Warning: Warming Alert!

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I bet, if i will to ask a layperson along the streets of Singapore about the climate change crisis, i will probably get some blank stares. "Err what? The haze problem issit?" Worse still, i have heard some people associating global warming with the ozone layer. These are two separate issues, for goodness' sake.

But the greatest sin of all, was a government worker in the environmental line to ask me about the link of climate change to mosquitoes. I almost fainted and was screaming silently inside my heart, "The warmer temperatures will induce the breeding of the mosquitoes, resulting in a higher likelihood of dieseases like malaria and dengue fever, idiot!"

No doubt, environmental awareness has often been a perennial neglect among many in Singapore. However, there is now one global environmental crisis that is facing humanity - the threat of climate change, that no government nor corporation nor individual should neglect. Many parts of the world, especially the European countries have already taken note and drawn up policies actions to tackle this impending environmental crisis. David King, the chief scientific advisor to the British goverment once proclaimed that “Climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today—more serious even than the threat of terrorism.” However, it seems that most parts of Asia, Singapore included, has yet to fully wake up from their slumber of ignorance.

To be fair, the Singapore government has started to take notice of this climate issue and some actions have been taken. For instance, Singapore has finally signed, ratified and ascended the Kyoto Protocol this year. The Singapore Green Plan 2012 has also set targets to reduce the national carbon emissions levels. The National Committee on Climate Change (NCCC) aims to increase climate change awareness and hopes to incorporate active partication from all sectors of the society. But there are still way lots of room for improvement. The carbon-hedonistic lifestyles that many Singaporeans are leading certainly do not spell of knowledge of the global warming (and warning).

It is also rather disappointing that "An Inconvenient Truth" has quietly slipped into the local cinemas. I had earlier expected tremendous promotional coverage on this environmental film which features former US Vice President Al Gore, but not many seem aware of this film if not for my own efforts to advertise it. Maybe the movie distributors find the film a bit too steeped in the US/Gore politics or that the documentary style of the film (more like an Al Gore's talkshow) would not appeal to the general population, but there are plenty of well-illustrated graphics and statistics which i thought it is a good way to scare the daylights out of the audience by highlighting this inconvenient truth (global warming) and hopefully galvanise them into action. People who would watch this film are probably the converts, while the message should be spreaded far and wide to the sceptics and non-converts too. But now, judging from the lack of advertising and promotional efforts, the planet might warm up faster than the movie-goers warm up to this film.

Do not ignore this warning!


$100 in Singapore

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How to spend $100 in Singapore
I entered the Gridskipper's contest of how to spend $100 in (one of 20 cities Wallpaper* published a guide to).

Here's my entry (edited and published by Gridskipper)

They said "Competition for the set of Wallpaper* City Guides just got a bit harder with this $100 a day itinerary from Holland Village Voice. You think you can do better? tips@gridskipper.com is open for you."

9am

Exit Bukit Gombak MRT (subway) station ($1.25 ride). Order a "teh ah lia" (Indian hot tea with milk, infused with ginger, $0.50) to go from one of the coffee shops and ask to "da bao" (takeout) - you might get it in a cool cup likethis.
If you're adventurous, order "kaya toast" (toast with creamy coconut jam and small explosions of butter nuggets, $1) or, if you want to play it safe, head to a nearby mall to buy bread and pastries from "Breadtalk. Bring your breakfast to Little Guilin , an area with granite outcroppings from the Triassic age (200 million years old) for a quiet start to the day (free).
10:30am
Take a short walk and observe the public housing blocks inspired undoubtedly by Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation. Arrive at Church of St Mary of the Angels, a 3-year-old building, a church that seeks to reach out to modern times. The centerpiece is Jesus suspended free from the crucifix skylight. The WOHA designed church uses colors to represent different uses and inspirations (oak to represent importance, brown inspired by Franciscan robes). For lunch, take the MRT to Tanjong Pagar Station, to Maxwell Food Centre for a piping hot bowl of Chinese Porridge, pairing it with ceviche like raw fish. ($7)
There are other stalls selling food that's more familiar/similar to American Chinese takeout or Thai food. Wash them down with a Tiger beer ($2).

2pm
Walk 5 minutes to Ann Siang Hill For shopping, check out the Asylum, a store that stocks designers ranging from Comme Des Garcons to local unknowns while being a studio for the designers (kind of like Reed in LES). Or maybe head to Front Row, both a gourmet grocer and a clothes retailer. If you're already starting to have late afternoon hunger pangs, check out the "Patissier for creations like beer mousse with custard and beer sponge cake, earl grey crème brulee with coffee beans. It's located in a Peranakan (Chinese Baroque-styled) shophouse, like most stores in Ann Siang Hill. After you've spent 20 or 30 bones, head to one of the newest museums in town is the nearby Red Dot Design Museum. Entrance is $3.50.

