my ajumma notes

Hmmm... what happened to the preoccupation with the widening rich-poor gap, as reported in yesterday's ST? I checked today's ST twice and I couldn't find any article/letter/quote from policymakers or anyone about the issue. As for TODAY, there was just Mr Brown's article and a letter entitled 'Will Asia's Buffett, Gates stand up, please? (I don't think the letter was a response to the Household Survey report.) Anyhow, I shall indulge in some preoccupation here, following up on comments on yesterday's post . Since I'm also sometimes occupied with the goings-on at Wimbledon and I know that some of those millionaire players do their bit for charity, I searched and found the following: 1. Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation , focusing on at-risk children 2. The Andy Roddick Foundation , for at-risk children and families. You can even buy stuff from his online shop to support the foundation! 3. Okay, and much as I do not like his arrogance as a player, ...

The General Household Survey has clear evidence of the increasing income gap in Singapore. As you may already have read in today's ST or TODAY, household income has gone up on the whole but the 'bottom third' has actually seen theirs go down. The Dept of Stats attributes this trend to the increasing number of retirees (ageing population effect), higher unemployment and smaller wages. The top 10% were the ones who benefited the most, something which is inevitable, I think, according to economic theory (if I remember correctly). It is interesting that the ST report said that 'the gap between rich and poor, which has preoccupied policymakers , continued to widen.' I'm afraid I didn't realise people are 'preoccupied ' with this issue, based on what I get from the media. I have the impression it is something that is not discussed as much as it should be. Northwest CDC Mayor Teo Ho Pin was quoted in the ST saying: 'One area we must focus on is childre...

What shocking news. I've just read that Mavis Hee, who sang the song roughly translated as Moonlight in the City , one of my all-time favourite Mandarin songs, was arrested and sent to IMH. She had tailed a hotel guest, charged into his room and told him, 'Call me God!' Oh dear... Some of you will remember the drama serial Tofu Street , in which she acted and for which Moonlight in the City was the theme song. I still remember the cute little boy called Luo Tou (Cynthia Koh's 'husband') from the show. I don't really know what happened to her after the show. Never followed her career, although I did 'karaoke' that song several times. I guess it's another sad tale about how fame and fortune (not that she was that famous or rich) don't necessarily make your life better. In fact, it's also part of the other sad tale about how, whether you are rich, famous, poor or unknown, you can be hit by what is known to us laymen as 'mental problems...

I'm not the one going back to school but somehow, I feel like I could do with another week or two of the holidays. And I do still remember the feeling of dragging oneself back to school... Although it is nice to have the house to myself again for a few hours a day... Well, the bullies are all back in school as well. I thought the 95% victim rate was rather astounding. It means that our children very likely are/have been victims/perpetrators. Now, here is where we need expat help so why aren't we getting any? Or are we? I read in the newspaper report that there is no anti-bullying programme in our schools. On the other hand, there are many such programmes/resources in other countries, such as this and this . Isn't it time to get help? Are we waiting for some tragedy to happen before springing into action? Like how everyone knew about the pseudo massage shops in HDB estates but the slew of rules to clamp down on them came out only after the lady was murdered. Anyhow, I have...

So the Asians are all out of the World Cup. So sad. I guess there's now just Mr Shamsul and whichever other Asian referees who are going on to the next round. I've not actually seen him in action but it's great to read about our very own referee doing so well at the World Cup. It must be so stressful being a World Cup referee, having millions and millions watching you, ready to pounce on any mistake, and being ranked and all that. For some reason, Channel 22 is showing some matches live, so I watched bits of USA versus Ghana and Ukraine versus Tunisia, and I happened to watch two penalties I didn't think should have been awarded. I also watched that good-looking USA player being interviewed. Poor guy. He looked like he was going to burst into tears. If I had that penalty awarded against my team, I would also want to cry. But who am I to comment on soccer? Well, since there are no Asians left to root for, I guess I will just support van Basten's team. Oh, and I enjoy...

I happened to watch last night's 7-girl Idol episode. Mathilda D'Silva is really good! She sings very well and she's a natural performer. However, since the competition is not just about whether you can sing, I think she needs snazzier clothes and hair. It would be a waste if she loses out because of 'image'. I suppose that as a 'package', Meryl Lee might fare better. I also thought that Emilee Kang, the one who was put down as being too 'getai', too 'nightclub', etc, sang much better than most of the others. I can't remember if they had the contestants 'answering back' when the judges gave comments last year. Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea because it makes those who 'answer back' sound rather whiney and defensive. Like others, I expected more fire from Jacintha. Her comments are really bland and she looks bored and thin, much like how our dear Victoria looks in those pictures of her at the World Cup matche...

In her Sunday Times article, Sumiko Tan wrote that she lugged along some English grammar book when she went on a trip. Immediately, I thought of how I used to lug work along on some of our holidays too. Disgusting, right? Anyway, her article was about the English Language debate, about which many others have also written/spoken. Let me now be one of those others, too. I think the heart of the issue is not the ‘native speakers’ the MOE wants to recruit but the real reasons for the state of the language here. Again, many have written/spoken about this. A couple of questions: 1. Why did it take so many years for the authorities to come up with a (contentious) solution and why this solution? I remember over the years reading letters in the Forum about how the use of the language was going down the drain, and, more importantly, about the ill effects of not emphasising grammar in school. So why is it we are only taking action now? Some of you will remember English textbooks which had chapt...

