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More than 30 years after their use was discouraged due to the Speak Mandarin campaign, dialects seem to be making a quiet comeback among an unlikely group - the young. More young Chinese Singaporeans now see dialects as an important part of their heritage, and are taking steps to make sure they will not be lost. Business undergraduate Jasmine Tan began uploading basic Teochew tutorial videos on YouTube last year. Her channel, Teochew Gaginang (which means "our own people" in the dialect), currently has 214 subscribers. "It's a way of reaching out to people," said Ms Tan, 19. "It's about cultural preservation but it's also to show people that dialects are not something uncool." The self-professed "cultural zealot" said that she started her tutorials after being inspired by another YouTube user who uploads tutorials of Native American languages in an effort to protect them from extinction. "You could call me sentimental," said Ms Tan. "But if you lose your dialect, you lose your culture." Others, like students Jeraldine Phneah and Mah Poh Ee, have even petitioned the authorities to bring dialects back on air. Ms Phneah, 22, has lived with her Hokkien-speaking grandparents since she was young. "When I listen to people speak in Hokkien, I feel a sense of closeness and warmth," she said. Ms Mah, who communicates with her family mostly in Cantonese but also speaks Hokkien and a smattering of Hakka, agreed. "I use the language to bond with my closest kin. If grandchildren can't communicate with their grandparents, that's a very sad thing," the 18-year-old said. There are also efforts to promote the use of dialects as a tool to communicate with those in the broader community. The National University of Singapore's Students' Community Service Club, for example, is experimenting with dialect tutorial videos to equip volunteers in their interactions with the elderly. The club used to hold two to three dialect workshops each academic year. However, it decided to switch to videos this year to increase outreach. "We wanted our volunteers to have a more meaningful interaction with the elderly," said Ms Kristabelle Tan, 21, the club's president. "Some are afraid to volunteer if they have no dialect skills." Ms Annie Lee, 24, who works with the Social Service Institute, has found that speaking "very fluent" Hokkien has made her job as a community relations officer easier. She recalled how she used to have difficulty conveying her thoughts to her Hokkien-speaking parents as a teenager. "I knew what I wanted to say but I couldn't verbalise it properly," she said. That was when she made a conscious effort to brush up on her Hokkien, and she now considers herself to be "very fluent" in the dialect. Ms Lee is now trying to pick up Cantonese, and has bought a Cantonese copy of social worker Koh Kuan Eng's dialect picture book. She has even purchased the Teochew and Hokkien versions of the book for her 20-month-old nephew. "Personally, I want to let dialects be passed on," she said. "I like the whole idea of continuing the legacy." Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/young-people-speak-dialects-20131023

my collick who is in PAP grass loots bought the simi Battle For Merger Book, brought it into office and left it in the lounge for everyone's reading pleasure. Where got time? I kacao him for a summary, he IMed me this link: http://mothership.sg/2014/10/12-quotes-on-why-lee-kuan-yew-had-successfully-auditioned-as-a-dj-if-pap-lost-the-battle-for-merger/ The PAP grassroot machinery is so well oiled..... im impressed... Talk 1: 1. And the story begins: “Soon you will have to decide on your future…In the series of broadcasts, I hope to tell you what merger means, why it is good for all of us, why it is coming, and why some people are deliberately creating trouble and difficulty over it to prevent it from taking place”. Radio Talk 1 – Merger and the Stakes Involved Talk 2: 2. Exposing how his opponents operate: “Because the Communist Party is illegal in Malaya none of its followers go about telling people that they are Communists. Publicly they will always pretend to be democrats; privately they keep on recruiting as many effective persons as they can persuade to join them in the Communist cause”. Radio Talk 2 – The Communist Challenge Talk 3: 3. Praising his opponents: “I came to know dozens of them. They are not crooks or opportunists. These are men with great resolve, dedicated to the Communist revolution and to the establishment of the Communist state believing that it is the best thing in the world for mankind”. Radio Talk 3 – How the Communists Operate Talk 4: 4. On opposition leader Lim Chin Siong: “Lim (Chin Siong) was the most important open-front leader the M.C.P. had built up. By 1955 he knew that I knew this. He is a friendly and quiet person. He is prepared to devote his whole life to working for the creation of a Communist Malaya”. Radio Talk 4 – A Lesson for Socialists yawn.. 12 of them... sian liao

Embassy ah?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25861717 HSBC imposes restrictions on large cash withdrawals

EC also have similar HDB rules in terms of sale How is it that EC is priced more expensive than some freehold condo in Pasir Ris so is there really a subsidy on public housing I am totally confused Large crowds turn up at Tampines Trilliant EC launch 27 Jan 2012 ChannelNewsAsia Large crowds turned up at the launch of the latest executive condominium (EC) on Friday. Property developer Sim Lian Group said it hopes Tampines Trilliant, which is located in a mature estate, will attract couples who want to live near their parents. But with prices as high as S$971,000 for a four-room unit, will home-buyers be turned away? The launch of Tampines Trilliant saw a large lunch-time crowd

