The Singapore Daily

“Has the gay community awoken a sleeping giant?
Solo Bear

“Is human rights a threat to political stability or is political stability a threat to human rights?”
Eugene Chew

“Is civil disobedience as a strategy blunted?”
Au Waipang

“It is laughable the kind of somersaults the minister and his MPs had to perform in Parliament to justify this law.”
Gerald Giam

This week’s roundup and recommended reads after the break.
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April 18th, 2009 | Category: Weekly Roundup | Comments (6)

Takeover of AWARE
- Fresh Brainz: Update: Josie Lau Is AWARE’s New President
- Alice Cheong in Wonderland: Statement from the New AWARE Team
- Illusio: AWARE: a civil society primer
- Blackilocks Events: Aware of Aware
- Mathia Lee: AWARE AGM 2009 : Clarifications
- Salt * Wet * Fish: AWAREness in our midst
- Majulah!: The New Adventures of Josie and the Pussycats
- Singapore Life and Times: Toasted
- The Wayang Party: Should the old guard of AWARE just accept defeat and bow out gracefully?
- TOC: DBS “disappointed” with Josie Lau’s disregard for staff Code of Conduct
- The Wayang Party: Double standards of DBS: why staff is allowed to join PAP as MP but not AWARE as Council member?
- geraldgiam.sg: Staff-in-confidence matters should be kept that way, DBS
- Musings: Josie and DBS’s HR Policy
- The Wayang Party: More questions raised over PAP MP Dr Ong Seh Hong’s explanation of the $60,000 Ren Ci loan and GIC housing loan
- Alice Cheong in Wonderland: Josie Lau Meng Lee

Public Order Bill
- Singapore Social Activist: The Myth of the Violent Singaporean Protestor
- Yawning Bread: Reinforcing containment
- geraldgiam.sg: A government out of order [Corrected. Thanks Gerald]

Charity/Church Leaders Get Rich r Die Tryin
- The Wayang Party: $60,000 loan from Ren Ci to PAP MP Ong Seh Hong sparked furore in cyberspace

We Don’t Need No Regulation
- The Kent Ridge Common: The dissenting civil servant and the online media

Daily Discourse
- Singaporean Skeptic: Even PRC students get better treatment than Singaporean students in the USA!
- Civic Advocator: Taser stun guns at APEC Singapore?
- Everyday’s Life in a Snapshot: Surprise! Singapore works with countries serious about knowledge transfer

Life, the universe and everything
- ringisei: If a resident made a complaint but not in writing
- Gimme Some Truth!: Meet Singapore’s new mascot for the Asian Youth Games!
- AngryAngMo: The 5 Best Flea Markets In Singapore
- Singapore Sports Fan: Pole vaulter Sean Lim breaks first record of National Schools Track and Field Championships [Thanks SSF]
- NO BUNS NO LIFE: Never Heard Before VIEWS on SINGAPORE by Taiwanese. Interesting.
- Webs@Work: Do Pulitzer Prizes Have A Future?

Now Showing
- Balderdash: Members Only, a play I watched last night

Infoblogaramous
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Event: Managing Your Business On A Shoestring Budget – 29 Apr

April 17th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Comments (16)

Maggie Wu Ya Xin 吴亚馨 is a model from Taiwan (born 8 Oct 1983). After finishing tertiery studies at the age of 20, she decided to become a model. She took on whatever modeling jobs that came along, appearing in magazines and promo ads, while helping out in her family’s Shabu Shabu restuarant. It was not until she appeared in 何润东 He Run Dong’s music video I Only Care About You 《我只在乎你》 that her modeling career took off. Since then she has become one of the top celebrities in Taiwan.

