I was deliberating whether to continue blogging here or on MSN Spaces. MSN Spaces of course is more user friendly in cross referencing to facebook and many other social networking platforms, but it lacks many customizable features available on Wordpress.
So I choose the latter because customization makes me excited and there’s new possibilities to try new things!
I had to help my father register for his proficiency driving test at the Jurong Driving Test Centre as he would be 65 years ago this year. It was my first time there and I didn’t know in fact there is a traffic police office and the driving centre was a private business. When asked on how to book a driving test for my father, one of the uncle, who works as a tester, replied in such incompleteness that made me even more confused. Another said “I don’t know anything, don’t ask me”. WTH. Luckily I asked the lady cashier and she told me to hand the medical report to the traffic police counter, then the officer booked a date and I made payment.
Phew! It was surely not a pleasant thing to go all the way from the east to Chin Bee 4th Avenue where the test centre is. And by the time it ended, it was almost noon. This part of Singapore is sparsely populated, with all the heavy industries around. Unless you want to sell some scrap metal, you’d be unlikely to visit this area. Out of boredom, I shot some pictures and experimented around, unfortunately or fortunately, with my camera phone!
Takita Yojiro has never intended that his brainchild - “Departures”, would bag the 2009 Oscars Best Foreign Language Film and hit a Japanese box office of ¥320m. Indeed, his original idea that was mooted as far back as 10 years ago would have been engulfed by waves of new-age films engineered to make a stir in the box office.
It was perhaps due to Yojiro’s early career as a black humor film-maker that accumulated in him the vast experience and a sensitive acumen for human emotions. However this acumen is not entirely meant to bring out the darker side of human nature, but in fact at many occasions in his characters, he strives to emphasize his respect for human dignity and belief in innate goodness in each person.
This was thrown at the audience at the very beginning of the movie — no matter what the person was like in his life, due respect for the very person that he was, must be shown even when he is dead. That is how it hit the first note right and the brilliance of the film-maker captivated me and many audience, I believe.
To the film-maker, human beings are bound by fate and unexpected events could occur and bring about a twist of fate. But that’s not quite the end of the story. It depends on how we, in the end, laugh it off at our fate and turn it instead into fuel to achieve something far greater than we think is possible. The use of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was part of a humorous metaphor — it was the deaf composer’s triumph against his fate. But the celloist, Daigo who gave his life to perform and infused the music as his own could not even overturn his own fate, and was in the end retrenched by the orchestra. The dream in music he had been spent his entire career to pursue was smashed in a matter of seconds, with only two words - “Orchestra dismissed”. What an outright insult!
Personally I’ve learnt so many things from this movie, whether it’s about one’s mission in life, having a good mentor, sense of appreciation, repaying gratitude, parents’ love for children, life and death and so on, all came one by one into mind, patiently tucking at our heartstrings and helping to somehow manifest the innate goodness in each of us. One of the most deeply ingrained message from the film, which I believe is also the quintessence, is that we can only understand how to live as a true human being when we understand what is death. That also implies that death is already around us and also being a part of us, even when we’re still alive, just that we are not enlightened enough to fathom it. And thus it is definitely not something to be afraid of. Just like what Daigo’s boss and mentor said in the film, “We’re eating all things that are already dead, and in order to live, we’ve to eat.” Linking to the earlier sentences, this is indeed a brilliant black humour!
Death was also likened to closing a door and opening another, finishing a journey and beginning another. After watching the film, knowing that how terrifying it was to know what you want to do in life was already being planned by others, I am very certain that I would allow no one to decide how I should leave the world behind and where I should go next. For this is the privilege that make us truly human.
These days, concerts in the public have a strong appeal to the masses in this bleak economic downturn, especially if the music could inspire hope. True enough, audience from far and wide flocked to the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage before 5pm on Feb 13, waiting anxiously for the performers to take the stage and churn out some goodies!
The Singapore Soka Association’s Young Men Division Courageous Musicians enthralled everyone with tunes such as “Conga” and “I Believe I Can Fly”, then the Young Women Division Fife and Drum Corps took the helm with lively baton dances and symphonic pops such as “Cartoon Heroes”, “Mamma Mia” and “Spaceship Yamato”.
As it got closer to dusk, the Soka New Century Orchestra and the two bands came together for a grandeur finale, with lovely rhythms from pieces like “Love Love Love” (arranged by Kawasaki Junichi) and American Graffiti X.
Though it was only a short one-hour performance, it was especially refreshing to listen to colourful music that invigorates, and the mood matched perfectly with the cooling afternoon after a shower. Who actually danced to the pops? Well it was one uncle with an exclusively old camera that was connected to a flash module on its right. After taking some shots, he’d dance to the tunes and enjoy himself! Shouldn’t we dance and give cheers to our lives too?
K-20 here does not refer to the Pentax’s highest resolution model of SLR camera, but the latest one-man-save-the-earth themed movie release from the Japanese film giant Toei Animation. When it comes to Japanese movie, it’s sometimes difficult to categorize it as it often belongs to a special breed of its own, neither east or west, neither here or there.
