Being humane

Never laugh at one’s aspirations, because it will show others the manners you lack. (This too comes from Desperate Housewives Season 6 Episode 7 [I think], which also indirectly puts teachers and foreign workers on a pedestal!) Having manners like being polite and tactful are a rare quality in social animals called humans nowadays. Perhaps the Americans might be readily blamed (by the British), for such degeneration which parallelled the simplification of the language.

This ecareers.sg portal is a wonderful initiative by the Ministry in helping children plan ahead, and the formality of the portal does reflect the kind of manners required in a job hunt. (That’s why I give it a place here in this post, instead of a spot on the blogroll on the right, which is where you can find the link to my clinic opening hours.)

School is the place to start the habituation of good manners. When things go wrong in future, for instance one’s failure to observe the good manner of “verbal hygiene” (to borrow the term from Deborah Cameron) or to abide by the law (think of acts like graffiti or sexual crimes as futher degeneration of the lack of manners and morals), prison is the only place where your ‘problems’ will be rectified and good manners re-instituted.

Whether or not this particular prison makes sense is your call:

Norway Builds the World’s Most Humane Prison

By William Lee Adams

May 10, 2010

By the time the trumpets sound, the candles have been lit and the salmon platters garnished. Harald V, King of Norway, enters the room, and 200 guests stand to greet him. Then a chorus of 30 men and women, each wearing a blue police uniform, launches into a spirited rendition of “We Are the World.” This isn’t cabaret night at Oslo’s Royal Palace. It’s a gala to inaugurate Halden Fengsel, Norway’s newest prison.

Ten years and 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($252 million) in the making, Halden is spread over 75 acres (30 hectares) of gently sloping forest in southeastern Norway. The facility boasts amenities like a sound studio, jogging trails and a freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits. Unlike many American prisons, the air isn’t tinged with the smell of sweat and urine. Instead, the scent of orange sorbet emanates from the “kitchen laboratory” where inmates take cooking courses. “In the Norwegian prison system, there’s a focus on human rights and respect,” says Are Hoidal, the prison’s governor. “We don’t see any of this as unusual.”

Halden, Norway’s second largest prison, with a capacity of 252 inmates, opened on April 8. It embodies the guiding principles of the country’s penal system: that repressive prisons do not work and that treating prisoners humanely boosts their chances of reintegrating into society. “When they arrive, many of them are in bad shape,” Hoidal says, noting that Halden houses drug dealers, murderers and rapists, among others. “We want to build them up, give them confidence through education and work and have them leave as better people.” Countries track recidivism rates differently, but even an imperfect comparison suggests the Norwegian model works. Within two years of their release, 20% of Norway’s prisoners end up back in jail. In the U.K. and the U.S., the figure hovers between 50% and 60%. Of course, a low level of criminality gives Norway a massive advantage. Its prison roll lists a mere 3,300, or 69 per 100,000 people, compared with 2.3 million in the U.S., or 753 per 100,000 — the highest rate in the world.

Design plays a key role in Halden’s rehabilitation efforts. “The most important thing is that the prison looks as much like the outside world as possible,” says Hans Henrik Hoilund, one of the prison’s architects. To avoid an institutional feel, exteriors are not concrete but made of bricks, galvanized steel and larch; the buildings seem to have grown organically from the woodlands. And while there is one obvious symbol of incarceration — a 20-ft. (6 m) concrete security wall along the prison’s perimeter — trees obscure it, and its top has been rounded off, Hoilund says, “so it isn’t too hostile.”

The cells rival well-appointed college dorm rooms, with their flat-screen TVs and minifridges. Designers chose long vertical windows for the rooms because they let in more sunlight. There are no bars. Every 10 to 12 cells share a living room and kitchen. With their stainless-steel countertops, wraparound sofas and birch-colored coffee tables, they resemble Ikea showrooms.

Halden’s greatest asset, though, may be the strong relationship between staff and inmates. Prison guards don’t carry guns — that creates unnecessary intimidation and social distance — and they routinely eat meals and play sports with the inmates. “Many of the prisoners come from bad homes, so we wanted to create a sense of family,” says architect Per Hojgaard Nielsen. Half the guards are women — Hoidal believes this decreases aggression — and prisoners receive questionnaires asking how their experience in prison can be improved.

There’s plenty of enthusiasm for transforming lives. “None of us were forced to work here. We chose to,” says Charlott-Renee Sandvik Clasen, a music teacher in the prison and a member of Halden’s security-guard chorus. “Our goal is to give all the prisoners — we call them our pupils — a meaningful life inside these walls.” It’s warmth like that, not the expensive television sets, that will likely have the most lasting impact.

