The Singapore Idler

Sergeant (NS) Chan

2005-11-01T04:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my ORD day.
Today i'm officially released from the my fulltime national service liabilities
Operationally ready date... Ready?

What has been so eagerly anticipated by so many turns out to be somewhat of an anti-climax... ORD? ORD lor... so what... I enlisted five years ago, studied then came back to serve the remainder. We move on and out of the Army and forward into the a whole new world.

But looking back at those tough times, memories both bitter and sweet, flood my mind.

I remember the strange feeling of my short crew cut hair brushing against my grey Army T-shirt whenever I took it off.

I remember being face to face with the low wall and collapsing into a desperate heap each time I tried to climb it with my gear on. I also remember running around it when no one was looking.

I remember bringing stupid FHM and Maxim magazines to camp only to have them circulated throughout the platoon and have them come back crumpled and used.

I remember that the skies over Tekong had more stars than I had ever seen.

I remember the RSM (regimental sergeant major) calling us MAGGOTS and SWINE during our training but beaming with pride at the end of our parade.

I remember being almost shot in the back at the firing range when I ran into someone's line of fire, I also remember one of the PCs hitting me on my helmut on a separate occasion.

I remember that "She'll be coming round the mountain" was the song we most enjoyed on our 32KM route march. It made us walk on air, numbed the pain and lightened the load.

I remember listening to Coldplay as the plane bound for Taiwan took off in the wee hours of the morning, a little sad and afraid of the unknown.. It wasn't so bad, In fact it turned out to be fun.

I remember sleeping in the field during early spring in Taiwan only to be awaken with my arms and legs in pain due to the cold.

I remember the time they caught someone wanking under the sheets while they were playing cards at the table... in the same room... with the lights on mind you.

I remember getting an SMS from my sister after my family came back from Holiday telling me there's chocolates in the fridge, I couldn't go cos I was in camp. It was four years ago and I still keep that message in my phone.

I remember taking a shit... in the wild.

Do you remember?

Red Red Red

2007-08-14T07:33:00.001-07:00

REFEREE KAYU!

IT's me again at the NDP this year!..

All thanks to STOMP for giving me a pair of tickets to the new NDP venue. @ the Largest floating platform in the WORLD (not another Singapore first...)

I had a field day taking pictures and had the chance to utilize my friend's Canon Zoom Lens (70-200m f4L).. With IMAGE STABILIZER! Which explains why I have so many people shots.

Overall a good show, I especially liked the military segment: F16 Fighting Falcons screaming overhead, Apache helicopter manoeuvres, Commandos jumping off the bridge, Divers jumping into the water from the Chinooks, Coast guard boats doing donuts!... after that it got boring... hehe...

Observation: After the show, the stadium was clean, almost spotless.. unlike other NDPs where there was trash everywhere, people picked up after themselves. Perhaps Singaporeans want to keep their new stadium clean? Strange but I have no idea.

BTW, I hope i win the lucky draw for disposing my trash! when are the results out?

For more pictures: http://flickr.com/photos/thesingaporeidler/

Same Same But Different

2007-06-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

The date is 26 June 2007 - it's half past Midnight

I lead an average Joe life with an average Joe job, sometimes meeting up with my average Joe friends after work for a coffee and a I take an average Joe bus home to my average Joe home.

Switch on my avergae Joe computer and start chatting with my friends... and to my shock / surprise my friend reveals to me that she has read the WHOLE of my blog cos' she couldn't sleep one night.

"All about me 101" ...

Some conclusions are drawn about the kind of person I am.

Thankfully nothing incriminating or too embarrasing is uncovered. I look back at my entries with some amusement and humour.

Did I write all that crap?

It was all good.

I then remember a time, before this blog, vaguely.. that the material I wrote was rather depressing, this "alarmed" my friends who used words like "deep" to describe the content. This prompted a quick change and I deleted everything and wrote the happy stuff on my blog to keep people and myself entertained.

Since then I've never looked back,

Now I try hard to recall what I used to write about... is it a good thing that I have forgotten? Should I let the past be past?

- it's raining outside.. Cats and Dogs x 1,000,0000

Made in Singapore

2006-08-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Just like every other year... This Year's NDP was a blast! However, this would have been, the last time it's held at the Kallang Stadium. It's sad to know that the stadium is being torn down to make way for a bigger better one. Afterall many of us grew up with the stadium, I remember the days of the Kallang Wave and fans chanting "OLE.. Ole-Ole- Ole" when my Dad brought us to see the Lions play in the Malaysia Cup matches.

