New transplant method for ageing cornea patients

By Sara Grosse | Posted: 25 September 2011

SINGAPORE: Patients suffering from ageing corneas can benefit from a new form of corneal transplantation in Singapore.

Descemets Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) is an advanced keyhole form of transplant that claims to result in almost perfect vision. 

For many years, 59-year-old Chok Teck Chow's eyesight has been deteriorating.

But now, the property agent said his vision has improved greatly, as he is able to read nearly the entire eye chart.

Chok is one of only three patients who underwent the DMEK surgery about a month ago to treat his ageing cornea.

"Vision improved very much. I can see quite clearly, it's almost perfect," said Chok. 

Professor Donald Tan, Medical Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre, said "DMEK is a different procedure where we are just stripping off the membrane, we're just transplanting a membrane with cells. When we peel this membrane off, we got to get it into the eye and not damage it because the moment we touch the membrane with the cells, the cells die. 

"So the surgical technique on how to un-scroll the membrane, un-wrinkle it, attach it to the cornea is where the skill comes in."

The Singapore National Eye Centre has also invented a new device, which is currently under patenting, to make the DMEK surgery easier.

As the device is currently under patenting, details can't be revealed.

When asked how the corneal transplant surgery compares to artificial cornea transplants such as the Boston K-Pro, the centre had some reservations.

The Singapore National Eye Centre sees some controversies regarding the long-term success rate of the Boston K-Pro surgery, saying it potentially has some high risk complications. It recommends that the procedure be used only in cases of multiple corneal graft failures. 

The eye centre said the risk of graft rejection from a DMEK surgery is 0.7 per cent.

The new procedure is expected to be performed on more patients once the new device is launched next year.

- CNA /ls


Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
New transplant method for ageing cornea patients

 

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Complaining: our way of life

Cover via AmazonIs complaining an indicator of our graciousness and courtesy level? We're driving at that, you know!
-----

A complaint about complainers

by Tabitha Wang

Okay, I want to know who took American author Dan Buettner around when he visited Singapore. Whoever it was, the Singapore Tourism Board should hunt them and offer them a job.

They must have done one heck of a great job selling the Lion City to Buettner for him to conclude that it is the happiest place in Asia in his new book, Thrive, Finding Happiness The Blue Zones Way.

Yes, Singapore. Not even Bhutan, famously known for its Gross National Happiness index.

Buettner says Singapore has all it takes for happiness: Tolerance, status equality, security, trust, access to recreation and financial security.

He based his findings on interviews with Singaporeans from all walks of life - from Community Chest chairman Jennie Chua to housewife Noridah Yusoh.

I don't doubt that his interviewees told him they were happy. But are Singaporeans really happy people?

Just look at all those letters of complaint in the newspapers. Just take a peek at the posts in blogs and responses to online news. These are not exactly all sweetness and light, are they?

I remember once complimenting a store manager about how well her shop was run. She said: "Can you put it down in writing in our feedback slip?"

Apparently, if people were satisfied, they never bothered to fill the slip. But if something annoying were to happen, no matter how infinitely minor, you can be sure those feedback forms would be filled, even posted if necessary.

I think Singaporeans are never happy unless we have something to be unhappy about. Our slogan should be: We moan, therefore we bond.

Try asking a Singaporean: "So how's business/your children/your work/your family?"

The answer is invariably: "Okay lah, can be better."

Coffeeshop talk is never about how wonderful life is. It's always about how badly a chosen English Premiership team is doing, how much money one has lost playing 4D, how the "gahmen" should be doing this, that or the other ...

Nothing can make us happy. If property prices are low, we fret about going into negative equity and how we may never have enough money to retire on. If property price are high, we complain we can't buy a roof over our heads or can't afford that investment home.

If we have a job, we complain about how we're overworked and underpaid. But lose our jobs and we moan even louder.

We have security in the form of low crime rates but still whine that the police can do more. We have access to recreation but grumble that the facilities are not up to scratch.

Maybe it's because there's some superstitious Asian bit of us that never likes to admit how well things are going in case some malevolent spirits take notice and decide to cause mischief.

Or perhaps we, like Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, are worried about being too happy because, as he told Buettner: "Then I would be complacent, flabby, and walk into the sunset."

Looking at the blurb for Thrive in Amazon.com, though, I think I have found why Singapore is considered the happiest place in Asia.

