From the monthly archives:

March 2009

Travel: Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Right near my apartment in Singapore is the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. It is a great place to go for a hike or a jog, and is home to the highest point in Singapore…about 600+ meters (I don’t think I need to use the “for a Colorado boy…” comment here). In the nature reserve, as [...]

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Politics: The Democratic Party in Singapore

I have been reading some articles on the Singapore Democratic Party website, and I have found them quite interesting. In a country that has been run by one part for so long, I rarely read/hear about other opinions (this may or may not have something to do with the way media works in Singapore…). Anyway, [...]

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Link: Kishore on Failure in Singapore

To avert failure, Singapore must conceive it – Kishore Mahbubani

MARCH 25 – I have just finished writing an article for the Wilson Quarterly, an American journal, on the topic, “Can America Fail?”
The opening paragraph reads as follows: “In 1981, Singapore’s long-ruling People’s Action Party was shocked when it suffered its first defeat at the polls [...]

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Politics: Daniel Hannan’s Speech

I know this is really random for this blog (except for the fact that I teach communication), but it was too good to not post. I wish I could see more of this in the US…
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Life: Crazy MSG Dreams in China!

How is your meal?
“Eh, it is fine. However, I know it is going to be a crazy dream meal!”
The crazy MSG dreams have started. This time, I decided to keep track of them (a bit personal), so I can remember the insane, vivid dreams that I experience after a hefty meal filled with MSG.

Check out [...]

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Travel: Photos from My Shanghai City Tour

This is a view of the Oriental Pearl Tower. I took it while standing on the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower, which is on of the largest buildings in the world.
If you want a similar view, there are three other options. You can go to the Pearl Tower (shown in this picture), the [...]

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Language: Mandarin and Dialects in Singapore

The more time I spend in Singapore, the more interested I am in the language situation here. If you have read a little bit about this topic, you will know that there are four official languages – English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil – but that is only part of the picture. In each ethnic [...]

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Politics: Dalai Lama, Africa, and China

I just read this report from the BBC, and had a major flash back to my honors thesis:
A peace conference for Nobel laureates in South Africa has been called off over Pretoria’s refusal to allow the Dalai Lama to attend, organisers said.

The fact that they have refused to allow the Dalai Lama actually might say [...]

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Culture: Ah, Superstition

This year, September 9, 2009 might not be such a hot date to get married. In Mandarin, “9″ is one of those numbers that sounds like another word (long), and is considered good. However, this year, the date 09.09.09 falls on within the Hungry Ghost Festival. For more information, check out this article in the [...]

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Language: Speak Mandarin, Write Simplified

This sign is located in one of the buildings at Shanghai University (the building where we had the MOU signing). They also have signs that say “write standard characters (规范 gui fan)”.  I thought that these signs were really interesting, but they make sense. A lot of people speak different dialects, and the ones from [...]

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