Answers ...

Ho ho ... my question's answered! Very pleased v(^.^)v

Hey Elvin, 2 thumbs up on your achievements so far! No easy feat :) People say the entertainment circle depletes one`s innocence. I know you`ll remain the same Elvin that chased chickens in the kampung or the lil imp that terrorised those Jurong shophouses :) So, what is your fondest childhood memory? What were your dreams and aspirations? Who are the people who inspire u?
- posted by huishi on 3/1/2007 11:38:58 PM

Elvin: Can't speak of achievements but doing my best, so thank you for the encouragement! Well, people also say growing up depletes one's innocence… and then the entertainment circle escalates it further right? Essentially, I think it depends on the individual to maintain a core of innocence and be as unaffected by the external world as possible. Yes, I would like to "stay the same" too, the "kampung kid", the "lil imp". My fondest childhood memory has to be terrorising those Jurong shophouses with my little sister and brother in our little BMX bicycles. I had different dreams and aspirations at different stages of my life; some of them were to become a lawyer, pilot, sailor, lecturer, to build a hotel, own a small island… My mother inspires me to be a man with strong values, a very dedicated primary school teacher inspired me to be determined to study hard, characters in and writers of my Literature books and texts inspire me to fight in the face of adversity ( the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frida Kahlo, some Asian and African writers etc.)…

The complete list of answers ...
[He's a dotty guy too! Ha ha. Hmm ... I can imagine how frustrated the person who edited his responses must be, changing all the 'u' to 'you', 'n' to 'and', '1' to 'want' ... heavily abbreviated text that is characteristic of Elvin's ... er ... writing style.]

Next Weekend In The Cards ...

(I'm a dork ... but this cute shot of Jesseca and Elvin is irresistible!}

Meet the cast of Kinship【手足】@ 惊喜500i Party!

Kinship【手足】, MediaCorp's 80-episode drama on the lies and discontent seething slowly beneath a family's apparent unity, begins telecast on June 19 at 7 pm. Now here's the chance to meet the main cast of the drama in person next Sunday at Bugis!

Date: Sunday, June 3
Time: 3 pm
Venue: Bugis Junction

Cast: Elvin Ng, Jesseca Liu, Eelyn Kok, Yao Wen Long, Xiang Yun, Cynthia Koh, Ann Kok, Chen Tian Wen, Lin Mei Jiao, Darren Lim, Alan Tern

惊喜500i Party ：与【手足】同乐

新剧【手足】的主要演员 : 黄俊雄、刘芷绚、郭蕙雯、姚玟隆、向云、许美珍、郭淑娴、陈天文、林梅娇、林明伦、唐育书 : 将在惊喜500i PARTY! 与影友同乐！【手足】是新传媒2007年8频道的年度大戏，全长80集，即将在6月19日隆重登场，敬请期待！

日期：6月3日, 星期日
时间：下午3时
地点：白沙浮广场 Bugis Junction

xin.sg feature : 寻找 黄俊雄

Happy Birthday Fauzie!

How apt of today's strip. Hope you got my SMS this morning ... enjoy Thailand! See you back home soon :)

Cairo Quikpost

Good morning! Haha ... I would probably have woken up at around this time if I were in Singapore, but now that I'm in Cairo, I've not gone to bed yet, thanks to this 1-hour wireless Internet card that I bought so that I can send some document back to office. But weirdly, this is one of those rare moments when I think my job isn't so bad actually (despite 12-hour fieldwork days here in Cairo!). I'll tell you why.

1) The city is beautiful. Even the hotel we are staying in is very nice. It is by no means the best in the city, but it's got a gorgeous compound.

2) The people are beautiful. They really are very charming! The women are pretty and many of the guys are very good-looking. Even our hotel waiters are cute (though they could be from elsewhere in the region).

3) We have a maniac driver taking us to our second fieldwork everyday (we do two a day). It's scary but exhilarating at the same time. I sort of relish it, especially with the window open and my face gets a good beating from the sandy wind.

4) People have breakfast at 1 pm, lunch at 5 pm and dinner at 10 pm. Imagine the horror on our local contact's face when we wanted to go for lunch at 12 noon. Haha. So today, we had lunch at 4 pm, to live like the Cairenes do. We had this popular east-west fusion of Egyptian fare called the koshary.

5) Government workers go to the office at 10 am, have breakfast, chit chat, type some documents and go home at 2.30 pm. Imagine the swell of envy in us when we heard that!

