Updates. Its funny how one thing happens and changes your whole point of viewEverything that seems to matter, has cast aside for a better truthYou're growing faster with every minute, second, photographI wish I could spend more time with you~Corrinne May And the struggle continues. This is AMAZING Marketing. A lot of what was said yesterday here and on other forums was entirely out of line. Of course you were disappointed and criticism is certainly warranted but frankly many of the posts made about the situation were borderline sociopathic. If having delayed access to a beta test really drives you to such depths of anger and fury then - and there is no polite way to put this - there is something wrong with you.IainC of GOA posted on a Warhammer Online forum after customers got a bit crazy about not being able to login to the Open Beta.Let's see if you can spot the mistake. This is just funny... I wonder if the Straits Times has come up with a new-fangled definition of "Critical Thinking" that we haven't quite grasped yet in school. Here I was, deluded into thinking that critical thinking meant thinking for yourself instead of depending on others to form an opinion. And our newspaper has stepped up to "help" us think critically?What has our local broadsheet been aside from the government bitch mouthpiece for for the all-knowing pharisees from on high? (Clad in white to preserve their purity) Have they given us any hope for critical thinking? Or maybe we are meant to teach critical thinking by questioning the credibility of a media source that is meant to deceive "we the people", to keep us thinking that everything is as it should be when it is not? I'd prefer the second option, which makes the Straits Times' claim that newspapers are the means of teaching critical thinking kind of a paradox.Sep 1, 2008 Newspaper way to boost critical thinking By Malini Nathan A GROUP of 189 primary and secondary school teachers attended a Straits Times (ST) forum on media literacy and how to use newspapers as learning tools on Saturday. Then, as a treat for Teachers' Day today, and as a gesture of appreciation for their continued use of the newspaper in the classroom, they were given a ride on the Singapore Flyer. The forum, held on the Flyer's premises, was the fourth ST has held for teachers. Copies of the paper going out to primary schools subscribing to it are bundled with Little Red Dot on Tuesdays, while those for secondary schools are packaged with IN on Mondays. Forum participant Chee Bee Phaik of Loyang Secondary School said: 'The forum was very helpful and I learnt a lot about critical thinking.' Panellist Soo Kim Bee of the Education Ministry's Gifted Education Branch said Little Red Dot and IN sharpen students' critical thinking and creativity. She also urged teachers to develop a newspaper-reading habit among their charges. In the forum for primary school teachers, three teachers - Da Qiao Primary's Ms Ng Sai Choo, and East View Primary's Madam Kamalnoorzaman Osman and Mrs Monica Berger - discussed how they used Little Red Dot in English lessons. Ms Ng showed how her pupils used the newspaper for writing reflections and role-playing; Madam Kamalnoorzaman showed how issues raised in the news could be used in problem-based learning. At the session for secondary school teachers, IN journalist and former teacher Lim Pow Hong said newspapers could be used to teach media literacy and to raise awareness of current affairs. ST's associate editor Bertha Henson said that with such skills, 'students can discern the 'con job' from real content on the various media platforms they go to, especially now that they are bombarded with information and views from all directions'. I find the last line particularly hilarious.On other news, the discrediting of the Internet has taken a new turn...I don't really know what to make of this one except that while I see the attack on the internet as a source of information somewhat disconcerting, I also agree that youths today are the morons that are portrayed in this particular article.Octopi in trees(!) Next kids will be believing that ministerial pay increases are totally justified in today's economic climate....waitaminute.Nah...Sep 1, 2008 Teen surfers prey to 'Web of deception' Over-reliance on Net has students floundering in media literacy test By Lim Pow Hong A CERTAIN species of octopus in the Pacific north-west lives in a tree. Sounds ridiculous? Well, 34 out of 35 Singapore students who read the bogus website http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ believed such a creature actually exists. The students, aged 13 to 19, were unable to distinguish fact from fiction in a Straits Times test of media literacy among youth. The spoof site, set up as an online hoax in 1998 but now used by institutions to test Internet literacy, fooled nearly all the 35 local students into thinking the tree octopus story was 'well-supported by scientific research' and 'factual'. The website yielded similar results among youngsters in Connecticut, in the United States, when it was used by University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education to test levels of online literacy. There, all the 25 seventh-graders - 12 to 13 years old - tested in one