Renee Zellweger, who did a fantastic job of the British accent in the two Bridget Jones movies, has filed for annulment of her 4-month-old marriage on the grounds of FRAUD. That accent thing is quite a remarkable talent, by the way, if you just listen to the many Singaporeans who put on unconvincing and horrific American, British, Australian and other cannot-be-identified accents. Remember the radio deejay who said she spoke with an 'accent' because as a deejay, she has to enunciate clearly. And the TCS actress who said she got her 'accent' after hanging out with her UWC friends. Ha ha ha ha... I also know of this person who went to Australia to study, then got Australian accent, then went to America to study, then got American accent. Wah, what is this, man?? Stay true to your roots, I say (put on British accent here).
Back to RZ, this is the first time I have heard of this FRAUD idea. Is it an American thing? If I'm not wrong, it means that you were deceived about your expectations of the marriage, e.g. you thought at first that you were going to have a family, then you realise your spouse refuses to have kids, or you thought you made a lovely couple and then you realise your spouse is actually gay, etc. Read more about the story here. (ha ha, I just learnt to do this!)
The Daily Express reported RZ couldn't accept her husband's ideas of the marriage - 'She has forged an incredibly successful career -- she's not a washing-up, cooking and kitchen kind of girl.' That is quite amazing. I'm just wondering, didn't they talk about all this before they got married? And didn't her husband realise that she's a mega star who is unlikely to just retire into the background at this point? Certainly a bigger star than him. I never heard of him before they got married. Kenny Chesney, a country singer. Whatever it is, RZ doesn't want to be a tai-tai for sure.
On an unrelated note, it was reported today that bus companies lose about $9 million a year to 'fare cheats'. I'm not sure if that $9 million is the combined loss or if each company loses that amount. Let's say it is combined loss. If we divide that among 4.2 million people (2004 population stats), that means each person cheated the bus companies just over $2 last year. That's not accurate of course because not all these 4.2 million take public buses regularly. For example, we have to take away babies, young children who don't have to pay anyway, people who hardly or never take public transport, people who NEVER cheat on bus fares, etc. So let's say about 10% of the population cheats, then each cheat would have cheated $21 last year.
Well, depending on how you look at it, $21 may be 'no big deal'. But cheating is still cheating, right?
Let's hope they don't blame the schools again, as people are wont to do for all sorts of 'social ills'. Can't be the schools' fault, lah. I just don't think people are cheating on bus fares because they saw their teachers do it, or their principal didn't tell them they must always pay the full fare, etc.
The same article also talked about people cheating cabbies, i.e., not paying the cab fare at the end of the journey. I can only say these people are not just dishonest but also maybe too bold for their own good. They are not scared of getting beaten up by the cabbies' friends or whatever.
Although many taxi drivers are grumpy and many are also reckless drivers, I think we really should pay them for their services. I read that this psychiatrist who tracks suicide trends in Singapore found that, besides the 'usual' at-risk groups, there was a rising trend among two 'new' groups -- Indonesian maids and taxi drivers. It's stressful being a taxi driver. (And I'm SURE it's stressful being a maid. I can't even cope with my own house.)
Back to schools, I know of this incident at a certain secondary school where a fare cheat got caught. This boy pulled the uncle-I-don't-have-money-let-me-go-upstairs-and-get-from-my-mother trick. So he went up and stayed up and the infuriated cabby reported to the school. The school came up with a good trick of its own. It announced that there was a scholarship available for students living in a certain area. Our friend went to the office to get the application form and became one culprit who didn't get away.
Back to RZ, this is the first time I have heard of this FRAUD idea. Is it an American thing? If I'm not wrong, it means that you were deceived about your expectations of the marriage, e.g. you thought at first that you were going to have a family, then you realise your spouse refuses to have kids, or you thought you made a lovely couple and then you realise your spouse is actually gay, etc. Read more about the story here. (ha ha, I just learnt to do this!)
The Daily Express reported RZ couldn't accept her husband's ideas of the marriage - 'She has forged an incredibly successful career -- she's not a washing-up, cooking and kitchen kind of girl.' That is quite amazing. I'm just wondering, didn't they talk about all this before they got married? And didn't her husband realise that she's a mega star who is unlikely to just retire into the background at this point? Certainly a bigger star than him. I never heard of him before they got married. Kenny Chesney, a country singer. Whatever it is, RZ doesn't want to be a tai-tai for sure.
On an unrelated note, it was reported today that bus companies lose about $9 million a year to 'fare cheats'. I'm not sure if that $9 million is the combined loss or if each company loses that amount. Let's say it is combined loss. If we divide that among 4.2 million people (2004 population stats), that means each person cheated the bus companies just over $2 last year. That's not accurate of course because not all these 4.2 million take public buses regularly. For example, we have to take away babies, young children who don't have to pay anyway, people who hardly or never take public transport, people who NEVER cheat on bus fares, etc. So let's say about 10% of the population cheats, then each cheat would have cheated $21 last year.
Well, depending on how you look at it, $21 may be 'no big deal'. But cheating is still cheating, right?
Let's hope they don't blame the schools again, as people are wont to do for all sorts of 'social ills'. Can't be the schools' fault, lah. I just don't think people are cheating on bus fares because they saw their teachers do it, or their principal didn't tell them they must always pay the full fare, etc.
The same article also talked about people cheating cabbies, i.e., not paying the cab fare at the end of the journey. I can only say these people are not just dishonest but also maybe too bold for their own good. They are not scared of getting beaten up by the cabbies' friends or whatever.
Although many taxi drivers are grumpy and many are also reckless drivers, I think we really should pay them for their services. I read that this psychiatrist who tracks suicide trends in Singapore found that, besides the 'usual' at-risk groups, there was a rising trend among two 'new' groups -- Indonesian maids and taxi drivers. It's stressful being a taxi driver. (And I'm SURE it's stressful being a maid. I can't even cope with my own house.)
Back to schools, I know of this incident at a certain secondary school where a fare cheat got caught. This boy pulled the uncle-I-don't-have-money-let-me-go-upstairs-and-get-from-my-mother trick. So he went up and stayed up and the infuriated cabby reported to the school. The school came up with a good trick of its own. It announced that there was a scholarship available for students living in a certain area. Our friend went to the office to get the application form and became one culprit who didn't get away.
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