my ajumma notes

It's surreal to watch, on one hand, what is going on in Myanmar, and, on the other hand, to read about the dainty tip-toeing of ASEAN with regard to the issue. Hello, the people there need help!! I agree with all the people who have said that ASEAN is the best bet for Myanmar at this point. Could this be ASEAN's biggest challenge in its 40 years of existence? Will it rise to the occasion and do something significant? In the meantime, there is much action on the ground level, with Myanmar nationals and locals taking to the streets in KL , Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila, and even all the way over in Seoul and Canberra. Ah... no need to say which city has been left out... You know, people like to say things like 'If there is an issue people (us) feel passionately about, there are other ways to highlight their cause rather than hitting the streets in protest' . (Full letter here ) So, I'd like to ask now, what exactly are people doing to 'highlight their cause'? ...

I just read this on the Asiaone website, 'Poor eyesight an indication of poor health' . (not sure if the link works after today) The findings, as reported in the article: 'Reflecting a trend in Australia, Britain and the United States, a new study among Chinese in Singapore's Tanjong Pagar district has shown that those with poor vision are about three times more likely to die than those with good eyesight.' Doesn't it sound weird that one group is 'three times more likely to die' than another group? I mean, ALL of us WILL die, right? Ah well... Anyway, I'm interested to know what they actually mean by people with 'poor vision'. Are they referring to short-sighted people? In other words, the majority of Singaporeans? Or do they mean those who are long-sighted? Or those who are both short- and long-sighted? Or are they the ones with cataracts? Or other eye issues? Guess people with good eyesight will now have to pay even more attention to ma...

I must congratulate myself on finishing 4 books in about 2 months. And not all chick lit some more, ha ha. It is quite a record for me, and it was partly due to spending endless hours in bed for 2-3 days due to a strange ailment. For some odd reason, it turned out that 3 of the books happened to feature 'boys'. More about them later. I'll start with the lady. Fat Chance by Deborah Blumenthal (chick lit for sure) Bought this on the recommendation of a fitness magazine. About a newspaper columnist who enjoys a great following because she is anti-thin, i.e. argues against dieting, slimming down, etc. However, she is asked to be a consultant to a handsome actor for his nip-tuck kind of movie and secretly goes on diet + exercises to lose weight before they meet, hence 'betraying' her cause. Predictable storyline. Lovely cover. Regret buying. I did not purposely look for a 'bad' review but I googled the title and this came up. Just In Case by Meg Rosoff About 1...

It must be some cruel coincidence that had this piece of news 'Low-IQ robber escapes jail, thanks to teachers' out on the same day (today's ST) as the reports about the review of the penal code. Certainly, it is good news that the robber in question has been spared the jail term and 24 strokes of the cane and, instead, will undergo 'reformative training'. However, the circumstances under which this came about are unsatisfactory. The reported started: 'Convicted robber EM has two of his former teachers to thank for getting him out of a long jail term and 24 lashes of the cane.' What if his teachers hadn't found out about his case? EM has an IQ of 66 (average person's IQ is 90-100) and he was convicted of robbery and hitting a policeman. It stated that the district judge 'had not been aware' of his low IQ. How could that happen? The DPP had pointed out that he was 'no drooling idiot' (a phrase I find pretty offensive), had committed ...

My mum was at my brother's place with my nephew, niece and their Filipino maid earlier this week on one of the days when tremors were felt in Singapore. Aunty X (kept anonymous to protect the innocent) was the first to react. She knew straightaway that her sudden dizziness had something to do with an earthquake. My mum was more interested in looking at how much the table and other stuff would shake and move but Aunty X said 'Must run!' My mum said, 'No need, lah, nothing will happen,' and Aunty X then recounted some horrific tale of how the ground split and people fell in the holes, etc. She grabbed my niece and they all went down the stairs from the 13th floor. My poor terrified niece kept telling my mum to run faster, and my mum kept telling her not to worry and that she would see her downstairs. After all, a grandma surely can't run as fast as the 2 kids and Aunty. Actually, the tremors had already stopped by then and when the all-clear was given later and th...

Belated thoughts on this year's US Open. (Warning: the links are to the US Open website which sometimes takes VERY long to load) EXITS Tim Henman This will be his last Grand Slam. He's supposed to play in the Davis Cup but his wife is also due to deliver (their 3rd child, I think) around that time... He is one guy who probably single-handedly gives many Brits high blood pressure every year at the Wimbeldon because they have such high hopes for him and he never did really well in it. Nevertheless, he is one rare gentleman who still plays the gentleman's game like a gentleman. His wit and self-depracating (also rare) humour will be missed, too. He was asked 'What's the best you ever played?' and said, 'I think the best overall is Paris, the Masters Series, when I won. I think for the consistent level of tennis. You know, Basel I played some I remember one year only dropping my serve once the whole week, making Roger cry in the final. That was pretty special (s...

Continuing with the theme, while translations are often hilarious, sometimes, they are not funny at all. When people who transfer words across cultures lose not just the meanings but also the nuances and other underlying associations of those words, the end result can be horrible. Some examples: I heard this Japanese pop song which went 'Merry Christmas, blah, blah, blah...' and in the background was, distinctly, the tune of 'Abide With Me' , more commonly heard during Lent and at funerals. The show with Joo Ji-hoon, which I mentioned in the last post, is called Mawang , or 'Devil King'. Its other English title is 'Lucifer'. I'm not sure if the people producing the show really understand the implications of the title. Anyhow, his character isn't actually one of those evil to the core types. He's psychologically troubled because he never got over his brother's untimely death and the fact that the killer got away with it because of his con...

Apparently, that 'English as it is broken' book has been topping the charts at our local bookstores. Actually, I'm not too interested in that book but this other one may be worth getting my hands on. The article about it, as published in Saturday's (1 Sept) ST: In the world of international diplomacy, the best-chosen words or phrases can leave an audience laughing, bewildered or simply lost in translation, an insider has revealed. Undiplomatic Activities, a yet-to-be-launched book by Mr Richard Woolcott, who ran Australia's foreign service for four years, points to the pitfalls of translating thoughts into different languages. Take the Australian diplomat in France who tried to tell his audience that as he looked back on his career, it was divided in two parts, with dull postings before life in Paris. 'When I look at my backside, I find it is divided into two parts,' Mr Woolcott quoted the diplomat as telling his highly amused audience. Ex-Australian prime m...