Across the boundaries.

So, this is the belated Mother's Day entry. Pardon my indulgence as I write about two things that I love.


As mentioned, my little present was to drag my lazy ass out of bed at 8 am for breakfast. Most of you guys know that I stay in Hougang, right across the street and 20 metres from where the boundaries of the Opposition begin.

A short bus ride later (even my mother was too lazy to walk), we're right smack in the oldest part of Hougang.



The walls are peeling, the benches defaced and weather-worn. The railings along the canal bear scars of chipped paint. Unlike most HDB mini-parks, this one is devoid of pathways, installed flowers and other pretty things.

Interestingly enough, the shallow waters of the canal teemed with fishes, creating ripples all across as if it were raining.



The market/hawker centre along Hougang Ave 7, which my family has inexplicably named 'Tampines Market' probably because of its proximity to the Old Tampines Road.

I'm hard-pressed to think of changes that may have taken place since the days when I was a toddler wearing shoes that squeak when I walk.

The obvious changes are in terms of hygeine requirements : coolers for meat, no more live slaughtering of chickens etc.

They probably changed the seats and tables before, but really, I can't tell.



I've always thought of this place as being one of the older estates in Singapore. Not too sure when it was first built, although I think a good estimate would be late-1970s.



Ah. The food. I've become addicted to the chilli at this nasi lemak stall, and thanks to my Dad and his bike - I have it at least once a week. Its a staple for me. And home-brewed chin chow and tau huay. Mm.



My dad likes to talk to strangers too.





Mini-business everywhere. Mangos from Malaysia! $3 for 1 kg. Good stuff.



We made a stop to visit my relatives a couple of blocks away. The Grand Dowager of the family, my great-grandmother, lives with her eldest son in a shophouse unit. They run an "incense shop", for the lack of a better term. I love the smell of the place.



My uncle (mom's uncle) and my Dad. I have about 20 relatives in Hougang area who contributed to the Opposition vote count.



The shop hasn't changed much in the last 20 years or so, except that business isn't so good anymore. Its tucked away in the middle of a housing estate, and probably relies mostly on regular customers.



So, a bit more on this lady. She had mistakenly voted for the PAP (confused between the logos, and she sure as hell don't read English). "AH!? Its not the lightning sign??" (in dialect, of course)

She loves having her photo taken. She will sit as still as you want for as long as you tell her to.



The people who stay with her have resorted to buying VCD sets of her favourite chinese wayang - just to keep the nagging at a minimum. Ever since her cateract operation a couple of years ago, nothing escapes her eyes (or opinion).



I used to love helping out in the shop, picking stuff from the shelves as dictated by customers.





Martell and Bombay Sapphire. Welcome to my family.



Taking group shots during Chinese New Year or dinners always prove to be a challenge. The one on the extreme left is the most complete set we have to date, sans for a couple of people. I think there's about 90 people in that photo.



And oh dear, the dog that lost its eye because it cried too much when its owner (my mom's cousin) went away on reservist. It developed an eye infection which got worse and worse, despite the vet's (wrong) medication.







It was a nice day. My mom likes to visit relatives etc, even more so when I tag along since I don't get to see them often anymore. There's a lot that we have in common, even if we don't see each other that often. Maybe its where we stay, or that we understand the same dialect jokes, or that really it isn't so difficult to get along with people who are sincere and nice.



There used to be a couple of chickens and a rooster roaming along this stretch at Avenue 4 (right next to the field where they held rallies), but I think they were removed because of the whole bird flu thing.



So! That's about it. I present my mother, who graduated from running in the Punggol kampong barefooted, giving her huge calf muscles, to running in full-running gear at marathons, who didn't know how to use a knife and fork the first time my Dad took her to a restaurant, whose clothes from the 1980s I still wear, and the ones that holds everything together lah.

"Look at the skin on my feet! Its so smooth! Yours are like old woman's like that. You have to moisterize!"

"We're done sucking up to you Home Planet. You wanna fight? Bring it on bitch."

My Jon Stewart's fervour is going strong! Once, he used the word "quarry" and "Brachtian" in the same breath, thereby taking away my own.



Not very representative of the more political stuff that he does, but his comic factor shines through in this clip.

I wanted to do a full length Mother's Day post, but its 4 am already so I'll save it for tomorrow.

My very small gift was waking up at 8 am to have breakfast with her at the market before work. This is why you don't have children, in case they end up like me.



Shall exhaust the cat shots instead. Mr Slouchy watches in horror as I trudge out of the house WILLINGLY.



My father still thinks she's a dog. A dog that can be brought out on family trips. She can't speak, but I'm willing to bet that she'll have a lot to say about his misconception.