study rated the website as 'very credible'. An over-reliance on the Internet as a source of information could explain why teens are weak at judging whether information is trustworthy. The ST survey found that half of the teens tested were fooled by the expert opinions cited on the site and 15 were taken in by the factual way in which information on the site was written. Commenting on these findings, SIM University's Dr Brian Lee highlighted that it takes experience to tell when scientific research is fake as 'even adults get taken in by Internet scams supported by fake scientific findings'. Dr Lee, who has spent more than 10 years studying Internet usage and popular culture, said: 'Students are conditioned to rely on the Internet as schools encourage them to use it in their schoolwork.' In fact, he has noticed that even among tertiary students, between 80 and 90 per cent of them would cite Wikipedia as a source in their reports. However, most older students use other sources to back up information from Wikipedia. It seems that those who are younger lack the skills to differentiate fact from fiction. Sarah Sim, 15, a Secondary 3 student at St Nicholas Girls' School, was convinced by the 'facts and pictures' posted on the site and the scientific name the octopus had. 'The website is very professionally done with good pictures and facts and the language used is formal. That's why I believed it,' she said. It was the same for Jurong Secondary's Bryan Lee, 15. 'The physical description of the octopus is very real and I can't tell it's fake because of the photos.' Teens also tend to rely too heavily on group-think when it comes to assessing credibility, going with the majority to determine a site's trustworthiness. Dr Lee said: 'If friends endorse the information, it is likely that teens will believe it too.' But all is not lost for these teens as he believes they will become more media literate when they mature. Students will learn how to critically evaluate information when they enter tertiary institutions as they have to learn these skills to write their research papers. However, for parents, it is a matter of concern now. Madam Lim Geok Choo, 50, and a mother of two, worries about her 11-year-old son. 'He just takes everything he reads on the Internet as correct and real. There's no filtering of information and it can get worrying for parents.' For students to become more media literate, Dr Lee advocates media literacy education from a young age, beginning as early as primary school or before they start using the Internet. 'Students should also learn to double- check information by asking their parents and teachers,' he said. 'When they read things on the Internet that make them uncomfortable, they should check with someone they know.' Another way is to verify information with other sources, such as the print media, which is more credible as the editing process is more rigorous. The only teen who was not fooled by the octopus was tipped off by the suspicious hyperlinks on the site. Bernice Leong, 15, doubted the octopus existed when she realised the hyperlinks were leading her to sites featuring unsubstantiated creatures like Bigfoot. The Secondary 4 student from Chung Cheng High said: 'I read widely online and I have never come across this particular animal before. It really made me question the existence of this creature.' phlim@sph.com.sg Moronism Part 132456565477976876.................. Could we BE more full of ourselves? To hate someone, one has to care enough to do so. Singapore certainly disturbs "Westerners" due to the (perceived) lack of freedoms here, certainly. They tend to tut-tut the continual use of the death penalty. They admonish us for the ridiculous political process here that is constantly skewed toward keeping the incumbents in power. All that is true. But HATE?Seriously?!One has to assume that the author is trying to cash in on the fact that Singaporeans will be at their most patriotic and ride the waves of fervour to carry her argument. It does. Perhaps. In her creation of an imaginary "us" versus "them" divide, she really does make us seem a whole lot more than a mere blip on the radar of the world. But only barely.Singapore has had questionable practices. But the world has never hated Singapore as a whole. In fact, that illusion of unity really is illusory. There is no unity in the Singapore that Chua seems to imagine exists. The "Singapore" that the world (read: Western world) has been uncomfortable with is "the Singapore Government" (otherwise known as the neo-colonists). They are the ones that the Western media targets (if they feel bothered to actually think about writing a piece on it) not us. And to lump us all together to try to get us to feel defensive towards (or possibly even enraged by) these accusations really is ridiculous.These Westerners are amazed the same way I would be amazed by a person who has come out of North Korea who has a semblance of articulation within him/her. A person who could speak about ideas of freedom or rights despite the fact that he/she has grown up under the tyranny of a dictatorship. Similarly, I'd be as amazed at a three headed monkey but it's not the same as saying that I hate the place it's from. It's curiousity not about