Don’t be alarmed. This is not Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew’s own personal facebook profile, but a special facebook page for famous politicians. You can show your approval for these politicians by becoming their supporter on facebook.

To see the full list of politicians, including Barrack Obama and Wen Jia-Bao, you can visit HERE.

I tried to search for our current Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong, but both were not on the list. I guess all the other politicians in Singapore still have a long way to go to attain the kind of global status MM Lee has achieved.

Technorati Tags: lee kuan yew, lee hisen loong, goh chok tong, singapore, minister mentor, mm lee, pm lee, prime minister of singapore, senior minster, sm goh, singapore ministers, lky, facebook, politicians on facebook, barrack obama, wen jia-bao, lee kuan yew on facebook

Watch this video before you comment:

The paparazzi were obviously daunting Li Yapeng to agitate him into a fight. Although violence should never be condoned, in this case, I am inclined to stand on Li Yapeng’s side as the paparazzi was going way out of line, taking close-up shots of his baby girl, and repeatedly verbally abusing the naturally concerned father.

What do you think?

You can read more news report regarding this incident on omy:

王菲李亚鹏一家飞抵北京 李亚鹏：事情已经解决了

李亚鹏动粗有前科

王菲两任老公脾气火爆

李亚鹏经经纪人：为保护孩子才过于激动

李亚鹏打人后 被带回警局问话

不满李嫣被拍 李亚鹏怒打记者

Technorati Tags: 李嫣, 李亚鹏怒打记者, 李亚鹏, 王菲, faye wong, li yapeng, paparazzi, bhutan wedding, omy, omy.sg, celebrity violence, bangkok airport, 忽然1周, li yapeng violence, unethical paparazzi, hong kong tabloid

As part of the Singapore Food Festival, the two most famous competitive eating athletes in the world, Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will be facing-off to see who can eat more satay. To spice things up, there will be a Singaporean representative chosen to compete with them too.

If you don’t know who the two of them are, check out the video below showing their face-off for a hotdog eating competition last year ( WARNING: Don’t watch the video if you are eating something now):

More information is available on omy and the Major League Eating Asia site.

The event details are as below:

Date：27 July 2008 (this coming Sunday)
Time：4pm – 7pm
Location：Robertson Walk

From now till 27 July, omy is also running a online guessing contest, inviting netizens to guess how many kilograms of satay Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi can finish off together this Sunday. The 4 closest predictions will win food vouchers from Old Chang Kee, Carl’s Junior and Pie Kia. You can visit here for the details or submit your guess directly here.

Technorati Tags: joey chestnut, takeru kobayashi, asia face-off, major league eating, major league eating in singapore, competitive eating, eating competition, singapore, robertson walk, satay eating competition, online contest, old chang kee, carl’s junior, pie kia

This is not a movie screen shot. It’s for REAL.

Hong Kong’s most famous celebrity couple, Tony Leung and Carina Lau have finally tied the knot after dating for more than 20 years.

The couple got married on 21 July 2008, in the beautiful kingdom of Bhutan. If you don’t know where the heck Bhutan is, it’s a is a landlocked nation in South Asia located amid the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains. If you are interested to explore traveling to Bhutan for a holiday, you can visit HERE to find out more.

Some fun facts about the wedding (via omy):

1. The whole wedding cost more than S$7million
2. The ring alone cost S$5million
3. The bride’s gown is by Vera Wang and the groom’s suit is by Tom Ford
4. The couple were received by the King of Bhutan himself

This type of news must read it on Chinese websites and tabloid newspapers then more interesting - more news of the wedding are available on omy, can go 八卦八卦:

