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Please do leave a comment instead of just adding me to your friends list. If I have no idea who you are, I will not add you.

Cheers.

I am from a Chinese-speaking family, and I attended a Chinese school where Chinese, while not the medium of instruction, is the medium of communication outside classes (even for official school matters). There are no English newspapers or magazines at home, and the TV (when it is allowed to be switched on) is always tuned to the Chinese channels. In other words, I have very little exposure as a child to Western music or pop culture. And to a large extent, this holds true today.

"We are the World" is probably one of the very first English pop songs that I know. If I recall correctly, it is always sang together with the song "Heal The World". The melody, the lyrics of "We are the World" and "Heal The World" caught my attention. "Heal the World" is probably the reason by HIStory by Michael Jackson is the very first Western pop CD that I bought by myself for myself. It was a two CD set, and I bought it from the old MPH at Parkway Parade. I can't remember the price now, probably around S$50 (that was back in 1995), and it was a princely sum, given that my pocket money at that time (which covers food and transport) was around S$1 a day. I was studying in a very traditional Chinese school, with a discipline master who frowned upon all things Western (it seems that he considers Western pop culture to be synonymous with all things decadent and degenerate), and I was a very very obedient student - blouse tucked in, skirt ending two inches below knees, plain white shoes, plain watch with blue strap, hair always tied up with a plain black rubberband, bowing in greeting to teachers when I pass them in the corridors. It seemed to be an act of rebellion to be buying such a CD.

It is quite amazing how I had almost clean forgotten about these songs, until an ex-classmate of mine shared this video on FaceBook. And now, listening to this recording, I am transported back to days that are now fading in my memories - days when my world was still full of hope and aspiration and possibility, when dreams were just a step away from being achieved, and all you need is to work hard and you'll get there. And unless you have been under a rock somewhere, you'll know that Michael Jackson, who was undoubtedly talented, but whose life reads like a train wreck that no-one can stop, is dead. And one day, I'll be dead too, and you, my dear reader, will also be dead one day. Is that something to look forward to, or something to dread?

( If by Kipling )

Got this in my email box, and I thought I'll share them. Credit to the Tax Foundation.

Some Food for Thought on the Fourth of July

“Excessive taxation …  will carry reason and reflection to every man's door, and particularly in the hour of election.”
--Thomas Jefferson

“The mode of taxation is, in fact, quite as important as the amount. As a small burden badly placed may distress a horse that could carry with ease a much larger one properly adjusted, so a people may be impoverished and their power of producing wealth destroyed by taxation, which, if levied in any other way, could be borne with ease.”
--19th century American Economist Henry George

“An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, the power to destroy.”
--Daniel Webster 

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
--Winston Churchill

“A government which lays taxes on the people not required by urgent public necessity and sound public policy is not a protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemns the citizen to servitude”
--Calvin Coolidge

“ In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
--Benjamin Franklin

“He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation... For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.... We, therefore... solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States. “
--The Declaration of Independence

Off to Hong Kong on Friday! Believe it or not, I've been to Hong Kong at least three times, but this is the first time I am not going there with my school or my firm, i.e. this is the first real holiday trip to Hong Kong. I'm so excited!

In an article by the Tax Foundation that examines the record of retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter on tax cases, the author started with this story:

"When asked why he sang along with the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the Court's annual Christmas party, he responded, "I have to. Otherwise I get all the tax cases."^"

Sigh ...

On another note, I was asked by someone (who really really should know better) in writing, why I stated in a trust deed that the duration of a trust should not exceed 100 years.

Bigger sigh ...

TGIF

This is probably the second time I have posted videos of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I always thought he is just a comedian, but goodness gracious, this man is smart, well-read and very very sharp. In comparison, the comedians we have on TV back here are really really pathetic, though admittedly it has been years since I bothered watching guys like Jack Neo and Mark Lee on TV and surely they must have improved, there is no more downside left!

I am still wondering though - if country X is not a signatory to the Geneva Convention, and country Y is, then in a war, is country Y bound to treat their prisoners of war from country X as prescribed under the Geneva Convention?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 3
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Sigh - I wish I wish I wish I have something like this. This is absolutely drool-worthy. Oh man ....

