THE RIDGE - October 2011 by The Ridge

THE RIDGE MAGAZINE A NUSSU PUBLICATION OCTOBER 2011 Find THE RIDGE on Facebook facebook.com/NussuTHERIDGE

Follow THE RIDGE on Twitter twitter.com/NussuTHERIDGE

Revisit our past issues issuu.com/NussuTHERIDGE

Starbucks to open at YIH 13

33rd NUSSU Council elects Executive Committee 12

happy halloween

Halloween Special 42

3 indie games you should check out 52

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3 degree Productions Pte. Ltd. 79B Duxton Road Singapore 089538 T +65 6221 4963 F +65 6221 5562 E sales@3degree.sg

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINION

ENTERTAINMENT

08 THE RUNDOWN

19 ON THAT POINT, SIR!

31 BOOK REVIEW, MOVIE REVIEW, WHAT’S IN MY IPOD?

09 NUS RUBBISH BINS ‘VANISH’ FOR GREEN CAUSE

20 THE HEART OF AN ANIMAL LOVER 34 COMING TOGETHER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 22 THE ISSUE WITH THE TISSUE

12 33RD NUSSU COUNCIL ELECTS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

23 SINGLISH, NO GOOD MEH?

36 ENTERTAINMENT! IN PARIS

13 STARBUCKS TO OPEN AT YIH

24 SPEAKING UP ABOUT SPEAKING UP

14 NUS STUDENTS LOOKING BEYOND NATIONAL BORDERS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

26 THE NOT-SO-NECESSARY EVIL OF PRINTING

37 THE CURRENCY OF WORDS 38 “AND SO THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...” 39 NUS DANCE SYNERGY: WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? 28 FRIENDS, STUDENTS, CANDIDATES- LEND ME YOUR EARS!

15 PETITION CAUSES REVISION OF SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE

40 YIH LIVE LOUNGE!

30 CULTURE OF CONSUMERISM 18 TEMBUSU COLLEGE TAKES PART IN ELEPHANT PARADE

LIFESTYLE

WIRED

SPORTS

41 CHUNKFEST 2011

52 3 INDIE GAMES YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT

57 EPL 2011-2012

42 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

55 FIRST LOOK: GEARS OF WAR 3

58 SPORT OF THE MONTH

44 THE FASHION MUSES

56 BYTE-SIZED

60 RUGBY WORLD CUP

46 OPERATION GASTRONOMIA: IT’S ALL IN THE FOOD 48 UNDERGRAD INCOME FAD 50 YOUNG MONEY

62 FROM THE SIDELINES: IFG TENNIS FINALS

EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITOR’S NOTE Greetings! This is my third Editor’s Note, and I’m still not sure if anyone actually read these words. After all, I could just put in a bunch lorem ipsum dummy text and no one would be any the wiser, right? If you’re one of those rare breed who actually bother to sift through my words, good for you (and us)! Why not tell us how you like the magazine? We’re always happy to hear from our readers, especially now that we have a rather strong online presence. For one, we have a blog now! You can now find us on Tumblr (http://the-ridge.tumblr.com), on top or our existing Facebook (www.facebook.com/ nussutheridge) and Twitter (@ nussutheridge) accounts. Now, isn’t that neat?

On another note, if you’ve visited our website recently, you’ll have seen that it’s not there anymore. Want to read our old issues? Head over to http://issuu.com/nussutheridge.

& Education Society (ACRES). He showed us his passion for animal welfare, and tells us about his current fight to free the captive dolphins at Resorts World Sentosa.

As usual, this issue is packed with stuff, and we’ve gone out of the way to pack in some more student-centric content, such as the NUS Save debacle, Bus D issues, the Inter-Faculty Games, and some top part time jobs for students.

And more! So take a break off your slogging for assignments and projects and start reading THE RIDGE!

It’s also Halloween this month! We don’t celebrate that much in Singapore, so if you’re stuck at home with no excuse to dress like something scary, I hope our Raymond, Halloween spread can cheer Chief Editor you up. theridge.chiefeditor@nussu.org.sg We also had the opportunity to catch up with NUS Alumni Louis Ng, Executive Director of Animal Concerns Research

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITORIAL BOARD

CONTRIBUTORS

Chief Editor Raymond Lau theridge.chiefeditor@nussu.org.sg

News Desk

Deputy Chief Editors Meera Nair & Vani Goyal theridge.depchiefeditor@nussu.org.sg

Sherman Pun

shermanpun@nus.edu.sg

Phyllis Tay Hui Shan

a0073629@nus.edu.sg

Gerrard Lai

a0080961@nus.edu.sg

Goh Ruoyi

gohruoyi@nus.edu.sg

Sriharsha Bhat

sriharsha@nus.edu.sg

Opinion Desk

Creative Director Caryn Quek theridge.creative@nussu.org.sg Head Designer Nguyen Son Tra theridge.headdesigner@nussu.org.sg News Desk Editors Luke Vijay & Yeo Shang Long theridge.news@nussu.org.sg Opinion Desk Editor Augustin Chiam theridge.opinion@nussu.org.sg Lifestyle Desk Editor Bridget Tan theridge.lifestyle@nussu.org.sg

Abhinav Deshmukh

abhinav.deshmukh@nus.edu.sg

Elliot Tan

elliot.tan@nus.edu.sg

Shibanshu Mukhopadhyay

shibanshu@nus.edu.sg

Vibha Ghariwala

vibha@nus.edu.sg

Entertainment Desk Charlyn Ang

Charlyn@nus.edu.sg

Nurshahiylia Erdina

nurshahiylia@nus.edu.sg

Anupama Hegde

A0078256@nus.edu.sg

Nathanael PS

u0900511@nus.edu.sg

Saheli Roy Choudhury

saheli.rc@nus.edu.sg

Vivian Leung

U0901614@nus.edu.sg

Vanessa Anne Nunis

U0802563@nus.edu.sg

Lifestyle Desk How Shu Hui

shuhui01@nus.edu.sg

Teresa Widodo

teresa.widodo@nus.edu.sg

Aditi Anand

aditi.anand@nus.edu.sg

Chan Yi Wen

chanyiwen@nus.edu.sg

Entertainment Desk Editors Nicole Kang & Divya Gundlapalli theridge.entertainment@nussu.org.sg

Wired Desk

Sports Desk Editor Tan Herng Yih theridge.sports@nussu.org.sg

Sports Desk

Wired Desk Editor Shanmugam MPL theridge.wired@nussu.org.sg Copy Editor Ngui Jian Gang theridge.copyeditor@nussu.org.sg Financial Secretary Arnab Ghosh theridge.finsec@nussu.org.sg

NUS STUDENTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; UNION NUSSU Publications Secretary Tan Heng Wee pubsec@nussu.org.sg

Lester Hio

a0072480@nus.edu.sg

Lam Woon Cherk

u080380@nus.edu.sg

Prateek Sinha

a0074895@nus.edu.sg

Naveen Prakash

naveen.prakash@nus.edu.sg

Joseph

a0073391@nus.edu.sg

Layout Designers Wan Munirah

u0807616@nus.edu.sg

NEWS

THE RUNDOWN Yeo Shang Long & Luke Vijay

CLIMATE ACTION DAY

The campaign aimed to raise awareness about waste management and eradicate the ‘use-and-throw’ culture on campus

On 6 September, about

9 10 1500 out of

of the

“We want to force them to re-think about the way they are managing their waste… and would like them to take individual responsibility for the climate cause.”

rubbish bins in NUS were removed by Students Against Violation of the Earth (SAVE)

- SAVE Publicity Director Goh Jean Woon

Turn to page 09 for the full story>>

BUS D PETITION + BUS INFORMATION SYSTEM

3500

More than students endorsed a Facebook petition to increase the frequencies of shuttle buses D1 and D2 Four additional buses have since been added to the D fleet, and bus D’s frequency increased to once every 3 - 5 minutes

A bus information system will also be introduced on 1 October. Expected bus arrival timings will be displayed on LED panels at major bus stops and will be available on the internet. Source: Office of Estate and Development

Turn to page 15 for the full story>>

DINOSAUR SKELETONS COMING TO LEE KONG CHIAN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

near-complete dinosaur skeletons were secured by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

The museum, which will be situated The 7,500 sq m museum will open in in NUS, managed to raise the

$8 million 2014

and will showcase the Raffles Museum’s collection of required to buy the three diplodocid 500,000 specimens of Southeast Asian animals sauropod dinosaur skeletons Two of the skeletons measure

24m in length and one is12mlong

Source: The Straits Times, National University of Singapore NUS WORLD RANKING

In the latest QS World University Rankings, NUS moved up 3 spots, from 31st position last year to

28th

in the world this year

The QS Rankings are based on six indicators: academic reputation employer reputation citations per faculty student-faculty ratio international faculty international students

“This year’s placing reflects a strong recognition from global employers and academia of the world-class quality of NUS’ education and research. We will continue to build on our strengths in education and research, and create distinctive value for our students, graduates and Singapore.” - NUS President Tan Chorh Chuan

Source: National University of Singapore

NEWS 09

(About 9 in 10 of about 1,500 rubbish bins were removed for SAVE’s campaign / Photo by Yeo Shang Long)

NUS RUBBISH BINS ‘VANISH’ FOR GREEN CAUSE

Gerrard Lai

tudents Against Violation of the Earth (SAVE), the university’s pro-environment club, initiated an unconventional campaign on September 6, in conjunction with Climate Action Day. About nine in 10 of about 1,500 rubbish bins were removed from high traffic areas around campus, such as tutorial room corridors, canteens and common meeting areas. Goh Jean Woon, a second-year sociology major and the publicity director for Climate Action Day said that the club hoped to raise awareness about waste management. “We want to force them to re-think about the way they are managing their waste and would like them to take individual responsibility for the climate cause,”

she added. Not everyone was enamoured with the campaign. Out of the 15 students THE RIDGE spoke to, 13 expressed their displeasure at the inconvenience caused by the campaign. Two said they were unaware of it. Third-year arts student, Janice Pung said, “I was inconvenienced and very annoyed since I had to resort to throwing my rubbish in the toilet bins. “Although it makes students more aware of the amount of waste they are producing, their mentality will still be that it’s too inconvenient to reduce waste.” The sociology major added, “Besides, this inconvenience will pass and people will return to their old ways.” The campaign made first-year

student, Su Guo Bin, realise how he took waste management for granted though. “I’m so used to rubbish bins being around, that I never really took notice of their existence and I’ll just throw my rubbish whenever I need.” The club expected students’ responses to be mixed. According to Goh, it was the first time such a movement was happening in NUS. However, the club hopes to achieve sustainability in this movement and raise the rate of recycling on campus. A survey conducted last year revealed that only 15 per cent of the school’s waste was being recycled. The club hopes to raise this to 20 per cent by the end of the semester.

Dr Amy Khor, the Mayor of the South West District and guest-of-honour at the campaign launch, lauded the club for “tirelessly championing the environmental cause.” She highlighted the headway the club has made within campus in terms of setting campus air-conditioners at above 24 °C, phasing out plastic bags and printing on both sides of a paper. Khor hoped this initiative to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle within the NUS community could be replicated in students’ everyday life. She said, “What we hope to do is to really show the positive changes that can result from such initiatives and encourage others to adopt such similar initiative and champion an eco-friendly lifestyle.”

NEWS

(Photo by Melyvck Leong)

(Photo by Goh Liang Bao)

(Photo by Lionel Lim)

NEWS

IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE... Luke Vijay

eptember was a month of music for NUS, with a total of four student-organised concerts taking place. All four concerts featured local bands and homegrown talent. For those who have missed out on the experience, THE RIDGE has gathered a selection of photos from these events for your viewing pleasure. The barrage of concerts kicked off on September 1, with the first ever Radio Pulze Live Lounge, a new fortnightly event organised by Radio Pulze, the campus radio station. The event, which was the first of its kind, featured The Rejeks, an up-and-coming threemember band.

Leong)

(Photo by Daryl Chee)

g Bao)

el Lim)

The concert, which takes every place every other Thursday night at Yusof Ishak House, is completely free to both students and members of the public. The second Radio Pulze Live Lounge also took place on September 15. This time, Pleasantry and Basement In My Loft took the stage. Turn to page 40 for THE RIDGE’s review of their performances. Syafiq Rahman, a third-year sociology major and the director of Radio Pulze Live Lounge, said, “Live Lounge is to expose the university demographic to our home-grown talents. There is absolutely no reason why kids these days are not listening to local music as local bands are of the same quality as those from abroad.”

(Photo by Melyvck Leong)

Hot on the heels of Live Lounge was Supernova Rock Concert 2011 on September 2. Held at

UTown’s Town Green, the event featured more than six acts, including performances by NUS Chinese Dance, NUS Indian Dance, KR Rockers, Impompt-3, Tigerlilies, The Smoking Marshalls and the NUS Original Music Society. Finally, on September 12, after two night concerts, NUS student were confronted by NUS School Invasion, a massive concert and flea market that took place during the day at Central Forum. The event, which spanned two days kicked off on September 12. Not only were NUS students treated to performances by bands such as 53A, Inch Chua, A Vacant Affair and Sixx, they also enjoyed great deals, such as discounted Macbeth footwear, at the flea market. Melissa Ng, second-year history major and the press head for the NUS Original Music Society (OMS) said, “OMS has always wanted to bring the bands into NUS instead of pushing students out to attend the gigs. This was our way to promote the local music scene. “When School Invasion Tour contacted us expressing the desire to do a collaboration, we immediately agreed.” Ng, who was also the programmes head for Supernova Rock Concert 2011 added, “There aren’t many groups in NUS who focus on introducing students to the local music scene. Students need to know that there are really good local bands out there.”

NEWS

(Photos by Luke Vijay)

33RD NUSSU COUNCIL ELECTS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Luke Vijay

n September 17, representatives from the various organs of student government in NUS elected the 33rd NUSSU Executive Committee in an 8-hour long session held in LT16 of the NUS Business School. The elections were the first meeting of the 33rd NUSSU Council. The seven constitution positions of the NUSSU Executive Committee were up for election during the meeting, with eight candidates running for office. Although only executive committee and council representatives from the 10 faculty clubs and the four non-faculty constituent clubs had voting rights during the election, the meeting was open to observers from the student body. Ang Yu Qian, a fourth-year student double-majoring in

project facilities management and communications and new media was elected as the NUSSU President. Ang has been involved in student government since his first year in NUS, when he joined the School of Design and Environment (SDE) Club. Last year, he was elected vice president of the NUSSU executive committee. During the elections, Ang highlighted the key thrusts of his direction for NUSSU in a speech to the NUSSU Council. These were improving student welfare, enhancing student life, and strengthening the union. Explaining this last point, Ang added, “I believe my role would be strengthen the tripartite relationship between the constituent clubs, the NUSSU executive committee and the NUSSU committees.”

Ang will lead a team comprised of six members, also elected on September 17. Wilson Lau, a fourth-year engineering student was elected vice president. Lee Wei Liang, a fourth-year arts student was elected Honorary General Secretary. Tan Wei Jian, a fourth-year engineering student was elected Honorary Assistant Secretary.

Speaking to THE RIDGE about the his new committee, Ang said, “This newly elected team has a delicate blend of experienced student leaders as well as younger, passionate members who can inject fresh ideas. We hope to foster two-way, symmetrical communication and be a true representation of the student body in NUS.”

Jia Han, the Honorary General Secretary of the outgoing 32rd executive committee said, “The new 33rd Council and the Li Xiuqi, a third-year science incoming Executive Committee student was elected Honorary both look very promising. There is Financial Secretary. a strong continuity from the 32nd Exco and I also see passionate Ng Rong Xin, a fourth-year new members who know what business student was elected they want to achieve in their term Students Welfare Secretary. of office. That said, it is also an open secret that the 33rd must Tan Heng Wee, a fourth-year make plans for their succession engineering student was elected earlier due to the seniority of the Publication Secretary for a second Constitutional position-holders.” term.

NEWS

(The new Starbucks outlet will take the place of the old Munchie Monkey Restaurant at Yusof Ishak House / Photo by Yeo Shang Long)

STARBUCKS TO OPEN AT YIH Yeo Shang Long & Luke Vijay

ot on the heels of the recently-opened Starbucks at the University Town, a second outlet is slated to open in mid October at Yusof Ishak House. Renovations are already underway at the 311 sq m cafe, which takes the place of the old Munchie Monkey Restaurant. Unlike the Starbucks at University Town, the YIH outlet is the result of a tender spearheaded by NUSSU, which has pledged to work with Starbucks to promote campus vibrancy. For a start, the outlet will feature a performance stage that students can book for free, and will offer a 10% discount on all food and beverages for NUS staff and students.

