Every day, in our “esteemed” government-sanctioned national daily, you will read about many so-called news reports that serve as thinly disguised propaganda. In this series of short takes on articles that have appeared in the Straits Times, we will give you a rundown (literally) of news reports that are superficial and sometimes way off the… Read More »
There’s a saying that “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Well, sometimes it couldn’t get more literal than that. Despite your tough talk about “stayers and quitters” and “swallowing bitter pills”, it’s time for you – PM Goh – to really get “Goh-ing”. You and your cabinet of ministers are surviving on… Read More »
Written by Nguyen Du (1765-1820), The Tale of Kieu: Truyen Kieu (Vietnamese Edition) (The Tale of Kieu) was produced during the social and political upheavals of the 19th century, and is now a cornerstone of Vietnamese literature. In Vietnam, Truyen Kieu has attained almost a Shakespearean status: according to news reports, children study it in… Read More »
Undoubtedly, the Vietnamese have a killer instinct. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have survived so many wars (the First Indochina War against Japanese, Chinese and mostly French colonialists, and the Second Indochina War – the American part of the Vietnam War, or simply “American War” to the Vietnamese) within such a short span of time (1945-1975). True,… Read More »
On 14 June 2001, George W. Bush, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling, blurted the following words to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson: “It’s amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency.” That just about sums up the sorry state of affairs in the US, led by a “president”… Read More »
About the only thing in common between Stephen King and myself is our first name. Other than that, our views on writing (based on those expressed in his book, titled On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft) could be worlds apart. It’s not necessarily true that I disagree with the points he… Read More »