General Election 2011

I don't like to post any General Election news or latest updates. It's too political and would rise controversial. Anyway, voting should keep it to yourself. Shhh... (.__.)

I found this on Facebook.
Is my vote really secret?


Though I said that I don't like to post any GE news, I like this article. And I want to archive it. =)

Dreams of a 61-year old Singaporean
Posted by preview on May 5, 2011 in Main Stories | 41 Comments

I was born after World War Two. My father was an accounts clerk father and my mother, a homemaker. At 61, I’m considered a ‘senior’ Singaporean.

For the past weeks I have been thinking of Singapore, this place I call home.

As a child, I took the bus alone, from Jalan Bahagia to school at CHIJ in Victoria Street. The frequent breakdowns of the buses were moments of stress because it meant that the next bus would be jam packed, with some commuters even hanging from the doors and the harrassed conductors scolding everyone.

Water rationing was common and I was thankful I had strong brothers to carry those buckets of water home. The Orchard Road floods recently brought back memories of our terrace home in Jalan Bahagia which became flooded at least once every year and again my brothers proved useful. They helped Dad carry the furniture and fridge upstairs. Sometimes the waters came up too fast and the furniture had to be replaced. Jalan Bahagia then was a lovely place to stay. Yet, the constant stresses of the flooding caused my Dad, who was the most patient man I know, to say that he had enough! We later moved to a two-room flat in Toa Payoh, all nine of us cramped in the flat.

I was in CHIJ secondary by then. One of the fun things we did was to help each other in our studies. We did this naturally, no teachers tasked us to. But what I loved most about school was helping out at the annual fun fairs. My friends and I would go from class to class selling tickets to raffle a beautiful iced cake baked by someone’s mum. I think the proceeds went to charity.

When we were growing up, we didn’t have dependable public transport, we didn’t have a perfect water supply. We didn’t even have a dry house sometimes. Except for my elder brother, all my siblings and I are now married with children of our own. We live in our own homes with our children. Since then, I have watched Singapore grow to what it is today – an impressive city state with beautiful buildings and much greenery. There are gleaming trains and good infrastructure.

Externally it is a very impressive country, even more so with the MRT, the "Durian" and other structures. But sadly, within, I feel that the country is not so impressive.

Being a multiracial society, it had taken us years to slowly become a united people who see one another as Singaporeans first, race second. The increasing number of foreigners is taking its toll and it is not only on crowded train rides. I suddenly realised, some months ago that I no longer hear Singlish on the trains. I feel like our Singaporean identity is being slowly chipped away by the languages and presence of these throngs of people from other places. The original striving for "excellence" has become "competition" in all our schools. For students today competition has become part of their education ¬- competition with foreign students and competitions galore for most CCAs.

We have other social problems like the high cost of living and housing. Our young people work long hours, yet they are told that Singapore does not have enough talent. If that is so, then what is the purpose of all the expensive education our Singaporeans have received?

What struck me most during the rallies was the reaction of the Singaporeans to the speakers in the opposition parties. There was some rhetoric as can be expected but the response of the crowds to me showed the true state of our society – a people burdened, stifled and suffocated.

What has happened to our country? In my view, many wrong policies that focus on raising the GDP are affecting our society and unless changes are made soon I feel that Singapore will collapse. Our fellow citizens will either give up in apathy or totally rebel. Either response is disastrous for this beautiful home that we call Singapore.

One of my dreams is to see Singaporean children enjoying their childhood and their education, like we did growing up in the 1960s. Where school is a place where kids can be happy, not stressed and parents are able to come home from work early enough so the family can spend time playing and talking.

Growing up during those post-war years, we shared our poverty in the sense that we were all poor together. Since then, many of us have moved beyond poverty. Another of my dreams is that as Singapore moves into an even richer future, we will share our prosperity equally too.

As for myself, come 7th May, I will cast my vote so that my children and my grandchildren to come can live in a future where there are legitimate avenues of expression for them, a future where their voices matter when it comes to steering the course of the nation and where every Singaporean is able to lead a meaningful life. That is my final dream for this country I love and call home.

