New Article Archive

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Book-burning: Start of a slippery slope

BOOK-BURNING is barbaric.

No ifs, ands or buts. No grey areas. Simple as black and white print on paper.

My gripes with online wrath

HAVING been an avid Internet user since its inception, I've come to realise there are three universal rules governing cyberspace.

We were not burning textbooks, says Kiss92 DJ

THE parent who organised the burning of homework to celebrate the end of his son's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) clarified yesterday that textbooks had not been set on fire.

Govt agencies' new goal - write simply, with sincerity

HELP wanted: Government agency wants to communicate simply with sincerity and empathy with the public, but does not know how.

S Lanka Prabhakaran bunker destroyed

S Lanka Prabhakaran bunker destroyed http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24402355

The incredible predictive power of Tom Clancy's novels

BEFORE Tom Clancy became an international publishing phenomenon, he was just another insurance salesman, working out of Baltimore and dreaming of a life as an author. With the arrival of his debut novel, The Hunt for Red October, in 1984, that dream suddenly became a reality, establishing the man with the aviator sunglasses and the Navy baseball hats as a perpetual presence on best-seller lists.

Syria deal no utopia for international law

TWO cheers for international law!

A month ago, when I first contemplated writing a piece for The Straits Times on Syria and international law, I was preparing for war. As someone who teaches international law, I must periodically explain to my students why countries like the United States occasionally break the law.

Why does the human brain create false memories?

Are human beings hard-wired for war?

WAR is in the air. Sad to say, there's nothing new about this. Nor is there anything new about the claim that war has always been with us, and always will be.

Soviet officer may have averted nuclear war 30 years ago

MOSCOW - Thirty years ago this week, a potential nuclear disaster was averted, thanks to Mr Stanislav Petrov.

Online comments: Kill them or fix them?

POPULAR Science is closing comments on its articles. Citing "trolls and spambots", the 141- year-old American magazine has decided that an open forum at the bottom of articles "can be bad for science".

UN breakthrough on Syria chemical arms

UNITED NATIONS - The five permanent members of the deeply divided UN Security Council have agreed on a resolution that will require Syria to give up its chemical weapons, but there will be no automatic penalties if the Syrians fail to comply.

Myanmar can 'learn from, not copy S'pore'

EVEN as she seeks to learn from Singapore's institutions, Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says her country should not copy them wholesale.

Why people like sad music

SADNESS is an emotion we usually try to avoid. So why do we choose to listen to sad music?

Should scholarships go to wealthy kids?

When I applied for a scholarship to go overseas for my university studies in 1971, I gamed the system. I looked at past records of which particular course had the most number of scholars and picked it to increase my chances of success.

Tuition too prevalent to ignore

There was widespread incredulity last week when Senior Minister of State for Education Indranee Rajah declared that tuition is unnecessary.

Chin Peng: A divisive figure even in death

Few people knew where exactly Chin Peng lived. But friends and followers turned up in Bangkok anyway, bearing what pleasures the frail octogenarian could still enjoy: Chinese meals, ice cream, and short trips to nearby provinces like Chanthaburi.

A long week: Putin's diplomatic gambit

Middle East - Shortly after 10 o'clock last Monday morning, US Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the scale of the difficulties facing the United States. President Barack Obama had decided to launch a punitive strike against Syria, following an alleged chemical weapons attack in an eastern suburb of Damascus, but he had also taken the surprising step of asking Congress to authorise military action.

The Great Depression in Economic Memory by Jean Pisani-Ferry - Project Syndicate

PARIS – The dispute that has emerged in the United States and Europe between proponents of further government stimulus and advocates of fiscal retrenchment feels very much like a debate about economic history. Both sides have revisited the Great Depression of the 1930’s – as well as the centuries-long history of sovereign-debt crises – in a controversy that bears little resemblance to conventional economic-policy controversies.

What to Make of Putin's Odd Op-Ed, and Other Syria Observations - Bloomberg

What to Make of Putin's Odd Op-Ed, and Other Syria Observations

By Jeffrey Goldberg Sep 14, 2013 12:49 AM GMT+0800

Two quick notes on two interested parties in the rolling Syria debacle.

THE 'privilege' OF suffering

HUNDREDS of Syrians are apparently killed by chemical weapons, and the attempt to protect others from that fate threatens to kill many more.

A child perishes with her mother in a tornado in Oklahoma, the month after an eight-year-old is slain by a bomb in Boston.

You can't have it all, but you can have cake

Those magical moments when what you want and what you have match up - that's what 'having it all' is about

Ms Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook is the current guru in negotiating this imperfect paradise. With her enviable job, helpful husband, two children (not to mention her bestseller), right now she is Queen Have-It-All.

Learning through inquiry for humanities

GEOGRAPHY and history students are going to learn how to do detective work, under a revised upper secondary school curriculum that places a bigger emphasis on inquiry-based learning.

What atheism really means

IN LAST Saturday's Supper Club interview ("'I told the minister to send me to jail'"), pastor Lawrence Khong was quoted as saying "an atheist is very religious. He has a belief system. He believes there is no God".

As the founding president of the Humanist Society (Singapore), I call myself an atheist, as do many of our members, and we find Mr Khong's understanding of the term both incorrect and misleading.

Bring fairness back to the COE system

MOST people will agree that vehicle population control is necessary for a small, land-scarce country like Singapore.

