Word of the Day

ob strep er ous
adj.

1. Noisily and stubbornly defiant.
2. Aggressively boisterous.

Thank you dictionary.com

Book: Got Singapore (2002)

As a foreigner in Singapore, I wanted to become acquainted with the nation in a way more personal than what is given in common tourist books such as Lonely Planet and Eyewitness. As I browsed through the titles in the bookstore, I eventually came across a book titled Got Singapore: Bits and Pieces from a Dot in the World. The book is a collection of essays, originally published in the Straits Times, written by a thirty year newspaper veteran named Richard Lim. 

While reading the book, I felt like I was able to get to know both Singapore and Richard Lim.  The book is divided into five sections and all of them are rich and interesting.  The first section of the book was originally a Straits Times 1989 National Day supplement. Notably, it was one of the longest articles ever published by the paper.  In the article, Lim reminisces about his family's past and his experience growing up as a Baby Boomer.  He includes details about his polyamorous grandfather, his boyhood education at the Raffles' Institute, his breakaway from many Buddhist traditions, his love of Jimi Hendrix, and his personal struggles as a writer. 

In the second section of the book, Lim has included some essays about living and relaxing in Singapore.  He presents accounts of moving into different HDB flats, romancing a fellow factory worker in the 1970s, and spending leisure time at West Coast park.  The third section contains details about his many travels around Asia and the word.  The fourth chapter of the book contains reflections on several authors who have been influenced by Singapore. To name a few, Lim includes includes information about Herman Hesse, Joseph Conrad and VS Naipaul.

As a Westerner, the fifth section about government was the most shocking for me to read.   Aside from  some rather dull details about the formation of POSBank, Lim provides a lengthy analysis of the political philosophy of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister.   Among the assertions that confronted my Western, Classical Liberal sensibilities were that it is the duty of the press to support the government, "All men are brothers, but they are never equal," and that "what works is what counts" because "ideologies do not lead to flexibility."

Overall, I think this is a good book.  People who have lived in Singapore their entire lives may find the information too obvious; but for a Westerner, it was just what I needed to get a little more acquainted with the people and the culture.

The 1 Minute Review

I wasn't offered a million dollars, but Brandon, a Singaporean blogger, has asked me to start posting reviews at his website The 1 Minute Review. I'll probably have time to post a few things after I finish figuring this quarter's grades.
Thanks Brandon!

E-MAIL PICTURE

MILLION DOLLAR BLOG

I recently became aware of a site called The Million Dollar Homepage.

Some kid is actually succeeding at selling advertisements by the pixel and he has made thousands of dollars so far.  His only promise is that he'll keep the site up for five years.  He claims that he is doing it in order to go to school debt free, but I really think he wants to live life debt free.  Who the heck needs a million dollars for school?

I have an alternate proposal.  I will start something called "The Million Dollar Blog."  Here's the deal- as long as you have an honorable business, one that I could comfortably tell my family about, I will only blog about your business for the next five years.  All you have to do is pay me one million dollars over the next five years.  Wouldn't that be incredible?  No matter what the subject, if you give me one million dollars I will write about that subject. I will do it every day, without fail.  Shoot, I'd even go just one year for the bargain basement price of $150,000.  Any takers?

I promise that I will spend the money as follows:

One hundred thousand dollars goes straight to the church.

One hundred thousand more will be given to my favorite para-church organizations.

One hundred thousand more will be spent on graduate school.  I'm going to live it up.

I will save two hundred thousand dollars in a Roth IRA.

One hundred thousand more will be given to my immediate family.

One hundred thousand more will be used to advertise my writing skills in order to search for other suckers who might give me millions of dollars.

The rest of the money I will spend on anything else I darn well please.


Now you even have a budget.  I don't think the million dollar homepage kid even provides you with that much information.

IT CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW

After about a week I've finally gotten Blogger to work again.

This post will be boring to Singaporeans and shocking to everyone else. This is a picture of a little friend I found in the bathroom. It is a gecko and they are all over the place in Singapore. Thanks to the cats outside my apartment, I haven't seen any mice yet.