TR EMERITUS

Presented by Agni Kootthu (Theatre of Fire) Written & directed by Elangovan Performed by Dew M Chaiyanara, Faizal Abdullah & Hemang Yadav Performance in English - Sat 28 & Sun 29 Nov 2009 8pm The Substation Theatre $20 (Tickets available @ the door from 7 pm) MDA Advisory: R18 (Coarse Language and Mature Themes) Substation Map "If you are not greedy, you are not Chinese. If you are not backstabbing, you are not Indian. If you are not lazy, 'sorry', contented, you are not Malay. If you are not made of all these three, then you are not a Singaporean." Synopsis: What would you do when you win a million in the Singapore Big Sweep? The choices are endless, but for some, winning a fortune is as debasing and disorientating as a horrific ordeal in a car on a rainy night. The millionaires, a 'subaltern Malay couple': mechanic at a petrol station and a salesgirl, re-enact their childless marriage baiting each other on a never-ending car journey to take food home to their cat. She berates him about his impotency and other inadequacies; he about her besotted behaviour over their cat for whom he had just bought 32 tins of canned food in a cat-food sale. He loves his job. She loves her cat. But the condominium-bound tabby cannot speak and acts as a silent confidante rather than a high counsel for their marital dilemmas. He suffers from Ailurophobia and intermittently, an obese human-like cat appears in his surrealistic dreams to philosophize and entreat him. The cat proselytizes and conducts a psychiatric test to gauge his sanity. The bizarre ending bursts the septic boil of corrosive morality to leave a raw, ugly, warning wound. With instant wealth comes subtle change and revelations of desires laid dormant by social circumstances and convenient relationships. Impregnated with strange animal instincts, it is the suppression of savagery that makes us human but occasionally when pushed over the emotive precipice, the beasts emerge snapping and snarling like feral cats. MEOW particularly addresses the cultural and sexual values of the working class couple and brittle hegemony of multi-culturalism and racial tolerance in Singapore. Exposing issues of class, violence and urban alienation, it gets its teeth into universal themes of cultural alienation and the manifestation of the society's bankrupted social values in fetishism, racism and impotency. In MEOW, verbal abuse, physical violence, racism, sexism, and classism are very ugly but demand serious attention. Desperation and loneliness cry out in the midst of communication. MEOW is a marriage from noveau riche hell for a low-class Malay couple. Republished from Seelan Palay's blog here  Read More →

Business Times, 28 November 2009 VISITORS to the Universal Studios theme park in Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) will soon be able to live out adventures seen in various movies. There will be zones based on films such as Madagascar, Shrek and Jurassic Park, to bring thrill-seekers to a make-believe world far away from home. For some employees at RWS, being away from home will also be a new adventure. The integrated resort will be hiring a considerable number of foreigners, and it is said to be searching for hundreds of HDB flats to help them settle in. C&H Realty managing director Albert Lu said that RWS is looking for HDB flats to rent, and approached his firm a few months ago to find out about the rental market. RWS did not share many details then, but the number of flats is ‘in the hundreds’, he told BT. Another property market insider who declined to be named also said that RWS has been ‘aggressively looking for flats to rent’, and is probably in need of ‘a few hundred’ units. So far, there is no official statement on the number of foreigners that RWS could hire. Overall, it will employ about 10,000 people when it opens next year. RWS spokesman Robin Goh told BT that it remains committed in recruiting Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents. A media report in June noted that RWS had hired 600 workers, of whom 80 per cent are locals. Assuming that the local-foreign ratio stays constant, its headcount from abroad could reach 2,000. Going by HDB rules, one- or two-room flats can each be rented out to at most four people; three-room flats to at most six people; and four-roomers or bigger flats to at most nine people. Assuming that RWS hires 2,000 foreigners and all of them rent four-room flats, it would need to find at least about 220 units. Mr Goh said that RWS started looking for ’suitable accommodation’ for foreign staff early this year, with help from a ‘reputable service provider’. He did not specify the types and number of housing involved. ‘To help reduce their stress and anxiety of relocating overseas, we assist our foreign team members in addressing one of their basic needs – accommodation,’ he said. ‘We make sure that they settle down comfortably as well as enjoy working and living in Singapore.’ And it is important for RWS to keep its employees happy because that could enhance their work performance and in turn, visitors’ experience at the integrated resort, he said. Mr Goh added that RWS considered several factors in choosing accommodation, including the place’s accessibility and proximity to amenities such as convenience stores. ‘The locations we have chosen facilitate good interaction between the local community and foreign talent,’ he added. BT understands that units at Tiong Bahru and Toa Payoh have been found. C&H Realty’s Mr Lu said that he believes that RWS would want flats in areas near Sentosa, such as Telok Blangah. But he pointed out that the supply of rental flats in such central locations is tight, and RWS might have to broaden its search to estates near MRT stations. Rents of HDB flats in the central region rose between the second and third quarter of the year. For instance, the median sub-letting rent for a four-room flat in the area increased from about $2,000 to $2,200. HDB’s website shows that up to the third quarter of this year, the agency has granted 11,235 sub-letting approvals. The bulk of these – 3,978 or 35 per cent – were for three-room flats. Another 3,593 approvals were for four-room flats. Also, looking across all towns and flat types, median sub-letting rents have remained relatively steady from the first to third quarter. Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh observed that the HDB rental market is ‘more stabilised’ compared with the period when collective sales were rife and many displaced residents were looking for lodging. His firm has seen more rental enquiries direct from foreigners working with RWS. Marina Bay Sands, the other integrated resort due to open next year, has not engaged property agents to look for accommodation for its foreign staff. ‘Housing arrangements will take into account the needs of the prospective foreign employees,’ said a spokeswoman. ‘At this time, Marina Bay Sands is giving priority to attracting and selecting Singaporeans and permanent residents for our job opportunities.’ - Business Times Republished from Business Times on 28 November 2009  Read More →

