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Her’s is a story of a classic over-achiever.

She gets straight A’s in school, gets her ABRSM Grade 8 in Piano, goes through the University with not much of an effort, found herself jobs and flew all over the world.

She braved the colds on a god-forsaken island in Russia (off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan). She spent time in Europe, and the UK. And in general stay out of the country most part of her life.

It puzzles me all the time, as she does not look the adventurous type, and my guess is, she was running away so she can enjoy more freedom.

Smart minds loved to have the space to roam, to soar without the confines of rules and regulations, or fear the consequences of breaking unwritten rules of the house. We come from a big family with a lot of traditional baggage; her family house is always quiet, except, of course, when I visited them and introduced noise.

So, she has gotten married yesterday, I was the self-appointed photo-documentor for the family, so I brought my camera along and took some pictures (300 in total) of her and my extended family from my mother’s side.

She was blissful, he wasn’t (and I am not referring to her husband) as they walked down the aisle.

This post is to commemorate her blissful attainment of such freedom. Double-clicking the picture on the right will download a copy of my photo essay of this happy event.

Congrats! May God Bless You with 5 Children, and enjoy life to the fullest!

If all Malaysian libraries are built this way, with lots of space, and areas to park yourself and read, I think more of us will go reading.

I was walking pass this building with an airy design as I walked towards the Esplanade the other day and I suddenly realised this is a library!

It’s modern, practical, and functional.

The stage out in the open is yet another example of minimalist at work. Simple, straight lines but totally functional as a proper stage for recitals or poetry reading.

Compared to the old building next to the MPH on the hills (it’s already gone now, of course), I prefer the classic look of the former building. But times have changed, and the old building wasn’t designed for huge pedestrian traffic, so I guess it made sense to do something like this.

The whole Bras Basah/Queen Street/Victoria Street area is being transformed gradually. I remember the times when we could go to the street opposite Bras Basah Complex where the hawkers were still allowed to set up stalls by the roadside.

The fishball noodles were superb, though the hawker was quite snobbish, but, he earned his right to be so.

Anyway, the Singapore skyline has changed for the better (I hope), but the totally sanitised design makes you wonder if the architects have totally lost their human touch… maybe that’s the problem when you used too much CAD/CAM.

sigh… I missed my T-Square and Drafting Boards.

I spent a day in Esplanade, Singapore’s version of Sydney Opera House, admiring the public installations put together by a group of young Singaporean artists.

What really surprises me was the fact that they allowed Breakdancing and Rollerblading at the Basement of Esplanade.

Try doing this in KLCC’s Symphonic hall, and you’ll end up in the lockup, awaiting bail. Such is the difference between the people living on either ends of the causeway.

But it was indeed a pleasant afternoon. And I took the above picture (with me in it) as a proof of my existence.

Let us all observe a moment of silence for the passing of a Hero.

Here’s something about her [taken from Apple Computer website]:

Born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, Parks was the first child of James and Leona Edwards McCauley; her brother Sylvester was born in 1915. The family later moved to Pine Level, Alabama, where Rosa grew up attending rural schools.

When Rosa completed her education at Pine Level at age 11, her mother enrolled her in Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. From there Rosa went on the Alabama State Teacher’s College High School, although her grandmother’s illness and subsequent death prevented her from graduating with the rest of her class.

Rosa married Raymond Parks in 1932. Raymond supported Rosa’s desire to complete her formal education, and she went on to receive her high school diploma in 1934. The couple worked together in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) programs. Rosa became a secretary and later a youth leader of the local branch of the NAACP; she was preparing for a major youth conference at the time of her arrest.

The incident in Montgomery transformed Rosa Parks into a national figure and a major role model as well. She went on to work for U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan. After Raymond’s death, she co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. She also co-authored four books “Rosa Parks: My Story” (with Jim Haskins), “Quiet Strength” (with Gregory J. Reed), “Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today’s Youth” (with Gregory J. Reed), and “I Am Rosa Parks” (with Jim Haskins).