the product, but the very fact that the product exists despite the assumption that it shouldn't.Chua tars us all with the same brush and Singaporeans should really think twice about accepting what she's saying. We are not one. We are two. Or three. Or a hundred. We are multi-faceted and we are diverse. And the West really doesn't have a problem with that. What Singaporeans should start scrutinising is the the one thing that they DO have a problem with and ask ourselves if we do too.Aug 9, 2008 Why they hate Singapore Western detractors are getting the jitters as others copy our model By Chua Lee Hoong SINGAPORE is small enough to be a suburb in Beijing, but it has something in common with the mammoth People's Republic. The little red dot and Red China are both countries the West loves to hate. There are those who wish bad things to happen to the Beijing Olympics. Likewise, there are those who have had it in for the Lion City for years. What's eating them? The easy answer is that both China and Singapore are authoritarian states. The freedoms taken for granted in the West - freedom of speech and assembly - come with more caveats in these two places. But things are not so simple. There are plenty of authoritarian states around, but most do not attract as much attention as Singapore and China. The real sin: Singapore and China are examples of countries which are taking a different route to development, and look to be succeeding. Success grates, especially when it cocks a snook at much-cherished liberal values. As Madam Yeong Yoon Ying, press secretary to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, said last month: 'Singapore is an example to other countries of how the free market plus the rule of law, and stable macro-economic policies, can lead to progress and success, but without Western-style 'liberal' democracy.' Don't believe her words? Read these lines from British journalist John Kampfner, writing in The Guardian last month, lamenting the spread of what he calls the Singapore model. 'Why is it that a growing number of highly-educated and well-travelled people are willing to hand over several of their freedoms in return for prosperity or security? This question has been exercising me for months as I work on a book about what I call the 'pact'. 'The model for this is Singapore, where repression is highly selective. It is confined to those who take a conscious decision openly to challenge the authorities. If you do not, you enjoy freedom to travel, to live more or less as you wish, and - perhaps most important - to make money. Under Lee Kuan Yew, this city-state built on a swamp has flourished economically. 'I was born in Singapore and have over the years been fascinated by my Chinese Singaporean friends. Doctors, financiers and lawyers, they have studied in London, Oxford, Harvard and Sydney. They have travelled across all continents; they are well-versed in international politics, but are perfectly content with the situation back home. I used to reassure myself with the old certainty that this model was not applicable to larger, more diverse states. I now believe this to be incorrect. 'Provincial governments in China send their brightest officials to Singapore to learn the secrets of its 'success'. For Russian politicians it too provides a useful model. These countries, and others in Asia and the Middle East are proving that the free market does not require a free society in which to thrive, and that in any battle between politics and economics, it is the latter that will win out.' Mr Kampfner seems in a genuine intellectual funk. He cannot quite understand why otherwise normal, intelligent Singaporeans would trade certain freedoms for economic progress, and accept the Singapore political system for what it is. But perhaps he has got the wrong end of the stick. The problem lies not in the Singaporeans, but in his own assumptions. Namely: If you speak English, if you are well-educated and well-travelled, you must also believe in Western-style democracy. They are a package. I was on the receiving end of similar assumptions when I was in the United States in 1991-1992. When Americans asked me, 'Why is your English so good?', often it was not out of admiration but bewilderment. Their next question revealed all: 'Why then do you (i.e. your Government) ban chewing gum?' Another telling indicator of Western assumptions about Singapore comes from a remark by Singapore's Ambassador to Washington, Professor Chan Heng Chee, who went to the US at the tail end of the Michael Fay saga. One year into her posting there, in 1997, she arranged for a retrospective of the late choreographer Goh Choo San's works. Her Washington audience was awed. 