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When something makes you laugh and think, it should be something you will remember for a longer time than the knowledge of what you ate for breakfast. At The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on Saturday, while I was enjoying my Salmon and Egg Sandwich and coffee, and marking, something dawned on me: I was actually not displaying proper manners! I was multitasking, eating and marking. I was reading through the lines when I stumbled upon the one which talks about the hectic daily grind and how people walk and eat or work and eat. While there isn’t much of a choice for us, it may actually not be bad manners if it is something that has been largely accepted by society, especially that of an urban one and such capability is actually a concrete jungle survival skill.

And so it is much ado about survival that people here have been reminded so frequently that we don’t have any natural resources but ourselves to build a prosperous future. And unfortunately, we are not reproducing fast enough over the decades. The ruling party’s policies have been deemed as ineffective by many, but there’s nothing much the policymakers can really do. Perhaps we need a new party…sex party.

Sex Party promises ‘real action’ for Australians

The Australian Sex Party on Tuesday promised to spice up campaigning for next month’s elections with a manifesto “unlike Australia had ever seen before”

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 20/07/2010

Party chief Fiona Patten launched a risque national campaign at a Melbourne bar, saying her policies “would make (opposition Leader) Tony Abbott’s hair stand on end and would turn (Prime Minister) Julia Gillard’s hair grey”. prospective

“We’ve always been forward and we actually enjoy real action,” Patten said, mocking Gillard and Abbott’s “Moving Australia Forward” and “Stand Up For Real Action” slogans.

The party’s policies include legalising euthanasia, decriminalising all drugs for personal use, and watering down strict anti-pornography laws.

Although sure to attract criticism from church groups and other conservative elements in society, Patten said it was time an Australian political party pushed the boundaries.

Patten said personal freedom issues affect people’s lives more often than tax or immigration, and wanted to break down “nanny state” policies that she said had been built up over several decades by the major parties.

While the party will struggle for mainstream support, Patten remained confident of at least one Sex Party candidate being elected to the country’s Senate.

“In the privacy of the polling booth, anything could happen,” she said.

The Sex Party is running a candidate against Abbott in his Sydney electorate, a comedian who has offered to doorknock voters wearing a “mankini” — a type of bikini designed for men.

*

Humour or not, I don’t want to know what’s happening down under.

But seriously, such a topic has become blatant and brazen in contemporary time, and formality has been deemed by some to be an attempt at elitism and discrimination. When there is a “high variety” and a “low variety” of some thing, like language or humour or music, snobbery is rife (according to some, while many would kindly refuse to comment).

This good essay (a really long read) sums up the history: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/allen/ch5.html (THE REVOLUTION IN MANNERS AND MORALS).

Some day, this will all make sense

If numbers ruled the world and words sent to concentration camp, 75776/151552

51% ‘Learning’, 12% ‘Pastoral’, 8% CCA, 8% CCA, 14% Function, 7% ‘Training’

~ 26+8+4+4+0+7 = 1.5

Good job! Get ’em up way high, gimme gimme that high-5!

(Click me to grow!)

Caption: Centuries of rule by generals of different art have enriched the capabilities and resilience of 123. C4-C5. Nc3-Nc6.

Of Birds, Brands and Bvlgari

Those who have seen Rajul Mehta’s works in my class may find the following uncannily familiar. For those who need a refresher, check out http://www.artists.de/rajul654.html

I saw this full-page advertisement in ST only recently (Jul 11, 2010), but apparently it’s been around since March.

I think this is a pretty ironic ad, given the knowledge of what Rajul Mehta has done. But Jeehov Hz has more insights to this series of ads, which I think is a brilliant analysis:

http://lovegarbageinc.com/?p=409

While Julianne Moore may appear artistic here, Hossan Leong has just become a Knight of Arts and Letters (Kitano received his title of the Commander, two ranks above a Knight, months ago).

Eulogy For The Wolf-whistler

It appeared out of no where on the kitchen floor.

Frail and resigned, the pulse of the fledgling beat faintly. It didn’t look like it could make it, but it had been a miracle for it to be here in the first place. No one knows for sure how the little fluff-ball ended up in our 16th-storey home.

But while it was here, it brought surprise and joy.

My father successfully nursed it back to health, while my mother saw to its everyday needs. I still remember that very Sunday afternoon when we discovered the baby “881-bird”–till now I still don’t know the exact breed it belonged to but my parents called it “papaya bird” because its breed loves papaya–I quickly drove my mother to Jurong East Cash Converter to buy a bird-cage before she headed off to work while my father looked after it and fed it water, drip by drip.

Day by day it picked itself up, slowly. It seemed as if it was living on borrowed time. As fate would have it, it lived, but it was still meek. It’s comfortable with my father, but it would jump about the cage when others drew near. It wasn’t agitated by the cage like other birds would; it’s just shy. But slowly it grew used to us and we saw it fed and grew.

It was a neat eater of all fruits and birdseeds. It cherished the food we gave it and seemed like it would protect it with its life. It feasted at ease but never messed up the cage, perhaps it knew it would give my mother trouble if it had been a naughty bird.

