The World of Studio Ghibli is at The ArtScience Museum from 4 October 2024 to 2 February 2025. Firstly, remember to buy your ticket from ArtScience Museum itself or where the ticketing page might lead you to Klook if you don’t have an MBS membership.
There will be timeslots available so do pick one and don’t be late for your session since it’s a pretty popular exhibition.
Continue reading The World of Studio Ghibli
There’s a new Sumiko Tan section called Sumiko At 60 which is a new ‘series’ that I just noticed since Lunch with Sumiko ended. Or has lunch with Sumiko finally got its lunch break? Haha.
Mind you, I hadn’t flipped through the Straits Times for a long while until I want to see specifically ‘local’ news, the opinions or forum page that tend to bring rather eye catching at times dumb responses where people duel with each other hoping their replies catch the eye of the editor in charge to just post it.
Anyway, a brief check showed me that this was her third article in that column. And it is amazing.
Who is Sumiko though? In her exact article When your husband retires before you, and doesn’t want to ‘unretire’ she has this one bit that made me gasp.
I started working in The Straits Times on May 15, 1985. I was 21 years and five months old. I’ve been in the same job and in the same organisation since, and the longest breaks I’ve taken from work were three-week vacations.
And yes, she is the Executive Editor at The Straits Times now. If you checked the Singapore archives somewhere (don’t quote me on it), her first few articles were about Singapore, a typical reporter.
In fact, when I was a student and we had to read the newspapers in school for who knows what reason that I can’t remember for, her articles came full page with an original illustration to go with it to supplement it and her byline. No longer just news reporting, she wrote articles of anything and everything.
I might say Sumiko Tan was the blogger before blogging was in. She had the mainstream media printing her afflictions and struggles or non-struggles.
She is the best clickbaity reactionary writer for the press.
It wasn’t factually stupid things like some writers make a mistake of when they give opinions, no. She backed things up with real facts but enough fluff and opinions to make you go “What the heck am I reading?”.
And I want what she has.
While the Sumiko at 60 article states she’s afraid of retirement, and her husband is a teacher who has finally gotten his chance to chill…
She just wrote what most of us nowadays can’t achieve.
A job that sustains you for more than 3 decades, with 3 week vacations available?! AND she gets a more than a half page to write the heck she wants? Assumedly whatever the heck she wants, I don’t know what goes on the minds of the higher ups.
Maybe they go “Ms Sumiko Tan, do your thing, we believe in you to bring up the readership of ST by rage baiting them with your factual yet inconsequential happenings. Omakase, oneigaishimasu!” BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.
The latest article read in her typical style but with survey facts and a PSA about how the age of retirement will be increased and the reemployment age. Because Hallelujah, she doesn’t have to retire so soon.
It was a heaped with a dash of ‘postponing’ CPF payout “tricks” such as “monthly payouts will increase by up to 7 per cent for each year of deferral” as she was advised by a “Ms Daphne Lye, a financial planning solutions lead at MoneyOwl, a financial advisory firm under Temasek Trust“.
Can you imagine.
Ms Sumiko Tan calling up Ms Daphne Lye and saying “Help, help, my husband is wearing his tatty t-shirts and shorts around the house after he has RETIRED WHILE WATCHING NETFLIX AT 9am. WHAT CAN I DO????”
And Ms Daphne Lye reassuring her that his “approach to retirement could also offer valuable lessons“.
No, no you cannot imagine so.
Which is why I find this article simply amazing since I wonder if it is an advertorial.
Really.
If it was posted anywhere except The Straits Times, it probably would have a “This post is sponsored by” at the end of it.
By now you might be wondering, why do I want what she has? How can I even write articles like these in a the main newspaper and get PAID for it? You can’t even find listings on The Straits Times job openings page for such a trajectory. Everything seems to be social media based videos or nothing to do with the actual papers.
At most even with the google ad monies I get on this blog, I can only afford a pizza after a year or so with the readership. I doubt I can retire on that. So yeah, I want what she has. To get paid to write such things and have the ability to retire with an already retired husband who watches Netlix at 9am??
Anyway, whatever rage bating article she has in the papers, it is somehow a reassuring thing that as the world goes on, and as Straits Times still gets printed, we will always have a Sumiko Tan article.
I hope she will have a new series in 9 years time too, after this Sumiko at 60 series.
I’m very sure it would be nice.
Hello friends, if you haven’t been updated by now, I’ve been doing some pro-wrestling at Grapplemax. And what’s better than getting 1 prestigious golden belt?
You got that right, it’s getting 2.
So I entered the Dual Destinies Tag Team Tournament with my tag team partner, Xtian! Our team name is Ships Ahoy. And since you’re reading this now, you’re automatically a Friend Shipmate.
If you’re also wondering who helped make our outfits, it’s Joey.
By the way, photos are either by Najwan Noor or Jayden Quek, do check them out!
Hailing from Chocopro (Japan), we have Mei Suruga and Baliyan Akki. They’re called the Best Bros and if we got to defeat them, then it’s us for the semi-finals. OHOhOhOHoh.
