Op GP Journal 8: SKY Castle

15 July 2020

We all lie... at some point of our life, to make ourself feel better.

tell you the truth, “SKY Castle” is a dark, satire, psychological thriller that turns out to be an unexpected addiction.

love how this black comedy parodied different style of parenting, the insane logic of tuition, paper chase, social inequality, social mobility & mental torture. it is a 1st world problem that is quite relatable among developed countries. we can easily replaced ‘SKY’, an abbreviation of Seoul National University, Korea University & Yonsei University, with ‘NNS’, short for NUS, NTU & SMU.

as the plot develops, the acting by some of the leads do send chill down my spine. Especially so for the tutor Kim Joo-young (played by Kim Seoul-hyung, best known for her role as the mistress Shin Ae-ri in “Temptation of Wife”). the beautiful melody & honest lyrics of the ost “We all lie” gives me goosebumps too. Ha-Jin’s hollow vocal sounds like she is mocking the ladies whenever something is about to happen...

“We all lie, tell you the truth. Sometimes, we laugh and easily lie.”

rating 10/10 excellent

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Op GP Journal 8: SKY Castle   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Op GP Journal 7: Boundary changes of Constituencies & alleged gerrymandering

13 July 2020

as a map lover, i love to study the boundary changes of the constituencies & alleged gerrymandering. i have been studying this since 1996, as GE1997 was the 1st election after i fell in love with maps. in fact, i find this subject more exciting than the election itself (map otaku mode).

the 1st batch of GRCs are political, as these GRCs are merely ‘random’ grouping of 3 adjacent constituencies, with little reference to geographic accuracy. this resulted in many legacy names like Brickworks GRC, Cheng San GRC & Eunos GRC that aint names of any new town or major district.

GRC grew to 4-members in GE1991. ironically, boundaries changes aint drastic, as the GRC either add a 4th seat (e.g. addition of Pasir Ris in Eunos GRC & Changkat South in Tampines GRC; mostly seen at newer developing areas), spliting of existing division (e.g. splitting of Hong Kah Central into Hong Kah East & Hong Kah West in Hong Kah GRC), or absorbing an adjacent constituency (e.g. Bukit Panjang into Sembawang GRC, Punggol into Cheng San GRC, Tanjong Pagar into Tiong Bahru GRC). generally, there isnt drastic changes to the boundaries of each ward/division.

1997 is the peak of gerrymandering, as it saw the born of 5-members & 6-members GRC + the creation of awkward long corridors that dont make geographic sense! the most infamous example being Marine Parade GRC’s absorption of Braddell Heights & Serangoon Garden (notoriously known as the part of Marine Parade without the sea breeze). weird long corridors were also created to link Aljunied GRC to Changi-Simei, Bukit Timah GRC to Tuas & Tanjong Pagar GRC to Macritchie Reservoir.

these changes were major & it leads to an eastward shift of constituency names that remains till today. For example, Geylang Serai ward is at Eunos; Eunos ward is at Bedok Reservoir; Kampong Kembangan ward is at Chai Chee; Kampong Chai Chee is at Bedok N4; Kaki Bukit ward is at Bedok N5; Joo Chiat ward is at Siglap; Siglap ward is at Bedok Corner & stretches all the way to Loyang, Changi Village, Ubin & Tekong).

in fact, many areas were completely outside their name-sake constituency. For example, Aljunied GRC does not contain Aljunied, Upper Aljunied or Joo Seng. it would have been more appropriate to renamed Aljunied GRC to Paya Lebar GRC, as Paya Lebar ward, PLAB, Tai Seng & Tai Keng are inside the GRC.

in the past, CC will be renamed after the new constituency it is located in. this can be confusing to taxi-drivers & the average Singaporeans. thank god that this practice has stopped. some wards have been renamed to reflect their new locality (e.g. Kembangan - Chai Chee), but most of the ward names are not changed. amenities & infrastructures within opposition or hotly contested wards are also awkwardly named to avoid association with opposition (e.g. Cheng San Library instead of Hougang Library, Ci Yuan CC instead of Hougang West CC, Potong Pasir MRT was originally planned as Sennett MRT etc).

