Tag Archive: singapore
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The National Day Wait
How many hours would you sit under the equatorial sun for a 15 minute fireworks show?
It’s National Day in Singapore today and thousands of people have been waiting in the tropical heat for the fireworks still 3 hours away. Many stake their place as early as noon for a show that doesn’t start until 8pm. This is usually in heat that reaches 35C with 85%+ humidity. It’s hard work for a 15 minute spectacular.
I can see the fireworks from the comfort of my flat. This means that every year, I see 3 rounds of fireworks (2 practice sessions plus the NDP show itself) not to mention the countless other fireworks shows for New Years and various other holidays.
In fact the view is so good from where I live, cops have blocked off my street and only let residents in because in previous years, people have parked their car in the street making it impossible to get through. It took me 2 hours to make the 2km trip out one year. Some of my more influential neighbours must have pulled some strings to sort that problem out.
For the first time in about 15 years, it looks like the National Day Parade will get rained on. Given the odds of rain on any given day in the tropics, NDP has had a good run of it. But the sky is turning dark and I can hear rumbling in the distance. Mother nature may be providing the light show tonight.
OK here come the jets…
View from my window…
FOLLOW UP…
Amazing but despite the black skies, it only rained a few drops then cleared up. It was another perfect day for the NDP.
Cultural Map of the World - Including Singapore
Putting the little country on the map.
Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map of the World - including Singapore
Traditional - Secular-Rational Values Vs Survival - Self Expression Values
This is based on the World Value Survey which included Singapore but the relevant info was not depicted in their published values map. I found the Singapore results here.
Singapore:
Traditional/Se-cular-rational Values: -.06
Survival/Self-expression Values: -0.16
This puts it very close to Vietnam on the map.
Singapore fines TV station for gay show
And we don’t mean happy
From The Raw Story
Reprinted for posterity…
Apr 24, 2008 06:43 EST
A Singapore television station has been fined for airing a show that depicted a gay couple and their baby in a way that “promotes a gay lifestyle,” the city-state’s media regulator said Thursday.
The Media Development Authority fined MediaCorp TV Channel 5 $11,000, it said in a statement on its Web site.
The station aired an episode of a home and decor series called “Find and Design” that featured a gay couple wanting to transform their game room into a new nursery for their adopted baby.
The authority said the episode contained scenes of the gay couple with their baby and the presenter’s congratulations and acknowledgment of them as a family unit “in a way which normalizes their gay lifestyle and unconventional family setup.”
The episode was in breach of rules on free-to-air television programming, which disallows content that promotes, justifies or glamorizes gay lifestyles, the statement said.
Earlier this month, the authority fined a Singapore cable television operator, StarHub Cable Vision $7,200 for airing a commercial that showed two lesbians kissing.
Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed “an act of gross indecency,” punishable by a maximum of two years in jail.
Despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions. Authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle choice.
Snakes Will be Snakes
Little dogs and pythons do not mix.
An Australian family is devastated that their family pets have been keeping a neighbourhood python fat. First on the menu was the cat, later the guinea pig and finally the dog. At this point they are worried for their children. Safe to say that by the time the guinea pig was devoured, they should have made arrangements to protect Roofus.
While the tragedy of the pets living in rural Australia may have been foreseen, the fate of Glenda Liu’s Jack Russell Terrier, Bella, was somewhat more of a surprise. One day while walking her dog in the very urban River Valley area of Singapore, a 3.5m python managed to creep up on them and squeeze the life out of little Bella. The snake then managed to escape the police called to the scene and has managed to stay out of the press since.
In Malaysia, just north of Singapore, there have been reports of large pythons falling out of trees, stunning their human victims and then squeezing them to death though this may just be urban legend. Suspect pics have been circulating the net for years (with my assistance).
