Weapon of mass humiliation

Recently US President George W.Bush was on an unannounced visit to Iraq and he was received by an unexpected gift of a size 10 shoe. Apparently, while he was giving a speech at a press conference, a journalist threw a sweaty shoe at him. According to the Arab world, the greatest insult you can give someone is to slab a shoe on his face. This news has sparked off a number of related cartoons.

'N' Level Results Release

Hello 4N,

Your 'N' level results will be out this Thursday, 18 Dec at 2pm. Please come properly attired and neat hair-do. I heard that those who are not properly attired will not receive their results... they can only get it later in the afternoon when everyone has left. Those who read the blog, please pass the message to those who are involved. Awaiting your good results. See you!

Shanghai 2008

I'm back. I've been to Hangzhuo（杭州） and Zhouzhuang（周庄 ） but most of the time I was in Shanghai.

The 10 day trip is enough for me to feel the heartbeat of Shanghai. During my stay there, I took public transport such as bus, MRT and taxi. Squeeze with the morning crowd and ate at local restaurants. Shanghai is a big city, fast-paced and filled with modern skyscrapers but... the people are a bit rough and rude at times. There were numerous times that I heard loud gasping noise and the next moment, a lump of phlegm flew out from the person's mouth and landed on the floor. The sight was unbearable. Now, every time I heard similar sound, my reflex was to see where the source of the sound come from and dodge the person in case the greenish or whitish stuff land on me. Yucks!

Another not so nice thing is the pushing. The people there are not very used to saying "excuse me", even if they do, they say and push you at the same time, before you can react to give way. This is something I'm not so used too. However, as the days passed by, I was kind immune to the pushing.

Hailing for cab is another harrowing experience. The people have no concept of queueing for cab. It's the survival of the fittest. When the cab is near, you just have to race with the crowd to jump into the cab in order to claim the cab. It's first snatch first serve basis. I guess, China is so big, so everyone needs to compete and fight for himself.

There are nice people too. When I was in Zhouzhuang, a guy offered to walk around with me because both of us are individual travellers but I turned him down. I was wary as I was alone and not very keen to make new friends. However, I met him again at a restaurant and decided to have lunch with him as I thought we were fated to meet. The place is so big, yet I chose a restaurant and at that timing to have met him. He's surgeon who came to Shanghai to work for half a year and we had a good chat. In the end, he gave me a treat. Wow! After that, we went on separate paths to tour around the place.

Shanghai is a shopping paradise. Things are trendy and affordable. I told myself I'm not going to buy much but in the end I spent money like water. I felt guilty to be spending like this during the financial crunch but thought I really deserve this little reward since I worked so hard for the year. Finding excuses to make myself feel better. ;-)

China is indeed a powerful country to watch out. Just their cheap goods alone can flood every market and kill the competition. Though the quality of the goods are not top notch but I believe just another 10 or 15 years, China will catch up.

There was one day I spend close to 4 hours in the Shanghai book store and bought about 10 books. Books in China are really cheap so I grabbed a few. Luckily my luggage was not overweight and I managed to bring them back. Phew!

I met up with a former student in Shanghai. He was on a work and study attachment programme. My goodness! It's really nice of him to arrange to meet me and we had a great time chatting. He brought along another student of mine without me knowing. What a surprise! I feel old already after meeting them. Ha!

Actually I badly wanted to go to Putuo Island (普陀山）but the day I planned to go, the temperature dropped to -2 Degree Celsius. Everyone advised us not to go. I guess I'll need to plan another trip to SH perhaps next year?

More going green by eating greens

Those who avoid meat to save planet swelling the ranks of vegetarians
By Tania Tan , ST 5 Dec 2008

MS PAULINE MENEZES went vegan last year after learning about the impact livestock farming had on the environment. Now, she avoids milk and dairy foods, substituting them with soya-based products.

'I don't think I can reverse climate change,' said the 40-year-old, who first stopped eating meat in 1994 for ethical reasons. 'But by not eating meat I like to think I'm doing my small part to help.'

She is one of a growing number of Singaporeans who are choosing leafy greens over meat in a bid to save the planet.

The president of the Singapore Vegetarian Society, Mr George Jacobs, said there are 'definitely more' people turning towards a green diet.

He estimated that the vegetarian population has at least doubled in the past five years, although he could not say how many non-meat eaters there are here.

An increased awareness of ethical and environmental issues, coupled with an 'increasingly colourful range of vegetarian food', has made cutting meat out of everyday diets easier, he noted.
The real cost of livestock farming is alarming, he said.
An environmental report published in 2006 by the United Nations estimates that 50 billion land animals are eaten annually across the globe.

The same report also spells out the heavy toll livestock farming takes on the environment: About 7kg of grain goes into producing 1kg of meat.