'People suddenly remembered Choo San was a Singaporean. They may have known about Goh Choo San, but to connect him with Singapore was not so obvious for them,' she said. Sub-text: World-class choreography does not fit their image of a country with corporal punishment. So the real difficulty for the West is this: We are so like them, and yet so not like them. We speak, dress, do business and do up our homes very much the same way as them. Yet when it comes to political values, we settle - apparently - for much less. One observer draws an analogy with Pavlovian behavioural conditioning. So conditioned have Westerners become to associating cosmopolitan progress with certain political parameters, they do not know how to react when they encounter a creature - Singapore - that has one but not the other. So they chide and berate us, as if we have betrayed a sacred covenant. Adding to the iniquity is the fact that countries - rich and powerful ones too, like Russia and the Gulf states - are looking to the Singaporean way of doing things to pick up a tip or two. I can imagine the shudders of Singapore's Western detractors should they read about a suggestion made by Mr Kenichi Ohmae this week. In an interview with Business Times, the Japanese management consultant who first became famous as author of The Borderless World, said Singapore should 'replicate' itself in other parts of the world. What he meant was that Singapore should use its IQ, and IT prowess, to help organise effective economies in other regions, as its own had succeeded so well. To be sure, his reasoning was economic, not political. But for those who hate Singapore, a Pax Singaporeana would be something to work against and head off. leehoong@sph.com.sg Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? The world will look up and shout "Save us!"... And I'll whisper "No." Actions speak louder than words. It's funny how a maxim like that, cliched as it is, is so easily forgotten despite the constant repetition.Our government says stuff about charity and how we should give. Do they ever lead by example?One wonders. PM's poignant speech on giving worth airing I HAD the privilege of attending the opening of The Giving Place, officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on Monday. Although a simple event, it was poignant, simply effective and manifestly well presented. I hope PM Lee's speech will be aired in its entirety on TV so generations of Singaporeans will understand the self-help values of our forefathers. Only by knowing the past, can we fathom the present and shape the future. In his speech, he noted the tradition of giving, which started even in the early days when well-off immigrants gave back to help others who had just arrived. Schools, hospitals and other infrastructures were built with this money. He also explained how we, as a small city state, have chosen the proven approach of a low- tax and high self-reliance regime to build the nation. In the light of volunteerism, this often-noted statement comes to unique clarity. Also, his mention of many great American philanthropists will help spur leading industrialists in Singapore to heightened serving. I believe this speech should be on the 'must listen' list for all leading corporate figures in Singapore to know the past and possible future of this small city state. The other highlight was the speech by Mr Stanley Tan, chairman of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). His humble story of his beginning and personal life journey to philanthropy should serve as guiding values for future leaders in the giving sector. I believe the dedication of staff of the NVPC and the invisible helping hands who made the centre possible deserve the support and accolade of all Singaporeans. If more Singaporeans experience what I did on Monday, I am sure this country will see greater passion for a shared vision for a better future. Ordinary Miracle Isn’t it remarkable?Like every time a raindrop fallsIt’s just another ordinary miracle today~Sarah Mclachlan Quote: "The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters. " That escape: Crucial Issues aplenty, so let's move on... Reading Straits Times articles often makes my blood boil.Especially recent ones on the Mas Selamat Kastari incident and the Committee of Inquiry findings disclosed by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament this week.Too many Straits Times Journalists:Obviously have no ability to think beyond what the PAP tells them to think, yet they think that they are in a position to pass judgment.Seem to feed on what the government feeds them, and try to outdo themselves in sakah-ing the powers that be; andHave no sense of perspective, seeming to think the escape of one detainee is an insignificant incident that does not affect Singapore's reputation on the world stage.How many of those writing for the Straits Times really mean it, I wonder?Or will they be like Mr Lee Hsien Loong who will readily defend the country's ministers whether they seem competent or not?How many of them set up straw men or hurled red herrings and other fallacies to defend the government when the hint of governmental responsibility was suggested? How many pushed the party agenda instead of holding the ruling party accountable to Singapore's people even when the people cried out for aid in times of recession?If a government official failed in his duty, will the press not rise up to defend the incompetence while pushing the blame onto others?In both cases, there has been negligence - And the press in Singapore has readily risen to the challenge to quash all inquiries of the public that dare to challenge the omnipotent wisdom of the PAP.Common sense will tell you that it will only be a matter of time before the public will figure out the lies that