Ytd i was shopping for a proposal ring... I was walking around tampines mall/one area, after going through all the shops i was deciding on a 0.46carat color D clarity VVS1, EX,VG,VG from Soo kee. the SE quoted me $2499 after resetting and everything. i was wondering i whether or not its a good deal. i suddenly tot of my buddy's gf, who is somewhat a expert in diamonds. she told me a proposal ring is supposed to be 4x my monthly income. and my gf deserve morethan a 0.44 $2.5k ring i was like, like that i must spend more than $10k liao. she also advise that no point gg to the general shops as im actually paying for the brand. she told me she wanna recommend me a few private custom jewellers to custom set for me im wondering how much u guys spend on the ring that make u go on ur knees and whether u all got custom jewellers to intro anot... i dont mind spending but most impt must get best deal

Nb, if this my phone, jialat http://www.mrbrownshow.com/2011/10/06/the-mrbrown-show-simi/

This is the scenario many fellow citizens & myself worry after the present GE is over. In all likelihood the ruling party will be returned to power though it may, & many of us think, lose some seats to the opposition. Many of us are cautiously surprised to hear quite a few misgivings about some mistakes made coming out from his own ministers after the A-Team leader offered his personal apologies over them just 4 days before the GE. About time. Granted that many folks, by nature nice & easy to forgive, have let them off the hook thus winning them many such sympathy votes over, some of us are quite skeptical about the promised changes which they say will happen after the present GE. Can an all-mighty-whiter-than-white-can-do-NO-wrong political party change over night & seemingly repenting over some controversial policies which caused a lot of resentment on the ground? Given that they have 5 long years to do that but did not & only does that 4 days before polling day because the ground is apparently not sweet? The greatest fear is that they are some how given a strong mandate & takes a clean sweep over the remaining 82 seats in parliament. In this case, will it be a " Yes we said sorry........but we still think it is a good policy even though it is unpopular & wish to remind you that we have been given a strong mandate so we will continue to implement it." Hope I am wrong about it....

Mr Brown does it again ...Delicated to all c-----c and bengs

Student fined maximum $10,000 for smuggling in puppy By Elena Chong A STUDENT who smuggled in a puppy from Johor Baru was slapped with the maximum fine of $10,000 on Wednesday. Liu Liangwu, 21, pleaded guilty on Monday to importing the two-month-old chihuahua from Malaysia without a licence on Dec 24 last year. A Customs officer was checking a car, driven by Liu, when he felt something furry on opening a compartment under the driver's seat. Liu admitted that it was a puppy he had bought from a pet shop in Johor Baru. He did not apply for a licence from the Director-General, Agri-Food and Veterinary Services. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority prosecutor Yap Teck Chuan asked the court for a deterrent sentence. He said the Animals and Birds (Quarantine) Rules required any dog or cat imported from any country except Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland to be vaccinated against rabies and a subsequent 30-day quarantine. This is to safeguard Singapore against diseases, especially rabies - a fatal viral disease which can be transmitted to humans or any warm-blooded animal through the bite of an infected animal - from spreading here. 'The risk of a rabies incursion is a serious concern as we are surrounded by infected countries. Singapore has been free from rabies since 1953,' he said. Malaysia is not rabies-free and dogs imported from the country which have not undergone the required import procedures would pose a risk to the public here, he said. Liu's lawyer, Mr Khoo Aik Yeow, said his client, an animal lover, bought the puppy for RM1,400 (about S$615) from an established pet shop in JB. The pet shop owner had assured him that the puppy was healthy, vaccinated and free from any diseases. Liu regretted the offence and promised not to do it in future. District Judge May Mesenas said the case clearly called for a stiff sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offence. She accepted the prosecutor's argument that there was a need to deter such offences from being committed, especially bringing in a dog which had not been vaccinated and subject to quarantine controls. The puppy was seized. A locally bred chihuahua costs about $900 while an imported one from Australia can range from $1,000 to $2,000. In 2001, a man who smuggled in four puppies was given three months' jail while another offender was given three weeks last year for importing a shih tzu from Malacca. http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/...ory_227906.html Price of puppy $615, Price of smuggling $10K, Risk of being caught = Priceless For everything else... dunno the Court accept Visa or Mastercard.....

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Sto...ory_161419.html This only shows when 1 cant perfom,they will just get sacked and replace by a new one to improve it and no chariman can tolerate spending $ to underperform..not even the special one The comments are good from some readers