Still... about the Design

Here's another air-tight container... for another pack of junk food that needs to be kept crispy :)
This one is slightly more than twice the previous one 'showcased'.
Look at the 'fasteners'... there are only 4 of them despite it's bigger, and the cover design is similar.
Haha... based on the 'previous theory' (the more fasteners, the longer it takes to clear the content). Probably this will have a better chance to have its contents cleared these 2 days? Hm...

Good design? Practical design?

This is the container that I used to hold the pack of pork floss.
Since it's crispy stuff, I therefore chose this container.

Beautiful design, I thought... and I'm very convinced that it will keep its content crispy... 'cos it tightly sealed by the 6 'fasteners'.

Then, here comes the 2nd thought... why so many 'fasteners'? Won't 2 or 3 pieces would do the job?
Hm... I think it will do the same job well... maybe, will so many 'fasteners', it will slow down the process of clearing the content inside :P Hahah...

Circus of Life

This is an interesting installation put up by students from ITE Central. The art pieces are not exceptionally attractive... however, what caught my attention was the observations of the lesser noticed side of our beloved country. It did not portray youth or energy, but an area that some of us actually refused to acknowledge this side of our society.

Put it across more bluntly, it's showcasing the less desireable side of the "World Class Country" that we strived to become... In fact, this is not new to us... we have seen articles in the newspapers that talked about the elderly were employed to clean up dining areas (in food courts), pushing trolleys (in the airport), etc. In fact, some people (especially the foreigners) asked why do they still need work despite they are so old (some, seem to be in their 70s!). Why they are not staying at home to be taken care by their children?


Just to pick a few art pieces....
1, Does this old lady 'look familiar'? Well, we find many of them in food courts all over the island. What do they normally do? When we finish our meal, they'll come over to pick up the bowls, etc and put them onto a trolley before sending them to the 'backyard' to wash up. They are, somehow, indispensible because the pleasant environment nowadays largely depend on them... if one day, they fail to report to work, just wonder... would we be able to find clean tables for dining easily? Hm... #iwonder...

2. Next, the flyer/brochure distributor... we can find them anywhere, in particular at shopping malls, MRT/bus interchanges... sometimes even at the void deck of the flats. They have a common mission, indeed, to have all the flyers given out. Well, you can't just dump the flyers if you can't finish distributing! Die die must give out. What do passer-bys normally do? Just take and throw away. The flyer/brochure distributors don't like me for sure 'cos each time I would wave my hand to signal to them that I don't want. Yup, am making life tougher for them.

3. Someone with a broom who sweeps the floor at public places... do you recognise them? Have we ever shown our appreciation to them? Without them, how would Singapore look like? #iwonder Do we still recall how much litter was gathered at Orchard Road about the Great Singapore Swing? Well, well... so much about civic-mindedness... but we can't do 'away' without them.

Click HERE to view the album in Facebook

Beautiful collection of People and Memories and Hardwork of the new venture

The most beautiful gifts received this Teachers' Day... a documentation of the journey to-date... with the architects and engineers behind the new establishment captured here... and yes, it's also a milestone achievement :)

It's a privilege to be in the pioneeer team to witness the growth and milestone achievements... and of course, to be a part of it... in its history...

The Information and Communication Technology Department

The Mathematics Department

Heartwarming gifts...

~o~0~o~

This year's Teachers' Day is one of the "tastiest"... receiving 2 boxes of food, apart from the chocolates :)

The box of freshly baked bun was from Jonathan... and his mum. Nice buns! It's the thought and effort put in that counts a lot :) Yummy...

Didn't get the opportunity to check with the trio ~ Dawn, Devashi and Mingyi... if they baked these cookies or they bought it... they are sweet :)

~o~0~o~ 

Words that warm my heart and delight my days...

~o~0~o~ 

Thanks, Benz... 
Uniquely from Cupertino, hm... something I don't find at the Apple online store!

~o~0~o~ 

Thanks, Jiajun... :)

This comes in very practical and handy... especially after 'long-winded sessions'

~o~0~o~ 

Something from the Student Body... for the Teachers

...Nice idea to play with the alphabet set...

Magically...

One of those unexpected pleasant takeaway from last night's dinner... Thanks to our 'crystal ball' reader (Andy) who set up the "stall" :)

Just wondering, what's the "hidden blessings" it mentioned? Will it unveil on its own by the end of the year? Hm... :)

心思

It's the 'heaviest' gift received this year (literally, the weight)...
It's simple... yet elegant... and definitely the thoughts behind it :)  Thanks!

Digital imaging

Happened to pass-by one of the iDA showrooms (at the new underground link between Suntec City and City Hall). It was pretty quiet despite the fact it's a Sunday afternoon. On the other hand, it also means that I need not to wait for people before I want to try on anything.

Tried 2 interesting stuff... Here's the first one, that's to become a character in the "cartoon story"... haha... it's pretty fun though... simply superimpose my 'face' on the character... :)

   

Next is something that I heard sometime ago, however had not really see it in action - Virtual Make-up :)
Pretty interesting especially when my features were sharpened after the 'make-up' session.

The Singapore Spirit...

Yesterday we had a short session to revisit the 6 NE messages...which is all about us being part of the island nation.

The 6 NE messages are: 

1. Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong.
   We treasure our heritage and take pride in shaping our own unique way of life.
   
