Bridging 9,700 miles and a 12 hour time difference with words
How words helped two women find common ground despite distance and a 12 hour time lag. Late last year I joined Jeff Goin’s on-line platform building course at http://www.tribewriters.com. In one of the practice modules, I found a post by Kathleen Caron that was very critical of Americans and how Americans had grown cold and … Continue reading
White paper – Its not about 6.9 million, it’s about hearts
The debate about the Population White Paper has unsettled me It’s the week before the Lunar New Year. Normally, this is my time for trimming our Vietnamese mai trees, baking pineapple tarts and Indonesian layer cake, getting my popiah filling ready for the family re-union dinner on New Year’s eve and arranging the flowers and … Continue reading
Is population growth a Ponzi scheme – my take
It’s a good question. A friend sent around this thinking point as a response to the population white paper released today. It’s the title of a paper by Joseph Chamie in The Globalist, written on March 04, 2010 (appended below) Personally I think Mr. Chamie’s paper is a bit of a rant. But, his question raises 2 valid points: (1) … Continue reading
8D7N All Taiwan -What I really got out of it
After all those markets, all that scenery what I really took away from the 8D7N was simply this – What’s our’s The areca clad hills scrolling past the windows The marbled gorge The fertile land We can’t own it Nor even the hours Half drugged on tour guide prattle Haggling and buying Clicking away We pass … Continue reading
She Died in Singapore. Guns Didn’t Kill Her
6 MEN ON A BUS DID IT. WITH WHAT THEY HAD BETWEEN THEIR LEGS. WITH AN IRON BAR THAT DESTROYED HER INSIDES. She was a 23 year old Indian student who boarded a bus in New Delhi with her boy friend. They had just been to a movie and were going home. Six men took turns to … Continue reading
THE GALLUP POLLS – SHOULD SINGAPOREANS EVEN CARE?
THE GALLUP POLLS – SHOULD WE IN SINGAPORE CARE? According to Gallup Singapore ranks as the least emotional country in the world and also the least positive Is this heartbreaking? Should we be concerned? First, lets see what the poll questions are – Gallop measures daily emotions of a sample of about 1,000 persons in each country. … Continue reading
If You’re a Vietnamese Woman in Singapore then You Must Be…
Actually you’re NOT. You’re Monique Truong – An award winning American writer and you’re discovering something new about how an American woman of Vietnamese descent might be perceived in this Little Red Dot you’re visiting for the first time. In the first of this series on Vietnamese Artists in Singapore I interview Monique Truong, the award-winning author … Continue reading
A SINGAPORE THANKSGIVING MENU
We don’t eat turkey … Not because we’re vegetarians unfortunately. Unfortunately just because I can’t cook it well and our oven’s too small for the gigantic bird we’d need for all our guests. Anyway for us, it’s the gathering of people that matterFirst things first – the people who’ll be there By and large boat … Continue reading
A Singapore Thanksgiving – Should we be content with small blessings?
This is a city of small blessings Some say this with disdain. But what’s not to love about buses and train systems that more or less work, even if they’re stuffed to the gills; water that comes out of the faucet drinkable; drains that drain 360 out of 365 days a year. In November the rains … Continue reading
5 Reasons why I left America OR What matters most to me about Singapore
I’ve been waiting and waiting for that invitation. But, it hasn’t come. Yet. I mean that invitation to attend some forum or other, where I, a citizen of Singapore, can participate in THE Singapore Conversation. Notwithstanding that last week I wrote – “I am my own homeland, every other piece of paper about … Continue reading
Reader and Writer - Praying Woman - Gardener - Foodie 