A Study In Elegance

Some weeks back, I commented on a Malaysian film which I enjoyed immensely. Today I will do the patriotic thing.

If you haven't seen Blue Mansion, please do yourself the favour of watching it. I have thus far yet to see a Singaporean film as sophisticated, elegant or beautiful as this. Great script, fantastic acting, superb dialogue and not to forget the cinematography. What more can you ask of a film? Most importantly, the score provided the elegance and the mystic, steeped within a beautiful rustic set. A true tragedy of Shakespearan proportions enshrined within the guise of a black comedy.

The best thing is, it reminds me of how much I love mysteries, whether in film or literature. The constant suspense and all the sordid secrets that emerge as layer after layer of plot is unravelled.

I remember Miss Thoo making us read Agatha Christie when I was in Secondary One. Although everyone hated it, I secretly enjoyed reading the Miss Marple novel I happened to have picked. That led to Hercule Poirot and a whole range of witty and cynical characters. The murders in the Rue Morgue also showed me that Edgar Allan Poe was a mystery writer through and through. Sherlock just seemed so dull next to all this.

There is one book which I have recommended many to read, Honor Thy Father by Lesley Glaister. This is the sort of unravelling that I witnessed in Blue Mansion, the same shiver down your spine as you get to the dark, bitter core of the mystery. That moment when you realise that all criminals pale in comparison to the things that dwell within the human psyche.

deja vu part 2

What if you were wronged by someone a long time ago, say 7 years. Its a long enough time. Today you meet someone who resembles that figure from the past, to the T. Of course the difference is that the you of today is totally different from the you of the past, the one who always got rejected and thrown about as a joke. How do you not treat this new person indifferently?

What if every time you see this person, you get that awful taste at the back of your throat, that horrid reminder of dejection? Worst still, if you catch yourself giving preferential treatment (positive or negative) to this person because of your own contextual bias, what does that say about you?

Youth may be a curse, but age is surely a slow-acting poison, the kind that kills you by accumulation.

Ang Heng

Finally a response...

It was the reply I half expected, but at least I got a Senior Correspondent to admit he made a mistake.

alvin

~ MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL ~

DATE: 3 October 2009, Saturday

TIME: 6pm till late

VENUE: Bishan Park (Open to ideas!)

BYOL

coming?

*amendi*

An article that made my blood boil..

Hi guys,

I was flipping through today's straits times and got a rude shock on PAGE 2 of the PRIME SECTION. If any of you haven't read it yet, I STRONGLY recommend u to go read it. The journalist wrote a 3000 word article which offers no alternatives watsoever and basically told us to bite the bullet and 'just pay'.

I have never replied to a newspaper in my life and this article got my virgin reply. Immediately I emailed that journalist on what I felt. I could have used a harsher tone and language but figured if it wasn't subtle enough he may not read it at all.

Anyway I've already sent the email. It is below. If anyone clearly feels that same way as me I strongly urge you to do the same. Of course if you don't feel a thing and will subcribe anyway, ignore this post.

Dear Sir,

With all due respect, in times like these, asking the general public to 'bite the bullet' and subcribe to the new service for football fans is hardly the objective opinion we would come to expect from an article in the most established print media in Singapore. Why not address the issues of the common football fan and offer alternatives rather than telling people the most obvious thing of 'just paying'?

Just to name a few, giving us a list of coffeeshops which offers screenings or advising the 'poor' football fan to pay a visit to a fellow fan who can well afford to host a couple of people in their homes to cheer on their favourite teams.

A 3000 word article in page 2 of the 'prime' section that offers absolutely no insight on the thoughts of the common folks, no alternatives whatsoever other than stating the obvious of 'biting the bullet' is shocking.

You do realise that such an article serves only one purpose of feeding the greed of the parties involved in making sport only accessible to the rich. The last thing we want is for the average fan to just bite the bullet and keep paying exorbitant subscription fees through their noses with little knowledge that doing so is simply depriving the poor folks from access to future sports events.

It is indeed regrettable that your article has just about summed up what is wrong with society today, encouraging people to submit to what is thrown at us, continue down the slippery slope of increasing fees just to watch a sport that is supposed to be accessible to everyone.

And Sir, again with all due respect, not subcribing does not mean we are giving up football, it means we are not giving in to the people who think they own football and try to suck every penny out of the common folk. There are plenty of alternatives of watching football without 'biting the bullet' which you clearly ommitted, maybe due to the fact that you may have thought it was too obvious to point out, or simply ignorant of.

I do not mean to offend, just merely voicing the opinions of the people sitting in the same office as myself and wondering almost in unison, on how on earth you managed to equate not subscribing to giving up football in page 2 of the nation's top newspaper.

Cheers mate. Have a good weekend :)

regards,
alvin