Well, with progress comes change and we have to accept these changes with an open mind and a positive attitude as our Island matures a little - by another year.

Happy Birthday Singapore!

PS. this year's NDP picture set can be viewed at this link, Enjoy!

Not Enough Sleep!

2006-07-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

How much is enough sleep? In the Army, a minimum of Seven hours is the magic number (as spelt out in the training doctrine). In University, 3-4 hours will suffice. I slept through many lectures anyway and somehow managed to graduate.

In working life however, I can't afford to even look stoney at the computer. The post lunch hour is hell to get through as the smooth muscles work extra hard to disgest the food, depriving the brain of much needed blood.

The 3 in 1 "GoldRoast" Coffee provided in the pantry then comes in handy. I try to limit my intake to one cuppa everyday. Having a false/forced sense of alertness induced by the caffeine isn't very healthy. That said, I think I better hit the sack now if I don't wanna exceed my "legal" limit tomorrow. Little sleep coupled with the Monday blues.... it's gonna be One Long Day.......

FIGHT NIGHT

2005-11-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Muay Thai Tournament
(traditional Thai Kick Boxing)
5th November 2005, Sing-China Building
(near Seletar airport)

I didn't expect to be here when I got up on Saturday morning.

A visit with my parents to my old Malay neighbour's house for Hari Raya festivities was originally scheduled. Instead I got a call from my friend Jay, who was asking for directions to the Selatar Airport, he was going there for a Muay Thai event organised by "Amateur Muaythai Association (Singapore)" He asked me to go and I took my camera along....

Ringside
It was my first time at any fight and I didn't know what to expect. The entrance fee was 20dollars and the crowd was building up at 6pm. The place smelled of deep heat muscle rub and the setup looked "underground", darkened walls, light bulbs strung up above the boxing ring. Looked good but the lighting was bad for photography.

RED VS BLUE

Rage

First half of the evening was set aside for the amateur segment, which saw representatives from different muay thai schools in Singapore challenge each other. Before each match, the competitors had to perform a little ritual called 'wai kru' which lasts for a couple of minutes.

Someone please take the orange outta my mouth

Eye candy- the ring card girls announcing the next round (an attempt, I suppose, to balance the testosterone soaked ring)

In the 2nd half of the evening, the game turned Pro and bloodier when muay thai exponents from Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa and Holland fought with Singapore fighters. One of the major difference between amateur and professional fights, the latter's lack of protective gear; No vest, no shin guards, no head gear... Just gloves...

Singapore(blue) Vs South Africa (red) - Singapore was the favourite, some loud ang moh behind me was shouting for our local boy to "KILL THE ANG MOH!!!" I found it rather amusing... Singapore won this match by the way.

Get your kicks

Singapore (blue) vs Holland (red) - Holland delivers a nasty blow to his face

Returning the favour

Blood, sweat and...

Nasty - Indonesia's representative grimacing on the canvas after getting kicked in the family jewels

...and tears... nah I don't think he's crying... just sweat in his eyes..

And the day ended late, at 10:30, it was an exciting evening, and rage in the ring was left in the ring, fighters and spectators made their was home, we went for dinner.
Another fight? I wouldn't mind going... but I'll stay outside the ring, where it's safer

Click here to view the rest of the pictures

Eye the city exhibition

2006-07-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hey folks..

"Eye the City" Exhibition is going on at
the Central Lending Library,
National Library (Basement level)
from now till 31 July 2006.
Time: 1000-2100 hours
Admission is Free!

Unevetful

IN case you're wonder wtf I'm talking about,

Eye the city is a visual account of the events that occured on the last day of the year in Singapore. This exhibition features pictures taken on last new year's eve, 31st December 2005... and anyone can take part. 100 pieces are featured at the exibition.. and so is mine!!!! YEAH!

Drawn to this project when I viewed the previous year's work, I signed up and set off on a little walk around town in the late morning on the last day of 2005. To be honest with you, it was a shitty day for picture taking.. town was quiet, the blind dude busking at the Orchard Road underpass was taking a break, the underground space @ the Esplanade where teenagers practiced their breakdancing and juggling skills was empty... and the air was humid and still, a prelude to the unusually heavy monsoon rain storm that was to follow that afternoon.

