by | § ¶ | trackbackYesterday.sg
You know what? Now would be a good time to buy the domain Yesterday.sg and cybersquat on it until Mr Brown and gang pay me big bucks (or a few kitschy t-shirts) to use it for creating 'An oral history of Singapore, if you will. Told by ordinary Singaporeans'. I'm willing to throw in a free fancy logo for the domain too like so.
If you think you spotted some kind of resemblance to the tomorrow.sg logo, then I must commend you for your power of imagination.
Update: Tomorrow.sg has just bought Yesterday.sg today. I want my t-shirt now thank you.
Keywords: Singapore,History,Yesterday.sg
by | § ¶ | trackbackTrainer Wheels Not Included
Researchers at Purdue University have come up with a morphing tricycle design that could make trainer wheels a thing of the past (and trainer wheel manufacturers very afraid!)
The design gives children three-wheel stability at low speeds, while letting them experience the balanced freedom of a two-wheeler at high speeds as the rear wheels automatically fold in to become more like one wheel. As the rider brakes, the 16-inch rear wheels open back up to prevent tipping over. more from LiveScience.
Keywords: cycling,children,tricycle
by | § ¶ | trackbackA Haiku
Death takes away allBut grief and sorrow remain
Helplessly watching
by | § ¶ | trackbackWhy Is This So Familiar?
ST Forum (Apr 26)
I REFER to the article, 'Scholar under fire for racist blog entries' (The Sunday Times, April 17). The Public Service Commission (PSC) has investigated the issue and Mr Chua Cheng Zhan has given us his explanation.
PSC does not condone the making of racist comments by its scholars. It views this matter seriously and has issued a letter of reprimand to Mr Chua. We note that Mr Chua has taken full responsibility for the comments made on his personal blog and has apologised publicly for his insensitive remarks.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind all PSC scholars to conduct themselves in a manner becoming of holders of a PSC scholarship at all times.
Choo Lee See (Mrs)
Director, Public Service
Commission Secretariat
For Secretary,
Public Service Commission
Doesn't it remind you of your primary school days? When the top student forgot to bring his homework, he would get away with a "stern" warning. And if the same thing happened to a kid with below average results, he would be rewarded with a demerit point. Or if he's lucky, he would just have to spend the rest of the hour standing outside the classroom.
by | § ¶ | trackbackSpoof Election Ads
Remember the spoof ad about the sucide bomber in a VW polo? Well the guys behind that are back in force after getting commissioned by Channel 4 to create the kind ofparty political broadcasts that the parties really wanted to make but simply couldn't because of political correctness. These guys are good.p.s. Anyone know the title of the track they're using on the Tory ad?
Update: Found it! Thanks to What's That Tune? I've been told that the track is 'As You Fall' from the album 'Ariels' by Bent. I should have known it was them! Except that this track and, according to reviewers, the album it came from have been gone down quite a different path from their previous work. In a good way of course and boy I just love their 'Bentachi' website!
Keywords: Spoof,Bent,Ariels
by | § ¶ | trackbackTogoparts Brunch Ride
Once again, the Togoparts Brunch Ride is all ready to roll! As always, we welcome our community members, their/our friends, and friends of their/our friends to hit the road with us this fine Sunday morning!Date: 24 Apr 2005
Time: 8.00am
Start: Yishun MRT Station
Distance: Approx 35km
An easy-paced ride exploring Yishun, Sembawang and Woodlands New Town. Actual details will be made known on the day. Roadies are more than welcome to join us. Off-roading is an option that will be activated ONLY if everyone coincidentally turns up on knobbies. Either way, it is a slack ride. If you want to chiong, kindly go join the Thomson group or head to BT. As for the actual brunch, we will be eating by 1130hrs. Currently scheduled to be at one of the Kopi Thiam in Woodlands.
Most team members will have some form of spares, and repair & first aid kit. But as any amount & manner of incidents may occur (Murphy's Law) even on a relaxed ride, we encourage you to bring your own to complement the group's collective equipment. Do bring your helmet, and wear it! It is for your own protection and also a good habit to cultivate, which we are happy to encourage.
[Technorati: Singapore, Togoparts, Cycling]
Keywords: Togoparts,Cycling,Yishun,Singapore
by | § ¶ | trackbackCasino and Gorilla
With Beijing hosting the Olympics in 2008 and Shanghai hosting the World Expo in 2010, Far East is definitely the money making place to be in.