This is Maggie Wu’s photoshoot with Taiwan GQ Magazine. Pictures after the break. [NSFW]
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April 17th, 2009 | Category: Daily ChioBu | Comments (5)

Public Order Bill
- Sgpolitics: Stop misleading the public on the Public Order Act
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: More Laws for Public Order..
- running legs: Public Order Act: Hail BB?
- Jacob’s Weblog: Passing of Public Order Bill: ‘We, the citizens of Singapore’ are not free from blame
- The Wayang Party: Political space further limited with new Public Order Act
- TOC: Opposing Public Order Act [Vids]
- Loo Zihan: W

Takeover of AWARE
- Glass Castle Blog: Anti-LGBTQ is anti-feminist
- Musings : Some comments on the Aware thing.
- Fresh Brainz: Update: AWARE Exco Remains Silent
- TOC: 150 call for vote of no confidence

Strangers in a Strange Land
- My Thoughts..: New And Old Citizens The Same? [Thanks Ganga]

Daily Discourse
- TOC: Will S’poreans speak up for others?
- The Kent Ridge Common: Of migration and the Singaporean diaspora

Life, the universe and everything
- The New York Crank: Gum-chewers, Singapore, and hanging offenses. Listen carefully to this, you gum chewing b*st#rds! [Thanks CelluloidReality]
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Crossroads, a new year, and life in Singapore
- Sam’s thoughts: May 2006 song: Let It Be, Singapore politics in 2006

Infoblogaramous
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Delectable Stockalicious Portfolio Analysis Tool

April 16th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Comments (4)

Tech News
- VR-Zone: HD 4770 (RV740) performance and price
- NordicHardware: Exclusive pictures of ASUS in-house designed HD4890
- Expreview: GeForce GTX275 Sell Poorly Due to GTX260
- Reuters: Dell to launch smartphones in China by yr-end -analysts
- DigiTimes: Lenovo and Acer preparing new all-in-one PCs
- Fudzilla: Acer Ion Hornet to be available soon
- Akihabara News: All in One Full HD NEC Desktop ValueStar N and W
- DailyTech: Study: 83 % of Businesses Won’t Deploy Windows 7 Next Year
- InfoWorld: Microsoft patches ‘insane’ number of bugs
- Kotaku: Microsoft Extends Warranty For “E74″ Failures
- Android Developers: Android 1.5 Highlights

Reviews | Guides
- techPowerUp: Inno3D GeForce GTX 275 OC 896M
- Motherboards: XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 XXX Edition Video Card Review
- InsideHW: ZOTAC GTS 250 AMP! Edition
- Lab501: Nvidia GTX 275 vs ATI Radeon 4890
- Fudzilla: Dell Vostro 1510 tested
- MadShrimps: Attack of the HDD Dockings: Sunbeamtech,Sharkoon,Thermaltake
- CDRLabs: Plextor PX-Q840U Qflix 20x DVD±RW/RAM
- HardwareLogic: Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard
- Tweaknews: HIPER Slim Aluminium USB/PS2 Keyboard
- OCinside: The interactive AMD Phenom and Phenom II product ID guide
- HWZ: Firefox Extensions Guide: Extend Your Experience

SG Tech \ MISC
- Simple is the Reason of My Heart: Facebook has superceded Friendster in Malaysia
- Tech65.org: Gear65 #17 – Sony Ericsson CyberShot C510
- Unique-Frequency.com: Starhub Enters Social Media With Twitter

April 16th, 2009 | Category: Daily Tech | Leave a comment

Public Order Bill
- TOC: Muzzling the madding crowd
- Yaw Shin Leong: Opposing the Public Order Bill
- Cavalierio: Shame Sham Shanmugam
- Balderdash: MPs dissent on the Public Order act
- In God We Trust: Public Order Act
- actionslavehero: Public Order = Don’t Naughty Ah
- Gimme Some Truth!: Public Order Act provides scant protection for responsible citizens [Thanks Alastair]
- Singabloodypore: Singapore: A nervous Government Lashes Out
- My sketchbook: Public order bill-Newer, bigger, better

