that's it?

I'm struck by the simplicity of the menu of the most important dinner of the entire world. In contrast, even a usual wedding dinner in KL would have 6 or 7 course.

The dishes are also impressively environmental-friendly. There is no sharkfin, for instance. It's interesting to note the difference between now and say 30 years ago.When Lee Kuan Yew visited Deng Xiao Ping, he was served bear paw. It is inconceivable now.

What is more important for us to take away from this menu is the brand of wine. If you ever visit China, you need to buy 中国河北2002年出产的长城干红和长城干白, because Obama drinks it.


国家主席胡锦涛17日晚举行盛大宴会，欢迎来华访问的美国总统奥巴马。

宴会菜单中西合璧，正餐包括一道冷盘，一份汤和三道热菜：翠汁鸡豆花汤、中式牛排、清炒茭白芦笋、烤红星石斑鱼。餐后甜品为一道点心和一道水果冰淇淋。

宴会上配餐的红葡萄酒和白葡萄酒分别是中国河北2002年出产的长城干红和长城干白。

You would think SG is error-free when it comes to English, but I saw this advertisement in MRT

"HELP US TO FULFILL THEIR WISHES"

This is grammatically incorrect.

It should be : "HELP US FULFILL THEIR WISHES"

On a related note, I have always wondered which one of the followings is correct, when speaking to my daughters
1. Sit in the chair
2. Sit on the chair

Google seems to point to the first sentence as the correct answer.

News that haunts you

What is more unbearable? The thought of losing someone so dear to you, or that someone so dear to you is aware of her looming death ...

http://www.zaobao.com/wencui/2009/10/lhwb091029.shtml


（美国辛辛那堤讯）原本天真活泼的女孩子埃琳娜，因为脑癌，在这个世界活了短短6年就离开了。由确诊至逝世的一年间，虽然逐渐衰失说话能力，但她暗暗地写下数百张爱的字条，以图画文字答谢父母的爱，并收藏在不同地方，让父母在她离开后，逐一发现。

　　居住在美国辛辛那堤的埃琳娜，5岁确诊脑癌，仅余下7个月至一年寿命。
　　埃琳娜对自己的情况心中有数，暗中以特别的方式感谢父。随着病情恶化，她口舌不清，于是利用纸和笔，一次又一次，向父母和妹妹说“我爱你们”。并将字条藏在家中不同的地方，好让他们不时能收到她的讯息。

　　埃琳娜最终不敌癌魔离世，她的父母某日在一个背包中，首次发现了爱女留下的纸条，写着“妈妈、爸爸和格雷丝，我爱你们”。之后，不论在书架的书中间、衣柜角、碗碟之间或藏在箱中的旧照片中，都发现她的字条。

　　父亲德瑟勒治说：“我们至今发现了数百张，而即使到现在，仍不时有新发现。”但两夫妇各留有一张字条未打开，好让永远还有一张未看。

Chagall

Finally watched Notting Hill, a film that I was supposed to watch 10 years ago, when it was first released, in Canada. I still remember clearly it was rated 3 stars in the Hours newspaper, and the review was pretty positive. However, during that age I had a tendency of going for some "heavy" and "dark" movies. Light comedy was not exactly my cup of tea. I hesitated for a while in going to see this movie. Eventually I must have chosen something else that I thought more worthy of my attention and this movie got buried in the back of my mind. It is finally summoned out.

In the movie, Julia Robert gave Hugh Grant an original artwork produced by Marc Chagall. I did not know who the artist was but I promised myself to google it later on.

And it turns out Picasso thought very highly of this guy. Picasso remarked,"When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is."

Anyway, I thought this painting is the most thoughtful gift ever produced in any romance movies.

