Mr Wang said:

I had expected to be blogging about PM Lee's rally speech today. However, I find that I have almost nothing to say about it.

It was .... substanceless.

The PM's rally speech is traditionally the time for him to announce important new developments, ideas and policies for the nation. But this year, none of that happened.

Instead all PM Lee really talked about was racial and religious harmony, and in a way that contained nothing new. It sounded the same as the nation-building chapters of my Primary 3 Chinese language textbook, many, many years ago.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Totally agree with him. It's practically non-news for the entire speech."

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Loh and Behold said:

Are you proud to be Singaporean?

Why?

Shouldn’t you just be proud of actual accomplishments?

Is being Singaporean a skill?

I can never understand it when people say “I’m proud to be Singaporean.”

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Gets to the heart of the pros and cons of patriotism."

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Alvinology said:

I wonder if it’s just me… the NS Portal is one of the worst and most badly designed website I have to access frequently. Do you have the same problems I have with this website? Is there any way we can make our opinions heard to effect changes? I have a feeling SAF don’t give a damn because NS is compulsory for Singapore male citizens and we have to keep using the lousy website regardless if it sucks to the core.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "True? Is it really that bad?"

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Lynn said:

...this old lady who hoards about 40 cats and 2 dogs in her 3 room HDB. The living condition is so terribly filthy and smelly that it's really not a place for animals to live, let alone human. ... The sight was just ghastly and the stench was unbearable. I was gagging even though I was wearing a mask. ... Inside, the place was like the House of Horror - dim and dark, blackened walls, filth and stench filled the place and encompasses you like a cocoon.

There were sick cats and kittens everywhere and they were all scared and hiding. The cats were all fed a diet of raw chicken heads ... left out for days, to the extend that chicken heads are blackened with decomposition.

When people try to remove her cats, she threatened to burn the place down, killing both herself and cats. So, we figure that brute force will not work. Just have to slowly try to clean up the place and do whatever we can for the sake of these poor animals.

The National Day mission : Jaime, her sis and Natasha bravely went in with gloves, masks and shower cap to clean up the place.

Recommended by Otterman: "These gals spent National Day in the house of horrors, cleaning the place and smuggled some cats out for a visit to the vet, and they're funding the operation themselves. Love their "can do" spirit; hats off to them!"

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Lucian said:

Like a child in a typical Asian family, people often tell you how weak you are, how vulnerable and susceptible to the rise and ebb of the global economy. I can understand your apprehension. The people you trust do not seem to believe in you, and after some time it becomes hard to believe in yourself.

Recommended by Lucian: "Because there is something magical about the sharing of our experiences, thoughts and feelings."

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Bing De said:

There was a strong feeling of wanting to remove Singaporean students from the hostels, to accomodate all the IS. Yes, IS are poor things, far from the comfort of their families. However, we locals are already suffering so much to accomodate you guys!

2-year protection. Tuition grant for everyone. Fully-paid scholarship with no bond (funded by our income tax, GST and ERP), just work in Singapore for 3 years. Less hostel rooms for locals. NOT TO MENTION, THE NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES WHEN U TALK AROUND LOUDLY AND DIRTY OUR HOSTELS' TOILETS WITH YOUR THIRD-WORLD HYGIENE HABITS.

Singapore is already becoming a place by the foreigners, of the foreigners, and for the foreigners. What else you want? First, chase us out of OUR hostel to let YOU stay. Second, speak in your accent so you can understand us? Third, clean our toilets so YOU can dirty them?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "do all singaporeans think this way? "

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Alvinology said:

Saw this post on omy’s forum by a person called 我的天 who claimed that local job search portal, JobsDB added a “reservist” option in their selection fields under “Personal Details => National Service”.

This is a very touchy issue as it concerns all Singapore male CITIZENS who have served National Service. Does the additional field implies it may be used as a screening criteria for potential employers?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "discrimination of Singapore born males?"

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Sayoni said:

This survey is aimed at queer, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women living in Singapore, to gather essential information about the community.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "It collects important information."

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Alvinology said:

This pair of twin sisters by the way, are the latest artistes to be rolled out by Ocean Butterflies International (ob-i), founded by famous local musician, Billy Koh (许环良). ob-i is also the recording company that successfully made JJ Lin (林俊杰) the big star he is now, in case you don’t know.

The twins were talent-spotted by ob-i from its music school when they were 13 years-old. Marked for stardom, they were sent to Taipei, Tokyo and Beijing for grooming for 6 months since June 2007, last year.

