Truth... next exit?

Amid the continuing saga over the 1MDB imbroglio, someone in neighbouring Malaysia made a political point recently:

But is there such a place? For sure, there is this place in the USA...

...and this one:

Googling, I found these too:

Finally, there was this billboard!...

Bad eye jokes...

Today marks two weeks since my vitrectomy operation. Sigh, the bubble is still there, in my right eye. Since my eye doctor has no sense of humour, despite dealing with aqueous humour and vitreous humour all the time, I decided to go online to get my bad eye jokes:

GE2015 (Part 2)

The lines for "battle" have been drawn, and reporters and commentators have been having a field day. These are just a sampling:

http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/electoral-boundaries-report-2015-which-will-be-the-hot-seats-in-the-coming-general-election?xtor=EREC-16-1[ST_Newsletter_AM]-20150725-[Electoral+boundaries+report+2015%3A+Which+will+be+the+%27hot%27+seats+in+the+coming+general+election%3F]&xts=538291

http://themiddleground.sg/2015/07/24/boundary-pappie-oppie/

http://sgag.sg/posts/break-neck-news-geologists-investigating-74-8-magnitude-earthquake-that-hit-singapore-earlier-this-afternoon

http://mothership.sg/2015/07/winners-and-losers-who-won-and-who-lost-after-the-redrawing-of-the-electoral-boundaries/

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I added my two cents' worth on Facebook:

*Potong Pasir tidak potong
*Please 'detrain' at Moulmein and wait for the next GRC
*Joo Chiat gets marching order...to Marine Parade square.

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Finally, someone at ST must have been tipsy. Just what is a "Sober report"?...

Hic, hic... it should be "Sobering report".

GE2015...Every breath you take, I'll be watching you?

I'm still fidgety, into my second week of face-down. So I posted this on Facebook while facing down...

I have a new playlist...for GE2015 (this year's expected general election). Since politicians are not known for their sense of humour, this is done tongue in cheek, hor:

PAP (esp with Aljunied and Hougang in mind)
* Visions of You (in shades of blue) (...and red and white!)
* All of me (why not take all of me) (Frank Sinatra version!)

WP
* If you had a hammer (slightly modified)

Reform Party
* You are my sunshine

Other smaller parties
* I who have nothing (adore you)

First time candidates, all parties
* Like a virgin

Counting centre party reps

* Every breath you take (I'll be watching you)

...and for voters who want to fend off kaypoh people asking who you voted for, remember that Sprite ad tagline?...

* My choice is clear!

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My favourite from the playlist above? Every Breath You Take...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdS-jpFgRo4

Eye op, eye op, eye op, eye op, eye op...

I had an eye operation on Wednesday. Although I am told to stay rested by keeping my face looking downwards as much as possible FOR TWO WEEKS, by Day 2, I was going nuts and I posted this item on Facebook:

A short playlist (inspired by my macular hole vitrectomy, Wednesday):
1. Look Down (from Les Mis)
2. Eye Op Eye Op (apologies to Bee Gees)
3. Hole in the Eye (apologies to Black Sabbath)

During a brain scan last year, the piped in music included:
1. Tears in Heaven
2. Right There Waiting (for you)

So I won't be blogging for a while -- or forever, if I end up in the mental hospital after really going nuts. Since I have already previously seen the colorectal surgeon, I will wrap up with this:

"More precisely, the posterior orifice!"

Don't anyhow use 'existential', hor!

There it was... another misuse of "existential crisis"!...

ST, July 7

How can climate change as a general phenomenon plunge someone (let alone the whole world) into an existential angst?

I think this meme which I found online says it very well:

This little boy indeed has an identity crisis on his hands... he is portrayed in all sorts of memes covering all sorts of crises!     

Want another "existential" poser? This is both philosophical and funny:

Then there are the "existential threats"... another favourite cliche of hacks who don't give a heck!...

Language Nazis are indeed in imminent danger!

So, to those who are careless or clueless, or both, here is a good "existential" primer:

Existential threat: the birth of a cliché

http://www.spectator.co.uk/life/mind-your-language/9421662/existential-threat-the-birth-of-a-cliche/

I actually have a collection of "existential" examples (correctly and incorrectly used). Here they are....

 

I have reserved the best for last!...

Some recent stuff that I put on FB...

The big news this week was the massive rush-hour train system breakdown on 7/7 evening, so I chipped in on Facebook...

Mr Lui Tuck Yew is Transport Minister; Mr Desmond Kuek is CEO of train operator SMRT

Chris' commentary piece is available online:

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/if-smrt-lacks-resources-government-should-step-in

There are times when the picture accompanying the story helps a sharp headline-writer to seize the moment!...