What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria - NYTimes.com

A Plea for Caution From Russia

What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria

By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN

Published: September 11, 2013 

MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Medishield

MEDISHIELD LIFE

Should those with high-risk habits benefit?

Published on Sep 07, 2013

SENIOR health correspondent Salma Khalik suggests calling upon wealthier Singaporeans to subsidise the proposed MediShield Life premiums payable by their less well-off compatriots ("Healthy opportunity for generosity"; Thursday).

Separate inequality, opportunity issues

LIKE any immigrant, I'm optimistic about the United States.
The crash will recede, confidence will come back and stronger growth will resume. The zeal of ordinary Americans to work hard and prosper will prevail over the weary incompetence of the political class.
If I wanted to be pessimistic, though, I know what I'd be dwelling on right now: the new preoccupation with inequality.

Here comes Instagram

IT'S a truism that Facebook is the many-headed frenemy, the great underminer.

Down with meritocracy

The man who coined the word four decades ago wishes Tony Blair would stop using it

• Michael Young
• The Guardian, Friday 29 June 2001 02.59 BST

I have been sadly disappointed by my 1958 book, The Rise of the Meritocracy. I coined a word which has gone into general circulation, especially in the United States, and most recently found a prominent place in the speeches of Mr Blair.

Ben Bernanke: 10 Suggestions

When helping is not helpful

AMERICAN parents are more involved in their children's lives than ever: They schedule play dates, assist with homework and even choose college courses.

What happens when we have enough?

JOHN Maynard Keynes was right about the future. But he was wrong about how we'd be spending it. "In the long run," Keynes famously wrote, "we are all dead". I rate that claim true. But it actually has little to do with Keynes' views on the subject.

North Korea can be beaten, just like the Soviet Union

LET'S start with the bad news: The North Korean problem has no simple or quick solution. The North's weapons-grade plutonium and nuclear devices have already been manufactured, and are now safely hidden in underground facilities.

I'll be back

The American suburban life

   

 It's like driving into a Desperate Housewives movie set. Life is good if you are rich and live in California. The kitchen is just like what you see on Modern Family.

Home of Facebook

  

  

I visited Facebook. Thanks to George who drove me there from SF. And thanks to Colin who contacted Victor. And thanks to Victor who works there. Way to go guys!

Museum Discourse

 

 


Museums are ways to preserve collective memories for the majority. It's not about the controversies nor are museums obliged to to tell you everything. Museums are supposedly objective, but even in objectivity there are perception bias. Bias is not read negatively as irrational fear but deliberate decisions to focus (more) on one aspect than another.

Momuments and Memorials

   

   

Monuments are important in capturing landmarks in a nation's history. There is a dignifying solemnity and grandeur about monuments in imposing awe and respect in the beholder. They are constructed this way with this intention in mind. Again there is a grammar to the architecture of monuments and memorials. Here are some of my take on the features:

Historic-City Philly

 




Philadelphia is the historic city Americans bring their children to to see the landmarks associated with the founding of America. A whole industry caters to all the heritage trails, icons and heroes associated with American independence from City Hall to Christ Church to Betsy Ross House. For each, a visitor centre, docents, role-plays, magazines, tours, souvenirs cater to citizenship education and myth-making. And the people enjoy it so much! They are proud to be Americans!

Upenn Class: History of Sexuality & Modern World History

Classes at Upenn. Thanks to John!

A History of Sexuality: A lecture on the evolution of sexual mores and sexual attitudes and sexual norms. Students take notes with their Macbooks in the lectures. Sometimes they check on Facebook. The lecturer takes time to clearly communicate assignment rubrics and ideas. She lectures with the aid of visuals.

Modern World History. The lecturer is relaxed. Most of the time using youtube videos of pop culture & music to illustrate the values and circumstances during WWII. His lecture is helped by many adult students in the midst who, having lived through, the period, were open and gracious in sharing their experiences. Students leave when time is up and they have to be at another class, even when the lecturer is still going on. It's ok.

American Food at Diner's

 

It seems really unhealthy. But it tastes good! You can be sure the taste (actually the remnants of the kitchen air) stays with you for a LONG time. Wear something you are about to laundry. Make sure you have laundry points. I didn't have many. Hence I skipped Kelly O's. Or I will smell like Kelly O's great American breakfast!

Places you want to go to work

 


1. Users contributions
2. Beautiful toilets
3. Food for free

These are real places. Not wishful thinking.

The Art and Science of Animation Expertise

 

 

Rendering animation requires the science of using the technology behind the software. It also requires the arts  of instincts in knowing what looks realistic in the common sense of perception. What an expertise! Imagine an animator must be good in both?  I guess the environment of expertise and demand make an animator better than another!

Storyboarding a Production

Have always been interested in the grammar of a storyboard. Here it is from a animation production perspective!

Light has its grammar

 
 
Lighting is an important aspect of show genre. It has its own grammar in the kind of effects and impacts it makes on a performance. Colin takes an elective on lighting, and he has to read a play and propose the lighting scope and sequences to convey the intended impact of the play as he interprets it. Much like writing a curriculum; you decide which topic you want to shed light on, and which areas you want to bring into sharp focus and those you wish to blur, and the different kinds of light you wish to portray to express your take of the topic.