Takeover of AWARE
- Chemical Generation Singapore: Chemical Generation Singapore
- Sam’s Thoughts: MediaWARE
- The Itch To write: Could this had been a conspiracy or pure coincidence?
- Sam’s thoughts: The Straits Times needs some ‘queer’
- Simply Jean: Be aware?
- Tan Kin Lian’s Blog: Protecting a democratic institution

Recession
- TOC: An alternative to penalising labour
- Hard Hitting in the Lion City: Good Tactics, Bad Strategy
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Slight devaluation to keep foreign money in Singapore banks
- Lancaster Eagle Gazette: The end of Asia’s ‘export-led’ development has begun

General Elections 2009
- My Singapore News: Of power, freedom and money

National Service
- The Kent Ridge Common: Policies for greater equity?

Daily Discourse
- Tan Kin Lian’s Blog: Review of the public sector

Life, the universe and everything
- Midnight Monkey Monitor: Eating “Trash”
- For Want of a Better Title: Every Geeks Fantasy… Star Wars Geek anyway

Now Showing
- vinyarb: Knowing – movie review

Infoblogaramous
- a blog day’s work: WP Youth Wing: YouthQuake 5

April 15th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Leave a comment

Public Order Bill
- geraldgiam.sg: 1 person constitutes an assembly? It’s an abuse of the word: WP chairman
- Sgpolitics: Parliament passes the Public Order Act of 2009

Takeover of AWARE
- Sgpolitics.net: More awareness needed about the “leadership grab” in AWARE

General Elections 2009
- Seelan Palay’s Blog: Singaporeans can kiss elections goodbye

Strangers in a Strange Land
- Mr Wang Says So: Aren’t They Quick to Change Their Headlines?
- The Wayang Party: Old and new citizens do not get equal chance in Singapore

Recession
- Singapore Life and Times: Paradox of recession

Housing
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: That $658K HDB Flat..

The Gospel of Harry
- Bryan Caplan: Singapore’s Independence: What Was the Point?

Dialects are for Stupids
- ed’sperience: Why the ‘Speak Mandarin’, ‘Appreciate Chinese Culture’ Campaign in Singapore is a monumental mistake

National Service
- The Kent Ridge Common: National Service and the open door policy

Daily Discourse
- TOC: 154 casualties. 48 hospitalized. 2 deaths. 122 rats. All the rojak man’s fault?
- Singapore Fountain Pen: Mass Food Poisoning Proves Hawker Centers Have Room For Improvement [Thanks SFP]
- Singapore Kopi Tok: The Year of Online News Competition?
- Seelan Palay’s Blog: Parameswara’s Weekly Round-Up (29 March to 4 April 09) [Thanks Seelan]

Life, the universe and everything
- Random Thoughts Of A Free Thinker: ST Online Forum: “Inappropriate to name play The Final Solution”
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: 15 Must-See Sights in Google Earth

Infoblogaramous
- Ong Jiin Joo: GridAsia 2009, 13-17 April, Suntec
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: The Creative Crew April 2009 Meet Up

April 14th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Comments (2)

Kim Ha Yul (김하율) is Korean model and actress. She is also a popular race queen. More of her after the break.
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April 14th, 2009 | Category: Daily ChioBu | Leave a comment

