Singles Shopping Night Comes to Carrefour

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Singapore Backlash

A scan of international media reporting.

From across the causeway, The Star's opinion page writes about something that many Singaporeans have felt about the election...

HACKLES RISE OVER PERCEIVED MEDIA BIAS by Siah Chiang Nee (7 May 06)
Singapore’s controlled media has come under criticism for the way it covered the campaign leading to yesterday’s general election.

While Singaporeans were still pondering on which party to give their votes to, many had already cast a negative vote for what they perceived to be biased, lop-sided press coverage.

A frequent charge was that the amount of space and time given by the national press and TV in this election was overwhelmingly in favour of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). Some of it was slanted to its favour.

Much of what the opposition candidates did or said, on the other hand, was either ignored or under-reported. There was hardly any mention of figures or photographs of the huge crowds attending their rallies.

Already viewed as underdogs, the struggling candidates may have benefited from a public backlash, a perception that they are victims of media bias.

The Star - Hackles Rise over Perceived Bias

Australia's The Age asks when will LKY die...

SMUTOCRACY IS A FACADE FOR DEMOCRACY by Michael Backman (17 May 06)
WHEN will Lee Kuan Yew die? Sadly, that is the question now on the minds of many Singaporeans. At 82, Lee retains a cabinet post, with the title Minister Mentor, continues to dominate the Government and shows no sign of quitting. But many believe that although he has done much for Singapore, he is now the greatest impediment to reform, and that little can change until after he is gone.

Last week, Lee admonished the younger generation for not fully supporting the People's Action Party at the elections the weekend before. It's a usual claim: young Singaporeans are insufficiently grateful for all that the older PAP leaders have done for them in developing the economy. It's as if a country's progress should be measured only by material comfort. The problem for Lee is that young people in other developed countries have money and freedom of expression. But in Singapore, all they have is money. Young Singaporeans are beginning to see that a gilded cage is a cage, nonetheless.

To combat this growing restiveness, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong — Lee's son — talks of political regeneration in his efforts to make the PAP appeal to younger people. But it's the same old tricks, if last week's elections are anything to go by. The ruling PAP won two-thirds of the votes. The real surprise is that it didn't win by more, given all the petty restrictions designed to head off opposition.

The Age - Smutocracy is a facade for democracy

Widely-regarded academic journal Dissent publishes an article by university lecturer Daniel A. Bell who experienced greater academic freedom in China than in Singapore.

TEACHING POLITICAL THEORY IN BEIJING by Daniel A. Bell (Dissent Magazine Spring 2006 issue)
The willingness to put up with political constraints depends partly upon one’s history. In my case, I had taught at the National University of Singapore in the early 1990s. There, the head of the department was a member of the ruling People’s Action Party. He was soon replaced by another head, who asked to see my reading lists and informed me that I should teach more communitarianism (the subject of my doctoral thesis) and less John Stuart Mill. Naturally, this made me want to do the opposite. Strange people would show up in my classroom when I spoke about “politically sensitive” topics, such as Karl Marx’s thought. Students would clam up when I used examples from local politics to illustrate arguments. It came as no surprise when my contract was not renewed.

In comparison, China is a paradise of academic freedom. Among colleagues, anything goes (in Singapore, most local colleagues were very guarded when dealing with foreigners). Academic publications are surprisingly free: there aren’t any personal attacks on leaders or open calls for multiparty rule, but particular policies, such as the household registry system, which limits internal mobility, are subject to severe criticism.

Teaching Political Theory in Beijing

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The Literati

At Oxford University, there is a college called All Souls College. Of the forty or so colleges making up Oxford, All Souls is the most exclusive. In fact, its admission standards got raised so high that about two hundred years ago, it stopped taking in students altogether. There are only dons at All Souls.

The dons are not required to conduct research or teach - all they do is think. As Alex Kerr writes, All Souls is the original "think tank".

Within such an illustrious company, the literati thrives. I want to be a literati and be paid to think and indulge in the arts and letters. I want to live a leisurely life of wit and be surrounded by snoobish company engaging in obscure literary topics.

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Japan 2006: Black & White

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Esotericism in Films

To say that I have an esoteric taste in film is an understatement. My film preferences have evolved accordingly to the enlightenment I experienced in 4 years of film school. The most recent commercially-released films I have seen are Hou Hsiao Hsien's anti-time (in terms of storyline as well as length of takes) tome of a movie Three Times and the dialogue-challenged The New World.

Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy an occasional King Kong or LOTR. But I think I will be staying clear of Hollywood fluffs such as the Poseidon remake as if my life depends on it.

My attendance at this year's Singapore International Film Festival reveals some of my more recent film taste.

Blue Cha Cha (Taiwan)
An ex-prisoner sentenced for killing her husband seeks solace with her former cell mate to bash men she meets.

It's Only Talk (Japan)
A manic depressive woman divides her time wandering around a Tokyo suburb with a manic depressive gangster, an impotent college friend and her cousin. 147 mins. Winner of this year's SIFF Silver Screen Best Film Award.

In Search of a Road (Sri Lanka)
A docu-drama about the re-opening of road/rail access between the north and south of Sri Lanka.

Taipei 4-Way (Taiwan)
Four experimental videos without narratives about the city of Taipei.

New Malaysian Shorts (Malaysia)
Series of shorts about living in KL. Funny and painful at various moments.

Out of Place (Japan)
A documentary about eminent Arab intellectual, Edward Said, and the places he writes about. 138 mins.

Chinese Restaurants: Beyond Frontiers (Canada)
A TV documentary series about the Chinese diaspora running restaurant businesses. This episode looks at Chinese restaurants in India and Brazil.

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Outgrowing Jane Jacobs

By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF

TIME passes. Jane Jacobs, the great lover of cities who stared down Robert Moses' bulldozers and saved many of New York's most precious neighborhoods, died last week at 89. It is a loss for those who value urban life. But her death may also give us permission to move on, to let go of the obsessive belief that Ms. Jacobs held the answer to every evil that faces the contemporary city.

For New Yorkers, Ms. Jacobs's life remains suspended between two seismic events: The publication, in 1961, of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" and her showdown in the late 60's with Mr. Moses over a proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway that would have reduced much of SoHo's handsome cast-iron district to rubble. The expressway was killed by Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1969.

By then, Ms. Jacobs had fled for Toronto, and Mr. Moses, who died in 1981, had lost much of his power and prestige. But in the popular imagination, the two are forever at odds: the imperious city planning czar versus the tireless public advocate. Today, the pendulum of opinion has swung so far in favor of Ms. Jacobs that it has distorted the public's understanding of urban planning. As we mourn her death, we may want to mourn a bit for Mr. Moses as well.

Her argument was simple enough, radically so. Horrified at the tabula rasa urban renewal strategies of the 1950's, she argued for a return to the small-scale city she found in Greenwich Village and the North End of Boston — the lively street life of front stoops, corner shops and casual personal interaction.

Mr. Moses, tellingly, once dismissed her and her ilk as "nobody but a bunch of mothers." He was partly right. By standing up for the intricate, individual relationships that define the inner life of cities, she allowed a generation to challenge the authority of patronizing — and uniformly male — city planners in gray suits.

An urban flâneur of the first order, she reminded us that cities could only be fully understood with our eyes, feet and ears — not from the distant abstraction of architectural drawings.

