A book made into a film in 2007.


A beautifully-made film with a sad and almost absurd story line. I don't want to go into the story too much so as not to give it away.

They kept making references to University of Cambridge where all three protagonists were supposed to have schooled in back in the 1930s.

The wardrobe is impeccable.
This is my favourite dress worn by the young Briony.


I wish I have a dress like that to live in.

The body of a grown-up spoils the form of such a dress.

It's a good film to watch in the quiet of the night. Not a mass appeal film though.

Can't remember if I've blogged about this before. I got reminded coz I just saw a trailer on TV.

Ok, I don't watch Mediacorp English series. Eh... Wait a minute... I don't watch Mediacorp series. Duh?!

And so, I didn't see First Class - Season 1.

But somehow, I've been watching First Class - Season 2. Is this supposed to be embarrassing?

Firstly, I think Jade Seah is funny. She's like an Ang Moh Pai Kym Ng. And going by how much I like Kym Ng, this is a clear compliment.


Most importantly, despite its yawning storyline, First Class does surprise with some good lines and hearty laughs.

For example, in an earlier episode on the Little Nyonya/Peranakan craze, all little children in school were trying to be Peranakan. Like ALL the little children, regardless of gender, size, race, inclinations, had gone Peranakan-mad... It's super hilarious.

This particular line got stuck in my mind:

Jade Seah: Just because you can speak Malay, doesn't make you Peranakan!!!

Little Boy: Humph! That's the most racist thing I've ever heard!!!

Hee Hee Hee!
I'm still laughing loads everytime I think about it!!

There are only 3 reasons to watch the Storm Warrors II:

1. Aaron Kwok is hot hot hot. His bod is great and his acting is believeable.
   
2. Some fights scenes are stylo-milo. The CG rox. It's like 300 on Oriental steriods.
   
3. 步惊云 (Striding Cloud)'s teacher aka 无名 (Nameless) did a Ris Low. Because Stridie invented some new fighting strokes, he asked his teacher, Nameless, to bestow a name. Nameless decided that there was nothing on earth like those new strokes, so he had to invent a new word to describe them aptly. He then started to slash the rock wall with what's left of his 武工, revealing the new word. The new word looks like a cross between '剑' and partly like '云'. Stridie didn't recognise the word, and politely asked his cher what it was. Nameless told Stridie to pronounce the new word as BA4 (sounds like '霸'). This is totally like Ris Low's BOOMZ.
   

There are only 4 reasons not to watch the Storm Warrors II:

1. Ekin Cheng looks too much like Stephen Chow in many scenes. His bod sucks and his acting is almost Mediacorp-like.
   
2. I don't get why Ekin Cheng and Charlene Choi get paired up in so many movies. They look like Uncle and Niece.
3. The story line is lame. They spent first 2/5 of the movie getting rid of Lord Godless, then the other 2/5 of the movie getting rid of the evil Ekin Cheng. The middle 1/5 is spent on power-building and word-inventing.
   
4. No Shu Qi.

Note: I think Simon Yam uses his wife's SKII.
His skin is sooooooooooo good. =)

The article is here.

While some people do not fully understand declawing, i.e. they think declawing means removing the cat's 'sharp nails', others know fully what the procedure entail and yet still opt for it so that they can enjoy the animal the way they prefer to.

Let's reiterate why declawing is cruel.

It's because the procedure of declawing involves removing the first joint of the cat's paw.


In human terms, it is equivalent to the removal of your fingertip, i.e. the joint with your finger nail.

Declawing is mutilation. A primitive and immature way of dealing with problem. If you steal, we chop off your hands. If you scratch, we chop off your fingertips.

Similarly, debarking a dog is mutilation too. The procedure involves mutilating the vocal cords of the dog to reduce or eliminate its ability to make sounds. If you bark, we destroy your vocal cords.

There are many many many issues associated with pet ownership, especially in a high density and stressful environment like ours. Our society has only just begun to pay attention to these issues. There are short-cuts/knee-jerk reactions such as outlawing these 2 procedures, but these do not fix the fundamental problem, frivolous pet ownership.

It is futile to hope that people who buy pets will carefully consider before doing so, or that pet owners will not mutilate their pets. The effectiveness of public education is limited. To effectively minimise the occurrence of this problem, there is an urgent need to influence the points of supply. The supply of pets, i.e. pet shops, and supply of medical services, i.e. vets.

This is the dining venue of this year's Semaine du Fooding festival. Dining is an abandoned swimming pool under the theme of "Being Politically Incorrect".