It states: "According to Buettner's advisory team, the average person can control about 40 per cent of his or her individual happiness by optimising life choices. They fall into three categories that make up the way we live our lives: The food we eat, the way we exercise, and the social networks we foster."

So simple. It's food.

I'm not sure about the exercise and social network bit but we've always enjoyed our food. For sure, finding the ultimate char kway teow or chicken rice puts me in a good mood for days.

Maybe life's happiness can really be as simple as that.

Tabitha Wang will see you at the kopitiam. You can complain about anything all you like as long as you buy her a fluffy prata telur bawang.


Taken from TODAYONline.com, Voices; source article is below:
A complaint about complainers

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Punctuality in place of friendly service?

Image by Ex-Smith via FlickrThis is the reply from one reader.

Now, the thing to note here is that I have moved to a place where it is a very short distance from the train station. But the bus servicing our area goes on a loop. And it takes about 20-25mins coming out of our place.

And while the frequency is 5mins, there is nothing to compensate for the long travel time just to come out into the faster train service. Should I say, more predictable train service?

But that is nothing at all. I am frequently showing up late for work these couple of weeks, but my wife would tell me otherwise. Your own personal benefit of getting in late can't be the reason for the ignoring of the greater good's welfare.

Bus driver can't simply speed up and leave others waiting for their ride.

Train service can't simply not stop to make time for the train service turning about to ferry a full load of passengers.

And so, what's the solution to my problem? Just wake up earlier, and get a ride earlier. Sometimes the solution doesn't come from the government, but from the people.

Think so?
-----

Punctuality in place of friendly service?

Letter from Dawn Lee

I REFER to the commentary "Hold bus services to higher standards" (Dec 3).

Sometimes living in super-efficient Singapore can cause us to lose some perspective. Buses are subjected to traffic conditions, accidents and roadwork that all motorists have to deal with. You can stand at a bus stop with a watch and a clipboard and audit your bus arrival times all you want but what does that tell you? That the traffic situation was okay.

I have lived in cities where buses were on time and strict adherence to a schedule can actually compromise service standards. If you stress your drivers out by insisting they have to be on time no matter what, they will have less emotional capacity for kindness.

As for those schedules? Where I lived in Germany, there was only one service I could take to work. It left the interchange every 20 minutes at peak hour and every 40 minutes on weekends. I have many memories of being only 10 seconds late, running alongside the bus, waving frantically and yelling and being completely ignored as it zoomed away.

I have lived in Melbourne, where tram drivers have shut the doors in my face and gone off down the road. Schedules, you see.

I love the buses here at home. I do not even care if they are not on time. It is not like we have to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus anyway or that we do not have alternative routes and connections.

In a city like Singapore, where people are not naturally friendly, it is so nice to have bus drivers who look in the rear-view mirror and wait for that old lady or the schoolboy lumbering along with his heavy schoolbag.

My experience is that most drivers are polite, friendly and patient.

It was such a joy to come back to this.

Strike a balance and do not insist on strict punctuality at the expense of people skills and flexibility and judgement to respond in different sets of circumstances.


Taken from TODAYOnline.com; source article is below:
Punctuality in place of friendly service?

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Hold bus services to higher standards

I am putting up this article, since it is the basis of another noteworthy reply from a reader. Read this one first, then the other one next.
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Hold bus services to higher standards

Let's also employ more technology, set up high-level task force to effect real improvement

by Richard Hartung

Everything seems fine with the buses here, according to the Public Transport Council (PTC). SBS Transit "complied with all the standards," the PTC said in October, while SMRT has only "been fined for three failures" for late departures in the six months until May.

Tell that to commuters, though, and you may hear far different accounts as their stories come gushing out.

One commuter I know taking Service 75 during peak hours in mid-October, for example, waited for 20 minutes one day and then had two buses arrive together as soon as he reached the bus stop the next morning. It is an experience commonly echoed by many.

Another commuter I spoke to compares bus drivers' stop-and-go driving techniques to the rides hurtling people around at Universal Studios. More stories like these abound.

With over three million passenger-trips on buses every day, the impact of small delays or other problems is huge. Not unexpectedly, the Singapore Management University's 2010 Q2 Customer Satisfaction Index found that "customer satisfaction scores for both the Mass Rapid Transit Systems and the public buses sub-sectors have been declining since 2007".