GE2001 witnessed the birth of an enclaved SMC, as Hougang SMC was entirely surrounded by Aljunied GRC & it remained as such till 2011. Subsequently, several new enclaved SMC were formed/absorbed over the years: Bukit Panjang (2006), Yuhua (2011) & Pioneer (2020).

contrary to popular beliefs, boundaries actually starts to improve since 2001 & continue to improve over the years. while many GRCs & Town Councils (TC) still have little pockets of foreign territories within their control, the boundaries start to make more logical sense than 1997. more GRCs & TCs starts to correspond to the actual boundaries of new towns (e.g. Tampines, Bishan, Yishun, Sengkang). although it is still a big mess in the West & Northwest (e.g. Woodlands is awkardly split by Sembawang GRC & Marsiling Yew Tee GRC along minor streets. Bukit Batok is divided into Bukit Batok SMC, Hong Kah North SMC, Chua Chu Kang GRC & Jurong GRC).

traditionally, boundaries of opposition wards remain intact as long as the opposition remains in power. however, hotly contested wards tends to disappear or with boundaries drastically redrawn.

therefore, i’m very curious on how East Coast GRC & Marine Parade GRC will be split & re-group. West Coast GRC (that stretches from Sentosa & Telok Blangah to Tuas) will likely be split & regroup with parts of Tanjong Pagar GRC & Jurong GRC. Chua Chu Kang GRC will likely re-group with Marsiling Yew Tee GRC.

furthermore, with the impending population explosion at pockets of Hougang & massive development at Tampines South, the splitting of Aljunied GRC seems inevitable. i doubt 6-member GRC will make a comeback, so the fairest approach will be the re-introduction of 3-member GRC for the entire Singapore. in this way, Aljunied GRC could be split into 2x 3-member GRCs (Hougang portion & Bedok Reservoir portion) without massive boundary changes.

or maybe GRC, the huge elephant in the room, might be scrapped for good. afterall racial quotas can still be implemented on specific SMCs & adjacent SMCs may still group to form a TC.

Response to "If Electoral Boundaries Make No Sense, The EBRC’s Explanation Only Makes Things More Confusing" by Sophie Chew (original article at https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-commentary-do-our-electoral-boundaries-make-sense-ebrc).

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Op GP Journal 7: Boundary changes of Constituencies & alleged gerrymandering   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Op GP Journal 6: I absolutely hate Adobe’s intangible Creative Cloud (CC) subscription model

07 June 2020

time of the year again & i guess only designers & creative professionals will understand this pain.

i have a serious love-hate relationship with Adobe. its signature softwares like Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat, has been easy & efficient to use; these have been a staple on my desktop since ADM days.

but i absolutely hate Adobe’s intangible Creative Cloud (CC) subscription model. there is no ownership of media & we are on an indefinite loop of paying crazily high annual subscription fee/tax. if not, we will end up being unable to open or edit our previously saved files; our own works done using softwares that we previously paid for. the worse part is, much of the fees are for programmes/features bundled that we dont need/use. tbh i dun need the most up-to-date softwares/functions to get my indesign layout done; those are pretty much just fancy decorations to me. unlike Microsoft Office, Adobe do not offer options for one-time permanent purchase or single software subscription.

For the benefit of non-designers, using of Adobe softwares is akin to everyday usage of Microsoft Word, Powerpoint Excel & Paint. Adobe is the industry standard & the creative industries relies heavily on Adobe for compatibility. Adobe holds such a strong software, skills & muscle monopoly in the industry for decades that there is still no comparable competitors to challenge its position or market share. there is just no real/compatible alternatives to choose from. Hence, you should understand the agony of its forceful CC subscription model.

so the CC subscription model is obviously an abuse of unfair monopoly power. if the bundling of Microsoft Windows & Internet Explorer was considered monopoly that leads to a high-profile lawsuit & breakup in the 90s, i wonder why the same has not been apply to Adobe...? 🤔

Response to "Is Adobe’s Creative Cloud Too Powerful for Its Own Good?" by Ernie Smith (original article at https://www.vice.com/en/article/3kgw83/is-adobes-creative-cloud-too-powerful-for-its-own-good).

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Op GP Journal 6: I absolutely hate Adobe’s intangible Creative Cloud (CC) subscription model   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Op GP Journal 5: 21years of J-pop

06 June 2020

celebrated 20years of J-pop last year.
my love is still the same, but added a few ‘未開封’ rare collectibles & new titles that i bought over the past few months.

this project allows me to know a few J-pop collectible comrades thru ig + dream’s Tachibana Kana liked my post (fanboy mode).

almost finish downloading my entire CD collection (tbh i really lose count on the number & $$$) into my iTunes Library (should be able to complete this way overdue task during my recovery period). cant wait for the convenience of listening to every songs without searching high & low thru my room again. :)
perhaps i should do a review for my K-pop collection’s 20th Anniversary (June 2022) too.

