After a whole week of raging events and twisting turns over the NKF issue, what comes next? There has been far too many bashes as well as constructive suggestions made over the mass media during the past few days. But WHERE does it goes?
I would throw in some of my own here within a couple of days. But I strongly suspect that not many would agree with me.
TO give or NOT to give?
posted by eruption @ 3:38:00 AM
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Extracted from TODAYonline: The 'power' of democracy?, 9th July 2005
More shock Project SuperStar exits lead some to question why the public has more say than the judges
Mervin Tay
mervin@newstoday.com.sg
FOR two consecutive weeks, MediaCorp TV Channel U's Project SuperStar has seen surprising exits, the latest being Derrick Hoh, Kelly Poon, Lai Lijun and Leon Lim on Thursday night.
"Viewers don't seem to be voting according to contestants' singing ability," observed 21-year-old student Tan Keng Hui.
Thursday's results shocked many, with a post appearing on the MediaCorp Communities Forum barely 20 minutes into the results show, wondering if a mistake had been made.
The voting mechanics of the show has come under fire. One of the gripes was the 30-per-cent versus 70-per-cent weightage accorded to judges' votes and call-in votes, respectively.
Many viewers feel professional judgment does not deserve lower weightage than popular opinion.
This was echoed in last week's 8 Days, with the entertainment magazine saying there should at least be a 50-50 split.
"It's sad to see the better ones leave because the judges' proportion of the score is too small," said part-time tutor Joseph Low.
The cost of each vote was also an issue of concern. Forum member pokka feels "neutral" voters — those whose votes might change and who do not vote for the same contestant throughout — have been "priced out of voting".
She drew a comparison with American Idol, where calls from land lines are free and SMS votes are only subject to normal messaging rates. In contrast, each vote costs 60 cents for Project SuperStar.
But for die-hard fans, cost is not a problem. Forum member energywen spoke of acquaintances who rally their friends to make "over 6,000 calls and SMSes" for a particular contestant, while frustrated asked: "If we restrict it to one vote per person or per handphone, I'm sure we'll witness a different outcome."
"Generally, it's hard for a small number of neutral viewers to influence the results because they'll be dominated by the different voting camps," said undergraduate Karine Chua.
If it's any consolation, Derrick, Kelly, Lijun and Leon will return on July 20 and 21 in the concluding quarter-finals.
Together with the four contestants who will be eliminated in next week's competition, they will battle for a place each in the male and female semi-finals.
My earlier post a couple of weeks ago: Home Grown Talent - Project SuperStar.
Does this mean the participants' supporters are bulldozing their way in now? Or just simply those singers, who are out of contention, just don't possess the X-factor and ozze out in the face of the fiery competition? Or onstage performance and vocals aren't on par?
Take all these in a pinch of salt. Rather, it's YOUR pinch of salt. Analogise this competition to the education certifications and the business world - it's just a stepping stone to the cruel world out there. To maintain and improve one's success is the most gruelling task.
I hope that most, if not all, of the quarter-finalists of Project SuperStar, would continue their passion and pursue in the arts industry, more importantly in the music arena. Afterall, being in the last 32 is something to boast of, and something to start with.
Our very own Xinyao Festival 2005 (National Songwriting Competition) - The Finals would be on 24th July, Singapore Conference Hall.
posted by eruption @ 3:11:00 PM
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I'm going to keep my words short and sweet here, and not going to pass any judgement or opinion regarding this. The below serves as information for anyone who is unaware as yet.
Extracted from Channel NewsAsia: Comfort, CityCab & Yellow-Top Revise Taxi Fares, 7th July 2005
SINGAPORE : ComfortDelGro Corporation's three taxi companies - Comfort, CityCab and Yellow-Top - are revising their fare structures from July 15.
They said this was to even out demand for taxis and resolve taxi shortage problems before midnight.
Passengers who board Comfort or Yellow-Top cabs after midnight, now pay a flat 50 percent levy surcharge, while those taking CityCab, pay a staggered surcharge of 10 percent to 50 percent from 11.30pm.
From July 15, staggered rates from 11.30pm onwards will apply for all taxis from the three companies.
To even out the demand for taxis, the current booking charges will be raised from $3 to $4 during peak hours from 7.30am to 9.30am and 5.00pm to 11.00pm on weekdays.
This will be reduced to $2.50 during non-peak times, including weekends and public holidays.
The advance booking charges will be standardised to $5.20.
The waiting time fare will be 10 cents per 25 seconds.