But the problems of the 20th-century city were vast and complicated. Ms. Jacobs had few answers for suburban sprawl or the nation's dependence on cars, which remains critical to the development of American cities. She could not see that the same freeway that isolated her beloved, working-class North End from downtown Boston also protected it from gentrification. And she never understood cities like Los Angeles, whose beauty stems from the heroic scale of its freeways and its strange interweaving of man-made and natural environments.

The threats facing the contemporary city are not what they were when she first formed her ideas, now nearly 50 years ago. The activists of Ms. Jacobs's generation may have saved SoHo from Mr. Moses' bulldozers, but they could not stop it from becoming an open-air mall.

The old buildings are still there, the streets are once again paved in cobblestone, but the rich mix of manufacturers, artists and gallery owners has been replaced by homogenous crowds of lemming-like shoppers. Nothing is produced there any more. It is a corner of the city that is nearly as soulless, in its way, as the superblocks that Ms. Jacobs so reviled.

Nor did Ms. Jacobs really offer an adequate long-term solution for the boom in urban population, which cannot be solved simply through incremental growth in existing neighborhoods.

Just as cities change, so do our perceptions of them. Architects now in their mid-40's — Ms. Jacobs's age when she published "Death and Life" — do not share their parents' unqualified hatred of Modernist developments.

They understand that an endless grid of brick towers and barren plazas is dehumanizing. But on an urban island packed with visual noise, the plaza at Lincoln Center — or even at the old World Trade Center — can be a welcome contrast in scale, a moment of haunting silence amid the chaos. Similarly, the shimmering glass towers that frame lower Park Avenue are awe-inspiring precisely because they offer a sharp contrast to the quiet tree-lined streets of the Upper East Side.

Perhaps her legacy has been most damaged by those who continue to treat "Death and Life" as sacred text rather than as what it was: a heroic cri de coeur. Of those, the New Urbanists are the most guilty; in many cases, they reduced her vision of corner shops and busy streets to a superficial town formula that creates the illusion of urban diversity, but masks a stifling uniformity at its core.

This is true in large-scale projects as diverse as Battery Park City or Celebration, Fla., where narrow streets and parks were supposed to create an immediate sense of community. As it turns out, what the New Urbanists could not reproduce was the most critical aspect of Ms. Jacobs's vision, the intimate neighborhood that is built — brick by brick, family by family — over a century.

For those who could not see it, the hollowness of this urban planning strategy was finally exposed in New Orleans, where planners were tarting up historic districts for tourists, even as deeper social problems were being ignored and its infrastructure was crumbling.

The answer to such superficiality is not to resurrect the spirit of Robert Moses. But in retrospect his vision, however flawed, represented an America that still believed a healthy government would provide the infrastructure — roads, parks, bridges — that binds us into a nation. Ms. Jacobs, at her best, was fighting to preserve the more delicate bonds that tie us to a community. A city, to survive and flourish, needs both perspectives.

The lesson we should take from Ms. Jacobs was her ability to look at the city with her eyes wide open, without rigid prejudices. Maybe we should see where that lesson leads next.

- NYT, April 30, 2006

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Japan 2006: Culture, Technology and Contrast

Shinjuku

Although large developments such as Ropponggi Hills and the department stores around train stations are ubiquitous in Japan, small businesses continue to thrive. This may be the only place in the world where Walmarts and other hypermarts would not succeed in the near future.

Steps at Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

Strength of the Small Businesses
Everywhere you go in Japan, you can see small businesses competing side by side with giant commercial thigamajigs. The strength of the local small businesses, restaurants and convenience stores could well lie in the uniqueness of Japanese culture. This is a country that prides a lot on their consumption of detailed craftsmanship and superb quality. This is a people that believe that the gift wrapping is just as important as the gift. In this way, Japanese are prepared to pay high prices for good quality products, and stores like Wal-mart, with their cheap, Made in China or some other developing country items will not find favor here.

Also, not many Japanese own cars. Even if they do, Japanese cars tend to be small. Grocery shopping is often done on a daily basis (using trains and maybe bicycles) and rarely do people buy in bulk. Such cultural practices are antithesis to the low-cost-high-volume marketing axiom of the hypermarts.

Service Standards
Customer service standards are also unbeatable. When I bought my Porter bag at OICITY, the staff eagerly chatted with me in his halting English while putting my purchase in a paper bag, then waterproofing the bag, before escorting me to the elevator and handing me my purchase with a complimentary 90 degree bow.

Technology
Any mention of Japan cannot omit the high-tech wizardry of the country. From the overly efficient train system (which cost me a missed flight due to its remarkable punctuality) to vending machines for ordering restaurant meals, and from the slew of electronic gadgetry at Akihabara to the multi-function toilet bowls, nothing seemed to be forgotten.

It is a country where everything that needs to be invented has been invented and that thought is put into everything. It is a very thoughtful country. (Yet, not everything is so labor-unintensive. I have seen teams of 4 or more men going around cleaning advertizing panels, doing a job that could well be managed by one man.)

Land of Shadows. Land of Contrast.
It is a land of contrast and a fascinating one at that. Japan is more than the tourist images that we have come to know, or of the minimalistic sushi and green tea (though they were commonplace). Despite its homogeneity and its highly conformist mentality, the country offers contrasts in numerous striking ways.

There is the Japan of temples and shrines of mythical image-laden proportions. But there is also a real Japan, with its over-conformed salarymen and the bubbling underbelly of niched sub-cultures that are held together in a delicate balance of new and old, modernity and tradition.

"Not another cherry blossom"

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Japan 2006: Roppongi Hills

The Garden at Roppongi Hills

Roppongi and Akasaka are where the dance scene and the rich people reside. Roppongi Hills, a massive redevelopment project, has been trumpeted as an urban miracle. Standing on a huge swath of a formerly dilapidated area, this major master plan project was 17 years, 280 billion yen in the making.

View of Tokyo from the Roppongi Hills Observatory Deck

The development tycoon Mori Minoru has created a office complex with its own shopping/entertainment outlets, art museum and charming gardens. In its first year since opening, Ropponggi Hills has seen 40 million visitors, more than 4 times the annual tourist arrival at Changi Airport.

I believe that much of Roppongi Hills' success, which could be emulated in the new mega-developments planned for Singapore, lies in its attractive urban design elements. The massive scale of the development is toned down through inviting ground-level entrances and undulating outdoor gardens and amphitheatres.

The interior of the building feature imaginative arrangement of spaces to create an interactive experience for the visitor. The urban furniture and architecture themes are eclectic and add to the organic nature of the project. These make it an even more manageable experience for the visitor.

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Japan 2006: Tokyo Old and New

Senso-ji at Asakusa

Old Tokyo, with its rougher crowd, can still be experienced on the east side of Tokyo, at Ueno, Asakusa, Nippori and Akihabara. (Nippori is where I stayed in a ryokan (traditional inn) with a obasan/innkeeper whom I can only describe as "cat-like".)

Tsukiji Wholesale Market

Tsukiji, right smack beside the corporate functioning of Marunouchi, is the site of the main fish market of Tokyo. This is the place to go for the freshest sashimi in town. Plans have been made to relocate the market, a tourist attraction in its own right, to further out of the city to make way for the expansion of the financial sector. Knowing the importance Japanese place on their food and their freshness, government officials would have to work very hard to overcome the public resistance to the plans.

