Placards Held During the May Day Protest 2013 @ Hong Lim Park [Singapore]

Once again, i have shot too many photographs and it would definitely take a bit more time before i can give a proper take on the protest organised by transitioning.org for Labour Day. 

In the meantime, i have sieved out twenty eight pictures of placards/signs/notices seen on that day at Hong Lim Park. By showing them in this blog doesn't necessarily imply i am agreeable to what was written or drawn. 

01 - man who was unhappy with the stop at 2 policy which had inevitably resulted in the current situation where our birth rate is one of the lowest in the whole world. 

02 - same man on CPF and high cost of living. 

03 - the importance of people power; i hope the gentleman meant election and not violent protest to overthrow the government

04 - local Singaporeans versus newly mint citizens; this has been a contentious issue in recent years. 

05 - a hot button issue for general election 2011. Honestly, i don't care whether it is public or world class transportation. What i desire is a transportation system that is reliable (minimal breakdown), efficient (on-time) and responsible to its commuters (i detest the lack of effective communication whenever there is a breakdown). 

06 - from quite a number of friends in the private sector who shared with me their personal experience on foreign PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) being given preferential treatment over locals, i would not be surprised to find this topic hotly debated in the coming years. 

07 - Singapore has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world but the wealth of the country is not well distributed among its citizens with a widening income gap. To be fair, it's not easy to tackle this problem that is also faced by many other countries.

08 - a quote by the late J. B. Jeyaretnam.

09 - short, sweet and to the point. 

10 - xenophobia is a term used frequently nowadays by supporters of the white paper. Defined as "an irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange", i am of the opinion that one must first rightfully define "irrational or unreasoned fear" in a specific context.

11 - this was already used in the last protest in February.

12 - is the government always wrong? 

13 - not exactly a placard for the protest although it did portray the meaning of participating in this protest; the love for Singapore.

14 - i understood the quote by the 32nd president of united states but what's the meaning with the drawings? Nice drawings by the way.

15 - a humongous label on a person's head! 

16 - the righteous man was actually holding on to the above two placards. Can't really agree with the one on healthcare though; the benefit of working in healthcare for the past one month. 

17 - some of the placards were tied to lamp posts. 

18 - and people sure loved the succinctness of their content! 

19 - like many participants, i wondered initially why there was a roll of toilet paper until i realised it was white in colour (hint: white paper and its obvious reference to throw it in the toilet bowl).

20 - the dilution versus the extinction of the Singapore core 

21 - and the supposed remedy at the back. 

22 - another placard on the income gap.

23 - hm.....

24 - translated to English, this would mean to pull Ah Long down the political stage in the next election. Ah Long, in this case, refers to the current prime minister of Singapore. 

25 - i am especially heartened to see the active participation by the younger generation; some of whom were barely ten years old. 

26 - pet peeve by many concerned Singaporeans even though i have never seen it as a major issue myself. 

27 - an elaboration.

28 - an abruptly written placard; guess he/she must be quite carried away by the speakers' speech! 

- to be continued with a proper post on the protest - 

Singapore Teochew Memorial Park [新加坡潮州公墓] - A Cemetery for Over 20,000 Unclaimed Remains @ Yishun

Similar to a lot of places in Singapore, the town where i stay was the subject of numerous ghost stories when i was studying in the neighbourhood schools. 

However, mentioned the existence of a columbarium in Yishun (not Mandai) and you would likely draw blanks from many of my fellow classmates.

I am going to leave the columbarium for another day as my focus today is on this memorial park (circled in red) next to the columbarium. What's so interesting about it? Well, you would know shortly.

Before Ahmad Ibrahim Primary School was built, my apartment has a direct view of the memorial park and strangely (and shamefully) enough, i never gave much thought about it and didn't know anything of its history.

An incident six years ago piqued my curiousity but even then, the first time i stepped foot into the memorial park was only two weeks ago. Want to guess how long it took me to walk from my house to the park?

Five minutes. 

A bit of history about this memorial park. In the 1950s, a number of Teochew cemeteries in Outram and Orchard were acquired for redevelopment. Ngee Ann Kongsi, the company managing those cemeteries, decided to relocate the unclaimed remains to Guang De Shan (广德山); the cemetery in Yishun where the memorial park stands now.

It's true after-all; Yishun was really a cemetery! 

