Hawker food song, sung in Hokkien to Shang Hai Tan (上海灘 ) tune, .

I heard this song probably twice at some clubs, I can't remember clearly where. I was surprised to see the video titled "Kuching Food". In any case any Singaporean listening to the song would have no difficulty identifying the food dishes in the lyrics. Enjoy! Anyone knows who composed the Hokkien lyrics and who's the singer?

Singapore Heritage Fest 2010 Concert

English Concert - 20 August 2010, Friday, (8-10pm), SMU Campus Green
Lovers of local Music and supporters of local bands party the night away with popular bands from the past and rising artistes of the present. The English concert features a tapestry of musical genres and local bands such as The Great Spy Experiment, Tania, Gypsy featuring Mel and Joe Ferdinands, Wendi Koh, former members of the Flybaits and The X-Periments – all hosted by popular Radio DJ and Host, Hamish Brown. 

English Concert - 21 August 2010, Saturday, (8-10pm), SMU Campus Green
If you are a big fan of Chinese evergreen songs, then mark this date on your calendar right now. Featuring artistes such as Chen Wei Lian, Chen Diya and Carrie Yang, Yi Ge Da Liang Ge Xiao, Xian Hong, Hong Shao Xuan, Pan Ying, Li Fei Hui, Ye Pei Fen, Li Chuan and Huang Qing Yuan, it's going to be an evening of songs and music under the stars.

Admission is free.

Life in Singapore in the 60's

Great video of Singapore in the 60's.  You get to see what life was like. Everything from the buildings, the automobiles, the clothings, the shopping and trade and the most interesting of all the happy faces of children having a lot of fun over simple things.

ONCE UPON A SINGAPURA, A journey through local music

On 7 & 8 August 2010 Esplanade presented National Day Celebrations ONCE UPON A SINGAPURA, A journey through local music at the outdoor theater. Bands of the 60's The Mysterians performed their hits such as Please Don't Tease, The Vadham family's Moses and Regina delivering familiar oldies and Sausalito in tribute to their brother Chris Vadham of Western Union Band, Terry Mortimer of Tony & Terry and Peter Diaz of the Surfers played some memorable rock & roll songs. This is such a wonderful event to reminisce about the good old music of the 60's and our very own local bands.

Regina & Moses Vadham singing Sausalito







Terry Mortimer of Tony & Terry and Peter Diaz of The Surfer "Can't Buy Me Love"

Brian Richmond interviews Terry Mortimer of Tony & Terry and Peter Diaz The Surfers.

Give way to YOG Song (With Lyric and Sing along)

Another big event coming up. Singapore will be hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) from 14 to 26 August 2010. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will receive some 5,000 athletes and officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with estimated 1200 media representatives, 20,000 local and international volunteers, and more than 370,000 spectators. Young athletes - aged between 14 and 18 years - will compete in 26 sports. Along with all the publicity, the Youth Olympic (YO) Lane was introduced to facilitate the smooth travel of athletes and officials during Games time. Motorists only need to give way when they see Youth Olympic Vehicles approaching.
 
Give way to YOG Song (With Lyric and Sing along) - Mr Brown Show Production

Singapore of old

Singapore in 1938
Rare 1938 pre-war black and white film footage of Colonial days Singapore before I was born. I was born in 1953. It is wonderful to be transported back in time to see what life was like in the bygone days. There are lots of familiar sights except for some of the old landscape and roads which I wouldn't have recognized. Many buildings still stand today - Fullerton Building and Clifford Pier (2.05), MICA Building and Coleman Bridge (3.31), Sri Mariamman Temple (4.50), The Sultan Mosque (5.22), Vitoria Memorial Hall, City Hall (Municipal Building). In the film the commentator called St Andrew's Cathedral, St George's Cathedral (8.38); this is a puzzle. Perhaps some Anglican parishioners would like to take up the challenge to investigate and let us know how and when the name got changed. And then there is our love and pride, the Raffles Hotel. No more around but recognizable are the Public toilet by the river near Clark Quay (2.58 building on the right), the Godowns (warehouse), the Tongkangs (wooden boats) and the Coolies (Labourers).

"Beautiful residential section of Tanglin" (8.51), wow I grew up in Tanglin Road but I don't recognize it in the film. It is beautiful nonetheless, with trees neatly lining both sides of the road. 

The rickshaw, old  motorcar, Overhead Electric Cable buses, Lady barbers in Samfu (4.08), Anchor Beer Van (4.42), Bullock cart (6.31) and the Amahs dressed in Black and White stirs up a sense of nostalgia.



Singapore in 1957

Singapore Flash Flood 2010 Song

"The Wave Song" Lyric credits to MrBrown Production. Music from K'NAAN - Wavin' Flag. Enjoy..

World Cup predictions - Mani the Parakeet vs Paul the octopus

"Paul" the octopus in Germany say's Spain is gonna win the world cup 2010. Here in Singapore we have "Mani" the parakeet who has become a sort of celebrity status predicting Holland will win. Considering that Paul the Octopus picked Germany to win the Euro 2008 but Spain won, his credibility should somehow have been dented. Being a Singaporean I am betting on our own psychic animal, haha. In a video clip from Reuters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy4hzSatq8Q) it is reported "Mani, the seven year old bird from Malaysia......". Singapore viewers in particular are left wondering if that statement is true as otherwise it may leave viewers from other parts of the world confused that Singapore is still part of Malaysia. Singapore broke off from the Federation of Malaysia and became independent in 1965. We celebrate our 45th year of independence this year on the 9th of August. Here is a report from our very own CNA Channel News Asia.