“There were already a lot of food places in YIH, and what was lacking was a chill-out place for students,” explained Samson Leo, executive director of the 32nd NUSSU executive committee. Leo was part of the NUSSU taskforce in charge of the tender process. After Munchie Monkey closed last December, NUSSU conducted a survey to find out which coffee outlet students liked best. “Our main emphasis was on the benefits that the coffee operator could provide to the students,” Leo said. A tender was eventually launched to a few coffee houses in June, and the proposal from Starbucks won over a panel comprising

representatives from NUSSU and the NUS administration. Starbucks was then awarded its current lease, which will last till August 2014, with an option to extend for another three years. Some students, like Judy Au, a third-year English major, are already looking forward to the outlet’s opening. “I don’t have to go to UTown to get my caffeine fix,” she said. “Plus, I really enjoyed the performances they had at the Munchie Monkey café and I look forward to seeing such performances again at the new Starbucks.” Ken Tnee, a first-year arts student agrees. He said, “It’s always good to have more places to study.“

However, Joanna Hioe, thirdyear English Literature major, is more skeptical. She said, “What’s the purpose of having another Starbucks? The one in UTown is sufficient. It’s big and it’s open 24/7. I appreciate the effort to keep us awake with coffee, but more variety would be welcome.”

NEWS

NUS STUDENTS LOOKING BEYOND NATIONAL BORDERS FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

(Photo by S Krishanthan)

Sherman Pun

hile most NUS students are out sourcing for internships or part-time employment during their term vacation, a group of 20 undergraduates across various NUS faculties have chosen instead to step out of their comfort zones and dedicate their time to community service in Sri Lanka. The team comprising will be venturing to the city of Batticaloa in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka this December. Once there, they will head to a local school where they will spend the next two weeks working with local students ranging from 16 to 18 years of age. “An opportunity to venture into a region that is recovering from civil war and be part of their

rebuilding process is priceless,” said Darshita Thurairajah, a second-year Arts student and one of the project directors for the expedition. The main objectives laid out for the expedition include helping the local students build up their confidence in conversational English as well as to equip them with basic IT skills in the hope that they will be better prepared for the working world once they leave school.

in February this year, the team approached the National Youth Council with their proposal and managed to obtain a 50% funding. The team hopes to raise the other half of the amount required through donations and fund-raising activities.

One such fund-raiser is scheduled to take place in week eight of the semester and the organisers are hoping that fellow students would step up to offer their support in donating cash or useful items such as English books, Teaching aside, the team also used computers, printers or even aims to help refurbish the school’s bicycles. library and expand their existing collection of books, providing “The main idea for our fund-raiser students with a greater incentive is for others to put themselves in to read. The estimated cost of the shoes of Sri Lankan women the expedition is expected to be or children for that moment and in the region of S$35,000. After in doing so, support our project,” the project was conceptualised said Shouri Veluri, a third-year

Engineering student who is also one of the project directors for the expedition. Apart from raising funds, the team also hopes to raise awareness among NUS students on the culture and plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is in the process of picking itself up from a 30-yearlong civil war that left some 294,000 people displaced from their homes. Village schools are often underdeveloped or overlooked due to a shortage of resources and teachers, depriving students of quality education. More information about the team and their expedition can be found on their website: www. maalumaalulanka.com

NEWS

PETITION CAUSES REVISION OF SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE (Photo by Yeo Shang Long)

Goh Ruoyi, Phyllis Tay & Yeo Shang Long

ired of the long wait for shuttle services D1 and D2 and the overcrowding during peak periods, second-year Arts student Cheryl Ang posted a petition on Facebook in August to increase the frequency of these services. “Utter frustration” drove her to start it, Ang said, after she took nearly an hour to get from Yusof Ishak House to the University Town by bus. She was not alone – in the span of several days, the petition garnered the support of more than 3,500 students. Soon after, the NUS administration took notice, posting an official response and taking steps to improve the situation. Four buses were added to the D fleet, and their frequencies increased from 6-8 minutes to 3-5 minutes, with special attention to the later half of each hour during peak periods. One month on, things have improved considerably – while buses

are still crowded during peak hours, many feel that the waiting time has been shortened. Ang herself said: “The services are much better now than before!”

The bus D episode was notable not only because of the student petition, but also because of the response from the NUS administration.

Tan Yu Wen, a fourth-year Arts student who travels to the University Town weekly, felt the same way: “It used to take more than 10 minutes for D1 and D2 to come, but it’s much faster now. I think it takes about three minutes during the peak period.”

“I didn’t have really high hopes but I was hoping they’d do something,” said Ang. “I was very surprised. Maybe it was the sheer number of signatures we had… but I felt quite pleased when they did take our feedback into consideration.”

Diana Sim, a third-year Arts student, said, “It was so frustrating to see at least two buses go by before I could even squeeze up initially. It’s better now as I can get onto the bus and get to my classes on time.”

Aside from the increase in frequency, a dialogue session was also organised between NUS and student representatives on August 31, where other suggestions were considered, such as an alternate bus route through Prince George’s Park.

Others felt that the frequencies could still be improved. Joel Ong, a first-year Science student who frequents the University Town in the evening, said: “I don’t really see much improvement… Perhaps things are getting better during the rush hour, but the buses are still taking a long time in the evening, especially after 7 p.m.”

“We want to communicate to the students that we hear their concerns, and we will continue to monitor the situation,” said a spokesperson for the Office of Estate and Development (OED), who also emphasised the other bus services were not sacrificed to improve bus D’s frequency.

Because the proportion of students from different faculties going to the University Town changes each semester, the OED will keep a close eye on the situation and make changes if necessary, he added.

ESTIMATED BUS ARRIVAL TIMINGS TO BE AVAILABLE FROM OCT 1 As part of efforts to enhance the shuttle bus service, a bus information system will be introduced on October 1, said the Office of Estate and Development (OED). Estimated shuttle bus arrival timings will displayed in real time on LED panels at major bus stops, such as those at Central Library, LT29, BIZ2 and Yusof Ishak House. These arrival timings will also be accessible through the internet, said the OED representative.

ADVERTORIAL

Speaking to THE RIDGE, Foo said, “During MPA’s recruitment process, I learnt more about the maritime industry, the diverse sectors of the industry and the exciting challenges it poses. I found this industry to be dynamic and very different from the usual sectors that business students tend to end up in, such as banking and finance, tourism or pharmaceuticals. It is also an important industry which accounts for seven per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs more than 170,000 people.”

A CAREER OUT OF THE ORDINARY

hen Foo Kai Jin graduated in 2008 from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, she knew she wanted a job that was a little out of the ordinary. Through her friend, Foo learnt about a vacancy in the Maritime and

Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). Despite knowing little about the maritime industry, this individual, who double-majored in marketing and management, decided to take the plunge and enter the exciting world of the maritime industry.

Foo has never looked back since but admitted that working in an industry that she had little knowledge of was not without its challenges. Foo explained, “When you first join an industry, whatever you think you know is just the tip of the iceberg. This is especially so for the maritime industry which offers a wide myriad of career opportunities. Working for the Human Resource department of MPA requires me to learn the processes in the organisation as well as familiarise myself with the different job scopes offered by the respective departments within MPA.” Besides having to pick up many skills on the job, this bubbly individual added, “You have to be a keen learner. There is a steep learning curve and you have to be motivated to keep up with it. I was not fazed by this and was excited to be given the opportunity to learn more about the maritime industry, work with people from different departments and interact with members of the public.” Foo’s leap of faith paid off. After three years in the industry, Foo has risen to the position

of Assistant Manager of the Human Resources Department of the MPA, where she assumes responsibilities in staff recruitment for MPA, the MPA scholarship programme and numerous cross-divisional projects. This year, Foo will be going on a 10-day trip to London as part of a delegation sent to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Assembly. When asked what advice she will give to those who are keen to take up career positions in the maritime industry, but are worried that they need specialised knowledge to excel in the industry, Foo shared, “Not all jobs within the maritime industry require employees to have specialised maritime knowledge. Take for instance, in MPA, we have different divisions which requires people from different disciplines to cater to the different aspects of the maritime industry. Employees of MPA come from various fields of studies from law, accountancy, business administration, arts and social sciences and engineering, amongst others. It is more important to keep an open mind if you wish to join the industry.”

Singapore is home to more than 5,000 maritime-related companies which employ more than 170,000 people and contribute about 7 per cent to Singapore’s GDP. For those who are keen to find out more about educational and career opportunities in the maritime sector, visit www.maritimecareers.com.sg

I meet multi-millionaires at work. I know the latest shipping news at my fingertips. I play matchmaker to ships and see millions of dollars change hands in a single deal.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a Ship Broker

- Ryan Ng, Eastport Maritime The Singapore maritime industry is home to 5,000 maritime companies with more than 170,000 people in the maritime workforce. Singapore is set to be one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading international maritime centres in the world. Join this dynamic and global sector and be part of the exciting buzz.

To find more about the MaritimeONE scholarships, log on to www.smf.com.sg

NEWS

(The Elephant Parade is an international open-air art exhibition of decorated elephant statues that aims to contribute to the conservation of Asian elephants / Photo by zoer - Flickr)

TEMBUSU COLLEGE TAKES PART IN ELEPHANT PARADE Sriharsha Bhat

tudents from NUS’s Tembusu College are talking about the elephant in the room. Or rather, the two elephants in the room.

which they would be auctioned off by Sotheby’s.

Since the first Parade in Rotterdam in 2007, the project The residental college has adopted has spread to 10 cities worldwide, two life-sized baby elephant including London, Amsterdam, statues to paint as part of the Milan and now Singapore. Elephant Parade, an international open-air art exhibition of Famous artistic and celebrity decorated elephant statues. contributors for the project include Tommy Hilfiger, Diane The parade is a way for famous von Furstenberg, Paul Smith and and upcoming artists to Prince Michael of Kent, among contribute to the conservation others. of Asian elephants and create awareness of their endangered The business model of the status. Elephant Parade follows an ABC pattern, referring to Art, Business In November, over 100 elephants and Charity. painted by various Singapore artists will be displayed at various The A is for Art, and refers to the prominent locations in Singapore effort by artists to create artistic for a period of two months, after value in white, life-sized baby

elephant statues.

million was donated to charity.

The B refers to Business, as the elephants are auctioned by leading auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s to museums and art collectors to raise funds for the cause.

According to Lo Yi Ci, NUS undergraduate and academics secretary of the Tembusu College Students’ Committee, the College has been given the opportunity to take part in this prestigious project mainly because its Rector, Professor Tommy Koh, is a patron of this cause.

The C refers to Charity – although the Elephant Parade is not a charity itself, part of all the benefits from the Parade are donated to the Asian Elephant Foundation.

Loo Zhi Wen, also from the Tembusu College Students’ Committee, was one of the contributors to the project. She This independent charity said: “I feel proud to be part of supports elephant-related projects this global project and contribute throughout Asia, such as elephant to a noble cause. It also brings hospitals. back fond childhood memories of drawing and painting.” Over the past three years, more than S$12 million was raised at auctions in Europe. Over S$6

OPINION

ON THAT P INT, SIR! Opinion Desk

ditor’s note: With the opening of UTown, complete with all its facilities, I wondered whether students felt a difference between staying in a residential hall and staying in a residential college. The official rhetoric seems to be that residential college is a more holistic and encompassing experience; it is not just a place for community living but also a place where the line between academic and ‘play’ is blurred. In residential college, professors stay in and are available (almost 24/7!) for a chat about anything from life to their research interests. Here are some of the comments from various students about the differences between a residential college and a residential hall: “I think that both the residential halls and residential colleges have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Residential halls such as Eusoff Hall and Temasek Hall are in much closer proximity to the main university campus. Residential halls also seem to cater more to the undergraduate demographic while the residential colleges offer more to the graduate students. Notably, residential colleges are costlier than the residential halls, probably because the rooms are newer and are situated in the beautiful University Town. At the end of the day, which is better depends on whether one is an undergraduate or graduate student, as well as one’s own budget.” - Fourth-year FASS Student “The food in the residential hall is not as good as the residential college but due to years of experience, it is better-managed in terms of quantity. The residential halls also have bigger and more spacious rooms which is a big plus if you are a claustrophobic person. On the other hand, UTown has more facilities available than staying at a residential hall; Starbucks is a stone’s throw away and the PC / Mac Commons are open 24/7 for good mugging delight!” - Second-year Business Student (Utown)

“The residential college is more about residing than a residential hall is. Social activities abound, but actually participating in them is never made to be an obligation. “It can be said that both strive towards building a ‘community’, nebulous and overused as that concept may be. “ - Third-year FASS Student

ext month, we want your take on whether girls should serve National Service.

Email your comments to theridge.opinion@nussu.org.sg Or post a comment at our Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/nussutheridge

OPINION

THE HEART OF AN

THE RIDGE goes off-campus yet aga graduates from all walks of life. This mo speaks to LOUIS NG, an NUS alumnu Science who is the Executive Dir

Augustin Chiam

eated behind a sparse white desk barely equipped with office supplies, Louis Ng does not look like a man who has waged battles against monolithic organisations - a David among Goliaths. His latest giant: Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). The executive director of local animal welfare group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) is unassuming in his dark blue ACRES polo tee, but exudes the quiet confidence of someone who is assured of his cause. The official public campaign against Resorts World Sentosa’s (RWS) captivity of 25 wild dolphins for its Marine Life Park attraction started recently in May 2011. However, as Louis explains, “The campaigns and activism already started as early as 2006 and we managed to stop Resorts World from carrying on with their whale shark exhibit.” Some might remember that 2006 was the year in which the winners of the bid to build Integrated Resorts (IRs) in Singapore were first announced. But I was curious, why dolphins in particular? After all, there are plenty of other captive animals in the zoo. “Dolphins are wide-ranging animals and are not meant to be kept in captivity”, Louis explained emphatically. He was

Pacific bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands in 2003 for the Wet ‘n Wild Park. According to various reports, at least 12 of the original 28 dolphins exported to Mexico died within five years of their transport. Honestly, before this interview, I had only vaguely heard of some sort of opposition to dolphins being held captive, wondering how much success and publicity the recent campaign has enjoyed. What were some of the obstacles that he encountered during the campaign? “I think the toughest obstacle is trying to get Singaporeans to take part [in social activism] but so far, we have been doing well. Our Facebook page has about 16,000 likes ... over 670,000 have signed the petition which, I’m quite sure, makes it one of the largest petitions in Singapore.”

(Louis Ng)

quick to emphasise that ACRES was not principally against the captivity of all animals, but dolphins remain a particularly pressing concern because of its natural habits in the wild.

To drive home the point, he added that many countries have since banned the import of captive dolphins, citing the case of Mexico as the most compelling one. Mexico imported 28 Indo-

Louis’ passion for animals started when he was just 14; he always wanted to be involved in animal conservation. That desire led him to pursue an undergraduate degree in biology and later, a Masters in Primate Conservation. It was during his undergraduate years when he saw first-hand during a volunteer stint with the zoo how “chimps [sic] were being trained up aggressively,” without care for their welfare. He also

OPINION

OF AN ANIMAL LOVER

-campus yet again to interview NUS ks of life. This month, AUGUSTIN CHIAM an NUS alumnus from the Faculty of he Executive Director of ACRES.

realised how, at the time, there were very few established groups in Singapore who were willing to help. A campaign to stop the mistreatment of the chimpanzees in the Singapore Zoo became ACRES’s first battle.

“OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, I THINK WE HAVE OPENED UP AS A SOCIETY”

the media is also realising that Singaporeans do care about such matters.” Indeed, the groundswell of Singaporeans involved in various social causes seems to have increased. With the proliferation of new media and alternative news websites like The Online Citizen, organisations like ACRES can get more exposure for their campaigns than ever before. Recently, a deluge of ACRES supporters commenting and agitating for a response on the RWS Facebook fan page forced a temporary shutdown. We might soon have to re-evaluate the stereotype of the ‘apathetic Singaporean’.