Takeover of AWARE
- Glass Castle: Not Secular Feminists But Sectarian Fundamentalists: And They’ll Come For You Too
- Mathia Lee: The AWARE AGM 2009 — my personal take: beware of ST
- Where Bears Roam Free: Gays now facing a backlash from their own doing?
- Unwired Precipitations: Pharaohs
- Yawning Bread: From now on, be wary of AWARE
- Random Thoughts Of A Free Thinker: “Aggressive takeover” at AWARE?
- The Legal Janitor: Christian fundamentalists love Big Government
- Leona’s Blog: Why recent events at Aware concern all of us
- Fresh Brainz: The Same Thing We Do Every Night, Pinky
- ashke’s blog: Fundies in Singapore take over Women’s Group
- nagil: The crusade has begun..
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Why AWARE was ‘taken over’..
- Musings: Anti-gay lobby hijacks AWARE
- Writing-Yoga-Living: The Borg take over AWARE at AGM
- bread crumbs and candy cottage: Coup D’etat (or Organized Crime) of Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE)
- FOOD fuels me to talk..: Aware takeover: great news!
- Singaporean Skeptic: Beware of AWARE!
- Angry Doctor: Support Love
- Alice Cheong in Wonderland: Mrs Claire Nazar, Charlotte Wong Hock Soon, Jenica Chua Chor Ping, Sally Ang Koon Hian, Maureen Ong Lee Keang, Irene Yee Khor Quin, Peggy Leong Pek Kay, Angela Thiang Pei Yun, Dr Alan Chin Yew Liang
- The Wayang Party: What netizens can learn from the AWARE incident to keep our net free and independent
- Sam’s Thoughts: Are you aware of AWARE?
- Fridae: Anti-gay Christian fundamentalists hijack Singapore’s women’s group
- Blowing Wind Gay Forum: Be Careful Gays, Aware Has Already Been Taken Over By People U Do Not Wish To Be In Power

General Elections 2009
- Sgpolitics: Kenneth Jeyaretnam can bring much needed economics expertise to Reform Party
- The Anti Neo-Democracy Theorist: Swinging Reform Party to the Center – Kenneth Jeyaratnam enters the political fray
- TOC: TOC Interview: Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s debut
- My Little Corner: Probably no elections until end 2010

The Gospel of Harry
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Singapore a multiracial meritocracy
- Chee Wai’s Random Musings: Singapore, a First World country?
- Everyday’s Life in a Snapshot: Senile old man
- My Sketchbook: We are First world!

Charity/Church Leaders Get Rich r Die Tryin
- The Kent Ridge Common: Spiritually or materially rich?
- The Lycan Times: Limit These Reserves!

Recession
- TOC: Bold gesture from the government needed in this time of crisis

We Dont Need No Regulation
- Littlespeck: PAP blogs back

Healthcare
- Mathia Lee: Pre-Diabetes: A lack of Asian – relevant advice

Daily Discourse
- The Kent Ridge Common: A military presence in enterprise development
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Maid Abuse : Singapore’s Shame..
- Singapore Fountain Pen: Mass Food Poisoning Proves Hawker Centers Have Room For Improvement
- The Wayang Party: Our bloated defence budget: What is the perceived threat?

Life, the universe and everything
- Beyond SG: Aborted Summit in Pattaya

April 13th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Comments (11)

Tech News
- CNET: Google uncloaks once-secret server
- InfoWorld: Microsoft: To reach Windows 7 release candidate, run Vista
- Engadget: Is this the Zune HD?
- GamePro: PS2 price cut may be right move for PS3′s future
- Computerworld: Microsoft and Yahoo back at the table?
- DigiTimes: Abit quits brand business
- TechConnect: EVGA intros GeForce GTX 275 FTW Edition
- NordicHardware: PowerColor planning extreme Radeon HD 4890
- BSN: ATI partners can and will make a Radeon HD4890 X2
- ZDNet: A single Windows platform for phones and PCs: Can it be done?
- TGDaily: High-bandwidth Bluetooth 3.0 expected for April 21
- Expreview: AMD Sabine Platform to Support DirectX 11 in 2011
- PCGHardware: Cryengine 2: Approaching photorealism with perfect time of day simulation?