So, the last place I ended up was @ the Singapore River.. where people were just sittting around and watching the half empty tour boats zip by, a bridal car was parked outside the Fullerton Hotel, some Indian tourists were taking pictures at a bronze Bullock cart statue (if I remember correctly.. or was it Buffalo?). This was where I took that picture you see above. A picture among all those that I've taken that best described the mood that day.

If you look back another year, things were very different. The Tsunami of 26 Dec 2004 brought a sense of gloom and doom to the region and most of Asia. Troops and aid were to be shipped out to the affected areas in the days to come. Large scale fund raising was being carried out, and the world was in a frenzy. In contrasting this with 2005's last day... it was uneventful and boring, but it was a smooth transition into 2006 and I think we didn't mind one bit.

Ransom

2006-06-12T08:22:00.000-07:00

Back in the 50's we used gather to watch a large TV screen in the village. At that time RTS (the local broadcasting company) just started operations.. Paraphrasing what the taxi driver said to me as we passed by the crowded coffee shop at the foot of a block flats near my home... The world cup match between Australia and Japan was underway.

BUT IT'S STILL THE SAME! I exclaimed, pointing my finger at the crowd of beer drinking uncles as the taxi cruised by.

4 years ago, it was free, now we have to pay to watch. There was nothing I could do or think about as I was too pissed. So this is what we're doing to promote sports in Singapore? So this is going to help Goal 2010? (Singapore's plan to play in the next world cup... hahahahahahhahahhaha)

The day the Singapore National team lost my support was the day we pulled out of the Malaysia-Cup and formed the S-League. Gone were the days when I felt for my team, gone were they days of watching OUR team face off against the mighty teams from Malaysia at the Kallang stadium. Gone is the Kallang wave.

In my opinion, our local soccer scene took a backward step in the soccer evolutionary process when we left the M-cup. No one in our already tiny country cared for their neighbourhood teams as much as they used to care for their national team. No one gave a shit if the Sembawang Rangers won the Tampines Rovers.

One thing did kick off and improve though; the legalised soccer betting system.

SO... when a huge event like the World Cup happens once every four years, I look forward to the team spirit and camaraderie reminiscent of the Malaysia Cup days. Singapore is too shitty to qualify, so I give my support to the Asian teams. I give my support to the underdogs and the dark horses that give the big names a run for their money. I gave my support to Senegal who destroyed the defending French team 4 years ago in the opening match of the tournament. And this isn't because I bet on games.. No No.. One major misconception is that many people who watch soccer in Singapore do so because money is at stake, well, not for me at least.

And in the same spirit that the underdog teams embrace as they face uphill struggles all the time, we're saying NO to the TV companies who have decided to own the rights to broadcast "the beautiful game".

We'll find a way to get by.. take it off the airwaves from Indonesia, watch it over the Internet or visit the coffeeshop (as a last resort), we don't need to pay for something that should rightfully be 100% Free.

Pass the Tiger and Chips

Friday

2006-06-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

There's a place I like to go on Friday nights after work.
Dark and often bypassed by the daily commute, it's nestled between Centrepoint shopping centre and Orchard Emerald. The Peranakan place as the alley is known hosts a few pubs where beers and cocktails are served, where yuppies go after a hard day's work to chill out.

My favourite place is to sit outside the Acid bar, when the lady sings with the guy on guitar... I don't know her name but she belts out familiar tunes in an unplugged fashion that sets my mind at ease. They don't have Hoegaarden here so the next best thing on the Beer menu is an Erdinger. As it sit back in my chair, everything melts away in the background and to me, it's perfect.

And though it's a Sunday night, I don't feel gloomy as I get ready to face the challenges of the week ahead, for I know that I will play hard come the weekend

and that Friday doesn't seem so far away.

Nothing beats live

Butt Sniffing Bunnies

2006-05-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

What's this?

Poor Goofy

2006-05-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

the end of the innocence

What have I been doing for the past 6th months?

1) Working my ass off!......... Basically (a) learning the ropes, (b) learning how stop the shit from hitting the fan.. and (c) how to clean shit off the fan if it (shit) does happen.

2) Reading a book entitled; "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" which never seems to end because I swear, I read at the pace of ten - fifteen pages a month.

3) Drinking, I've discovered that I've been drinking a lot more since I started working (Flaming Lamborghinis, AK47, Sambucas, Graveyards, Beer and more beer) PS. I've found a nice place with nice music @ Rouge outdoors which is at the Peranakan place next to centrepoint. Nothing like sipping a Erdinger and listening to the lady sing on a Friday after work.