 
The panel ad on the bus says "Relief For Headaches":

ST, July 9 (ST Photo: Seah Kwang Peng)

 I felt one headline writer failed to do justice to an offbeat story...

I even have a silly knock knock joke (from way back) for such an occasion:

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Zebra
Zebra who?
Ze braless!

I keep a continuing interest in the South China Sea disputes...

Somehow, durians got pulled into the comments that followed:

Speaking of durians, someone posted this tongue-in-cheek spoof on FB, which I reposted on my timeline:

http://newnation.sg/2015/06/overnight-raid-in-geylang-sees-authorities-seize-500kg-of-immoral-durians/

Baby boomers, stand tall! As Arnie says in his latest Terminator movie, "Old, not obsolete"!...

Meanwhile, I felt Hillary was demeaning not just people from China, but Chinese people everywhere including in the USA...

Such callous stereotyping makes one feel like vomitting, or is it vomiting?...

The proper spelling should be "vomiting". Sloppy headline work and sloppy checks by editors.

One should also be careful in the use of idioms, especially when there have been tragic instances of maids here falling off balcony ledges while doing their cleaning chores...

 
Finally, an ass is an ass, be it the animal or the bum. There is no need to "cover" it up with asterisks like it is some four-letter word! In fact, I disagree with such use of the asterisk. There is a need for editors who can stand up to such a silly practice...

Americans who don't know why they celebrate 4th of July! Do S'poreans know why we celebrate Aug 9?

Memories of catching the Bukom ferry to Jardine Steps and Clifford Pier...

Clifford Pier (as in this ST file picture)

https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/the-gateway-to-the-roads-that-lay-to-the-south-of-singapore/

The ferry from Pulau Bukom stopped at either Jardine Steps or Clifford Pier, depending on the vessel's schedule. I remember seeing the rusted wrecks of some ships as the Bukom ferry approached Jardine Steps. The camouflage-painted naval gun structures nestled into the hillside of Blakang Mati (now Sentosa) could also be seen. The Clifford Pier-bound ferry would go on, past Jardine Steps. Once it got there, the breakwater separating the Outer Road from the Inner Road was visible.

Jardine Steps

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/printheritage/image.aspx?id=0fe2f1a3-c37c-4790-8416-effff2d6b94b

The names of the ferry boats included Bongsu, Chantek, Chepat, Naga, Kerang, Layang and Laju (which was famously hijacked by terrorists).

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/about_us/history/overview/birth_of_saf/v06n01_history.html

From Clifford Pier, it was a short walk to the Arcade where on the weekend I would buy my Airfix 1/72 scale model kits (from as low as 90 cents in those days), to Change Alley where I boughtd my very first Japanese-made transistor radio, and -- a little further walk in towards Raffles Place -- to Robinson's where I bought my first U-control flying aeroplane kit.

From Jardine Steps, when I started secondary school (afternoon session in the first year, Secondary One), I would take the STC bus (I have forgotten the service number) to Anson Road where Gan Eng Seng School was. Missing the bus meant being late for school. It was always a rush back too -- to catch the ferry because the next one would be an hour later -- and that meant less bicycle riding time and/or kite-flying back on Pulau Bukom before it got dark.

I remember too the row of streetside food stalls along the road leading to the Jardine Steps ferry terminal. Time permitting, I would stop to buy a syrup-laden ice ball, a pineapple drink (with small triangles of the fruit swimming in it) and a starfruit drink that the vendor kept in a wooden cask.

On the Bukom side, the jetty was at East Gate. I lived in the "Tengah" (Malay for central) suburb. The Shell company provided a free and very efficient bus service, so to get to the East Gate jetty my parents and I just needed to wait at the nearest bus stop for a bus to come by. More often than not, by the time I was in Secondary One and Two (the family moved to the "mainland" after that) I would ride my trusty (and rusty) bicycle to and from the jetty rather than wait for the bus. It took me just about 20 minutes' riding time. In those days, no one needed to lock one's bicycle when it was left unattended.

Some Bukom trivia

There were two 59-metre swimming pools (and their accompanying children's pool). One was just after Tengah, in the direction of Barat. Everyone on Bukom had free access to this facility. I had used these two photos of this pool below in a 2013 blog entry; well, here they are again...

The other swimming pool was on top of Bukom Hill. It was for the executives and their dependents. I have often swum in both pools but the Tengah one was nearer my home.

While checking online, I found this picture of the Bukom Hill swimming pool on the Pinterest site:

I also found online this other trivia bit: There is a Jalan Bukom in Penang, and it is supposedly named after Singapore's Pulau Bukom:

http://www.penang-traveltips.com/jalan-bukom.htm

I will update this blog entry from time to time as I recall/uncover more Bukom-related stuff.