Reviews | Guides
- Legit Reviews: How To Setup a Home NAS Server – QNAP TS-439 Pro Turbo
- Anandtech: System Buyers Guide: $800 to $1800
- Guru3D: Guru3D Rig of the Month – April 2009
- VR-Zone: MSI EX300 Review
- HWZ: Wielding Foxconn’s Flaming Blade (Intel X58)
- [OC]ModShop: Building a Linux Firewall Part [1][2]
- [H]Enthusiast: Thermal Paste Shootout – Q209
- TrustedReviews: LG 42LH5000 42in LCD TV
- InsideHW: Logitech Z-5
- Phoronx: Logitech MX1100 Cordless Laser Mouse
- Overclock3D: Razer Mamba Gaming Mouse
- TestFreaks: ArtWizz SeeJacket Crystal for iPod nano 4G

SG Tech \ MISC
- Tech65.org: Sony Vaio P Detailed Review
- Ong Jiin Joo: Six ways to make Six ways to make Web 2.0 work work
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Show Me What Is Nearby

April 13th, 2009 | Category: Daily Tech | Leave a comment

“Sherry Arnstein defined citizenship participation as a form of power re-distribution that enables under-privileged citizens who were excluded from the political and economic processes to be included.. Sadly in Singapore’s case, all ordinary citizens inclusive of under-privileged ones have no say in the decisions that concern them.”
Kelvin Teo

“[Kishore Mahbubani] seems to equate money with merit. The Singapore civil service is the most meritocratic in the world, he says. But he mentions none of its achievements, only that its head can earn much more than the American president.”
Abhijit

“The fact is our current system of ethics and morality is evolved and built upon the assumption of free will, that each man should be held accountable for his wilful actions, and that our current system of meritocracy, of rewarding people, is also based on the assumption that it is just to give higher rewards to those who contribute more and to give those who perform less well lower rewards. Yet if everything is ultimately contingent on how our brains are wired, are those systems of morality and reward-and-punishment still valid? Are they still just?”
angry doc

“Dendrobium Memoria Princess Diana and Vandaenopsis Nelson Mandela, the orchid hybrids of real social and human-rights activists, must have surely felt that Dendrobium Thein Sein was actually a virus among them.”
Ravi Philemon

“Of course bonus is not a dirty word….we all know the dirty word in Singapore is welfare.”
LuckySingaporean

This week’s roundup and recommended reads after the break.
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April 11th, 2009 | Category: Weekly Roundup | Leave a comment

Recession
- Tan Kin Lian’s Blog: Fear and consequence of retrechment
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Sell Singapore dollars, advises UBS

Gahmen/GLC Bonuses
- groundnotes: Defending the right to bonuses

Singapore Organ Trading Hub
- nofearSingapore: Thanks Minister, I also do not want Singapore to be a rogue regime!

Fixing The Opposition
- Jacob’s Weblog: There’s nothing positive about politically motivated and ruinous defamation suits

Charity/Church Leaders Get Rich r Die Tryin
- The Wayang Party: The Ming Yi fiasco: a sombre lesson in a system which relies on “trust”
- Singaporean Skeptic: What is wrong with our Charities?

We Don’t Need No Regulation
- The Brotherhood Press: Why even trolls deserve the right to privacy – a study on how to win all the battles and still lose the war
- Jaslyn Go’s Blog: My Comments on TOC Article – Engaging netizens – time to come out of comfort zones, politicians

Daily Discourse
- The FØØL’s Progress: The Probability of Armed Conflicts in Southeast Asia
- Desparatebeep: Beggars United Pte Ltd
- The Itch To Write: Chia Hui Keng explains passport fee hike
- geraldgiam.sg: Authorities took 2 days to shut down killer rojak stall?
- TOC: 5 Minutes With… Leong Sze Hian on pay rise survey
- TOC: A victim of bureaucratic red tape and inflexible policies
- The Wayang Party: The futility of speaking up in a totalitarian one-party state

Life, the universe and everything
- Midnight Monkey Monitor: Giving a Guest Lecture on Environmental Groups