Off Day Part 2

So, my second more memorable Off Day. One that I had actively solicited, not because I had to do anything - but just because I wanted a break.

Things have wound down quite a bit since GE, but I just felt like pampering myself by taking some time off to do things that have no bearings on my future or existence.. other than the rather short-term gratification of "hanging out".

So, for the first time I trotted down to the Sungei Road flea market with a colleague who apparently was quite the expert on the place. The aim was the hunt for old cameras, but I guess I just tagged along to see a part of Singapore that I heard so much about but never really took the time to visit.

The most common things on sale were:

1. Handphones
2. Watches
3. 2nd hand clothes


There was the odd trinket here and there, (laser-disc next to vinyl records!!) and one stall selling some kinda aphrodisiac. On display with the rather yucky looking brown stew was an electric-eel hailing from Indonesia and a bottle of leeches (animal abuse!). I'm not sure how these creatures make men more attractive. One sure way is to NOT tell the woman you had just consumed the essense of swamp-dwelling creatures.

Ash was quite surprised to see that leeches grow till that length, and I guess I was never really interested enough to find out. The lasting image of leeches in my mind is the one Stand By Me when the boys wandered through a river and emerged with black squishy things stuck on them.

I am now thinking, whether I would rather a leech or a catarpillar attach itself onto me.

If you think that the blood-sucking factor of a leech would be a dead givaway.. ah thou doth underestimate my fear (and hatred) for catarpillars.


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Cherian rockz/rulez/reignz.

I found an old photo of him (circa 2001) which made me laugh so loud I woke up my parents.

My Daily Fix

"I hunt the most dangerous quarry of all, Larry. Man."

Jon Stewart's a leftie!

*beams*

I think I will get never tired of identifying lefties.







ADD-ON:

OH!! AND!! He's a Saggi too!

My goodness, we're practically family.



As is she.

I think if there's one thing that makes a person attractive - its talent.

This statement perhaps begets an explanation, but I'm tired lah.

Off

I don't really have anything to write about because really, there's nothing much happening other than work.




I did have a very good off-day, chilling out at Arab St with shisha and laptop editing over 200 bloody photos for a friend. I think no more Holland V for me.. not with a place that's cheaper and nearer. And less people too.





I get sick of places quickly. I don't understand how some people can return to the same haunts to study/work for months or years. Seeing how I'm so fussy about location (open-air and with powerpoint for laptop), I think I'm fast running out of places to go.

I've been rostered for another month, and while I do groan a bit because I feel like bumming a bit more, I'm secretly masochistically (sp?) happy. Er ok, maybe not secretly lah.




Oh, and sometimes I love the light from CNA's cameras.

Criminal Intimidation :

Under the Singapore Statutes' Penal Code :

Criminal Intimidation.

503. Whoever threatens another with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminalintimidation.

Explanation.A threat to injure the reputation of any deceased person in whom the person threatened is interested, is within this section.IllustrationA, for the purpose of inducing B to desist from prosecuting a civil suit, threatens to burn B’s house. A is guilty of criminal intimidation.

Punishment for criminal intimidation. If threat is to cause death or grievous hurt, etc.

506. Whoever commits the offence of criminalintimidation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both; and if the threat is to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property by fire, or to cause an offence punishable with death or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years or more, or impute unchastity to a woman, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with both.

----------------------------


I'm no lawyer, but I am really confused as to what they could possibly charge him with.


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I've been back to reading Rockson ever since Tym posted up his first GE-related post.

"The other big loser is the cheebye Singapore newspaper like PAP Times and Mediacocksucker TV station like Channel News of PAP Only. After this election, no people want to believe you now. The internet show you all as Big Gahmen Running Dog. Maybe the auntie and the old man still will read you and believe you. But the new generation not just will read you less and less, and watch you less and less, they will never believe you fucker again."

Someone mentioned to me about a "parallel universe" existing on the Internet which the Straits Times didn't know about, but which could affect the paper badly. I doubt very much that ST doesn't know about it, although it does get a bit strange when they report news that have been circulating on the net for a couple of days.

It will be interesting to see if there will be any effect, and if the numerous political bloggers will receive any attention from the government.

The last 24 hours.

Tired but exhilarated. Grateful to be where I am.





I'd called Malcolm today to tell him that I couldn't get pictures of an exhibition because they sent me too late and it had already closed. He called me hours later, asking WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS.

Later, when "confronted" he said, "I didn't realise it was you on the phone."

It's actually quite funny, and I don't blame them for being distracted as it nears deadline. Distracted, or a bit nutty.

Warning: Gripe Ahead.

For the first time today, I couldn't laugh in office. Today was Shitty Day, a manifestation of all the Accumulated Nonsense and triggered by a catalyst known as The-10-Hour-Stakeout.