He fondly remembers a few professors in NUS, particularly A/P Benito Tan, who nominated him for the HSBC NYAA Youth Achievement Award, and Prof. Navjot Sodhi who was the lecturer for a module on animal behaviour (A/P Tan has since retired from NUS in 2007 while Prof. Sodhi recently passed away). Today, NUS PEACE (People Ending Animal Cruelty and “I am very grateful for the Exploitation) exists as a platform professors who took an interest in for students to actively voice the work that I was doing outside out their concerns on matters and really supported me.” regarding animal welfare. Louis sees this as a sign of changing Does he think that society, and times and believes that “university specifically, NUS students, are students are very important ready for more social activism? because they will eventually become the change-makers in our “Over the past ten years, I think society.” we have opened up as a society, especially with the younger ACRES started off from one generation. The media has picked man’s heart for animal welfare up on issues regarding animal and a desire to stand in the gap welfare and ACRES has even between the animals and those had front page coverage on some that seek to exploit them. Louis publications. It is clear that says for aspiring NUS students

who want to embark on a similar journey as his: “Follow your heart - money is not everything. I might not be a rich person now, but I am rich in my heart. You need to have passion for whatever you are doing.”

You can find out more about ACRES at http://www.acres.org.sg/

OPINION

THE ISSUE WITH THE TISSUE

(photo by fowlerlake.com)

Vibha Ghariwala

n Singapore, it is not uncommon to spot inanimate objects placed strategically on tables at open-air eateries ranging from the ‘infamous’ tissue paper packet to newspapers in order to ‘chope’ or reserve seats. While drawing raised eyebrows from foreigners, this sight barely invites a batting of eyelids from the Singaporeans.

Also I Want’ and it characterizes the avaricious attitude of Singaporeans who harbour a consuming fear of ‘losing out.’ The question arises as to what we can ascribe this peculiar

IMAGE ASIDE, ‘KIASUISM’ HAS NONETHELESS REAPED ITS FAIR SHARE OF BENEFITS.

The act of ‘kiasuism’ is so tightly woven into the Singaporean fabric that it comes as second nature for many. The root word ‘kiasu’ refers to the ‘fear of losing’ in Hokkien and has established itself in Singaporean vocabulary together with a less popular word ‘kiasi’ which literally translates to ‘afraid of death.’

Singaporean trait to. Singapore is a country firmly hinged onto the ideology of meritocracy. This ideology emphasizes the importance of according special rights, privileges and societal status to those who prove their worth.

In fact, ‘kiasuism’ has made guest appearances in literature as well – Johnny Lau, an independent author, penned and published the ‘Mr. Kiasu’ series of books between 1990 and 1999. His first book was entitled ‘Everything

This phenomenon is especially prominent in the academic arena where parents get thrown into a state of frenzy and engage the ‘kiasu’ gear to find the best academic institutions and extra-curricular coaching for

their children who take a few gulps of air from academia before submerging into the sea of ballet, piano and Taekwondo enrichment classes. Even at the university level, competition strikes in the form of a much abhorred bell curve for grades. However much ‘kiasuism’ has been etched into most Singaporeans, it does not bode well for our global image. The act of someone flinging their bag onto the next vacated seat on the train simply does not match Singapore’s image as a developed metropolitan city. Image aside, ‘kiasuism’ has nonetheless reaped its fair share of benefits. In a bid to compete in the tourism arena, Singapore’s Integrated Resorts and the recent establishment of the Universal Studios have caused a profitable stir. Singaporean ‘kiasuism’ even led to the construction of the tallest Ferris wheel in the worldthe Singapore flyer; ousting

the London eye and the Star of Nanchung from contention. It seems ‘kiasuism’ is here to stay. However, more Singaporeans are daring to challenge meritocracy and take greater risks; to boot the ‘kiasi’ mentality. This can be noted from a rise in the liberal arts and burgeoning numbers of previously tonguetied Singaporeans daring to externalize their opinions in the political field. But you have to admit – the infamous tissue paper packet and other quirks really make Singaporeans Singaporean.

OPINION

SINGLISH, NO GOOD MEH? Ngui Jian Gang

or a country that strives to create a strong national identity, it seems contradictory that we would want to disown one of our very best identifiers – Singlish. Although in recent years the government has decided to focus more on promoting usage of proper English and not on stamping out Singlish, the latter remains a vernacular language deemed as improper and inappropriate in the eyes of the state.

an inevitable characteristic of be- Standard English is always a ing one of the world’s most widely viable option. I personally believe spoken languages. that Singaporeans are adept at swift code-switching. Ironically, one might argue that Singlish is the result of the In Singapore, all subjects government’s effort at promotother than the mother tongue are ing inter-racial and inter-cultural taught in Standard English. There exchanges amongst Singaporeans. is no reason why most SingaBecause it is only spoken by poreans, especially the younger Singaporeans at large, it can even generation, would then be incaserve as a platform for closing pable of using it. The reason why social distance and fostering a Singaporeans might still possibly stronger sense of community. face problems communicating In reality, Singlish is a creole that with foreigners is not essentially has garnered much interest in Some assert that Singlish is uta result of bad grammar. To illusthe linguistic community (along terly incomprehensible to foreign- trate: Yoda from Star Wars uses with other variations of English ers and is, therefore, unsuitable non-standard syntax (“Much to present in other countries). It is for international exchanges. My learn, you still have”) but nobody well-researched and documented. argument, however, is that the misunderstands him, while a Through the years, there have also presence of Singlish does not foreigner with impeccable syntax been many who have defended necessarily discourage the usage but a heavy accent would probably it by arguing that it is not a corof Standard English. The idea have to repeat his point several ruption of English but rather a behind communication is that times to be understood. Pronunfully functional variation instead. people are able to comprehend ciation and accent play a bigger Unsurprisingly, English has many each other. If the circumstances role than syntax and grammar in different dialects and variations, do not permit Singlish, then inter-cultural communication.

The usage of Singlish is a tell-tale sign that we are Singaporeans. I really rue the day when it is

IRONICALLY, ONE MIGHT ARGUE THAT SINGLISH IS THE RESULT OF THE GOVERNMENT’S EFFORT AT PROMOTING INTER-RACIAL AND INTER-CULTURAL EXCHANGES AMONGST SINGAPOREANS. forced to fade into the background, much like what is happening to the Chinese dialects in our community. Singlish is not something that we should shun – it confirms and cements our identity as Singaporeans. After all, it is one of the things we can proudly say is “Uniquely Singapore”.

(photo by james.seng.sg)

OPINION

SPEAKING UP ABOU

Elliot Tan

education sector a lurching and trembling — the pedagogical climate at the cusp of change.

This is what we are told our prospective employers say. According to officially circulated wisdom, a certain local university has successfully been churning out students who are actively assertive in voicing out their opinions, and are more eloquent to boot. The impact of this has been tremendous. If one were to put his ear to the ground like a modern day Mojave, he would feel rippling through the tertiary

The reverberation most felt by the NUS student however, must surely be the rise of the seminarstyled sectional class. Appearing most frequently in the business student’s timetable, the seminar class promises an adrenalinepacked three hours of intensive lecturer-student interaction, discussion and debate. Featuring a learning-optimized class size that bridges the gap between the lecture theatre horde and the tutorial tea party, the sectional class is the herald of a new era of

US students, while intelligent and insightful, simply do not seem to be interested in vocalizing their opinions.

vibrant instruction and education. Or so it purports. For the most part, the greatest gripe with the sectional class is its grading structure. Consider

A CERTAIN LOCAL UNIVERSITY HAS SUCCESSFULLY BEEN CHURNING OUT STUDENTS WHO ARE ACTIVELY ASSERTIVE IN VOICING OUT THEIR OPINIONS one particular marketing module, where class participation constitutes a staggering thirty percent of the student’s grade for the semester. The rationale behind this has often been attributed to the push towards encouraging active involvement in class by the students. Questions posed by the lecturer should ideally be met by the instantaneous sprouting forest of volunteering hands, where each would also strive towards raising queries of their own. The reality could not be further from this justification- much of what is bandied about class as insightful comment actually serves little to advance actual learning, and ends up merely disrupting the lesson flow. Answers are merely read off

textbooks and pithy quotes thrown about in a subtle yet unmistakable display that the individual has done his readings and is hence, duly deserving of marks. While superficially portraying the appearance of progress (the student did, after all, achieve some degree of reading and comprehension), a real increase in learning can hardly be said to have been achieved. Very little is gained that could not have been spoken by the lecturer succinctly in a matter of minutes. The lesson’s intended value gets lost amidst the jostling. A quick survey on the ground revealed one recurrent sentiment: “I joined NUS to avoid the need for incessant unproductive blabber to fulfill my grade requirements.” Many expressed a feeling of being put off from contributing or asking relevant questions simply because it would only further delay the lesson that has already been dragged on by superfluous commentary. “NUS students, while intelligent and insightful, simply do not seem to be interested in vocalizing their opinions” — this statement comes back full circle with a killer backhand. If the NUS student is so characterized by analytical thought and brilliance of mind, why is there

OPINION

OUT SPEAKING UP

such apathy towards engaged participation in the first place? We can perhaps address this by reviewing the vehement condemnation that the new system has been receiving. It was, after all, instated with the best of intentions: to see NUS students prosper in the workplace, and to show the world that NUS students are by no means any less capable than graduates of other universities (and probably even more so). One must consider whether we are merely importing the concept of the seminar class without

NUS STUDENTS, WHILE INTELLIGENT AND INSIGHTFUL, SIMPLY DO NOT SEEM TO BE INTERESTED IN VOCALIZING THEIR OPINIONS paying sufficient attention to refining its structure with respect to its instructional value. The flaw in the existing system is not so much one of intention, but one of execution. The belief was that increasing the grade value of class participation would compel student to see the importance of being vocal about their opinions. However, its grading structure creates the impression

that in order to fulfill grade requirements, what is desired of students in class is that they be heard more often. But surely that was never its intended purpose — not just to be heard more often but to contribute to meaningful discussion. The seminar class is, no doubt, supposed to be distinct from the lecture and the tutorial in its intent, but we should not be trying something different simply for the sake of being different. A step forward in improving the system would be to tweak the criteria and make explicit that grades are not allocated as much based upon the quantity of vocalizations, but rather on the quality of the comments or questions, with respect to their relevance and depth of thought. We opine in order to influence and effect change in the system, but whether it actually does so is beyond our control. In the final analysis, the classroom only exists because of its students, and we as students shoulder the responsibility to shape how our learning takes place. As an anonymous SMU student who was familiar with the seminar-style lesson remarked, “It [seminar-style] caters to a specific type of student; like [sic] the whole class has to consist of independent learners who are

able to contribute and are able to build on each other.” The lecturer facilitates the transfer of knowledge, but the learning environment is formed by us. As participants in the classroom, the onus is on us to share our thoughts in a manner from which all can benefit and learn. Therein lies the true value of speaking up.

OPINION

THE NOT-SO-NECESSA

neither. It is the act, perhaps the sin, of printing out every single page of the lecture notes that the professor uploads to IVLE. The average student here would probably feel insecure without

THE PAPER HERE COMES FROM TREES THAT ONCE STOOD TALL AROUND VARIOUS ISLANDS IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA their printed notes during a lecture, judging by the zeal with which they print out every detail of the lecture slides and frantically scribble notes during the discourse. Shibanshu Mukhopadhyay

eople say that it is the little things in life that really make a difference and signify the essence of life. In all our fervour to save the environment, we often end up ignoring the smaller mistakes we make while trying to conserve nature. Despite being proud participants in large-scale environment-friendly activities such as World Climate Day and Earth Hour, we still contribute

significantly to the degradation of nature, specifically trees, all because of those little things. What is one thing that can be described as a daily ritual in the life of most regular students at NUS, probably even as a chore? If your guess lies somewhere along the lines of attending lectures or procrastination, you are wrong, for the reference here is to

Due to the huge demand for paper all over the world, environmentalists and scientists have often collaborated to find alternate ways of making paper, such as using animal dung and even sugarcane wastes, providing a much better choice than recklessly chopping trees.. Unfortunately, the paper supplied at printers around campus in NUS is high grade paper made from trees which are definitely not the resource that can be ravaged bountifully in the long

term in the way it is being done presently. The entire world is worried to death about the availability of fossil fuels for the next generation because fossil fuels are classified as non-renewable resources and yet, the paper used at NUS is obtained from the same scarce source as coal. The main difference between the two being that coal is formed from the pressurized decomposition of trees that died naturally, while trees are felled by us humans to produce paper. If the usage of coal can be considered as something important enough to be legally regulated in Singapore, why is there no similar policy regulating the usage of paper? Given the sheer amount of paper being consumed each day, its usage should be regulated and treated with an equivalent amount of severity. Coincidentally, the paper here comes from trees that once stood tall around various islands in South-east Asia, which is unfortunately experiencing some of the highest global deforestation rates.

OPINION

SARY EVIL OF PRINTING

It is quite discouraging to see such volumes of a valuable resource like paper being literally eaten away on the campus of a university where the environment is, otherwise, given much thought. Honestly, the printers spew out enough paper each day to make an onlooker feel like there is a bonus grade for printing out lecture notes. Why does one need to take hardcopies of their lecture notes

IF THE USAGE OF COAL CAN BE CONSIDERED AS SOMETHING IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO BE LEGALLY REGULATED IN SINGAPORE, WHY IS THERE NO SIMILAR POLICY REGULATING THE USAGE OF PAPER? to class when there are projectors that perform perfectly well in helping everyone with visualizing the lecture slides? Moreover, almost everybody has a laptop that can be used on which extra notes that need to be taken down during a lecture can always be typed out. For those who

cannot carry their laptop around, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always the choice of using recycled paper to physically jot down observations. In this case, even if quality of paper is highgrade like that of those at the printer, a lot more information can be noted down on the same area of paper.

campaign on saving paper can be implemented.

It is rather ironic that the need to reduce paper consumption is being publicized on paper itself, but more important than all the steps that can be taken to reduce the wastage of paper is the realisation that comes from Printing should be left as a last within, and this idea does need resort, a necessary evil that has to publicising. At current rates be brought out only when there of environmental degradation, is absolutely no other option. recklessly printing out lecture Furthermore, the printed notes notes certainly does not qualify which are no longer required after as a fashion statement and must the end of the semester should be be avoided to the extent possible. sent for recycling rather than just It is after all, a little progress being carelessly disposed. everyday from the grassroots that adds up to tangible results. Moreover, the university should also consider providing recycled paper at the printers. Another interesting endeavour would be to attempt an initiative like the no-waste bin-day organized by NUS SAVE on September 6, whereby the amount of printouts from the various printers on campus could be strictly regulated for a day, and feedback can then be obtained from the students on how well they survived their lectures without printed notes. If the general feedback is positive, perhaps a more rigorous

OPINION

FRIENDS, STUDENTS, CANDIDAT Augustin Chiam

..................................................

have been observing with considerable interest how different faculties have engaged in electing their new student management committees for the fresh academic year. Regarding these elections, the foremost question in my mind is how “representative” are these student committees? “Representation” matters because it affects whether these committees actually have the mandate to execute all the activities they plan in the current academic year. The recently concluded elections of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences’ (FASS) 32nd Student Management Committee present a good example of this controversy. Out of approximately 6000 students (including 500 exchange students) in the faculty, a mere 408 students cast their votes for 13 student leaders. That works out to approximately 31 votes per leader or 0.5% of the total potential votes per leader. Common sense would inform us that a 0.5% popular support is hardly a majority, much less constituting any sort of “mandate”. The lack of popular mandate screams out for broad reforms of the electoral system.

At the time of writing, matters are further complicated by the fact that one of the elected members of the committee, withdrew from office citing the reason that “the interests of my [her] parents stray far from my [her] own, and the plans they have laid out for me [her] are cast in stone.” It is curious how an elected representative can withdraw from office so soon after the elections. The sorry state of things led me to recall a comment made by a friend who exclaimed that “maybe we should consider giving parental consent form for people running for student office.” Looking at it from a bigger perspective, the withdrawal is symptomatic of a larger problem. The question that looms before us is, are we witnessing the death of student activism, and what can we do about it? If anything, this academic year’s FASS student elections clearly suggest that reforms to the student electoral process are definitely in order. Let us first consider two reasons that might explain why students do not vote.

FIRSTLY, THEY COULD BE COMPLETELY APATHETIC ABOUT ANY OF THE STUDENT ACTIVITIES PLANNED BY THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE. This has important implications - if the student populace is indeed indifferent then whatever the committee organises will be in vain and would not receive the support or critical mass required for the success of the event. One suspects that the lack of student support and participation is an increasingly worrying problem that plagues the different student events.