the broadsheet is spreading, or there will be no accountability left in no time.This is not to say that the press will change. Even when a block of flats is found to be unsafe, for instance, due to shoddy workmanship, writers like Chua Lee Hoong will still find a way to divert responsibility away from those in power and push the blame to complacent Singaporeans, even if we tried to call attention to it.If a hospital was found to have been awarding tenders to its CEO's family and friends, and if the Health Minister knew but did nothing, the press would still be able to spin the story so that we have a new governmental policy to reward the elites in society.And the Mas Selamat escape? Singapore is now the laughing stock of the world security wise and face? Well...What does Singapore have besides its reputation?If he were a homicidal maniac, he would have been shot in Outram Road MRT station. But since he's only the leader of one of the major terrorist cells that's active in Asia means that according to Chua, we're as safe as we were before we let the homicidal terrorist, probably pissed as hell about being imprisoned for 2 years, escape.The escape has been a big stain on the reputation of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). But it has really placed Singapore on the world map for the SNAFU of epic proportions for letting what is now known as a limping man without pants on escape the long, efficient arm of the law. If you talk to people on the internet, the escape has been no more than a long line of screw ups that our lucratively paid ministers have witnessed under their watch.But this does not mean nothing more has to be done. After such a high signature event, there can be closure only if there are two things: a new press with the actual gumption to be responsible to the people that it claims to serve, and heads seen to roll. Such is the way that human nature is wired.To Chua - a PAP stooge who only serves as a tripod for the genitalia of the government that she so obviously seems to love, as those who have followed her writings closely over the years will know - there has been unprecedented transparency in the way that the MHA disclosed misinformation (What was he wearing? Pants. Yellow. Chicken suit. Limping only when he runs) over these two months.Yes, there was moments of absolute clarity, such as when we were informed that a terrorist had escaped. MHA will no doubt have learned from this experience not to actually say anything at all.Watch as the Straits Times then pulls a red herring comparison between a country that's over 2000 times bigger than Singapore and ourselves.Word is that there will be a shirking of ministerial responsibility and a round of scapegoating by the next parliament sitting.Meanwhile, there really are many other things that I would rather focus my mind on.Like the next general election. One has to imagine... ...that this is what the Opposition Parties are talking about in their offices at the moment.And one certainly hopes that they've got a plan, because like it or not, they're playing with the big boys now."SANTOS Look, nobody hired you because you’d be a brilliant campaigner. You’re a beginner in all this. Yes, at the moment, you’re a liability, but you’ll get the hang of it. You’re here because you know how to run a country. The conversation I’m interested in is how do we build a four year plan where you don’t know what kind of Congress you’re going to have to work with. LEO That’s what transition is about. SANTOS I don’t want to wait until transition. I want a plan in place. I want to spend transition hiring a staff that can execute it and on day one I want to get to work, not dickering around for the first three months. You want something to worry about, worry about that."The West Wing: S07E01: The Ticket. ... Salad Preferences. "Hi""I'd like to order a money salad with a heap of privileges, perks and prestige.""I'd also like it upsized.""Responsibility? Sure. But I'll like it on the side please.""Easier to enjoy when the responsibility's nice but not all responsibilities are that nice.""It'll cost integrity? Sure.""No problem." Luxury is... ...a door for the urinal area of a toilet...Because that's what I've always wanted but never experienced in an upscale shopping center like Paragon or a luxurious hotel like the Ritz Carlton...But apparently they've got it in the ISD detention facility. I love how my tax dollars are put to work...Don't you?What's next? A look at Mas Selamat's personalized 5 star mattress with the memory foam top layer and the caviar that he gets served with 2 meals a day? (3 meals would be an extravagance...)Perhaps it's time we started treating our criminal masterminds (oftendetainedwithouttrialforanunspecifiedamountoftime) like criminals (oftendetainedwithouttrialforanunspecifiedamountoftime). Commentary... Typical... 