中秋论团圆

数个月前我还认为两岸故宫不可能在中国领土内进行合作交流，看来我是错了。大陆把雍正的文物借给台北展出，展现了大陆的气度，以及前所未有的自信。

“三希堂文物展“指日可待了。


（台北讯）来自北京故宫博物院的三件清代雍正朝稀世文物昨日在台北故宫博物院举行开箱仪式。两岸故宫文物60年来首度聚首，并将于本月7日在台北登场的“雍正——清世宗文物大展”上与参观者见面。

　 　据中新社报道，“雍正——清世宗文物大展”展出内容分为“雍正皇帝的一生”及“文化与艺术”两部分，首创以文物铺陈雍正其人、其政及其艺术文化成就，全 方位解读这一在史学界颇具争议的清代皇帝。选展的246组件文物包括档案、史籍、地图、肖像、绘画、书法、砚台、瓷器、漆器、玛瑙、玻璃、珐琅器等。

　 　据悉，这次雍正大展是两岸故宫自今年2、3月间“务实交流”以来所落实的具体成果之一。北京故宫博物院精选了37件清代雍正朝文物，包括雍正肖像、生活 绘画与器物等，远渡台湾海峡实现了两岸故宫文物60年来的首度聚首。此外，参与展出的还有上海博物馆、台湾中研院历史语言研究所等。

　　今 日开箱率先与媒体见面的包括雍正“为君难”寿山石螭钮方印、铜胎画珐琅缠枝莲纹六孔瓶、描金彩漆包袱式纹长方盒。据台北故宫博物院院长周功鑫介绍，此次 “雍正——清世宗文物大展”规模大，其展出之物皆稀世珍品，仅保险费用就高达14亿2000多万新台币（约6234万新元）。

　　周功鑫表示，今年初台北故宫博物院造访北京，与北京故宫同仁已就两岸人员交流、出版物交流等达成九项共识。此次“雍正展”就是其中的一项成果，希望让文物自己对观众“说话”。

口头禅

One of the most amazing qualities about Obama is his ability to make speeches that unify people of all races, or religions, or parties. I observed that he has repeated the follow phrase in a few speeches. The most recent speech about Health Care, contained such phrase too.

"I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper."

This phrase effectively conveys a sense of brotherhood that is equivalent to a chinese saying 有难同当

It is interesting to discover that that phrase originates from Bible.

A saying from the Bible's story of Cain and Abel. After Cain had murdered his brother Abel, God asked him where his brother was. Cain answered, “I know not; am I my brother's keeper?”

Cain's words have come to symbolize people's unwillingness to accept responsibility for the welfare of their fellows — their “brothers” in the extended sense of the term. The tradition of Judaism and Christianity is that people do have this responsibility.

Monk vs Monk

The president of Taiwan, Mr.Ma, handled the recent hurricane poorly. Lives were lost and the response was slow. The opposition party (民进党), seized the opportunity to create a problem for Mr.Ma – Inviting Mr.Dalai Lama to Taiwan to pray for the victims.

This creates a dilemma for Mr.Ma. If he denies Dalam Lama’s visit, he runs the risks of angering the public further, for being insensitive to people’s spiritual needs. If he accepts Dalai Lama’s visit, he would risk destroying the rapport that he has built up carefully with Beijing. This does not help Taiwan’s economy.

Eventually he yielded to pressure and he let Dalai Lama in, purely on humanitarian ground. China, as expected, had a measured response to downgrade bilateral ties with Taiwan. Taiwanese did not seem to be impressed with Dalai Lam’s visit either. Many people thought this is just another political show. Mr.Ma gained nothing out of this.

Had Mr.Ma listened to my advice, he would not run into such problem.

My solution is as follows.

-Mr.Ma should first emphasize that Taiwan has the right to permit or deny anybody into Taiwan, based on the authority’s assessment. He should look cool and authoritative at the very least.

-Secondly, he should say that if Dalai Lama is here for humanitarian effort, he should be invited by a religious or charity body. Why is the opposition party inviting Dalai Lama? This does not make sense and he will not allow it. He would consider accepting Dalai, if he is formally invited by a religious body, or a well-respected religious figure.

