Last Minute Work or Lack Of Funds? (NDP 2011)

This post contains spoilers on the actual show on August 9th. Please leave if you don't want to be spoilt. Thanks.

If none of you ever experience doing work at the very last minute, you are not human. Alright, maybe some of you don't, and I'll show you what will "Last Minute Work" results into. Come August 9th 2011, Singapore's National Day, you'll view one of the worst show in the history book.

(Picture credit: MinDef.gov.sg ;Funpack)

First, the thing that everyone wants to get at the event, the Fun Pack. Are we seriously in an economic crisis? I've been live at NDPs on countless occasions and they'll give us sling bags or back packs as part of their "Fun Pack". This year, its a Tote Bag, are you kidding me? They are scrimping on the cost of the bag for this tote bag and claimed that it can be reused at supermarkets as a convenient excuse. Fair enough, National Day its about patriotism, I admit I'm a patriot and the parade should count only right?

(Picture credit: Screenshot of the Funpack Song off YouTube)

Next, the stage setting.The audience and television camera have such a wonderful and fantastic backdrop of the Singapore skyline, MBS, Marina Bay Sands Art & Science Museum and the Double Helix Bridge. And instead of placing the humongous set on the right side which is the tall skyscrapers, the ExCo decided to place it on the left, obstructing the view of the Museum and the Bridge to some of the audience. And don't you notice the whole platform is empty

(No picture credit, photos taken by blog author.) 

They didn't put it into consideration on how it'll be like at all angles of the spectators seat? Even the 2009 one was much better and showed that time and effort was spent on planning whereas for this year's one was such a mess. Do note that the set is just made up of LED or even worst some projection behind the screen and even the scaffolding skeleton.

Into the contents of the show, they had the parade show kicked off with the "Fun Pack Song", a rip off the Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". If you think Bad Romance was a crappy song, the Fun Pack version revolutionized the song into a song you want to put earplugs on. And they started singing Abba's "Dancing Queen" and Wonder Girls' "Nobody". How in the world does this fits or link with the show?! Never in 46 years will you see those "motivators" singing original songs in a solo stage.

(Picture credit: NDP'11)

In one of the Acts, as NDP usually has different acts or section to categorise each item performed, there was an emphasis on the MRT. They dance and sang to a customised song with inferior lyrics quality in my honest opinion. I can't remember the song's title however, but I think they may be plagiarizing a song.At the end, the "singer" sang "Singapore is a home to the world". Damn right its sure a home for foreigners to seek refuge in? Its overcrowded in Singapore, much less trains, and do "they" get the message?

(Picture credit: NDP'11)

In addition to the "economic crisis" the ExCo is facing, the pyrotechnics has been drastically reduced. During the National Anthem, less than 10 seconds of pyrotechnics going off. Is this some kind of joke? The National Anthem usually have a prolonged pyrotechnics display to bring out the patriotism in all of the Singaporeans.Not sure for the rest of the items but its already a sign to what it will be for the other items.

Don't get me wrong, I'm an extremely patriotic and proud Singaporean. The show don't portray what the parade should be. And sometimes, its just that the family don't accept you and don't make concessions and privileges for their own flesh and blood.

Charity Begins At Home

(picture credits to World Vision Organization)

Just yesterday, many Singaporean youths voluntarily joined together to raise the awareness of hunger and poverty worldwide by having no food for 30 hours in the "30 Hour Famine Camp" held in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. That would mean that they want others to know that while we're still enjoying good food in Singapore, I'm not saying all, there're still many around the world that die of famine.

Famine is an increasingly the cause of deaths in those poorly-developed countries. They have to starve because they didn't have enough money for meals or food is scarce in their country. So point is, many of us can even waste food by not finishing them and throwing away those huge portions of leftovers. I got it.

What I don't get is that while we're trying to raise the awareness of those in places like Ghana and even controversially North Korea, we all overlooked the poverty faced right here in Singapore. Yes, Singapore is well known for being a well-developed country with a prosperous economy, but there are many who didn't even have the money for their daily meals.