The iconic memorial plaque that seriously looks like a super-sized tombstone was first erected back in 1953 before undergoing renovation in 1962 and again in 1986. 

Elaborate praying ceremonies and rituals were held annually to remember these unknown Teochew pioneers, although on most days, you would be lucky to see anyone in the vicinity. 

To the back of the plaque was a small altar facing a large patch of greenery. Notice the latch on what seemed like a metal door? I was so tempted to open it and take a peek! 

Living next or near to a cemetery is taboo for Chinese yet i am aware that Chinese cemeteries are also known to have fantastic Feng Shui in order to ensure a good life (in this respect, it would usually mean prosperity, wealth and good luck) for descendants of the deceased. By aligning to this concept, i am actually trying my best to comfort myself for living so close! 

I am not the closest by the way! Residents of block 123 have a much clearer view of the memorial park than me. Going back to my previous concept, those residents would also have a much better life than me! 

This is the Yishun Columbarium to the left of the park. Unfortunately, i could not afford the time to explore its surrounding that day.

追思先人 - four simple Chinese characters that hold a strong meaning to all Singaporeans. Without the contribution of pioneers, regardless of race, Singapore would not be what she is today. For that, they deserve our utmost respect and a space in our memory. 

Question time! The memorial park is not big so how could it house over 20,000 unclaimed remains? The answer shall be revealed in another entry. A teaser - this is related to the incident six years ago. 

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Location

As above [red star].

New Record for Super Monsters Ate My Condos!

I finally broke the record for "Super Monsters Ate My Condos"! For those who have never heard of this iPhone application, please click here. 

This time round, i succeeded in strategising all the special powers unique to the four monsters and besides the score of 101,796,243,435; i also managed to drag the game beyond nineteen minutes! 

Luck continued when i secured a whopping 5,000-coin jackpot from the very entertaining monster wheel! 

An additional wave of happiness for gaining 4,924 coins from the condominiums i cleared from the game. Technically, i made some gain from initially investing 5,000 for the special event and 2,250 for boosts (peace, double good and extra time).

Global rank is 321 and i should have been ecstatic. 

But i am not. 

According to the leaderboards, the top rank gamer has a score of 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 and there are 45 having the same points. Gamers who hack games for the sake of feeling good in front of their friends should be ashamed! 

If you don't have what it takes to score, move on!

p.s. this is coming from a man who cheats in Fishing Joy. 

Pirates of the East - Zheng Yi Sao [鄭一嫂] @ Resort World Sentosa

'Pirates of the East' - a little known exhibit at Resort World Sentosa that has a high tendency of being passed over by visitors. 

Frankly, after going through two main attractions within the same building; S.E.A Aquarium and Maritime Experiential Museum, i doubt you would have much energy to explore further! Even i had to drag my feet to take a few photographs.

There weren't many exhibit items but the content was interesting as it touched on notorious pirates in this region; all of whom i am unaware of. Illanun, Balangingi, Xu Yabao and Zheng Yi Sao.

As the only female leader in a very restrictive Chinese society back in the 18th century, Zheng Yi Sao attracted my attention by carving out an impressive reputation for commanding the largest pirate empire in the world with 200 ships and crew numbering 40,000! 

Strange though - for an Asian, she appeared to have facial features belonging to an ang moh! 

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Trivia

Zheng Yi Sao was actually featured in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3"!  In the movie, she was the heavily makeup pirate known as Mistress Ching! 

Location

The exhibit is located next to the souvenir section for S.E.A Aquarium and Maritime Experiential Museum.

One Million Pageviews - A Milestone for this Blog!

From an average of only 20 pageviews a day, even i was taken aback by how far my blog has advanced to reach an accumulated 1,000,000 pageviews recently, with yesterday's count standing at 3,077!

Obviously, i am not comparing myself with professional bloggers and this declaration of a million pageviews is more a personal achievement worth remembering as a memorable entry in this blog.

No matter what, I would like to express my deepest heartfelt appreciation to everyone who has been encouraging me to continue this blog despite the thousand over entries marred with often incoherent English peppered with grammatical mistakes and, loyal readers who frequently return to check out my updates! 

You would not want to know the number of times i almost deleted this blog as it was taking up far too much of my time. But thanks to all of you; i am constantly given the courage and motivation to keep going. 

Once again, a big thank you!