Akihabara is the electronic centre of Tokyo. A former clustering of radio repair stores (which some still exist) have evolved in typical modern Japanese fashion into towering buildings of retail spaces and haphazard road layouts.

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Japan 2006: Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku

Streets of Ginza

Tokyo itself is somewhat of a monster. Like Los Angeles, it is made up of several 'downtowns' such as Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ropponggi. Ginza and Marounochi remain the main business and financial centers, though Shinjuku, with its ever changing skyline is fast catching up. These places are where shiny skyscrapers and ultra-modernist architecture gelled into a staid landscape of neon, steel (Japan is a major exporter of steel) and glass.

Outside Shibuya train station

Ginza is also a shopping belt ala Fifth Avenue and Champs-Elysee with high-end fashion and couture boutiques. It has a Louis Vuitton store that is even bigger than the one in Paris to cater to the brand-whores that are Japanese.

But the larger shopping nexus are located at Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku.

Shinjuku
Shinjuku, with its all-directional simultaneous pedestrain crossing, epitomizes the orderly chaos that I see in Japan. Here, large neon billboards battle with videotron screens to catch anyone and everyone's attention, while loud speakers and blaring music from the stores compete aggressively with the amateur rock bands on the streets.

At Kabuki-cho ward at Shinjuku, pachinko parlors, sex shops, love hotels (to cater to dating adults who continue to live in their parents' house with non-ideal acoustic proofing walls) and ramen noodle houses stand cheek by jowl on the pedestrianized streets. Menawhile, teenage "tribes", who are less like gangs but still as exclusive, fight for turf at the most popular spots.

Shibuya and Harajuku
Over at Shibuya, the Omotesando - a shopping boulevard, is less sleazy but equally ostentatious and high-end. Throngs of crowd meet outside the Shibuya station at the statue of Hachiko the dog. Hachiko is the famous dog who faithfully waited at the train station everyday for his deceased owner, a professor at the Imperial University, till his very own demise.

Immediately north and in great contrast to Shibuya is Harajuku, where small indie stores and second-hand goods dominate. This is also the setting for the Harajuku kids - teenagers, usually female, come dressed in outrageous costumes of goth, nurse suits and anime characters, to live out a fantasy away from the patriachal conservatism that is at home.

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Japan 2006: Tokyo Trains

The Hikari (Shinkansen) Service: Tokyo - Shin-Kobe

My trip ended where I began, in Tokyo, onboard the relentlessly efficient Shinkansen or more commonly known as the bullet train. Trains in Japan are alarmingly punctual. I was told that the average train delay for each Shinkansen service is roughly 30 sec per year. Considering that these trains take 3-hour long journeys across Japan, it clearly put other train systems worldwide to shame.

Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Tokyo is served by a multitude of rail systems including the JR - a corporatized former national entity, and private subways and at-grade railways. Rush hour in the morning can be quite traumatic for new visitors. Though less common nowadays, train staff still wield their white gloves to stuff the handbags and briefcases behind the closing train doors. And like most big cities, women-only cars are common on local rail service.

When I was in Tokyo, a train from the suburb had arrived late during the rush hour. The train operator staff could be seen handing out train delay notices to dishevelled salarymen for them to show their bosses! Using train delay as an excuse for tardiness does not work in Japan. One is also dissuaded from making cellphone calls in the train, which is incredibly obeyed by most people.

Transit-Oriented Development
The public rail system in Japan, like Hong Kong and Singapore, are privately-owned and buck the trend of rail systems in other parts of the world. In Europe and America, public rail systems are heavily-subsidized, lost-making enterprises supporting by taxpayers' money.

However, in Japan, as well as in Hong Kong, rail companies make their money through land development. Train companies own the land around their stations. These parcels, being so close to a public transport node, naturally fetch very high rent. Thus, big departmental stores like Takashimaya, Isetan and Daimaru cluster around train stations, paying dearly for the land to the rail company. It does make me rethink Singapore's model of public transportation and the excessive fear of large commercial quantums at MRT stations.

Train Schedules and Capsule Hotels
What is unexpected for a country that relies so intensively on its rail infrastructure is that most train services stop around midnight. Thus, clubs and pubs would stay open well into the morning for clients to wait in so that they can catch the first train in the morning. This was what Tsu and Mari did on their wedding night.

This practice has also spawn off a whole industry of motels and capsule hotels that charge hourly rates. Salarymen, out for a night of izakaya (drunken reverly with colleagues), take advantage of these places as shelter for a night. Most of these places only cater to male clientele, and having stayed in one in Tokyo, I am glad to say that they are largely clean and well-maintained and have a fraternal dorm-like feel to them. (Another surprise: Most pachinko parlors close at 11pm.)

Of course taking a taxi in Tokyo is out of the question for most of these salarymen. The taxi meter starts at 760 yen which is about 7 US Dollars, and the meter ticks away rather rapidly.

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Japan 2006: Kyoto - Temples and Gardens

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

Temples and Gardens of Kyoto
Nevertheless, the manicured gardens and the sakura-infused temples would easily be the highlight of the any visitor's trip. Kiyomizu-dera was my favorite spot in Kyoto, with its mix of Buddhist and Shinto architecture draped onto the edge of the eastern hills. Kinkaku-ji, where a gold pavilion takes centrestage is also a must-see. Ryoan-ji is a understated temple with an immaculately austere and minimalist rock garden, prepared every morning by the resident monks.

Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto

Kyoto Protocol
For any self-respecting environmentalist, Kyoto would also be synonymous with the Kyoto Protocol. Indeed, conservation and recycling are so big they have become an unconscious part of life in Japan. All trash bins provide recycling receptacles clearly labelled for different types of recyclable materials. In the Japanese film "It's Only Talk" which I caught last weekend at the SIFF, one of the subplots revolves around a playground, in the Tokyo suburb of Kamata, that is made up of rubber tires. There is even an entire 3-storey-tall T-rex made up of rubber tires. But things are starting to stir as this article illustrates.

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Japan 2006: Kyoto

Zen Garden at Ryoan-ji

The must-see destination of Japan would have to be Kyoto. The capital city for more than a thousand years, Kyoto is chokeful of Buddhist temples, palaces and zen gardens.

The city is partly a source for the classic image of Japan: small traditional cobbled streets, zen Buddhist temples and geishas in bright kimonos. Though much of this image - an image cultivated no doubt by movies like Lost in Translation and Memoirs of a Geisha, can be misleading. I did see a few geishas (not couting the rent-a-geishas that eagerly line up for photo ops with tourists) and visited beautiful shrines. But much of Kyoto is like the rest of urban Japan, where large departmental stores and telecommunication towers dominate the skyline.

The new Kyoto train station

A visitor is likely to first arrive at Kyoto at the spankling new train terminal, a typically ultra-modern giant complex of shops, steel, restaurants and hotels (mixed use has always been big in the urban areas). Tourism forms a large part of the Kyoto economy, as seen in its endless stores of handicrafts and Japanese candies. Giant toriis (the red wooden gates) in the major shrines, iconic of the Shinto religion, are sponsored by corporate entities and bear their names on the columns.