Inefficient farming techniques also result in pollution. For instance, over 50 years of agriculture and livestock farming have rendered the water of the Indian Ganges undrinkable.

Facts like these have convinced some Singaporeans to take the plunge into a meatless diet.
Vegetarian food supplier Wu Qing of Zhen Hui Trading has seen a threefold increase in demand over the past five years.

He has been in the business for over a decade and supplies restaurants and vegetarian food stalls. He reckons that on top of the usual religious and health reasons, people are making diet switches to 'be good to the planet' and to 'save money'.
'A lot of Hollywood superstars are also vegetarian, so I think it's becoming more trendy,' Mr Wu added.

In the United States, a movement called Vegetarian Wednesday is slowly gathering steam as more people warm to the idea of abstaining from meat at least once a week.

However, a meatless diet, Singapore's vegetarian society concedes, is not for everyone. Mr Jacobs said his group does not condemn meat eating. Rather, he hopes that through education, Singaporeans will first consider 'reducing their meat intake'.

'The idea of not eating meat might scare some, but if you just keep an open mind, it's not as difficult as one might think,' he said.
taniat@sph.com.sg

I'll be away...

to this place. Make a guess. Will be back on 8 Dec!

D-PAN

Check out this unique video. It's made by D-PAN (Deaf Performing Artists Network) with the deaf in mind. It is specifically made to serve deaf audiences through the use of the American Sign Language (ASL). This video is a visual interpretation of the song "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. Enjoy!







Why S'poreans must work hard

In giving this dose of reality, Mr Lee also strived to assure his youthful audience that their goals and aspirations can come true in Singapore. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Bhutan has a yardstick for measuring success which some youth here yearn to have in place of Singapore's relentless pursuit of economic growth.

It was a longing that struck a chord in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, but he was quick to explain why Bhutan's Gross National Happiness index was not suitable for Singapore.

'We are one small island in the middle of a very turbulent South-east Asia. You have to watch your GDP (gross domestic product), because if you are poor, you will be weak; if you are weak, something will happen to you,' he said.

He gave this gentle warning to graduate student Chong Kwek Yan, 25, who posed the question at a dialogue Mr Lee had with 150 students and professionals.

The Prime Minister then set out for his audience of 17- to 35-year- olds the overriding challenges facing Singapore in the short, medium and long term.

In the present economic crisis, Singapore's most urgent concern is to keep the economy humming along and to look after the low-income earners.

In the medium term, it needs to focus on how to produce enough Singaporean babies and attract foreign talent. For the long term, Singapore has to renew its political leadership and build up a sense of identity.

But in giving this dose of reality, the 56-year-old Prime Minister also strived to assure his youthful audience that their goals and aspirations can come true in Singapore.

The 80-minute dialogue, an annual event, was organised by the National Youth Council.

Although political issues such as political expression and succession held sway at the start of the session, many were also anxious over what they see as the high cost of living here.

Ms Sonia Ong, 26, director of a public relations firm, said the maid levy and heavy taxes here were making her wonder whether she might be better off in Hong Kong.

Mr Lee pointed out that total taxes here, at 15per cent of GDP, were 'very, very low'.

'For nearly everybody in this room, if you were in Hong Kong, you would pay more tax than you would personal taxes.'

He added: 'The trouble is our taxes come in places where you notice...so you drive less or think about whether you really need a maid.'

Indeed, owning a car has become too costly, especially for the middle class, some felt.

But Mr Lee was swift to point out that in charging drivers for using rather than owning a car, ownership has become much cheaper, which is why so many more cars are on the road.

He also highlighted how the middle-income group is also benefiting from government policies which help ensure that its earners' wages go up yearly.

On economic competitiveness, he cautioned against going down the road of Germany, which had a generous welfare scheme that gave workers six weeks of vacation. The result was that factories moved to former communist countries such as Hungary and Romania. Similarly, Singapore faces a region in which people in India, China and Vietnam are working harder. 'If we want to sweat less, are we going to be up there?' he said.

Mr Lee agreed with lawyer Leon Yee, 32, who noted that, unlike Singapore, Hong Kong can more immediately tap a Greater China hinterland.

Mr Lee said: 'That is a reason we need to work harder, because we don't have China next door which can rescue us, help us or defend us.

'We are Singapore. We are one country on our own.'

chinlian@sph.com.sg

When some of you are wondering why you need to work so hard, the answer is in the article above. We've discussed many times, Singapore has nothing except human resource. In order to survive as a nation or as an individual, we've to build up our human resource. On the other hand, Bhutan has very different goals. Do read up about this very interesting and beautiful country. The country measures success by looking at the gross national happiness instead of gross national product. Find out why they want to use such an index and how they can do it? Bhutan has always been an exotic country I really want to visit. I guess next June's travel destination is decided...