So what can be done? Several steps could make commuting by bus better.

For one, Singapore could start using best practices. Research last year by Imperial College's Mark Trompet, for example, showed that New York set a standard where buses must arrive within three minutes after their scheduled arrival time and buses in Paris must arrive within two minutes. Where schedules in Singapore do exist, he said, buses are supposed to arrive within five minutes before or after their scheduled time.

That 10-minute window can cause dissatisfaction, or worse. As research by University of Arizona Professor Ryan Johnson mentions, a "bus-bunching phenomenon has frustrated passengers in cities around the world". Other research cited by Mr Trompet showed that bus arrival irregularity "discourages commuters' use of public transit".

If we're going to get people to ride the bus and like it, moving to the levels of New York or Paris could help. While the PTC does measure 11 standards, tracking others like "regularity" or "customer satisfaction" as is done in Sydney and setting higher targets such as arriving within three minutes of the scheduled time - rather than "at least 80 per cent of bus services to operate at headway (frequencies) of not more than 10 minutes during weekday (excluding public holidays) peak periods" - could lead to higher service levels.



THE TECH IS OUT THERE

Another step would be to leverage leading-edge technology fully. In the United States, University of California Professor Alex Bayen's research group is merging radar, lidar, detectors embedded in roads and video with input from GPS devices to "detect patterns and build a prediction engine".

One initiative in Sydney, according to the New South Wales Auditor-General, is a real time bus monitoring system that "can also provide traffic light priority for late running buses". While technology is used here, too, bus companies still have staff standing at bus stops monitoring bus arrivals with a watch and paper!

Steps like changing bus priority real-time, using better prediction models for scheduling and using technology to help enforce bus priority in bus lanes could result in higher service levels. While usage of some of this technology may already be in the pipeline here, employing more of it and communicating the results could also be beneficial.

Improving bus transport is important for reducing commute times, raising productivity and increasing usage of public transportation, among other reasons. Despite efforts to do better, Land Transport Authority data until 2008 showed that bus commuting times had remained static at about 42 minutes for a decade. Even though it turns out that SMRT is a member of the International Bus Benchmarking Group that shares global best bus practices, data still indicates that arrival times and other results lag best-in-class standards.

Actually solving the problems may take more focus than what has been the case so far. For example, the situation in Singapore may be serious enough to warrant an independent and high-level task force to develop and implement strategies that lead to real improvement. Setting and achieving higher standards as well as taking steps to leverage technology even better could also make a big difference. There are a multitude of other opportunities.

Public transport here has the potential to be world-class and improvements will benefit productivity as well as commuter satisfaction levels. The critical next step is to make the change happen.


The writer is a consultant who has lived in Singapore since 1992.



Taken from TODAYOnline.com; source article is below:
Hold bus services to higher standards

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Showing signs of stress

Image via WikipediaFor one, I myself will agree to some inconsistency in the MRT line: authorities do say that they have increased the frequency of trains, resulting in shorter waiting time: 5mins to  2/3mins. My experience indicates a repugnance: when the waiting time is short, say 2/3mins, train usually stop in the middle of the track from that station to the next. And even when the interval lengthens to 5/6mins, train still stops in the middle of the track.

Why?

1. Short interval means previous train haven't cleared out of the next station, so next train has to wait, unfortunately, in the middle of the track. In my experience, that will be at least 1 stop, to as many as 3 stops, resulting to about 3/4mins. Total: 3mins + 4mins = 7mins.

2. Long interval means a train has terminated at the next station, and is reverted to travel back. So to give time for the other train to make the switch, your train has to stop mid-track. give it 3mins, and your total time becomes 8mins (6mins + 3mins = 9mins).

Then you say, which one is the lesser evil?
-----

BUDGET TAI-TAI
Tabitha Wong

The public transport system needs to improve


Friends from Singapore always complain about how crowded Hong Kong is compared to back home. Put them in an MTR station during rush hour and they look like deer caught in the headlights as people jostle them left, right and centre.

Crowded? As I type now, I am looking over the sea to the mountains and there is no one in sight. In the town, only one stray dog has braved the afternoon heat to venture out.

Former Housing and Development Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority chief executive Liu Thai Ker recently said Singapore could easily support up to 7.5 million people.

He joked that, if needed, there were still the islands of Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong.

