My Take on Far East Plaza

Top 10 reasons why Far East Plaza is the best shopping mall in Orchard Road:

1. It is unpretentious. No major labels, no overpriced items. Just what you want, your style, your choice.

2. You can buy books at a cheaper price from Sans Bookstore and the likes which sell used and new books. Books at Borders and Kinokuniya are priced slightly higher. You can even get books that are no longer published, like the ones that sit on your grandfather's book collection (or your great grandfather's).

3. It has the Anatolia Restaurant, one of my favourite restaurants here. Very wholesome Doner Sandwhich which costs only $4! And did I mention the excellent tea and turkish ice cream? Plus, the restaurant has a nice view of Scotts Road from it's glass wall.

4. Art on the walls of the newly revamped Level One.

5. Prime location. Situated right smack in Scotts Road, just a short walk from Orchard MRT station. Despite that, the goods are still less expensive than those you'd find at the other malls in the same area.

6. The surprise element. There is always something new. Something that catches your attention. Like a cute pair of shoes selling for $6.90 at Ice Lemon Tea for certain days only. A new cafe on the 4th floor selling a new dish you've never tried before.

7. The building is linked to an overhead covered bridge to get you across the road safely and sheltered from rain and shine. The only such feature in the entire Orchard Road area.

8. The architecture of the building is Uniquely Singaporean…(pun intended).

9. Because this list is not biased. Even if hardly anyone believes this.

10. Because I say so.

Still Water Runs Deep

I'm photoblogging again this time. A view from my window. That is the park by the Kallang River. The park officials have just announced recently that canoeing will be introduced at the Kallang River in the future, though I'm not sure when that will take place exactly. Prior to that, the Kallang River and the parks along it will be "renovated" in phases, starting along a strectch of 200m of the river in Kolam Ayer to provide water recreational facilities. My first reaction when I heard that news was "Are they SERIOUS??" I remember seeing two people canoeing like nobody's business when I was on my way home few years back and I was perplexed. My only concern is safety. If that one matter is taken care of then why not. It will be a lot of fun. The Kallang River as we know is long and meandering. It strecthes from Kallang to Jalan Besar and Potong Pasir and Thompson Road and ends somewhere in MacRitchie Park.

The Bugis Skyline

2 very distinctive buildings that shape the Bugis skyline. On the left is the Concourse Tower, and errrr…i’m not sure what the other one is called. I always call it the sliced building, the edge looks razor sharp and it seems amazingly thin and sleek from any angle you view it. I imagine if I were to throw a watermelon right at the edge of the building, the fruit would be cut into two. Just a thought though, with so many shophouses in the arabstreet/bugis area, how do these tall buildings blend in with their shorter counter parts?

I read somewhere recently that the master architect Zaha Hadid designed one of the buildings here. She simply is a contemporary master architect whose works I truly admire and I am aching to know which ones of the buildings here did she design.

The Saladin animated series coming soon..

The Saladin Animated Series Trailer

Watch the trailer guys…looks as if it is made in Pixar, the quality is outstanding.

Kopitiam Talk 02: Making an issue out of upgrading

I am still somewhat bothered by what MM Lee said during the dialogue that residents in the opposition wards have to wait at the end of the queue for their turn to receive funding for upgrading. You know why? Because I, you see, happen to be one of the residents who live in an opposition ward.

He seemed to suggest the reason was that the PAP has to tend to their supporters first and that there is no reason for the PAP to “help” the opposition parties. Below is an excerpt of what he exactly said in the dialogue when asked why the opposition MPs did not have the same access to funds and resources as the PAP MPs did . He said: “The reality is that Potong Pasir and Hougang will have to wait for their turn at the end of the queue. It’s as simple as that. Look, ask yourself-does any government help the opposition to displace itself? Is it the business of the Government?“

If I understand this correctly, the PAP which happens to be the Singapore government itself, is politicizing the issue of estate upgrading. Do they seriously think that if they give the opposition MPs the rightful access to funds and resources for estate upgrading this will displace the PAP? Is PAP so weak that it has to use such measure to secure and maintain their position? Definitely not. Where goes our pledge 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.”? Isn’t this our pledge? Now how come when it comes to improving the conditions of some neighbourhoods in Singapore, we are not equal and united anymore? I mean this country is not all about the survival of PAP, it is about the people and their quality of life. Hey, we pay taxes as everyone else in the PAP wards too, how come we are not given funding for our area especially when we are now enjoying a strong economic growth? There shouldn’t be the case of waiting in a queue at all. I have been living in this opposition ward for 20 years, it has been an opposition ward for over 20 years, and it seems we are still at the bottom of the queue…lol…even a blind man can see that this is not fair. Full Stop.

Sneaking into the Palace’s garden

I went for a walk in the Bugis and Arab Street area yesterday and took some pictures along the way. I never tire of going to this place. Lunch was Roti John, Yong Tau Fu and a cup of tea at The Banquet. Now, let the pictures do the talking…

Kopitiam Talk: One PAP to rule them all

Hey I just watched the Dialogue with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Channelnewsasia and how interesting it was. He really is a no-nonsense guy. The group of young people present at the dialogue are mostly from the media industry it seems. They raised some burning issues that I want answered, like "Why isn't there a level playing field between the opposition and the ruling party?" "Why treat citizens in oppostion constituencies like stepchildren?" MM Lee said there is simply no level playing field in politics. It is sort of a barrier to entry, to weed out the incompetent from entering politics. I particularly like the part when he said politics is not just about elections and voting, it is about the arts and science of governance which affects the lives of everyone in a country. It is about effective public policy.

But I guess I'm dissappointed that the oppositions are now so weak, while the ruling party is growing from strength to strength and I fear if a single party government becomes too powerful, it may get too arrogant and think that "we always know best". I am not clear whether there exists a measure or a system in place to stop or displace a corrupt government, should such an unfortunate thing happen. Does a President's position allow him to carry out such duty?

I think watching the dialogue invites more questions rather than answers. Recent events like the demonstrations in Thailand and Philippines get me to thinking that, democracy doesn't always work for every country. There will always be the case where one of the parties get too powerful, or all the political parties are not good enough or too corrupted that people don't even bother showing up in the elections. How can democracy work in such a situation? There has to be some fine tuning, some exceptions to the rule. We can't always have a perfect democracy. Some countries are not ready, perhaps socially and culturally to have a democratic form of government. I mean if the emirate system works very well in countries like the UAE, why bother change it to western style democracy? It is not just about having the privilege to choose who governs the country. If there are ten rotten apples from which you are asked to choose one, and one ripe apple but no luxury to choose and you are forced to take it, which situation would you rather be in? People can be spoilt by choices and it is better to be forced to do one good thing, that is my point.

Meet, separate and meet again?

I just received a call from a long lost friend/classmate whom I haven’t seen in 3 years and how I thought I was dreaming. In my book, 3 years is a long period of time, considering how little time we have to live a life.

How is it possible people meet and spend pleasant meaningful time together for so long, and then one day everything changes and they never see each other again as if nothing ever happened. Like all those years of bonding mean nothing. But you know what usually happens next: Life has to go on, everybody moves on…yada..yadayada..and I don’t know what will happen after that.

alarming

I was in the middle of the usual monday meeting and was feeling quite bored and sleepy when a serious sounding announcement was made by the building’s intercom system: “Ladies and gentlemen! We are in the process of testing the fire alarm system, please don’t be alarmed!” My colleagues and I broke into laughter, and that kinda cheered us up and kicked away some of the monday blues.