my ajumma notes

I was just thinking that it must be such an experience for all those fresh-faced and earnest 20-somethings and 30-somethings to have to spar with the national bigwigs, even if indirectly. Win or lose, I hope all this will go into making them men and women - citizens - of substance. Yes, sure, we should examine motivations and all that (and I do think that we should examine the motivations of everyone, not just a select few), but I think we should also salute these young people for having the courage and conviction to step up and step forward. I also note that their 20-something and 30-something counterparts from the white team are not having the privilege of this experience.

Today, I did my own 'feeling the ground' (= snooping) and talked to a total of -- just one person. This uncle is a sole breadwinner, taking home less than $1,000 a month. He has four kids who are still studying. Every day, he is concerned about his job and the cost of everything. After all, people who don't earn a lot also buy food, take transport, fall sick, go to school, etc. I think I don't need to do much more snooping to conclude that life is really tough for many of our fellow countrymen and women. And it's not like he is not trying to do what he can for the family. Would I blame him if he felt bitter about things? Are the people out there getting this same feel when they go around the ground too?

Here I am giving Nicole Seah the place of honour for today's GE post, ha ha. Nicole Seah's CNN interview Actually, I was getting really sad thinking about the GRC situation. It is the main, major, mighty reason why I have not voted in past elections. It was only in recent days that I realised how disgruntled I feel about this. To think that I will be a first-time voter (i.e. if things happen as we think they will) only this year. At my age... hmmph... As we know, there are many people in this 21st century world, who do not have the privilege of voting. Some will still never get a sniff at it, even though this is the 21st century, and some are right now going out to the streets, risking their lives and even losing their lives, to fight for this privilege. To think that here in - ahem - First World S'pore, so many of us have not had this privilege for so many years. But things are looking up. The colour and feel of this year's GE make me remember the colour and f...

My, my, doesn't he look so 'spring fashion trends 2011'? Like so (Miu Miu!): And so: Even the other Spaniards are in rather 'safe' colours. Like so: And some other people who really, badly need a haircut!

The start of the clay court season is not as exciting as I thought it was going to be, after all. Djokovic is not playing at Monte Carlo so we'll have to wait till I don't know when to see Djokovic versus Nadal on clay. To get back into the tennis mood, let's look at what some dudes have been doing off court, while, obviously, also watching their bank accounts grow. Nadal in Bacardi's don't-drink-and-drive ad. Ferrer in Bovet's intellectual ad. I don't know why but I find his Bovet pictures slightly amusing. But he doesn't look too bad, does he? Lu Yen-hsun appeared with Rainie Yang for an Adidas thing. The 'Adidas is all in' pictures are nice. Andy Murray is there. And, although they aren't dudes, so are Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki.

And here we are, at another of my favourite topics - voters and all things related! As in previous elections, I find myself saying to myself 'Oh my word' and 'Aiyoh' a lot these days. There is a lot not happening out there that makes me rather uneasy about what the future will hold. First, it is worrying that many people are growing up knowing only a GRC system and believing it to be a normal thing. I'm not saying here that it is a good or bad system or whatever, but that people living in the 21st century should really have some basic knowledge about the basics of democracies and such. Second, and this is very likely the cause of point 1, young people are not caring enough about their lives to know things they should know. There are many people who complain that we only have controlled forms of the media here. Even if they have a valid complaint, the thing is, not enough young people are even bothering to know about things happening around them through these li...

So, here we are at one of my favourite topics - bags! First bag, the NS backpack. Rather expectedly, ST ran an article linking the maid-NS backpack thing to the daily maid-schoolbag scenario we see all over Singapore. I would like to suggest that the root of it goes a little deeper than just the expectations of many parents and children that their maids should carry their bags. The start of all this, as I see it, is the fact that schoolbags are too heavy ( that used to be one of my favourite topics). If the schoolbags were a reasonable weight, nobody would see the need for maids, parents or grandparents to carry them. I will shamelessly declare that I shamelessly carried the boy's bag for him when he was in lower primary. If you compare the weight of the bag with the size (and weight) of the child, it would be the logical thing to do. So then, when and how you wean the child off this bag-carrying business is another story altogether. Obviously, if weaning is not done succes...

Once upon a time, many years ago, I walked about here. I can still vaguely recall the strong winds and waves that day. Strong they may have been, but about all they did was to scuttle our plans to take a boat out. Today, the thought of a 7.5m wave lashing along that coast is, really, kind of hard to stomach. May those who lost their lives rest in peace. And may those who live find the comfort and courage they need for these dark days. It has been some months since I last sang this, and I'm glad we sang it today: You know my resting and my rising, You discern my purpose from afar, And with love everlasting you besiege me: In every moment of life and death, you are... Although your spirit is upon me. Still I search for shelter from your light. There is nowhere on earth I can escape you: Even the darkness is radiant in your light.

