my ajumma notes

A couple of months ago, my former colleague invited me for the 'final makan' and the 'closing ceremony' of the department's special room. With many exciting changes having taken and going to take place there, things have been re-structured and the room as we knew it will cease to exist as the room as we knew it. It was a kind of tradition to have makan sessions in the room every now and then and I'm sure those played no small part in building the team up. I have many fond memories of my time with this group of people. It was probably the time I performed best as a worker because it was when I was most convicted as well as most enthusiastic about my job. I was actually apprehensive about joining this place but my colleagues' energy and belief in the task at hand were rather infectious. Now, some months before that, I was reading Bear Hugs' gift, Mean Girls Grown Up . Towards the end of the book, the author suggests: 'think back over the previous twel

I was there! But before this: (picture from ST interactive) We were diverted at the MacRitchie junction because of flood waters there and along the way home, we also encountered accidents, fallen trees, etc. There was this road where it was two-way traffic, single lane each direction. A tree had fallen on the other lane and these people from LTA or wherever were directing traffic, like how they do it when there are road works. Each side takes turns to go. It's common sense, isn't it? If you don't take turns, how is the traffic on the side of the fallen tree going to move? I guess some people lose their common sense on rainy days because there was this driver on our lane who kept blasting his/her horn whenever it was our side's turn to wait. I realise too that some people develop a need to speed on rainy days. On Monday night, we were also driving home with the rain lashing down. It was already tough seeing properly through the front windscreen and I always have problem

I won't be caring about serials and the like for a while because tomorrow, the Davis Cup final starts and so does the action in Doha . Will be offline for a couple of weeks or so. Should be back on the blog around Christmas. Meanwhile, don't forget to support Team Singapore ! Oh, and don't forget also, the National Museum of Singapore opens this weekend!

Looks like we didn't have to wait long for another one to add to the list of reasons why Singaporeans aren't having more children. This letter appeared on Monday in TODAY. A short excerpt: I am wondering if the higher GST will discourage people from producing babies? ... Could the Government consider waiving the GST for products and services that are related to babies? Whatever next? (By the way, I've nothing to say about the other letter that somehow got merged with this GST one.)

Recently finished watching (started watching only from somewhere in the later half of the stories) two clever stories with unlikely endings. Clever story #1: Goong/Princess Hours Clever interplay of a fictitious present-day Korean royal family and high school romance. I think the modern royal family idea is a novel one. I don't recall any TVB, Japanese or TCS drama using this idea. I really like the palace setting. What also worked well was the pairing of the Snow Prince (the Snow Queen-like Crown Prince) and the cute girl, both roles played by newbies in the acting scene. Unlikely ending: The Crown Prince and cute girl marry for the second time (why did they have to when they didn't even divorce?) in a Catholic church (in all likelihood, though I don't remember any mention of religion, the couple wasn't Catholic)! Also, the unfortunate cousin-prince became so 'poor thing' when he lost everything that could have been his and his mother 'conveniently' h

I guess you would have read 'Littering is no big deal, say many' in today's ST by now. The simple word 'disgusting' describes some people's attitudes. Check these out: U 'Somtimes, I accidentally throw litter on the ground.' (Got such thing as 'accidentally litter' meh?) U 'If I leave small things like tissue on the table, I don't consider it littering because cleaners will clear it anyway.' U 'I am more likely to litter when people are not looking at me.' U '... others blamed the lack of rubbish bins.' (as a reason for littering) Then, there is that toilet story which I will not repeat here. Are these people living on a different planet or what?? One thing that is clear is that it's not the fault of schools. I'm sure all schools frown upon littering and expect people to clear canteen tables, etc. And if it's not the fault of schools, guess whose fault it is... (clue: not the government's either) S

No need to pay 50 cents or go to any void deck, just click here to vote for the new 7 wonders of the world. Actually, when I looked at the list of candidates, it seemed to me like it was a case of (some) giants versus (some) dwarfs. Anyhow, just 'play your part in making history' if you are interested. Wonder why Borobudur didn't make it to the list.