-Thirdly, Mr.Ma should further say this : Look, I know people are grieving. And it’s understandable that some people might need religious support. However, we have so many respected religious figures here, including星云大师, who prays for the victims constantly. Is the opposition party holding the view that our local religious figures are not effective enough, that we must import external religious figures? Or are they politicizing this issue for their own benefit?

This way, the opposition party would be under pressure, for they are accused of playing politics while people are grieving. Secondly, they seem to not love 星云大师, a beloved man in Taiwan. Thirdly, they have no valid ground to invite Dalai.

星云大师 is expected to stay out of politics, not going to extend any invitation to Dalai. If he indeed extends the invitation, the visa will be stamped : Meet with星云大师 only. China will have more understanding of this. And most importantly, the opposition will not be able to take any credits.

This whole saga could be resolved by just one press conference. It’s piece of cake for me.

港澳街头掠影

在星光大道里，还活着的巨星们都留下手印，唯独王家卫不留。原因不详，大概他要表现出一种遗世独立的态度，不想被简单地贴上巨星的标签。



二十年后，重庆森林依然是外劳的天地。 林青霞的芳踪何在?


在澳门一条陋巷，看见一个酷似星爷的人在吃云吞面。

港澳喜欢cute cute 的字眼，竟然有"温馨提示"这种话语，英文翻译更可爱: Warm Suggestion. 左思右想，我认为没有合适的英译。最接近的应该是Lovely Tips (也是怪怪的)。

金庸修订碧血剑的原稿。难以想象字字句句竟然都是写出来的。

地铁看书

地铁内许多人都有看书的习惯。根据我这半年来的观察，一般上，书本可以分为四类

一是跟学校有关的书。(学生）

二是俗气的中文言情小说 （一定是马来西亚人，单身来这里工作，非常郁闷，需要一个想象空间。）

三是厚厚的畅销英文小说（新加坡时髦的OL)

四是大陆的文艺书（中国人）

当然，也有些非常另类的。比如说，我曾经目睹一个中年妇女，目不专盯地在看佛经(大纲经)。她一页页地翻阅，饶有趣味，好像在读小说，怎么会有人看懂佛经呢? 真是奇人。

日本的地铁内，都是铺天盖地的漫画本。这里的人们不好此物，我根本不记得有人在地铁看漫画。

遗憾的是，至今未能看到任何人手持余秋雨的霜冷长河。更不用说 The Great Gatsby 或者 The New Yorker。

李光耀在回忆录写道: “However, it will take another generation before our arts, culture and social standards can match the First World infrastructure we have installed". 如果他有空搭一趟地铁，感叹必定更深。

Ban it

Even in an advanced nation such as Singapore, some acts that seem inappropriate are tolerated in the public. Take, for instance, burning the incense for some kinds of festivals. The incenses are enormous. Burning them in public generates lots of smoke, heat, and ashes. A few times I walked by these burning incenses, I almost got chocked. Such act is so environmental unfriendly. I am sure it increases global warming by a few celcious.

It seems the Singapore government tries to be tolerant and sensitive to religious rituals. But it is a known fact that the government disallows muslim ladies from wearing headscarfs in school. (I think this makes sense too). Hence, it should be equally cold on this issue, and ban incense burning in public. Carry out whatever religious rituals you have at home. Just don't do it in the public.

In my view, incense burning has far more harm than headscarf or chewing gum.

Singlish 101

My colleague Ken was talking on the speaker phone. He is a white boy from Texas.

"Can? Can?"

"Yes I am"

"I mean can or not?"

The female colleague sitting next to me burst into uncontrollable laughter.

The most unlikely dinner

President Clinton : How are you sir?

Kim : Not too bad.

Clinton : So um.. I am glad we finally meet. By the way, "Axis of Evil" is a term coined by my successor, George W Bush, not by me. I did not regard you very highly back then but let me make this clear, I did not label anybody as evil.

Kim : So, we are cool?

Clinton : We are dining together now, aren't we?

Kim : So you want me to free the girls?

Clinton : If it's not too much of a trouble.

Kim : So you apologize?