Well, he must certainly be joking.

Consider the figures: Hong Kong is already considered one of the most densely-populated areas in the world, with 7 million people squeezed into about 1,100 km of land. The population density as at the middle of last year was 6,480 persons per sq km.

Everyone talks about how crowded Hong Kong is but, believe it or not, there are more people fighting for elbow space in Singapore.

The Lion City, with a land area of 710.3 sq km, now has a population of 5.08 million. Last year's Government statistics show that Singapore has a population density of 7,022 people per sq km.

And already the transportation system is showing signs of strain.

The last time I was in Singapore, I noticed there were signs proudly displayed saying that the frequency of MRT trains during peak periods was 3.5 minutes.

Three-and-a-half minutes? That's three-and-a-half times less frequent than MTR trains in Hong Kong.

Here, trains arrive every minute during peak hour - you don't have to rush to squeeze into the doors because you know there's one coming soon. Sometimes, one train has to wait at one station because the one in front hasn't even had time to leave the other station.

The trains are longer too: Trains on the MTR Island Line all have eight compartments, compared to only six on MRT's East-West and North-South lines.

No wonder the MTR trains can move an average 3.7 million passengers daily.

Singapore's Land Transport Authority has stated that, by 2012, there will be 22 new trains plying the North-South and East-West line. So in two years' time, it announced, waiting time will be reduced to between 2 and 3 minutes, from the current 2.5 and 4.5 minutes.

Good news, but even so, that is still twice as slow as the MTR train system.

For Singapore to house up to 7.5 million comfortably, people must spread out - and maybe repopulate Pulau Ubin.
Not everyone can work from home. In order to get people to move out of the city centre, there has to be great public transport.

This is where Hong Kong is one up on Singapore. Not only does it have faster trains, it also has a wide-variety of public transport: Train, bus, taxi, tram, ferry, even helicopter.

My daily commute, for example, involves a bus, a ferry and a train. The greater variety of choices enables me to live far from the madding crowd but still get to work on time.

The ferries don't have to contend with rush-hour traffic so there's no need to make allowance for traffic jams or road repairs.

The MRT may be running to capacity but a lot more can be done to improve Singapore's transportation system.
River taxis may be a solution.

The Singapore River goes from the Central Business District up to River Valley, offering an alternative route for after-hours drinks.

The Kallang River has an even better course, from the CBD all the way to the heartlands of Toa Payoh, Bishan and Ang Mo Kio - almost duplicating the route of the frequently jammed CTE.

So if there were a river taxi service, people might be able to step off a pier at, say, Ang Mo Kio Ave 2, and get to their office in One Marina Boulevard without the stress of rush-hour traffic or overcrowded trains.

The boats will have to be fast and air-conditioned, of course. So those lovely designer suits do not get creased.


Tabitha Wang wonders if it will be possible to take a river taxi down Orchard Road during the monsoon season.



From TODAY, Voices - Friday, 17-Sep-2010:
Showing signs of stress
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Afraid of rats, or the rat race?

This is one column that I would always look forward to. Presents the other side of life, the other view, a different perception - and usually, the insight is quite different from the rest of us - a standout, for the uncommon truth and fact of life, in Singapore.

It could be true in other countries as well. So, read on...
-----

BUDGET TAI TAI

Encounters of the rodent kind

by Tabitha Wang

The emails from my Singaporean friends were incredulous: "Really ah? Hong Kong got rat in Central? As long as 30 centimetres?"

Apparently the story of a tourist being bitten by a rat in the middle of this modern metropolis had spread far and wide. For those wondering what I am talking about, a British tourist was bitten on her heel by a rat outside a shoe-repair shop in Pedder Street last week.

Pedder Street is right smack in the middle of Central, in the heart of Hong Kong's business district. Though nothing more than a small lane lined with shoe-repair and key-cutting stalls, it is surrounded by banks and high-fashion shops. The site of the grievous bodily harm offence, so to speak, is just outside the wrought-iron gates of high-end boutique Shanghai Tang.

It also happens to be the MTR exit that I take on my way to and from work. The day after the story came out, I was assailed by the smell of heavy-duty disinfectant and bleach the minute I turned into the lane. Usually, you can hardly see one road sweeper in the area but on that day, I counted five sanitary workers pushing out huge rubbish bins and scrubbing down the entire lane.