This reminds me of an idea of mine which popped out during one of our feeding conversations in Cambridge.

The idea is one of dining experience. The borrowed form is that of a concert. Hence, from the consumer's point of view, he buys a ticket to a "food concert" where an internationally-acclaimed star chef will 'perform' before the gazing audience, by introducing the inspiration for the night's menu, cooking the food in a glass enclosure while a compere (interspliced with a string quartet) continues the narration, serving the food, and mingling with the crowd. Large screens everywhere. Just like a rock concert.

There can even be 'opening/closing acts', like how local/less well-known bands open for heavy duty bands.

Of course, the experience does not end merely with eating. The concert-goer can pick up all stuff experienced during concert on his way out. Hence, the concert is definitely an opportunity for sponsors, i.e. (pre/during/post-dinner) wines, kitchen equipment, tableware, glassware, groceries, culinary lessons, even dining furniture/lighting etc.

This venture is likely to generate more repeated customers than say a culinary school (I see quite a few popping up lately), as it is certainly easier to consume, than to prepare. The event is certainly a worthwhile 'networking' session, especially if the tickets are priced to be exclusive. It would probably become the new choice for 'customer appreciation nights'. In a less commercial setting, this idea can be used for weddings, birthdays, charity events, high-brow art installations, fashion/luxe line launches etc.

Showing Off + Good Food = Surefire

I've been very busy with this... It's called Temptation of Wife or Cruel Temptations.

At first, I was very doubtful, because I remember catching a few episodes of Winter Sonata and got very bored. Furthermore, this series consists of 129 episodes.

However, the first episode got me hooked. And the next... And the next...

Why? Why? Why is this Korean drama so engaging?

1. Because the development of the story line and characters is unpredictable. Everytime you feel like the ending is round the corner, you wonder why are you only at Episode 20 or 30 or 40 or 50...
2. There are no clear 'good' or 'bad' souls in the story. One can feel sad for the meanest mother-in-law, and disgust for the prettiest face. The characters are 3-dimensional, if you will.
3. Attention to details such as different type of make-up for the same character over time. (This is superior even to our all-time favourite Hong Kong dramas.)
   
4. Though there is screaming and crying like in a Mediacorp drama, there are no rape scenes, sudden illnesses (at this point... I suspect the female protagonist may have some chronic illness coz she had an unexplained nosebleed in the middle of the series, but I am not sure.), or horrible deaths.
5. The conversation is peppered with vibrant and cultural expressions. I'm not sure whether these are expressions are common in Korean, or it's because of the Taiwanese dubbing.
6. Did you know that it's customary for Koreans to eat some tofu after coming out of the police station to 'purify' oneself? It's like our version of 'crossing over the fire pot' or 'showering with pomelo leaves'.
7. Of course... It helps that the actresses (even the older ones) and actors are good-looking. Watching the series full of beautiful people made me realise something. That plastic surgery and education bring about similar outcomes, i.e. increased opportunities and elevated social status.
   

I feel the most for the character of Shin Ae Ri.

Have to commend this actress, Kim Suh Hyung, for bringing the desperate yet clever and resourceful character to life. Alluring when seducing her man, and terrifying when she gets angry.

I wonder if their screenwriter can be 'outsourced' to Singapore.

This has got to raise at least one eyebrow of yours.


Our little island currently holds 5Mil people.
PRs + Citizens = PR (0.5Mil) + Citizen (3.2Mil) = 3.7Mil
Of the 3.7Mil, about 2.0Mil are in the labour force.

By right, Foreign Talents and Workers are not here to work as property agents. Hence, those 30,000 property agents make up 1.5% of working PRs + Citizens.

To put this 30,000 figure in perspective,

Singapore Armed Forces has 75,000 active personnel.
Singapore Police Force has 12,500 active personnel.
Both figures do not include NS Men to be activated.

In other words, if all these property agents put on green or blue uniforms, we would have a 40% larger defence force, or 2 more police forces.

MND intends to regulate property agents in Singapore and is likely to set up a statutory board for this purpose. From a consumer's point of view, regulating the quality of property agents should have some impact on improving the overall service levels. Likely, it will increase the amount of property agent fee too.

That aside, what's more challenging is this probability:

Looking at the extent of the 30,000 figure, any regulatory action also means that some PRs and Citizens will inevitably lose their jobs as property agents.

This is not an easy piece of policy to put together. It's definitely a good challenge for policy makers who are worth their salt.