With courtesy of mypaper.sg, I was given preview tickets to the movie at GV Marina and the sponsor was generous enough to give the patrons each a large movie poster as well. Besides me someone ate some sourish/spicy snacks and the pungency was mixed with sweat odour from a person in front of me, however the unpleasant concotion that lingered in the air did not affected much of my viewing pleasure as I was expecting to see what Kaneshiro Takeshi had to offer this time after his epic screenplay in the Red Cliff II.
It was late 1930s and Tokyo or rather Imperial City (Tei-to) did not have to witness the catastrophe of World War II (because of the signing of a peace treaty), paving the way for the popularization of a class society in a dense metallic-concrete retro-futuristic metropolis, littered with long-forgotten slums occupied by its lowest class citizens. Marriage between classes was forbidden and no one was allowed to change their jobs.
It was no surprise that under such hermetically sealed society, a hero to protect the people was born (as evidently the Japanese filmmaker tried to draw inspirations from the Marvel comics heroes), albeit by accident. Endo Heikichi (Kaneshiro Takeshi), a circus acrobat and magician who led a simple life entertaining the folks and looking after his priced doves, had to follow the footsteps of the villian aka K-20 (Mysterious Man with 20 Faces) in order to unveil the mask of the man who had framed him, resulting in Heikichi’s capture by the police thinking he was the real K-20. Fortunately Heikichi escaped with the help of his friends and he vowed to hunt down the true K-20. During the chase, Heikichi discovered the man behind the mask was after a secretive machine called the Tesla Device, that has unimaginable power to transmit data wirelessly to any coordinates on the globe (yes no kidding and unrivalled by any form of electromagnetic energy available today!) and churn out more than enough power for the entire village Heikichi was living in, and thereby able to instantaneously erase the poverty and sufferings of the slum children he had to look after.
Does that not remind us of borrowed ideas from Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige”? So volia, let your imagination run wild to what catastrophe the Tesla Device can bring if it were to land in the wrong hands. From this point onward, any development in the plot only merely serves to justify its sequential existence, such as the Heikichi’s affinity for the princess Hashiba Yoko (Matsu Takako) who was already married to the inspector Akechi (Nakamura Toru), who wrongly accused Heikichi. With a glimpse into Heikichi’s background, she later conveniently fell for Heikichi and became his aide. If that’s not convincing enough, at least the flawless complexion of Matsu Takako and her doll-like sweetness could have blown the male audience away! That’s enough for the ticket price I suppose?
For the rest, before you slam your palm on your forehead, keep to your seats a little longer to uncover the real identity of K-20 and his motive for the theft of Tesla Device (which I believe your wisdom must have hinted at you already). Then go ahead and slam your palm on your forehead after watching a Spiderman-like ending of Peter Parker bidding farewell to Mary Jane.
Don’t ask me how could such a movie garnered a box office of 2 billion yen when the Japanese car makers are losing several hundered billions. There’re times the maths does not add up and sense makes no sense after all.
42mm 1/50s f5.0 ISO400
Someone had mercilessly removed all the beautiful hibiscuses next to Tampines West CC except one (picture below)! More than surprised, I was pain-stricken. Before I write a complaint (yes I’m a typical Singaporean and I like to complain!) to the town council, I snapped the last hibiscus in Tampines St 81 neighbourhood (pretty sure about that) before it’s gone forever! However, the unwelcomed morning breeze was swaying the branches and I couldn’t click the shutter. Frustrated, I chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and cried in my heart, “Please let me capture the beauty of the last hibiscus!” Strangely, in moments, the breeze disappeared for a 5-6 seconds and I quickly took aim, adjusted the manual focus ring and hit the shutter.
And the result is the picture below, which I came to realise its composition was not ideal. But I completed my mission.
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The Voices of Spring 2009 opened on a high note featuring a slew of familiar melodious Chinese New Year songs. The classic ambience at The Arts House was perfect for the night, as various local choirs sang their hearts out to revere and promote Chinese tradition, with the earnest desire to pass it on the next generation. The organiser Miss Woo Mun Ngan encouraged the audience to sing Chinese New Year songs during the Chinese New Year, just as carols are sung during Christmas. In fact one local pioneering composer Mr Leong Yoon Pin (梁荣平） had been championing the widespread of Chinese New Year songs to the masses by adapted them to choral pieces that can be performed for the public. Though an elderly, he is a gentle person and well respected by those who know him, as he is fondly called 梁老师 （Teacher Liang）. I thought it must be the most fortunate for his students to have such a great mentor.
The choir below is the Metro Philharmonic Choir that sang several Chinese New Year songs reworked by Mr Leong, which were full of energy and hope.
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Stripped bare of the exterior glamour, what value do I possess?
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“Hello? Er can you make sure the position of “Cai Sheng Ye” is correct, so that it’ll bring good luck to the residents?”
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