Dinner
The Turquoise Room(7 Lock Road, $25 each for dinner w/o drinks, tax included)
Unlike restaurants located in the by-now-congested Rochester Park, the Turquoise Room is nested in Gilman Village, a place that feels so private - it's finding a clearing amidst lush forest. Review trotters are notably absent in this place that's perfect for dining tête-à-tête. The décor is rustic Greek. The food is satisfying in its simplicity, yet not boring. Choose to sit out on the wooden deck, and a few glasses of wine later, you will think you are in Greece, some beach in Queensland, or maybe Heaven.
Post-dinner
Old Changi Hospital (Locate it yourself, free)
If you are the only person you know who likes the Blair Witch Project, visit Singapore. The Old Changi Hospital takes quite a bit of walking to get to. You might be disappointed to find that the place is flooded with teenagers armed with torchlights, but c'mon it's free and the teenagers try to scare you. Best rooms are the mortuary (when used as a hospital by the British) or torture chamber (when the Japanese invaded).

Late Night
You still have $30 left to dance your night away in Zouk, Ministry of Sound or the soon-to-be-open St. James Power Station - an old warehouse renovated into a huge multi-rooms club. If you don't want to take the chance of going to bed unlaid, head to "Fishtanks" in Geylang (NSFW). Shun, gawk or partake, this is the discrete version of Amsterdam's red light district. Houses on the even numbered Lorongs (streets) have specific architecture - screens that block direct views off while allowing you a titillating glance inside. (Market rates, but are negotiable). Wonderful 24-hour street food, durians and other edibles can be found on odd numbered streets if you're hungry for something else.

Musical legacy from a beloved king

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A clarinet soloist performs during the Royal Concert at VCH

Two Sundays ago on Oct 8, I attended “A Concert of Royal Compositions in Honour of the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne” at the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore. The tickets for this concert were made available, free-of-charge through the Royal Thai embassy and various channels. So I felt very fortunate to be able to obtain several passes to the concert because I heard there was a long waiting list of people interested in the concert but did not manage to get the tickets.

Organized by the Thai Ministry of Culture, Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Royal Thai Embassy, the concert is performed by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and conducted by H.E. Rear Admiral M.L. Usni Pramoj, RTN., Privy Councillor. BSO has been touring the region to give goodwill concerts as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne as well as to promote bilateral ties and Thai culture. Singapore was the third stop in the region for BSO. It had earlier performed in Vietnam and Indonesia before moving on to the Philippines after Singapore.

King Bhumibol is a gifted composer and musician, and has gained numerous accolades internationally as an acclaimed jazz musician. To date, the talented King Bhimbibol has composed 48 royal pieces, but it was impossible to pack all these pieces into a two-hour concert. Therefore, BSO only performed a selected version of sixteen royal pieces with a focus on the clarinet, flute and French horn as some of the lead solos during the performance. Some of the royal pieces performed include "Alexandra", "Lullaby", "A Love Story", "Royal Marines March", "Magic Beams", etc.

I must admit I am not very acquainted with classical music, but I certainly found the King’s pieces short, easy on the ears and tremendously enjoyable. The last royal piece “Can’t you ever see” has a distinctive jazz flavour to it, bringing the whole concert programme to a high note. When the last note sounded, the audience could not get enough of these melodious pieces and shouts of “encores” quickly resonated across the concert hall. To the delight of the audience, the conductor came back to conduct another two pieces.

I am really, really in awe of King Bhumibol! These royal compositions are indeed a musical legacy, a valuable extension to his good deeds for his people and the world. Kudos to BSO for such a delightful evening of royal music as all my friends, both Thais and Singaporeans alike enjoyed the concert tremendously. It was indeed phror maak maak (meaning very melodious in Thai).


Some background trivial: For those not so familiar with Thai happenings, this year marks the 60th anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession to the throne. King Bhumibol is currently the longest ruling monarch in the world, having ascended the throne in 1946. Over the years under his reign, he has devoted much time and effort to initiate royal projects that have bettered the lives of many Thai people, therefore he is a extremely revered and respected figure in Thailand, almost reaching god-like status.

