25 January 2012
Redang – An Island Escape
By Nithia Devan
Sun, sand, sea and nothing to do but laze around all day. Sounds like the ideal beach holiday, doesn’t it? If you are short on time and need to get away, you might want to consider Redang, an idyllic setting where you can recharge your batteries.
Redang Island, locally known as Pulau* (*Island in Malay) Redang or just "Redang" is one of the largest islands located in the South China Sea, off the northeast coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Travel there by boat from Merang or Kuala Terengganu. There is also a small airport with services operated by Berjaya Air from Singapore (Changi Airport Budget Terminal) and from Kuala Lumpur – a great timesaver!
Like the rest of Malaysia's East Coast, Redang is...
19 January 2012
A Fun Way to Visit Malacca
By Rachel Sunden
Recently my mom came to visit for a few weeks. While she was here she became interested in all things Peranakan and decided that she wanted to visit Malacca. I was game and started looking into travel options for a weekend trip. Unfortunately none of them looked great. My car is too old and unreliable for us to drive and the bus was not an option because you have to get off and walk through the border crossing plus we were traveling with my three year old. I was getting discouraged when all of a sudden I saw an ad which featured the perfect solution. We could travel by ship.
Our happy little trio took a three day, two night Royal Caribbean cruise to Malacca. I had never been on a cruise before (...
16 January 2012
SPRING AWAKENING BY PANGDEMONIUM
By Nithia Devan
Spring Awakening is the latest production from Pangdemonium, which describes itself as “Singapore’s most kick-ass theatre company.” And it certainly is a bold move to showcase a rock musical focused on teenagers in the painful process of “waking up” to sexual awareness. It has been described as a tragicomedy and its controversial themes of teenage sex, rape, suicide, homosexuality, masturbation and abortion are not the stuff of usual Broadway hits.
But then again, Pangdemonium does mention that it is a theatre company “committed to producing English language works which are accessible, relevant, inspiring, challenging”. Artistic Directors Tracie Pang and Adrian Pang chose the musical comedy...
05 January 2012
By Garima Lalwani
We had taken the usual trips to Bali and Malacca, Australia and New Zealand and now we wanted to travel somewhere different. Being brown skinned, lazing on a beach to get tanned had never been high on our list. When my fair skinned friends talked about the joys of enjoying a cold beer on a hot beach, all I could think of was ice tea on a verandah, overlooking the beach! So imagine my surprise when my husband booked us a trip to the Maldives. He had recently received his diving certification and was eager to explore the famed underwater scenery of Maldives. This was a trip that would change my outlook on Beach holidays.
Mentioned by Ptolemy, invaded by the Portuguese and colonized by the British, today’s...
19 December 2011
British Polo Day: horses, hats and highbrow entertainment… on and off the field
By Virginia Brumby
A glamorous crowd, thrilling competition, gorgeous horses, upscale brands, and plenty of bubbly… these were the hallmarks of the first British Polo Day in Singapore. Enjoyed over the years by maharajahs of India, the Argentine landowners, and European royals, polo has a following among lovers of exciting and highbrow sport.
Sponsored by Coutts, the event took place on November 19th at the Singapore Polo Club, and celebrated the founding of the club 125 years ago, in 1886. That year, officers from the King’s own regiment first played in Singapore – so it was fitting that the headline match saw the return of the British Army Polo Team.
While...
16 November 2011
Christmas baking conjures up memories of sitting at the kitchen table with my Mum and Grandma making dozens and dozens of mince pies. From as far back as I can remember this ritual took place as soon as Grandma arrived for the holidays. Pastry making for the mince pies would be done in the morning. I was taught from a young age to try and do it the old fashioned way, the way Great Grandma did it, no mixers just a lot of arm power. Rubbing the butter in to the flour by hand was a laborious task to get it to fine crumbles before adding the remaining ingredients to create the dough. After a couple of hours setting in the fridge, I was ready with my pastry cutter to start the mince pie marathon. Much of the mince pie loading...
08 November 2011
Several decades of sporadic ‘happy’ service, and how it grew on me By: Virginia BrumbyAccording to the strict definition of ‘volunteer,’ I was never really up to snuff. Sure, on scorching, gnat-dappled summer days, my cousin and I were out picking up Krystal burger wrappers along the roadside (complete with ‘fashionista’ orange reflector vest, a-la county jail.) True, Christmas mornings found us cranking out dubious renditions of carols on the out-of-tune nursing home piano… whether the residents wanted to hear them or not. Yes, I sold Girl Scout cookies (mostly to my little brother, in an ill-fated pyramid scheme), went on a ‘Food & Friendship’ mission to post-cold war Moscow, and walked for cancer, without wearing sunscreen.
But I...
08 November 2011
By Gordon Furneaux‘Tie a Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’ was a chart topping song a few decades ago with an upbeat melody about the trials of an ex-convict. In reality it takes more than a decoration to help these ex-offenders return back to society. Naturally, The Yellow Ribbon Foundation named themselves after this song as that is what they have been accomplishing since 2004.
The Yellow Ribbon Project is a branch of the CARE (community action for the rehabilitation of ex-offenders) group specializing in ensuring these Singaporeans and their families receive a second chance through community outreach.
They promote this new lease on life through events like the fundraising at the Paya Labar Methodist Girls Secondary School which raised over...
