They have the experience and infrastructure in place to make this happen, so Miyagi, Adri and I would like to direct our readers to them.

The money you donate will go towards the families of the two deceased workers, as well as to the injured workers who are unable to work while they recover.

Often under-appreciated, low-wage migrant workers built this city-state. In this time of tragedy, let's give back.

This is how you can donate:

BY CHEQUE:

Make a crossed cheque payable to: ‘Tran­sient Work­ers Count Too’, write your name and “Bugis MRT Acci­dent” at the back of the cheque and mail it to: 5001 Beach Road, #06–27 Golden Mile Com­plex, Sin­ga­pore 199588.

Send an email to [email protected] with your name, cheque no., amount and “Bugis MRT Acci­dent”, so that the dona­tion can be prop­erly recorded and a receipt sent to you.

BY SGGIVES (ONLINE)

You can donate using your credit card here. A small com­mis­sion is charged by this dona­tion col­lec­tion agency. Under the “Spe­cial Occa­sion / Per­son” field, type “Bugis MRT Accident”.

BY PAYPAL (ONLINE)

You can use your PayPal account or credit card to donate here (scroll down and click the PayPal button). How­ever, a com­mis­sion of 4% or so is charged on every dona­tion. There is no field for you to input the pur­pose of dona­tion, so it is advis­able to drop twc2 an email after you’ve donated by this method.

The NS Portal never forgets you. Never.

Just got an NS Portal email reminding me cheerily to "eSelf-Update" & "Don't forget to keep in touch!".

No need lah. Can the NS Portal eSelf-Forget me?

Oi, limpeh O.R.D. and M.R. already leh. Unfriend me, NS Portal. PLEASE.

Singapore Memory Project Food Trail: Part 2 (video)

Youtube link: http://mrbrwn.co/MHvCkc

Part 2 of our Singapore Memory Project Food Trail adventure with Mr Miyagi, Dr Leslie "ieatishootipost" Tay and me!

Watch Part 1 here: http://mrbrwn.co/OFa87S

Share your memories on twitter with the hashtag #sgmemory or submit them at www.singaporememory.sg. You can also use the iTunes app SG Memory!

Singapore Memory Project Food Trail: Part 1 (video)

On Saturday, 23 June 2012, Mr Miyagi (miyagi.sg), Dr Leslie Tay (ieatishootipost.sg) and I embarked on a madcap adventure to eat our way through Singapore with the help of our social media friends. IN REAL TIME.

Our followers tweeted and Facebooked us, suggesting makan places for us to go to, for a full day. We were not just looking for great food, but food that had Singapore heritage, food that brought back Singapore memories. And boy, did we find A LOT of food.

We got up at 6am and didn't stop till almost midnight. You can read a great summary of our food trail at iremember.sg, ieatishootipost.sg and miyagi.sg.

Youtube link: http://mrbrwn.co/OFa87S

You can also catch the highlights of our food trail in the video above. That is Part 1, I will post Part 2 of of this wonderful day out soon.

This has renewed my passion for looking at our food heritage. I still remember the wanton mee I had as a child, at Upper Aljunied Lane, at a coffee shop in Joo Seng. The cranky uncle was not the friendliest fellow but his old school wanton mee was awesome and I still crave that taste. And when I find it, it brings back memories of childhood.

Also fun was bringing my own egg to the prata man at another coffee shop near my old home. And buying chwee kuay directly from a hawker neighbour who lived one floor below us.

These are the tastes that memories are made of. May we not lose them all.

Share your memories on twitter with the hashtag #sgmemory or submit them at www.singaporememory.sg. You can also use the iTunes app SG Memory!