作者：杨邦尼 自新加坡内阁资深李光耀反思双语教育的误区以来，关于新加坡华文教育改革的说法就层出不穷，而这种频繁关注也从侧面反映出一些问题。马来西亚《星洲日报》 26日刊发评论说，新加坡的华文教学已名存实亡，提早进入“对外汉语教学”的世界大潮，就像欧美人士学汉语，教语法，分辨主谓宾语，如何卷舌发音等。 文章摘录如下： 自上周，新加坡内阁资政李光耀在华文教研中心会上对当前华文教学撂下重话，旋即教育部长黄永宏提出让华文老师用英语在课堂上讲解”的重要宣示，一周以来，《联合早报》有多篇文章回应。长期关注狮城华语，来自中国暨南大学华文学院院长郭熙教授24日撰文倡议“不能用教母语的方式来教英语家庭长大的新加坡华人，而应该用对外汉语教学的方法，也就是教洋人的那一套来教他们。” 从李资政、教育部长到海外学人一语中的，不谋而合的认为用英语教华文之必要。至此，我们看见狮城华文教学已名存实亡，提早进入“对外汉语教学”的世界大 潮，就像欧美人士学汉语，教语法，分辨主谓宾语，如何卷舌发音等，因为狮城华人的第一语言是英语，华语是外语的时代正式来临。 可是，问题来了。狮城华文教师同样面对断层的危险，年轻一代有志当华文教师的本土新加坡华人几希。华文教师的主干来自：要么年届退休的老华文教师，更多是来自中国大陆和大马的华文教师。 新加坡引进大批中国华文教师的同时，形成另一种语言的区隔。说华语的中国教师和说英语的教师其实是壁垒分明的，虽然他们同在一所校园，一个办公室。要华 文老师用英语讲解，表面上是解决60%来自讲英语华族学生对上华文课的畏惧或憎恶的心理，而实际上要提升华文教师的英语水平，提升到能用英语讲解华文课文 的地步，无疑是艰巨工程。 其实，新加坡的华文已用英语讲解华文，看看《华文词语手册》，不就是中英对照的解释生字吗？又或者是《我报》或《逗号》的中学生版的报纸，不也是在华文词句中夹杂英文，推广华文的标语诸如“华文cool”或“华文fun”，一方面掏空心思让华语文变得像英文那样的fashion时髦的玩意，一方面以港台的流行文化为诱因吸引年经人讲华语，读华文资讯等，或把华文变成像“百万大赢家”的电视游戏节目。总之，学华语文，要好玩，轻松，酷，成了狮城华文教学和华文老师的挑战和功课，以及更重要的华语力量背后的中国崛起的商机和战略。 这样，我们看到新加坡的华文教学成了难以承受之重，老师和学生都受不了啊。 狮城华文偏离了它原来的轨道，和精英执政团队中将语文工具利益化脱不了关系，花了40年的双语政策，停办20年的华文教育早已是“覆水难收”，它回不了头，就只能往“对外汉语教学”的路子走。幸也乎，不幸也乎？ 来源： 中新网 http://www.chinanews.com.cn  Read More →