Most of the angst has been disappated, thanks to an hour-long political discussion/argument/quarrel with my father, who, for his secondary-school-education-only, knows more than enough to carry on an argument with me. He's the ONLY person who can tahan arguing with me. Most people get tired and just leave me and my silly ways to be.

But yes, The-10-Hour-Stakeout was perfectly alright, a tad bit boring, but sitting around doing nothing isn't exactly rocket science.













Auntie above runs the Teck Ghee Pau stall next to the HQ. I have tried almost everything in the shop. I asked her if she was following the CSJ lawsuit.

"Follow? How to follow? I work till 5, go home still must cook and wash clothes and clean house. So tired. Where got time to sit down and watch news?"

Today was the first time though, that I saw Chee's wife. She was really very plesant and nice, made small talk as she sent her kids off to school. The pink schoolbag in the 4th picture belongs to her kids.

I had to make a few decisions today, regarding when to take or not take pictures. The standard rule seems to be, take first and think later.

I'm not really sure where I stand on this. I mean... what is news? I want to talk about ethics and etc, but I know I'd end up sounding like I'm speaking from some moral high ground.

Sigh. I'm never going to get a job with this kinda save-the-world attitude.

"Why didn't Jess come back with the pic!????? She was right there!!!!"
"Oh, she thought it was against her ethics."
"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?"

All this begins the spiral down the slippery slope of subjectivity. What is news, what is ethics yadayadayada. All I can say is, I do my work in such a way whereby I can sleep soundly at night.

I walked to the carpark to look at Chee's car. Sitting in the front seat was a small plastic bag with a bunch of newly-purchased children's clothes. His wife attaches a Hello Kitty umbrella to the pram when she left with her kids. His youngest son has a cold, and runny nose. His daughter, has hair that's jet-black. All 3 kids waved at me and smiled happily, before racing up the stairs into the HQ.

His wife, speaking to me after I reassured her I was not planning on taking her picture anymore, smiled at me sadly and said, "You guys are alwasy here. I feel like I've no privacy anymore."

The problem with starting with documentary photograhy - I don't like taking pics of people who doesn't want their pictures taken. At the very least, there has to be mutual understanding - even if you don't want your photo taken, you have to understand WHY I'm doing it.

I've missed so many shots, because I wave and smile and introduce myself before I raise my camera to snap. It feels foolish, because I don't think its the right way of doing it, but I can't bring myself to snap away at will without at least first making eye contact and attempting a smile. This desire fades though, when I'm not the only photog there.



Aiyah. Dunno lah.

Happy happy

Its always nice when friends visit.



The Osama and Jesus jokes were exhausted when I was still in Bangladesh, but I guess with Zaid there'll always be something to talk about. One of the nicest, sweetest and funniest people I've known in my life thus far.

Will try to drag him to my house to see the Cat, just to get a kick out of the the OOhs and AAahs and Oh So Big And Different From When She Was A Kitten comments.




Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I changed template because there are just some photos that I don't want to resize to 400 pixels across.



I'd like to describe for you what it was like for me, but this is the emotional, idealistic idiot who teared while watching V for Vendetta during the scene at the end where the crowd surged upon the streets.

Its not even about politics anymore, for me. Its not about the parties and the GRCs, not about who's gonna win or lose.

I'd really like to explain, but I can't seem to find the words to.

How I fucked up today

1. Didn't double-check input of captions resulting in a 12.30am call from deskers needing names I don't remember.

2. Thinking that 1/60th is the same as 1/200th.

3. Pressing button on flash twice and not once resulting in 1/1 instead of 1/128.

4. Not labelling memory card properly causing confusion and wrong bylines.



Way to go Jess! Score!



Its not a self-bashing thing. Its a REMEMBER AND DON'T DO IT EVER EVER AGAIN thing. Or rather, a DON'T PANIC AND KEEP FOCUSED thing.

I'm the latest in the line of photogs to leave their ass print on the steps of the five-foot way along Serangoon Road, outside of SDP's head office.

Thankfully, the Teck Ghee Tanglin Pau stall next door provided an endless array of food to taste. You can consume quite a fair bit of food if you stay at one place for six hours.

Am I complaining? Nooooooooo. I find that the best gauge of whether I've had a satisfying day at work is to see if I go home to tell my parents all about it. So far they've had very unenthusiastic and short-lived responses, variations of the phrase "ok lor". So I guess it felt good to see their faces light up when I actually volunteered to tell them about today.

More pics tomorrow. But just for today:

Witness the zealousness that greets me at my doorstep.



And a photo that will never see the light of day.



And the aftermath of general nutty-ness.