SECONDLY, AND MORE DISTURBING, IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT STUDENTS DO CARE ABOUT THEIR COMMUNITY BUT THERE ARE NO SUITABLE CANDIDATES IN THE RUNNING. Since voting is not compulsory, if none of the candidates appeal to the student population then there is no incentive for them to vote. In the worst case scenario,

OPINION

DIDATES - LEND ME YOUR EARS! a vicious cycle of poor candidates would lead to disillusionment among the electorate, perpetuating apathy towards not only the voting process but also the student activities led by the candidates that have little to no support of the electorate. So what reforms can be implemented to resolve the problems? I can only speak from my experience with the FASS elections but I suspect that similar problems exist in the other faculties as well. For one, the candidates running for elections need to do substantially more than putting up posters that merely describe the position that they are running for.

GONE ARE THE DAYS WHERE THE CANDIDATES ACTUALLY GO OUT TO THE PEOPLE AND HEAR THEIR NEEDS. Most of the “feedback” sessions are now done in a top-down approach. The prevalent idea seems to be this – if you want to give feedback, come and tell me;

do not bother waiting for me to come to you. There was a time when being a representative of the people carried with it the heavy responsibility of actually finding out the interests which one represents. Now, it seems like the student representatives only represent their own interests rather than those of the masses. Candidates need to learn the art of campaigning and vote canvassing to get to know the people they are representing; only through these processes can a strong mandate can be garnered.

Whether the student electoral system needs to change is not the question. Change is overdue. The flaws of the system are there for all to see and I am just the messenger.

Secondly, perhaps compulsory voting is a necessary evil. Principally, it forces people to choose even if none of the candidates appeal to them. Whether or not people like it, or whether they have the mandate, the student management committees will continue to organise and execute activities. At least with compulsory voting, people are forced into familiarising themselves with the electoral process and hopefully that will encourage more participation either as running candidates or as voters.

Will it be you?

WE NEED SOMEONE WHO HAS THE COURAGE TO TWEAK SOME OF THESE PROCESSES TO PRODUCE A BETTER OUTCOME – A MORE REPRESENTATIVE STUDENT COMMITTEE IN THE TRUE SENSE.

(PHOTOGRAPH / LYRICSPOND.COM)

OPINION

CULTURE OF CONSUMERISM

(The opening of H&M saw long queues in Singapore / Photo by kalleboo on Flickr) Abhinav Deshmukh

&M (Hennes & Mauritz) has just become a part of the Great Singapore Shopping Story. With approximately 1500 people lining up on day one, one wonders whether this is merely an instance of Singaporeans responding to the hype created by a combination of the media and smart advertising or a symptom of a disturbing problem which has plagued some Western countries – consumerism.

In a paper authored by Peter A. Coclanis, entitled “A City of Frenzied Shoppers? Reinterpreting Consumer Behaviour in Contemporary Singapore”, it is proposed that far from being a society which is preoccupied with the acquisition of goods, Singapore is “one large savings pool”. In fact Singapore recorded an impressive gross savings rate of 47 % of the GDP in 2008.

Accompanied with the pervasiveness of a use-and-throw culture, consumerism brings with it concerns for the environment. It is also sometimes accompanied with excessive, uncontrolled spending and the growth of a materialistic culture. But do Singaporeans need to be worried about this tendency to consume? Yes and no.

Although CPF contributes to this figure, the author opines that robust voluntary contributions also play a major role and concludes that Singaporeans “as a whole are great savers”. The tendency amongst the youth to spend is largely attributed to the fact that the average single youth does not need to make a major

investment in a new house or an automobile on account of the prohibitively high rates for the same and thus have disposable income at hand to spend. However, while the saving habits of Singaporeans may be prudent, we still need to be wary of the growth of a worldly society obsessed with brands and the latest gadgets. A report for the American Psychological Association concluded that “materialistic values may stem from early insecurities and are linked to lower life satisfaction”. It may be high time for Singaporeans to look at the larger picture and adopt a simpler, slower approach to life. We might find that a life of contentment may be more fulfilling than a superficial life spent in the

pursuit of material needs. There are plans in the pipeline to set up an institute in Singapore to study consumer patterns and demands. Customising products to suit the tastes of the Asian consumer may be the way forward for multi-national corporations. While wooing the consumer is, after all, the corporation’s duty, it is up to the consumer to choose whether they will bite the bait. Consumerism may appear to be good for the economy but if left uncontrolled, it is potentially lethal for societal values.

ENTERTAINMENT

BOOK REVIEWS MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII LEE GOLDBERG Reviewer: Anupama Hegde

ho doesn’t enjoy a good detective story? And when the detective in question is an obsessive compulsive genius, you’re in for more than just a murder mystery. We’re familiar with the television show ‘Monk’, but did you know there is also a book series? For all you Monk fans, Mr. Monk goes to Hawaii is 300 pages of pure, unadulterated Monk at his obsessive best! You’d think that Monk would at least try to have a murder-free entertainmentwallpaper.com vacation in Hawaii. However, murder follows Monk wherever

he goes, and he “couldn’t have been happier to stumble on a corpse” while on vacation. The corpse in question is Helen Gruber, who was clobbered to death by a coconut. The story is narrated by Monk’s assistant Natalie, who should be given an award for dealing with Monk’s compulsions 24/7! How obsessive can one grown man be, you ask? Well, Monk’s obsessions go beyond the commonplace. He spends three hours teaching the hotel maids to fold towels just right, brings his own silverware from home

(on a holiday!) and dons a fullsleeved shirt and slacks amidst the bikini-clad bodies in sunny Hawaii. Obsessions notwithstanding, Monk’s mystery solving abilities will leave you speechless and guessing the identity of Gruber’s killer until the very end. Monk’s hilarious attempts at bringing order to a disorderly world made me let out a few loud chortles in the bus, eliciting funny stares from people around me. This book could be just the antidote, then, for all your mid-semester stress!

MUHAMMAD ALI – HIS LIFE AND TIMES THOMAS HAUSER Reviewer: Nathanael PS

‘Hauser’s achievement in chronicling the life of Muhammad Ali is monumental, triumphant and harrowing at one and the same time.’ - The Guardian

uite possibly the greatest athlete to ever grace our generation, Muhammad Ali was a true giant of a man. Outside of the boxing arena, Ali lifted the hopes and dreams of many and was a great source of inspiration to millions around the world. goodreads.com

It comes as no surprise that countless books have been written about him, many authors claiming to have

done the necessary research to uncover for their readers the real, unvarnished tale. However, not many books come nearly as close as Hauser’s. What makes it truly distinct was Hauser’s extremely close and personal relationship that he shared with Ali himself. Unlike many authors who attempt biographies on purposed great men, Hauser does not attempt to mythologise Ali. Instead, it’s an effort to show him as he was and is: a superb human being with good qualities and flaws. His background research is impeccable and his painstaking attention to detail really allows the reader to paint a complete picture of Ali from the countless

sources that were interviewed in the course of writing this book. Coupled together with his easyto-read writing style, the book allows the reader ample room for reflection and to formulate their own takes on his life story. Hauser chronicles Ali’s rise to greatness, from his humble beginnings in the streets right up till he became the world champion. All in all, this book is a must read; not just for fans of Ali but for anyone who is a fan of the human spirit.

ENTERTAINMENT

RIVER OF SMOKE AMITAV GHOSH Reviewer: Divya Gundlapalli

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elebrated Indian writer Amitav Ghosh is back with ‘Rivers of Smoke’, the much-awaited second part of his historical trilogy. His first

book ‘Sea of Poppies’, which was published in 2008, ferried us along the Ganges and to Calcutta, where the poppies are grown and the opium processed. ‘River of Smoke’ follows the story through to Canton in China, where the opium is sold. Here, we encounter the Chinese authorities who are desperately trying to prevent illegal imports of the drug which the Chinese population is addicted to. While China battles this plague, the British continue to make empiresized fortunes from its sale. A fact that many do not know was that Ghosh never planned to have a trilogy! He was so absorbed in the characters that he realised he needed more than a book to fully develop them. Also Ghosh had not travelled to

China prior to the writing the Rivers of Smoke. Ghosh visited Guangzhou to get into the world of the 19th Century. To his surprise, he saw many distinctly Indian buildings from 1880s in pristine condition. Having long loved and admired ‘Sea of Poppies’, I deeply enjoyed ‘Rivers of Smoke’, a book that focuses on a topic that is not discussed much - opium culture. Ghosh brings back his fascination with minute details again but I think it is these details that satiate the readers’ amusement and interest in the closely-linked cultures of Indians and the Chinese people in the past (which we come to love from his first book). For instance, he goes into quite a description of a Chinese dish Samsa that the Uighurs

cooked. It consists of a meatfilled pastry cooked in a tandoor, also known as a clay oven. This resembles the modern day Indian Samosa. Normally, people would get so lost in the amount of historical information in this book but his amazing ability to intertwine facts into a fantasy like story draws the reader into the vivid and bustling world of the 19th century. I strongly suggest reading ‘Sea of Poppies’ before ‘Rivers of Smoke’. I rarely follow trilogies but this one keeps you yearning for more. I think it’s a book for anyone; it educates you on the past (subtly) and also tells you a narrative (a good one too!). Come on board the Ibis (the name of the ship in his books) and get ready for an intoxicating ride.

MOVIE REVIEW ONE DAY LONE SCHERFIG Reviewer: Charlyn Ang

he most recent feature film directed by Academy Awards-winner Lone Scherfig, ‘One Day’, is a story revolving around the romantic friendship between Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) and Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) which first sparked when they met on their graduation day. Based on David

Nicholls’ novel of the same title, ‘One Day’ manages to both capture the essence of their relationship, as well as captivate the audience with its realistic direction. Shot in Edinburgh, London and Paris, the journey of Emma and Dexter’s lives unravels before us.

As an audience, it was clear to us that their paths were merely deviating slightly; they were destined to meet again – and stay together this time. However, this movie is not based on their love story; it is a story about their love. Filled with bittersweet moments, ‘One Day’ is a convincing show

because it strikes a chord in us. We recognise a bit of ourselves in the characters, we understand why they would make the mistakes they did. It is so easy to relate to their stories that we might, without noticing, fall into the fairytale and start wishing for our own happy endings! Scherfig seamlessly narrates their journeys

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over a span of two decades from the first time they have met. The playboy who has everything going for him and the girl who isn’t quite as lucky, but works hard for the things in life – these two are polar opposites in terms of personality. He is the suave to her prim, he is the frivolous to her tolerance, and yet, it is because their personalities clashed that it took twenty years to open their eyes, giving birth to our story. On another note, Anne Hathaway’s English accent sounds a little less than pleasant, and that is even before we put Jim Sturgess next to her. While her acting is brilliant, her accent makes it seem like she is not British at all. Nitpicking aside though, the movie had luscious landscape scenes littered with many wonderful landmarks, such as Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh, the 11th arrondissement, Paris, and The Lady Chapel in Westminster Cathedral, London, just to name a few. With famous places, gorgeous actors and an enticing plot, ‘One Day’ was quite the visual treat.

WHAT’S IN MY IPOD? Nicole Kang

Stereo Hearts Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine

You and I Lady Gaga

Cheers (Drink to That) Rihanna

Lighters Bad Meets Evil ft. Bruno Mars

You Make Me Feel... Cobra Starship ft. Sabi

Good Life OneRepublic

Mr. Know It All Kelly Clarkson

In the Dark Dev

Just A Kiss Lady Antebellum

This movie premiers in Shaw cinemas on 20 October 2011.

musicloversgroups.blogspot.com, news.getmusicasia.com, bestfan.com, coverspotlight.blogspot.com, evidentofficial.com, poponandon.com

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COMING TOGETHER FOR TH Saheli Roy Choudhury

or Jill-Marie Thomas, every song has a story to tell. In this ever-changing music business, the 28-year old winner of MediaCorp’s 2010 talent search, One Moment of Glory (OMG), likes to keep her music honest and simple and straight from the bottom of her heart. This year Jill-Marie teamed up with the National Environment Agency (NEA) to spread eco-awareness through the Eco-Music Challenge

2011, where she performed the winning song. The Eco-Music Challenge, a national songwriting competition, is NEA’s latest initiative to reach out to young Singaporeans, through music, to adopt eco-practices as an integral part of their lives. The competition has already broken a new milestone with more than 300 entries coming from 900 youth participants, varying over different genres and language. THE RIDGE caught up with

Jill-Marie to find out more. THE RIDGE: Since your win at OMG, it seems that you are still actively producing covers! JILL-MARIE: Music is something that I have this undying passion for and will never stop doing. It’s what keeps me sane actually, in this sometimes crazy world! *Laughs* Life inspires my music, and music inspires my life. Personally, I see myself as a singer-songwriter and am currently working on my album. But I also love doing covers, and putting a little J.M.T. twist to them, hopefully giving my audience and supporters a nice surprise when they hear my own renditions! TR: When did you become so environmentally-conscious?

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JM: I would like to think all of us are fundamentally environmentally-conscious, some more conscious than others. As per Darwin’s theory, we all ultimately fight to survive and do everything we can to preserve the best we have. So I think with more outspoken people and great causes that have gone public, this has pushed and allowed for the ‘dormant’ part of me to realise that I have to start doing more to preserve and save the world we live in. The Eco-Music Challenge is a perfect example of a great platform that creates

and raises awareness to being environmentally-conscious, and NEA has done an awesome job in promoting this! TR: Describe a moment where you took a real stand for the environment. JM: Personally, every stand for the environment, big or small, goes a long way. Little by little, it accumulates and helps at the end of the day. So I try to take ‘mini-stands’ every day for the environment. For example, I use a water bottle in the office and have one handy in my car too. This way, if I’m thirsty, I won’t have to go out and buy bottled water or takeaway drinks if I’m on the move. I also won’t have to keep using disposable cups for water/ drinks, helping reduce wastage too! Caring for the environment is not a mammoth task, because every little effort adds up. TR: According to your profile, it says that you keep the temperature of your air-conditioner at 24 degree Celsius, no mean feat for most Singaporeans! *wink wink* Have you suffered from the temptation to adjust it any lower? JM: With the Singapore weather, of course! I am a firm believer that the air-con is one of the best inventions of our time but I make it a point to use the fan

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OR THE ENVIRONMENT

as much as I can. Being more on the chubby side (hence, more insulation *grin*), I used to sleep with the air-con on all the time. But now, I only use the air-con to cool down my room first, on those extremely ‘buay tahan’ hot days, then switch it off to use the fan before going to sleep. But I always keep the temperature at 24 degrees Celsius. I must admit I have lowered the temperature once or twice but I’m only chubbily human! But no excuses, I still do my best not to use the air-con when I can! TR: Do you think being a celebrity gives you a better platform to raise environmental awareness? JM: Musicians are role models to many of their fans and this provides a good opportunity to share with them on things you believe in. Music can play an instrumental role in encouraging

people to be more conscious of the actions that they take and the impacts on the environment. Initiatives like the Eco-Music Challenge by NEA, also give musicians a chance to both showcase their talent and support

PERSONALLY, EVERY STAND FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, BIG OR SMALL, GOES A LONG WAY. the environment. You could think of it as the catalyst that helps connect people from all walks of life, so yes! Everyone can be a part of the environmental movement, like me!

being environmentally-conscious. People should go beyond that and show it with their actions. Of course, we must strike a balance in maintaining greenery in our environment, though to some degree, environmentalconsciousness can be seen as a cause, and greenery, the effect. On a side note, I guess Singapore is just like that because we have the best of both worlds! It is always awesome when I have friends visiting from overseas, and they can’t stop complimenting Singapore on being such a beautiful and green country!

Super proud Singaporean moment for me! Heh. TR: As a small country, what is your honest opinion about how Singaporeans can do to save the Earth? JM: There are so many things that we can do to for our beautiful environment if we start small! We must remember that it is never too late, and even the smallest actions can go a long way!

