Ji Lang Ji Pua

This song has been ringing in my head for two days running. It's locally composed and I love this acoustic MTV version. Not too sure who the singers are though, but great tune and meaningful lyrics (that is, if you understand them. I do ok. Ha!).

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Compere, Singer and Carpark Attendant?

I haven't heard of Liu Lingling before until she appeared in '881' as the lady boss of the Papaya Sisters. Whether you like her or not, you've got to admit she's funny. I mean REALLY FUNNY. I would rank her along the likes of Mark Lee, Patricia Mok and Kumar. I did a YouTube search of her and found a short STOMP snippet of her in action at a getai performance.

Enjoy! (Oh yea, you would need some understanding of Hokkien to better appreciate the performance)




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Getai Rules

If you have not gone to see Royston Tan's latest movie "881" about the local getai scene, I suggest you make a trip to the cinema this week. It's an excellent local production and I was particularly impressed with the array of colourful costumes and variety of Hokkien songs used, especially some of the new, local compositions. The movie highlights the tough life of a getai singer in a humourous yet heart-warming way, often bringing to light the amusing off-stage feuds, romance, competition, friendships and camaraderie between the two getai camps.

There are moments of exaggeration though, from the magical powers of the Getai Goddess to the final showdown between the Papaya and Durian sisters. It tries hard at times to present itself as the local version of Moulin Rouge. I must say several scenes appeared 'forced' and tacky whenever the characters transited from their usual Hokkien-Chinese banter into this dreamy musical scene... there was one of them in chicken outfits made out of carton boxes and another of them immersed in a fantasy-like aquarium. I'm not certain whether it fits well in our local context, much less a getai context.

But it was good entertainment and I'll give it 4.5 stars. Watch the trailer below:

Huat ah!


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Gum Gum!

Here is a revised design based on the earlier one. My brother included some nice intricacies to the inside pattern of the emblem. Looks cool but probably not advisable for t-shirt printing due to the fine details.

For those of you who do not know, I have been involved in NDP work for the past 3 years, this year being my 4th. I volunteer as a Mentor under Touch Youth and work with a group of highly motivated youths from the ITE schools. It is no surprise why they are also known as the 'NDP Motivators'. This year, the 'G' cluster has been assigned under me. Calling it 'G' isn't quite the most catchy name to use, so my motivators came up with an almost Hokkien-ish sounding name - 'Gum Gum'.

'Gum' probably means 'got chemistry' or 'can click together'. Repeating it twice makes it sound... melodic? Err... or so I think.

Cheers to Gum Gum!


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Cluster G!

Just the other day, I had to come up a revised logo for my NDP cluster as the original copy had some imaging problems. Given a tight timeline to come up with something, I quickly went into one of my favourite online stockimage resource - istockphotos and selected a couple of emblems. I love these crest-like logos b'cos they potray a sense of camaraderie and fortitude, something characteristic of armies in the medieval period. Truly an apt symbol of what embodies Cluster G.

Well, just in a day, my creative younger brother (who's really 'tok kong' at photoshop) whipped out an impressive looking emblem which I instantly fell in love with. I know I can always trust him with any design-related work b'cos that's his God-given talent and I know he'll always end up with good, quality stuff. Thanks bro! You're a blessing!

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Olivier Gregoire

Harmon Kardon Audio Box

[single interface that supports many different types of audio]

When I was studying in Melbourne, I stayed in a walk-up apartment and met an ex-primary school classmate who was studying to be an industrial designer. I thought to myself then, "Wow... you design machines? Like those you see in factories?" I guess I got the idea from the word 'industrial'. He must have gotten used to such comments from people when he gave me a wry smile, shaked his head and drew out his portfolio to explain to me patiently what people like him did for a living.

Nicholas, as I knew him to be, went on to proudly show me some of the current work he was doing for his clients. Pretty impressive! I only knew later that one of the Sony-Ericsson phone models that was launched in 2005 was designed by Nic. Cool eh?

Well, the pictures you see here are certainly not products designed by him, although I think he probably has accumulated an impressive collection already. They belong to the handiwork of Olivier Gregoire, a product designer who is based between Paris and Nice. The prototypes shown are based on his design philosophy - a balance between art and industry, form and content, the sensitive and the functional.

I'm always amazed at how design changes our world, defines the times we live in and creates a better life for us all.

Enjoy the pictures.

Paper Bread Toaster

Embrio Lighting
[A single mould delivers 3 modules lamp that can be separated from each other
using the breakable properties of the ceramic]

Ceramic Cutlery


Music Sampler
[Download a song and listen to it through the same connection]

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