Hundreds of American institutions paid tribute to this remarkable woman during her lifetime: Mrs. Parks received a number of honorary doctoral degrees, countless plaques, awards and citations, and keys to several cities. Among her honors were the NAACP’s Springarn Medal, the UAW’s Social Justice Award, the Martin Luther King Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize, the Roger Joseph Prize from Hebrew Union College, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Yes, my mobile communication past began with a Motorola StarTac (this is the 10th anniversary of the phone’s existence). That was back in the mid Nineties, it was a black coloured clamshell blocky phone that has a horrendously huge battery charger cum docking station where you can charge 2 batteries at the same time.

Yes, those were the days when you HAVE TO take extra batteries with you if you plan on spending the day out.

Later, I was given a StarTac 8400 International mobile phone, that was a pretty good flip phone with very nice and “big” display. Those days, that was state-of-the-arts.

Then I bought an Audiovox mobile phone, which I upgraded to a Kenwood branded Nortel mobile (they are so rare I can’s find photographs of them on the Web).

Anyway, I quickly upgraded to the Panasonic GD90, which was stolen when I was waiting to board a 170 SBS Bus at the bus stop outside the train station in Johore Bahru. On the same day I lost the phone, I replaced it with a Motorola StarTac V (in my humble opinion those days, Motorola is a phone maker, as Omega is a watch maker).

That phone stayed with me for approximately 6 months, and was stolen in my office in Tampines.

Then, I jumped onto the Nokia bandwagon and bought the most expansive of the lot, the Nokia 8850.

That phone became my main mobile communicator and remained by my side for almost 3 years, till Bluetooth became essential. I bought a Tungsten, and paired it with a Ericsson T39m. It worked like a charm until I caught the PDA phone bug, and bought an O2 phone.

That was the worst phone I ever owned. I ditched it and bought the black Sony Ericsson T630.

And then, that was stolen again.

Jumping back to the Nokia 8850 for help, the screen died on me, and I bought a really cheap Nokia 8250 as a temp mobile.

So, last week, I bought the phone I am using now: a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone, the W550i.

It does everything I need it to do except 3G. Since real 3G applications and contents are not out there in the wild yet, I guess I can wait for the W900 to surface.

To date, I have lost 3 mobile phones that cost in total RM7,000.

GOSH! Have I spent so much on mobile phones alone?

We launched the Asia Pacific YoYo Championship 2005 in Sunway Pyramid last week. With a turn out of about 15 members of the press, we made the announcement that the event will be the largest of its kind in the world, in terms of number of participants.

Since I am going to produce a documentary about the YoYo Community of the Asia Pacific, the event gives me great insights into the minds of these people who lives by the thread that clings on to a tiny piece of spinning discs.

I followed the entourage onto the Hills (Genting Highlands) where they performed to a small crowd, and was impressed by the routine they did.

If you can find the time, drop by Genting Highlands on December 9, entry is free.

I was busy trying out some broadcast software when my alarm clock reminded me that the special event at Apple was over. As if possessed, my fingers instinctively type the URL and the new PowerBooks were staring squarely at me, on my “old” PowerBook’s screen.

• 20% More Pixels.
• Optical Digital Audio Output
• Faster System Bus
• Dual Layer DVD 8x Writer
• 2x more Video RAM
• Dual Link DVI
• Same CPU Clock Speed.
• Same Price.

Hmmm… I will wait for the next upgrade.

But if you need a PowerBook, now is the time. The end of the PowerPC Era is near.

Yes, it is now official: the Tamagochi Generation has grown up.

This oversize Tamagochi is not your RM45 plastic toy that yearns for your tender loving care.

It’s a musical instrument!

Question is, will you give up 10 years of your piano or violin training to play this monophonic instrument?

i woke up to the alarm clock reminding me to find out what on Earth is Steve’s “One More Thing…”

and as expected. it was the video iPod. and the moment i read the news, my first reaction was: “Thank Goodness I did not buy the Nano!”

I have 9,000 songs on my 3G iPod (now playing happily) and I need space to put the rest of my library into the player. 60GB is great news, and video!!!?? that’s fantastic news!

Now I won’t need to lug a folder of DVDs when I travel. Yippie!

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