TR: Which is more ideal: unblemished nature and greenery (in the world) or a world of environmentallyconscious people? Why? JM: To me, it has to transcend

(Jill-Marie/ theurbanwire.com)

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ENTERTAINMENT! IN PARIS Vivian Leung

hile Paris is best known as the city of love, its entertainment scene caters to everyone regardless of the status of your love life. From festivals to the night life, there’s something in Paris for everyone. But seeing album after album of your friends’ Paris travelogues on Facebook must leave you wondering whether there is more to the seemingly repetitive pictures. Avid travellers will tell you that the experience you get in each city you visit far surpasses the accomplishment you might get from conquering each famous site. To be honest, every European city looks the same in photos after a while, so really, it is the personal experiences which count at the end of the day. And what better way to do so than to immerse yourself in the cultural and entertainment offerings of the city? Instead of giving a list of typical tourist recommendations which anyone can easily find online, I’ve decided to share some of the things which are unique to Paris in my opinion. SOME COMMENTS AND TIPS BEFORE I LAUNCH INTO THE ENTERTAINMENT SCENE IN PARIS: 1. In Paris, bars close at around 2400-0100, just like the metro. Some bars open till 0300-0400 but they are rare and usually concentrated in selected districts like Saint-Michel (5th arrondisement) which is popular with the university students. Parisians usually head to a club, drink in some park or go to a friend’s house after the bars are closed. 2. Prices in Paris are already inclusive of taxes and hence, it is not necessary to give tips unless you are feeling particularly generous that day. 3. As with all European cities, the best way to discover it is by walking. You will get to see a lot more quirky sights than usual and taking the off-beaten paths will often lead to new surprises.

Festivals: as with every other major city, Paris has many different festivals spanning different genres of entertainment from music to theatre.

INOX PARK PARIS Fancy partying from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. straight? Ardent party-goers frequently lament the deleterious effects of sleeping late and the fatigue that consumes you the following day (sans hangover). With our humid temperature in Singapore, it is unthinkable of having such a daytime festival without becoming soaked with perspiration from yourself and the people around you. A veritable ZoukOut in Paris, Inox Park has had top international DJs like Tiesto, Avicii, Steve Aoki and Axwell spinning the decks to thousands of enthusiastic party-goers. Watching the sunset on l’Île des Impressionnistes with the intoxicating mix of electro and house music in the background was an incredible experience and depending on whether you are a thrill-seeker or not, the upside-down ride was a hundred times more electrifying with thumping beats in your head as you are thrown around in the air.

DANCE: TANGO UNDER THE STARS Forget about the stuffy theatres and concerts, dancing is meant to be spontaneous and this can be seen every night along the banks of the magical river Seine. Dancers of all ages lock arms and glide side to side under the moonlight from around 7 p.m. onwards on the left bank of the Seine between Quai Saint Bernard between the Sully and Austerlitz bridge. With the good fortune of staying right along the Seine, I chanced upon this seemingly magical and bizarre dancing one night while walking towards the Notre Dame cathedral. As dancers arrive in their shiny heels, stylish suit coats and swirly skirts, so do their admirers, who, with obligatory baguette, cheese, and wine in hand, sit down on the steps of the semicircle facing the river. Although Tango is most common form of dance, I witnessed some Salsa as well. The soft pulse of the music, the slightly-bent heads of couples moving slowly to the music, the gentle moonlight – this is what makes Paris such a romantic city.

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THE CURRENCY OF WORDS Meera Nair

he Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) takes a gamble on the economy this year, with its theme of ‘Transaction’. Understanding the importance of money in the world today, the SWF features talks and debates by renowned writers like economist Steven Levitt, Swedish writer Kari Nars and Chinese writer Chan Koon Chung on the topic of poverty and affluence. Ironically, visitors will be charged $15 to gain access to most of the events at the festival, a first in the history of SWF. Despite its studious adherence to the theme, SWF is still a keystone in the local writing scene, not just emphasising English writing, but providing a platform for writers of all four national languages to showcase their work. Its importance is not just in the event itself, but it has become symbolic in its own right. The Association of Singapore Tamil Writers, recognising this, is holding the World Tamil Writers Conference in conjunction with SWF. The SWF also aims

to promote new and emerging Singapore and Asian writers to the public as well, on top of the usual crop of established writers, like Alfian Sa’at, Edwin Thumboo and Catherine Lim, to name a few. Speaking of writers, THE RIDGE managed to interview three of them, one of whom described himself as “very new to the literary scene in Singapore.” Low Joo Hong, who has published two Chinese picture books for children, is one very cool principal. Yes, you read right. As the principal of Siglap Secondary School, Low feels strongly about the role of education in fostering the literary scene in Singapore, saying that “Singapore needs to appreciate how an individual needs to live a more wholesome life, and not be so obsessed with material pursuits.” He added that while schools were generally going in the right direction, there was still a need to keep developing students’ abilities both in the curricular and non-curricular areas.

The importance of education cannot be downplayed, if Edwin Thumboo’s interview is anything to go by. He candidly admitted that studying poetry in university helped him in his own writing, saying, “[it] led me to look more closely at the organisation of a literary text ... which deeply interested me because I myself was trying to write.” His ideas on local literature were largely shaped by his writing experience during Singapore’s colonial days. Writing in English, which was then “very much the imperial language which we use[d] but had yet to possess, to take possession of and to make our own” did not mean that the literary traditions of that time had to be followed. He said, “[the] poems we studied, the literature in English, whether British or American, belonged to another tradition, another way of life. It was instructive, elevating. But it was not directly related to our own life experiences the way it did to the British and American.” Society and literature go hand in

hand, then, and in fact that was Noor Hasnah Adam’s reason for choosing to be involved in the Singapore literary scene. Recognising the difficulties in establishing oneself as a writer, she said that “a writer has great influence on society [but] only if the work is being read.” Nevertheless, she chose to write as she wanted to “express [her] thoughts [and to] share [them] with the society.” She admitted that writing in Malay posed its own problems in getting published and recognised, yet, she maintained that “if you really produce quality work, don’t care about that. Just write. You will be recognised.” The SWF will be held from October 22 to 30. Other writers participating in this festival include Michael Chabon, Ho Minfong, Suchen Christine Lim and Meira Chand. ****** To read more on these interviews, visit our Tumblr blog @ http://the-ridge.tumblr.com/

(Low Joo Hong / Edwin Thumboo / Noor Hasnah Adam)

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(Cast of “Happealy Ever After” / RAFFLES.NUS.EDU.SG)

“AND SO THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER...” Nurshahiylia Erdina

his is the usual catch phrase that flickers through every one’s minds whenever the word ‘fairytale’ is brought up, along with beautiful princesses, dashing princes and wicked stepmothers! In this regard, the annual 2011 Raffles Hall Musical Production to be held on 18 October does not disappoint as their concert titled “Happealy Ever After” endeavours to give a fresh take on the well-known classic, ‘The Princess and the Pea’. It is to be the biggest musical production that Raffles has ever undertaken and they seek to outdo themselves by providing a wholly unique experience to the audience. As the basic storyline goes in “The Princess and the Pea”, a prince sets out to find his perfect princess. The princess in question is tested by having to sleep on a many-layered bed with a pea in between. However, this particular musical has a few twists in store to surprise those expecting the same old fairytale. I set out to interview the central committee to find out more.

THE RIDGE: So, what exactly sets this musical apart from the typical storyline to be found in “The Princess and the Pea”? Dixon Tioh: It is certainly set in medieval times, as fairytales are, but this one will revolve around parody instead. There will be certain twists such as Singaporean culture being weaved in and even modern technology. TR: What about romance? Chen Li Ling: Ah, yes, even that will be unique as it will not only focus on the romance between the prince and the princess but even among the attendants and the king and queen. In fact, a pageant will be held for the prince to find his princess. TR: A pageant? CLL: Yes, the prince will actually have to choose from a number of well-known princesses such as Pocahontas, Snow White…

TR: That really sounds inter- TR: [points] Are those boobs? esting! So this will be very different from the previous B: [grins] Yes. year’s production then? HS: He will be playing the part of Billet: Yes, last year’s was adapted the drag queen. from an American play. This year, the script and music will all be TR: Judging from the boobs, it original - crafted and composed looks as if there were a lot of by our Raffles alumni. We would funny experiences as well. like to give the best quality to the audience. For example, we will B: ALL THE TIME. also be bringing in a live pianist and trumpeter, so the background [flurry of laughter] music will not be recorded. B: There’s one scene that always CLL: The sets will be two stories gets us laughing. You see, the high! We even called in external prince is supposed to re-enact a hairstylists and cosmeticists. Korean drama scene… The whole [gestures] slow walk and dramatic Hitakshi Shridhar: Seriously, I stare thing. But he’s kinda bad at think our ticketing system is even it so he ends up being really stiff. better than that of GV. Hitakshi cheekily suggests TR: Wow! Sounds like a lot of that he do a Bollywood roundhard work was poured into the-tree dance instead. this. Were there any particular difficulties that stood out? TR: Lastly, I would just like to know what your favourite fairy B: I think that would be the cast- tales are. ing process.. I mean, a lot of good actors turned up and it was hard to CLL: Cinderella; I always root for make the cut. Especially consider- the underdog. ing that some of them were people we knew. HS: Aladdin. Our play should really have a Jasmine. I get momentarily distracted here by what Billet seems to B: Naw, she’s a bit too sexy. But be squeezing in his hands, I’d go with Aladdin too. which looks suspiciously like a pair of fake inflatable boobs. TR: Alright, good luck for the musical and thanks!

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NUS DANCE SYNERGY: WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? Vanessa Ann Nunis ................................................................

(FROM L TO R: ALMOST LOVER, DARK/MATTER, LOVE/PAIN, WONDERLAN/WONDERLAND / NUS DANCE SYNERGY)

riday’s performance by NUS Dance Synergy entitled ‘What’s on your mind?’ enveloped its’ audience in an array of emotions as the performers danced through some of the most empathy-worthy themes which many of us face today. Beautifully choreographed and performed with such moving expression, there is no doubt that the dance team won the hearts of its audience. The main muse of the choreographers was evidently Facebook – undoubtedly the inspiration for the title ‘What’s on your mind?’ – which is also the tagline on their Facebook wall, encouraging Facebook users to share what they are thinking about or feeling. The dances were cleverly woven around Facebook messages, photos, and posts, all of which were flashed on the backdrop screen in between the various dances linking one story to the next. It highlighted the fact that Facebook has become a prominent feature in

many of our lives and raised questions on how positive a development this really is. It explored the way Facebook keeps us close, reveals the most private and intimate details of our lives, and the virtual simplification it has on real life relationships. One of my favourite performances was ‘Almost Lover’, a dramatic dance performed by Jerlyn Ang and Johan Wijaya, choreographed by Ng Jianhun. Strong and graceful, it was moving to watch and the audience could feel the tension and frustration of a one-sided love. The next dance which caught my attention was ‘WonderLan/Wonderland’. It was a rather whimsical piece which I felt was a tad out of place considering the overarching Facebook theme and the personal relationships depicted in the other dances. Nonetheless, its colourful costumes, exciting choreography and energetic performers made it quite captivating.

The most memorable performance of the night, in my opinion, was Love/Pain, choreographed by Lai Weivien. Being a fan of Adele’s remarkable voice and music, I couldn’t help but be thrilled that this dance used her songs, and aptly so. It started off depicting the emotions which many of us pour onto our Facebook walls on the backdrop screen, leaving the audience thinking about how the virtual simplification of our deepest feelings and thoughts may not be the wisest act. Then the dance began and that aimed at showing how sometimes the words we spray across these walls can serve as encouragement for others as well. Another dance which stood out was Dark/Matter, choreographed by Peter Gn, and performed by Samantha Eva Ho and Alvin Wong. This piece meant to unravel the dark side of Facebook – when strangers send other users threats – in this case, a man

stalking a girl. The theatrics used made it quite a visual feast despite its simplicity. A long white cloth cascaded down from the top of the curtains, ending in a messy heap on top of a desk, tangling itself with the female dancer, restraining her despite the ability to move around in it. At the other end of the stage, the male dancer moved with stealth, appropriately dressed in black. The two, indeed, captured the mood of chill upon receiving such threats from the anonymous on Facebook. On the whole, the dancers grace, strength, and evident ability to share their emotions through their precise and controlled movements was beautiful to watch. The relevant theme and the effort put into portraying it, despite Facebook being virtual and dance being quite the opposite, was really quite brilliant.

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YIH LIVE LOUNGE! Nicole Kang

riendship always obliges one to give a positive review of a performance, especially if your friend is one of the performers. Hopefully, this review will be fair. I attended this performance without a companion since there were last minute cancellations. As an anti-social bug, you can very well imagine that I feared feeling out of place. People like us do not do well in crowds. However, given the lounge-like concept, it was not overly energetic (I suppose that can be attributed to the Redbull, the slightly paltry substitute for booze).

Playing that night at the YIH Live Lounge were Pleasantry and Basement in My Loft, two local bands with different sounds. Pleasantry is made up of six members. Describing themselves as a “Venn diagram”, they consist of a mix of three other local bands: Luna Note, Postbox and Amateur Takes Control. The YIH Live Lounge being their third show, it is perhaps no wonder that Pleasantry is still adjusting to their sound and possibly, discovering their identity. Their frontwoman, Samantha, has a good enough command of her voice – producing a raspy sort of tone that is slightly reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper. Nonetheless, this virgin still has a long way to go before they should harmonise all their vocals together. An audience member, Michael Tjin, a second-year from FASS, said that they were

slightly “chapalung” and that they were still probably “finding their comfort zone”. Despite their relative youth, they have some fans here and there. Fiqah and Nori, a second and thirdyear respectively from School of Computing, just came to “watch Pleasantry”. On the other hand, Basement In My Loft has been around longer. Having met at an open mic, Basement In My Loft formed in October 2009. Their experience was slightly more prominent in their music. Once again, BIML’s frontman Adrian Jones took the vocals. As usual, their music included a poem that their frontman always miraculously delivers in one breath. I happened to overhear one of the audience members squealing over his “Irish accent” (He’s Welsh, folks!). Michael also commented that one can “hear their experience” seeping in their music. As a friend of the bassist, I have attended some of their performances before and have

heard them play better. It was only later that I found out that there was a last minute substitute drummer. If the crowd was anything to go by, any awkwardness or lack of practice with their substitute drummer was not so apparent to them. Personally, I was surprised by the energy the audience had on a Thursday night. Though small in size, they more than made up for it by clapping and cheering. Most of the audience members agreed that more NUS students should come down, because it’s “a great place for local music to be well-known, though not the most comfortable since it’s subject to heavy weather but tonight, the

weather was pretty awesome.” Future performances from Radio Pulze promise booze and more local acts, so do look out for Facebook invites! Also, if you did not get to check out Pleasantry or Basement In My Loft at the YIH Live Lounge, Pleasantry will be playing at Timbre’s Roktober (http://e-clubbing. com/2011/09/roktober2011-at-timbre/) and BIML (http://www.facebook. com/basementinmyloft) occasionally plays at the Prince of Wales bar at Boat Quay.

(photograph by Melvyck Leong)

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WHADDUP, OCTOBER? get your fix of ice creams, cool kicks and awesome music Tan Zy Bridget

CHUNKFEST 2011 Fair-er than ever, Ben and Jerry’s annual ice cream festival is back! With a special focus on Fairness, this year’s carnival encourages charity and doing more to give back to society. With a record-breaking 32 flavors this time around, who’s to say that’s not fair? Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/benjerrysingapore for more information. Date: 15 October 2011 Time: 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Venue: Promontory @ Marina Bay

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ONE NIGHT ONLY (O.N.O) Music fans are sure to shout “Oh yes!” to O.N.O, also known as One Night Only. On this night of musical experiences, our very own local DJs will command a series of five iconic dance parties, each with a different genre of music. For more details, visit www.mcube.com.sg Date: 22 October 2011 Time: 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Venue: Marina Barrage lawn

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NEW BALANCE - THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Fans of New Balance can now get their hands on a limited edition range of sneakers based on the brand’s running heritage born in 1906. Only 600 pairs of each design are available so get your shoes on and grab a sneak peek at the specially designed range before they run out! More information available on www.newbalance.com.sg Date: 15 October 2011 onwards

Venue: Leftfoot stores and online store Streething (SNEAKERNEWS.COM)

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PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: OCTOBER 31ST OFFICIALLY DECLARED A NATIONAL HOLIDAY Chan Yi Wen ----------------------------------

IN CASE YOU, LIKE THE MAJORITY OF SINGAPOREANS, HAVE NO IDEA, HALLOWEEN FALLS ON THE 31ST OF OCTOBER. AND THIS YEAR, THE RULING PARTY HAS DECLARED IT A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.

ideal day for young girls to have an excuse to dress up in skimpy nurse uniforms.