Have you ever seen the roads of Bangkok this empty? The roads were cleared whenever royal guests were passing by. Even pedestrians on bridges above, which is where we were, were temporarily stopped from crossing over to the other side. The Saudi king was going out: I wonder if he wondered: Eh, what happened to those traffic jams I heard so much about? One would think that with royalty from all over the world descending upon Bangkok, we would be able to rub shoulders with some of them. But it was not to be. The closest we came to it was sharing the lift with a lady from the Qatari entourage. She was in a Gucci headscarf. Wow. However, we did get our share of royal treatment - on the BTS (skytrain). People readily offered us their seats. I was initially taken aback because I don't think I look pregnant, or like an elderly person in need of a seat and the boy certainly does not look like a toddler or a frail child who needs to sit. In fact, he should jolly well be offering seats himse...

So off we were to the big city from the small town of Hua Hin . By road, it takes about 3 hours. If you are the kind who can't take such a long ride, you can break your journey and visit Wat Po (temple with the reclining Buddha) and/or Damnoen Saduak (the authentic floating market), both of which are off the highway. There are also a few factory outlets along the way, if you feel you've been too deprived of shopping while at Hua Hin. Premium Outlets, Cha-am If not, just enjoy the journey and the scenery. You know what these are? Salt farms. Imagine how long one of these packs will last you. So, after a pretty pleasant drive, you will find yourself in the stupendous city of stupendous shopping. High end, mid range, lower end, cheapo... whatever you want ... Spanking new, huge malls, refurbished old malls, night markets, ... whatever you want, like I said. Our most exciting shopping discovery on this trip was Seacon Square , which we forgot to take pictures of. It's a humungo...

Does it look like we went to Hawaii or Cote D'Azur? Unbeknownst to us till we got there, we arrived in Thailand just in time for: The Hua Hin Jazz Festival King Bhumipol's 60th anniversary (by the way, King Bhumipol is also an accomplished jazz musician. Heard one of his compositions years ago. Very good), and World Cup 2006 (Of course we knew this was going to happen but we kind of forgot that it would be celebrated rather differently by the kings of Southeast Asian soccer.) HUA HIN . Royal seaside resort and a favourite out-of-town spot for locals. It's a nice alternative to Phuket and definitely more worth going to than Pattaya and Haadyai. It's also not overrun by Singaporeans. Most of the tourists here seem to be from north Europe. Lots of yummy seafood to be had here (restaurants by the sea): Also, local fare, if you so desire: Hua Hin is not as ulu as many people seem to think it is. In fact, I found it rather touristy, though definitely not at the same level as...

I am back from one soccer-crazy country to one where some people fancy it's a soccer-crazy country. More about the trip itself later but a bit on soccer now. And probably I will have not much more (or maybe I will have nothing more) to say about soccer. My days of soccer-watching were over when the playing days of Marco van Basten and Paolo Rossi were over. I believe there are times when people think that Singapore soccer can make it but I'm sorry to say that I think it's just a dream. Patriotism aside (and I'm one of those kids who was glued to the radio for every Malaysia Cup live commentary back in the 70s and early 80s), I don't know how we can hope to beat countries which are really and truly soccer-mad. When you drive past villages in Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand, you see kids running around kicking the ball (or playing sepak takraw). I don't really see that kind of thing here. In Thailand, the opener between Germany and Costa Rica was telecast live o...

Shopping time! I mean window shopping. Mostly. Will be off to Thailand to contribute to the tourist dollar there, so unlikely to be blogging for some time. My contribution there will be fairly low, seeing that I haven't got a salary to speak of. Well, I do enjoy window shopping. Anyway, I've yet to finish doing my part for the Great Singapore Sale. My only buys so far: a) some toiletries from Watson's b) some TOMY tracks for the boy's train set I still need to get: a) a new chopping board b) a new ladle. Ha ha, such a boring shopping list, right? But sales are good times to buy these things. And I really don't need anything else. Today, I thought of doing a bit of jalan-ing while the boy is at his holiday Chinese class. However, I was halted in my tracks because I bumped into someone I knew from my work days and we chatted for a while. She declared that it was a 'waste' for me to have retired from the field. Well, I'm still undecided as to what kind of...

A rather belated post about last week. Meet the Parents is one thing; what you do with the rest of the day, since there are no lessons and you probably took time off for the event, is another. Guess where went? Somewhere near where you will see this sign: And step on a drain covers that say EPB: The boy’s choice – parent-child field trip to Asian Civilisations Museum . This cute banner has probably been taken down, since the week-long International Museum Day activities are all over. So he got to see what he wanted: Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic artefacts. He’s quite into religions these days, and ACM is the best place, I think, to see all these at one go. Don’t have pictures of the main galleries, which are rather dark. My photo-taking prowess does not extend very well into dim places. However, beside the South Asian gallery is this much brighter children’s room. They can learn about the important Hindu gods, about the life of the Buddha, about different languages of the Indian subcont...