Clinton : Now, let's define apology. Suppose the apology is in the context of "Sorry for causing you put up with the American cuisine, which I know you are not exactly fond of", I would like to apologize. But other than that, I am not authorized to issue any apology with regards to these two wonderful female journalists. And certainly it is beyond my power to accept any responsibility that you might think I need to accept. I am not in Washington anymore.

[Kim's translator was at a loss of words for a while, because he was not exactly sure what Clinton has said. Eventually the translator said : He apologized]

Kim smiled : Well, that's all I want to hear. The girls are free to go.

Clinton : Thanks.

Kim said : Do you want some wine?

Clinton : No, thanks. I would give it a pass, because I have done a by-pass two years ago. By the way, you look pretty good, despite all the rumors.

Kim : Suit yourself. You wouldn't mind taking a photo with me together, would you?

Clinton : No sir. It would be an honor for me to take a photo with the last communist leader in the world.

Kim : Yeah Castro retired last year. And Hu JinTao is a capitalist in disguise. I am the last authentic communist leader.

Clinton : I do not disagree. By the way, is there any chance that you could stop making the nuclear bomb?

Kim : Sure, ask Obama to come see me.

Clinton : I would convey your invitation to Obama, but you know, he is a very busy man these days.

Kim : Ask your wife to come see me.

Clinton : You know how much authority I have over her after that little incident in White House. I do dishes these days at home.

Kim : Ladies need to be taught a lesson.

Clinton : Thanks for the inspiring words. Look, I think this is an interesting dinner. But I have a plane to catch. Let's do the photo, shall we?

The earth is my home.

I believe that everyone has a right to choose the country of citizenship. And so, when Jet Li decided to be a Singaporean, I think that is neither honorable nor shameful. It is simply his personal choice.

But what troubles me is his reluctance to admit the fact, like a man.

When asked where his home is, he answered that the earth is his home. Yeah right, so if the earth is your home, you could belong to anywhere on earth right? So why go through all the troubles (or spend a lot of money) to change your citizenship from Republic's of china to Singapore? Does it mean Singapore is more earthly than China?

I would have more respect for him if he said "None of your fucking business" or "Yes, Singapore is my home now, and you have a problem with that?"

By the way, I have no shame in admitting that I am ashamed to be holding the passport of the country of my present citizenship. I would very much love to become an American. I would not blink for one second to ditch my current passport, if U.S.A decides to give me a U.S passport.

No, the earth is not my home. I would love my home to be somewhere in Beverly Hills and I want to be neighbor to Paris Hilton.

Crime scene

This actually happned on the train while I was on my way to work.

Woman A asked woman B "Do you want baby?"

Woman B did not answer yes or no.

Woman A repeated her question, "Do you want baby or not?"

Woman B smiled uneasily.

Woman A flashed out her mobile phone, and started showing baby photos to her. This is her catalogue.

The shortest novel in the world, written by Hemingway, contains only six words -"for sale: baby shoes, never worn."

I am going to re-write a little "mobile phone : baby catalogs, no discount"

B- 的应用文

昨日两岸最高领导人第一次互发电报，字字句句都是琢磨过的。换句话说，文字冷冰冰，说表面话，不深入，毫无热诚。


胡锦涛贺电全文如下：
　　台北
　　中国国民党中央委员会
　　马英九先生：
　　值此先生当选中国国民党主席之际，谨致祝贺。由衷期望贵我两党继续推动两岸关系和平发展，进一步深化政治互信，不断为两岸同胞谋福祉，开创中华民族的伟大复兴。
　　中国共产党中央委员会总书记胡锦涛
　　2009年7月27日


马英九回电全文如下：
　　北京
　　中国共产党中央委员会总书记
　　胡锦涛先生惠鉴：
　　今日贺电敬悉，谨致谢忱。
　　四年来，经过贵我两党的共同努力，当前两岸关系已在“九二共识”的基础上，走上和平发展、稳定共荣的大道，既符合两岸人民的期望，也赢得世界各国的肯定。
　　今后，仍须双方顺应民意，继续在“正视现实、建立互信、搁置争议、共创双赢”的原则下，不断努力，以巩固海峡和平、重建区域稳定、促进两岸持续发展与繁荣。端此奉复，敬颂
　　时祺
　　马英九敬启
　　2009年7月27日