As the old joke goes, dog bites man is not news but man bites dog is. Besides, the Food and Hygiene Department says last year's rodent infestation rate in Central was a low 4.7 per cent compared to 12.3 per cent in districts such as Kwun Tong.

So why did the rat-bite story create such an uproar?

Mostly because it happened right smack in the most modern part of this modern city. But also because the rat picked the wrong person to test its incisors on - a tourist. If it had happened to a local, I doubt there would have been much hoo-ha. In a place where old tong laus (walk-ups) jostle for space with mirrored skyscrapers, you come to expect some close encounters of the rodent kind.

After all, look what happened to the rat in question. After the tourist cried and had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance, the shoe-repair stall owner simply stepped up to it and killed it with a broom. Without fuss.

At dai pai tongs (street stalls) in Central, I've seen locals lift their legs to let a rat scurry through without even pausing to lay their chopsticks down.

When my brother and sister-in-law were visiting, I took them to an upmarket burger joint in the area. As we were unwrapping our pork-chop burgers, a rat as big as a cat (no wonder the cats here don't dare to tackle them) scurried over our feet.

My sister-in-law screamed. The rest of the diners glanced down at the rat and then continued eating - and so did my sister-in-law after she calmed down.

Admittedly, coming from spanking clean Singapore where miniscule cockroaches cause major rubbish-chute fumigation, my equanimity has been hard-won. But I have learnt to take such unexpected meetings in my stride.

I've actually even come to accept that it is part of the charm of this city. In the same way that food eaten next to a drain always tastes better, cities that are a little grubby always seem to have more character.

That is why I can understand when some people tell me they think Singapore is soulless. It's because they, like me, secretly prefer a scruffy but enchanting ragamuffin who gets into scrapes over a well-behaved, over-polite child without a single spot on his outfit.

I like that the graffiti on walls are allowed to stay there for a bit instead of being whitewashed immediately. In fact, one graffiti artist, dubbed the King of Kowloon, has even had his manic scribblings dubbed works of art.

I like that I have to pick my way carefully through a wet market when I do visit one. It makes the whole experience more real.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe deep down inside, I think a lot of enjoyable things in life are a little messy. Trekking, paint-balling, going on a Jurassic Parks Rapid Adventure, eating chilli crabs ... and, of course, visiting Hong Kong.

But if you're still worried, then do what the locals do - wear boots.


Tabitha Wang is more afraid of the rat race than real rats.



From TODAY, Voices - Friday, 04-June-2010
Encounters of the rodent kind
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In a bad situation? Count your blessings!

Image via Wikipedia

I am in a hard situation now. I was, many years ago. As what the author says, "count your blessings."

This can be true any stage of your life. I am in a hard situation, but there are those who cannot even call the sad plight they are in a 'situation.' And there are those who couldn't do anything despite their 'better situation'.

It is always our outlook in life that will change the situations, and turn our 'luck' around. I mean, with perseverance and patience, and determination (now this is very important), there will always be some ways and means to pull things through and make ends meet.

While this article was written primarily for Singaporeans, it certainly applies to any other of different nationality. In this essence, we are all the same.

I am in a hard situation. And this, too, will pass.

Read on...

---

Count your blessings

Times are hard, but Singaporeans shouldn't grumble

by Tabitha Wang

A friend recently lost his job. He had been working with the same firm for 20-odd years and had anticipated retiring from that company in a few years' time.

Instead, the bosses called him into a room, told him his work was unsatisfactory and fired him on the spot. All he had to show for almost all his working life was two months' pay in lieu of notice.

As an American working for a British company in Singapore, he found he was not protected by any country's law. He tried to sue for compensation but all the lawyers he consulted, whether in his home country or host country, told him he had no case.

To make matters worse, he and his family had to leave Singapore almost immediately because his employment pass had been cancelled by his firm.

His kids, who had lived in Singapore all their lives, had to leave their school mid-term while he and his wife scrambled to look for somewhere suitable to live.

The whole thing was a mess.

When I met him in Hong Kong, he looked like he had aged 10 years in a couple of months.

He was bitter, angry with everything in general.

I could well understand this unfocused rage - because I have had lots of it myself.

As you know, my husband too lost his job in Hong Kong. Since then, he has been applying assiduously for one position after another.