   
2. We must preserve racial and religious harmony.
   We value our diversity and are determined to stay a united people.
   
3. We must uphold meritocracy and incorruptibility.
   We provide opportunities for all, according to their ability and effort.
   
   
4. No one owes Singapore a living.
   We find our own way to survive and prosper, turning challenge into opportunity.
   
   
5. We must ourselves defend Singapore.
   We are proud to defend Singapore ourselves, no one else is responsible for our security and well-being.
   
   
6. We have confidence in our future.
   United, determined and well-prepared, we have what it takes to build a bright future for ourselves, and to progress together as one nation.

Source: http://www.ne.edu.sg/ne_messages.htm

Yes, like it or not, it's to promote patriotism. But it's also putting reality before our eyes.
Take for instance, who else is responsible for our own well-being living in this island nation? It's us!
No one owes us anything. We have to be responsible for our own well-being as a citizen in the country.

What are some words that we'll associate Singapore with when asked? What's the Singapore Spirit?
Some colleagues did a quick brainstorm and these are the words... ERP, GCE, COE, PIE, PAP, MRT, SIA, PSA... haha... uniquely 3-letter acronyms! So, are they uniquely Singapore? Yes, certainly! But what does that reflect about the mindset, the mental model about the country? The livelihood in the country?

Hm... indeed, just posted the question in Facebook "What comes to the Singaporean's mind when he/she sings the national anthem?" Indeed, this question has been lingering there for quite sometime...

Well, not to talk about patriotism... but words that cross my mind would be "Home", "Unity", "Togetherness"... Immediate response from some, "So politically correct". Haha... especially most know that I'm quite cautious in my words...

Well... putting "politically correct" aside, these are words that I'll associate with the word "Singapore" with. Some talk about food, some talk about the "pressure" they face, some would not voice their frustration over the influx of "foreign talents" (which one of my friends would have a lot to say).

Just wonder if anyone has this thought that we are fortunate enough have our own national anthem instead of singing another country's? It's because the country is strong enough to survive, to find a place on the globe. What's more the country does well in many aspects, though there are also things that many don't agree to.

For instance, about half a year ago, another friend of mine said, "Singaporeans are rare species". Which I fully agree! How many of us, Singaporeans by birth exist in this globe? Of course, the "influx of foreigners" issue has been around and quite widely discussed in the recent years (e.g. http://www.transitioning.org/2010/03/30/influx-of-foreigners-good-for-singapore-sgforums/). So, although the population of Singapore has been on a steady climb, the 'global migration' has added a new dimension to the whole mechanism.

Indeed, look from another perspective, what if one is required/ expected to sing another country's national anthem? How would one feel? I guess our grandparents would be able to tell us how they feel? In particular when one lost his own nationality because another 'more powerful' country gained control over yours. What's lost? It's the nation's pride! Not something that we could pay or negotiate through monetary terms. Of course, in today's context, some would feel nothing over it... since immigration takes place globally.

Yes. The first time I missed the national anthem was when I was overseas for a year.
When I felt that I'm living under another "person's" roof... Sometimes, just felt so "powerless" and helpless as all that I was familiar with no longer there, all those I could depend on were not there...

Into the Woods... Into Multi-Fairytale land?

It wasn't in my radar screen when I screened through the programmes in the Sistic website. Yes, once in a while, I just wanted to fill my weekends with some 'blue clouds' - cool times when my brain & mind will take a good break from work and be immersed in some space, embraced by music or theatre plays.

Indeed, at one go, I bought tickets to several shows:

• Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber @ Marina Bay Sands in July
• Into the Woods @ Esplanade today (August)
• Voca People Singapore Tour 2011 @ Singapore Expo next weekend (August)
• Drum Tao - the Art of Drum @ Esplanade in September

Hm... Lion King is missing from the list as I watched that several years ago when I was in London. Though heard so much good comments about it, I don't intend to go for it... hm... I don't quite animals... hahaha... similarly, it took me a while to buy the ticket to watch Cats, and only when it came Singapore the second time.

Read the outline of the "Into the Woods" before deciding to spend money pay for a  "F" row seat in the theatre. Yes, it pays to sit in the front since I already planned to spend the money. The facial expressions, etc were so clear! It's like watching the "zoom-in" view!

The show assembled characters from several fairy tales - The Red Riding Hood, Cinderalla, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Rapuzel who's famous for her long golden locks! Wow, in Mandarin, we described it as 星光熠熠. Nevertheless, the mix and match of the stories made the show too 'rojak'! It attempted to use the baker childless couple as the link. Nevetheless, all, when put together was just a 闹剧, like周星驰的无厘头movie! Indeed, I was quite disappointed. The story line was not strong, neither was it captivating. It's kind of silly (although it's meant to be a fairy tale) to believe that one had to feed the "white cow" with 3 inedible stuff ~ a red hood, a golden shoe and a lock of golden hair ~ so that it would produce milk that would aid the childless woman to conceive!

Basically, the storyline was weak, I felt. and unfortunately, none of the songs left much impression after the show. I think, the only think I could recall was the gigantic lips of the "giant"! which I thought was quite an ingenious way to portray a giant on the stage! Haha..

While the performance was staged by a local production house, its playwright was first premiered in Broadway in 1987.

More information on "Into the Woods" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Woods