Tuesday, September 30, 2008
In Memory: Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (1926 - 2008)
Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, more affectionately (or not!) known as JBJ, passed away due to heart failure at 1.30am today.
Channelnewsasia covered it here.
Say what you want about him, but I have admiration for the man for having beliefs, and for following his heart, in his desire for a better country for Singapore. No other motives.. just the welfare of his fellow countrymen (unlike some other so-called 'politican' I know!).
Even at 82 years of age, he was still working - his last 'political action' (for want of a better phrase) was the filing of a class action lawsuit re the decision not to hold by-elections for the Jurong GRC Bukit Batok GRC.
He spent 1 1/2hrs meeting residents in three blocks in Bukit Batok and collected 39 signatories.
Of course there was talk over whether or not JBJ had a strong case, by basing his argument on Article 49(1) of the Constitution. The application was supposed to be heard on 15 Oct - don't know what's going to happen now.
His Reform Party was just approved by the Registry of Societies on 18 June 2008.
And I've seen the man selling his book 'Make it Right for Singapore' - a book with his parliamentary speeches from 1997 to 2000 - outside Centrepoint.
And who can forget JBJ winning the Anson seat in 1981, and later again in 1984 - the first Opposition politician to win a parliamentary seat in Singapore... paving the way for others.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not totally pro-Opposition, and neither am I totally pro-PAP. I don't care whether you're a PAP member or from an opposition party - I only care about how well you can serve me.
I didn't agree with all of JBJ's political beliefs and proposed policies - but I still respected the man because he did sincerely care.
I salute you, Mr Jeyaretnam.. and I hope you're enjoying heaven now.
Channelnewsasia covered it here.
Say what you want about him, but I have admiration for the man for having beliefs, and for following his heart, in his desire for a better country for Singapore. No other motives.. just the welfare of his fellow countrymen (unlike some other so-called 'politican' I know!).
Even at 82 years of age, he was still working - his last 'political action' (for want of a better phrase) was the filing of a class action lawsuit re the decision not to hold by-elections for the Jurong GRC Bukit Batok GRC.
He spent 1 1/2hrs meeting residents in three blocks in Bukit Batok and collected 39 signatories.
Of course there was talk over whether or not JBJ had a strong case, by basing his argument on Article 49(1) of the Constitution. The application was supposed to be heard on 15 Oct - don't know what's going to happen now.
His Reform Party was just approved by the Registry of Societies on 18 June 2008.
And I've seen the man selling his book 'Make it Right for Singapore' - a book with his parliamentary speeches from 1997 to 2000 - outside Centrepoint.
And who can forget JBJ winning the Anson seat in 1981, and later again in 1984 - the first Opposition politician to win a parliamentary seat in Singapore... paving the way for others.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not totally pro-Opposition, and neither am I totally pro-PAP. I don't care whether you're a PAP member or from an opposition party - I only care about how well you can serve me.
I didn't agree with all of JBJ's political beliefs and proposed policies - but I still respected the man because he did sincerely care.
I salute you, Mr Jeyaretnam.. and I hope you're enjoying heaven now.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
In Memory: Paul Newman (1925 - 2008)
It's kinda morbid... my second last post was also about a death from cancer.
Now, screen legend Paul Newman has also died because of the wicked cancer, aged 83.
I heard that there was a very good actor called Paul Newman when I was a little girl, but that was pretty much all I knew... until I watched Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.
Both Paul Newman and Robert Redford were so good in it... and I was totally taken with Newman, lol, he and his beautiful blue eyes.
And so we've lost another great talent... sigh.
As usual, I went looking in YouTube for something... BBC has quite a nice video, but I wanted more.
This was nice:
And then I found this, the trailer!
Paul Newman, rest in peace.
Now, screen legend Paul Newman has also died because of the wicked cancer, aged 83.
I heard that there was a very good actor called Paul Newman when I was a little girl, but that was pretty much all I knew... until I watched Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.
Both Paul Newman and Robert Redford were so good in it... and I was totally taken with Newman, lol, he and his beautiful blue eyes.
And so we've lost another great talent... sigh.
As usual, I went looking in YouTube for something... BBC has quite a nice video, but I wanted more.
This was nice:
And then I found this, the trailer!