It's been soul destroying to see all his applications come to nothing. He was over-qualified, said some, not experienced enough, said others.

Mindful of advice to "just accept anything", he tried for jobs as shop assistants, only to be passed over for someone with more experience. Even driving a taxi is out of the question.

Unlike in Singapore, licences in Hong Kong are controlled by individuals. It costs HK$4 million ($706,000) for a licence for a taxi and HK$6.5 million for one to drive a minibus.

As we are in a foreign country, we can't look to anyone for help. Yes, there are times when I feel like lashing out at someone - anyone.

But apart from my husband's unfeeling ex-employers, who can I blame?

Since my earlier column on hardship allowances, I've been accused of being anti-expat. How can I be, seeing as I'm one myself?

I may be anti-fat cat bonuses but I have a lot of sympathy for expats struggling to make a living on local terms.

Especially when you have no one to rely upon but yourself. There is no "gahmen" to blame or call upon to get you out of your mess.

Our Minister Mentor once called Singaporeans "champion grumblers".

Well, Hong Kongers are too.

Get into a Hong Kong taxi and the driver is full of opinions about what the government should do. My local friends are always railing against this policy or other.

I told a colleague about my American friend's dilemma and she immediately said: "The Government should do something about it." It is exactly the same when I read some Singapore blogs, which start with "the Government should ... " followed by "dampen rising house prices/create more jobs for Singaporeans/stop closing down wet markets ... "

Maybe the Government should. But maybe we should stop seeing the Government as our parents, expecting them to shelter us from all harm all the time.

Banks collapse, economies fail, property prices balloon ... these things happen.

We can wait for the Government to come up with policies to shield us from the fallout. Or we can just hunker down and try to work things out ourselves.

Can't find a job? It's painful, but shouldn't you be concentrating your efforts in looking for one rather than writing blogs against foreign workers?

Can't afford that penthouse unit in Bishan but have a point-block flat in Bedok?

You still have a roof over your head. At least you have an HDB flat rather than squatter homes or wire mesh cages - yes, they still exist in Hong Kong.

So, if you have a job, a roof over your head and a full tummy, what more could you ask for?

Unless it's for the Geylang Lorong 9 beef kway teow shop to start franchising. Now, that would be a cause worth fighting for.


Tabitha Wang wonders which Government department she should complain to if volcanoes spoil her holiday.

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Lifted from TODAY, Voices - Friday, 23-April-2010
Count your blessings
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It's All About Soul

Budget Tai-tai

An old street isn’t the same without its old residents

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Tabitha Wang
voices@mediacorp.com.sg

AMID the tall, gleaming buildings that make up one of Hong Kong’s priciest districts is a small backstreet, reeking of dust and decay.

On one side are 12 derelict tenement buildings, typical of the homes you see in many drama serials from the region. Tattered washing hang from rusty balconies that threaten to collapse on onlookers if they so much as sneeze.

There isn’t even a view to recommend it. At the back, a towering block perches on the steep mountainside while in the front, yet another building cuts out the sky.

It’s hardly what you’d expect of Hong Kong’s latest attraction.

But Wing Lee Street is drawing them by the hoards. On a busy Sunday, dozens of shutterbugs climb up the precipitous steps, from parents determined to get a photo of Junior against a crumbling wall to lovebirds hoping for a shot of posterity.

The rise in the fortunes of this quiet street can be traced to one film: Echoes Of The Rainbow. The film about a shoemaker’s family in the 1960s won the Crystal Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival last month.

Shot mostly on Wing Lee Street, it single-handedly propelled the street out of crumbling obscurity — and protected it from the wrecking ball.

All but three of the buildings had been slated for demolition since 1998. But until the film, there had been hardly any protest.

Then came the Berlin accolade and within days, railings along the street were covered with yellow ribbons protesting plans to tear down the buildings.

The government did a quick U-turn on the decision and announced it was going to preserve the entire street a fortnight later. It was an amazingly impetuous decision from a government not given to sentimentality.

Last week, actress Nancy Kwan, who had played the lead role in the iconic 1960 film The World of Suzie Wong, lamented to AFP: “Hong Kong was really very charming in those days. Every time I come back it’s like going to a new city. I loved the old colonial buildings in Hong Kong, but now they’ve torn them down. It’s terrible.”