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Japan 2006: Kobe and Osaka

Dotombori, Osaka

Kobe
Kobe, where the reception was held, was the site of the catastrophic earthquake of 1995. But redevelopment had advanced so dramatically that it was impossible to see any damage the city had sustained.

Kobe is also famous for Kobe beef. Incidentally beef was first introduced to Japan by westerners. Since then, the Japanese life expectancy has decreased (just kidding). But frankly, with all the alcohol, smoking, work-related stress and more MacDonalds than ever before, the average Japanese life expectancy is bound to drop in the future. I did not try Kobe beef as it was more expensive than what one can get at Angus House at Ngee Ann City.

Osaka Castle

Osaka
I also visited Osaka, the second most-populous city in Japan. Osaka, and Osakans included, is known to be louder and brassier than the rest of Japan. In fact, the entire Kansei area (including Osaka and Kobe), a flat plain and the main rice-growing region of Japan, has a remarkably different culture and temperament to other parts of Japan.

According to my Japanese friend, Kyohi, the entrepreneurial computer programmer who grew up in Tokyo, it is easy to tell apart an Osakan from and a Tokyo-ite. (Mariko is from Tokyo, while Tsuyoshi, known for stripping whenever he is drunk, is from Kobe.) Osakans speak a different dialect than Tokyo-ites, and talk louder on the train. Osakans would even try to bargain for prices in Tokyo even though few shops ever entertain bargaining. Osakans even stand on the different side of the escalator than in Tokyo, which contradicts the local driving direction.

Dotombori, the entertainment and dining hub of the city, is equally telling of the this Kansei spirit. The area is a lively place with brightly-lit restaurants and equally loud waitresses assaulting you on all your senses. At times, it feels more like Las Vegas than Las Vegas itself. In fact, this apparently disastrous planning of the city is one reason why Tsuyoshi decided to pursue a Masters degree in planning at USC.

The cuisine of Osaka is just as loud and in-your-face. Mayonnaise-topped takoyaki (flour balls stuffed with octupus) and okonomiyaki (egg pancakes filled with almost anything you can think of), two of the local delights, are unusually piquant and savoury for what foreigners have come to expect of Japanese cuisine.

While in Osaka, I visited Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle), a well-embraced local attraction fully restored in recent years. Do not be fooled by its austere facade. The inside of the castle houses a modern musuem and even have elevators. Osaka-jo is located in the midst of the city park, where hanami parties are held side by side with rave concerts for teenagers.

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Japan 2006: Tsuyoshi and Mariko's Wedding

Mari and Tsu

The main purpose of my visit was to attend Tsuyoshi and Mariko's wedding reception. This ceremony in Kobe was the second ceremony for the couple, after their first one held in Los Angeles last December. The couple grew up in France, and the wedding ceremony was decidedly modern and westernized. The main reception was held at a European colonial-looking house-turned-French restaurant. Although Japanese do receive money for wedding receptions, a la local wedding hongbaos, this particular reception "charges" admission fees, so as to cover the cost of the reception.

Himeji Castle, Himeji

Mari wore a traditional kimono handed down to her by her mum, but no one in her family knew how to put one on. (She later changed into a white western-style wedding gown.)

Tsuyoshi chose a western suit as he was not prepared for the white-face make-up that goes with the traditional men's costume. Before I arrived, I was told that the typical dress code for male guests is black suit and white shirt, with a white tie. Of course I did not have a white tie. Fortunately, not many attendees wore the white shirt/tie combo.

The Reception
The reception was a relatively casual affair with more than enough speeches by senior relations (e.g. former bosses, ex-professors) peppered with polite anecdotes about the wedding couple's quirks and whims.

The afternoon reception was followed by an evening drinking party at a local pub which only the younger folks attended. Admission fee was levied and a free flow of alcohol ensued. Here, more adult-themed games and jokes took center-stage.

Following this was another party, and at a karaoke lounge no less. Again admission fee was charged and the American-invention 'sake bombs' (sake and beer) was enthusiastically embraced by the couple's friends, as were Beatles songs. The party ended at midnight and I decided to retire for the night. The wedding couple on the other hand stayed up for more drinking throughtout the night, catching the first available train the next morning.

What is interesting about Japanese wedding ceremonies (also an American by-product, largely due to the influence of Christian beliefs in the sacrament and ceremonial nature of marriage), is their seemingly religious nature. Although Japanese today are mostly non-religious, they do hold wedding ceremonies in churches and Buddhist temples, sometimes one right after the other.

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Japan 2006: April 7th - 17th

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

April 7. It was a culture shock for me when I first arrived in Tokyo. A huge metropolis, bursting with people (14 million strong), cars and trains, Tokyo is chaotic and yet paradoxically orderly. It is the capital of one of the most culturally homogenous country in the world, and conformity still holds sway over most activities. But sub-cultures thrive and there is ample room in this big city for anonymity as well as individuality.

Ryoan-ji, Kyoto

I visited Japan during the Spring season, where the 'Sakura' (cherry blossoms) were in bloom. Parks and roadsides were awashed in a sea of pinks and whites, and hanami (flower-viewing) parties were held everywhere where the trees were in bloom. Sakura is the national flower of Japan, though it bloom is very short-lived. This has made the name Sakura an unpopular choice for newborns. No doubt, the short-lived nature of the bloom have added to the excitement and fervour of celebrating their flowering.

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MediaWatch: TV Watch

So You Think You Can Dance
: Great concept and the trailers look promising, but the show is flat, the hosting atrocious and the drama missing.

Amazing Race
: One of the best reality tv programmes, AR continues to excite, although it appears that the show is running out of destinations (how many times have they been to Moscow?). Also, production value has decreased and contestants too often auto-narrate themselves.

LOST
: Much hyped, and still appears rather exciting. But how long can they keep the mystery?

Desperate Housewives
: Equally impressive sophomore season as LOST, though the sparks are not as bright as in the first season.

Grey's Anatomy
: The true star of Monday night TV. Smart, witty, fun. What you wished Scrubs could be. Great intelletual late-night fodder, an antidote to Paris and Nicole's A Simple Life: Interns.

TV Movies - Goodbye, Lenin! Erin Brokovich, The Hours
: Despite incessantly bad movies such as Eight-Legged F*****, occasional tv gems such as Goodbye, Lenin! and The Hours rekindle whatever dying hopes you may have for local TV standards.

Asian Drama - Train Man
: Japanese reality-based comedy Train Man reprises the unmistakably Japanese schtick humor with the story of a nerdy salaryman in the pursuit of his dream girl, through the help of internet chatroom buddies.

Local Superstar Fad - SuperBand
: Campus Superstar hit the notes well with its adolescent target audience, but the true star of local TV's stable of competitions seem to be SuperBand! Can't wait.

Undiscovered Gem - My Name Is Earl

So, whay else can I criticize?

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P.R.O.G.R.E.S.S.

I received my Progress Package - a government handout/sweetener today, and realized that it has the most ridiculous acronym I have seen in acronym-overdose Singapore. Providing Opportunities through Growth, Remaking Singapore for Success. What a bunch of bullcrap. The civil servant who came up with it must have thought that it was such a brilliant idea!

