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Secret blog of a P65 MP: Part 6

P65 - It's Where We Talk
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Dear Blog,

Yes, it is time to move on to other things, put things in perspective and focus on the big picture. There have been so much negative news lately that I imagine Singaporeans would be quite disheartened if they were to continue talking about them.

So kudos to my colleagues for taking the lead and posting their musings on other things that make us Singaporean.

There are so many unique things about Singapore that we tend to forget and overlook, and we should be proud of our culture and heritage, and remember what makes us attractive to foreigners. Do not forget that other countries are also developing fast, and taking in more than their fair share of talented foreigners. We must not lose out.

In order to do that, we must embrace the global economy and various global cultures, but within limits, of course. And foreigners who want to embrace our own economy and culture must also understand and accept these limits.

It is time to repair our reputation, and I hope every Singaporean will join me in doing so.

More later. I have to check on our security guard and make sure he is not sleeping. We backbenchers don’t have Gurkhas from the GC. Those guys never fall asleep on the job.

-P65 Roxx!

NEA to reduce energy consumption in households


Here’s an idea for saving energy: turn off the ERP gantries

When I read the headline, I thought, “oh no, they’re gonna use the ERP method of reducing consumption”, and then I read on and found out they’re using the lucky draw method instead.

Much better than my parents’ day when they used coin-operated heaters in their flat in Australia when they were students. No more coins, no more heat, and then they walked ten miles to uni.

Wine Garage

We don’t drink, so we might never have gone to the Wine Garage for a meal if not for our friend telling us how awesome the food was. We like awesome food because they taste good.

Chef Travis Masiero smokes his own bacon. No, really. Who in this day and age smokes their own bacon? Next thing they’re gonna tell us is that bacon comes from pigs.

There were a few items on the Wine Garage’s menu that sounded too heavy to be ordered in a combo, in one sitting, but as our friend puts it, we’re ‘enablers’. Once one of us feels like eating something, the other says, ‘Good call, go fer it!’.

And so, we ordered pork skewers with watermelon cubes, chips and blue cheese fondue, two burgers (the one with the home-smoked bacon), a pasta and a spinach salad, expecting to eat ourselves to death. But, and this was very surprising, it didn’t feel like it was a mistake at all. We were sated, and at the right degree of fullness too, if there’s such a thing.

Feeling really good after such an awesome but non-lethal meal, we then proceeded to go across the river to The Central, where we tipped ourselves over the edge with some Azabu Sabo ice-cream.

The Wine Garage
30 Merchant Road (map)
#01-07 Riverside Point
Singapore 058282
Tel: (65) 6533 3188

No torch, no medals, no records, no nothing…


Image from mooncostumes.com

The torch relay bypassed Singapore probably because protests are only to be held indoors, with a licence, in designated areas. I dunno.

Then there’s news that the Youth Olympics might be a Games without medals or records. That is the sucks! Might as well not have athletes.

I mean, they even give out prizes in primary schools for egg and spoon races and I personally would have had a record in my school’s hall of shame for most number of eggs broken.

Never die before is it?

Dying to see Gregor Schneider's latest work? Don't worry - you could be in it - Times Online
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“Never die before is it?”

That’s what my mother and other older relatives used to say to me, my siblings and other cousins who had been naughty.

That used to puzzle me a bit. Not too much, because I was more concerned with the immediate pain associated with a slap or a session with the rattan cane. A couple of foolhardy times, I had spoken back with the obvious retort, “No, never die before”.

The cane coming down on my legs made a swishing sound that, if you listened carefully, was saying with a lisp, “you will now, shhhtupid”.

This is my blog, and therefore that anecdote is somehow associated with the following story about a German artist who is planning to display a dying person and call it art.

He wants someone whose dying hours will be spent in an art gallery with the public admiring the way the light plays on the flesh of a person gasping for the last breath.

I’m wondering how he’s going to audition suitable candidates. The interview might go something like, “Have you died before? No? So what makes you think you’re a suitable candidate? Oh, you’re dying, is it? Well, buster, I have news for you! We’re all dying, punk! Take a number!”

Maybe I’m a plebian, but I really don’t see how displaying a dying man “restores grace” in death, or how displaying a starving dog or blood from self-induced abortions is art.

I had a really bad bout of food poisoning today, and contemplated calling my ‘installation’ the ‘three flush purge’, but thought better of it. It’s just not art.