Gwen Pinto
--
The Online Citizen
20 Maxwell Road #09-17
Maxwell House
Singapore 069113

Source from: http://ge2011.theonlinecitizen.com/2011/05/dreams-of-a-61-year-old-singaporean/?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dc2770e08e5c5c6%2C0

I Luv my iPod Touch :D

With my iPod Touch, I can text on my blog anytime and anywhere. :-)

Cooking classes, cupcakes and mother's day

I have been sourcing cooking class for quite sometime. The 1st one I found was at community centre. The time of the class was too inconvenience for me. Hence, I didn't register for it.

After I completed my Spanish course, (only 1 term :P), I again sourced for cooking class. I found one at Holland V., another one at Jialei, Bugis.

Holland V. have Peranakan, Japanese, Western, Chinese, French, Italian, pastry and bakery classes. The 1st one that attracts me is the CUPCAKE!!! Haha... Yummy, sooo sweet~. (^_^) But the class costs $100++ for 2-3 hours, and only one lesson. It's very expensive, so I didn't register for it again. :P But I'll keep a look up for it because they offer a variety of cooking classes.

Jialei have Hong Kong, Peranakan, Chinese and bakery classes. For this, the class that attracts me is the Hong Kong dim sum. Hehe... (^.^) The class costs $40++ for 2-3 hours, one lesson too. All their course fees ranging from $40++ to $80++, which to me, it's much more cheaper and reasonable. Hmmm... I see when they are going to conduct the HK dim sum class. Then, I'm going to register for it. (^_-)

However, before I take up the HK dim sum class, I want to learn to bake cupcake. Because my very interest is still making cupcake. It's small, cute, nice, decorative and sweet. Hehe... :P I saw a picture of six cupcakes beautifully designed and was posted on Facebook two days ago. It was posted by one of my spanish classmates. I realized she had took up the cupcake workshop at Paisly & Cream, Little India. It was such a coincidence but a pity. Haha... If I knew long ago that she was interested, we could have gone for the class together. Anyway, I have to thank her. I didn't know about Paisly & Cream at all and they offered reasonable price and suitable timing. Paisly & Cream also have much more cupcakes variety to learn than any other baking classes and their course fees are kept at $100 per participant, not more or less. I'm smiling from ear to ear now. =] Keke...

I have plan now. After I have learnt to bake cupcakes, I'm going to give it to my mom. As a gift for mother's day! Bake it from my heart. (^_^)

Jogging

After being so sick, I was afraid that I couldn't go for my jogging so fast and also afraid that my stamina would fade. But I went to jogging last night. To my surprise, my stamina is still there, not fading at all. Yeah! (^_-)Y

The feeling of detoxifying my body and burning my fat off is such a great feeling. (^v^)

The Royal Wedding: Prince William & Catherine Middleton

Handsome prince and beautiful princess. Grand, exquisite, magnificence and amazing wedding. I'm not dreaming to be like them. It's an important event happening in this world that is worth to have a knowledge of it. (^_^)

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey



Prince William and Prince Harry leave Clarence House (My house if it ends without "nce" :P)



Prince William and Prince Harry arrive at Westminster Abbey



Kate Middleton Proceeds to Westminster Abbey.Kate Middleston's Dress - Royal Wedding Highlights



Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress Revealed - The Royal Wedding - BBC



Catherine Middleton arrives at Westminster Abbey



Catherine Middleton walks down the aisle



The Royal Wedding Vows



William and Kate on the Procession Route - The Royal Wedding - BBC



Celebration as the Royal Couple return to Buckingham Palace



The Procession to Buckingham Palace (The Captain's Escort)



The Procession to Buckingham Palace



William and Kate Kiss on the Balcony - The Royal Wedding - BBC



The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Buckingham Palace in an Aston Martin



The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
All the VIPs, include most famous people like:
- David Cameron, the Prime Minister of UK
- David Cameron's wife, Samantha Sheffield
- David Beckham
- Victoria Beckham
Hmmm... How come famous people names in UK are all called David? (scratch head :D haha...)


Royal wedding: The ceremony in full
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13244592

The British Royal Wedding
http://royalwedding.bbcentertainment.com/asia/

The Royal Wedding Prince William & Catherine Middleton
http://theroyalwedding-2011.appspot.com/page/home