Of all the reasons put forward to explain why Singaporeans are not having more children, I don't think I've come across one that beats this . The letter writer feels that HDB and private apartments are too small for people to have more children. Although the argument does concede that '... the size of an apartment is not the main reason for couples not having more children, but I am quite sure it plays a part', the point of the letter is that the apartments are too small and therefore they restrict the size of the family. I know that HDB flats today are smaller than those built, say, 20 years ago. As pointed out in the letter, people do decide to sell their smaller, newer flats and buy older, bigger ones. I'm sure it's a big hassle doing so, and then there are also financial and other considerations, but those aside, what's wrong with staying in an older but bigger flat? And as for the argument that siblings who share bedrooms get on each other's nerves

When you hear children asking to play with the computer at a house warming party, you know for sure that the sands of time have really left life-as-we-knew-it-in-our-childhood-days awash. Even if there had been computer games in those days, I don't think most of us would have dared to open our mouths to ask! I suppose the older you get, the more acutely you are aware of the sands and hands of time. I don't think I've ever wished for them to slow down (futile anyway!) but there have been many times in my life when I wished that I had used time better. I wonder what I would be wishing when I look back at today in, say, 5 or 10 years' time. Would I wish that I hadn't left the working world? Would I wish that I had chosen instead to work towards promotions and take on higher appointments? I hope not. Just last week, I bumped into 2 people from my past. First, I ran into a former colleague and she said, 'You look just like how you did before you got married!' Lat

Guess some of you would have read the article in yesterday's ST: '24 strokes: Unusual but not surprising', about this 16-year-old boy who was sentenced to 5 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for armed (knife) robbery. The boy has a litany of crimes to his name and has been running afoul of the law since he was 10 or so. According to the article, he was deemed 'unsuitable for reformative training' (i.e. sentenced to RTC, which his partners in crime were) and the judge had 'no choice but to give him at least the minimum sentence' (5 years + 12 strokes). How was it concluded that he was 'unsuitable' for RTC. A report by the prison psychiatrist said he was '"intellectually dull" and therefore unlikely to be able to follow the programme'. Why? Is the programme so complicated? Can't it be modified to cater to people of different intellectual abilities? Interestingly, the psychiatrist said the boy 'was capable of distingui

I'm looking forward to A Good Year . Read the book sometime last year, I think, and enjoyed it very much, though A Year in Provence remains the best of Peter Mayle . If you like this kind of Englishman-in-idyllic-French-countryside kind of tale, gastronomic-adventures-in-the-south-of-France, etc, read his books! I haven't read all of them but the Provence ones are good, including A Dog's Life , which is the Provence story from his dog's point of view. Russell Crowe should be interesting as Max. I read that this is his first humorous role. Well, I wouldn't know. I hardly watch movies and I don't follow Crowe's career. So, I really hope I will be able to catch the film, with the exams out of the way and term coming to an end. There must be some time somewhere to watch this!! I think the last time I was at the cinema was for Pooh's Heffalump Movie. I'm trying very hard to recall what I've watched since then but I can't remember anything except

A report in today's ST entitled 'Guess who has the most sex?' reports the findings of the 'first comprehensive global (59 countries) study of sexual behaviour.' The 'surprise findings': 1. 'Married people have most sex.' 2. 'People aren't losing their virginity at ever younger ages. Mid- to late teens is when both sees become sexually active.' 3. 'No firm link between promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases.' I will not bother to say much about findings #1 and #2 except that, depending on how you look at them , you might or might not be surprised. However, I do find the reasoning for #3 - no firm link between promiscuity and STDs - rather weird. This Professor who was involved in the study said that: 'they had expected to find the most promiscuous behaviour in regions like Africa with the highest rates of STDs. That was not the case, as multiple partners were more commonly reported in industrialised countries where t

With public transport getting a very public airing recently, here are some of my thoughts. Bus campaigns First, I noticed, as some of you must have too, these ads painted on buses telling us that there are reasons why two buses might arrive at the same time. Then, there is this campaign exhorting passengers to flag the bus early. I don't mean to be rude or to trivialise the plight of passengers or drivers but I couldn't help laughing. I mean, do these two issues warrant campaigns? I'm sure (most) people know there are reasons why two buses might arrive at the same time. Wouldn't the effort be better spent reducing the incidence of buses arriving at the same time? I'm also sure (most) people know they should flag the bus early and, although I no longer take the bus regularly, I'm pretty sure most people do flag the bus early. Why would anyone want to flag the bus late? I mean flag the bus late deliberately ? Youthink articles I read the youth contributions to y

