E V E R Y D A Y . B E A U T I F U L . P U R P O S E F U L
July 11, 2010 Leave a comment
(Photo Taken: Elements Mall @ Kowloon, Hong Kong – This is exactly what you get when you combine 2 best friends of man of woman [diamonds & cars] together – You get a super sexy topless bling-bling with some decent horsepower!)
July 11, 2010 Leave a comment
(Photo Taken: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong – I have seen them in the shops for a year but this is my 1st time seeing promoters parading these digital DinoPets “Pleo” on the streets. They don’t bite your hands – just a pretty hole in your pocket if you want to bring one home. Each costs about USD350.)
July 10, 2010 2 Comments
It has been an exciting 6 weeks. This competition has also prompted me to revisit my old blog entries of yesteryear. While browsing through those old entries and photos, many good memories flashed back. It has been a very rewarding journey. Gracious, I have aged so much (and yes, fatter!).
Thanks Joanne for submitting my blog (and I know you submitted at the very last hour). Of course, this one action of yours triggered a massive chain of reactions for many. Overnight, my friends and families found themselves a new daily-ritual – voting. I was very very touched by their efforts to maintain my "little green star" throughout the competition.
I want to express my thanks to these hardcore supporters – My wife, Auntie Amy, Mum & Dad, Chups & Stella, Sister Jovel, Leon and Chester, Danielle, Johnny (Shanghai), Kelvin (Vietnam), Karen Loo, Desmond, Meijie, Tracy, Jimmy, Kalinda, Gareth, Yixi & Family, Juliana and Duuk, Randy, Richard, Scott, Harshad, HongFei & Sherry, Zeph, Alice, Selina, Kitty, Josephine & Natalie (KL), Sarah (Headhunter), Cousin Lita (KL), Yiyi (USA), Echo, Kenneth (Cicada), Hovman, Alicia and Calvin (Shanghai), Cousin Yei and all who have voted.
And a very very very big thank for those who "starred" in my blogs. Without you, there will be no stories (no plot / no scripts / no drama). Whether I win or not, this is for all of you. Yes, we are the authors of our lives – and you – my friends and families – are my biggest and brightest stars.
p/s: The results were finally out at 6pm. Sorry folks, no "cup" for me but I am very happy to know that Ming Wei took home the title. Her blog is lovely and touching. Hope to see her in Hong Kong soon.
July 4, 2010 Leave a comment
(Photo Taken: Ruins of St Paul’s, Macao – They are not the press. They are just the hundreds of tourists armed with professionally-looking DSLRs. Who needs paparazzi when you have these tourists?)
July 2, 2010 Leave a comment
July 2, 2010 Leave a comment
Guangzhou is literally turning green, dressing up for the big show. Come Nov 12th, Guangzhou will host the 16th Asian Games. Big international events really "force" the Chinese government to clean up their messy host cities. Just look at Beijing 2008 and Shanghai World Expo 2010 – Not only the government got rid of the ugly and messy sign-boards, they also cleaned up the vices off the streets. Overnight, a rouge city was transformed into a tidy modern metropolis. (You see new monuments / bridges, more trees / parks, new airport terminal, better public transit, wider and cleaner roads, hornless drivers, friendlier hotel service etc). Just hope the Chinese government continues to maintain these standards for her people and not not just doing this for the "show".
(Photo Taken: The Canton Tower, Guangzhou – Standing at 610m tall, this will be the WORLD’S TALLEST TV TOWER. Designed by the Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit, the Canton Tower is expected to be completed before the Asian Games. Taller than Taipei 101, this will be amongst the top 10 tallest man-made structure of the world. The main attraction of this tower is its WORLD’S HIGHEST FERRIS WHEEL (yes, we Singapore has the World’s Largest Ferris Wheel but the China is aiming for the world’s highest). According to its website, a ride on the transparent cabin will take approximately 30 minutes, making a full circle around around the tower where one can enjoy full panoramic views over the metropolis of Guangzhou. Isn’t this a "Merry Go-Round?" For more information about this new landmark, please click here: http://www.gztvtower.info/)
July 2, 2010 Leave a comment
(Photo Taken: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong – Edible toys! Yummy!)
June 27, 2010 Leave a comment
(Photo Taken: Time to "brand" yourselves – My colleagues showing off their tattoos on the 99th David Ogilvy Day on 23rd June. Next year, we will celebrate Ogilvy’s 100th Year!)
June 27, 2010 1 Comment
Cos’ when you first ask a Chinese for his/her name, there is a good chance you will not get a Chinese name. Most likely, get an English, Hebrew, Greek, Japanese, Spanish or non-Chinese name. That is when you ask a 2nd time – "I see…what’s your real Chinese name". And his/her answer shall be quickly followed by your 3rd question – "Huh? Again? I didn’t get it…"
I can’t generalise this for all Chinese. But look around you – more than half of your Chinese friends use names that aren’t Chinese. Friends of my generation are naming their kids with fanciful names. It is pretty easy for me to single out those friends who are using their Chinese names (like Hock, Yei, Ming).
Surely, we do have Chinese names. And it is not that the Chinese despise their own names. Nor most of us are turning holy to adopt those "Christian names". There is a lame but valid reason to explain why we are adopting these names – they are much easier for our audience to remember. At the very least, we save them from mispronouncing our names at important events – like at a graduation, wedding ceremony, lucky draw event. It will be dreadfully embarrassing when you hear names like "Gan Lee Nah". or "Lim Lao Bei". In Singapore, we Chinese have "Dialect names in English" that even mainland Chinese won’t be able to decode. The other races can never pronounce our names right. It just doesn’t sound "Chinese" enough.
The mainland Chinese are certainly much bolder and more creative in adopting non-Chinese names for themselves. For the past 4 years here, I have interviewed "Envy", "Bang", "Ashes", "Hue", "Kinky" and yes "Dracula"! (I always remember this chap!) Not to mention I was served by an unfriendly hotel staff by the name of "Humor" last week in China.
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