Some of you may hold similar values to my conservative Asian grandmother and be completely offended by this Western tradition, feeling compelled to invest time and sweat to crack down this practice and find flaws with it at all levels possible. Popular reactions to the concept of Halloween are that it’s immature, ’m just kidding; not about overly-dramatic, and redundant Halloween being on October to the world economy. So you’re 31st but the second part – about it being a public holiday - a small wondering then, what exactly is the point of this holiday? What white lie purely for attentiongood does it do to celebrate this grabbing purposes! But then day if it doesn’t ease the US Debt living in a PAP (People’s Action Crisis, eradicate Qaddafi from Party)-ruled Singapore, you probably already knew that there’s Libya, or find the cure to cancer? no way Halloween is going to be In 2005, I celebrated my first a holiday. Yet if you didn’t, and Halloween by dressing up and you just experienced a moment walking around town with my of sheer excitement followed two best friends. Ernie bought a promptly by a period of utter white bed sheet, poked two holes deflation, I apologise. But in my in it, pulled it over her herself, defence, it probably wouldn’t and instantaneously transformed matter, holiday or not, because into a friendly ghost. I Googled, this year, Halloween falls on a printed, and pulled a picture of Saturday. Tom Cruise over my face and ventured out as secret agent, To eliminate any further confuEthan Hunt. Danna, on the other sion, for those unfamiliar with this day, according to Wikipedia, hand, put on hair-spray, applied heavy make-up, and emerged as Halloween originated from Roa witch. At 15, walking around man myths and is similar to the town with a ghost and a secret Celtic festival, Samhain, which agent without any proper face signifies Summer’s end (not cover was the most courageous applicable to the hot and humid thing I had ever witnessed. That tropics – at least until climate night, Danna was my heroine. change goes out of hand). According to Hollywood, it is a day It was a disaster. With a virtudominated by black and orange, jack-o’-lanterns, trick-or-treating, ally non-existent Halloween atmosphere in the air, it seemed toilet-rolled front lawns, and the

like just any other day. The streets were sparse, houses were undecorated, children whimpered and withdrew when they saw us - their mothers were disgusted, their fathers nonchalant. Unable to discern who I was, a group of boys tried to remove my mask by force and almost succeeded; Ernie got spat on, someone recognised Danna, and to top it all, we didn’t manage to collect any candy. Nothing was going according to plan. The only diplomatic response we received was from an American tourist who wanted to take a picture with us because she wanted to tell all her friends back home about Halloween in Singapore (which in short, pathetically consisted of a ghost, a witch, and a secret agent). But that night, I remember having a goofy grin plastered on my face the entire time underneath the stuffy mask even as rivulets of sweat poured down my temples, trickled down my neck, and dripped off the ends of my hair. In the Matrix, Morpheus gives Neo two choices: “You take the blue pill and the story ends… You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes…” The series of events that transpired were entirely unexpected but looking back nostalgically into the past and taking a fond trip down memory lane, my lips up-curl as I recall that memorable night. We had never felt so liberated and ecstatic, and for possibly the first times in our lives, we disregarded societal judgements

to get into character and turn into virtually anyone we wanted to be for one special night. It really didn’t matter how the world perceived us as we walked down the streets into the cool night, nothing holding us back.

IN SINGAPORE THE STREETS ARE SPARKLING CLEAN, THE CITIZENS NATURALLY SMELL LIKE FLOWERS, AND IF YOU LISTEN INTENTLY YOU MAY HEAR THE FAINT SOUNDS OF POLICE SIRENS FROM A DISTANCE. THE ENVIRONMENT COULDN’T POSSIBLY BE ANY MORE INAPPROPRIATE FOR HALLOWEEN. But I believe there’s a kid in all of us – buried under multiple layers of societal expectations. In the Y2K, we’re all pre-occupied with the unbridled pursuit of corporate ladder-climbing, resume-enhancement, and financial security, doing our utmost to suppress our childlike innocence. I’m not saying that’s wrong; the world we live in is too strange for any form of judgement on my part, but wouldn’t it be nice to unload all the burdensome troubles weighing one down and set the inner weirdo in you free in a myriad of creative ways for just one special night a year? On a parting note, please, never ever let the kid in you go away.

(PHOTOGRAPH / FREESTUFF.COM)

LIFESTYLE

HELL-NO-WEEN Tan Zy Bridget ----------------------------------

ack when Halloween was all about hollowed-out pumpkins with and scary. That time is Halloween. eerie cut-outs and sheets of cloth with mock-paranormal effect, self-declared ghosts and witches were probably all the rage. Contrary to making one look bad, really pulling off that scary Halloween look shows that she (or even he) has the confidence to look bad because of the knowledge that it’s just a disguise, and not the truth. If IN SUNNY SINGAPORE, WHERE THE ‘SUNNY’ anything, that might make her even hotter (not referring to the temASPECT OUTWEIGHS EVERYTHING ELSE, perature).

CREATIVITY TOOK OVER AND THAT’S WHERE THE PROBLEM BEGAN.

And then there are the ‘hunks’, daringly flaunting their assets on the day when they can finally reveal what lies under that baggy t-shirt. Walking along Clarke Quay last Halloween (the only place with even Personally, I would rather they don’t. the faintest bit of festivity), what I saw was the occasional devil, or the injured spectres ‘hobbling’ around with knives sticking out of their heads. Cover those blinking devil’s horns or that knife, however, and THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCARY AND the disguise is all but there. I’m not saying my costume was fantastic DOWNRIGHT GRAVITY-DEFYING DISGUSTING. (cue bloody Peranakan Pontianak or Malay ghost, with waist-long hair covering three-quarters of my face), but at least show some effort, right? What used to be six distinct packs (if they were even there in the first place) has become a collection of a rather sizeable bag. When that hapProbably one of the scariest costumes I came across was a pair of sugary pens, please do us all a favour and hide them under a thick mound of sweet women about a quarter of a century old acting like they were five. fur (the likes of King Kong) instead of thinking you might pull off a Their costume? Pyjamas. I kid you not; complete with bunny prints all Superman this Halloween. over the silky sleepwear and - wait for it - matching bunny slippers, I’m pretty sure even the dead wouldn’t be caught dead in those. Please keep The bad aside, there have still been a few rather innovative costumes your excuses for waking up too late to find a costume at home, and sim- seen roaming the streets. One of the best would be the headless man; ply don a pair of those horns sold all over the street on that night. The low cost and eerily spooky, the sight of the tall, black figure gliding bunny sweetness can rest in peace, and so can the rest of us. down the riverside towards me would probably have kept me up several nights, had it not been for what I heard as the ghoul walked by, As if that scare wasn’t enough, there was more to come! As I was mourning about the loss of the good old scary Halloween that only the movies still advocate, what walked past shook me out of my reverie. “WAH LAO IT’S VERY The princesses of yesteryear have grown into full-grown beauty queens! HOT IN HERE!” Now there’ll be world peace, or would there? There’s a time to look pretty like when you’re on a first date, at the prom or talking to that cute group-mate, and there’s a time to go all out ugly

(PHOTOGRAPH / ALLBESTWALLPAPERS.COM)

LIFESTYLE

THE FASHION MUSES Teresa Widodo

f those fashion magazines can’t save you from the depths of fashion disasters, try visiting some of the prominent fashion bloggers’ sites. Besides improving your sense of fashion, it will surely lower your chance of being busted by the NUS Fashion Police. THE RIDGE interviewed Silvia Siantar, an 18-year-old girl behind the famous fashion blog ‘Poise Polish’ (http://www.poisepolish.com), to provide you with some tips to avoid being a ‘Fashion Criminal’. If you are trendy and generous enough to share your style with the world, check out Silvia’s tips on how to set up your own fashion blog. The Fashion Blogger While her friends were busy gossiping about A-list celebrities featured in Seventeen, the then-13year-old Silvia was into Harper’s Bazaar. Two years later, she spent most of her time browsing Style. com and keeping a close eye on fashion runways. Graduating from high school, she decided that fashion was her world. Writing exclusive reports on a slew of fashion events around the world had always been her dream. Unfortunately, her parents were against her aspiration of working in the fashion industry, but the 17-year-old Silvia didn’t run out of ideas. “They used to make me consider taking architecture or interior design as a major. But when I thought about it, I’m not quite convinced that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, so I chose Public Relations (PR) and Marketing,” Silvia confessed, ”hopefully to get in the fashion industry better.” Silvia’s passion in fashion has taken her into the world of blog-

ging, and brought her 804 blog followers and more than 3,000 followers on Twitter in only a year! Her future plan is to get her site revamped with more functionality and features so it will look flashier. “I also feel that people love to actually follow my outfit posts on lookbook.nu [so] I’ll try to continue updating my looks more often,” she said. Caution: Hot! Silvia reveals to us this season’s hottest fashion items. Fortunately, you can still look classy while concealing your panda rings by wearing sexy and modern cat-eye sunglasses. Dark circles below your eyes (too much mugging, I know!) are no longer reasons to hide at home. Other musthaves are suede platform pumps in jewel tones, metal accessories and maxi dresses in clean cut. Put on the matte lipstick, and… you’ve got the perfect look! If you dare, choose darker shades like raspberry - it will transform your look completely. For a more casual look (that

means you can wear it to lectures!), Silvia suggests plain, loose tees in light cotton plus distressed denim shorts. Joining the queue for H&M’s first store in Singapore is a must to consolidate all those wardrobe essentials.

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW A WO HOUSE WITHOUT FIXING HERSELF U OUT OF POLITENESS. AND THEN, YOU THAT’S THE DAY SHE HAS A DATE WI BEST TO BE AS PRETTY AS POSSIB

Suede booties, around 5-7 cm high with stacked heels (check out those Isabel Marrant boots that fashion blogger Rumi Neely wears a lot) is not too much for students. Various sunglasses with playful shapes aren’t forbidden. Some accessories? Try the leather bracelets and stack of rings.

Blog Building

Some don’ts, according to Silvia, are too much make-up, too-short skirts, and the mixture of short tops and leggings (not everyone can pull off the ‘leggings as pants’ look). The greatest fashion no-no of all: never go out with oily hair.

- COCO CHANEL

Being a fashion blogger is not only about being influential and inspiring for people, but also being matched up against other bloggers. “Being compared to other bloggers is just absurd sometimes, because clearly everyone has their own style, own voice,“ said Silvia. The rest of the online world doesn’t think so, evidently. Nevertheless, the generous fashion blogger has shared some tips on setting up fashion blogs for newbies:

(LIEM EMILIA AND STEPHANIE SASMITA / POISEPOLISH.COM)

LIFESTYLE

SCREEN YOUR (DRESS) SENSE Primp up your style with tips from these other fashion bloggers

ND HOW A WOMAN CAN LEAVE THE ING HERSELF UP A LITTLE - IF ONLY ND THEN, YOU NEVER KNOW, MAYBE HAS A DATE WITH DESTINY. AND IT’S ETTY AS POSSIBLE FOR DESTINY.” COCO CHANEL Choose a platform, like Blogger or Tumblr, with a bunch of template options so you don’t have to be bothered about the techie start-ups. Plus, organise add-ons in a neat and professional way. A catchy blog name will let your blog linger longer in the readers’ minds. Don’t forget to put it in an attention-grabbing header. Content-wise, write with your own style and use only highresolution images for better visual allure. Do some blog-walking and

exchange links to other blogs to share a piece of the blogging ‘pie’. Make sure your blog is remarkable and fun to read so more and more people will visit your site regularly. “Finally, you can have your own reader base, which will continuously support you and bring you fresh ideas to keep your blog enjoyable.” said Silvia. Keep track of the number of visitors using Google Analytics. The more clicks means higher chances for media to notice and offer you irresistible offers or features (and not to mention freebies!). Inspiration is everywhere. Silvia asserts, “From runway to streetwear, Vogue magazines to random style blogs. My favourite and most inspirational fashion icons are Carine Roitfeld and Daphne Guinness.”

ALIX

RUMI NEELY

KEITH PNG

X-WEN

TAVI

YI QIN

Alix (http://www.thecherryblossomgirl.com) Rumi Neely (http://www.fashiontoast.com) Tavi Gevinson (http://www.thestylerookie.com) Keith Png (http://keithpng.blogspot.com) X-Wen (http://www.fash-eccentric.com) Yi Qin (http://qinatthedisco.blogspot.com) Happy blog-walking, readers! (PHOTOGRAPHS / RESPECTIVE BLOGS)

LIFESTYLE

OPERATION GASTRONOMIA: IT’S ALL IN THE FOOD How Shu Hui

consider myself to be a true-blue foodie with a passion for unearthing all things wonderfully delectable – on a budget! Not that I don’t appreciate fine dining, but being a student means that I have to watch my spending, especially on those occasional visits to Sephora and blogshops (hey, a girl can indulge once in a while right?). Hence, in the midst of tutorials, projects and mid-term preparation madness surrounding recess week, I have taken time to savour one of the best things in life: sinfully good food. Bon appétit! soup, meatless minestrone and the classic mushroom soup. To keep things interesting, a variety of new flavours are available for a limited This home-grown restaurant has time every Wednesday. been serving up delicious soups for ten years and gives Campbell Soup My favourite would have to be the a run for their money. The concept mushroom soup. Priced at $11.70 of The Soup Spoon is to change for a set meal ($ 8.20 for a regular people’s perception of soup that size of soup, with an additional soup is only the starter of meals. $ 3.50 for an upgrade to a set), I They serve a variety of broths, wouldn’t exactly call it inexpensuch as clam chowder, pumpkin sive but the portion and quality of

THE SOUP SPOON, VIVOCITY

soup makes it worth every penny. For my part, I like the soup creamy and chock-full of flavoured mushrooms - which is exactly what The Soup Spoon delivers. Served in a velvety smooth soup base loaded with huge chunks of fresh mushroom, this signature dish is rich enough to satiate even the most ravenous person. Complete with a subtle cheesy essence, this hearty meal comes with a drink, sand-

wich and a choice of chips or muffins. Warning, though: the volume of the serving could be a bit too much if you’re not voracious enough, so go in with an empty stomach or simply ditch the set and settle for the pure goodness of the soup!

(PHOTOGRAPH / GLUTTONSQUARE.BLOGSPOT.COM)

LIFESTYLE

Personally, I steer clear of prawn noodles because I absolutely hate finding pieces of lard in my soup.

Best of all, the soup is clear without the layers of oil or bits of lard one would usually find in other prawn noodles. Such standards Despite this, I am pleased to state can only be achieved with hours of that the Adam road prawn noo- brewing and an uncompromising dle shop has got to be one of the quality of ingredients. BEST prawn noodles I’ve had by far. And did I mention that the prawns are full, fresh and really The soup is not one of those MSG big? I could gorge myself silly on (monosodium glutamate) and this three meals a day. chicken stock infused types - instead it is brewed with the con- With a franchise stall at Clementi centrated essence of prawns and Hawker Centre as well and priced pork ribs, its delightful flavour at $5 a bowl, it is definitely worth complements the yellow noodles every penny! perfectly.

ADAM ROAD PRAWN NOODLE NOO CHENG ADAM ROAD PRAWN NOODLE ADAM ROAD FOOD CENTRE STALL 27

high temperature flat griddle placed right in front of the diners, the skilled chefs slice and season the mouth-watering beef, tender chicken, fresh vegetables and delicious seafood such as lobster, shrimp and squid with lightning flair and finesse. I would always request for the counter seat so that I could witness this delightful and skilled performance (makes up for awkward dates too - oops!!).

YAKIYAKIBO, JURONG POINT SHOPPING MALL Yes the name doesn’t sound very appealing (yucky yucky bo, anyone?), but I assure you that it is anything but yucky! Yakiyakibo is a teppanyaki restaurant

operated by the Ichiban chain of restaurants. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d have noticed that Ichiban is a Japanese restaurant gaining presence in Singapore with their affordable and delicious food fare. Preparing the dishes ‘live’ on a

My favourite would have to be the Seafood Okonomiyaki ($10.90++) – a Japanese interpretation of pizza/pancake consisting of flour batter, eggs, cabbage and seafood. When cooked, the flour batter is soft and moist, with just the right amount of firmness. The generous amount of seafood inside the savoury pancake is much appreciated, with the mayonnaise and sour plum sauce topping adding the finishing to the dish!