梁刘大婚 - 梁刘印度蜜月 林青霞当电灯泡

梁刘大婚 - 刘嘉玲小肚微凸疑有喜

梁刘大婚 - 儿子结婚梁母好开心

梁刘大婚 - 刘嘉玲梁朝伟成立基金会

梁刘大婚 - 梁朝伟送刘嘉玲12克拉钻戒婚戒  中外女星排第三

梁刘大婚 - 梁刘不丹行婚 印度度蜜月

梁刘大婚 - 刘嘉玲打激素针 秘密回春行婚礼

梁刘大婚 - 王菲开金口唱《甜蜜蜜》祝贺

梁刘大婚 - 梁刘婚宴1分钟吻9次

梁刘大婚 - 刘嘉玲红围巾表荣耀  林青霞拉五色旗去霉运

梁刘大婚 - 狮城化妆师Zing 为刘嘉玲化妆

梁刘大婚 - 伟仔母亲感动落泪

梁刘大婚 - 名嘴宋祖德大骂刘嘉玲：不丹婚礼是交易

梁刘大婚 - 姐妹淘那英竟缺席

梁刘大婚 - 不丹一夫多妻制 梁刘回港再宣誓

梁刘大婚 - 王菲长女当花童

梁刘大婚 - 伟仔14年前已想娶嘉玲 亲手用兰花制戒指求婚

梁刘大婚 - 狗仔与保安起冲突 相机险砸烂

梁刘大婚 - 5个半小时婚礼 天降花之雨 寓意好兆头

梁刘大婚 - 创下近年来演艺圈之最 婚礼花费700万 单是婚戒500万

梁刘大婚 - 不丹完婚 梁朝伟刘嘉玲结束20年爱情长跑

梁刘大婚 - 发出婚前感言 刘嘉玲：我们充满感恩喜悦

梁刘大婚 - 今日结婚 风水师怎么看？

梁刘大婚 - 不丹公主嫁衣借嘉玲 皇妃亲手打点婚纱

梁刘大婚 - 梁朝伟刘嘉玲黄金吉时行婚礼

梁刘大婚 - 王菲机场与女儿走失 自称不会献唱婚礼

梁刘大婚 - 婚礼司仪由李浩林担任 称未知婚礼程序

梁刘大婚 - 梁朝伟刘嘉玲今日不丹举行大婚

梁刘大婚 - 梁朝伟刘嘉玲 不丹婚纱照曝光

梁刘大婚 - 给准媳妇100分 伟妈大赞刘嘉玲

梁刘大婚 - 曼谷机场狂扫烟酒 刘嘉玲遭搜身

梁刘大婚 - 陈百祥爆料 曾志伟曾为刘嘉玲介绍不丹王子

梁刘大婚 - 梁朝伟刘嘉玲10箱行李赴不丹举行婚礼

梁刘大婚 - 嘉玲未婚先残

梁刘大婚 - 梁朝伟刘嘉玲到底何时结婚？

Technorati Tags: carina lau, tony leung, leung chiu-wai, liu jia ling, liang chao wei, 梁刘大婚, 梁朝伟, 刘嘉玲, 不丹, bhutan, bhutan wedding, hong kong celebrity wedding, himalaya mountains, vera wang, tom ford, king of bhutan, omy, omy.sg

(picture via Toni’s Corner of the World)

I found this set of very useful “Anti-Telemarketer Script” from Junkbusters and have modified it slightly to suit Singapore’s context. I do not think there’s a similar Telephone Consumer Protection Act in Singapore’s Constitution to protect us from such spams. Although we can’t sue the telemarketers, we can still scare them off with a series of questions, build to intimidate.

Next time you meet a persistent, pesky telemarketer using one of their lame scripts on you, you can use this anti-telemarketer script to get them back at their own game.

Here goes:

1. “Are you calling to sell something?” (or is this a telemarketing call?”)

2. “Could you tell me your full name please?” (note: ask the person to spell it out alphabet by alphabet, and make sure they are enunciated clearly - do this for all other steps for optimal intimidation impact)

3. “And a phone number, residential/office adress?”

4. “What’s the name of the organisation you’re calling for?”

5. “Does that organization keep a list of numbers it’s been asked not to call?”

6. “I would like my number(s) put on that list. Can you take care of that now?”

7. “And does the company you work for also make telemarketing calls for any other organisations?” (If they answer no, skip the next question.)

8. (If yes) “Can you make sure your company won’t call me for any other organisation?”

