Revisiting the Ballad of Bukit Brown

I’m proud to announce my collaboration together with my good friends from General Lee titled “Revisiting the Ballad of Bukit Brown”.

This is an interdisciplinary piece combining literary arts and music, in which I wrote “Revisiting”, a twin-cinema poem, in response to “The Ballad of Bukit Brown” by General Lee, from their eponymous debut album released in 2016.

We’ve also recorded a music video, which you can stream on Facebook and YouTube (videos embedded below for easy streaming).

From the blurb:

In this cross-disciplinary collaboration, both band and poet tell their stories in a new way and for a new age, brought about by the societal shifts and cultural changes of 2020.

Exploring the tension between conservation and progress in Singapore through the lens of the defunct Bukit Brown cemetery, the video contains images and footage of old and contemporary Singapore, sourced from both private collections as well as Creative Commons.

This includes scenes of Bukit Brown, pictures of historical figures, as well as modern-day Singapore.

This visual juxtaposition illustrates the various facets of the conversation on conservation and progress, and mirror the duality of the twin-cinema format used in the poem.

What happens to the fines collected by the CCCS?

Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore

Close to a month ago, I noticed these two stories about the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) published in The Straits Times on consecutive days:

From these two stories alone, the CCCS stands to collect some $39 million worth of fines from the firms mentioned.

And that’s after subtracting the whistle-blower’s reward mentioned in the chicken cartel story!

I sent an e-mail message to the two journalists whose bylines were on those stories asking them if it might be possible to do a story on the following:

  • On average, how much does the CCCS collect, in fines, each year?
  • What happens to the fines collected by the CCCS?

I thought it’d be in the public interest to understand how – and how much – monies collected by the CCCS are eventually returned to Singaporean consumers.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any follow-up stories on those two questions yet, on any media platform.

I thought I’d share my curiosity with everyone else, in case some other media outlet might be able to provide some answers to my questions.

Appointment of Ms Indranee Rajah as Special Advisor to the Ministry of Chindian Affairs

Wed, 25 Apr 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APPOINTMENT OF MS INDRANEE RAJAH AS SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE MINISTRY OF CHINDIAN AFFAIRS

  1. The Prime Minister’s Office announced yesterday that Ms Indranee Rajah has been promoted to full minister. She will be appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Education. She will also be appointed Second Minister for Law until 30 June 2018.
  2. The Ministry of Chindian Affairs approves of this and congratulates Ms Indranee on her promotion.
  3. The Ministry would also like to announce that Ms Indranee will be appointed as Special Advisor to the Ministry with effect from today.
  4. As Special Advisor, Ms Indranee will provide advice on the Ministry’s strategies to grow Chindian capabilities. Ms Indranee will also advise on the participation and engagement of Chindians in national fora and conversations.
  5. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the Ministry would like to announce a special, one-off holiday. This will take place immediately after Chindian New Year.
  6. As Diwali 2018 will fall on Tue, 6 Nov 2018, Chindian New Year will be celebrated on 1.5 days – from Wed, 27 Jun 2018 till noon on Thu, 28 Jun 2018.
  7. The special holiday will be celebrated from noon on Thu, 28 Jun 2018 till noon on Fri, 29 Jun 2018.
  8. Chindian Chap Goh Meh will be celebrated on Thu, 12 Jul 2018.

MINISTRY OF CHINDIAN AFFAIRS

(NOTE: This is satire.)