The decision to preserve Wing Lee Street is now pending structural reports. But if it does happen, the best news of all is that it will be conserved for the community that had thrived in the area for generations.

That includes a 92-year-old granny who has been there all her life, and an 80-year-old who has worked in a printing shop there since he was an apprentice.

As heritage activist Katty Law once told me: “Preserving the buildings means nothing if you don’t preserve the lifestyle too.”

Many people who champion for conservation in Hong Kong point to Singapore as a model. They cite areas like Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Chinatown as marvellous examples of restoration.

I disagree. Like Law, I think that preserving an old building is not enough. You are just maintaining the body but not the soul.

A building comes alive because of the people in it who turn it into their own.

Restoring empty shells will just turn the area into another Tang Dynasty Village — nice to look at but not somewhere you want to linger.

So yes, many of Singapore’s heritage areas have beautifully-restored shophouses but where are the folk who used to live and work in them? Slotting in an international clothes brand or a hip restaurant just doesn’t cut it.

Kampong Glam used to be a charming area but ever since the last blacksmith in Singapore moved out, it has never had the same homely feel.

The kind of homely feel you get when you visit the restored Blue House here in Wan Chai, where all the residents have been allowed to stay on.

That’s why I’d pick the dirty, higgledy-piggledy lanes of Malacca, with their old-time goldsmiths and coffin-makers, anytime over any of Singapore’s sanitised quays or Macau’s soulless Senado Square.

That’s why, even though Singapore has no shortage of Peranakan architecture, The Little Nonya was filmed mostly in bustling and realistic Malacca and Penang.

Singapore has done a fine job of saving buildings.

Now it has to save communities.

Maybe a film can do the trick. Maybe something like The World Of The Little Nonya Echoes The Rainbow.

---

Tabitha Wang thinks nothing says passion more than giving up indoor plumbing so that an old way of life can be preserved.


From TODAY, Voices - Friday, 26-March-2010
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Blogged with the Flock Browser

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REDUCED TAX 'FANTASTIC' FOR ENTERTAINMENT SCENE

Image via Wikipedia

Those who are already earning millions are gaining so much from this tax relief; how much more to a lowly father like me?

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

SINGAPORE - The entertainment industry could soon see more performances and bigger acts coming to Singapore's shores.

To attract these internationally-rated acts, the Government will reduce the tax companies have to pay when they bring in a non-resident performer, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

The withholding tax rate of non-resident public entertainers will drop from 15 per cent to 10 per cent for five years.

"Singapore's entertainment scene is emerging as an important part of our appeal as a global city," said Mr Shanmugaratnam.

Mr Ross Knudson, owner of LAMC Productions, which has brought in international acts such as Muse and Lady Gaga, described the news as "fantastic".

Organising a show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, he said, could cost more than a million dollars. "It would really increase the viability of bringing in more shows ... and bigger acts," he said. "We don't have many sponsors in this market ... so anything which helps us reduce risk is a tremendous help." And being able to bring in more shows has its benefits, from attracting more tourists to having more locals hired to work on the productions, said Mr Knudson. "It generates a lot of revenue in and around the shows." Alicia Wong

From TODAY, Tuesday, 23-Feb-2010

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Don’t implicate Sultan in Manohara row: Palace

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

05:55 AM Jun 17, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR - Kelantan Sultan Ismail Petra has again sought to distance the palace from the marital dispute involving his son, Muhammad Fakhry Petra, and Indonesian model Manohara Odelia Pinot, reported Malaysiakini.

The Sultan's office issued a statement yesterday, saying that comments made by the couple should be regarded as "personal matters".

"Therefore, the Sultan should not, and should never, be implicated in this matter," Kelantan palace official Nik Mahmud Nik Jaffar was quoted as saying in the statement.

He was referring to a police report lodged by the prince on June 11 against his wife and his mother-in-law, Daisy Fajarina.

After fleeing from Singapore on May 31, Ms Manohara had alleged that she had been abused by the prince.

Nik Mahmud said that the palace will leave it to the police to carry out a fair investigation into the matter.

The palace also said that the Sultan is still currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Singapore.

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009; see the source article here.

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Patricia Mok allegedly molested at nightspot

Posted: 24 June 2009 0844 hrs

Patricia Mok - Photo courtesy of Mediacorptv.sg.