'He gave us a lot of freedom, but was always there to lend his support at each stage...He trusted me and shielded me from possible problems by taking care of dissenters for me.'Such is the language of sycophants...and of those who require toadies to support their little tyrannies. ROFLMAO The Times They Are a-changin'. Come gather 'round peopleWherever you roamAnd admit that the watersAround you have grownAnd accept it that soonYou'll be drenched to the bone.If your time to youIs worth savin'Then you better start swimmin'Or you'll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin'.Come writers and criticsWho prophesize with your penAnd keep your eyes wideThe chance won't come againAnd don't speak too soonFor the wheel's still in spinAnd there's no tellin' whoThat it's namin'.For the loser nowWill be later to winFor the times they are a-changin'.Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon't stand in the doorwayDon't block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalledThere's a battle outsideAnd it is ragin'.It'll soon shake your windowsAnd rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin'.Come mothers and fathersThroughout the landAnd don't criticizeWhat you can't understandYour sons and your daughtersAre beyond your commandYour old road isRapidly agin'.Please get out of the new oneIf you can't lend your handFor the times they are a-changin'.The line it is drawnThe curse it is castThe slow one nowWill later be fastAs the present nowWill later be pastThe order isRapidly fadin'.And the first one nowWill later be lastFor the times they are a-changin'.Bob DylanOne wonders if the government has heard as the whispers of dissent grew into a rumble as more and more repeated them. I'ma tryin' this this Saturday... Bourbon Pork RibsFrom Derrick Riches,INGREDIENTS:4-5 pounds whole spareribs, trimmed and membrane removed1/2 cup bourbon1/2 cup beer, preferably ale1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed1/4 cup soy sauce2 cloves garlic, crushed1/2 teaspoon black pepperPREPARATION:Combine all ingredients, except ribs, in a small saucepan until brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cook. Place ribs in a large dish. Cover with marinade and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours. Preheat grill for medium heat. Remove ribs from dish, reserve marinade. Place ribs on grill and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Cover ribs loosely with foil and cook for an additional hour or more. Reheat reserved marinade by bringing it to a boil and serve with ribs. How to siam questions. The Straits Times today has a great email interview with the Emperor Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew where in it, he once again manages to escape the more difficult questions that he is posed. Wait...An EMAIL INTERVIEW.Note that this means that he has no excuses (like misunderstanding the question, tone and otherwise, getting carried away on a tangential thought etc...) for missing the point of the questions posed...Unless he (SHOCK) did. Because if he did, that means that he would probably have failed his GP essay and therefore not been in the top 600 students who are now in the Singapore reality show called "Singapore Idol: Prime Minister Edition". Where would Singapore be without him then? Lost I tell you! LOST!*Ahem*Anyway, because of password failure etc, I can only post a photograph of the transcript of said interview.Question: Some people have argued that it's not just an issue of complacency, but also incompetence. Do you agree?Answer: When you are complacent with handling a wily detainee, then you have been negligent.I guess it's troubling when you have a person paid that much a year giving you answers like that.As a teacher, I would say that he's gone off topic and has not addressed the issue inherent in the statement. As a Singaporean, I'm concerned that he's being paid THAT much to give us answers like that. As a political observer, I applaud him for siam-ing the question quite effectively.I like how in all his tirades so far, he's been very focused on his lambasting of the security officers who screwed up (although I'm surprised that they haven't picked out a name to scapegoat just yet). I agree that the people directly involved would be the ones most responsible for the great escape. What's interesting is that the media seems more interested in converting said tirade into a lecture on how ALL Singaporeans need to be less complacent.After all, we're hardly ever in the position to deal with these things are we? I thought that that's why we're paying our ministers such huge salaries? The reasons given were that if we didn't, we'd be screwed as a country and we'd have to work as construction workers and maids...right? And terrorists would break out of pris...uhm...never mind.Now I realise that the reason that we pay such huge salaries to our government is so that accountability can be thrown out the window and questions can remain unanswered.Thanks.But I'd like my money back now please. STOMP. I've ranted about how online journalism is the way to go because the broadsheets have abandoned all journalistic integrity here in Singapore but perhaps there is such a thing as going overboard.STOMP is an example of that. Well, then again, STOMP's run by aforementioned broadsheets so I guess it's par for the course.But it still irks me to read stuff like this drivel and realise that in giving the voice to the masses, we've given a voice to the masses...Which would not be a bad thing necessarily IF the masses were articulate and perhaps a little more educated. The problem with the masses is the simple fact