Ha. Who would have thought that Mr Darcy would one day become Mark Darcy and would one day become King and then king of the academy. I am real busy and should be busy doing what I am supposed to be doing but I just had to say that.

Boo hoo, where has all the rain gone? On the topic of Bambi, I chanced upon this Bambi video with a Rescuers song. And this list of 'The 10 Darkest Children's Movies', topped by Bambi . Somehow, I mostly remember just Thumper and other rabbits. Selective amnesia maybe. Or I didn't pay attention.

So cute...

Sad for Nadal about his heartbreaking match. But I'm not actually sad about Ferrer playing in the semi. Wouldn't it be lovely if he, in an unlikely scenario, won AO? Said Nadal: But if he keep playing like this, hopefully he can have a good chance to be in the final or win the tournament. I would love. Is a fantastic person. Is a close friend of mine. So I wish him all the best. And, I'm sure no one really minds if Kim wins the AO but wouldn't it be great if Li Na was this year's champion? Of course, they still can't get her name right... Pictures from AO website

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. Mother Teresa Caught a short CNA report about how young people in HK become depressed and lonely during 'holidays' like Christmas. Somehow, there is this great need to have a special date with a special person for Christmas. I bristle at the reference to Christmas as a 'holiday'. And I really do not like how romaticised Christmas has become by people who do not understand what Christmas is really about. Have been ruminating quite a bit on various things and one of the themes was the 'first Christmas'. Talk about being lonely. It must have been lonely thinking about the appearance of the angel and being told, out of the blue, that you will bear a child. And it sure must have been lonely to know that you have to be responsible for your future wife and child when you don't fully understand what is going on. ( here ) Yet, Mary and Joseph 'kwai-kwai' just listened to the word...

Carrying on with my best tennis moments for the year... Off tour Carlos Moya's babe There is a picture of Nadal carrying this same little girl but I kind of like better this picture of Juan Monaco carrying her. USO Ha. Nice to see people chummy and not sobbing and spoiling other people's moments. Finals! Top 8 dudes in London Ferrer: Eh, how come you all sabo-ed me! I thought you all said grey, what. All nicely posing with the PM. I think Nadal and Ferrer are the shortest of the lot? That nice little retirement thing for Moya. And just what is Andy Roddick wearing? Davis Cup Oh, Serbia! I watched and cheered Spain winning it in 2009 and 2010 but Serbia winning this year's was special. How special it must have been for Victor Troicki, who joins Verdasco and Ferrer as dudes with Davis Cup magic moments. Though every time I hear his name, I cannot help but think of him and Djokovic doing their 'Gypsy' thing... Year-end entertainment Roger vs Rafa Off-court, no matte...

Tennis 2010 is almost over. Time to assemble some probably-not-front-page-type pictures for my favourite moments of the year. Australian Open Hit for Haiti S o funny and so fun... The Retirement I saw the retirement 'live' but I didn't realise till recently that Murray looked like he was in tears. Monte Carlo 2010 Finally... Nadal breaking his torturous 11-month drought French Open 2010 Then getting his Roland Garros trophy back. Ballkids with the dude of the season Wimbledon 2010 The Championships took place during our hospital days so Wimbledon practically became my staple nightly stoning-in-front-of-the-TV-after-coming-back-from-hospital viewing. Murray and Nieminen bowing to the Queen. Cool, dudes. Isner and Mahut after 3 days together. Nadal : Your plate bigger than my trophy, no? Your hair looks different from on the court, no? Serena : Just smile at the cameras, dude... (nice dress!)

No, not those birds and bees but the PSLE birds and bees. After the Science paper (last paper), the boy happily told me, 'There were no bird beak questions'. I know bird beak questions (beak type - eating habits relationship) are easy for many kids but they are not among the boy's strengths. I also know this kind of 'academic weakness' can be addressed by a good diet of Animal Planet and some amount of drilling. However, for various reasons, we never got round to them. Tsk, tsk, lackadaisical parents. Is this bird carnivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous? Then came the news about the 'bees' cloze passage which, understandably I suppose, caused some to be up in arms, but which I just put down to being one of those things in life that you can't do much about. Don't blame me... For six years, I have known that our attitude towards academic performance is not quite so conventional but I think we have done what we wanted to do: have the boy go through...

One can only imagine the mood in Myanmar. I have lost touch with the few Myanmar nationals I knew in the past so I have no chance to ask them anything. Check out these BBC pictures . Isn't it interesting that the BBC still calls Yangon 'Rangoon'?