On a side note, the portion is quite big so unless you’ve got the appetite of a grizzly bear, it would be advisable to share this with a friend. Next up is the very affordable and delicious Teppanyaki Seafood lunch set. Priced at ($18.90++), this set consists of miso soup, bean sprouts, a bowl of salad, slices of oranges, squid, salmon, scallops and prawns all served atop a slice of toasted garlic bread and rice. A nifty idea indeed, to serve the dish on bread instead of the usual aluminium foil. The main course was excellent - not oily, not overdone and really tasty. The scallops were larger than expected, and really succulent too. Who said good food had to come at a hefty price?

(PHOTOGRAPHS / IEATISHOOTIPOST.SG, LEWSMAKANBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM)

LIFESTYLE

UNDERGRAD IN Tan Zy Bridget

tudent loans, textbooks that cost ten times more than the dresses we buy at Bugis street or off blogshops, meet-ups with primary and secondary school friends which almost definitely involve dinners and movies (and a whole lot of cash), and for the men - dates at that fancy restaurant she has been hinting at. Really makes one wonder… how does the average undergraduate student pay for all that and still have enough set aside for the occasional shopping spree or iPad?

Let The Ridge enlighten you on the Top 5 ways in which the average undergraduate can earn their way through college.

TUITION

In tuition-crazy Singapore, every undergraduate (especially once you mention the magic words spelling ‘N-U-S’) has a dollar value on them. We can afford to demand so much more, and with our flair in persuasive speaking, we could possibly even talk our way into getting paid way more than the average market rate. If I could persuade a mother of an A student that I was the one who could bring her daughter’s grades to full-mark heights, I’m betting every other undergraduate out there can too.

The best part of this - no CPF. Every cent you earn goes entirely into your pocket. In addition, the timings can be totally flexible! A call is all it takes to reschedule your teaching appointments. Of course, we would urge tutors to not do that too often - even though the demand for undergraduate tutors is high, their supply is ever increasing and one should never take for granted that the parent may not simply call up the numbers of those tutors hanging on home-made flyers posted at strategic locations.

The only drawback is we ourselves calculating everything in terms of tuition hours. For example, one Asos dress equates to approximately three hours of teaching a mangy little kid who can’t seem to sit still; and the fact that you would have to deal with the aforementioned mangy little kid. Nevertheless, it’s not a tough job, and one gets a mock-revision of high school concepts and ‘mental maths’ while at the task. Not a bad package if you ask me.

BLOGSHOPS

‘One friend request’ appears on my notifications on Facebook. How is it I am making friends on such a regular basis, I wonder. Until I see who that ‘friend’ is - with each new addition comes a new message, “Please support my blogshop!” Probably one of the most fun ways of earning an income, blogshops have been ballooning, and many a time I see even the boyfriends collaborating with their significant others to make the most out of this online shopping phenomenon. It’s a surefire way to make an income, so long as you know how to pander to the tastes of your target market.

HOWEVER, To stand out from the crowd and actually make a name for yourself, you need:

+ + +

A proper website Chic photos A way to make that everyday sundress sound like it just walked off the runways into your blogshop, and to make that oh- so-formal gown seem ‘suitable for day and night’

Those who don’t own the blogshops themselves are models for their friends and receive either a token sum or a truckload of clothes (which more than makes up for a few photos shot, if you ask me). (PHOTOGRAPH / STRUTT.LIVEJOURNAL.COM)

LIFESTYLE

D INCOME FAD

TUITION AGENCIES

This qualifies as one of the latest additions to the undergraduate job list, yet probably the most burgeoning - it’s simpler than teaching, minus the hassle of having to deal with whiny kids, yet earning much more than the average tutor. In this category, however, there are two types of students: the ones who have a physical agency, and those who have online sites to match tutor with tutees. With the former, overhead costs are higher with additional pressure on the average student. However, having a physical presence allows group tuitions to be arranged and a large profit to be made. The online ‘matchmaking’ reduces the risks of failure, but the rate of retaining customers and tutors isn’t very high, so pressure is on to continually find more tutors who suit the needs of residents in Sengkang or Pasir Ris. Nevertheless, with a ready stock of tutors needing students, it’s no wonder the numerous flyers with “Tutors needed” on them have almost every tab pulled off. Sitting back and earning the money while others teach the snobby youths of today doesn’t seem like that bad an idea really.

SELLING INSURANCE Walking past the Central Forum one day, a well-dressed man approached and told me about how I could make hundreds of thousands even as an undergraduate. Naturally intrigued, I followed the man to the Prudential booth. With no start-up costs needed and a high payoff, this job is probably one of the most lucrative. With the thought of daily shopping sprees in my mind, I signed up with the company and got ready to take the three exams the man claimed were “super easy and won’t take up too much time”. I beg to differ, as my experience with the exams were far from easy.

ICE CREAM SCOOPING Believe it or not - many of my fellow undergraduates work in the milieu of the mouth-watering goodness that is frozen sweet cream. Perhaps it’s the yearning to return to a life where gorging on that spoonful of pure calories didn’t require second thought, or simply the need to regain a lost childhood. This job lets one have the cake, or in this case, the ice cream, and lets one eat it too! Notably however, our undergraduates don’t just go for any old ice cream job - we prefer the smaller cafes where we get more autonomy over the environment with less rigid setting.

Being the university students we are, failing anything is a huge ego crusher, so what did I do? Give up, of course! But in time to come, I was to see many of my friends flashing name cards from Prudential, AIA, all the major insurance companies. To me, the best part probably is seeing grungy-looking classmates turn into suave salesmen overnight. For the men, it seems insurance selling is a great way to chat up that girl you like in lecture too. A good deal on both ends of the gender spectrum I would say.

Another perk of the job is brainless scooping. Contrary to sales jobs where you probably have to think of means and ways to convince the customer they truly need the item (much like that 1,000 word essay, only with less time to think and more immediate feedback), ice cream customers generally come in irrespective of a good or bad day with the prospect of the frozen delight on their mind. Good for you - less thinking, more scooping. (PHOTOGRAPH / WILLIAMTRENTHOUSE.WORDPRESS.COM)

LIFESTYLE

Aditi Anand

A few years ago, a banker at Barclays sat her son down and taught him the art of investing. She imparted the concept of thrift to him – if you save money now, it could open doors for you in the future. Just a few years down the road, Sean Foo, a final year chemical engineering student turned his initial investment of S$15,000 to S$100,000. THE RIDGE speaks to Sean about his success story and gleans some valuable insights for potential new investors. Q: What is your mantra? A: I believe there is only three ways to get rich - one is to have a business, the next is to have a talent and pursue it, and the last is to invest smartly and daringly. Q: Tell us how investing happened. A: IDEA I started with 15,000 Singapore dollars and started to read up and talk to investment professionals working in banks and hedge funds. I realised how the herd and masses of people invest blindly, while the wealth generated from their losses goes to the smart ones who position themselves properly. CONCEPTUALISATION I recognised that the weak spot to take advantage of in the economy is commodities such as precious metals and mining stocks. I plunged everything into that area because I was almost a 100 per cent sure the direction this economy was taking - towards the fall of currencies and the US dollar. I saw this happening four years ago.

YOUNG MONEY EXECUTION Regarding commodities, I started out with gold and then diversified into silver, transferring all my money into the latter when I felt it was the right time. In a span of three years I gained a 630 per cent increase in my wealth, excluding all my trading profits. Q: What made you start your website? A: I started this website because of all the wrong investment options I see people around me making without understanding why. I believe we are going to head into the greatest economic crisis the world has ever seen, and those who position themselves properly will stand to profit greatly; those who don’t will get wiped out. This is the age for commodities. Q: What assets would you suggest a newbie to invest in now and what would be the ideal amount to start with? A: Currently the best investment which is still in a bull market is the precious metals sector, namely gold and silver. The big corporations and funds are already advising their high-net worth clients to accumulate commodities in the form of gold and silver. Now is not the time for stocks - precious metals are the way to increase your wealth from the ongoing debt crisis. The best amount is any amount. However, to get the best dollar to gold, perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 dollars to start with is good. Silver, on

the other hand, is much cheaper and more affordable so a starting investment of 2000 to 4000 dollars for silver is ideal. Q: What percentage of your income earned through trading do you spend and on what? A: My income through trading is directly transferred into physical gold and silver or I use it to buy call options (jargon) to control more gold and silver inventories. Q: Do you save? Do you think people your age really need to start saving from now? A: I save and invest in the right ventures. Today, saving in the bank is one of the worst moves as the interest rates are almost zero percent. There is no compelling need to save, but there is a need to invest wisely. By saving in a bank, you are losing 4-9% of your purchasing power a year. Q: How do you manage your time between your academic, professional and social life? A: I juggle my time quite well, be it my social life, school or investing. School and investing are of equal priority for me - there is not much point in school if you cannot grow your money when you earn it; conversely there is no point in investing if you cannot graduate and earn a living. I spend no more than an hour a day to manage my investments. Q: Do you believe courses at school helped you in your investing activities?

A: Unfortunately, no - the modules in school have taught us to be safe and to follow the herd of mainstream ideas. But then again the wealth transfer is always from the masses to the few who think ahead and can project into the future. Do not expect the school to help you in investing it’s up to yourself to protect your own money and secure your own financial freedom. Q: Where do you suggest students your age get capital for investing? A: A very obvious avenue is if a student’s parents have spare cash to loan, the student can then use it for investments. Another good idea is to look for high-paying part-time jobs; most of the jobs I undertook for self-funding were up-scale tuition assignments that paid me 40-60 dollars an hour. Q: What are your plans after graduating? A: I hope to secure a job in an investment firm or perhaps a bank as I would like to gain more knowledge by learning from the best in the industry. Investments will always be an active part of my life. My website for now is running both as an investment and a trading education hub. Q: Any tips you will like to share with your fellow NUS students? A: My humble advice is to start to invest now - the next 5-10 years will be radically different, and those who position themselves appropriately will prosper greatly. Be daring, be brave and most of all, be smart in any investing you engage in.

Final_TheRidge_206x276_15Sep2011xx.indd 1

9/19/11 10:04 AM

WIRED

INDIE GAMES YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT

techgoondu.com

nyone, even non-gamers, will no doubt be able to recognise major game titles that are developed by major game studios. Games like Halo, Warcraft and Half-Life will sound familiar even to nongamers, and gamers will be able to pinpoint the companies behind them (Bungie, Blizzard, and Valve respectively). It goes without saying that great game companies make great games. But small, littleknown companies sometimes produce stunning games that blend gaming, storytelling and an immersive experience into an enjoyable package of fun that appeals to all sorts of people, even those who may consider themselves ‘non-gamers’. Such indie game titles - indie for independent, i.e. studios that operate outside major game developers - are stunning experiences that fly under the radar of most people because of lack of publicity or huge advertising campaigns.

MINECRAFT (WINDOWS, MAC) BY MOJANG; €14.95

(minecraft.net)

Minecraft. Oh man, Minecraft. Looking at the screenshots for Minecraft, you would think it doesn’t look like much. In fact, it looks a little… how can we put this delicately… outdated. The game looks like a 1980s 8-bit game blown up and ported over to the modern PC age. The entire game is made up of giant pixels. “I thought we were in the age of graphical wizardry,”

you say, as you navigate the facial magic of LA Noire or drool over the environment in the upcoming Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. “This game isn’t going to win any awards in the graphics department,” you say, and rightly so. It won’t. But beneath that, Minecraft has gameplay so immersive the graphics cease to matter once you enter its world.

Minecraft is an open-world, sandbox game that has you mining materials and crafting stuff to survive in a world of giant spiders, exploding Creepers and adorable pigs that you can obtain porkchops from. You start off in a world and you can do anything you want in it. First you punch (yes, with your fists) away at the nearest tree. With the wood you get, you

WIRED

make a crafting table. With that crafting table, you craft a wooden pickaxe, which you then use to hack away at stone (yeah… don’t ask me how that works), and use the stone to make a harder, better pickaxe. As you work, you realise that nightfall is approaching. You need shelter, and so you dig out a cave to spend the night, where you’ll be safe against the monsters of the night.

BRAID (XBOX 360, WINDOWS, MAC) BY INDEPENDENT DEVELOPER JONATHAN BLOW; US$9.99 THROUGH STEAM

As daylight breaks, you realise that you’ll never be safe unless you’re holed up in a massive fort. You start mining more stone. You lay the foundations of your castle, which would reach towards the heavens, twelve stories high and four basements deep (one of which would house the labyrinth where you would keep your prisoners). You start a garden in your backyard, planting sugarcane and caring for it with extreme dedication until it catches fire and you freak out. You then look at your clock and realise that you’ve just spent the entire recess week holed up in Minecraft, and that you’re going to have to rush to study for midterms. But it’s okay, because your fort is complete, and you can be safe from the invading zombie hordes. Also, a version for the Xbox Kinect is in the works. Flailing your arms to hack through imaginary trees… that’s just weird.

(braid-game.com)

Braid is one of the highest-rated games for the Xbox 360 and PC on review aggregation site Metacritic.com, yet not one you’ll find on shelves in stores. Heralded as one of the most innovative and groundbreaking games of the modern era, it has been compared to the likes of Bioshock and Portal in redefining the gaming medium through its unique blend of puzzles, narrative, and original gameplay concept. Braid is, at its core, a puzzle game. Players navigate a simple 2D backdrop and must solve puzzles to get doors open and collect jigsaw puzzles to progress in the game. Each solved four by three jigsaw opens up the next level, and also serves to move the narrative along. Braid’s unique gameplay point is the use of time. The central

protagonist can reverse, freeze or fast-forward time, leading to puzzles that will really test your concept of temporality. Some items and monsters, however, are unaffected by your influence. Here’s an example: you need to obtain a key that’s in a small area you can’t crawl into, but where a certain monster can. But the monster starts off at a high platform and lands into a bunch of spikes when it walks off the platform. You notice, however, a lever that will move a piece of metal to cover the spikes, creating a sort of ground for the monster to walk over the spikes. This lever glows green, meaning that it’s not affected by your shifts in time. Solution? Let the monster die, hit the lever, and then reverse time: the monster will jump come back alive and jump back to the platform it was once.

Resume ‘normal’ time and the monster lands safely on the metal platform, where it can reach the key you can’t. Ingenious? Yes. The intense sense of satisfaction obtained when you solve a particularly difficult puzzle is just icing on the cake. And to top it all off, the game’s narrative is something worthy of literature, and the background graphics are gorgeous, with the art corresponding to the theme and mood of the level at hand.

WIRED

MACHINARIUM (WINDOWS, MAC) BY AMANITA DESIGN; US$9.99

LINKS TO GAMES MINECRAFT: http://www.minecraft.net/ BRAID: http://www.braid-game. com/ MACHINARIUM: http://machinarium.net/

(machinarium.net)

Here’s another puzzle game, but instead of the 2D platformer that Braid is, Machinarium is a pointand-click that has you controlling a little robot as you click on the stuff in the environment you want it to interact with. A point-and-click puzzle game will have you clicking on items and things in your surroundings that will help you progress to the next stage. Your robot hero, for instance, has to disguise itself as a robot guard (that wears a blue hat - don’t ask) in order to sneak into a building at the opening stages of the game. What’s a robot to do? Well, first you click on a cone that happens to be lying right next to you. You dip it into the tin of blue paint, then click on the lamppost next

to you to obtain the lightbulb which you then shove into the cone, thereby creating your helmet. Put it on, and voila! You can now click your robot into the building. The game features almost no dialogue whatsoever - the story is told in in-game cut-scenes, and in cute thought or speech bubbles that pop over the character’s heads. The storyline unfolds linearly until after the first couple of levels, after which it opens up with options as to which paths and levels you wish to explore next. Machinarium’s art style is a work of art in itself. Each stage was hand-drawn for the game, and the Victorian-age steampunk style resonates nicely with the

gameplay. Your robot hero is adorable, and the easter egg thought-bubble scenes that pop up when you stop doing anything in the game are hilarious. The puzzles, the art, and even the music all come together to make Machinarium a game that is sure to delight anyone who plays it.