Continue reading The dual destinies of Ships Ahoy and Best BrosThe last time I attended Hirzi’s show which wasn’t a “regular” comedy type show was the Munah & Hirzi Curtain Call in 2018. So when I saw this was going to be a:
A Hari Raya Open House
An Eid It All – Raya Buffet
A Renaissance Concert Parody
A Concept Comedy Show
A Cultural Extravaganza
A Love Letter from Hirzi
I figured I should try get ticket especially when there’s going to be a buffet too (lol). Just know this isn’t a post of a review of the show but mostly for memories cause this Raya-naissance happened during our raya in the year 2024.
This event was held Lagun Sari. Which is pretty hyped. For those who don’t know Lagun Sari, it’s a wedding venue mostly for Malay weddings and their food is good but besides that, I was more intrigued cause that means the decor would really be fancy too.
It’s not often you can be a food reviewer at a comedy show but I got my friend to come with me cause I wanted her to try out Malay food and know the culture too cause I was more than sure Hirzi would be able to draw it out easily in his content.
The pengat pisang was delicious and I had to introduce that to her cause either it’s only home made or you had to get it at caterers like these. There was an instagram post saying that the menu for the last encore show would be “Nusantara” themed and then as I queued up…
I saw Ngoh Hiang and was ?????????????? It was next to gado-gado so ok, I guess (it was also punchline somehow in the show too).
As for the show itself. I won’t post segments, since you had to be there and it was truly a safe space for comedy and observations. The VIP guests were also pretty “woah” to me cause you had theatre practitioners (to say the least!), noteable journalists and other significant “serious” media types that knew how to appreciate a show like this.
The flow was so good, the drag queens were wonderful and the comedy segments did make everyone laugh. The lipsync dance segments was entertaining and you know, why I wanted to bring my friend to this show is that through the comedy segments I know there will be educational or moments of reality.
Of the (not so) subtext of our Malay culture in Singapore and the people.
The ‘final’ punchline though, if you would call it that. The whole theme about Raya really was hard hitting. It’s close to the heart and it’s one of those things where, you can’t really write about but if you do have a chance to go to a grand Hirzi show, you’ll feel it.
This was apparently Dew Francis’ second time doing stand up comedy and I have to hand it to him cause he’s pretty funny. There’s some stand up comedians that make me wonder if my sense of humour is broken but no, he’s good at timing and the payoff too.
For the record, to Dew and Hirzi. You guys are so right on the hijabsters having totally interesting hairstyles.
While the Munah & Hirzi Curtain Call show had a wedding and kompang performance, 6 years later we finally had the reception at Lagun Sari with dikir barat.
And with that…
Firstly, this isn’t an advertorial post because I gotta pay for it but if you wanna try Gympod like I did. Might as well get 10% OFF your first paid booking.
Download The Gym Pod App and use my code SARAHGYM when signing up OR just download via my link: https://app.thegympod.com/refer/SARAHGYM
Ok, that’s done with. It’s that little button under ‘profile’ that you too can refer a friend for it.
This is a review of it. I had been looking pretty much at many gyms but I wanted something ‘private’ or something worth it, you know?
I went with gympod cause apparently if you book the session, the whole pod is yours! It’s true. Except for the bigger ones like “The Dungeon” which is made for sharing with others.
Continue reading Sustainable Exercise
What’s the comparison between the version 1 Under Armour Sports Mask and their new version 2 Under Armour Sports Mask FEATHERWEIGHT?
There’s a few difference and my TL;DR advice to you is just get the Featherweight version. Read on more to see my comparison.
Continue reading Under Armour Sports Mask Comparison
Firstly omedetouu, omedetou (congrats!) for the first live stream of parliament in session for Singapore! The first live stream on 4 January 2021.
Technical wise, the camera angles were ok and at the beginning of it they did state they do not have a sign language interpreter however closed captioning would be available on the stream.
I was on the youtube version and somehow it didn’t appear to me, but no matter. Teething issues indeed since it’s the FIRST TIME EVAHH. Also there were very few seconds of black in the middle after 2 hours or so that I wonder if someone jostled a button or something but it was a mere 2 seconds of black and not a scary technical emergency.
I did notice the volume was peaking though but that will be so, so difficult on the technical crew side especially when every speaker speaks into the mic at a different distance and projects their voice at different volumes, not to forget the acrylic shield bounces the audio…
Which you know what, yeah. I was listening when the minister suddenly called upon the issue where Trace Together could be used for police investigations.
Hey, wait. Apakah? What was that? Cause firstly, I remembered the time when people had conspiracy theories about the Trace Together app and everything and it was reassured that we should use it because of this privacy statement.
Hey remember that I joined Bastion in the early part of the year? It’s Historical European Martial Arts aka HEMA and yes, it’s sword fighting fun.
I graduated basics too then I CONTINUED because it’s fun.
The next basics intake is from 23rd to 30 June 2019! An introduction is just $10 to see if you’d like it and you can join at their website here.
I improved since the basics class just a bit since I don’t stall too long after the first two moves.
View this post on Instagram
My current class is about the sword and buckler and really. It’s a lot of trying to increase arm strength so I can hold the buckler for longer periods of time.