One of the most interesting things I have learnt in my Teochew lessons is that Teochew has a written form. I have always thought that Teochew (and the other dialects) have the same written form but due to regional and geographical distances, are spoken differently. I was wrong apparently.

A friend sent me the passages below earlier this week. It is a rather amusing monologue of an irate schoolgirl ranting about her teacher. The monologue is in Classical Chinese (wenyanwen), Mandarin (putonghua), Cantonese (Yueyu) and Southern Min (Minnan). While Teochew belongs to the Minan school, the interesting thing is that I actually find that the words used in Classical Chinese version more familiar, because I have come across them in my Teochew classes. Of course, I understand the Mandarin version - had to struggle with it for at least 10 years of my life!

( A Schoolgirl's Rant  )

Thou shalt not be a victim.
Thou shalt not be a perpetrator.
Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.
             ~Holocaust Museum, Washington DC

I just couldn't resist getting this when I saw it at the toy shop! Actually the one that really tugged at my heart-strings is the voice-activated R2D2 that I saw there - but at S$276, I need to think about it. A lot. Even though it is a toy that I have been lusting after since I saw it online here.

On a separate note, I saw the R2D2 backpack in the same toy store. It is not as nice in real life though, so I will give it a pass (not to mention how unlikely it is that I will ever carry the bag out).

Yes, I really really like R2D2.

This song by ABBA keeps repeating itself in my head.

It was inspirational. It was awesome. I have never seen such a gathering of intelligent, witty, passionate and knowledgable women in my life, and if you had told me just two months ago that such a gathering is possible, that there are 1,414 women in Singapore who will willingly spend their entire Saturday holed up in a cold convention hall where only water is provided simply to kick out a bunch of Christian fundamentalists who thought that they will be able to successfully pull off a take-over of a secular NGO, I would have laughed in your face.

This is not a bunch of ladies who lunch and chat politely and quietly about how to do good over tea and scones, it is a bunch of ladies who have learnt how to fight for their rights, to stand their ground, to defend their turf, to bang tables and demand to be heard. It is a bunch of women who understood whether instinctively or through bitter experience that to "SHUT UP & SIT DOWN" will not get you anywhere. And if in the process, they were told off for being "rude" or acting like "hooligans", well, so be it. I did not, and I am sure most of the women in that hall did not, get to their current position in life as independent knowledgeable women, by being meek and subservient.

The Christian fundamentalists were simply outclassed. They were out-organised (what on earth happened to the red-shirts mid-way through the EGM, only the white-shirts remained to keep the crowd under control), out-prepared (one self-declared "Feminist Mentor" whose claim to the title is her being cited on page 73 of a book on outstanding women, and one research paper on the superiority of abstinence over condom use by some academic in Utah of all places does not good preparation make) and out-voted (what happened to the busloads of bible-toting ladies?). Women who spent their lives fighting inequality whether it is for themselves or for women in general, women who never joined AWARE previously but whose lives have been touched by AWARE, women who refused to allowed the name of Christianity to be sullied by the actions of a gang of bullies, women who believed in the importance of a secular state for a diverse community, women whose inate sense of fairness has been offended. All these women turned up, and queued for hours, first to get into the meeting hall, and later to get to the sole microphone to give the Christian fundamentalists a sound dressing-down. The depth of knowledge and experience these women represented - lawyers, academics, NGO activists, event organisers, students, social workers - is breathtaking. Collectively they knew so much about feminism, the fight for equality, comprehensive sexual education, activism, social issues etc etc - listening to them speak at the microphone was like having a crash course in civil society work. I think even the Old Guard were surprised at how many of us turned up - as one of them said, you gals came out from the woodwork, we don't know where you came from. The new Exco, inexperienced, unable to defend their views or (with the exception of Josie Lau who earned respect for keeping her cool under relentless fire)  even to maintain their composure, did not have a chance.

We Singaporeans always mock ourselves for being apathetic. On 2 May 2009, we have proved ourselves wrong.