WIRED

>> FIRST LOOK: GEARS OF WAR 3

techgoondu.com

veryone’s favourite tough guy character Marcus Fenix returns in the wildly successful third-person shooter franchise that has consistently made it into Best-of lists for Xbox 360 games. Gears of War 3, with over one million global pre-orders, concludes the Gears of War saga that started back in 2006. First off, the developers have not changed what gamers have loved the most about the game. Gears of War 3’s single-player action remains functionally similar to Gears of War 1 and 2, with the remnants of Delta Squad shooting and covering their way against the Locust baddies that stand in their way. Gears of War 3 starts off where the previous game ends. In the opening level of the game, the government has fallen, and the survivors are banding together to aid each other against the growing Lambent threat just

(epicgames.com, gear.ign.com)

right outside his base. The sneak preview shows the return of Richard Prescott, and Marcus receives confirmation that his father is still alive, thereby setting the stage for another roaringly epic good time shooting aliens. For newbies to Gears of War, Prescott was the ex-chairman of the coalition before he fled at the end of the second game. The Lambent Locust, meanwhile, is a tentacle-worm thingy that flails around in the background of the first level – from the looks of it, it’s a major baddie in the game. New multiplayer options are available in the game, such as a four-player campaign Co-op, the new Beast mode (where players assume the roles in the Locust army bent on wiping out waves of humans), an enhanced Horde mode where players have more gameplay upgrades to hold off waves after waves of Locust enemies, as well as new multiplayer

maps and game types. First impression of the game: it is very similar to the previous Gears of Wars games. Don’t expect anything too radically different, which makes Gears of War 3 just a bit more of the same thing, gameplay-wise. The storyline and extended campaign will reward the faithful gamer who wishes to fight with Marcus till the last breath, though, and will conclude the series’ story arc. Gears of War 3 is slated for a global release on September 20, 2011. Fans can start to preorder the game from this week onwards, and those who have preordered a copy can look forward to the official launch at Funan DigitaLife Mall on September 19, from 7.30 p.m. Gears of War 3 comes in the Standard Edition, which will cost S$69, and in a Limited Edition that includes goodies such as rep-

licas of the Octus Service medal and award box, unlockable Adam Fenix multiplayer character and a fabric COG flag, which will retail at S$84.90. A limited edition Gears of War 3 Xbox Console, featuring a 320GB Gears of War customised Xbox, two customised controllers, and a standard edition of Gears of War 3, will also be made available.

-This article was first published on Techgoondu, your go-to site for the freshest local tech news and commentary. With frequent giveaways, you’ll want to “ like” us on Facebook, too! (www.facebook.com/techgoondu)

ource)

WIRED

BYTE-SIZED Lam Woon Cherk

WINDOWS 8

full-featured operating system just like Windows 7 with mobile friendly skin, namely Metro UI. Windows 8 allows the user to switch between the old Windows Explorer user interface and the new Metro UI seamlessly, thus making a tablet not only for entertainment, but also for other serious work if needed.

launched a new Android-based smart phone – Samsung Galaxy Note – that is equipped with a whopping 5.3 inch screen. As you might have guessed from the name, the Galaxy Note is ideal for note-taking and drawing due to its reasonably-large screen size and a specially-designed pen. The overall specification for the Galaxy Note is also very impressive, such as 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED display,

2,500mAh battery, dual-core 1.4GHz processor and dual 8MP and 2MP cameras.

(gizmag.com)

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE

or some users, a tablet is probably too large for carrying around, while a smart phone might be too small for the eyes. In view of this, Samsung has

hile Google and Apple are already actively involved in tablet business, Microsoft has yet to come out with an offering in this postPC era. To get itself into the ever-growing market, Microsoft has recently announced its nextgeneration operating system – codenamed Windows 8. However, Windows 8 has taken a slightly different approach from Android and iOS; it is a

(mediamacro.com)

GOOGLE WALLET

ou might have used NETS, credit card or debit card in your daily life to make instant payment, but Google thinks it is not cool enough. Thus, they have just launched their new payment technology, named Google Wallet, to allow consumers to pay for items using their phones. By simply tapping

the phone to a payment terminal, Google Wallet automatically debits money from a credit card attached to the phone. The service is currently in public beta, and is only available in the United States. Also, co-operation from retailers is required before the technology can gain traction.

(searchenginewatch.com)

SPORTS

EPL 2011-2012 Another season of the English Premier League has kicked off, and it has already seen a number of twists and turns. Prateek Sinha

n just over a month of jampacked action, crowds across the world have not been disappointed in terms of entertainment; loyal supporters of some clubs might feel otherwise. Manchester United remains the defending champions after securing a record 19th title last season. They also have a well-balanced squad – Phil Jones and Ashley Young have proved to be smart purchases to replace Scholes and Hargreaves. With Wayne Rooney in ominous form, Sir Alex Ferguson will be quietly confident of defending the championship. Chelsea finished second last season, ahead of Manchester City on goal difference. With a new manager in Andre Villas-Boas, whose career graph appears largely similar to that of Jose Mourinho, Chelsea will look to reclaim the title from their arch-rivals.

While the spine of the team consists of aging players, the young pair of Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku is a shrewd buy. The influential Drogba getting injured in August could prove to be a setback, but Chelsea has the means to get around it. Possibly, landing Neymar or Sneijder in the January transfer window could prove to be the final push that Chelsea needs. Heavy spenders Manchester City, earlier confined to the shadows of their more successful neighbours, have really started to gel together to form a formidable unit with a realistic shot at the title. Mancini’s masterstroke of landing Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri has really given a boost to the squad and also their victory hopes, seeing Aguero’s form. Their defence could however prove to be their undoing.

Arsene Wenger has to seriously start spending money if he is to get a squad fit to vie for the trophy. Losing Fabregas and Nasri is a big blow, and only time will tell whether or not lastminute purchases Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun can fill their shoes. However, this season has started miserably for the Gunners, reminiscent of Liverpool last year. Unless their defence can sort out their issues, it is unlikely that Arsenal can manage a top five finish this year around.

“STEVEN GERRARD’S GLARING ABSENCE HAS BEEN EVIDENT IN LIVERPOOL’S PERFORMANCES” Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur will look to capitalise on Arsenal’s weaknesses for the final Champion’s League spot. Steven Gerrard’s glaring absence

has been evident in Liverpool’s performances, although the team has pulled through under Dalglish’s experienced command so far. Tottenham is a stable, well rounded squad, that, with a string of good performances, might just jump ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool in the final table. Although it’s still a long way to go in the season, I’ll stick my neck out and predict the top five teams: •

Manchester United

•

Chelsea

•

Manchester City

•

Tottenham Hotspur

•

Liverpool

W hat’s your take?

(Manchester United - EPL Champions 2010/2011 / Photo by AtilaTheHun on Flickr)

SPORTS

SPORT OF T

Joseph Chin

styles, cue sports can best be described as a genre rather than a distinct sport in itself.

With two subtly distinct variants of the sport having nearly similar rules and equipment, yet different scoring systems and playing

Both snooker and pool/billiards share a similar game-play structure, which is to propel a white cue ball with a cue stick towards the colored object balls into the six pockets located at the four corners and the middle of the two lengthwise sides. That is where the similarity ends, as both snooker and pool require different numbers and types of balls to accommodate different scoring systems. Succinctly put, pool requires the two players to hit the numbered balls in succession, starting with the lowest number and finishing with the black ball (numbered 9, hence the name),

icture this: a vast, dimly-lit compound within an old shopping centre, evoking visions of delinquents loitering inside and around the pool store with students playing truant, frittering their time away playing rounds of pool. This stereotypical scene may have been etched in the minds of those who might not have been near a pool shop, much less a pool stick. In contrast, cue sports as a game is a world away from these scenes, requiring concentration and precision to efficiently kill off the game in the shortest amount of time.

while snooker is a points-based game where the coloured balls are cleared in a predefined order via clearing of the reds.

NUS CUE SPORTS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH ITS ‘A’ TEAM DEFEATING SMU IN THE FINALS In the recent SUNIG 9-ball tournament, NUS Cuesports won the championship with its ‘A’ Team defeating SMU in the finals. This capped a good performance where the team overcame a last-minute change in the competition venue to contribute two out of four semifinalists in the knockout stages of the two-day

SPORTS

F THE MONTH

(photo by NUS Cuesports)

tournament. Held on the 27th and 28th of August 2011 at the Punggol Billiards Club, the three NUS teams were grouped together according to recent performances to play in the group stages. The first two of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. Winning all their group stage matches against stronger opponents, the quarter-finals saw even closer matches with NUS edging out NTUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strongest team after coming back from one game behind. At the semi-finals both NUS teams were matched up together and with the A team winning, the stage was set for a final combat between NUS and SMU. It turned out to be a tight game that saw NUS winning

3-2 through the decisive mixed doubles match. NUSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; first win five years ago was a culmination of the intensive training undergone by the Cue sports team, which has recently been placed second in tournaments behind powerhouse SIM (Singapore Institute of Management). Even then, things have not been smooth-sailing. As described by the Cuesports Team Manager Lim Teck Wah, the team had to change its training venues at short notice after the organisers realised there were not enough pool tables at the original competition venue and the tournament, and acclimatisation

training had to be shifted further away to Punggol. According to team captain Darren Ong, the team overcame the setback by arranging shuttle buses for the convenience of the team members, especially since some were staying on campus. With the major competition for team sports out of the way, Darren stated that outreach is the key for the year ahead, including playing in external tournaments as well as organising an internal 9-ball tournament for interested students.

SPORTS

RUGBY WORL T. Naveen Prakash

he Rugby World Cup is a quadrennial event which was inaugurated in 1987. Edging out Japan and South Africa, New Zealand was chosen to host the event this year. Considered the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand and eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games and 1992 Cricket World Cup, the organisers are expecting over 95,000 visitors from overseas to visit the country to be part of the action. Among the 20 teams participating, 12 qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament, while the remaining

eight berths were determined through regional qualifying tournaments. The event is expected to cost about NZ$310 million to run, and to generate NZ$280 million in ticket sales. The matches will be played in 13 venues across the island, spanning over seven weeks with the Finals on Sunday, 23rd October 2011. Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand remain the teams to beat in the tournament, but the teams from Canada, Namibia and United states appearing in the World Cup for the first time are no pushovers either. With

teams separated into four Pools, the action began after much hype on 9 September 2011. In the first match between New Zealand and Tonga, the minnows gave the All Blacks a tough time in the second

ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, IRELAND, ITALY, JAPAN AND NEW ZEALAND REMAIN THE TEAMS TO BEAT IN THE TOURNAMENT half even though the final result stood at 40 – 10 in favor of the hosts. NZ Coach Graham Henry

(sportsess.blogspot.com)

was not pleased with the team’s performance and hoped for better results in the future with more effort from his boys. In another interesting match between France and Japan, Les Bleus overcame the 25-21 score-line near halftime to win the game by a huge margin of 47-21. Another dead-rubber in Pool A included the 83-7 drubbing of New Zealand sans their injured captain, Richie McCaw, over Japan. In another remarkable comeback story from Pool B, England came back from a 9-3 deficit to overcome the Pumas with a 13-9 score-line. Fly half Jonny Wilkinson kicked the conversion from under the posts, before wrapping up victory five minutes from time with a penalty. However the Pumas bounced back in their next game against Romania running in four first-half tries before sealing a 43-8 bonus point win. England continued their juggernaut rampage, cruising to a 41-10 victory over Romania to maintain their first place in Pool B. Group C toppers Ireland had two close games against USA and Australia respectively, but still managed to sneak in a win. The wet conditions proved a hurdle in the USA match, deferring the Irish from breaching the Eagle’s defense until half-time,

SPORTS

WORLD CUP 2011 (nine) in the game against Japan. Thus the World Cup goes on and we, as die-hard rugby lovers, continue to keep up with the Tournament religiously, supporting our favorite teams and hoping for a glimpse of glory on 23rd October 2011.

(rugbyweek.com)

yet finishing 15-6 at the end. In another epic-battle with the Wallabies, O’Driscoll’s side got home 15-6 on the back of four penalties and a dropped goal before a crowd of 58,678. Group D saw more high-scoring yet mixed luck games which included a 49-3 dead-rubber win of South Africa over Fiji. The World champions not only ran in six tries to overwhelm their rivals at Wellington Regional Stadium, but also kept the free-running Fijians to a solitary penalty. Samoa too made a strong statement of their intent in the opening match with a 49-12 victory over Namibia. Wing Alesana Tuilagi grabbed a hat-trick and scrum half Kahn Fotuali’i recorded the fastest try of the tournament as the islanders showcased their attacking

capabilities. The most fascinating game of the Tournament was played between South Africa and Wales. Replacement Francois Hougaard was the South African hero with a try in the 65th minute which was enough to beat Wales 17-16 bringing back South Africa from a 10-16 deficit in the 54th minute. Regarding the players in the Tournament, Morne Steyn of South Africa and Morgan Parra of France have recorded the most number of points (28 points apiece) so far, with Parra scoring 23 of his share in the match against Canada, converting five penalties to his aid. Vereniki Goneva of Fiji has scored the most number of tries (four tries) in a game while Colin Slade of the NZ All Blacks recorded the highest number of conversions

SPORTS

>> FROM THE SIDELINES: IFG TENNIS

(photo caption/ source) Prateek Sinha

ime flies as a college student - ask anybody and they will vouch for the veracity of the statement. Just last year I sat on the sidelines as a freshman, watching the Arts faculty representatives take on their Medicine counterparts in the Inter-Faculty Games (IFG) tennis finals. This year, however, I had a more intimate involvement with the competition as I was a

part of the Engineering faculty’s team. Eight faculties split into two groups competing in a roundrobin format to decide who would make it to the semifinals. The first one, group A - also known as the ‘group of death’ - had Medicine, Engineering, Business and Computing vying for two spots while the other group

comprised University Scholars Programme (USP), Law, Science and Arts. After several close encounters, Medicine topped group A by winning all their matches while Engineering edged out Business to take second spot. USP were impressive en route to acing group B with three wins out of three, while Law settled for second place. Engineering then went on beat USP in the semis

and Medicine continued their winning streak by defeating Law. 18 days after beginning their respective campaigns, Medicine and Engineering met in a final face-off to decide the 2011 tennis champions. It was a chance for Engineering to avenge their close defeat to Medicine during the group stages, while Medicine had a shot at emerging

SPORTS

shots and quickly raced into the lead. His serves took Kenric by surprise, while his shots were just too much to handle before Avinash broke his strings during the course of play, giving Kenric a reason to smile as well as the crowd a reason to cheer. Buoyed on by his teammates, Kenric won three games later in the match, but Avinash was on a roll, winning the encounter 9-3 and to give Engineering a 1-0 lead.

(photo caption/ source)

as the unbeaten champions and clinching the the Tan Chorh Chuan Challenge trophy (previously the Shih-Choon Foong trophy). The road to the finals had been tedious, and with the prospect of the gleaming trophy so close, excitement and nerves were the order of the day. The match kicked off with the two men’s singles which

saw Avinash and Shyam from Engineering square off against Kenric and Evan of Medicine respectively. Members from both sides charged up the atmosphere with their fervent cheering. Having seen Avinash dismantle one of his teammates in the last encounter, Kenric came into the match with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude. However Avinash managed to temper Kenric’s

The other singles match was quite a tight one to begin with. Evan with his colorful bandanna seemed to be on better form than Shyam who while serving in the fourth game, twisted his ankle while retrieving a shot on his backhand. Luckily it was nothing serious and he was able to get on with the match after a short medical timeout. The break was exactly what Shyam needed to regroup, and once play resumed, he was a completely different player. Striking more freely than before, he went on to win six straight games before wrapping up the match 9-3 to secure a 2-0 lead in favor of Engineering. The next two matches comprised the ladies’ singles and mixed doubles between the Engineering and Medicine representatives. A majority of the mixed doubles games went to deuce but it was just that little bit extra that the medicine duo injected into their games that saw them draw out errors and win the tight games. Medicine’s players, running back and forth in a frantic rush to get the ball back, managed to take the game away from

Engineering who lost 4-9. At 2-1 to Engineering, the final ladies’ singles, match generated the most crowd support, especially from as Medicine. It was a grueling match with both girls running from side to side, but Engineering’s Anna was rewarded for being the aggressor and eventually sealed the championship for team Engineering at 3-1. The men’s doubles was now dead rubber but it saw some brilliant shot-making from both teams. Medicine held true to their reputation of being good doubles players, and managed to win 9-4. The final result was 3-2 in favor of Engineering - a close final played in good spirit, which could have gone either way. Kudos to both teams for a splendid all round performance. Personally, even though I lost my match in the final, the fact that the team won was much more than a consolation. The close friendships formed over the course of the competition are invaluable and an experience to cherish, irrespective of the result. Here’s looking forward to the next competition.

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