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The Business of Christmas
It’s the most-monies-spent time of the year, when discounts are free-flow and the street is aglow with a light-up on show… I’ve always considered the Orchard Road light-up to be a signature yearly Singaporean event, never mind the Singapore shopping belt has been having trouble keeping brick-and-mortar retail going since Amazon kicked off the e-Commerce revolution. For about two months, the iconic stretch of malls was a visual celebration of the things we never had as an island-state: snow, pine trees, reindeer, sleighs, and a judgy man in a red suit and white beard that makes children sit on his lap and promise them things for suspicious reasons no one…
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[Review] Marsiling’s Automated Tray Return System
First published on The Blogfather’s Facebook Page here. Marsiling: this seemingly innocuous estate has seen a bit of drama over the last year, firstly when it quite inexplicably lost its representative Member of Parliament to an unfortunate incident many of us now refer to under our breath with a disgruntled, forceful spray of spittle as the Reserved Presidential Election. It looks like some of the people managing Marsiling want to keep the momentum going, this time with an absolutely brilliant idea that will surely thrust the constituency into the forefront of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative, complete with green and pink robots sprouting multiple arms out the sides of their bodies.…
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One of Those Days
Ever have one of those days when you know just like every new day that the next day is going to start, but you really don't feel like being around when it does?
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Coffee, Tea or MOE (or Oops, I Overdid It Again)
I may have gone a little overboard on what I thought about one of our Education Ministers.
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That’s Not How You Make a Better World, Kid
This went viral on 9GAG back in February last year—exactly one year ago, in fact. And I'm going to say straight out, I really didn't agree with this back then, and I really don't agree with it now.
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The Big PSLE Freakout
This is beginning to be as sensitive as talking about religion. And it’s getting worse and worse every year. Then there are all these positive initiatives getting people to share stories and PSLE T-scores in the name of telling Nintendo DS-denying parents grades don’t matter (she’s since learned an important lesson: be careful what you say in front of a journalist). First: I love that this is happening, I think it’s important that it’s happening, but I’m sorry this is happening. Second: please, please stop for a minute. We’re making things worse. All these hundred stories from a hundred voices about defining and achieving success a hundred ways, all these I-did-well-despite-my-studies-so-can-your-child-now-let’s-group-hug hullabaloo, all this is as useful to our PSLE-worshipping parents as…
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Coping, with Success
Up until I was 35, I wanted to be successful, too. Or at least, I was taught to want it.
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Kidzania: Understanding the Mania
The week before, I took a day off to bring everyone to Kidzania Singapore to see if we could get tickets, but we arrived at Beach Station at 2pm, and seasoned parents of Kidzanians will point at us and mock us in utter noobery of not knowing that we can’t just get walk-in tickets into Kidzania Singapore in the middle of the afternoon during the school hols. So early this week, I took another day off, and The Wife, Xan and I verbally committed ourselves night before to wake up at 7am and get to Sentosa by 9am (Yvie just wakes up whenever the hell she wants, so we didn’t…
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Bringing bloggers to hell – and everyone else, too
Trying to come up with a set of "ethical guidelines for paid bloggers" is a rather myopic, narrow-minded, and quite honestly, stifling approach to a much larger problem.
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Much Ado About St Patrick’s Day
50 years on, Singapore still has a lot to learn about being one united people, regardless of race, language or religion.