Paul Newman, rest in peace.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The 1st US Presidential Debate
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7639070.stm
Ok, so McCain is older and more experienced (and believe me when I say I've liked the man ever since I saw him on the Daily Show)... but to me, knowing how things have always been and how they've always been tackled just means that we'll have more of the same George Bush shit we've been having for the past 8 years.
Obama actually seems to be getting better and better... especially from the time he said “It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”
Obama debate quotes:
"You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. And you were wrong."
- Obama's capable of delivering punchshots
"We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate. We need more troops there. We need more resources there. Senator McCain, in the rush to go into Iraq, said, you know what? We've been successful in Afghanistan. There is nobody who can pose a threat to us there.
This is a time when bin Laden was still out, and now they've reconstituted themselves. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there."
- Oh thank God someone's remembered the whole 'War on Terror' should really be in Afghanistan.
McCain debate quotes:
"And I want to tell you that now that we will succeed and our troops will come home, and not in defeat, that we will see a stable ally in the region and a fledgling democracy."
- Just by looking at that statement, you wouldn't think he's talking about Iraq... 'fledgling democracy' indeed!
"And this strategy, and this general, they are winning. Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that we are winning in Iraq.
They've just passed an election law just in the last few days. There is social, economic progress, and a strategy, a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. They inform on the bad guys. And peace comes to the country, and prosperity.
That's what's happening in Iraq, and it wasn't a tactic."
- If he says so...
"First of all, I won't repeat the mistake that I regret enormously, and that is, after we were able to help the Afghan freedom fighters and drive the Russians out of Afghanistan, we basically washed our hands of the region."
- I liked that he acknowledged that.
Ok... to be fair,if you look just at the debate performance, then McCain's more suave (in my opinion at least), but he's reminding me more and more that he is, no matter what, a Republican.
And I don't really agree with them.
Ok, so McCain is older and more experienced (and believe me when I say I've liked the man ever since I saw him on the Daily Show)... but to me, knowing how things have always been and how they've always been tackled just means that we'll have more of the same George Bush shit we've been having for the past 8 years.
Obama actually seems to be getting better and better... especially from the time he said “It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”
Obama debate quotes:
"You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. And you were wrong."
- Obama's capable of delivering punchshots
"We have seen Afghanistan worsen, deteriorate. We need more troops there. We need more resources there. Senator McCain, in the rush to go into Iraq, said, you know what? We've been successful in Afghanistan. There is nobody who can pose a threat to us there.
This is a time when bin Laden was still out, and now they've reconstituted themselves. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself acknowledges the war on terrorism started in Afghanistan and it needs to end there."
- Oh thank God someone's remembered the whole 'War on Terror' should really be in Afghanistan.
McCain debate quotes:
"And I want to tell you that now that we will succeed and our troops will come home, and not in defeat, that we will see a stable ally in the region and a fledgling democracy."
- Just by looking at that statement, you wouldn't think he's talking about Iraq... 'fledgling democracy' indeed!
"And this strategy, and this general, they are winning. Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that we are winning in Iraq.
They've just passed an election law just in the last few days. There is social, economic progress, and a strategy, a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. They inform on the bad guys. And peace comes to the country, and prosperity.
That's what's happening in Iraq, and it wasn't a tactic."
- If he says so...
"First of all, I won't repeat the mistake that I regret enormously, and that is, after we were able to help the Afghan freedom fighters and drive the Russians out of Afghanistan, we basically washed our hands of the region."
- I liked that he acknowledged that.
Ok... to be fair,if you look just at the debate performance, then McCain's more suave (in my opinion at least), but he's reminding me more and more that he is, no matter what, a Republican.
And I don't really agree with them.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
In Memory: Richard Wright (1943 - 2008)
Wish You Were Here.
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from Pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail ?
A smile from a veil ?
Do you think you can tell
And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts ?
Hot ashes for trees ?
Hot air for a cool breeze ?
Cold comfort for chains ?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found ?
The same old fears
Wish you were here
***
Founding Pink Floyd member Richard Wright has died of cancer at age 65.
See here.
I know there's a lot of other shit happening in the world, and normally I would have loved to pounce on the topics of Malaysian politics (ISA, anyone?), US politics (Palin is overrated), SG society (Gold, baby!) and various other things.... but I've not been my usual eloquent self of late, so screw off.
