Archive for April, 2009
A Numb Face
April 30th, 2009 Uncategorized
This AM, at the skin clinic, a doctor? nurse? put a numbing cream on my face. I LOVE IT! I have to do it again!
Almost Project 365
April 29th, 2009 PicturesTags: Project 365
20090429 My Fav Place
20090429 My Fav Place
20090428 Tree Stump
20090428 Window Detail
This is what I say to myself when I read proposals
April 27th, 2009 Uncategorized
One thing I, and any working girl,* must never forget, is that the risk is always there. All we can do is minimize it. Linkie is from a blog NSFW but your office/IT has probably blocked it.
*Not the cancelled bits. Difficult to imagine a person not doing risk related working say the above.
Pls register with we-are-aware
April 27th, 2009 Uncategorized
From we-are-aware,
Hi all, http://www.we-are-aware.sg is a site set up by the old guards of AWARE.
There seems to be lot of support in cyberspace, but we dont know how many of those voices will be attending the EGM.
It would be great if all of you who are intending to come to the EGM and supporting the old guards could register on www.we-are-aware.sg, so that we can keep you informed of what to expect at the EGM, dos and don’ts/ etc. It will also help us plan and organise the logistics for the day, and to make sure that the event goes as smoothly as can be expected under these circumstances.
From our viewpoint, what is really at stake is the space for a diversity of views in our cosmopolitan, pluralistic, multiracial, multireligious and multicultural society. The continuance of an all-inclusive and secular AWARE depends on YOUR VOTE.
Almost Project 365
April 25th, 2009 PicturesTags: Project 365
20090425 - A crowd
20090425 - Left overs
20090425 - Popcorn
20090425 - Jackfruit
20090425 - Hot
SIFF 2009: Dean Spanley
April 25th, 2009 screen
I picked up Dean Spanley because of Peter O’Toole, Jeremy Northam and that it was a comedy. It’s billed as a fantasy because they are probably all Christians. Perhaps because of that the story is quite interesting since it doesn’t have to obey any rules about reincarnations believed by the Buddhists (such as a violent death is your Karma) and other by-the-thumb-guidelines such as the remembrance of past life requires high level meditation. The set up is not quite believable – that is, on a lark, father and son decided to listen to the lecture on transmogrification of the soul one Thursday arvo and the son meets Dean Spanley (the local clergyman) thrice and decides to ask him over for dinner to discuss about reincarnation. It could have been more random so it fits better into the story but this is the book’s problem, not the film. The show is comedic because of its premise more than verbal comedy. We are to find the believe that a man who remembers his past life as a dog after consuming a lot of Tokay a ticklish point but as a Buddhist, I completely believe it and hence, not that funny to me. Snr Frisk (O’Toole) provides most of the humour in the show by being a sarcastic grumpy old man who make inappropriate remarks. The other bits of humour is from the Australian conveyancer Wrather (Bryan Brown – whom I had thought was Michael Caine throughout the show) who brought the drinks to this party. This is such a English idea of comedy – that with drinks, hilarity will ensue instead of vomit. The show, like the old man, places more importance in the relationship between the dog, Wag (the ex Dean Spanley) and Snr Frisk than Snr Frisk and Jr Frisk (even though there was a touching reconciliation at the end). The last scene where Snr Frisk stares into the camera for a few seconds was to be terribly moving. I thought it slightly unnerving for the audience to be addressed directly since, only Jnr Frisk was the only character aware of the audience.
Phone’s ringing – what do you do?
April 25th, 2009 atwork
Syaffolee says “I think it has finally sunk into people’s heads that I hate answering the phone if it’s for a Certain Post-Doc in the lab next door” .
Not answering phones is a wide-spread disease at my workplace, more prevalent in particular units than others. In some instances, people don’t even answer their own desk lines even when they are there! They could be, of course, working on some stuff and can’t be disturbed at time of calling. The other alternative is to send emails. They don’t read emails. However there is a loophole to this. If the call hails from a HOD phone line, their occupation miraculously fades away andcall gets answered and problems are resolved, clarifications are given. Sometimes I ask if the HOD could try to see if they are screening calls (she’s a really decent sort) and whatever the problem is, it is resolved, clarifications given.
Almost Project 365
April 25th, 2009 PicturesTags: Project 365
200904424 - a lovely area to live except for the express way
20090424 - AM skies.
20040923 - FocusFromDrowsy
20090423 - Drying lunch boxes in the office
Why I joined AWARE by Lucy Davis
April 22nd, 2009 Uncategorized
By Ms Lucy Davis
18 April 2009Although I belong to several civil society organizations and have much respect for previous Aware leaders such as Braema Mathi, Dana Lam, Constance Singham among others, I have not until now become an Aware member.
I supported the foundational, progressive values of Aware, but I had faith that Aware was doing the work it needed to, and I devoted my civil society energies to other causes.
I have however, had occasion to refer several, desperate women to Aware for legal and psychological counseling. I would like to highlight two cases of relevance to current speculation over the new Exco’s values:
The one woman, a breadline income-earner (and defacto single parent), wanted to divorce a man who provided no child support, but who had beaten her up repeatedly over the years, kicking her in the stomach while she was pregnant, for example. He had now returned to India with no trace.
Another woman was a tertiary student who had become pregnant due to unprotected sex. She did not dare tell her friends, her family or her church. She was ashamed, had considered suicide and was in the process of ordering medication online to induce an abortion. I counseled her very strongly not to do this and advised she contact both Aware and a medical doctor.
I joined Aware for the following reasons:
1. I am concerned that behind the gloss of the new Excos “pro-family” policies are positions that would not permit the first battered wife to be counseled objectively on Singapore divorce laws.
2. I am concerned that a feared, pro-abstinence stand in sex education would leave the student above with less control over her body and in more desperate circumstances.
3. I am concerned that Aware’s previous stance on sexuality as choice is in danger. I am concerned for gay members of Aware and members of society that they be pressured, through religious prejudice into ridiculous counseling/conversion schemes.
4. I am concerned for the previous, secular values of the organization, now seemingly-dominated by persons from extreme denominations of Christianity.
5. The closeted tactics taken by the new Exco and their refusal to come clean on their agenda are abhorrent.
6. This move is not just about Aware but is about protecting spaces in civil society as a whole against the non-democratic forces of religious exclusivity and sexual prejudice.Lucy Davis