In contrast to the article which my last post was about, I enjoyed reading Tay Yek Keak's two-pager on Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth in yesterday's ST. It was a rare interesting and 'light' article on the sombre topic of global warming. Then again, it wasn't actually about global warming, but about the film , which is about global warming. Having said that, I'm not sure if I'll be rushing out to watch it. From what I understand, most of the show is Al Gore doing his multimedia presentation on the topic, which sounds to me like a rather glorified GP lecture. No offence to any GP lecturers, for whom I have high regard. I just mean that it sounds like it's a glorified GP lecture. You know what I mean... I have a high regard, in fact, for both GP lecturers and the discussion about global warming. It's just that I'm not sure if I want to spend the time and money in a cinema watching Al Gore doing the lecture. No offence to Al Gore either. As

Something else to rant about. If you read the Sunday Times the other day, you most probably would have seen that 'brilliant' piece on page 3 and 4 about our top shuttler and paddler. A two-page spread, no less, a pseudo -analysis of their relationship based on comments and stories from anonymous 'close' friends. At least that old story we read sometime back about the top actor who had to sleep overnight at the bus stop came (purportedly anyway) from his own mother. Ya, great work, Sunday Times ... such a newsworthy bit of journalism, don't you think, especially after the two said persons requested to be left alone to concentrate on training... What was the big idea?? Incidentally, this was the same paper that brought us that tongue-in-cheek nonsense about IJ girls ... and which I once complimented ... sigh... Well, with Doha less than 2 months away, the rest of us should just continue giving our moral support to our athletes , whatever our papers choose to wr

Are there rules for or against the use of handbags by schoolgirls? You know, like how there are rules against multiple earrings, coloured hair, nail polish, and, in my time, pom-pom socks - which I'm sure trendy young ladies nowadays wouldn't dream of using -, and other such 'fashionable' things? I recently noticed some girls around here carrying handbags to school. For example, one girl carried a small handbag and a bigger bag for her school stuff. Then, there was this girl who had a small sling one and carried her files and books in her hand. And then, there was this girl who carried a (not very big) hobo type bag and I don't know where her books and files were. Maybe she rolled them and stuffed them into her bag or something. Is it the fashion these days? I have nothing against bags, of course. Actually, I love bags. In fact, I think about clothes bags shoes very, very often. And in fact, there are days when I think I'm obsessed with clothes bags shoes . Ju

I just have to get a few more things about Full House off my chest. 1. Why do Song Hae Gyo and Charming Man, both twentysomethings, need reading glasses? 2. I love the huge fridges found in both Rain/SHG's and Charming Man's houses. 3. What exactly is an Internet novelist? SHG is one at the start of the story. Does one make any money as an Internet novelist? How exactly does it work? 4. Why does Charming Man take her on as a scriptwriter when she is supposedly a third-rate Internet writer? Does anyone know of any lobang of this kind? Please let me know. He doesn't even need to be charming or whatever or in love with me. As long as can make money legally, can already. 5. The two girls have such lovely earrings. SHG also has some rather pretty dresses towar ds the end of the show, after her hair suddenly straightens. 6. I liked Rain's dad. He is so kind to SHG when he meets her at the wedding, quite unlike some of the dads in other K shows who beat their sons up

Some of you will be bored out of your mind with this post but I’ll write it anyway. On the whole, I enjoyed Full House though it definitely wasn’t as good as Sam Soon . Hop on the merry-go-round with the love quadrangle. First, the rich and talented trio (childhood pals) with their amazing blend of complexes and hang-ups: Rain , popular actor, leftmost (sorry if that picture is rather unflattering!) Pretty Girl , fashion stylist, 3rd from left Charming Man (played by this guy called Kim Sung Soo), big shot in the media industry, right Last player in the quartet: Song Hae Gyo (henceforth SHG), aspiring writer, ‘ordinary’, kind-hearted girl, 2nd from left At the start of the show, Rain is secretly in love with Pretty Girl (has been since they were nine!). Pretty Girl is (not secretly) in love with Charming Man (but apparently he’s the last to know it). Charming Man is not in love with anyone. SHG tumbles into their lives. Eventually, Rain and Charming Man are struck with the Mark Darc

I do know the ending of Full House but I will write some thoughts about it only after I watch the last episode. In the meantime, just for fun, if you had to choose one of these two guys, who would it be? Mr Left or Mr Right? Based purely on how they look to you.

