A little whisper in the dark

Face?

Despite hating the fact that I have TV (which I hardly watch nowadays) being thrust in my face when I am travelling on the bus, I do spare it some attention sometime only to be rewarded with TV trailers like this:

Doctor: I'm sorry, but we'll have to remove your womb.......

Patient: But you don't understand, if you remove my womb, I can't have babies!

It struck me as more than just a little oversight that the patient is telling the doctor what was already painfully obvious; true that this is a TV drama, but let's be a little bit more logical and anchored into reality here......

This week Singapore had another go at separating conjoined twins. The previous try ended in tears, and I had a bit of a random thought that some Iranian militants might be so pissed off with the Raffles Hospital staff they might've contemplated bombing the place or something drastic. Anyway, I couldn't help but feel that it was to a certain extent a face saving gesture that motivated the Raffles Hospital staff to make another attempt. To redress the balance. To put wrong things right. To end the balance sheet in the black than in the red.

Its literally a cold, calculating, and clinical job, isn't it?

But in the end its about reputation, or in Asian society, better known as face. And its about face that neither Singapore nor Malaysia are willing to back down from a water supply dispute that's flared up again after the SARS scare is over. Sticking to your guns long enough would be called determination, but sticking to it for way too long would be foolish stubborness.

posted by Chung Leong @ 3:44 AM 0 comments

Shooting Stars

I reckon its about 4 or 5 years back, gazes were turned to the sky for what was billed as the meteorite shower of the decade. We'd gone to Tanah Merah in the hopes of finding a dark spot on this crowded and well lit island so as to get the best view of rocks falling out of the sky. And as the time drew near, so did clouds, which obscured the night sky.

We stared at the sky, sulked a bit, and went home when it was clear the clouds weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

I was at Kent Ridge Park last night, once again, the clouds were out in force, with little to indicate any meteor shower. I saw two shooting stars plunging - through the clouds. She saw the second one; the first shooting star she'd ever seen.

On a night where the only other thing we could see in the sky was a solitary satellite, it was definitely special.

posted by Chung Leong @ 1:58 AM 0 comments

Toilet

Of late, there's some media furore over the Government finally accepting people of alternative sexual orientation into their service. It struck me I'd had a brief if embarassing encounter over the weekend; I think before the announcement was even made.

In an unfamiliar shopping centre, you'd check before entering the washrooms, just so you enter the right one. Yes, I've had friends enter the wrong one but I've not had the fortune of entering the Ladies yet.

A cautious approach, and tentative glance. The sign on the door is not clear, and whilst my head is cocked toward the sign, a figure appears in the doorway. I glance at the figure, and back at the sign again, just to make sure.

The figure turned out to be a longish haired guy, rather effeminate at first glance.

I had to check to make sure I was standing in the right doorway, and I think it was a bit comical, yet at the same time embarassing.

posted by Chung Leong @ 9:15 PM 0 comments

Teh Tarik

I happened to be in the Arab Street area today, and vaguely remembered having dropped by a little hole in wall along one of the side streets that still sold proper teh tarik. Now, teh tarik literally translated, is pulled tea. How does one pull tea? To make the hot tea cooler, the vendor would raise one mug containing the drink, and pour it out.......of course, there is a receiving mug to catch the contents. The path the water takes, together with the motion, gives the impression of "pulling" the tea.

So anyway, I suddenly had the hankering to see this chap at work, and went out of the way and around a few streets before finding it. And so I find myself with a nice spot, watch him do his thing, and I have.......coffee. I'm not a tea drinker, but nostalgia of watching what is a dying skill and trade is worth the trip.

In a way, I guess that's me. And I guess I'm a square peg in a round hole right where I am, in this society, on this island, in this country. To the crowd who was at the little coffeeshop, they were probably there for the teh tarik. The taste, the originality, the familiarity. Or whatever. They have their goal. So do most people in Singapore; goal-oriented we all should be. Otherwise we'd be stagnant. Right?

I went there just to have a look. It didn't matter if the teh tarik (or coffee) tasted like shit (for the record its pretty decent).

posted by Chung Leong @ 3:19 AM 0 comments

Kiss

I'm not sure whether I kissed my ex-girlfriend Amy back in 4th July 1999, the day she officially became my girlfriend (and was to be for almost the next 3 years).

Haven't kissed another girl since.

Four years on, I broke the duck. On the same day, no less. To be sure it is in a less than romantic situation, with a noisy crowd of spectators grabbing couples at random and "persuading" them to smooch. The inevitability of the situation is such that I would've just gotten it over and done with.

There was a look in her eyes I couldn't quite place.

posted by Chung Leong @ 4:47 PM 0 comments