I was in the study one day when I heard a medley of wolf-whistling. It didn’t seem unusual at first, but the whistling grew louder, and it didn’t stop. Warily I left the room to see who it was. There wasn’t anyone in the house and I thought it might be the neighbour beneath my unit who was whistling at the bird which was kept near the kitchen window. I looked out of the windows, but there was no one perched there. And that was when I discovered this bird’s got talent. It must have picked it up from my father, who loves to wolf-whistle at any breed of bird, knowing that there’s nary a chance a bird that is not a parrot would pick up that tune. This wolf-whistling bird of ours picked up not one, but two tunes!

The Wolf-whistler had never stopped whistling like that, even after it learnt the ‘proper way’ of the chirps of its kind. In human terms, this is one multilingual bird.

But I suspected the Wolf-whistler had a tumour in its brain, because it twitched its neck uncontrollably frequently. Perhaps the regular diet of fruits helped, as it twitched and angled its head less frequently as time went by. Amazingly, it developed a new talent shortly.

The Wolf-whistler loved to somersault when we were near. It could go on and on till it became dizzy and lost its balance. And we would see it catch its breath and marvel at its stamina and sharpness of movement. It loved to entertain us, but it was camera-shy. And it would continue if it saw us standing there still. And I played with it everyday. It would give me somersaults everytime I twitched my head upwards.

And months passed a year or so. As it stood still today, I didn’t sense anything wrong. I didn’t notice it. When I saw the empty cage, I thought it’s got a new one, but I rang my mother and the truth was cold. It was standing still and upright besides the feed, a wing stretched outwards around the receptacle.

For months it had been fighting off lizards preying on the birdseeds. Huge house lizards. The Wolf-whistler died protecting what was dear. Or maybe, simply, time has caught up with it.

While it lived, it brought me happiness and faith in miracles, will, and bond. A bond that is timeless.

– 22/7/10

2010 X100 = The World’s Most Influential People

Every year, Time magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People is bound to provoke the logic of some. This year, we have people like Didier Drogba, Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin, Gen. McChrystal, Rob Pattinson, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Now Known As Prince Again Who Said “The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.” And Lee Kuan Yew.

There are, thankfully, a couple whom I’m also glad to see on the list:

 CHRISTOPHER MORRIS / VII FOR TIME

Taylor Switf!!!

BANKSY/ FOR TIME

Banksy!!!

Well, you know me, I don’t take most ceremonies seriously. But seriously, no man may be ever greater than the man whom so many revered, who can charm the crowd at any ceremonies with the mere mention of his name (granted you are not one of the rare ignorant ones in the world who don’t know him), who can silence the vuvuzelas with his mere presence. Most people do take ceremonies seriously and countries bank on ceremonies to lift morale and reputation of the nation, which is why this man must grace the occasion, and grace he did:

(ST, Jul 13, 2010)

“Democracy is a game that you have to play; you can’t give up.”

– Dr Cheng Yinghong, historian, replying to a rebuff by Dr Poh Soo Kai, ex-Barisan Sosialis leader and political detainee during Operation Cold Storage, at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ST, Jul 15, 2010)

Like what Racist Mel’s William Wallace says in Braveheart, “Men don’t follow titles; they follow courage.” Such is the man.

And of course there were brutes on the pitch on the final day of the competition who might have soured the sales of Dutch Lady milk.

(ST, Jul 13, 2010)

As some careless–or overly emotional Spanish fanatics–would write, these hellish creatures must have come from the Netherworld. They made the Neanderthals modern.

Thankfully, Spain won, or all hell breaks loose in the press around the world where justice and beauty are honoured above ugly victories. I think. And they scored a beautiful goal as I just woke up and walked past the TV at 5am Singapore time. They scored for me! Sweet reward for waking up at 5am every weekday for the past three years.

For that, I may be supporting Spain in the future. Maybe Starhub could convince me…

And yet another full-page advertisement the day after:

That’s oneupmanship for you, Singtel. But I really am pitying Singtel and its recent problems setting up subscribers’ homes. If you don’t have that many arms, don’t try to do too many things, unless you are a clairvoyant octopus. A lot of people will hate Singtel for a long time. High cost of the World Cup matches in Singapore, presumably higher costs for future World Cup and English Premier League matches, untrustworthy live streaming, England’s poor performance… It’s good they did not retaliate against Starhub’s campaign. The odds are stacked against them. I think Singtel should stop considering acquiring other regional companies. Their next acquisition should be Paul. With the CEO’s recently announced payhike, she could easily buy Paul and have some to spare to save the S-league:

SingTel CEO gets 22.6% pay hike
By Mok Fei Fei | Posted: 29 June 2010

SINGAPORE : Telco SingTel’s CEO Chua Sock Koong received a 22.6 per cent increase in her pay package for the firm’s financial year ended in March.