Yesterday, one of our friends wondered if our children were truly 'lucky' to 'escape' the streaming business. That was the first time in recent days that I've heard anything vaguely positive in relation to streaming. It made me ask myself if the whole thing could have worked out well. After all, there is educational basis for 'streaming' - children learn at a comfortable pace, differentiated curriculum for different abilities, etc. And, realistically, how were teachers supposed to manage the range of abilities, talents, interests and behaviour of 40 children in each class? It is done, I believe, in most educational contexts all over the world - 'talent identification', 'placement tests', what have you... Unfortunately,we can't run away from the problem of 'labelling'. People will associate certain ideas with specific labels. Singapore is so small, competitive, achievement-oriented and class conscious. The term 'foundation'

In yesterday's ST article, "More saying 'I do' and 'I do... away with you'" , we are told that there are two encouraging signs in last year's marriage statistics: While divorce rates were at an 'all-time high', the 'silver lining' is that the number of marriages also went up, 'Heartening, too, is the fact that remarriages have become increasingly common...' Sorry to be a wet blanket but here are a couple of (negative) thoughts on the above points: Will the increased number of marriages mean even more divorces some years later? I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that people in their second, third,... marriage are at higher risk of divorce, so it isn't always 'heartening' to know that people are getting re-married. I also have a question about the second point: what do they mean that remarriages have become 'increasingly common'? What is 'common'? Is it like 50% of divorcees get married again or som

As in the General Election, I am not voting for anyone. I'm not wasting 60 cents per vote. Cheapskate me... I spotted Brother Paul Rogers sitting among the SJI-like all-white supporters of the underdog. So nice of him to turn up to cheer for the old boy. Like I said before, it's a good thing we were spared a horrible final and I must say last night's show was entertaining. Somehow it seemed better than the previous final. (But my memories of that one are vague) However, there is obviously a great big generation gap here because when they talk about Snow Patrol and Dreamz FM and Energy and all these singers, I really have no idea who they are. Although I do know George Michael and Chaka Khan. So... one guy is obviously the better singer, while the other has got 'personality', not that the better singer doesn't have 'personality'. You know what I mean... Wonder how people will vote this final time.

I reproduce here a letter in today's Forum: Lifestyle article cast aspersions on IJ Girls I am the chairperson of the Infant Jesus Board of Management of 11 CHIJ Schools in Singapore and an old girl of one of these CHIJ Schools. I refer to the article published on pages L4 - L6 of Lifestyle of The Sunday Times ('Alternative Singapore: The Encyclopedia'; Sept 17) where the authors indicated their desire to present 'overseas visitors' with an 'Insiders' Guide to help them get the most out of their stay'. They have therefore 'come up with (their) own counter-culture compendium of nuggets' which will 'initiate you to the local hybrid lingo'. I note that the article was written 'tongue-in-cheek'. I am concerned and dismayed that the authors have elected to include in their 'compendium of nuggets' their definition of 'IJ Girls', together with other commonly used words within the local Singapore community. My concern lies

I am not trying to pick on Andy Ho or anything. It's just that his ST article today, 'Activists shooting themselves in the foot' and this bunch of letters in TODAY make me wonder how and why Singaporeans, with almost NO experience with activists and outdoor protests (except one letter writer who lived for 3 years in Sydney) and such can comment with such authority on them. I shall not bother to go into their arguments but I just want to say that it really doesn't look good to be so defensive and to be unable to recognise and acknowledge that there are other modes of existence outside our fair shores. We once walked right beside these riot police in Seoul, who were on duty during a peaceful anti-war protest. Our Korean friend told us these protests and demonstrations were weekly (weekend) affairs. I must say the protest was very orderly and the protestors well-organised. They even had people in charge of directing traffic! It's not that I'm advocating protests a

If I were a teenybopper, I would probably be counting the days to the Idol final or something. However, as things are, i.e., I'm not one, I'm just glad that common sense prevailed and we are spared an embarrassing final. I wonder if there's some kind of conspiracy, though, to push for Jonathan as the winner. From the odd bits I caught in the last couple of weeks, I get this sense that the judges are rooting for him. Wonder why. Anyhow, I've discovered another Rain lookalike and he is none other than m y hair stylist! I don't think very often about my hair stylist - or Rain - so I didn't quite put the two together until I went for my haircut the other day. Jonathan bears some resemblance to Rain but this guy looks like he and Rain could be brothers!! I'm serious. Maybe he could take part in a singing contest sometime... ha ha... Might suggest that to him the next time I see him... As for Rain, SCV is sort of halfway through Full House . I find it rather enter