that most of them are morons. And unfortunately, that means that the chatter out there is really white noise that drowns out anything of real importance.What chance do big ideas like Justice, Equality and Right have when faced with small stories that gossip and slander? And now we return to our regular scheduled programming... This has got to be the most humourous article I've read about Mas Selamat's escape. It's not quite as scathing as the rest of the articles I've read about it, nor does it gloss over the obvious inadequacies of the government the way that the Singapore broadsheets (and tabloids) do. It offers a rather nice (seemingly) objective view of the incident while still being able to be snarky about it.Favourite quote: The public has swung into action, as it has with previous nationwide campaigns — to have fewer children, to have more children, to keep toilets clean, not to throw things off balconies, to speak good English, to smile and to commit “spontaneous acts of kindness.”And coming in a close second: In a furious response, the government put the entire country on alert, setting up checkpoints, sealing its borders, patrolling its parks and its shores, even urging people to keep an eye on their bicycles in case the wanted man decided to pedal to freedom.And it's in the New York Times. Interestingly enough, none of their sources happen to come from the mainstream media. Almost all quotations are from Bloggers. Which makes one wonder if the Singaporean media's ceaseless attacks on the blogging community tend to be due to their own perceived (and perhaps rightly so) inadequacies than any real desire to raise public awareness of the dangers of blogs. New lens...But more importantly, new baby photos! Taken with the EF 50MM F1.4. Guilt. I'm tired.So. Very. Tired.And it's not that I've been out of the house for 15 hours. It's not that I've been running around working the press release and trying to prepare to fight fires that never came. It's that I've been on an emotional roller coaster ride that's been so intense that it just left me completely drained. I've been pretty much coasting the rest of the way and I'm ready to drop into bed and sleep the sleep of the dead.The results have been released and...well...they're not stellar. I spent the better part of the morning trying to justify the numbers (inflated national average by elite institutions...) and then wondering where I could get a sword to commit ritual suicide. My emotional turmoil really started when the numbers faded into obscurity and the students came into focus.Statistically speaking, we didn't do very badly. But it's not about numbers and the day that it becomes about that is the day that I quit. It's about the students...and for the umpteenth time, I wondered if I'd done right by them.I wondered if I had indeed done my best for them or whether I'd scheduled enough time and work to prepare them for the exams. I wondered if I managed to lead them to the right answers or if I'd managed to get them to produce the right answers. I'd wondered if I'd done my job.Because the results sure seemed to scream at me that I hadn't.End of the day, I asked myself the question (and others that kindly reassured me) if they really had learned something. Despite the reassurance that they had, I still wonder if it was worth actually getting them to enjoy the journey or if it would have just saved us a whole lot of heartache to just focus on the destination. Because it sure doesn't quite feel worth it at the moment.What is needed in our education?The questions? Or the answers? At the moment, it feels like the latter takes center stage in this. I'm just not sure which one students really need.And I guess that it's just like me to leave that open ended...So I'll just end with a quote."Granny was an old-fashioned witch. She didn't do good for people, she did right by them... Like old Pollirt the other day, when he fell off his horse. What he wanted was a painkiller. What he needed was the few seconds of agony as Granny popped the joint back into place." ~ Terry Pratchett The Great Escape... When you have a limping terrorist that gets away from the police, it really casts a shadow on the credibility of the recent wave of police ads that one can see in the cinema.(I wish I had a link to that ad but even Youtube doesn't carry it.)Basically the ad shows an athletic young man who's running on a track and then subsequently transforms (quite literally...like a transformer) into a policeman. He runs and runs and catches the crook who's running away from his female colleague (and of course he catches the crook instead of the policewoman who was chasing the crook to begin with...Girl power baby!) showing his athletic prowess.Meanwhile, I'm also wondering why a police force that is so obviously lost in the woods doesn't release more details about Mas earlier than they did. If I'd lost a terrorist, I would've been dumping posters all over Singapore to ensure that EVERYONE knows what he looks like. I mean, have you seen this guy? His face is pretty generic.I basically can't keep the face in my head no matter what and I doubt I'd be able to recognise him even if I saw him. BTW, the MMS hasn't gotten to me yet.Ondine was theorising that the reason why