In its annual report, the firm said Ms Chua received S$4.15 million in all, with a fixed component of S$1.36 million. She also received cash bonuses of S$2.7 million.

For the previous financial year, Ms Chua had received S$3.38 million.

The CEO’s hike in remuneration came as the telco rang in a net profit of S$3.91 billion, or a 13.3 per cent on-year increase for the full year.

The next highest paid senior management staff is Paul O’Sullivan, CEO of SingTel’s Australian unit Optus, who earned S$3.48 million.

CEO of SingTel’s Singapore business, Allen Lew, follows in third place with S$2.88 million.

SingTel said it is anticipating change in the local and global telecommunications space.

It added that it has been transforming its businesses, people and processes to meet the explosive demand for mobile data.

The telco also pledges to continue to exercise financial discipline to remain nimble and manage costs, even as it expects growth in the global economy in 2010. – CNA /ls

*

Spain has never been my team, even though I’m enthralled by its internal historical and political strife. I’ve always rooted for the country of the deft left-wing wizard (in his prime) whom England has always coveted (some might still wish that Giggs was English.) But I’d love to support Singapore at international football tournaments.

Some say money is lacking in the sport in Singapore. Men’s football, that is, while it has been a foregone conclusion with women’s football here (check out the plight in the report in ST on Jul 18, 2010–I’m not pasting it here as it’s too much of a tear-jerker.) Prof Tommy Koh argued that it’s not so much about the money:

(ST, Jul 11, 2010)

By the way, that talk about money and happiness–it’s replayed there in the right column. This is a perennial ‘issue’ because people don’t really know about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Let’s set this straight, period. Basic needs must be fulfilled first, before you talk about the higher rungs of needs, which allow one to survive and be happy. Most basic needs require money (like paying for the exhorbitant Cash Over Valuation for a flat in Singapore). So money is important before self-fulfillment can be attained–in the 21st century.

Just a quick rejoinder to Prof Koh’s analogy, as with my critique of most analogies: ultimately, the teams that won 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the World Cup 2010 are nations with a collection of highly paid footballers.

Anyway, money is important in sports like football–and table tennis (I’m sure you will agree on that); and it’s just that prices in football have been hyper-inflated, which is why our investment in that sport is never seen to be enough. So I urge Singtel to start sponsoring Singapore football! I think Wayne Rooney will shine with his balding head under the crescent moon and five stars rising. Beijing 101 could even chip in and get him to endorse their products. Hua Yu Cool can also get a boost. And he has a future in Mediacorp too: we do need some badass baddy-lookalike for those police-and-thief drama. (Of course he’s not going to be in the team due to the laws of the game, but his kids could!) Look, this is such a good investment deal that those religious groups in Singapore which own Suntec or any other commercial buildings should not miss this opportunity! (I read in ST, Jul 17, 2010, that New Creation owns Marine Cove, the “beachfront cluster for food and recreation at East Coast Park.”) If Rooney isn’t religious enough for you, you can get Kaka, the Brazilian. Brazilians love the beach. We’re talking business, man.

But Prof Koh is also right in saying money isn’t everything, like what I’ve said and we’ve said so frequently that it sounds like a cliche. Well, it is a cliche. Culture is vital and if soccer flows in your blood because it is the one thing that gives you the moolah to survive (I bet Maslow is swinging in your head now, still), the culture of the nation will be defined as such, like in Brazil. You’ve heard it all from rich Brazilian football stars about the slums there. ST interviewed an ex-Brazilian now Singaporean Permanent Resident, Fabio da Silva, about the love of the sport (Jul 18, 2010). “When a kid turns one…his birthday present is usually a football, even if you’re a kid from the favelas…We were desperate to get selected as we would be given free boots…for a child in the favela, football is the ticket out to become a man of respect.” And out of poverty.

So passion for the game still comes from a passion to survive, and that passion is related to, if not caused by, money.

Money aside, many politicians and leaders see sports as a kind of bloodless event where rivalry is remembered and “re-enacted”, or more positively a kind of social glue where ties are rekindled. Politics and sports have never really been separated, from the myth of Heracles in Ancient Greece to Mandela in South Africa:

Jul 13, 2010

World Cup still in play in game of politics

By Jonathan Eyal, Europe Correspondent (ST)

SPAIN was yesterday celebrating its first World Cup triumph with its customary exuberance: vast crowds dancing in the streets, and flags flying from almost every building.

The excitement will soon die down. Hawkers will begin discounting the prices of their souvenir items, and many of the players will follow the money to clubs outside their country. But the political implications of the World Cup tournament are likely to prove more enduring, at least in Europe.

Just a few decades ago, football was still the exclusive preserve of Europe’s working men. But now, Europeans who would never dream of taking their seats on the damp, hard and often foul-smelling terraces of a football stadium, enthusiastically follow the fortunes of their country teams on television screens.