FIFA World Cup - South Africa 2010

Well although I am not a soccer crazy person I do pay some attention to major matches. Same for other games like Table Tennis when our Singapore women's team upset China to become world champs in Moscow. 

The final count down to World Cup! In a few hours time South Africa plays Mexico in the opening match. Soccer fever hits the world. This is most certainly going to be much bigger, more feverish than the 1995 rugby World Cup especially for the people of South Africa. 

Here in Singapore the 5 Community Development Councils (CDCs) and People’s Association (PA) have forged a partnership with Singapore Pools, SingTel and StarHub to screen the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches “live” at 16 Community Clubs island-wide from 11 June to 12 July 2010.

For information of live screening matches visit People’s Association (PA) website - http://www.pa.gov.sg/
The 16 community clubs:
Braddell Heights CC
Address: 50 Serangoon Ave 2 #01-01, S(556129)
Phone number: 62867876
Person in charge: Mr Kuo Jeng Nam (SCM)
District: South East
Cheng San CC
6 Ang Mo Kio Street 53, S(569205)
6458 8222 / 64571172
Mr Chua Lip Teck (SCM)
Central Singapore
Chong Pang CC
21 Yishun Ring Rd, S(768677)
67588528
Jessie Heng (SCM)
North West
Chua Chu Kang CC
35 Teck Whye Avenue, S(688892)
67655001
Mr Damien Tan (ACM)
South West
Clementi CC
220 Clementi Ave 4, S(129880)
67781950
Mr Goh Ah Soon (DCM)
South West
Fengshan CC
20 Bedok North Street 2, S(469644)
64412412
Ms Loretta Tan Mui Ling (SCM)
South East
Gek Poh Ville CC
1 Jurong West St 74, S(649149)
67920095 / 67922750
Ms Michelle Koh (DCM)
South West
Jurong Spring CC
8 Jurong West Street 52, S(649296)
65624066
Mdm Jenny Koh (DCM)
South West
Mountbatten CC
35 Jalan Satu, S(399479)
63460620
Ms Chen Xiaoyi Grace (DCM)
South East
Sengkang CC
2 Sengkang Square, S(545052)
63125400
Razak Abd Rahman
North East
Tampines Central CC
Blk 866A Tampines St 83 #02-01, S(521866)
67858292
Shawn Lee
North East
Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green CC
65333260 / 65330646
20 Upper Pickering Street, S(058284)
Mr Wong Teck Yu (ACM/CM)
Central Singapore
Toa Payoh East CC
160 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, S(319380)
6256 7601 / 62516515
Mr Kelvin Thong (SCM)
Central Singapore
Vacant Land near Temporary Mkt (Organised by Eunos CC)
Eunos Temporary Mkt (Bedok Reservoir Rd, next to Blk 632)
6448 6071
Mohan Dharan
North East
Woodlands CC
1 Woodlands St 81, S(738526)
63627137
Kho Lilian (SCM)
North West
Zhenghua CC
1 Segar Rd, S(677738)
63106702
Agnes Lim (SCM)
North West

FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/index.html
World Cup fixtures with Singapore broadcast timings here: 2010 Football World Cup Fixtures and Groups

Singapore opens 2 Casinos

The Singapore government gave the green light for the building of not one but two (2) casinos back in 2005. Despite the global financial crisis in 2008, construction went ahead.

The first casino, the 4.4 billion US-dollar Resorts World Sentosa built by Malaysia's Genting Group was opened for business on February 14 2010. Sales of tickets started at 11.18am. RWS includes four world class hotels, Hard Rock Hotel among them and Universal Studio.

The second casino Marina Bay Sands is a 5.5 billion US dollar complex built by US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands. It was originally set to open at the end of 2009 but faced repeated delays caused by a number of factors, including material and labour shortages and financial problems due to the global economic downturn. Marina Bay Sands opened it's doors at 3:18 pm on Tuesday 27 April 2010. Tuesday's opening includes the casino and 963 out of 2,560 hotel rooms, a portion of the shopping mall, some restaurants, an exhibition centre and the events plaza. The remaining hotel rooms and suites, a skypark and more shops will open on June 23, while a museum, theatres and other stores will start operations later in the year. The government hopes to to attract 17 million visitors a year generating over 21 billion US dollars by 2015, boosting the services sector and reducing the role of manufacturing in the economy.

Many believe that Feng Shui (Geomancy) plays an important part in the design of casinos. Notice both Casinos have chosen the number 8 which is considered auspicious for their opening the hour. The superstitious type may want to read this very interesting article "Unveiling the Secret of Casinos" in the April issue of Prosper Times, sharing insights of "Feng Shui" in Casinos http://www.prosperwithfengshui.com

 

Credit: Vincent Travel Journal

"Every Touching Moment" 感動每一刻 [Shanghai 2010 World Expo]

Chinese President Hu Jintou declares open The Shanghai World Expo 2010 tonight with artistic performances, spectacular fireworks and high tech display. An estimated 70 million visitors are expected during the 6 months expo.

Opening Fire Works


Expo Song "Every Touching Moment" 感動每一刻
JJ Lin (林俊傑), Stefanie (孫燕姿) , Tanya (蔡健雅), Ah Du ( 阿杜)


Singapore Pavilion Tour