I hate to be in Singapore during the election time. I have such a strong distaste for local politics and the shenanigan/vote-buying tactics by local politicians that my guts feel all wretched and tight for days. It was like when I saw the election results of the American Presidential election and George Bush was re-elected. I was so disgusted and upset that I almost cried. I wanted to run out of my apartment and scream at the world, or at least go find some people who share my same political views and curse about Republican politics.

Elections should be coming soon. I can't wait to get out of this country.

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Film Review: Failure to Launch, Transamerica, R.E.N.T and why Brokeback is a great film

Failure to Launch: A surprisingly intelligent film with a witty script, Failure to Launch satirizes the American culture phenomenon of young adults who refuse to move out of their parents' homes. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey are perfectly casted as lovers whom audience members can only fantasize to be. Unfortunately, such romantic comedies never depart from their saccharine sentiments and formulaic happy endings that are mandatory of the genre, making it an enjoyable escape from real life for two hours but nothing much else.

R.E.N.T: Director Chris Columbus of Harry Potter and Home Alone fame deviates from his usual repertoire to take on the gritty story of a desperate community of gays, artists and AIDS sufferers in NYC. Having seen the original musical, the edgy and emotive power of the book loses its energy through this cinematic translation. Dull and unimaginative, much of the film feels perfunctory in just showcasing the song sequences.

Transamerica: This is a travelling road film that follows the physical and emotional journey of a man-to-woman transsexual who is awaiting her sex-change operation. Felicity Huffman and her co-star son shine with much warmth and humanity to make the film watchable and believable. However, the script is riddled with cliches (e.g. delinquent son who turns gay because of sexual abuse in the South) and conventions that saddle the film with more emotional fluffs than effective punches.

And that is when I realized how monumental Brokeback Mountain is as a film of our times.

Brokeback is a highly accomplished film, depicting a tough subject matter with much grace and dignity. Having seen Transamerica, which deals with a somewhat similar theme of alternative gender issues, Brokeback stands out as a impressive and challenging work that is in a class of its own.

Transamerica is an example of Queer Cinema - films that deal with alternative gender lifestyles, their hopes and struggles. It categorically fits into this type of cinema by using very traditional narrative methods as a catalyst. Road movies that symbolize a pyschological journeys of the characters are trite devices that conform to one-track linear narratives. With its series of supporting characters to inject some colour and comic elements, Transamerica resorts to pedestrian storytelling techniques to elevate the sympathetic status of its marginalized protagonist. In dealing with a topic as complex and contested as gender reassignment, the filmmakers of Transamerica choose the safest route of sugar-coating the realities of the issue to make this a palatable and unmemorable film.

In comparison, Brokeback is a more matured film that never conforms. Ang Lee pushes and challenges the taboo topic of homosexuality in the homophobic setting of the American cowboy western. In theme, Brokeback re-mythologizes the constructed image of the cowboy, insinuating in the most subtle of touches the personal and emotional depth of this American icon, personified in the lead characters. The film is grand in its scope (geographically and temporally) but most personal in its treatment. It never betrays the spirit of Annie Proulx's short story by claiming to speak for anybody else except for Jake and Ennis. The drama of Brokeback is most restrained and refined, with its supporting actors adding insights to the protagonists lives and they act as cultural barometers of the time

As described by a classmate of mine, Queer Cinema are films made not for gay people, but for their parents, as a way for the latter to negotiate and come to terms, in a scrubbed down manner, to alternative lifestyles. Brokeback Mountain, on the contrary, is a film that is true to its subject, which is the bittersweet affairs of love and life both fulfilled and left wanting.

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You're not good at any one thing

Your Birthdate: January 23

You're not good at any one thing, and that's the problem. You're good at so much - you never know what to do. Change is in your blood, and you don't stick to much for long. You are destined for a life of travel and fun. Your strength: Your likeability Your weakness: You never feel satisfied Your power color: Bright yellow Your power symbol: Asterisk Your power month: May

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

So when does my life of fun begin?

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MediaWatch

# The Body Shop has sold (out) itself to French cosmetics conglomerate L'Oreal. The Body Shop - well known for its anti-animal testing stance and belief in community trade, will retain its identity and management. L'Oreal is not known for any ethical commitment and still carries out product testing on animals.

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MediaWatch

New forum site - Yesterday.sg allows internet users to communicate anecdotes of our social and physical history. Set up by a group of heritage and blogging enthusiasts who have joined hands with National Heritage Board and the staff of other museums, the site was first highlighted to the blogsphere incidentally by Tomorrow.sg.

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New MRT Lines coming your way

LTA has unveiled plans for new Bukit Timah MRT (BTL) and Eastern Regional MRT Lines (ERL). The Straits Times reported that LTA has began preliminary work on the two lines.

The BTL will link Upper Bt Timah to the city and is scheduled to be completed around 2016. The ERL will loop around the Jalan Besar and East Coast areas and may be completed after 2020.

On-going projects include the Boon Lay Extension (2 new stations) which will be completed by 2009 and the Circle Line which will be fully completed in 2010.

What is next? The Thomson Line, the equivalent of the CTE for trains to transverse north-south. Time to buy a house near Thomson Road?

Eventually, there will be more than 540km of rail lines, more than the 408km of the London's Tube system.

Estimated rail ridership will go up to 1.5 million a day when the Circle Line is up. This unfortunately still pales in comparison to the 2.1 million bus ridership figure. Perhaps the government should be investing more money on bus facilities (e.g. bus lanes, bus terminals, handicap-access buses, NextBus information, longer running hours etc).

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Singapore Budget 2006

Key facts of the debate which ended last week.

Operating revenue for Singapore government - Fiscal Year 2006 projected at $29 billion.
This is an increase of 5.4% from previous FY2005.
Total expenditure projected to be $30.6 billion, a 6.1% increase.

This means a budget deficit of $2.9 billion. This is the largest budget deficit in more than 20 years!

Special transfers include $2.6 billion, going into the Progress Package. Remember that in 2001, during the country's worst post-independence recession, the handout was only $2.1 billion. Does it sound like a election budget or what?

MINDEF budget of $10 billion is up 8.5% from previous year.

Ministry of National Development budget is $1.24 billion, down 8.3% from previous year.

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MediaWatch

# Trader Joe's opens first branch in New York City on March 17.

# Rather accomplished local short film, Hosaywood even has a professional-looking website. The director has quite a good eye for camera framing and editing and very persuasive story-telling, and with very confident action sequences. Best local film I have seen this year. Highly recommended.

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SinGov: No Mandatory Rest Days for Maids

Singapore government cites families with "special needs" as the reason not to legislate mandatory off days for domestic maids. MP Mr Hawazi explains these special needs as coming from some elderly and the infirm who needs constant attention.

Choosing to cater to a very small minority (elderly and the infirm who needs constant attention and cannot be taken care of by their families) as an excuse to deny the rights of other human beings is horrific. This reason fails to justify to any degree why such laborers are not protected and given equal rights as other laborers. It shows a misplaced sympathy only for those who are receiving the care of the maids. This is a selfish and bigoted response to ensuring that the costs of taking care of the elderly and maintaining a nuclear family (so that all working adults can be dutifully employed to oil the economic machinery) are only taken at the expense of our so called foreign talent. This is why Singapore will never become a first world country.