The West has always believed that we people with slitty eyes live in a place of exotic history and fascinating architecture. True, but only limited to the north.
What do we southerners have to offer?
1. Amazing Thailand.
2. Malaysia, Truly Asia.
(I applaud the superb advertisements and marketing activities. What you see is what you get on the condition that you have to be adventurous enough to explore more than Kao San Street and KLCC.)
What about Uniquely Singapore? Well, we do have a funny looking animal that was thought to have saved our forefathers from some unheard monster with its ability to fire water from a pipe in its mouth. However, more and more tourists have come to realize that our merlion is just the winning piece of a marketing competition organized by the STB many many years back. (Sang Nila Utama saw a lion. Not a merlion.)
There is no doubt Singapore has to quickly do something now in order to receive some crumbs of the big pie. I do support the presence of an integrated resort here in Singapore. The main attraction is definitely the casino, but it will not be the only place where people will throw in their money. On the contrary, almost every other industry surrounding the casino will benefit. The transportation, fashion, service, entertainment and hospitality industries will profit from the inaccessible location, as well as the high-class short break getaway theme.
Yes we are afraid of the social problems that the casino will bring. Agreed, no arguments needed.
Just over the last weekend, I was forced to tune in to Gurmit’s Small Talk on the public bus. 4 groups of primary school kids in pairs were teasing a caged gorilla at 4 different timeslots. (As much as I knew it was a fake gorilla, it looked real.) All of a sudden, the gorilla broke free and stomped towards the pairs. The kids reacted quite differently.
1st pair: Danced up to the gorilla.
2nd pair: Stepped back at first, then walked towards the beast and asked “Are you fierce?”
3rd pair: Laughed nonstop.
4th pair: Shook hands with the gorilla.
I think our kids have lost our basic instinct of not knowing that an escaped gorilla is dangerous. Or rather, we no longer know when to play and when to stop fooling around and flee for our dear lives. Sad, worrying or bizarre?
by | § ¶ | trackbackIt's Happening
The SG blogosphere has reached critical mass. We're starting to form collectives. There are now plans to further engage the masses in active discourse about current events and affairs that affect us within the blogging community. Riding on the momentum of the recent 'scholargate' and Government decision on Casinos, we're starting to see a rise in the number of citizen reporters with our own varied opinions and reactions. We're finally seeing 'New Media' take shape in Singapore and the 'Old Media' is at once wary and jealous.See Tomorrow. A newly set up 'community effort, a site by bloggers for bloggers' that intends to emulate the success of BoingBoing.netMetafilter. With backing from well-known names like mrbrown and Xiaxue and not forgetting their large fanbase, it's hard to see how this can possibly fail.
See From a Singapore Angle. Where the CZ incident has prompted the start of a Web Symposium in response to the Casino decision. It is now calling for entries from all comers to create topical lists 'that the netizens's search for information and informed opinions will be facilitated'.
See Singapore Ink. A collaborative effort of four Singaporeans 'in the business of inking Singapore’s first political group blog'. They most recently gave us a comprehensive and insightful coverage of the cabinet announcement on the Casino decision. A poor man's BBC Parliament channel if you will.
So, where do we go from here?
[Technorati: Singapore]Keywords: Singapore,Blogs
by | § ¶ | trackbackTime to cash in?
Now that plans have been greenlighted. It's time to start thinking about potential 'personal' gains while the resorts get built and the committees get set up. You have to start asking yourself, is it time to puat giao tan jiat? (earn a living by gambling)Why be a lowly dealer that gets paid minimum wage when there's potential for much more? At a mere S$2000 a year for membership, how long before someone decides to play professionally? Not as a compulsive addict that blows away millions and starts making deals with loansharks, but as a cool calculating and highly disciplined individual who's taking it on as an actual career. It would be grueling, similar to what those professional gamers do in Korea but absolutely possible.
Or will this idea be shot down because the government will classify you as unemployed and thus deny you access to the tables? And then there's the question about income taxation....
Poker is gaining respect as a tournament game (up there with stuffy bridge). And if you've watched an episode of the World Poker Tour series, you know that it can be as exciting as any other sporting event (read: chess, golf, curling) even without silly Chow Yun Fatt card tricks. Can we get this very slick outfit, the gambling equivalent of F1 racing, to grace our casinos?