6) Everyone we meet seems so happy; laughter is quick. But our local contact says, that's laughing in the face of adversity. Everyone has their own problems that they keep inside while they put on a brave front with smile and laughter as shields. We should all take a leaf out of their book. The day will be better if we keep an optimistic outlook, like having sheesha in an open-air cafe nestled in the sprawling low-cost housing area for Cairo's poor. I'm quite affected by this respondent from the lower class that we had today. A bright kid, just poor. I hope his plight will not be like that of those charming kids in Karachi who get stuck in the rut they've been born into for life.

Will post pictures another day.

Karachi Doors

Karachi is a city of doors. Having been here only a mere 5 days, I have experienced tremendous amount of generosity from the people of Karachi. From the very rich to the very poor, doors are always open to us. People welcome us with the most sincere albeit shy smiles. Drinks and food were always served, as though by magic because some of our appointments were very last minute. Yet, doors of opportunities seem to be closed to the poor. The different classes don't mix, so the rich keep opening the right doors of fortune, while the poor get stuck in the rut forever. A sad fact of life that is also true for many other developing nations.

Two instances brought me close to tears. Both are of the so-called C or D class of Karachi. This means very poor folks. Yet when we visited, they were generous in their limited means to make us feel welcome and well taken care of. The man in this picture (top left) served us some local snacks and tea from this tiny teashop (which is funnily called a hotel here), at which our local guide panicked and told us to NEVER accept food from anyone from that area. Even Karachiites will not eat there. She must mean Karachiites like her who hail from good families that live in spacious double-storey bungalows.

All the time we were there in the C-class area, we were constantly chided for venturing two houses too far because our safety became of paramount concern. We felt perfectly at home! Sure, there were curious stares, some kids wanted to have their photos taken, there were friendly greetings which we couldn't, of course, understand. I observed that it was really our guide who was uncomfortable with all that attention, which I cannot blame her for, for many of the Pakistani women we've encountered are careful about being looked at or photographed.

The other impressionable instance was this family that lived in a small house, all 7 of them. This is a family of daughters (4 or 5) and only one son. This is consistent with Pakistan's population census - there are more women here than men, although we only see men on the streets, seriously! This was a last minute appointment. When we arrived, I was impressed at how neat the place was in spite of its lack of space. I was deeply touched when their little boy turned up with bottles of chilled Pepsi, which his mom promptly served us. This poor family got us Pepsi, cold ones, which must be such a luxury in this hot climate!

Today, there's a strike going on in conjunction with the arrival of the Chief Justice in Karachi. They are protesting power troubles. Damn right, that's a problem that really needs fixed. Everyday we're here, there are blackouts. According to the locals, power outtages in the city area can last up to hours, but it takes days before the elecricity comes back on in the rural areas. In this 38-degree hot weather, that must be seriously frustrating. Coming from a childhood where power outtages were quite common (though definitely not as frequent as here in Karachi), I can really appreciate the inconvenience.

Well, so thanks to the strike, I am holed in this hotel room, trying to get some work done but I thought I'd do an update first. We move on to Cairo tomorrow. Sigh, what a pity we see a day less of Karachi, and alas, no opportunity for shopping. Maybe I'll return someday, Isya'Allah (a Muslim expression meaning by God's grace)

A Tale of Two Muslim Cities

This time tomorrow, I'll be in Karachi, Pakistan. Kinda excited really because I'm finally doing some real work and not just tiresome logistics. Oh, and every opportunity away from the stifling office is priceless.

I've never been to Karachi, or anywhere in Pakistan, and I don't care whatever people say or however the West must label the city "the most dangerous in the world", from what I've seen and read about Karachi, it's lovely. Because it's a mysterious, strange, new country - oooh ... it's highly appealing to me.

Neither have I been to Egypt nor its capital Cairo. We move on from Karachi to the Land of the Pharoahs on 13 May (Mother's Day - please remember to celebrate with Mom!).

If I haven't miscalculated and really, really keeping my fingers and toes crossed, we have a free day at the end of our stay in Cairo. That means a possible day trip to Giza! It's only some 25 km from downtown Cairo ... yeah, the Pyramids, the mighty Sphinx ... I have to see them or else I'll leave a piece of myself behind in Cairo, to be picked up on the next trip ...

Hey, this would only be the second wonder of the world I've seen, if I do eventually. The first was the Grand Canyon - so breathtaking that any attempt to describe it with my limited vocabulary is contemptuous.

Looking forward to the same effect at Giza.

*pray hard*

d(>.<)b

So inviting!

Home Sweet Home

Happy labour day! This day only comes once a year ...

... but fortunately, my home is always welcoming, with the soft bed (and the soft toys that live right next to mine) always beckoning and ushering my tired soul into dreamland ...

After a long and hard day's work, ahhhh ...

Snaps are unedited, from my new Sony Ericsson W880i (yes, I've gone over to the dark side :). Only 2MP but I'm quite happy with the picture quality.