The week in passing

Angbao Inflation


Yesterday, there was a report on My Paper about "inflation" of wedding gift money.

It was reported that with prices going up, some wedding banquets costs as much as $1200 per table (of 10) at five star hotels. Hence the angbao inflation.

I find the logic some what convoluted. Since when are guests expected to pay for the newly weds lavishness?

Typically, guests would like to help the couple defray the costs by give a gift money that is about the per head price of the banquet. In old times, such gift moneys goes a long way towards helping the poor folks. Certainly in my parents time, it was so, for they were too poor to even pay for a few tables of feast at the neighbourhood restaurant for family and friends.

But what I find disturbing is for couples to have grand and lavish banquets AND expect the guests' angbaos to match it.

I say, if you want a lavish wedding you be prepared to pay for it. I am not going to pay for your extravagance. If you want five star and all, you make sure you can afford it. There are plenty of alternatives for those can't afford it.

It is not that I begrudge a gift -- for my close friends I still give angbaos that are "above market rate". And that's regardless of the venue and setting, even if it is just a simple buffet lunch after a solemnization at a temple or a church wedding.

I am just not willing to pay for others' extravagance.

Yes, I know prices are going up. All the more we should keep within our means.



It all about appearances

It was reported that the girl who sang at the Olympics Opening Ceremony who just lip-synching. The reason being that the real singer, 7 year old Yang Peiyi, "was not pretty enough to appear in front of a television audience of billions".

It's just another sign how much premium the society puts on physical appearances, and in this case, almost to the point of sacrificing integrity.


Right here waiting

OK. I confess. I am not immune to physical beauty.

Just early this week, I was snooping around and found the application call Zoosk on Facebook. It's something like a match-making application.

After adding it, I was browsing through the profiles. Given the minimal information available on the profiles (Zoosk does not link back to the Facebook profile), I'm afraid it's purely physical appearance that defines attractiveness.

So I send a few winks and flirts to a couple of guys whom I find attractive (sadly, based on nothing but a photo), though I skipped those that are too young (like 25 and below).

Now I'm waiting for a response....

Oh, it's been a few days. There has been no response. None at all.

I guess that's how things goes. You judge people by physical appearance. People also judge you by physical appearance.

The beautiful people gets all the attention. They need not settle for less. So the it's wishful thinking targeting those that are attractive in the first place.

OK, I guess that's enough of Zoosking around for now.


Gossip: Psst! Did you just break off with your boyfriend?

Over the past week, I saw on Facebook 3 friends who had their status change from being "In a relationship" to "Single".

That piqued my curiosity. But I am too polite to ask. I guess people who just broke off from a relationship are probably nursing a broken heart and do not like kaypohs poking their noses into it.

But it also showed how visible your romantic life can be to your Facebook friends.


Hungry Ghost month 1

I commented to a friend that there are plenty of headless people around in Trevvy and Fridae.

My friend commented, "Don't scare me! It's the Hungry Ghost month!"

Ha! They are scary indeed. I normally don't bother with headless people. I broke the rule once and had a blind date with someone whose profile picture did not had his head.

Bad experience. I won't break the rule again!

It's not that he's ugly or hideous. In fact, he was quite presentable.

It's just that those who are too scared to show his face for whatever reasons are just not my type.


Hungry Ghost month 2

Is the economy month really bad?

The Hungry Ghost month this year seems rather muted.

Typically this is the time when you see people making offerings everywhere and burnt paper offerings would be flying all over the place.

But it seems to me that there isn't that much of it this year.

Are people cutting back offerings because of bad economy? Or have that many people changed their religious beliefs?

Parades and Parades

It was the Olympics Opening ceremony last Friday night, and then the Singapore's National Day parade on Saturday night.

I caught bits and pieces of both with a yawn.

Such a waste of resources. So much pomp and grandeur and to what purpose?

I know China wants to showcase to the world and put up a grand show. But was it necessary to go to that extent?

As for the NDP, I guess it's a celebration. But I'm just a little jaded. Seriously does a grand NDP make people more patriotic? I think not.


Indignation

With the nation is celebration, it's also the time some gay people show their "indignation".

This year's program seems rather low key and muted compared to last year's. (Is it really the economy?)

But seriously, after so many years of being "indignant", perhaps it's time to drop that and move on to something else.

What's the point of being indignant if we gay people can't be proud of ourselves.

A bit of earth

For what is homeland
In which we planted
Our hopes, lives,
Dreams and memories?
But a bit of earth.

-- Christine Suchen Lim

The eyes with which we choose to see

In today's My Paper, there was this article by Leow Ju-len titled "You're vain, self-absorbed and shallow".

There wasn't very much to the article, except for the following statement which caught my attention:

"What makes Singapore girls so hot and Singapore guys so not, then? Nothing more than the eyes with which we choose to see."

Isn't this something that's so true was some many aspect of our lives?

What makes a guy hot? His face? His muscular body? His charm? The big car he drives?

What makes a person successful? His career? His year income? His reputation? His inner well-being?

What makes beauty? What makes happiness?

Nothing more than the eyes with which we choose to see.

Confessions

I read with great amusement the article "Confessions of a Trophy Boyfriend" on Trevvy.

The writer stipulates that a "Trophy Boyfriend" must have the following attributes:

- Picture-perfect features. Think Orlando Bloom, or Takeshi Kaneshiro
- Height. Only 1.7 and above need apply.
- A toned set of pecs, biceps, triceps and other assorted muscle groups. Abs are essential.
- Youth.
- A big dong.

How did he know that? Well, he confessed to being one.

Hmm.... Not very subtle I must say. I don't know the writer so I shall take his words at face value -- no, I'm not interested to verify if he indeed is all of the above.

And oh, by the way, I have a confession to make myself.

I must confess that I am a ...

Are you eating animal carcass?

I saw on yesterday's The Sunday Times, a recipe that called for the use of a "chicken carcass"

At first I thought it was a mistake, but it occurred more than once in the text, so it's not.

I checked up the meaning of this word. I guess in this case, it means "the body of a slaughtered animal after removal of the offal."

But this is not the most commonly used meaning of this word. In fact, the Longman Contemporary English dictionary I have did not have this entry. The listed meaning was "the dead body of an animal".

Actually, that's what meat really is: the dead body of an animal. Most people, however, refuse to recognize that. I think most people would find it revolting to think of eating meat as eating a carcass.

This is most commonly observed among the Westerners. They have no problem with fish fillets but find whole fish with their heads and eyes intact revolting. They have no problem with chicken parts or nuggets, but find whole slaughtered chicken with the head still attached revolting.

Most of the time, the meat people eat are "sanitized", cut into pieces or processed into something else, that distanced the link between the meat and the animal.

If people would recognized that the meat is really the dead body of a living animal, perhaps they would be less inclined to it.

断肠人在天涯

枯藤老树昏鸦，
小桥流水人家，
古道西风瘦马。
夕阳西下，
断肠人在天涯。


-- 《天净沙 · 秋思》 马致远（元）

独自旅行的滋味

便纵有，千种风情，更与何人说？

--《雨霖铃》 柳永（北宋）