4) Going to the Movies. I'm looking forward to the Da Vinci Code, United 93 and some QUALITY MOVIES PLEASE!!! IT HAS BEEN LACKING RECENTLY..

etcetera, etcetera, etcetera

My Greatest Enemy

2006-04-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

... Is Myself

Poetry in Motion

2006-03-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago (in late Jan), I attended a performance "Arts from the heart" organised by my ol' skool: NTU.

I paid ten or eleven bucks for a ticket to watch some nineteen different performing groups throw together an exciting concert. Quite a good deal if you'd ask me.

Posing as an official photographer,
here are some of the pictures I've taken!!!... -> (click to enlarge)

Rocking with the Band

Getting jiggy with the Lindy Hop people

The dancing Samsui women

Watch out behind you! But fear not, cos like in a hollywood fight scene the attackers usually take turns to strike a surrounded victim.

Waiting...

2006-02-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Conductor

2006-01-30T01:46:00.000-08:00

Singapore Conference Hall, 27th Jan 2006

I'm Not going in there

2006-03-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

NO ENTRY, taken using my lousy camera phone

Where Eagles Fly

2006-02-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

Asian Aerospace 2006

Over the last week, Singapore opened her doors to the Asian Aerospace for the last time. Not missing the last few shows, this year was no exception as I made it down to Changi. The next AA will be held in Hong Kong and Singapore will come up with her own "Singapore Airshow". Some of the special attractions this year; The Airbus A380 (one large bird), F-15 Strike Eagle (Singapore's newly ordered fighter bomber) and..... and... that's about it... really....haha

BUT I did take some pictures and if you didn't pay 21 dollars to catch the show... here are some of the highlights

F-15 Strike Eagle doing her flips and turns, agile and fast, this all-weather strike fighter entered service in 1988 and has proven itself to be a formidable foe in many theatres of combat.

Afterburners

The Highly Anticipated Airbus A380, the largest commercial plane to date topping the Boeing 747.

Donning the SIA colours which proudly announce "first to fly" the A380

The Apache Man; The AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicoptor made her appearance at the AA. These aircraft boast a whole arsenal of rockets and hellfire missiles to kick the shit out of enemy armour. I won't want to be sitting in a Tank with an Apache lurking behind the treeline.

Silver Bullets; Right out of some vampire slaying movie, these rounds are 30mm in diameter- To be used on the Apache's M230 Gun.

Nice nose; One of the other planes at the show. Not only were military planes on display, there were a host of other planes like trainers and private jets on show.

Bold Tigers

The KC-135 StratoTanker, Is an air-to-air refueling plane. "Petrol" kiosks in mid air, these guys extend the reach of Airpower to ensure that the airforce gets anywhere, anytime.

Sexy Beast; One of my favourite planes, the B-1B Lancer is a long range strategic bomber in service with the USAF.

Together with the B-52 Stratofortress and the B-2 Spirit, they form the backbone of the US' long range bomber force.

See you at the Singapore Airshow in a few years time! I hope that whatever comes after AA would not only match up to it, but surpass the standards that we have gotten used to for such a long time.

I'm getting fatter and fatter

2006-02-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

CNY is over and so is the string of long weekends and holidays since the end of December.

Time for some serious 5 day work weeks, no more gambling (with my ass luck i'm not getting anywhere in a card game), no more stuffing my face.

Ever since I started working I haven't been exercising. Very bad.

I dread the day I'm called up for IPPT. I've never really been athletic, until my army days where we where all whipped into shape, that was when I reached my peak in fitness. Since then it has been downhill all the way. Now I look back and ask how the fuck did I do all that?

But I don't have the time to exercise what!!

BULLSHIT, if you want to, you will make time,
nothing like a good ol' run or swim

or maybe I should just get one of these...

OSIM iGallop

The Musician

2006-02-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Singapore Conference Hall, 27th Jan 2006

I'd rather have ice-cream

2006-01-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Exercise Snoozestar V

2006-01-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

The highly anticipated simulated terror attacks on Singapore's rail and transport system was held on Sunday, 8 Jan at 0630 in the morning.

Newflash: I was in bed at 0630 on Sunday morning, just like 99% of my fellow Singaporeans.

What was the point of holding the largest ever drill involving the least possible number of commuters? To inconvenience as few people and businesses as possible I suppose?