Immigrants, still disadvantaged in other job opportunities, are idolised for their football prowess. Sports nationalism has provided Europe with a much-needed glue for its various social and racial cracks.

At the same time, football also helped foster Scottish and Welsh nationalism. Scotland and Wales have adopted separate anthems and begun reusing their old flags, largely through their participation in this sport.

And football also rekindled dormant pride in other nations. After decades of trying to live down their World War II legacy, the leaders of Germany were pleasantly surprised to see the outpouring of national fervour in their country during the last World Cup competition in 2006.

European Union leaders, eager to pounce on any indication that their continent is not declining in political importance, tried to derive some benefit from the current tournament. ‘The presence of two European teams in the World Cup final indicates that Europe should not be underestimated,’ intoned Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, the boss of the European Central Bank.

But the attempt fell flat, partly because Mr Trichet – whose bank is sited in Frankfurt – annoyed his German hosts with his praise for Spain and the Netherlands.

Besides, Europe’s domination in world football is hardly unique. Of the 19 Fifa World Cup competitions to date, the Europeans have won 10, with European teams occupying the top three positions in seven of these tournaments. But this has made no difference to pride in the continent as a whole; Europeans are interested only in the fate of their own national players.

Nevertheless, some of the political implications of the current World Cup final are unique.

The confrontation between the Netherlands and Spain mirrored the broader European divide between the north of the continent – much wealthier and with its finances in order – and the southern part, which is now facing severe economic difficulties.

Spain is one country which could still face ruin if it cannot repay its national debts, while the Netherlands leads the camp of European nations arguing that those who are irresponsible with their finances should face the consequences. For the Spanish, therefore, football victory had an added piquancy.

And then there are the domestic political consequences.

Dutch football was revived during the heady days of the ‘flower power’ culture in Amsterdam in the late 1960s. It emphasised excellent sport, and regarded losing honourably – which the Dutch frequently did – as good in itself.

But as Mr David Winner, the author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius Of Dutch Football, accurately predicted, the country’s team is now keen on winning, regardless of the methods.

And so it proved in South Africa. The referee ended up flashing 14 yellow cards and one red card, a record for such a match.

The Netherlands’ abysmal performance is certain to fuel a bigger debate about the character of a nation that prided itself on its reputation for fairness, tolerance and decency, but which is now showing its rougher edges, including the revival of racist, anti-Muslim parties.

But in Spain, World Cup victory spells a respite from its many domestic problems. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero did what is expected of every politician suffering from record-low approval ratings: he rushed to congratulate his country’s team, in the hope that some of the glory would rub off on him.

More importantly, ordinary Spaniards, deeply divided by historic and ethnic loyalties, suddenly found themselves coming together again. For football was always a politically charged matter in Spain. The rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the country’s top clubs, goes back to the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, and mirrors the divisions between the heart of the nation and Catalonia.

Only on Saturday, a vast crowd demonstrated on the streets of Barcelona, Catalonia’s capital, against a ruling by Spain’s constitutional court, banning the use of the term ‘nation’ for Catalonia.

Yet the subsequent night, all Spaniards got together to cheer their national team, and Catalan separatists fell silent.

Still, victory has revived another unusual identity problem for Spain: its national anthem has no words. Various politicians have suggested new lyrics, only to get bogged down in disputes over whether these should include a reference to Spain’s various regions and languages.

Now that the Spanish team has won, the demand to spare future players the pain of remaining silent while their national anthem is played will become irresistible. And with it, Spain’s old ethnic and linguistic disputes will restart.

Perhaps the Spanish should take some inspiration from the words of the Netherlands’ national anthem which, for odd historic reasons, promises to ‘honour’ none other than the King of Spain.

*

It seems like a portent, but this article somehow echoes Nadal’s premonition about Spain’s football future:

(ST, Jul 13, 2010)

Maybe that guy who tried to grab the Cup will make it to Time 100 next year.

Food So Good one wanna Glob. it down

I read in an advertisement in the ST that there’s some kind of “food balloon sculpture” art exhibition at Vivocity and that got me excited on Saturday, so I headed down to take a look after my dinner at Coffee Club at IMM:

And these were what I saw (among others) at the display along a relatively narrow alley in the mall:

Well, these two were the best of the lot and they aren’t bad, but I was expecting Jeff Koons.

So I was rather disappointed (especially arriving there after a massive traffic jam on the roads outside the mall). Looking on the bright side, at least it showed a creative use of some rubbery plasticky products, the way to go for an environmentally friendly approach in “(over-)consumption”.