My favourite move so far in the class is the shield grab though.
Technically I think the current favourite moves I like so far have to do with grabbing swords or the shield!
Anyway, this is me jio-ing you guys in case you say I never jio to try this out. Remember to check the dates since classes begin in 12 week cycles for each ‘course’.
If you miss the beginning you might have to wait for the next round. Also if you guys do sign up for basics, FEEL FREE TO CHALLENGE ME for a spar when you ‘graduate’ at the end of 12 weeks.
Hi everyone, I’m back!
I’ve been busy at work and other stuff but now I AM BACK. It’s the return of Monday posts of whatever I like. Meanwhile, advanced selamat hari raya to you guys since it’s in a few days.
I hope it has been a good month for you.
On that note, I’m actually excited this year, we have 3!
3 actual short film/ads in Singapore for hari raya.
FYI, as a minority in Singapore, budget is usually not used for corporates for BIG short film / ads for the festivities.
They will do it but you’ll notice it’s all clear cut ads in the SG way of “Tada this item is available, buy it”. This is a ‘problem’ for SG clients anyway, they like straight cut stuff and don’t have enough budget for long messages.
ANYWHO. FINALLY SOMEONE HAS THE BIG BUCKS to spend on productions and it’s… ok lah it’s the government.
The first one is “Sunyi” for Zakat SG.
It’s about where the zakat money goes or how it helps an individual too.
Starring cik Nurijah Sahat and the song is by Amni Musfirah and Irena Taib. Produced by: Be Sweet , Director/Producer: Khidhir Kassim Writer: Zaidani
Cik Nurijah Sahat really can act so well in this and it’s touching being “on her own” WHILE SET ON JUST the background music to bring the emotions out.
The second is Kinship for Public Utilities Board (PUB).
I know casting is by the Hello Group and this whole production is by Freeflow Productions.
But like thanks. Thanks my dudes. We wasted water by crying instead.
I am actually happy that PUB decided to do this for HARI RAYA. It’s like you guys, thanksss you could have gone with a generic National Day short film for marketing budget but went with HARI RAYA and that’s really touching??
It means there’s a chance other gov bodies might do something for Deepavali too besides the usual Chinese New Year?
ALSO, for those who want a part 2. As a production person, I doubt this is possible for them to suddenly make a part 2 unless it has already been planned due to:
So yeah, if there was no part 2 planned, I don’t see it happening so soon. Also, it’s “traditional” if you watch hari raya stuff in Singapore and Malaysia, there’s always sad endings somehow.
Or at least a hope. You don’t need to see happy endings but think about it instead.
SUCK IT UP, NOW YOU GET TO WATCH THE SADNESS OF ENDINGS OF HARI RAYA TYPE MOVIES NOW.
And the third video is Hari Raya with #HafandHaf for Gov.sg.
Hafandhaf produced by Papahan Films. This is a STAR STUDDED CAST. You can see there’s so many of them too. The locations and acting and all.
It’s basically a story about the typical question at every year/occasion if you’re single.
With a heavy dose of FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
I can see they tried to balance this with:
So what do you think of this? I think it’s a good try on government side since they always want to go for in your face things because they’re scared people won’t understand messages until it’s super basic.
Production for it is awesome though, you can see it!
BONUS:
It’s a Hirzi video! AND AN ACTUAL ONE about hari raya with a message at the end. Go read more General Papers and newspapers if you don’t get what he’s saying.
ALSO, while we don’t have one full corporate short film/ad by ONE client. THIS ONE you can see is by a few and is for one MUSIC VIDEO.
Lots of dancers/cast and a lot of heart. I actually like the song too because it’s funkyyy. I may have also joined the #MollyVogueEid challenge…
So what do you think?
Do you think Singapore will have more short film ads like how they do it in Malaysia? Not just for Hari Raya but for all other occasions too. I look forward to it if so.
And maybe one day I could make my own hari raya short film ad if there’s a budget. I always like watching the ones from Malaysia.
EDIT 3 June:
A LAST MINUTE ADDITION BY MCCY!
One of my favourite ‘makciks’ who tend to do side roles, Zinab is leading this!’
AND SITI KHALIJAH? Rapper is Omar Kenobi and percussions are by Sambiesta and Riduan Zalani.
Also yah, tell your parents how many people exactly are going to be your guests.
EDIT 3 June, 9.54pm:
People’s Association did their own video! It may not look as woah in terms of production as the rest but they have a short story and tells the message of the actual clothes collection for people who can’t afford it.
Ok guys, you can read all the other geek sites to know how the stars Brie Larson, Gemma Chan and Samuel L Jackson fared in Singapore during the fan event. This is your aftermath post because we really want to say that wow, IT WAS GOOD.
Firstly I just want to thank the organizing staff (both Disney & MBS and whoever the ‘official’ people are), the volunteers, the security and crew because woah. It really IS good?
NOT TO FORGET THE HOSTS NIKKI MULLER AND BOBBY TONELLI. Oh mein Gott, thank you for them being the hosts.
Ok, with that said, there are minor details that can be improved on but since people do ask me what happens at these fan events, let’s do a recap for everyone.