You may need to ask to speak with a supervisor if they sound lost. When you’re ready to let them off, you might close with “Is it clear that I never want telemarketing calls from anyone?” and just say goodbye. If you feel like making them pay, keep going:

1. “Will your company keep my number on its do-not-call list for at least ten years?”

2. “And does your company have a written policy that says that on paper?”

3. “Can you send me a copy of it?”

4. “What’s your supervisor’s first and last name?”

5. “What’s your employer’s business name, address and main telephone number?”

6. “Are you calling for a tax-exempt nonprofit organization?”

7. “Is this call based on a previously established business relationship?”

Actually, better still if you have the guts for it, you can pull a recorded phone gag on them like the fonejacker dude I blogged about previously!

Technorati Tags: telemarketers, telemarketing, fonejacker, singapore telemarketer, anti-telemarketer script, junkbusters, telephone consumer protection act, singapore constituition, spam calls, spam, phone gag

]]> http://alvinology.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/how-to-get-rid-of-telemarketers/feed/ alvinology http://alvinology.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/who-is-gloria-chee/ http://alvinology.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/who-is-gloria-chee/#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:10:09 +0000 alvinology http://alvinology.wordpress.com/?p=607

(pictures via Smell of Rain official site)

According to her IMDB biography, Gloria Chee was a graduate from the pioneer batch of Film, Sound & Video (FSV) program, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore, and was the first FSV graduate to direct a full-length feature film (Smell of Rain (2006)).

She’s quite a seasoned filmmaker isn’t she?

Do you know she is also the same Gloria Chee who was recently bombarded by netizens for ripping off a Japanese TV ad for a National Day Parade (NDP) video?

Initially, I didn’t want to comment on this issue as I thought she might have been some newbie filmmaker being exploited by the NDP committee for cheap labour and unreasonable timeline, given that she mentioned only receiving a honorarium as a token of appreciation for her work.

However, when I googled her name… no lei… Gloria Chee is not an amateur hor!

For the benefit of those who do not know about this incident, here’s the full article from my paper:

Mon, Jul 14, 2008
my paper

Netizens slam NDP video as Japanese ad rip-off

THIS year’s National Day Parade (NDP) videos for its theme songs have sparked off some controversy online.

A contributor to citizen media website Stomp, Daniel, felt that some scenes in the videos were copied from a Japanese television advertisement for The Children’s Foundation. He said that although the NDP videos are not exact copies, some scenes, like that of a child painting, seemed very similar to those in the Japanese ad.

Daniel said: “I think this is unoriginal and uncreative, especially for our NDP.

“I feel that any national projects should be original and not recycle concepts already done by other countries.”

NDP video is three minutes long and depicts various everyday scenes in the lives of Singaporeans, such as children colouring, a boy courting a girl and a man running up the stairs in a block of HDB flats.

These scenes are interspersed with those of Singapore Idol 2006 winner Hady Mirza singing the theme song Shine

For Singapore. Joi Chua performs the Chinese NDP theme song Qing Kong Wan Li.

Among others, Daniel pointed out that scenes like those of children colouring and paying attention in class are very similar to those which can be seen in the Japanese advertisement.

A video of the 11/2-minute Japanese advertisement was uploaded onto Google Video in April 2006.

It is stated on the site that the advertisement was created by the Japan Ad Council.

Netizens who commented on the post on Stomp mainly felt that it was the fault of the advertising company which had been engaged to create the video.

Contributor goolen2001 said yesterday: “National Day advertisement also want to copy other advertisement? Shame on you.

Goolen2001 added: “The advertising agency wants to earn money only. Lazy to use brain.”

Fellow contributor krankiepants said: “It’s sad to see such things happening.”

However, pbcjohn79 defended the video’s creators: “It is an honest mistake. Let’s move on.”

But jacksparrow2 disagreed strongly: “I think it is serious as a lump sum has been paid to make that video.”

Stomp has contacted the authorities for comments.

I love the last quote which was obviously a sarcastic potshot aimed at the authorities, as duly pointed out by Mr Brown.

