Look before you read?

I always thought that when teams in a competition reach the semi-finals, the two winners face off in the finals (for gold and silver) while the respective losers fight in their face-off for the bronze. So both ST's and Channel NewsAsia's stories (May 5) puzzled me:

Table Tennis: S'pore women's team get bronze after 0-3 loss to China

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/table-tennis-s-pore-women/1094382.html

In the other women's semi-final, also played on Sunday, Japan trounced Hong Kong 3-1. In the women's finals played today (Monday, May 5), China beat Japan 3-0.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/table-tennis-china-sweep/1095692.html

So what puzzles me is: Why was there no play-off between Singapore and Hong Kong to determine who gets the women's bronze? But, then, I have to plead ignorance about the rules of table tennis.

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I am on much surer grounds when I spot a lack of effort by the headline writer in this ST story (May 5)...

This is what the text of the reporter's introduction said:

And this is what the headline for the same story said:

Maybe ST should invest in a computer program to automatically write the headlines. (I am reminded of GIGO, ie, Garbage In, Garbage Out.)

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I noticed a tendency -- not just in ST but in the other local newspapers too -- to call every Tom, Dick and Harry an "expert". So, now there is a "POSB expert" (same event as above but in an inside page story). POSB expert? What's that!...

I suspect a degree of cluelessness on the part of the copy processors. POSB is the Post Office Savings Bank which once upon a time was a true national savings bank for the ordinary people. I hazard a guess that Mr Stanz Tan is some sort of authority on the workings of savings banks (as opposed to commercial banks). But it takes a leap of absurdity to then call him a POSB expert.

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Since I am picking holes, here's more:

  
  ...a rare star who cares about those around him. Hmmm. What does this say about the majority of Mr Png's fellow Mediacorp actors?

...but neither Oxford nor Cambridge nor MIT... Why stop there? Why not throw in a few more "nor's"?

The correct preposition is "at" or "along". Incidentally, did anyone else notice that there were six adults in the car? It was later identified as a Volkswagen Golf, a sub-compact.

This next one is from TODAY:

  
 How many mums are we supposed to have? This example above is the cover page of a supplement. An inside page, thankfully, redeemed itself:

Finally, I am not sure if this example below had been doctored but we can have a good laugh at Mr Abbott's expense. I am sure as an Aussie bloke, he has a great sense of humour:

Note: 3AW is a Melbourne news organisation.

May the blog be with you...

Two fans of Star Wars (Liane and KA) impressed upon me that today, May the Fourth (May 4th), is Star Wars Day:

Hmm, I wonder how people in China think about it, especially if one reads the above as "May The Fourth" (pause) "Be With You". The May Fourth Movement (May 4, 1919) marked an awakening especially among students, of Chinese nationalism, and among the targets of their wrath were Western and Japanese nationals whose countries were deemed to have violated China's sovereignty.

So a present-day Chinese admiral sending his sailors off to patrol the East and South China seas may well say: "May The Fourth Be With You!"

Here in Singapore, there was some excitement:

Star Wars Day brings the Force to Singapore

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/cinema/star-wars-day-brings-force-singapore-20140502

There are of course the usual spoofs on the now-famous tagline (and one below on the Dark Side):

This year being the Year of the Horse, there was this local blog which had a rendition that Chinese people worldwide will find amusing:

http://dailymusingsofmarcy.blogspot.sg/2014/02/of-foods-family-and-cny.html

I also found this Star Wars spoof song (below) by "Weird Al" Yankovic. The music is from American Pie; and its title is "The Saga Begins":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RbQT7TehdU

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I'll wrap up on an inspirational note...  this Irish Blessing:

Drawing 'L' for pistol, and other stuff that drew a blank...

The best story in today's ST (May 3) is this interview with ballet doyen Goh Lay Kuan. Reporter Goh Chin Lian has done an excellent job:

Reading it, I admire her indomitable spirit. These two excerpts below recount two vivid incidents, impishly told with ironic humour...

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I have also been collecting a few ads which I believe were not meant to be funny but the ambiguity of their intended message made them... well, go off-target!...

If the intended message of this ad above -- in the style of an optician's eyecheck chart -- was "Clear vision and (a) sharp focus equal success", it didn't work with me. I read it as "Blurry vision and blurred focus equal...".

As for this one below, is the stress on sofa bed lovers or sofa bed lovers?

This ad went for the upside-down strategem to attract eyeballs...

But is the price of this particular item marked down to $88?...

Hmmm... every part of the (male) chicken is used!...

Finally, most Singaporeans may not find this ad below odd. I do, because to me (and I am sure many non-Singaporeans especially people from the United States), a parking lot is a carpark (in British usage) with many parking spaces. So, 1,200 parking lots? Wow!!..

Emotions in pictures (Part 2)...

Honour

Accomplishment

Perseverance

Absurdity

Companionship

Beauty

Caring

Relating

Fruitful

Awe

Loneliness

Tradition

Tenacity

Friendship

May your troubles be less

May your blessings be more

May nothing but happiness

Come through your door!

Emotions expressed in pictures! (Part 1)

Our dear friend Joy from Canberra sent us these cleverly curated and captioned photos, simply titled "Pictorial Essays":

Determination

Hope

Contemplation

True love

Excitement

Security

Insecurity!

Adventure

Contentment

Longevity

Curiosity

Heroism

Aspiration

Confusion

Shuffle or reshuffle? Both can, ah? Can meh?

There was a Cabinet reshuffle, said TODAY. Wait a minute... there was a Cabinet shuffle, said The Straits Times:

So which is correct? Both, many people will say. One argument is that the two terms are interchangeable when used in the context of parliamentary Cabinet changes. A more nuanced argument is that the first change after a new Cabinet -- following a general election -- is constituted is a Cabinet shuffle. After that, any further changes (until the next general election)  are Cabinet reshuffles.

But my own preference is reshuffle, even for the first change. Longman's backs me up:

http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/Cabinet-reshuffle

Reshuffle note: These latest Cabinet changes announced yesterday (April 29) are not the first ones since the May 2011 general election.
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I heard on the radio one food blogger proffering a sensible distinction between the phrases "good and cheap" and "cheap and good"...

He said something that is "good and cheap" is that which gives value for money from a range of good stuff while that which is "cheap and good" is something that is good enough from a a range of cheap stuff. Makes sense to me.

This reminds me of a pre-university classmate's astute observation that some things are "good from far" but "far from good"!

My third example comes from last Sunday's church sermon:

So, if someone is still struggling in his faith, he has not rejected his fundamental beliefs. The term unbeliever, then, stands out in contrast as a precise word. But it is not immutable: an unbeliever may yet become a believer. And vice versa, of course.

I'll wrap up with this illustration below of how -- in the hands (voice cum inflection?) of a Singlish speaker, "can" becomes such a versatile word!...