I didn't watch Federer versus Roddick 'live' (nor Justine H-H versus Sharapova). I refuse to watch any 'live' matches - even if they are tennis ones - at 4am or whatever other weird time. However, I did read the match reports and I found myself asking 'What??!' when I read about Tiger Woods sitting in Federer's player's box. Seems Woods and Federer were brought together by Nike (their sponsor) and their management company. Talk about product placement. And now, the two have become soulmates of sorts since, of course , nobody else understands what it is to be #1 and practically invincible. Whatever. I was taken aback because I thought it was rather insensitive to poor Roddick, who was already the underdog. I wonder how he felt about Woods cheering for Federer. I am now watching, as I'm typing this, the replay of the ladies' final. Sharapova's outfit is really lovely. But I wish she wouldn't scream so. I wonder if Justine's energy a

There's an article in today's Sunday Times entitled 'Did Andre stay too long?' It says that the legendary Andre Agassi 'ends career on low note by playing on despite age and injury'. The article says that he should have left the stage 'on a high', i.e. when he was still winnng Slams. It points out that in the past two years, he has just had one 'sole' win (not a Slam). In comparison, others such as Pete Sampras and Agassi's wife Steffi Graf retired while they held Grand Slam titles. The writer says Steffi 'knew when to call it quits'. I find the article rather disturbing. Why does winning have to be the end-all? Why does a sportsman have to end his career on a 'high'? Why can't he play for however long he wants to, even when he's never going to be #1 again? I'm sure that in these last couple of years or so, Agassi and (most of) his fans were not deluded enough to think that he was going to win another Grand Slam.

It is confirmed! We are at the stage where the son eats more than the mother. And the mother is not even on diet or anything. I cannot believe that an eight-year-old's stomach has greater capacity than mine. How does all that food fit into his slim frame? I am reminded of a recent conversation I had with one of our neighbours. She told me that feeding her 3 teenage children was a challenge. Apparently, the teenagers are eating all the time, so she is considering investing in a couple more fridges. Anyway, everyone has always been amused at how the boy mirrors his father's eating prowess. But his father thinks he is like me... ha ha... my secret eating powers...

Gillian Chung is one of the prettiest faces I've ever seen. (picture from here ) Someone took pictures of her while she was changing backstage at Genting Highlands. It's interesting that this article about it focuses on Jacky Chan and not Gillian. I suppose only a sprinkling of Americans would know who she is. Well, I'm sure this is the kind of thing that some people would use as their argument against having a truly free press/media.

It is good practice to have your ear to the ground and take feedback seriously. Sure, decision- and policy-makers have the 'big picture' and all, but the 'small pictures' are also important. Here are pieces of news in TODAY, which show that the small pictures must be taken into account. 1. Parking labels for the 'disabled' I was appalled to read this letter 'Unable, so why not "disabled"?' Due to the stringent criteria for issuing special parking labels for the use of handicap lots, this young lady, who has an incurable lung condition, needs to carry a portable oxygen tank and can't walk up stairs (and also long distances, I think) was denied the parking label. This despite her submitting the required medical documentation. I really cannot think why some flexibility could not be exercised but my guess is that the officers in-charge of dishing out the labels are not the real decision- or policy-maker and thus cannot exercise their own judge

I'll bet many blogs are now discussing the rally speech and the various follow-up comments and articles. However, my brain is currently unable to process all these intelligent ideas, so I am writing today about much less important matters related to (and also unrelated to) this popular K singer called Rain . Dee said sometime ago on her blog that Idol contestant Jonathan looks like Rain. I DO see the resemblance! (pic from here ) I happened to turn on the telly over the weekend and there was this documentary about Rain. He was at that time filming a drama serial as well as preparing for his Asian concert tour and slept 2 hours each day. I thought that was crazy. He explained that he had to work so hard because anytime, someone else who could act, sing and dance as well, or better, could emerge and that would be the end for him. I suppose this industrious spirit is rather admirable but I'm not sure if it's healthy to take it to such an extreme. Is one's career worth so m

I wonder if this year's Idol voting patterns will have any implications for our country's poltitical future. I mean, will these young voters continue with their... er... interesting style of voting, or will they, well, grow up when the time comes to vote on other matters? Well, if it isn't a Hady versus Jonathan final, we just have to wish Ken Lim and Hype Records all the very best as they groom whoever-it-might-be. Actually, I do feel sorry for the weak singers. These poor people must be going in every week thinking they will be booted out, then they miraculously garner the highest votes, and then they get hammered for not being booted out. It's not their fault that they're still in the running lah.