Singaporean Dreaming

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Collapsing under the burden of tutorials and projects that seem to all converge at the same time, I managed to force myself to live up to my commitment to this blog. When Fabian first approached me to contribute to this blog, his email stated that I was the one of the first few people that came to his mind when he was conceptualising this blog. I must say that his ass kissing has improved tremendously since our Army Daze and it was on this point that I accepted his kind invitation. I chose Sunday because Sunday is suppose to be a laid back day, filled with trivial light hearted stuff like the Sunday Times for example or watching back to back episodes of CSI on AXN. And it is somewhere in between the Sunday Times and Couch Potatoing that I hope my blog posts will reside.
Sunday is also a day for church and I managed to drag myself up for mass this morning, half hoping that my attendance in church would induce God to bestow upon me the answers for my double tutorial tomorrow. Instead he gave me a half answer to a big question that I did not ask, which left me pondering and not working on my tutorials. Yet somehow, amidst all this walking in the 'wrong' direction, I did find a sense of fulfillment, not in the I've-solved-a-complex-problem sense but more like the I've-solved-one-side-of-the-rubiks-cube sense. In this morning's sermon, the priest shared with us an interesting story about money and happiness. And in order to take up space on this blog post, I will now share it with you. There was a fisherman who had just came back from sea. He had sold his catch and was sitting on the beach, smoking his pipe, relaxing. The perfect picture of contentment. A businessman walked by and started making small talk with the fisherman.
Businessman: "Why are you sitting on the beach relaxing when there is still plenty of time to make another trip out to sea?"
Fisherman: "And what would I do then?"
Businessman: "you can sell the extra catch for more money and if you keep this up you might actually save enough money to get another boat".
Fisherman: "And what would I do then?".
Businessman: "You can increasae your catch with another boat and earn even more money. And if you save enough, you can eventually buy another boat and expand your fishing fleet till you are as rich as me."
Fisherman: "And what would I do then?"
Businessman: "Then you can retire and enjoy life"
Fisherman: "And what do you think i'm doing now?"
I think regardless of whether you are a believer in God or not (and no $ is not a God), most Singaporeans chasing the Singapore Dream will find this a pertinent point. It seems to be the case that in Singapore, for one to enjoy life, one must have money. How much money? I think we seem t
o have complicated things by trying to put a material valuation on something intangible. It is as good as measuring an apple's worth with oranges. What then is the solution? Well, if I had the solution, I wouldn't be on the verge of death by homework. But most of the important things in life do not have clear cut answers. So maybe that is the key to the whole issue. To lead a happy life, one should pursue one's dreams but bear in mind that we should not measure happiness with money? Perhaps I am just being an apologist for the Singapore Dream. Perhaps perhaps perhaps. One thing's for sure, my pile of readings is still as high as
when I started this blog entry. And on this note it is au revoir till next Sunday where I promise at least a photo and less farting.

Singapore is sick, architecturally

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Buildings manifest the health of a city, revealing whether architects, planners and leaders connect to the majority of the people. By that measure, Singapore is sick because Singaporeans are not consulted enough when it comes to our city, our living environment.

Starchitects failed to build the Singapore architecture Icon

After being worked on by starchitects Sir Norman Foster twice, I.M.Pei twice, Kenzo Tange multiple times and now Moshe Safdie twice, Singapore still lacks an iconic building. The defining Singapore photograph had to be assembled - the representative Merlion had to be relocated to the front of the neoclassical Fullerton Hotel while making sure the Esplanade "Durian shells" could still be framed in the same picture. You know, just to be sure tourists know they are in Singapore. Tange's UOB Building becomes background, though his Indoor Stadium is somewhat more successful - it dominates the other side of the Bay.

Why doesn't Singapore have a Bank of China when we had I.M.Pei?

Missing the elements of Singapore?
Cities often tap on their history to constract distinctive buildings - Jinmao tower in Shanghai pays respect to pagoda architecture. In contrast, Singapore's architecture neglected our short but rich modern history - there is no reference to Peranakan architecture and no nod towards kampungs or other places that were at least very Singaporean upon a time. In fact, Singapore made some mistakes in not preserving even what we had - Koolhaas is known to have been furious at Singapore for tearing down parts of historic Chinatown.

Missing feedback
Perhaps there is no need to have Singaporean elements for the sake of it. Being kitsch doesn't help create an icon. Quite simply the reason might be that projects in Singapore lack criticism and feedback. Singaporeans lack the avenues to criticize loud enough. Such a role is usually played by the local media. Singapore's media silently let the architecture aspects of a huge project like the Marina Bay Sands get by when it flouted Feng Shui rules. The three hotel towers have been compared to joss sticks used for praying. Sticking chopsticks into a bowl of rice is rude. Superstitious gamblers are sure to frown on the design. Why the silence then? If the media dwells more on the architecture aspect, they then have to shine some light on the political aspects of the casino. Maybe that is the root of the issue.

Missing diversity
In Singapore, we have been known to complain of how bland HDB blocks are. HDB blocks would actually be classified as "Brutalist" architecture, in the same category as Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation, which architecture tourists travel to see. HDB blocks have nothing inherently inferior about them architecturally - the problem is that we lack diversity of styles. Fourty years and nothing seems to have changed? Typically, architecture is a pendulum that swings between extremes - a period of opulence is preceded by a trend of minimalism, and ensued by another opposing style. Public housing projects elsewhere have seen variations - in Singapore we have seen more of the same. Why are we missing diversity in architecture? Why aren't there new movements to challenge the old? Are we missing diversity in views only in architecture, or are there other things we should also be worried about?

Even though Gehry is known for his "Bilbao effect," even if he's part of the winning team for the second casino, I don't think he can cure us of our architecture illness. The cause is deeper, and we have to address that first.

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There's no nature in Singapore? Says who?

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It is true that we have no grand national parks to boost of, but that does not mean there simply isn't any nature in Singapore. This is very common misconception indeed. The truth is, we still have little pockets of nature left on this little island, just that they are increasingly threatened over time. In fact, one can spot nature in the heartlands too, as long as we are willing to keep our eyes and minds open. The pictures above were taken one morning when i was walking through my Tampines neighbourhood park.