Passengers will pay a standard $1 City Area Surcharge from 5pm to 8pm from Mondays to Thursdays, and from 5pm to 11.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
And it will cost $2.60 - 20 cents more when a commuter flag down a Mercedes taxi.
The other taxi companies - SMRT, Transcab, Smart Automobile and Premier Taxis - are not available for comment.
But earlier reports have said they will not raise fares unless ComfortDelGro, which dominates the market with 17,000 cabs, do so. - CNA/de
Extracted from Channel NewsAsia: Taxi companies say no fare hike for now, 5th May 2005
SINGAPORE: With bus and MRT fares likely to rise, attention has now shifted to the possibility of a taxi fare hike.
When asked about this possibility, a Comfort DelGro spokesperson said it was all speculation at this point in time.
Comfort DelGro has the giant's share of the taxi market - about 80% - as blue Comfort cabs, Yellow Top cabs and City Cabs come under its umbrella.
The spokesperson added she had no announcement to make at this point in time.
SMRT Taxis says taxi fares remain one of the lowest and most affordable in the world.
But tough working conditions and rising diesel prices will lessen the burden on taxi drivers if fares are made more competitive, it adds.
However, it's understood smaller cab companies will probably take the lead for any increase from the market leader so that they do not lose out on market share. - CNA/ir
That's all.
posted by eruption @ 12:57:00 PM
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I don't think there's a necessity for me to throw out the figures, percentages and charts etc here. It is right HERE around us that we would absorb in the most hard proven evidence. Ownership of mobile phones, PDAs, PCs, laptops, digital entertainment systems, MP3 players, cars, PDA Phone, digital cameras, digital camcorders, broadband connections, home and portable gaming stations, etc has been on the rise, perhaps in a exponential rate than ever before.
How many of us can be at ease for a day without our mobile phones and/or pdas? Or without internet connection, surfing the net and communicating on instant messengers? Or without any MP3 player, mobile phone, portable gaming station onboard our usual routine journeys to work and/or school? Or without any mobile phone, digital camera, digital camcorder during our year-end overseas vacations? Numerous surveys have indicated our growing and worrying dependency on these kinds of gadgets, especially the youths. I don't deny that of myself either.
Whenever my tuition students punch the numbers in their calculators or mobile phones, for the answers of simple sums like (60/3)+4 or (58+5-23), I would just shake my head and ask them whether it is possible for them to do it without the aid of the calculator. Whenever I ask someone for their home/mobile number, and they are "scratching" their heads and trying to give me the correct one, I smile to myself. Whenever I see a group of teenagers taking fun shots of one another from one funky/slim digital camera on the mrt or bus, I wonder have I ever done that before?
One of my very own principles is to always remember the fundamentals and basics. I still commit to my OWN memory my OWN mobile number, home number and those of my close friends and others which I frequently dial or any that would be of relevant importance. I still write down my phonebook list on paper. And I still carry a phonecard and some coins in my wallet. I still do my simple sums in mind or on paper most of the times, except when there's a need to use the functions in the calculator or the extensive spreadsheets on the PC. I still do most of my website design and related work in HTML. In fact, I'm typing all my blog entries in plain HTML format, right now and here. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) alike simply doesn't appeal to me much, I'm rather displeased with it at some stage and went straight on to HTML after that. For computer hardware, same thing applies again, most of the times, I would parition and format my harddisks in DOS. For photography, I make it a point to grasp the basics before attempting to move any further.
Of course, to adopt new technology is an extremely important aspect. But I would start with the very fundamentals and progress from there. It just simply amazes me when someone can assemble a computer from the hardware components and somehow gets stuck when he's installing the software. But to be fair, there have to be a START somewhere and somehow. But hopefully, the fundamentals of our society wouldn't be forgotten and lost decades or centuries from now.
To START is far better than to STUCK forever.
posted by eruption @ 12:31:00 PM
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I'VE just been through a crisis in my 13-year-old marriage.
A month ago, my husband, the only man in my life for the past 15 years, the father of my four lovely children, dropped a bomb on me.
He told me that he had a fling with his secretary and he would be leaving his well-paid job so as to end the episode.
Have I been a submissive wife? I would say, "Yes".
Perhaps, he might say, "No". My occasional tantrums might have put him off, but he has chosen to ignore the fact that I've been stressed by the hectic routine at home.
I had wished for a husband who would be patient, caring and most importantly, faithful to me.
Over the years I've gone through four pregnancies and given up my career. I've sacrificed sleep and leisure, meals and rest, to cope with the demanding schedules of my three schoolgoing children and an energetic toddler.