(pictures credit to singstatistician.bs.com; elderly citizens working low-paid job and picking cardboards to earn a living by themselves.)

As a result of Singapore's advancement in economic growth, basic necessities must increase as well, leading to an increase in cost of living. Many homeless and poor elderly citizens still exist in Singapore. They're all abandoned by their children and left to fend the harsh life in Singapore all by themselves. They can't work to earn a living, so you'll see them scavenge for used cans, newspapers, cardboards etc. all over Singapore. We see them doing that almost every single day, but instead of helping our own Singaporeans first, we're trying to help those in another country?

(picture credits to saawinternational.org; malnourished Kenyan child)

Of course I'm not saying we should abandon those in other parts of the world that are experiencing famine or to say we should just care about ourselves. What I'm trying to say is that every time we see those poor elderly citizens or those families experiencing poverty scavenging for food, we despise and have another attitude towards them. So what makes you think those who took part in campaigns against famine around the world would meant what they say to help those people experiencing famine worldwide?

The Samaritans in Singapore that will provide shelter, care and the basic necessities to all those who only drinks water daily to survive can only do this much. The government, religious, private, racial organizations can't cover every family or individuals experiencing poverty or famine in Singapore. Regardless of their financial status, I believe those needy should be the priority to aid in any famine campaign.

(picture credits to lucy6.bs.com; The group of Singaporeans we often overlooked.)

Awareness for poverty and famine around the world of course must continue but if we can't help those people who are struggling in Singapore, what position are we in to aid those around the world?

A Place Called Home?

In case if you didn't realise it, I live in a suburb known as Yew Tee. Improvements can be seen for the past 5 years. Yew Tee Point was built, more sheltered access from amenities to housing estates, wheelchair-accessible facilities around the estate and more. But I'd like to reiterate on a point I've been biting on for a very long time, and that is the transportation.

Flip open the street directory/Google Earth/Singapore Map or whatever, zoom out of the 'picture' a little more. Its like a small piece of heaven being surrounded by a sea of fire. Don't believe me? Let's take a look.

North: Sungei Kadut. A relatively large industrial estate. If you drive further up and out of Sungei Kadut, you'll land yourself in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. And if you can navigate better, it probably would lead you to Woodlands but if you take KJE and BKE, it would be a faster route anyway.

South: The only way out of the town. The main town known as Choa Chu Kang. If you were heading to work, you'll have no choice but to head down south. And what happens when everyone heads towards a same direction? If your answer was traffic congestion, you are absolutely correct. Entrance to KJE along CCK Drive and CCK Way are constantly being 'jammed'. Even a 3-lane/4-lane CCK Way couldn't even make way for a surge of vehicles during peak hour.

West: Ha! You wouldn't even want to know it. Its a camp. Extremely large forested area in the East of the town. Only a very small space is used as a Canine Camp and an Army Camp. Totally no access to the East area. Even if there is, you'll find yourself in a dense cemetery. But; could something be done more to the empty plot of land that is being situated between Yew Tee and Lim Chu Kang.

East: Guess what? Its another huge plot of forested land. Even bigger than the one dividing the town and cemetery. Underneath it, they're building a big train depot. On top? Just a dense forest. A little up north is Mandai and south is Bt. Panjang. The way out of the town would be by Woodlands Road. And connecting to Woodlands Road is Stagmont Ring, a road owned by Malaysia with only 1-lane and often causing traffic congestion especially when a train arrives, well not anymore.

Yes, we can get whatever we want in the town itself. But we're talking about connectivity with the world today. If we can't even 'connect' with the other towns of Singapore properly, how can we connect with the world?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning the place I'm living in now. Don't you think that there's so much more that can be done to the town? People staying in CCK Street 51/52, CCK North Avenue 5, CCK Crescent needs to take a feeder bus just to get to the train station to go for work/home. During peak hours, the station platform will be full of people and I can safely say that even if SMRT were to roll out all the train-sets that they can afford, its not going to ease the congestion.