Oh and all you local university geeks out there, it's time to start learning how to count cards and make organized raids!
Update: Looks like we're being noticed...
Keywords: Singapore,Casino,Poker
by | § ¶ | trackbackOneshift Pub Meet + San Marino GP
Oneshift.com will be having an inaugural meetup to watch the San Marino GP this coming Sunday (24 April). House pours will be happy hours (50%) till 11pm. Wines at special rate.Venue: Carnaval Pub @ Chjimes (next to F.Flanagan's)
Date: 24 Apr 05 (Sunday)
Time: 7.00pm
Will Ferrari and BAR Honda be fighting back? Is Renault and Toyota going to dominate again? Don’t miss this chance to get together, relax and watch the best F1 season in years! Remember, when you drink, don't drive. See all of you there!
Keywords: Singapore,Chjimes
by | § ¶ | trackbackSingapore Bloglocator anyone?
After reading this lament by AcidFlask, I decided to play around with some JS scripts and made a Singapore Blog Locator. It's pretty basic right now, a DB backend for tracking submissions with DHTML draggables and tooltips for displaying. Sort of like a poor man's Google Maps Will be exploring this further and maybe do some RSS parsing with it. I'm hoping to get this implemented on Togoparts Bikeshop Listings soon. Although it would be nice if I can find a more recent map of Singapore. If you have an updated or larger (or both) map, please let me know. This one doesn't even begin to show off the massive reclaimation projects.Keywords: bloglocator
by | § ¶ | trackbackNot One But Two
Was there any doubt about the outcome? Comapre and contrast the Singapore decision with the route taken by the British. Here's what I can remember and track down from the news archives. Does anyone have a rough timeline for Singapore?Update: See extensive list of local blog coverage here
-------------
July 2001 - The UK Gambling Bill stems originally from a government review of 'outdated gambling laws' by Sir Alan Budd.
March 2002 - A Government White Paper was released.
November 2003 - A draft Bill was proposed. Subject of lengthy inquiries by MPs and increased media/public attention. The draft Bill proposes to allow Vegas styled 2h-hr 'supercasinos' *.
April 2004 - A Joint Scrutiny Committee sat from December 2003 and received oral and written evidence about the draft Bill. The JSC included members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and was chaired by John Greenway MP published their first report on the 7th. The Government's response accepts 121 of the 139 recommendations made by the JSC.
18 October 2004 - First reading of the Bill in the House of Commons.
2nd November 2004 - Second reading of the Bill. Commons rebel against the Gambling Bill which narrowly passed 286 to 212 after an impassioned six and-a-half-hour debate. A total of 29 Labour MPs voted against to defied the wishes of whips.
16 December 2004 - bowing to intense opposition, the government retreated from plans for a big expansion in the number of casinos for the next six years fixing the number of supercasinos to 24 until after 2010.
11 January 2005 - A new version of the Bill was published.
24 January 2005 - Third reading of the Bill in the House of Commons. Overall examination of the Bill. The Bill cannot be substantially changed at this point and is either accepted or rejected.
February 2005 - Bill gets ping ponged between Commons and Lords in February with intense debate, media coverage and marathon sittings in Westminster. House members complain bill was being rushed through.
April 2005 - A watered down Gambling Bill was approved by the House of Lords on the 6th of April 2005. The bill appeared doomed until Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell struck a deal with Tories to create just one casino and plans for a maximum of eight in total.
Present - Bill is set to become law shortly after the new parliament sits after the elections.
* At the moment there are 137 registered casinos (as of March 2005) in the UK. They can have up to 10 slot machines offering limited jackpots. They are restricted to certain towns or cities and people must become members at least 24 hours before attending. Live music is not allowed.
Keywords: Singapore,Casino
by | § ¶ | trackbackThank You
I know this is probably old news but I think we should tie up some loose ends left over from the last down time.
Tsunami Relief Auction Comes To A Close - 22nd Mar 2005 7:19 AM
The Togoparts Team is please to announce that it has raised a total of SGD4895.50 in its Tsunami Fundraising Auction, plus an anonymous donation of 104.50 to make a final total of SGD5000! 100% of the proceeds has been donated to the Mercy Relief aid organization. The money will be channelled to fund recovery and rebuilding efforts in the tsunami-devastated areas of Indonesia’s Aceh province, where Mercy Relief is currently engaged. Our heartfelt thanks to all donors and bidders and to everyone who helped make this possible!