We have never even had a decent holiday — every vacation was spent visiting his parents and relatives in Malaysia.
My husband is a man of few words; he doesn't seem keen to engage in conversation with me.
No matter how tough my day, he has never given me a pat on my back or whispered "sweet nothings" to comfort me.
I'm not a superwoman. There were times when I broke down and cried for attention. Instead of silencing me with a reassuring hug, he rained punches on me and even strangled me!
He does not want to hear anything that might upset him — if I had to cry, I was expected to cry alone because he would never understand why I should feel hurt.
I've accepted him the way he is — even when my heart has been bleeding for over a decade.
Where's the respect? Is there equality in marriage? If only one spouse is working on it, we can't take for granted that the "receiving" spouse will reciprocate the effort.
In my case, my husband was so absorbed with his secretary, that he didn't see my devotion and sacrifices for the family.
He looked distracted when he was with us, came home later after work, showed little enthusiasm for birthday celebrations. I was the one organising every activity to keep the family together.
A man might think that he has done a great duty for the family by bringing home the bread and butter.
When he comes home after work, he expects the wife to be more than just the children's mother. He wants the wife to also provide him with gentle loving care.
My husband has obviously missed the fact that I'm already dead tired after a long day with the children, having driven eight to 10 trips in the car, feeding and changing the baby up to six times a day.
Don't I also wish he could come back to offer me some warmth and passion?
We could discuss ways to rekindle our romance, but it's usually tough. Either both of us are too tired and mentally stressed, or, there's always interference from one of our children.
Even in bed, we're "separated" by at least one child sleeping between us.
I had relied on our marriage vow that, even though the relationship might dull, we'd remain faithful to each other. And on the hope that tomorrow might get better.
I consoled myself by trusting that the man I married would be happy that I was totally independent and efficient at running the household alone, so that he could devote his entire time, energy and concentration to his work.
I never expected that he would abuse my trust and spend his time, energy and money on another woman instead.
Worst of all, he thinks he has the right to decide how he wants to spend his time.
He knows what he's doing is morally wrong, but he simply can't resist the temptation.
What shall I do? I've had to battle bitterness in silence, while learning to forgive him. If I kick up a fuss, I might upset him so much that he would be consumed with anger.
I have to be magnanimous, yes, very magnanimous — otherwise, the marriage will be over, and that doesn't mean it would be better for us and it definitely would not be for the kids.
There is no justice, but should we talk about justice in a marriage?
Can I leave him? I can't. For the sake of my four young children. We depend on him for a living.
I have to focus on moving forward. To give my children a healthy family life, I have to forgive my unfaithful husband, whether he's worthy of the forgiveness or not; and I have to continue to work on improving our relationship, whether he's worth the effort or not.
I've also been advised not to hate the other woman … so I had to remind myself to thank her. Why? She has given me a wake-up call, otherwise, I would still be living in my own dreams for the future.
Now that I know what my husband needs, I have to work on my role as a wife. Hopefully, from now on, we can live happily ever after.
This was contributed by a reader. She has not been named in full, to protect her privacy and that of her children. What do you think of her views? Tell us, at news@newstoday.com.sg
Before anything else, I would like to express my utmost sincere admiration and respect for the lady in concern.
A couple of friends would have heard my words: "There would never be equality in any relationship and marriage".
It's pointless and really endless to debate about the much ancient issue of each gender's rights and equality in relationships and marriages. Rather than "piting" both genders against each other, why not divert and focus on reflection on and improving oneself and of course one another?
The Women's Charter in Singapore has been enforced since 1961. For guys that have always been complaining about it, this real-life case is one of the many that offer more than sufficient justification about the absolute need for it.
Equality: Do we see a Men's Charter upcoming soon? Come on, face it guys, we all know it. I won't deny that a Men's Charter or alike might be appearing in the near future. Maybe it would kick-in in the western countries first? BUT DO WE really want a society that is bound by rules, legislations, rules, legislations? Certainly, there have been ladies benefiting from the Women's Charter, but whether anyone has the intention of using it for her own gain (especially monetary gains) is not for us to assume and gossip about. I'm pretty fine with how it is going now. I act on a clear conscience, I believe that no woman can use the Women's Charter against me.
Driven to the wall, anyone can do anything in that spur of the moment. Let's just hope that moment won't pop up that often and when it ever comes, drag it longer and open up your eyes, brain and heart.
Blissful marriage to everyone out there.
posted by eruption @ 11:24:00 PM
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