April 9th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Leave a comment

Tech News
- ZDNet: Acer reveals the nVidia Ion-based AspireRevo: The perfect budget HTPC?
- Ubergizmo: Acer AspireRevo Based on NVIDIA’s ION Platform Just Launched
- Engadget: New iPhone parts begin shipping from suppliers for June launch?
- Direct2Dell: Windows 7 Beta Experience
- CNET: Windows 7 will allow downgrades too
- Tom’s Hardware: Intel Shows New Logos, Star Rating System
- Intel: [Official] Intel® Processor Ratings
- Liliputing: Gigabyte M1022 Booktop passes through the FCC, dock explained

Reviews | Guides
- Bjorn3d: Intel Q9400 CPU
- CDRinfo: Sony BWU-300S 8x Blu-ray burner
- TechSpot: TechSpot PC Buying Guide – April 2009
- Digital Trends: How-To: Tether Your iPhone to Your Laptop
- TrustedReviews: Altec Lansing Expressionist BASS FX3022 – 2.0 Speakers
- Tweaknews: Antec Signature 650 Watt Power Supply
- XSReviews: Scythe Typhoon
- Futurelooks: Microsoft Sidewinder X8 BlueTrack Gaming Mouse Review
- Benchmark Reviews: Antec P183 Computer Case
- InsideHW: Logitech Harmony 1100
- TestFreaks: ArtWizz Leather Pouch for iPhone 3G
- TrustedReviews: Sony Bravia KDL-46X4500 46in LCD TV

SG Tech \ MISC
- Tech65.org: Gear65 #16 – Lenovo Ideapad Y650
- A tiny blip in the continuum: iPhone 3.0 is going to be big
- Simple is the Reason of My Heart: Barcamp KL 2009 – Things I have learned
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Barcamp KL 2009 – The Things I hear about Entrepreneurship & Bloggers

April 9th, 2009 | Category: Daily Tech | Leave a comment

Recession
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Devalue Singapore dollar? It’s going to hurt
- Still Baking After All These Years: Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians Aged Over 40

ERPains, Trains & Automobiles
- My sketchbook: A little fine for transport companies

Hsien and Thein: An Orchid for a Dictator
- Singapore Social Activist: The Panda that trampled on the True Orchids

Fixing the Opposition
- Sgpolitics.net: Politically motivated defamation suits hurt free speech and do serious damage to the national discourse

Healthcare
- TOC: Calling for a mental revolution

Singapore Organ Trading Hub
- running legs: Something to ponder upon

Lee vs Chee
- Jaslyn Go’s Blog: 1st Anniversary of Tak Boleh Tahan – 15 March 2009

Charity/Church Leaders Get Rich r Die Tryin
- CHRISTELQUEK’SBLOG: Should church/charity leaders be paid handsomely?

Daily Discourse
- What else can this be apart from my blog?: What happened to Orchard Road?

Life, the universe and everything
- TOC: “In everything you do, you must be sincere.”
- Ian On The Red Dot: Singapore Has Another MillionDollarHomePage Copycat Site
- ALVINOLOGY: Youth.SG’s Feed Me Finale Concert @ Home Club

Infoblogaramous
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: SmartLoans Has Launched!

April 8th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Comments (6)

Gahmen/GLC Bonuses
- Sgpolitics.net: The ruling party has not learnt the lessons from AIG
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: ‘Bonus’ not a dirty word
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: This Week is Kindness Week in Singapore
- Feed Me To The Fish: “Bonus” need not be a dirty word in Kindness Month

Recession
- empty_vessels: Of Pay and Other Matters.
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Singapore to keep unemployment below 5.2%
- Sex sells, so does Politics: So what if our own unemployment rate is rising? That shall not stop us from giving away jobs to our friends like the Philippine! [Thanks Tan]

ERPains, Trains & Automobiles
- Everyday’s Life in a Snapshot: One hundred dollar fine for..SMRT.
- TOC: PTC fines on transport companies are meaningless

We Don’t Need No Regulation
- TOC: Engaging netizens – time to come out of comfort zones, politicians

National Service
- The Kent Ridge Common: A flexible national service policy to allow our male graduates to enter the workforce early

The People vs PoThePanda
- Chia Ti Lik’s Blog: The case of PoThePanda… so far

The Aftermath of the NTU Passings
- TOC: David Widjaja’s autopsy report released, results not disclosed

Daily Discourse
- The Wayang Party: A good and competent government is no longer enough for Singaporeans
- Singaporean Skeptic: Does Sex on TV lead to more Crime?