Singapore: Domestic Workers Suffer Grave Abuses
Ministry of Manpower Statement on the report

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Sustainability and Singapore

I recently got my hands on the book Sustainability and Cities, by Dr Ooi Giok Leng of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). An extract:

The primacy of economic objectives in environmental planning [in Singapore] is evident in four ways.

First, the government has been reluctant to implement EIA (environmental impact assessment) legislation, although the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources has claimed that there is an internal process which assesses the environmental impact of all development projects that require its planning and building or construction approval... The government's reluctance to legislate EIAs has also been attributed to the concern that they would hinder the progress of economic development.

Second, nature is also incorporated into the development schema because of its economic value such as for tourism or a recreational resource. Hence, nature is more often than not confined to "carefully selected sanctuaries" such as nature reserves...

Third, the areas that have been designated as Nature Areas in the Concept Plan have, technically speaking, little legal status. This means that they are not protected against disturbance or development if there are other competing uses of national and strategic interest which arise from time to time. Indeed, this has been the experience since the 1960s. The only remaining primary rainforest nature reserve that had been linked to a mature secondary rainforest reserve was effectively divided into two by an expressway that was built in the 1980s. This development decision was made by the Ministry of National Development, the ministry which also administers the work of nature conservation. Thus, the conservation and preservation of such areas has always been qualified by planning authorities as a status that will remain for as long as possible. The trend therefore has been to treat nature reserves like the city's land bank to be drawn on for development whenever the need arises.

Fourth and most importantly, the government tends to equate the gains from pollution control with "conservation" effort and "sustainable development". According to Hilton and Manning (1995) this is erroneous. While the government argues that the "cleaning and greening" of Singapore have created an aesthetically pleasing environment, others argue that the physical changes which occured have been "at the expense of the indigenous terrestrial and marine habitats, ecological health, and indigenous biota" (Savage 1992, p. 207)

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The Simpsons - Live Action

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Crash-ing the Brokeback Party

The 78th Oscars Ceremony was held this evening at Hollywood and Highland. The biggest surprise came when Crash won for Best Picture, beating pundit's favorite Brokeback Mountain. You can see the surprise on everyone's face for a good few minutes after Jack Nicholson announced the winner of the biggest prize of the night.

Frankly, I just saw Munich this past weekend, and thought that that was the best film in contention tonight.

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Gerrymandering Begins

The 2006 Electoral Boundaries are out.

Looks like my ward will remain a PAP stronghold. Yea, now I can look forward to more sheltered walkways and lifts that stop at every floor - all the things that are important in my life.

Paging for Mr Jeyaratnam...

ST Interactive - THE latest report on electoral boundaries sees surprisingly few major changes, unlike in past elections. Hot seat Aljunied GRC, where the Workers' Party has been active for four years and which the party has said it will contest, remains.

The biggest change is in single seats. Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah will no longer be single seats. They have been merged into the renamed Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and West Coast GRC respectively.

Two new single seats have been created, which could well see two relative People's Action Party (PAP) newcomers face off against opposition contenders. As in previous elections, GRCs helmed by senior ministers grew larger.

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City Lights

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Kohn Pedersen Fox - MGM Mirage

Just heard the news last night. MGM Mirage has revealed their architects for the IR bid. Kohn Pedersen Fox, creators of utilitarian architecture and giant box complex such as Roppongi Hills and Shanghai World Financial Centre, are currently also the architects for the next biggest project for the Marina Bay waterfront - the Business and Financial Centre (BFC). Perhaps URA should just hand over the entire Marina Bay to PDF for them to design our entire skyline.

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One Raffles Link

I attended a talk by Eugene Kohn of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates this afternoon at URA Centre. They are the architects behind such familiar buildings as the new Hong Kong Financial Centre and One Raffles Link.

Kohn actually revealed that the inspiration for One Raffles Link comes from the ornate classical facade of the other revered landmark of Singapore - Raffles Hotel.





In fact, from the colonade at the ground level to the lattice work on the facade and the stone work, the building details are all reminiscient of the European-style colonial buildings of Singapore.

One Raffles Link is a well designed building, even though it has not been given as much attention as the other more "iconic" towers that have been sprouting up. With its massive footprint, One Raffles Link is indicative of a possible shift in contemporary architect to meet the pragmatic market demands for large floor plates for office uses. Would other buildings follow suit even in land scarce Singapore?

As for the intricate facade details, too much has been ignored and forgotten, mostly due to the runaway success of its complementary development - CityLink Mall. By creating a comfortable retail space that is sheltered and air-conditioned, Singaporeans have been avoiding the street level for the underground. So, who else is there to appreciate Kohn's building details from the street?

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Cathay

Whoa, it has been a long time since I last blogged. I had been real busy at work, putting in ridiculous 13-14 hour work days for two consecutive weeks. Lots had happened too. Here's a summary...

I was on an in-house course the past week which was great. There were lots of project work and countless site visits. Met a lot of people, including my other agencies' counterparts. Think the senior transport planner has a better impression of me now than before. Got to hang out with some of them after work too. Unfortunately, the course ends this Monday, and we have this mega presentation project on Collyer Quay. My team has been meeting up after work twice the past week, and we intend to meet again on Sunday. So before that, I would have to be slaving away on my part of the project today. another bummer.

Been telling myself to keep my movie schedule going, especially with all the oscar films coming out this few weeks, but I doubt I can get much of that in this weekend. Went to Dbl-O last week. Managed to watch Brokeback Mountain at 3am after the clubbing. I was so sleepy throughout the show.

Hung out with some colleagues after work yesterday - left the office at 8pm on a Friday night :( Was at Union Bar, then later we crashed the Cathay party at Red Dot, before going to Relations for dinner / late supper. Had tons of drinks, both free and paid. Got reminded to check out Blinkymummy's blog.

Hope the next few weeks would be on a slower pace. Looking forward to taking my first day of Vacation Leave soon!

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78th Academy Awards nominations are in!

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Best Director
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Paul Haggis - Crash
Bennett Miller - Capote
George Clooney - Good Night and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg - Munich

Best Animated Film
Howl's Moving Castle
Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbits

Best Actor
Terrence Howard - Hustle & Flow
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
David Straitharn - Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Actress
Judi Dench - Mrs Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman- Transamerica
Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron - North Country
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line

Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney - Syriana
Matt Dillon - Crash
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt - A History of Violence

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Junebug
Catherine Keener - Capote
Frances McDormand - North Country
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain

Best Original Screenplay
Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco- Crash
Stephen Gaghan - Syriana
George Clooney & Grant Heslov - Good Night, and Good Luck
Woody Allen - Match Point
Noah Baumbach - The Squid and the Whale

Best Adapted Screenplay
Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana - Brokeback Mountain
Dan Futterman - Capote
Jeffrey Caine - The Constant Gardener
Josh Olson - A History of Violence
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth - Munich

Best Foreign Film
Don't Tell - Italy
Joyeux Noel - France
Paradise Now - Palestine
Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days - Germany
Tsotsi - South Africa

Best Art Direction
Good Night, and Good Luck
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice

Best Cinematography
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World

Best Sound Mixing
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Walk the Line
War of the Worlds

Best Sound Editing
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds

Best Original Score
Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla
The Constant Gardener, Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha, John Williams
Munich, John Williams
Pride & Prejudice, Dario Marianelli

Best Original Song
''In the Deep'' - Crash, Kathleen ''Bird'' York and Michael Becker
''It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp'' - Hustle & Flow, Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
''Travelin' Thru''- Transamerica, Dolly Parton

Best Costume Design
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk the Line

Best Documentary Feature
Darwin's Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
March of the Penguins
Murderball
Street Fight

Best Film Editing
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Munich
Walk the Line

Best Makeup
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith

Best Visual Effects
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
War of the Worlds

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At U.S.C., a Practical Emphasis in Film

Today, the emphasis on craft over artistry gives the school a split personality. U.S.C. relies heavily on its connections to the towering talent that has passed through its halls — which, not incidentally, are everywhere adorned with signed posters from landmark films by Mr. Lucas ("Star Wars"), Robert Zemeckis (another alumnus, director of "Forrest Gump" and "The Polar Express") and Mr. Spielberg.