they didn't release posters immediately was because they were confident in catching him...Well...IF I had allowed a limping man to get away from my "highly secure facility" I would really be questioning IF I could really catch him that easily and probably would want the public to be warned. But I suppose it's human nature to attempt to cover up your screw ups.Interestingly enough, talk on Vent that night (during a WOW raid of Karazhan) was that he'd have very easily hopped into a cab and disappeared...and I think that it sounds like something that could have happened. After all, we have a world class transportation system that allowed a terrorist to get away from our world class police force.I have been disappointed by Singapore systems before but I figure that this would be the most tangible that the system has disappointed me. Then again, it's almost like a Hollywood movie right in our backyard so it has added a certain excitement to the drudgery of life...I hope they catch him soon though...Otherwise we'd have to do what Wahj suggested: Have 4 million Singaporeans join hands and form a ring around the island, then gradually move inwards a la The Truman Show, which, considering the success in all the efforts so far, could actually be more effective a method of finding the guy. Plus it'll actually give me a day off from school. The Oscars are coming. And this is pretty much how I feel about them most of the time...And something that I have thankfully managed to avoid because I tend to think of "critically acclaimed" as synonymous with "pretentious snot". Ah Meng. Ah Meng died over the weekend. I really didn't know what to make of it when I read it in the papers. She was an icon of my childhood, something that I'd always associated with the Singapore Zoological Gardens and a cultural icon to many Singaporeans and even visitors from overseas. She'd met celebrities, heads of state and dined with starry eyed children whose parents paid for breakfast with an Orang Utan. And she was the one primate that I really looked forward to seeing whenever I made my way to the zoo. As a child, this was mainly because she was "sponsored" by HSBC, the bank that my father worked for, which I guess by natural extension (by the intellect of a 5 year old) made her family. As a child of 6, I read in wonder as Ah Meng, in an act of rebellion, climbed up a tree in MacRitchie reservoir and stayed there for three nights before falling off and breaking her arm. I look back at that and I wonder if Singaporeans cheered as our national icon thumbed her nose at authority and just decided to do whatever the hell she wanted. Perhaps that act of defiance planted a seed in us and despite our concerns for her safety, we celebrated her short-lived freedom along with her. Like the icons of the past, she's gone on to a better place (one would hope), one with trees where she can hang out for a day or three. Or for all eternity. Fare thee well. May durians line your way. Hatchet Man. There are some things that I do in the course of being a teacher that really don't have anything to do with the job description whatsoever...Then again, any good teacher will inevitably care too much. Bugger. Anniversary 4 years ago to the day, I started this blog. It was designed to be my little soapbox on the internet. Push button publishing, they'd advertised, and with the encouragement of Anonymous Noises and a group of GEP students, Empty-Vessels was born. It's been 4 years and this blog's seen me through many drastic changes in my life. Hopefully it'll see me through another bunch. I realise that I no longer post as much as I used it. It's not that I have less to say. Rather, I often think of things to post about and I start to type it and realise that I'd already posted about that already. In a bid to avoid repeating myself a little too much, I save said post into drafts and, like deadwood on the waves, it's eventually lost in the gradual motion of the posts as they ebb continuously onward. It's been an...interesting 4 years and I hope that I still have something to say. Hopefully, the 4 years that have passed have filled the Vessel a little more and perhaps that's why it's making less noise today. Either that or I really should start hollowing out the pipes again just so that the noise flows through. Either way, it's been a great 4 years and I'm looking forward to keeping this going for a whole lot longer. Meanwhile, I think it's time to look for a new template. Just a quick conspiracy theory... Public sentiment is beginning to turn against the current incumbent governmental party in Singapore, which means that the next election could see a change in a majority of governmental appointments. The government has decided to raise ministerial pay in spite of rising costs that citizens have to face and contend with plus the oncoming uhm...Bagel... and add to that the fact that the decision is one of the more unpopular decisions made by the government for a while. Does the government think that they're going to get reelected? If they don't (and they'd be quite silly if they did) then isn't this a case of "cut and run and make as much money as you can as you're heading out the door"? But then again...this is just a conspiracy theory......right?