Life, the universe and everything
- Angry Doctor: Where morality lives
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: Birth of one more new podcast in Singapore

April 7th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Comments (3)

In 1999 at the age of 13, Erika Sawajiri 沢尻エリカ successfully auditioned at Stardust Promotion, one of Japan’s leading talent management agencies, and began modeling for junior fashion magazones CUTIE and nicola. In 2001, Erika won the Seikore (制コレ) grand prize. She began appearing on TV in programs like Harajuku Ronchazu, The Night of Hit Parade and Super VIP. A year later, she was named Fuji TV’s Visual Queen of the Year. In 2002 at age 16, Erika began acting in TV dramas and modeling as a gravure idol. In 2005, Erika starred in her first film Pacchigi!, which won her Best New Actor awards in all major award ceremonies in Japan (18th Nikkan Sports Movie Award, 30th Houchi Movie Award, 15th Tokyo Sports Movie Award, 79th Kinema Junpo Award, 29th Japan Academy Awards). In the same year, she grabbed 2 more Best New Actor awards for her role in 1 Litre of Tears (2006 Elandor Award, 43rd Golden Arrow Award). In 2006, Erika released her first single which went to #1. Her second single the following year also went to #1, making her the only artist in 39 years to have the first 2 singles hit #1 consecutively.

Pictures from N/S Eyes no. 233 [released 18 Jul 2003] after the break. [NSFW]
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April 7th, 2009 | Category: Daily ChioBu | Leave a comment

General Elections 2009
- The Wayang Party: Loss in popular votes is a failure for PAP, but success for Singapore
- a writer’s blog: A word on the PAP and general elections
- My sketchbook: Search for next generation of Singapore leaders

Recession
- TOC: 5 Minutes with.. Leong Sze Hian on the economy and jobs
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Unemployed PMETs Situation : Bad to worse..

Gahmen/GLC Bonuses
- The Wayang Party: CEO’s bonus: Straits Times barking up the wrong tree again
- Singaporean Skeptic: ‘Bonus’ is not a dirty word. ‘Welfare’ is.

Strangers in a Strange Land
- Civic Advocator: 5,000 new jobs for Pinoys in Singapore

Re education
- Still Baking After All These Years: Tuition As A Basic Necessity of Life in Singapore

Truth, Justice, and the Singapore Way
- Today In Singapore: Teaching Sucks

Daily Discourse
- geraldgiam.sg: Coaxing corporate execs to join politics
- TOC: Singapore a “blacklistee” to be?
- Chemical Generation Singapore: Shadow Cabinet, When?
- Singapore Social Activist: How will they respond?
- Blowin’ In The Wind: The world according to Kishore Mahbubani
- The Kent Ridge Common: Can Singaporeans think?
- Sgpolitics.net: Self-Censorship: Singapore’s Shame (2nd Edition), Chapter [1][2]

Life, the universe and everything
- The Banzai! Effect: Kuro Bara 2009 – The Shiro Coverage

Infoblogaramous
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Event: unConference 2009