Yummy. Plant-based. Erm. Yucks. Read more at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1983894,00.html

If the Vivocity exhibition really were a travelling Koons-inspired exhibition of Singaporean food, perhaps that would be one great attempt to bring gloss and floss to the international foodies who would blend art and food for a heightened experience. Then, Singaporean food can truly be an international cuisine, like Japanese food or Chinese food. And perhaps soon, Korean food too:

Jul 13, 2010

Seoul food for the world

S. Korea standardises recipes, translates menus and supports research to globalise cuisine

By Lee Sun Young, for The Straits Times

SEOUL: Think Korean food and kimchi and bibimbap are likely to come to mind. The pickled cabbage and dish of mixed rice with vegetables are to Koreans what sushi is to the Japanese.

A team of food experts, however, is hoping to introduce another typically Korean item to the list – ‘topokki’, a traditional dish of finger-thin rice cakes cooked in red chilli sauce.

In South Korea, it is a beloved national snack, sold at just about every other food stall on the streets for as little as 2,000 won (S$2.30).

Dr Lee Sang Hyo, president of the Topokki Food Research Institute, wants to make it as well-known as kimchi and bibimbap.

‘Topokki could become something like Italy’s pasta,’ he says.

It is hardly wishful thinking. At a two-storey research and development centre in Gyeonggi, south of Seoul, Dr Lee and his five-man research team are cooking up a mix of Western and oriental sauces, and adding a dash of ingredients from abroad, as they work on reinventing South Korea’s No. 1 street food, making it a gourmet item to be served round the world.

They are also studying how to improve the sticky texture of the rice cake, and trying to find its optimal size and shape.

‘Original red topokki is too spicy for foreigners,’ says Dr Lee. ‘We’re focusing our studies on developing fusion topokki dishes to charm international palates.’

The aim is a national one, and is fully backed by the South Korean government as part of a larger plan to establish Korean food as an international cuisine, just like Chinese and Japanese fare.

This year alone, the government has committed 24.1 billion won to its food globalisation initiative, which also aims to grow the number of Korean restaurants abroad from the present 10,000 or so to about 40,000 by 2017. It also hopes to boost the nation’s export of agricultural and food products from US$4.4 billion (S$6 billion) to US$10 billion by 2012.

Apart from topokki, the government has targeted three other Korean favourites – kimchi, bibimbap and makgeolli, an unrefined rice wine. Like topokki, each is being studied by a dedicated R&D centre.

The research goes well beyond laboratories and kitchens. In March, a Korean Food Foundation was set up to orchestrate the globalisation of the four items and other local cuisines.

Among other things, it is working on standardising recipes, translating Korean menus into English, supporting research into the nutritional value of Korean food, strengthening the competitiveness of Korean restaurants abroad, and organising training programmes for Korean cooking.

As it seeks to bring its food to tables around the world, Korea is also trying to make it an easier meal for foreigners to handle. A ‘hotness’ index for gochujang, a red, spicy chilli paste – from ‘mildly hot’ to ‘extremely hot’ – promises to help overseas diners decide how adventurous they want to be.

The names of some food items have also been reworked, to make them easier to pronounce and remember. Topokki, for instance, was renamed from ‘ddeokbokki’ last year. The search is still going on for an appropriate English moniker for makgeolli, which is also written as makuly or takju.

But it is not just raising global recognition of food that South Korea is after, says Mr Park Sun Yeon, who leads the Korean Cuisine promotion team at the Agriculture Ministry.

‘Internationalisation of local food helps build Korea’s brand as a nation, promote our culture abroad, and will eventually bring in sizable benefits to the economy,’ he says.

The government is looking to carve out a bigger slice of the global food industry, estimated to be worth US$4.4 trillion – or about 2-1/2 times more than the car industry.

South Korea’s new-found interest in food is also in part a by-product of the Korean Wave – the export of its traditional and pop culture which has boosted tourism and promoted the national image.

The country, which has up to now relied heavily on cars, ships, computer chips and mobile phones to drive economic growth, is discovering the lucrative business of cultural exports. Sales of TV dramas, for instance, have been growing at an average of 23 per cent since 2004, hitting US$3 billion last year.

Now, officials are hoping to stir up a new round of the Korean Wave with food.

‘In some Asian countries, people are already interested in Korean food thanks to the Korean Wave,’ says Mr Park. ‘This is certainly a good marketing advantage.’

*

Well, I wish them luck, though I must admit that I don’t like Korean food. Different tastebuds. No hard feelings. And I wish them luck and success like how one store has seemingly monopolised the entire market, bringing the colourful and asthma-inducing Slurpees to you one block closer (there are at least two other branches in the vicinity):

I wasn’t talking about the tree branches. This cowboy has come a long way, from Texas, 1927, and they believe in the “servant leadership” principle. Well, it just took over the shop-space vacated by a convenience store owned by a Burmese family (I think I was told it’s a Vietnamese family, but I can’t be sure; anyway it’s inconsequential, now) who lived in my block.

Giddy up!