But as dearly as U.S.C. holds its connection to the greats of the 1970's, the current emphasis is elsewhere. Indeed, only a few directors stand out among U.S.C.'s more recent graduates as at (or near) the top of Hollywood's artistic or commercial heap: Doug Liman, who directed "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"; Jay Roach, director of the "Austin Powers" films; Richard Kelly, who wrote and directed the cult hit "Donnie Darko"; and Judd Apatow, who co-wrote and directed the hit comedy "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." (Ron Howard, who won the Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind," left U.S.C. after two years.)

"We can't point to someone recently who's made the same impact as Lucas, or Walter Murch," the Oscar-winning cinematographer, acknowledged Mark Jonathan Harris, a film professor at U.S.C. and a two-time Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker in his own right. (He went to Harvard and studied English, not film.) "What is the purpose of film school?" he continued. "It's a large question worth asking. At the undergraduate level, we teach people to see more clearly, whether or not they're going to be George Lucas."

At U.S.C., a Practical Emphasis in Film

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My birthday party (Part 1)

I probably should write something about my recent birthday party.

So here goes... 21 January... Fullerton Hotel... Room 777... sea-view... check-in... last minute stock up at Seven-11... complimentary tea... sonia, wanting, cheewai... we ate... a lot... they charged me extra for 2 guests... embarrassed... started drinking... again... champagne... 2 glasses... uno stacko... several shots... brothers arrived... beer... co-workers arrived... vodka mix... my family... sneakies... how many people can fit in the bath-tub... primary school friends... some more drinks probably... met ben's friend, thomas... conversation with sister... working the room... big fish small fish... more photo-taking... probably more shots... sending some people to the door...

(and based on photographic evidence, post-party updates and whatever I can remember, not necessarily in chronological order)... wrestled... arm-locked clem... flashed him... groveled on the ground with my pants down... threatening to jump off the balcony... nice view... romps in bed... puking right before getting to the toilet... changed my clothes... by myself... snuck into bed... next day... hang over... complimentary breakfast... hang over... swam... check-out... hang over

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The Roots to My Melancholy

It seems like the roots to my melancholy is more predestined than I thought.

According to this article, 23rd January has been considered the most depressing day of the year. That means, when given a choice to pick one day, one out of 365 days of the year, psychologists, counsellors, helpline officers, psychiatrists, even debt collectors would pick 23rd of January as the most loathsome, miserable, unfortunate day of the year. How great is that! Thanks, mom and dad.

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Birthday Invite

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Film Review: Broken Flowers

Jim Jarmusch's film is a lovely and somewhat poignant journal that captures the vivacity of Americans and their relationships. In this film, the journey is more important than the destination. The audience is brought along into the heartlands of the country to meet unusual characters living their lives as individuals almost detached from the present world.

Don Johnston (Bill Murray) stars as an aging casanova who is on the verge of having another woman leave him. He appears destined to live his life as a chronic passivist, that when his latest girlfriend packs up and leaves, he lets her go without a struggle, only to withdraw to his couch to watch television.

Things starts to slowly stir when he receives an unexpected letter from a long ago ex, who claims that he had fathered her son who is now 19 years old and on his way to find his real dad. With the urging of his Ethiopian neighbor, Winston, who with a wife, 5 kids and 3 jobs is an exact opposite of Don, he sets out on a trip to find the origin of the letter.

The journey here is a backward-looking one; the camera focuses time and again on the rear view mirror in the car. Don is backtracking literally on his life, going back in time to revisit his old flames who each seemed to share larger than life moments with him. It is a bittersweet journey as the romance has faded, but the relational baggage still exists. (A second journey is being carried out by his supposed son who is tracing his roots, but in opposite directions)

Murray is brilliant here as the thrown-about early retiree who comes to terms with his past and seeks to eschew only the present. The supporting cast, including Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton, creates a wide palette of eccentric types that further emphasizes life's plenitude of people, lifestyles, homes and dreams.

Jarmusch lovingly details the emotions of such a journey and the accompanying psychological flashback with such heart but also nuances, it just makes one itch to go on a similar trip into one's past. There are no big emotions or tear-jerking dramatic scenes here. The ending is not monumental or climatic. Life, as depicted by Jarmusch, is one filled with one quiet moment after another.

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My 2005 in Pictures

Top Row (L to R):
1. 2005 started off with a bang. I partied like there was no tomorrow on my 25th birthday. I got so drunk that I did not remember getting a penis enlarger pump as a present. But obviously as seen from the picture, I was very happy to receive it.
2. Spring Break 2005 saw me hopped into Costa Rica with a bunch of friends who were to become some of my closest buddies in college. It was undoubtedly my best Spring Break ever.
3. We celebrated David's birthday too in convivial drunken fashion. He was my roommate in my final year in school and has become one of my best friends, favorite travel-mate and partner-in-crime.

2nd Row (L to R):
4. Graduation came and went in a blink of an eye. Four years of education culminated in 10 hours of ceremony, 2 degrees and 1 very tired senior.
5. After school ended, I embarked on an Amtrak trip across the United States. The journey took me to San Antonio, Orlando, Miami and New Orleans (in the picture) before it became a watery grave.
6. Back in LA, I managed to spend time with some of my American friends whom I have known the longest in the States. It was sad to say goodbye.

3rd Row (L to R)
7. My farewell party was a bittersweet affair organized by some of my friends. The Asian stripper aside, it was a sobering time for me.
8. I returned to Singapore in July and felt good to be home. The trees outside my window have grown much since my last stay more than a year and a half ago.
9. Starting work means getting used to new working environment and meeting new people. Being in the Recreational Committee and putting up events like Halloween help to break up the monotony of office life.

Last Row (L to R)
10. The view from my cubicle is rather decent. Staring out of the window gives my eyes their much needed break and constantly reminds me that I am back in the real world that is Singapore.
11. Having been away for so long, I have drifted apart from many of my old friends. The BFC, formed by a healthy bunch of new staff at my office, helps to keep the boredom away.
12. 2005 marks a new chapter in my life as I start my career in urban planning. The Lim Chu Kang planning area is like my little baby, as I try to apply what I have learnt in school to the real world.

Hopefull 2006 will be just as eventful and colorful as the past year.

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Film Review: A History of Violence

David Cronenberg's latest masochistic thriller tells the story of an idyllic small town torn apart by the violence both outside and inside of an all-American family.