Bus 302 takes you around the town from CCK Loop. Bus 307 takes you to the furthest Teck Whye. And there's no other bus that you can possibly find in Yew Tee. Atrocious? Since introducing more trains will not help, why not make use of the bus? There can be bus-lanes that can be implemented down south and if possible another outlet to the other towns.

If you're thinking of how the trunk bus services is going to make its way from Lot'1 up to Yew Tee and back down to the other towns then I've got to say you're not using your brains. There's an open plot of land in the West. Leave it there to grow mushrooms? Built a terminal there. Just like a huge Hougang town with 2 bus interchanges, Hougang Central and Hougang South.

The man currently in charge of the area here is already in talks with the authorities on this. And you can be sure I'm keeping an eye on the matter.

The Mercedes Citaro Experience

(photo credit: SMRT, 851 heading to Bt. Merah (top), 75 at Bt. Panjang Interchange (bottom))

I got to say I'm actually impressed at the recently released EvoBus by SMRT. Went to hunt at about 1.30pm at Yishun Bus Interchange and I didn't see any Citaros at the Bus Park. Predicted the service would ply on 171 and 851, so sat near the berths and observed at all the buses that arrived at the alighting berth in hope for a Citaro. Waited for an hour and it finally came.

Was going to head to Bt. Merah but instead went to Hong Lim Complex to have good food. The Curry Chicken Noodles and Wanton Noodles are something I wouldn't want to miss out there. The prices aren't that friendly too, which makes me think of those old and poor residents under the wings of LKY in Kreta Ayer. How are they going to afford hefty prices of food that goes way above $5? I guess they'll have the privilege of getting food at low prices.

Wanted to head to Marina Square but it was a little late, so walked over to Pearl Center and took 190 home. The Citaro bus was really smooth-sailing with hardly any jerks. The design gave me a kind of cozy feeling but their chair design needs a little modification. Not many know that the board at the Wheelchair area was actually a foldable chair. And the conference chairs took too much space at the back of the bus. Other than that, bus was almost flawless, the driver's dashboard and chair looks pretty classy too.

Sleague Match 94 Review

Formation: 4-1-3-2
GK: Shahril Jantan
DF: Shaiful Esah, Bah Mamadou, Daniel Bennett, Hafiz Osman
MF: Noh Rahman, Rhysh Roshan Rai, Ivan Jerkovic, Erwan Gunawan
FW: Fazrul Nawaz, Mislav Karoglan

Down to technical reviewing, SAF has the disadvantage of having Akiyoshi suspended. Moreover, the flanks of SAF is drastically weakened. The flanks has been the core of the attacking force and for that match, they have to rely on the central offense.

RRR is on the left and Erwan is on the right wing. RRR is built for a defensive role of midfield, taken by Noh Rahman, down the middle but is called to the wing which is the wrong option right from the start. Erwan is good but in my opinion lacks of experience and agility; his right wing is seldom played throughout the match.

Mislav was a little too selfish during the game but as usual, his flicks are ever so deadly to set up an attacking move. The 2 defensive towers, Daniel and Bah, were very strong at the back with only minor hiccups. At the last 20 minutes, its clear Richard Bok wanted to secure the 1-0 lead by bringing in Hammond for RRR, building a 5 defenders formation and Ruzaini to come in for Erwan with the same role of operating down the flank. Once the final substitution was made for Syaiful Iskandar to come in for Fazrul Nawaz, majority of the players were in their own half playing possessively.

The goal from Mislav stood throughout 44 minutes with many chances of equalizing as well as extending. His sharp turn and a snapshot nailed the only goal of the game. The man of the match was Bah Mamadou which in my opinion deserves the award as much as Mislav does.

Next game will be on June 16th against Phnom Penh in the RHB Singapore Cup KO round.

Oh We're Halfway There...