I'm back to occasionally writing about frivolous matters, such as K drama, which is today's topic. I watched bits of Memories of Bali when it was shown over Channel 8 or U (can't remember) some time ago and I happened to finally watch the whole of the last episode on Channel 55 the other day. This show is very flummoxing, I tell you. (I still love that word!) Guys A (In-wook) & B (Jae-min) fall for the same girl. From the parts I watched, neither actually articulates satisfactorily what they see in her, especially Guy B, who is obsessed with her. So she goes out with both guys, at different times in the show. The relationship with Guy A is given more airtime - they go out on dates, he takes care of her when she's ill and generally, he's really sweet to her. On the other hand, she and Guy B hardly have many decent conversations. [ Fast forward to the end.] After deciding to leave for Bali with Guy A, the girl inexplicably realises she actually loves Guy B, which

Recently, I've read quite a bit of Andy-Ho-whacking on other blogs, which I will not go into, so I decided to read his article today in detail. Today's offering is 'Time to legalise womb renting' . Aha! Sounds like something I would have something to say about, and indeed I do! The Senior Writer is pro-surrogacy, as you can see from the title. I have no problems with that. I'm not pro-surrogacy but he's entitled to his views and if he were a woman, I'd say he can go and rent his womb if he likes. Okay, stop being facetious. But I do have problems with some parts of his argument. Here goes (quoted parts are in green): AH says: 1. Provided that certain safeguards are in place, the objections against it can be more than adequately answered . If this is the premise of the argument, then the argument is faulty at the outset. If there are objections against anything, you address the objections directly. You don't supply 'safeguards'. For example, some

I spent the greater part of National Day lying in bed, and running to the bathroom now and then, due to a VERY upset tummy. By the time the parade started, I was already in my pyjamas... So much for celebrating... I did notice, though, that RADM Lui, whom I mentioned in the last post, was singing with somewhat more gusto that some of his esteemed colleagues. stars and crescent shine on me, make us more than what we can be... My home Wherever I may be I believe You will always be a part of me (Didn't whoever was in charge realise that 'everyday' is an adjective? Was wondering why that grammatical error was on TV and I now realise that the line 'where dreams are born everyday ' can be found on the NDP website too. Tsk... tsk... use good English, leh!) Our global city Our home

(Der = 'the' pronounced by the majority of Singaporeans) From yesterday's The Sunday Times ('What if we're understood only in S'pore, Malaysia and Batam?'), stories to make you wince : Story 1 Singaporean interviewed for job by international panel 'impresses' them with his 'colloquial, non-standard' English. 'Panel members are flummoxed.' (Wow, I just love that sentence!) Singaporean member of panel has to 'translate' for his peers. Story 2 Singaporean teacher studying in Australia does donkey work for his group presentation but not 'sufficiently confident' of his English to present. Australian group member does outstanding presentation and grabs 'lion's share of the credits'. (Who asked him to do all the donkey work? Being a doormat, bullied by his peers! Anyway, thumbs down for the lecturer who gave so much credit to the person who spoke well. Donno know how to set and assess group project!!) Further

I was surprised last night when I turned on the telly and saw the better singers in the Idol competition relegated to the 'in danger' group. I haven't been watching faithfully but I think I've seen all the remaining contenders sing sometime or other. My, this is turning out to be a teenybopper fest of sorts. Even the weaker singers themselves looked somewhat shocked when they learnt that they were 'safe'. I've also seen the latest national song on TV a couple of times. I remember there was this article about how the singer is an 'unknown', as compared with the previous big names such as Stefanie, Kit Chan and company. Aiyah, it's no big deal, lah. Why should singing for National Day be the preserve of the famous? Anyway, this girl looks pleasant, her singing is fine and the song is tuneful. Somehow, her mannerisms remind me of Mavis Hee ...

I was amused to read in this Forum letter (yesterday's ST) the idea that Orchard Road is the 'Champs Elysees of the East'. (painting by this lady ) The only time I've been down the Champs-Elysees was some 18 years ago and unless the place has changed that much, the only similarity I can think of that it bears with Orchard Road is the heavy traffic. How can Orchard Road compare with 'la plus belle avenue du monde' ('the most beautiful avenue in the world' - don't be too impressed; I don't know French at all - cut and past only, lah)? Frankly, Orchard Road does not even come near the historical, political and social significance of the Champs-Elysees. Click and see for yourself what I mean. It seems to me that we sometimes have this habit of celebrating Singapore in such a way that we make it bigger than it is. This Champs-Elysees thing is but one example of that. In today's newspapers, we have the promise of a Universal Studios theme park