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) who appears to be living the American Dream unexpectedly meets two gun-totting thugs who are driving across the country on a killing spree. After a frenetic shoot-out at his diner, Tom becomes an overnight hero, only to see his past catch up with him. Violence ensues tragically, leading to killing that only begets more killing.

Unflinching in its depiction of violence, the film shows head-on the fatal results of gun wounds in sensational scenes of bloodshed and gore. Yet, much of the film languids in a placid pace, much paralleling the slow internal collapse of Tom's superficially ideal American household.

Although the mobster narrative drives the storyline, the violence clearly extends beyond that of organized crime. It is also about the violence of the family, the violence of adolescence and bullying, the violence of sex and lies, and the violence that one inflicts onto himself. Cronenberg suggests that there is violence in everyone, and in this tale of a history of violence, it is a violent America where Americans terrorize one another.

In a pivotal scene, Tom's wife, Edie (an incredibly real Maria Bello) turns from the tragic sufferer to become an accomplice by lying to the town sheriff of his husband's past. (It is a chameleon act that also brings to mind Laura Linney's evil transformation as Hamlet's Getrude in Mystic River.) The couple then continues the emotional battery by engaging in violent sex on the staircase - every gyration on the staircase causing a scar on her back, as their marriage goes downhill with every descend down the stairs.

The film is a departure from Cronenberg's previous body of work which can only be described as eccentric and weird. Here, the Canadian director is also at his most invisible, letting his terrific cast take the lead by pushing the story into a whirlpool that never seems to be able to come to a stop.

This is a great movie that invigorates the familiar narrative of an externalized terror intruding into the safe and protected confines of home and town. Films like In the Bedroom and more poignantly in the post-9/11 period, Mystic River, 21 grams and Dogville depict the insanity of acts of terrorism and counter-terrorism and how they escalate into an endless cycle of violence.

In A History of Violence, the terror is not so much as that coming from the outside. The external threat as characterized by the mobsters are portrayed as darkly comedic and inconsequential as compared to the larger threat of the paternal and familial variety. Although the ending of the film hints at a sense of forgiveness and closure, after one and a half hours in the theatre, the audience is well aware that the exacted toll from the violence is unlikely to be forgotten.

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Singapore Movie Tickets are too Expensive?

I hear the common refrain from Singaporeans that the price of a movie ticket here is very expensive. But from my own experience, having travelled to several countries and watching movies regularly, I have always thought that movie ticket prices are cheap here!

In LA, which is the last place I lived in (and where movie theaters abound), a typical ticket price is 9 USD. Comparatively, in Singapore, a ticket on the weekend costs 6 USD (4 USD on a weekday afternoon). Is it just another thing that Singaporeans complain about?

Here, I have googled a sample of movie ticket prices (in USD and affected by exchange rate).

Los Angeles, USA $9
Halifax, Canada $8.50
Lisbon, Portugal $7
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia $2.75
Melbourne, Australia $11
Shanghai, China $3.50
Brussels, Belgium $9.50
Bucharest, Romania $3.20
Nairobi, Kenya $4
Istanbul, Turkey $6
Dublin, Ireland $10.50
Bangkok, Thailand $3
Auckland, New Zealand $8.50
Tokyo, Japan $15
Singapore $5 (average)

Maybe a more telling picture is comparing the price of a movie ticket to earning powers of the audience. Screen Digest collated the following data, which shows Singapore's movie ticket prices well below the global average.

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Film Review: King Kong

Peter Jackson's King Kong is a magnificent piece of work that utilizes the best of computer technology, satisfies the most jaded of audiences and make big movies something to fall in love with again.

This is not to say that the film has no flaws and narrative loop-holes and unrealistic CGI moments. But the real story here is that King Kong is more than just a monster flick, animated blockbuster or tale of the big screen superheroes.

First off, looking beneath the veneer of King Kong as a popcorn spectacle is the story of the white man's fear of "The Other". The original King Kong was made in the late 1920s during the Great Depression. Movie houses and vaudeville theatres were risque distractions for the common men from the woes of unemployment. Suitably so, the protagonist of the film is a blonde woman, in a white dress, being taken hostage by "The Other". In this instance, instead of a male ethnic-minority, the threat is from its less evolved cousin, a black monkey.

A typical salacious story for the time, the tale depicts the ape as a threat to the white man's woman and his thwarted masculinity. As if brute strength is not enough, the white man has to resort to his finest weapons of tanks and fighter planes to down the threat from the top of the Empire State Building - the ultimate phallic symbol of western white man's masculinity and power.

Now going back to Jackson's version, and why I enjoyed it. There is the sense that Jackson tries to embellish on the larger epic of the story without sacrificing the more superficial attractions of the spectacle. Beginning brilliantly with the cross-cutting of vaudeville acts with news footage of breadlines, and to a jazzy, upbeat musical score, Jackson is immediately suggestive of the complexity of the subtext that is to come.

His Ann is a fuller and more multi-dimensional character that epitomizes her true role in the story as the pawn/eye candy by being a stage comedian. Similarly, Kong is more than an exercise in special effects as Jackson injects much personality into him. This is most evident in the ice-skating rink scene when Kong rummages through Central Park, behaving much like any child would.

Jackson also espouses on the theme of masculinity as the undercurrent to the King Kong story (see above). His heroes in the film are not the macho, beefy action heroes, but rather an emaciated-looking, bookish author. Jackson plays this up by countering Adrien Brody's Jack Driscoll with the cowardly matinee actor, Preston, who is more in love with himself, and having Ann mistake a more dashing character for Jack.

Jamie Bell's adolescent character, though shortchanged in his character development, furthers the inquiry into the definition of masculinity with his interaction with the only black character in the film, who incidentally is sacrificed early on for being the only heroic and brave person on the boat.

But Jackson never loses sight of the escapist, big entertainment component of the King Kong story despite its slow beginning. The film is divided into 3 distinct acts, much like a vaudeville performance. The sense of anticipation and the budding romance are slowly unravelled in the first act, against the backdrop of fatalistic financial and moral bankruptcy.

The second act is a roller-coaster ride into the world of Skull Island, with the requisite doses of computer animation, memorable battle scenes (where we realize that Kong is not exactly the king of the jungle but has to work hard to stay on top) and extended scenes of hair-raising creatures. This is also the act where Jackson hints at white man's fear of "the other" through the encounter with the human residents of Skull Island (the men responded by wiping them out).

The third act returns the cast to New York and the so-called civilization, albeit after an temporal ellipse. Now, the characters have gone their separate ways. Kong follows in the trail of beauty only to meet his ultimate death. Elegiac and patient, the final climax before Kong's demise is drawn out to evoke much empathy. Jackson's mastery of the craft shows up here as he convincing turn Act 2 from an exploitative monster adventure to a well-earned and tragic romance in Act 3. Another other lesser director would have fared badly.

Although King Kong is 3 hours long, the tale of beauty and Kong is a much more elaborate and brutal tale of masculinity, subversion, escapism and exploitation hinged on the relationship of two persons. Numerous flaws abounds in some of the characters development (eg. Why did Preston turn into a action hero for 10 mins in the middle of the movie?).

But on the bigger scale of the movie, and the grander scope of the story, Jackson's King Kong is a monumental effort that is rewardingly entertaining.

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