It was kind of an anti climax if you ask me.

Screen shot taken from Channel News Asia's Website

World Peace and Sex

2006-01-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

One wish among hundreds/thousands hanging from bells along the Esplanade,
many people wished for world peace too. ;-)

Every NYE, people flock to the many places in Singapore for countdown parties, my past five count downs were spent in some club getting drunk and jostling with a thousand other people in the same room. This year was much quieter, I was in eating prata with a friend and had a toast of, not red wine or beer... but iced milo dinosaur.

It doesn't feel like a new year... "no Mood" is what most people call it, it's just another day to me... It's a 365 day cycle coming full circle and we're ready for another trip around the sun. I still have to go to work, I still have to go to bed at night and I still have to flush the toilet.

I don't have a habit of making resolutions, cos no one every keeps them. But I can do with a wish or two,

I wish for a cleaner and greener Earth

I wish my neighbour would stop smoking, Dad has weak lungs.

I wish for people to stop killing each other.

I wish to end typing this post and go to bed... right about now.

Melvyn Tan

2005-12-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

Melvyn Tan? What do I think of Melvyn Tan? I want to sympathise with him, for his parents are old and he wanted to come home to take care of them. Who wouldn't? I would if I were in his shoes.

But when I heard that all he got was a $3000 fine for dodging his 2 1/2 years ( I don't know how long it was back then) of National Service, it made my blood boil. What made it worse was that he said he could not remember how much he was fined. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating when I said that my 'blood boiled', but at the very best, I could not find even a single ounce of sympathy in my heart for him.

Melvyn Tan faced a possible jail term when he decided to return to Singapore after many years in England. Being a gifted pianist who was about to attend a prestigious music school, he decided at a very young age not to return home to face what every other singaporean with a dick had to go through. His family subsequently lost $30,000 as a penalty... I imagine $30k thirty years ago to be a fucking large sum of money.

So what did his $3,000 fine mean to us? Well to me at least, it meant that as long as you were rich and talented, you could get away with it. Let me get this clear before I go on, I don't see NS as a punishment for owning a dick, I see it as a rite of passage. I see it as some force, that would stand up and defend our tiny little 640sq Km of real estate that we call home. That even if we fought and died trying to stop our women from being raped and our buildings from being razed to the ground, we did our duties. I see it as something that would unite us all in our darkest hour.

One person's contribution is insignificant. Just like any other guy in the street, I am just a small fry, a small fry in a really really large box of fries. Melvyn Tan's absence didn't make us any weaker or cause any harm to Singapore. But if everyone were to think selfishly and back out when the time came for him to shave his head and don some stupid grey shirt with the word "ARMY" behind it, then I think we can all kiss our "clean and green" city goodbye and jump into the sea.

Soon after the media blew this case out of proportion, the defence minister mentioned that he was personally in favour of jailing NS dodgers. I guess they didn't want to make our future chow recruits think that there is an easy way out.

In the weeks that passed, Melvyn Tan was the centre of much debate, he cancelled his sold out concert and stepped down from a judging post in some violin competition or something like that. Weary of all the hoo-ha generated by the media, he must have been feeling pretty alienated.

Today, I don't feel so unsympathetic/angry as I did two-three weeks ago because to some extent, he has received his punishment, not meted out by a court of law but by the people of Singapore.

My lady friend asked me this: What if my son turned out to be a gifted pianist, would I be worried that he injure his fingers during his NS? Would I want him to go through it? I couldn't answer at that moment, my mind weighing between the money and fame he could attain :p and his responsibility as a Singaporean boy.

After some thought, I will tell him to bite the bullet and keep his hands away from hot barrel of the rifle during and after firing.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2005-12-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

The Sounds Easy choir: Our choir, Sounds Easy will be singing at Raffles City on 22nd Dec at 1900 hrs. Yes, that's today!!!... a delightful serving of xmas carols we promise to bring to you.

I would love to take a holiday during this season, perhaps hop on a plane to some nice tropical island or snow covered city. But I'm still on probation so I can't take leave :p and I don't have the means to finance it yet. For now it will just be a day dream.

Looking back just a little, This year saw many changes and transitions for me,

I finished my university education, went back into the army, left the army, started a new job. Also found some lobangs for photography assignments which has the potential to open many doors for me.

What lies ahead tomorrow and the year ahead is anyone's guess.

Flags of the World

2005-11-27T01:01:00.000-08:00

A lesson in efficient use of resources