April 6th, 2009 | Category: Daily Sg | Leave a comment

NVIDIA Geforce GTX 275 & ATI Radeon HD 4890 Reviews
- techPowerUp: Zotac GeForce GTX 275 Amp! Edition
- HWZ: NVIDIA’s New GeForce GTX 275
- Hardware Canucks: Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 896MB Review
- InPai: Against HD4890: NVIDIA GTX275 full review!
- Bjorn3d: Nvidia GTX-275
- Toms Hardware: ATI Radeon HD 4890: Playing To Win Or Played Again?
- X-bit Labs: ATI Radeon HD 4890: 1GHz Conquered!
- TechRadar: ATI Radeon HD 4890 review
- BenchmarkReviews: Sapphire Radeon HD 4890
- Fudzilla: Sapphire and HIS Radeon HD 4890 under the glass
- TrustedReviews: AMD ATI Radeon HD 4890
- Anandtech: ATI Radeon HD 4890 vs. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275
- HEXUS: Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 XT and XFX Radeon HD 4890 OC XXX vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275
- ExtremeTech: Radeon HD 4890 and GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card Reviewed
- FiringSquad: Mainstream GPU Shootout: GeForce GTX 275 vs Radeon 4890
- LegitReviews: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 Versus ATI Radeon HD 4890

Tech News
- PC World: Google Acquisition Rumors Reflect Twitter’s Importance
- Netbooknews: Dell Mini Netbook roadmap and 10 options
- Laptop Mag: Hands-on with Nvidia Tegra Netbook Prototype
- Ars Technica: Samsung confirms Android handsets as Google adapts to market
- Apple Insider: Microsoft allows HP to wipe Windows 7 with XP through 2010
- HWZ: Canon Introduces 7 New LEGRIA Camcorders
- MIT News: New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices

Reviews | Guides
- InsideHW: MSI Wind Nettop D130
- Guru3D: Overclocking the Radeon HD 4890
- TweakTown: ASUS RT-N15 SuperSpeed N Gigabit Wireless Router
- Icrontic: Install Windows 7 from USB using Windows XP
- Windows 7 Forums: 64 bit vs 32 bit?
- OCModShop: How to repair your PSP’s LCD Screen

SG Tech \ MISC
- Techgoondu: StarHub wins Opco deal in Singapore’s NBN
- Simple is the Reason of My Heart: Canon Bloggers Event – 1st April 2009
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Be A Settlr For A Singapore-Only Social Network
- Otterman speaks: Ong Jun Da’s SG Wireless
- Small steps for Social PR: Facebook.com sees 1.038 million users from Singapore in Q1 2009
- APLINK: OrSiSo the newest social networking tool – wins AWARD [Thanks Andrew]
- Tech65.org: Gear65 #15 – Samsung Ultra Touch

April 6th, 2009 | Category: Daily Tech | Leave a comment

“The language that Singaporeans call Chinese – Mandarin – is thus only one language amongst several spoken even by Han Chinese in China. In China, it is called the National Language, or Common Language, but NEVER the Chinese language..”
The Lady Melissa

“To be asked to vote [on The Human Organ Transplant Act] which lacked any specifics at all might cause our parliament to be misconstrued as a “rubber-stamp” as many may consider voting for this legislation in such a way to be irresponsible and akin to writing a “blank cheque”.”
Dr. Huang Shoou Chyuan

“The question is: which will Singapore’s government choose: the deep thinkers they know they need…or the sheep thinkers they know how to lead?”
Valentine Cawley

“The worrying fact about Singapore’s political system is that its modern history reveals a complete absence of external checks and balances. The PAP monopolizes the political space, giving the voter little choice; civil society groups are suppressed by law.. Like a corporation, key decisions are center around a few individuals, whose identity, roles and functions are shrouded in mystery.”
Alastair Su

“There is in fact a dual track economy in Singapore. The rapid high-growth economy of the rich and powerful and the low if not negative-growth economy of the poor and powerless average Singaporean.”
Dennis Chua Soon Chai

“This TimesOnline article [The 10 highest paid politicians in the world] gets it all wrong. In truth, the ten highest paid politicians in the world are all pictured in the above photograph [PAP group photo].”
Martyn See

This week’s roundup and recommended reads after the break.
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April 4th, 2009 | Category: Weekly Roundup | Leave a comment