Better to mourn the death of someone who was involved in one of my absolute favorite songs.
And one cannot forget this too:
Oh well... life's a bitch, and then you die.
R.I.P.
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from Pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail ?
A smile from a veil ?
Do you think you can tell
And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts ?
Hot ashes for trees ?
Hot air for a cool breeze ?
Cold comfort for chains ?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found ?
The same old fears
Wish you were here
***
Founding Pink Floyd member Richard Wright has died of cancer at age 65.
See here.
I know there's a lot of other shit happening in the world, and normally I would have loved to pounce on the topics of Malaysian politics (ISA, anyone?), US politics (Palin is overrated), SG society (Gold, baby!) and various other things.... but I've not been my usual eloquent self of late, so screw off.
Better to mourn the death of someone who was involved in one of my absolute favorite songs.
And one cannot forget this too:
Oh well... life's a bitch, and then you die.
R.I.P.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Books Meme
Saw this in Expat@Large's blog.
And coz I've got to satisfy my inner geek, I'm doing it... anyway, it's quite fun.
****
From People's Republic of Tung Chung:
"The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.”
And so here’s the list, complete with the following instructions:
* Look at the list and embolden those you have read.
* Italicise those you intend to read.
* Underline the books you LOVE.
* Reprint this list in your own blog.
(Coz I'm having problems with html, I'll just type notes in)
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (Love it!)
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (Love it!)
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (Love it!)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible (well, most of it anyway)
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (Love it!)
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (Love it!)
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (Some of his plays - love them)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (found it very boring!)
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (boring!)
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen (Love it!)
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Love it!)
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (Love it!)
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding (does watching the movie count?)
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (Love it!)
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker (Love it!)
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Love it!)
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (half read it. HE likes Conrad, I don't particularly fancy the man)
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (Love it!)
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (Love it!)
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
I've realised that I've read every single Jane Austen book in this list.. lol, what can I say? I love that woman... did marvelously for her during my A-Level Lit. My tutor said it's coz I'm very much like Austen's protagonists that I appreciate her work :P
Read a number of Charles Dickens too when I was a kid... great guy.
By the way, since my birthday (very soon!) and Christmas (being considerate by giving you advanced notice) are around the corner, the italicised books will serve as my 'GiftS Wish List'.
Plus:
(a) How to Cook Everything (available at Kinokuniya)
(b) Agatha Christie's mystery novels (I'm collecting her books; contact me to find out what books I still lack ;) )
Please feel free to get me one or more of the books indicated above. I INSIST
And coz I've got to satisfy my inner geek, I'm doing it... anyway, it's quite fun.
****
From People's Republic of Tung Chung:
"The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.”
And so here’s the list, complete with the following instructions:
* Look at the list and embolden those you have read.
* Italicise those you intend to read.
* Underline the books you LOVE.
* Reprint this list in your own blog.
(Coz I'm having problems with html, I'll just type notes in)
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (Love it!)
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (Love it!)
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (Love it!)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible (well, most of it anyway)
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (Love it!)
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (Love it!)
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (Some of his plays - love them)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (found it very boring!)
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (boring!)
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen (Love it!)
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Love it!)
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (Love it!)
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding (does watching the movie count?)
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (Love it!)
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker (Love it!)
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Love it!)
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (half read it. HE likes Conrad, I don't particularly fancy the man)
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (Love it!)
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (Love it!)
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
I've realised that I've read every single Jane Austen book in this list.. lol, what can I say? I love that woman... did marvelously for her during my A-Level Lit. My tutor said it's coz I'm very much like Austen's protagonists that I appreciate her work :P
Read a number of Charles Dickens too when I was a kid... great guy.
By the way, since my birthday (very soon!) and Christmas (being considerate by giving you advanced notice) are around the corner, the italicised books will serve as my 'GiftS Wish List'.
Plus:
(a) How to Cook Everything (available at Kinokuniya)
(b) Agatha Christie's mystery novels (I'm collecting her books; contact me to find out what books I still lack ;) )
Please feel free to get me one or more of the books indicated above. I INSIST
