From the monthly archives:

November 2008

Life: Books and Reading

I try to take advantage of the wonderful library at school, but sometimes I give into my book-buying addiction.
There are two really great books I have acquired thus far. The first is The Fiction of Singapore, which I just started reading. The second is a Malay Reader that was published sometime in the 1950s. I [...]

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Language: Singlish Post #2

The other day I was talking to one of my students about where he studied English. I was curious because he did not sound Singaporean at all.
It turns out that he went to an international school in Beijing (it was kinda of funny, “have you studied English outside of Singapore?” Student: “Yeah, Beijing”). He usually [...]

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Life: Denver Nuggets in Asia

My students always know how to distract me – talk about the Nuggets.
The NBA is really popular here (and other parts of Asia, especially China). My students always update me on scores and results (most of the time I pretend I already know), and always make a point to rub it in when the Nuggets [...]

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Current Events: Singapore Judge Lays the Smack Down, The Story of the Kangaroo Shirt

Last week I wrote a post about Singapore’s laws (“Is Singapore thaat Strict?”). I displayed a picture of a man riding his bike in a ‘no biking zone’, which I thought did a good job depicting the situation in Singapore. Lots of laws, but they are not always enforced.

For most things I still think that [...]

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Religion: After Malaysia, Indonesia Considers Yoga Ban

I had a feeling this would happen. After the fatwa on yoga in Malaysia, Indonesia is now considering a ban.
Here is an excerpt from the Straits Times:

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) will investigate the practice of yoga in the country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, before issuing an [...]

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Culture: Why Are the Chinese So Skinny?

Interesting question. Check out this article/book review from the Straits Times.

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Life: Thanksgiving in Singapore…Was Amazing!

Last night, we celebrate Thanksgiving here in Singapore. It was fantastic – I wish I had better adjectives/review skills to articulate the glory of the meal a bit better!
There were six of us, and each person contributed a dish (or two) to the meal. James and I made stuffing and salad, both of which were [...]

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Life: Happy Thanksgiving!

Tonight we are having a small gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving. Don’t worry, we’ve got all the dishes!
To all those back home, Happy Thanksgiving. May you eat well, eat a lot, and eat in the company of those you love.

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Language: Quick Post on Mandarin in Singapore

I am keeping this short since I have a lot of readers that who know Chinese.
Two random comments about spoken Chinese in Singapore.
First, they always use ”讲“ – I have not heard a single person say ”说“。
Second, they always say 华文 or 华语 – I have not heard a single person say 中文，汉语，等等。。。
There are reasons [...]

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Life: Effecient Little City-State – SAM in Singapore

Despite the bureaucratic crap I have to deal with, there are lots of things that Singapore does extremely well. The most impressive – slightly ahead of the tax code and health care system – is the SAM. These little machines are amazing.
What is SAM

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