Spicy spies password for this document is invisible

I wonder how much 7-11 employees are paid. I also just realised that for many private companies, remuneration rates must not be divulged, because they pay individuals differently (I guess). Maybe not for people in my line, or those in 7-11 or Mc. But in some countries like mine, minimum wage seems like a distant dream that I think a Happy Meal will cost them two hours of work.

(ST, Jul 15, 2010)

While some people are cost-benefit-analysing the enforcement of a minimum wage so that the poor don’t die slowly by inflation, others have perhaps discovered why some die suddenly:

(ST, Jul 15,2010)

This article reminded me of three things:

(1) The plastic mushroom in an earlier picture here looks like the one pictured here.

(2) I miss playing RTKXI. I never got to really invade Yunnan (because it’s too remote and not strategic to any conquest), and my armies were readily wiped out by the poisonous air there. Sounds like Jurong West.

(3) HMV still hasn’t called back concerning my order for this T-shirt:

While some still love the mushroom till death, the Japanese authorities want the Japanese to love rice all over again, with a little help from technology (this is the country which made it possible to make love to a robot! ):

(ST, Jul 15, 2010)

For me, I still love my new creation: Hot Gingy Marshmallow Milo, inspired by Coffee Bean’s Double Hot Chocoloate with Marshmallow:

Next up, Hot Gingy Marshmallow Man Milo Dinosaur!

Not quite driving blindfolded

It wasn’t exactly driving blindfolded, but I still had to drive with more care than a Channel Newsasia newscaster would watch her grammar.

Drove myself to the SGH A&E today and I was beginning to feel riled by the jams caused by the plant pruning on Sundays. If you could refer to the past arguments put forth by various people about caring for the welfare of the foreign workers who had to do the job in the middle of the night, you might not have felt the awkwardness of the premises. I remember one of those reasons given is that foreign workers will run a higher risk of being run down by crazy motorists in the blanket of darkness. Or simply, it’s a lack of welfare to get people to work on such jobs at night.

I’m not even going to talk about doctors and other professionals who have to work shifts. There are certainly other blue-collared workers out there who do such work. When work needs to be done, it will be done. I have the right to say this because of where I come from.

If there are crazy motorists in the blanket of the night, shouldn’t they be removed from the roads instead of the workers?

But it’s really surprising that the authority decided so quickly to listen to the voice of the people (whose letters were published in the ST).

Anyhow, I got to the hospital, checked myself into the A&E, waited for a while, had the diagnostic tests done, waited for some time, saw how much of a melting pot of nationalities Singapore has become and is becoming, overheard a father and son chat on how pretty the ophthalmologist is, confirmed the tear on my right retina, and finally had it lasered by the ophthalmologist’s registrar. Believe you me, it’s not that painful. Just uncomfortable bearing with the strobes of amber, red and green light (not the traffic lights!) I could sometimes feel the burning sensation, but the burning smell was what lingered on. I wondered if I lost any eye-lash. Then I got led back to the A&E by the ophthalmologist, gulped down a couple of panadol for my neck, took my MC, and rested a while before driving home really carefully. I think my shades are the best investment I made this year. I’m still wearing them now at 12.30am.

Well, time for bed to wake on time for e-learning tomorrow! The real stuff!

Is it time?

By this time, you would have heard about the debate about arts censorship. Are local artists really asking for too much leeway? Is there such a tiny berth of breathing space that it is suffocating? How will all these affect the future (generations)? This was in the news in June 2010. Actually, it has been around sporadically for quite some time. Like now (usually discussions or debates like this are readily swept under the carpet or quickly cast aside quietly.) It was in some examination response I came across too. Some have their stand, and some have only had the time to response to the debate now. Others don’t really care.

Really, it doesn’t matter because we will always be moaning about our (collective) identity and the portrayal of our identity, our perceived or imagined identity, who we really are. These are not clear cut and dried but we have been through a cookie-cutter system for a few decades now (except for a few lucky elites among us), it is difficult to see ourselves otherwise sometimes. We lament the lack of creativity, the lack of romance. Classrooms don’t readily open up to questions because there isn’t time and everything is a rush that there is perhaps not much reaction time. We are accelerating and ‘true’ questions (which some may call philosophical questions) make us think; thinking takes time to be logical, to be effected. And we feel lost because we are not clear who we are because we don’t probe or we don’t reflect but we just enjoy what we have and yearn for those we don’t own. It’s all material existence, and spiritual balance (not necessarily religious) may not be as important. Knowledge may be secondary to worldly possessions. Knowledge can be attained by studiously memorising information; the attempt to understand will create ‘deep’ knowledge about the subject, and that attempt to understand will require thinking and questioning. Seeing may be believing but not understanding.

Are we androids who are programmed to be productive, or are we humans who can raise the issue when it impinges on us?