2nd day of the D&D Camp. Not so boring as I initially thought. Time passes quickly and I think its still somehow or rather a good avenue to revise on our studies. 8am to 4.30pm, 8 hours 30 minutes, come to think of it, its longer than the working hours the Ministry of Manpower has designated as the daily minimum hours of full-time work. But I can safely say its beneficial.

I just went to watch the Armed Forces vs Balestier Khalsa at the CCK Stadium. SAF has really de-proved a great deal since I first saw them, and its still a doubt if they can bag their 9th trophy this season. Source of entertainment can only come this much, most of which were from the true fans of the Armed Forces.

I don't understand how some other fans can tell those out-spoken ones to keep quiet, but I think a football match really needs this kind of people to support, it just show how much he want the team he support to win that he voiced out his anger that really made sense, though it might contain profanity.

SAF supporters are usually professional, meaning they just watch and voice all the thoughts within themselves. That makes those out-spoken fans really out-shine. There are a few more that are out-spoken these days. They are really true at most of their points. Winston (pictured above 3 years ago) is still one of them, notoriously known for his outrage of profanities.

At the final whistle, Armed Forces won 1-0, disappointing but still 3 points in the bag after all. Guess they're still conserving energy for their Singapore Cup clash against Phnom Penh on June 16th

CLIF=Conning Little Innocent Fans?

(picture credits to www.xinmsn.com)

Another most 'anticipated' drama from MediaCorpse. They couldn't decide on the English name of the show that they used Courage.Loyalty.Integrity.Fairness. Reminds me of that phony John Cena tag line of Hustle.Loyalty.Respect. Only thing is Cena is a one man army that believes the military revolves around him.

Back on track, CLIF is no difference either. I'd admit that many would like watching police dramas where men in the blue uniform catches the villains, use their revolver to annihilate their psychopathic counterparts in a nail-biting encounter scene etc. But as the word/term "Drama" comes into play, everything and anything is simply amplified and exaggerated beyond proportion. 

I've always took a liking towards Singapore dramas for its diverse genres and aspects. It really tells a story on the life in Singapore, covering the very rich to the middle-class folks and not to ever forget the poor people where MediaCorpse loves to focus on. The wide variety of drama just entices me, but some just exclusively don't.

Look at other countries production. Hong Kong drama loves focusing on really old times, where there was Emperors, law and the police force. Taiwan drama focuses on gangs, family domestic disputes, business tycoons fighting for ownership of assets. Shanghai drama focuses on wealthy individuals always holding a ruger and people in uniform holding a bayonet. American drama will be on science-fiction, like out of space stuffs, investigating crime and mysteries like CSI.

All are so predictable except for Singapore ones. Look at the CLIF show now, the trailer involves rioting in modern Singapore, gunfights with men in uniform shooting at will, comrades dying in the line of duty and the police always wins in the very end. How ludicrous? This doesn't reflect on the real police force in Singapore. Yes, Singapore Police Force has a reputation for keeping baddies at bay with their efficiency, hence the low crime rate. However, how ubiquitous is it that you read the newspapers on police involving in a gunfight or a riot control? It happens frequently in the drama that makes it unrealistic. 

I can't believe how the SPF can support a show that doesn't reflect on what they are really doing. A commendable drama that truly depicts the SPF will be "Heartlanders" by the better channel known as Channel 5 if anyone could recall the Wushu guy Vincent in it. That's really what portrays the SPF, not pointless arguments and vows for revenge that don't really bode well for young kids to learn. 

In the end, the huge fans' support for this show will just boost ratings and will win themselves numerous awards, clear predecessors of mediocre shows that made it to the top like "The Little Nyonya", "Together", "The Ultimatum", "Breakout" and the list just goes on and on. Channel 8 isn't about good shows and dramas anymore that will boost ratings, its the fans now. They'll support even if the show sucked. Will this just be a repeat of history? We'll find out soon enough after this insanely boring show known as "The In-Laws" ends.

(video credits to MediaCorp Pte Ltd, Channel 8.)