总的来说，大陆比较肉麻，说什么中华民族的伟大复兴，好像有点夸张。台湾却比较文绉绉，什么端此奉复，什么谨致谢忱。拜托，什么时代了，还搞文言文。

奥巴马为了平息种族风波，邀请哈弗黑人教授和笨警察一同到白宫喝啤酒。这种调解方式，还真有一套。反正都在说客套话，说的轻松点，反而更有效。

中国人的通病就是比较 uptight. 其实，双方应该 lay back a little，可以说点这样的话 ：久闻英九酒量过人，什么时候能够过来中南海小酌两杯，或豪饮茅台，我无任欢迎。

毛主席的豪气万丈，周恩来的幽默诙谐，都去了哪里 ?

最后的时光

密密麻麻地围了过来
一把鼻涕
战战兢兢地给我喂饭
不做饿鬼

庸庸碌碌
一生太长
嫣然一笑
一生太短

Martin & Michael

Today comes a moment of enlightment. It is a startling discovery for me to realize that the BAD MTV is directed by Martin Scorsese. A friend tipped me off to this fact through MSN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7n8LHOgg0U

Throughout our whole lives we were only exposed to the last 3 minutes of the dancing scenes of MJ in leather jacket. As a matter of fact, the first 15 minutes of the MTV is most interesting. It is a stirring drama, nothing short of the intensity found in Taxi Driver.

Quote of the Day

When watching an old interview of Michael jackson by Oprah Winfrey, it was interesting to note that Michael had a very smart way of defending his skin color.

"Let's reverse the situation. What about the millions of people who sit out in the sun, to be become darker, to become someone they are not, and nobody said nothing about them"

It is simply irrefutable.

Lost in Translation

新加坡有许多告示牌的翻译是很糟糕的。

比如，地铁站的告示牌 :

Value Life. Act Responsibly
生命要珍惜。行为要负责。

真拗口。

我以为如此写法更恰当。
珍惜生命。谨慎行事。

数年前在北京的公园看到这么一个告示牌，印象深刻 - 芳草凄凄，踏之何忍。 这种柔性的规劝，晓之以情，让人自律。

沿着这思路，我觉得地铁站的告示牌可以再翻译得更形象一点。
Value Life. Act Responsibly
生命脆弱，小心！

团圆

乾隆皇帝生平很有雅兴，收藏许多墨宝。其中的三件墨宝，应该是他最喜欢的，以至于他特别给他的书房取名三希堂。

王羲之的《快雪时晴帖》
王献之的《中秋帖》
王珣的《伯远帖》。

三件文物的命运如下
王羲之的《快雪时晴帖》 - 台北故宫
王献之的《中秋帖》 -北京故宫
王珣的《伯远帖》 - 北京故宫。

最近发现梵高画了三副关于他的房间的画。三副画命运相似，各有其主，也无法团圆。
BedRoom First Version - Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum
BedRoom Second Version - The art Institute of Chicago
BedRoom Third Version - Paris’s Musée d’Orsay.

我想哪个博物馆或画馆如果能搞个三希堂文化展览，分别从北京故宫以及台北故宫借到真迹，让乾隆的三件珍宝重新聚首，必定是文化界的一大盛事。从这里衍射出去的政治意涵，也很深远。

北京不会借画给台北，台北也不可能借画给北京，因为双方都不想给对方太多的正当性。香港也不恰当，台湾不会同意。看来，目前最能够胜任此任务的，是取得两岸信任的新加坡。

至于梵高的画，阿姆斯特丹以及巴黎都有资格收藏，因为梵高在这两个地方都生活过。芝加哥就有点格格不入。那个博物馆能够搞一个梵高睡房展，让三件画聚首，也很有意思。