1. Yesterday, while waiting for J at Hart House, I encountered a guy promoting ukulele lessons in the alcove of one of the main entrances. He gave me an impromptu lesson. While it was fun and I like the lightheartedness of the instrument a lot, I really don't think I'll be adding to my list of extra-curricula.

2. I've been reading VRS's Western ( Read more... )

Canada voted last Monday, and we now have a conservative majority. I can recite a long, toilet roll list of reasons why this is particularly upsetting, but the main thing here is that I do think a majority-anything is almost always a bad thing ( Read more... )

I think what really makes me sick about the state of governance in Singapore is the idea that the majority party in the government thinks it's the government and won't serve the people who declined to vote for them ( Read more... )

I think the PAP would have been able to swing more votes if they'd been impartial in (their majority) government and upgraded every estate instead of just the ones that had voted for them. If upgrading is such a major issue to the citizens, then I'd really be a lot more convinced that they would run the country for the good of all The People, ( Read more... )

I feel very strongly about this whole event; perhaps not as strongly as I might've been had my (um, my parents') constituency been successfully challenged - and this is a whole other ballgame altogether. In any case, I don't need to vote, sad enough as it is. But I still want to be a part of this whole thing, because there's a lot I want to say ( Read more... )

So I was complaining about not being able to vote in the Singapore Elections since the nearest polling station is in NYC. I guess it would've made a nice travel break, and I could've dropped by to see thymia and we would've made a fun day-trip out of it or something, but for the moment that sort of privilege is reserved for the comfortable middle classes ( Read more... )

Just got back from a big run-around involving City Hall Toronto and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

See, back home where I come from, my name reads Surname Chinese Name, Given-name. Nothing wrong with that, because that's the way we roll in Singapore. Official documents, documents I've had since I was born ( Read more... )

Incredibly curious about what's going on, but a little too apprehensive (and frankly, too lazy and rain-averse) to head out into the streets to see and capture the events. We were chilling at home yesterday to the sounds of helicopters and sirens (our new home is near a fire station) and intermittent rain pattering on the roof, when I tuned into ( Read more... )

Excerpt from Law won't tolerate attacks, Sunday Times (Jan 4 2009 ( Read more... )