After taking time to read through their older blog entries today, I finally realised what was wrong - ob-i made the girls dropped out of secondary school to pursue a music career with them.

You can read what the girls have to say about this in their own words on their blog:

"We need to hand in our application to drop out of school to our form teacher today. However, ob-i requested us to keep the reason for dropping out a secret. Hence we were very frightened. We were worried our teacher will ask too many questions. We went to approach our teacher after school with a group of friends. We lied that we were dropping out in order to purse our studies overseas. With the help of our friends, our teacher did not discover we were lying."

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Recording company can like that one meh? Make 15 years-old girls quit school, lie to their teacher to pursue a singing career?"

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Global Voices said:

“Very interesting. Some Australians have managed to find a way to make pork halal for Muslims. Really great job; given that pork is one of the ultimate non-halal items on earth. Kind of makes you wonder how halal the other labeled stuff is…” he writes.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "The prankster who mislabelled the NTUC pork with a "halal" sticker made the international blogger scene. Even funnier, Middle Easterners don't know the Singapore connection, and think it's just Australians being ignorant. Links in the entry worth checking out. "

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Herryanto Siatono said:

Sadly yesterday, he bid goodbye to all of us, giving way to the new stadium.

Recommended by Cobalt Paladin: "A beautiful and personal shot of the National Stadium. A touching good-bye to a national monument."

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talk19 talks about the ad promoting National Family Week that was published in the papers today.

This could be the worst ad ever created. I know that’s an extreme statement, but seriously…National Family Week should re-think about how they want to brand their image. Apparently they want to be associated with cemeteries and death.

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shoot! HD Fiesta is a contest in which participants are required to record their own family video. It is held in conjunction with National Family Week 2007.

Direct your own family video and experience the true beauty of HD. Every team, consisting of at least two members, will get hands-on experience recording with HD cameras and editing with iMovie HD. Bring home your very own DVD keepsake and share with your family and friends! You'll stand a chance to win attractive prizes including An iMac worth more than $1500!*

Download information flyer and form here.

Link [via Claudia]

Siew Kum Hong said:

That was the thought running through my head as I drove through the new Fort Canning Tunnel. The actual experience of driving through it was so anti-climactic that I couldn't help but wonder if that was it.

After all, so many Singaporeans had, in a rare display of civic activism, tried so hard to stop the demolition of the National Library at Stamford Road. It is only natural to have high expectations for what it made way for. From purely anecdotal evidence, many are as disappointed as I was. This gives rise to the question: Was the tunnel worth it after all?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "A new NMP muses about the loss of the National Library on his blog. "

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Perspective Unlimited said:

The botched capital control clearly harmed confidence. Investigation into the Bangkok bombing is increasingly befuddled. The coup is already 4 months old but a return to normal politics still seems so far away. The military installed government therefore has huge incentive to direct attention towards a foreign bogeyman rather than examine the multiple failures of their institutions.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "An incisive analysis of the Thai military government's actions."

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Garry Blogs said:

THIS FLASH IS TO MARK MY 1 YEAR OF SERVING IN THE SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES. I AM LEFT WITH 10 MORE MONTHS BEFORE I AM FREE, IF I AM NOT WRONG.....

Recommended by Cobalt Paladin: "Brings a smile to all Singaporean guys who have been through NS. The Flash animation was very well done by nch85. Definitely a local talent! :)"

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Ed*** said:

[quote]

ARE you a 'farmer' (army slang for rank and file) or a 'scholar'? If the farmer keeps seeing the scholar getting hoisted on a pedestal, won't this breed resentment and class-consciousness in Singapore?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "A regular's frustration in the Army "

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Oikono said:

A person whom I know spent the last half a year in limbo hiding out in a foreign country. He was waiting for his asylum application to be processed as he was on the run from the Singaporean army, which he had served for months as a conscript before realizing that humanity should not be subjected to such indignity.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "There are people who run away from the military police and live to tell the tale. "

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mrbrown said:

I also believe in responding in turn to what the Government said in their letter, but my Humour column was suspended immediately after their letter was printed. Perhaps Mediacorp/TODAY did not stand by what they published?

Recommended by Kenny Sia: "WHY IS THIS ARTICLE INTERESTING?!

Nabeh, even Singapore Prime Minister said mrbrown is a very talented man liaw, still not interesting enough for you meh?!"

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YouTube said:

If it sounds familiar, it's probably because you have heard it last in 'V for Vendetta', when the eponymous protagonist blows up the British Parliament to the music.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Because I see the irony."

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