Below are the two music videos. The first one is the original Japanese ad promoting a children foundation:

Here’s the pirated version done by Gloria Chee for NDP:

Technorati Tags: gloria chee, japanese children foundation, ndp video, pirated ndp video, singapore ndp video, national day parade, my paper, mr brown, japanese whale video, singapore ndp star video, plagarism, copycat, smell of rain, imdb, ngee ann polytechnic, film sound and video, fsv, stomp, honest mistake, hady mirza, japan ad council

The entry title doesn’t make sense to you?

Well, you have to see it for yourself to know what I am talking about. Visit here to see it!

Cool isn’t it?

I like the subtle details on the gradient text colours to make the penguin looks 3D. Here’s a screengrab preview for those who need a little prompting prior to clicking on anything.

Technorati Tags: cool html, linux penguin, interesting webpage, colour texts, linux, penguin, text penguin, cool coding

I don’t know what’s going on in this video, but the ending was quite shocking! The fatty just ripped his tee-shirt off and charged into the club… What’s going on man? Can someone enlightened me about this Incredible-Hulk-wannabe stunt?

Technorati Tags: fatty strip to get into club, fat stripper, funny video, singapore club, incredible hulk, funny fatman, fatman stripping, stripping in public, public stunt

Rachel introduced me to this quiet restaurant tucked away in the basement of Peninsular Plaza some time back. They claim to serve authentic Myanmar cuisine - I am not too sure if it’s really “authentic” as I have not been to Myanmar before. In any case, I think the food tastes great! Plus the price is quite reasonable for an air-conditioned restaurant with proper services

Here’s their exact address:

111 North Bridge Road
#B1-07 (A/B)
Peninsula Plaza
Singapore 179098

You can visit their official website for more information - it’s a very well-developed website with a comprehensive introduction to all the items offered on their menu.

The bulk of their customers seems to be of indo-chinese origins, judging from our visits there. Maybe not many Singapore know of the place yet. Either that or they are probably not adventurous enough to try out alternative cuisines.

Me ordering my lunch

Oun Nau Khau Hswe

Butter Rice with Myanmar Chicken/Pork Curry

Sorry about the yellow lighting… it makes the food looks strange, haha. A meal for two should cost no more than S$30 inclusive of drinks and appertisers, quite worth it.

Technorati Tags: singpaore, myanmar restaurant, myanmar cuisine, burmese food, inle myanmar restaurant, peninsular plaza, basement, burmese food, singapore myanmar restaurant

Tampopo. It used to be a family restaurant situated at the basement, and Rachel and I were disappointed to find a tiny deli instead of a restaurant when we went to Liang Court to catch Kinokuniya’s 20 per cent sale two months ago. By the time we’d discovered Tampopo on the ground floor, housed inside the unit which used to be Swensen’s, our bellies had been stuffed with deli food.

We vowed to return. On the day Karen Cheng went to Indochine@Forbidden City we decided to have lunch here. For those interested, the new address is 177 River Valley Road, #B1-50, Liang Court Shopping Centre.

The ramen was taking a tad long to arrive and Rachel was ravenous, so we started with dessert first. This is a green tea red bean cream cake, if my memory doesn’t fail me.

It was so yummy Rachel licked clean the clear plastic sheet wrapping the slice of cake. (Yucks!)

Good thing the ramen arrived, or else she’d have eaten the aluminium foil. Rachel ordered Kyushu ramen with kurobuta pork. I think. The thick soup was so thick that it was almost like milk. Very tasty. According to the info on the menu, the pork bones are boiled for 30 hours to make stock. Someone who knows this please correct me if I am wrong.

I ordered something more conventional. Hokkaido ramen with kurobuta. The stock is different from the Kyushu stock. Slightly piquant. But the Kyushu noodles are more springy.

All in all, it was a good meal.

Technorati Tags: tampopo ramen, singapore japanese food, good ramen, liang court, river valley road, green tea cake, kyushu ramen, kurobuta pork, japanese cuisine