SINGAPORE: MediaCorp artiste Patricia Mok was reportedly molested early Monday morning at a nightspot at Clarke Quay. She has made a police report against the 31-year-old man who allegedly groped her.

According to a newspaper report, Mok, who is known for being quite the 'party queen', was approached by a group of men and one of them pinched her buttocks.

Mok, 37, was then heard shouting angrily, "Don't play!"

However, the man who appeared to be drunk, took no heed of her warnings and reportedly went on to grope Mok's private parts. The feisty actress then informed the bouncers and asked that the man be thrown out of the club.

Mok later confronted the man when she realised that he was still in the club. The two took their argument outside and a heated war of words ensued. She then called the police and the man was arrested at around 3am.

When contacted by Channelnewsasia.com, Mok declined to comment on the case as it is now a police case.

The man is now out on bail.

- CNA/os

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Some things don’t change

BUDGET TAI-TAI

Namely, the Singaporean love affair with food

Tabitha Wang, voices@mediacorp.com.sg

05:55 AM Jun 19, 2009

I WAS back in Singapore recently. It was my husband's last work trip before he lost his job and seeing as it was home, how could I not tag along?

Besides, since my last column was published, I had received so many encouraging notes from Today's readers that I suddenly felt a need to go home and lick my wounds among my people.

But I must say my two-day trip was a surreal experience.

Many things were achingly familiar, from the huge trees along the East Coast Parkway to the surly taxi drivers who refused to get out and help us with our bags. And yet, a lot had changed.

I got lost walking down Orchard Road because I didn't know you now exited the MRT station via Ion Orchard and not Wisma Atria. On my way back to my hotel in Orchard Road from Suntec City, I nearly died lugging my box of Milo three-in-ones across the road in a downpour because I didn't know that buses were now stopping on Orchard Boulevard, not Orchard Turn.

Train doors closed in my face as I stood on the platform bemused, wondering if going to Joo Koon meant I was heading west or east. Portsdown Road was nothing more than a huge expressway now, its charming black-and-whites and twisty lanes asphalted over.

Everywhere I went, I was whipping my head round and muttering: "Argh, they got rid of that building" or "Oooh, so that's the KPE" so fast I'm amazed I didn't get whiplash. It reminded me of the time I met this bewildered tourist at the void deck of my HDB block. The poor guy was staring at the public phone in despair.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This phone card. I bought it when I was here two years ago and now it doesn't work."

I looked at the card. "It's the wrong kind. This is the old magnetic card, you've got to buy another one with a chip in it."

He shook his head. "Singapore changes so fast I can't keep up with it."

Walking down Orchard Road, I knew how he felt. Only a few months and the stores had changed, roads had been realigned and bus stops removed.

Singapore has changed and I haven't been around to see it.

Every time I thought about it, it made me sad. So I did the one thing that was sure to cheer me up: I went on a tour of duty round my favourite hawker stalls.

Amazingly, they were all there.

Putri Hayyu in Waterloo Street, which serves the best sambal ikan bilis with petai in the country, was still going strong. I ordered two helpings of sambal and then went back for a third.

The woman at the stall was amazed. "Didn't I give you enough?"

"No," I replied. "I aim to make up for a year's worth of petai deprivation." At the end of the meal, I was so full I couldn't even get up from the table.

At Far East Plaza, I slipped into the famous chicken rice shop on my first night. It was 7.30pm. The guy took my order - chicken rice with extra liver - and then said: "That's last order. The chicken is sold out."

At Maxwell Market, I gorged on what used to be a lunch staple: Scissors-cut rice. The breaded pork chop melded with the creamy curry sauce. Heaven. I stuffed my mouth until my eyes nearly popped out.

Seeing as I was only back for two days, I couldn't go to all my usual haunts. But I made sure to check with my friends that they were all still there.

"I'm amazed," I said. "So many things have changed but the food places still remain exactly where they are."

"That's because we Singaporeans get our identity from food, not buildings," my friend replied. "You can raze our monuments, cut down our trees and we won't say a thing, but move our favourite loh mee place three stalls away from its usual location and we will turn it into a national issue and make TV shows about it."

I looked up from my char kway teow. "You're so right. I'll eat to that."

Tabitha Wang forgot to check if the Hoe Nam prawn mee shop is still around now that Jackson Centre is to be demolished. Does anyone know?

From TODAY, Comment – Friday, 19-Jun-2009

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