Barely a day passed in late December without further exposé of a local politician’s “adventurous streak” in the Straits Times. No prize for guessing I’m referring to the National Solidarity Party’s Steve Chia. Funny isn’t it? At no time during the opposition’s entire existence have they been given so much coverage in the local press.… Read More »
If there’s one nation that can predict Armageddon with certainty, it must be the Taiwanese. Switch on the television during a normal weekday, and you’ll be able to catch a stock “guru” confidently putting his reputation on the table for his guaranteed profit-making stock pick. Flip over to a talk show, and you’ll see Mr… Read More »
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned about the organised chaos in Hanoi. Well, road behaviour usually reflects the national character pretty well. Examples: United States Polite and orderly, but piss them off and they’ll drive over your head with a monster truck. IndiaLike Vietnam, absolutely chaotic, but there is a certain rhythm to… 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 »
Somehow, I have immense sympathy for these two fruits. They are often abused as metaphors (“apple of my eye”) and much maligned (“rotten apples”). Ok, maybe the oranges were the unfortunate victims of this association. Nonetheless, I am tempted to have another dig at these hapless species. The reason is simple. The Singapore government has… Read More »
Every breath you take And every move you make Every bond you break, every step you take I’ll be watching you— The Police, “Every Breath You Take” Remember George Orwell’s 1984? Forget the cumbersome technology depicted in this rather grim tale of a Big Brother society. If present trends continue, surveillance tools will be so… Read More »