Artists in Singapore moan about the lack of freedom of expression in the past. Now, they ‘moan’ about a slightly different thing. At the onset it is vital to note that we should look at the intention of the moaning before we pass judgements. They argue for regulation, against censorship. They don’t argue for complete freedom per se.

I remember watching the censored version of the film by Racist Mel, Braveheart, a couple of times. On those occasions I could never understood why William who loved his wife so dear could so easily love another, the queen of his enemy. I was 16 at that time. I could postulate, but I couldn’t conclude. Until I watched the uncensored version many years later. The sex scene was crucial in clarifying that doubt about his fidelity.

I just became a signatory of that position. I saw what they are fighting for and I think it makes sense, what other signatories have to say: http://sites.google.com/site/artsengagesg/responses How clean and pure do we want to be seen as? When are we ready to grow up and take charge of our own ‘learning’? If we are not thrown into the deep end of the pool, when are we able to swim?

Reservations about “withholdings”

Dear inquisitive learners who had reservations about “reservations” and “withholdings”,

I did a quick, informal collocation check on Google at 3.40pm on Jul 15, 2010, and found about 430000 hits only for “withholdings”. Among these hits, there were not many (if any at all) which used the word in the context of “reservations”.

I also did a check on my trustworthy Oxford Concise 10th Ed and there is no such word, the same goes for TheFreeDictionary (the third definition is not referring to “reservations”; it’s referring to the act of withholding (v.) something, actually. It is “the act of retaining something”.) “Retaining something” is too vague in the context (retaining happiness?) while “the act of” itself signals that it is an action: it’s not a mental experience. Compare this to “hesitation” or “doubts”. By the definition of the word itself, and you don’t even have to look at the collocation (unless you are still not convinced), the truth has been proven.

But I am glad this was discussed (though briefly) in class, because it allowed me to look at another aspect of the Vocabulary: collocation. As I’ve explained, certain phrases don’t come so naturally together and these can be checked by looking at the collocations of the words. One way to do so is through a Google search, as I’ve just mentioned. The meanings may be lost if the expression of the phrase is “awkward” because they don’t collocate so readily (frequently), like “fake teeth” as opposed to “false teeth”.

Usually with regard to Vocabulary we look at collocations only when connotations and contextual denotations have not been sufficient in allowing us to determine the acceptability of the response.

Yours truly

Postscript: Concluding by observation is not a weakness in research methodology, if anyone ever believes so, because it is a study of human practices and trends–what is acceptable and what is unnatural. There are theories or frameworks to adhere to, and it is as rigorous as any ‘biological experiments’.

A song for National Day, Teachers’ Day, and MOE’s recruitment campaign

Gotta give it to them for such a multi-purpose music video for the song (do I get an NDP goodie bag for plugging this?)

This video was brought to my attention by a fellow comrade, and he really likes the song, though it hasn’t really grown on me yet. At least I’ve decided to stay in the country during the National Day break, unlike this comrade who is going to do the Singaporean thing by going to Malaysia on such an important day. Maybe it’s his way of reconnecting with Singapore’s history!

It’s actually quite a good song, Song For Singapore, by Corrinne May. At first I really thought Evanescence have also decided to become Singaporeans, but it’s May, to some dismay. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought we have so many big songs for big occasions (like the YOG and Shanghai Expo) that we can have a mega-combo album featuring Singapore stars past and present. Not forgetting Chen Liping’s Good Morning Teacher.

It’s about time someone wrote an MV for teachers, though it’s really just trying to glamorise music teachers (and I guess there’s a shortage of music teachers and we need to hire more by such indirect advertising?) I would want to believe it’s a song for all teachers!

Channel more positive energy!

Jun 20, 2010; in ST, YOUR LETTERS

It’s disrespectful not to pay attention in class

I refer to the article ”A’ for Uncle Earnest’ by Dr Lee Wei Ling last Sunday. I must say that I’ve been reading all her articles as I find them enlightening, true-to-life, frank and, at times, humorous. However, there is one paragraph in last Sunday’s article that I disagree with. May I recapitulate: ‘The way GP was taught at RI, I felt I was merely being coached to pass examinations, and that put me off. My seat in class was in the first row. The GP teacher could see me doing non-GP work under her nose. I am grateful she pretended not to notice.’ I’m commenting with the experience of being a teacher. I would have felt very insulted by a student who was not following my lesson. It would have been my duty to stop her from doing non-GP work. What if the principal were to pass by and see that happening? Definitely, out of duty, any principal would have called up the teacher for an explanation. I suppose the GP teacher pretended not to notice her because she was the daughter of the then-Prime Minister. She cannot compare the quality of the teaching in a classroom environment and one-to-one tuition by her uncle. A teacher faces the constraints of time and syllabus, and he or she is teaching more than 30 students in a class. I have given one-to-one tuition before and found it so much easier to motivate a pupil with great results. Matthew Yeo