I had previously, in one of my earlier posts, said that Christians should speak up against Christian fundamentalists. You can imagine how grateful I am to find blogs by Christians who condemn the behaviour of the Christian fundamentalists who took over AWARE. Right now, a Christian by the name of Gwee Li Shui has posted a note on Facebook setting out his views on why Christians should object to the behaviour of Christian fundamentalists in the AWARE saga, and generating hundreds of responses - I thought I'll repost it here.

( Christians in Singapore, please read this ... )

I was having drinks with a friend and we were discussing the AWARE saga - and as things now stand in the saga, we started talking about the role of woman in the family and Christianity (disclosure: I am an atheist, she is a Christian). And I remembered something I once read in the Bible (a long time ago when I read and re-read the Bible day after day) - there was a passage that I particularly like because it spoke about the role of a woman. I did a search when I came back and realise it is Proverbs 31:10-31.

( Who can find a virtuous woman ... )

I find that I still like this passage on re-reading it. It portrays a woman who is independent, skilled, hardworking and resourceful. Very much what a modern woman still aspires to be.

My friend also mentioned a passage in Tales of Narnia that she felt was very insightful as to just what is a true Christian. I just looked it up in my copy of The Complete Chronicles of Narnia and I think (we were drinking at that time yah?) the passage she referred to is this:

( If any man does a cruelty in my name, then though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves ... )

( Response from MOE (Emphasis added) )</div></div>

I usually disagree with Chua Mui Hoong of the Straits Times. Heck, I disagree with the Straits Times on a lot of things. But this time round, this time, I am with her on the points raised in her article. For once, I honestly hope that her views reflect the views of the government. And I say this as an atheist and as a woman who still has fond memories of her church-going days.

We the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people
regardless of race, language or religion
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation

So the cat is finally out of the bag. Or as mrsbudak quoting someone said "The Sith Lord has finally come out of the woodwork."

The takeover of AWARE is an organised coup by a group of Christian fundamentalists (I am not even going to call them conservatives anymore) who believe that their way is the only right way and everyone else is wrong. 

Blogging about religion is always a rather risky business in Singapore, given how sensitive we are about the potential for religious dissent. However, I think it is time that we all buck up - if we can tell members of the Islamic faith to stand up and speak up against Muslim fundamentalists, I really do not see why we can't say the same about the Christians (or for that matter, the Buddhists and the Hindus and the Jews etc etc).

I don't think I am being unreasonable - all I am asking for is respect - respect for the human race in all its diversity. I suspect that my own personal views on many things will be considered conservative in nature, but what draws a bright shining line between me and fundamentalists is that I respect that there are other people, some in circumstances that I cannot even begin to imagine, who thinks differently or choose courses of action that I do not condone for myself. And I accept that, because I am in no position to tell another person with respect to his or her own actions affecting himself or herself, what is right and what is wrong. I accept that the world is imperfect, and to pretend otherwise is simply to live in an ivory tower that does nobody any good.

AWARE is a secular NGO that promote gender equality, furthering women's rights. Is a lesbian not a woman? Is an abused wife not a woman? Is a teenage girl with an unwanted pregnancy not a woman? Is a divorced woman not a woman? Is a single woman not a woman? Is a single mother not a woman? Is it fair to a young girl struggling with her sexuality to keep her ignorant of means of birth control? Can you, as a women rights group, pretend that there are no lesbians, no single mothers in Singapore? Is there only one way to be a good woman, a good human? Is there only one way to lead a good life? Good by whose standards anyway? And who are you to judge?

The AWARE EOGM is taking place on 2 May 2009. I am asking all women of Singapore (men can't vote sorry), please, register as members of AWARE, and turn up to vote on that day. I am not asking that you vote for any one side. I am asking that you come and listen and vote according to your convictions and your beliefs.  AWARE is the most prominent woman rights group we have in Singapore with the ability to influence legislation. It needs to representative of us, not of only one interest group. Christians (including Catholics) form less than 15% of our population, which means Christian fundamentalists form a much less significant proportion of that. Why should they speak for us, or act in our name?

Even if you are apathetic and think that this does not concern you, chew on this poem that has been making its rounds around the internet lately:

Give these fundamentalists an inch, and where will you and your children be in ten years time?