[Original Introduction 2019] 20years of J-pop:
besides maps, music is the other major interests that defines my life. i played a few instruments; wrote lyrics & listens to various genres/languages. Of which, nothing beats J-pop. i like J-pop for its creativity, talent & open-mindedness.
the very first J-pop song i heard was “DANCING JUNK” by SUPER MONKEY (parent group of 安室奈美恵 & MAX) in 1993. “DANCING JUNK” was the ending theme for the ninja cartoon “忍者乱太郎”, which was aired thru Ch8 on Saturday morning.
I was officially introduced to J-pop during my days in concert band. my band played numerous Japanese folk & J-pop pieces, which includes Puffy’s “アジアの純真”, Kinki Kids “硝子の少年”, Le Couple “ひだまりの詩”, “上を向いて歩こう (Sukiyaki)”, “Nippon Minyo” etc. (sometimes we joked that we are a Japanese school band).
We started playing SPEED’s “White Love” in February 1999 and this song completely changed my life. i was addicted to the song and eventually bought my 1st J-pop CD (SPEED’s best album “MOMENT”) on 26 June 1999. in the next few months, i fell in love with all the songs included in “MOMENT”, kickstarting a crazy fandom on SPEED.
shortly later, SPEED disbanded & i started following a list of J-pop artists I like. before the age of iTunes, it is difficult & expensive to purchase J-pop outside Japan. over the years, i witnessed the transformation of J-pop; rise & fall of superstars; and a fair amount of artists i like who choose to retire/hiatus/disband/nosedive/transform/comeback. it has been an exciting 20years. to commemorate the 20th anniversary, i will be rolling out a new series (wanted to do this for a while & started planning since December 2018), featuring the Top 20 J-pop artists i like, over the next 20days.

[Original Ranking 2019 (actually still the same)]
J-pop Artists I Like:
1位: SPEED
2位: 浜崎あゆみ Hamasaki Ayumi
3位: 安室奈美恵 Amuro Namie
4位: dream
5位: 倖田來未 Koda Kumi
6位: MAX
7位: モーニング娘。 morning musume.
8位: Do As Infinity
9位: 宇多田ヒカル Utada Hikaru
10位: globe
11位: 中島美嘉 Nakashima Mika
12位: 相川七瀬 Aikawa Nanase
13位: Every Little Thing
14位: 椎名林檎 Shiina Ringo
15位: hitomi
16位: m-flo
17位: 矢井田瞳 Yaida Hitomi
18位: MISIA
19位: GLAY
20位: 倉木麻衣 Kuraki Mai

#20yearsofJpop #Jpop #BPmusic
#MusicismyLIFE #otaku #collectible

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Op GP Journal 5: 21years of J-pop   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Op GP Journal 4: The radial states of America

05 June 2020

so bad, its so good! 🤣🌈

unpopular opinion: i dont support racism; but i do remembered there was simpler days when we dont see any problems with an asian acting as a yellow ranger, a black as black ranger, a girly girl as pink ranger or a nerd as blue ranger. we just see them as another human/superhero. perspective is a powerful tool.

objectively, i do wonder whether racism is a human’s built-in survival mechanism, bcoz racism/supremacy is an issue since antiquity, but nothing much improved since. hope there is some unbias psychological research done on this hypothesis. + nowadays, people just seems to sensationalize, over-react & get offended so easily over everything anything, especially on subjects/perspectives that dont align with their own. people will start laffing, labeling, blaming, doxing others from the opposite camp. somehow it feels like a regression of free speech & open-mindness, especially among keyboard warriors in social medias (u & i included). tbh if 1 disagree with what the author wrote, 1 can simply scroll next, there is no need to ‘engage in discussion’, ‘trying to correct your mindset’, feel upset or getting everyone to like you or agree with you. thats not how social media should work. perhaps try getting a life offline. :)

Response to "The radial states of America" by Terrible Maps (original article at https://www.facebook.com/TerribleMaps/photos/a.1702342333343482/
2903845683193135).

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Op GP Journal 4: The radial states of America   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Op GP Journal 2: “剃头刀” (Titoudao)

04 June 2020

“剃头刀” (Titoudao) is a local drama based on the life story of a celebrated wayang star Mdm Oon Ah Chiam.

good storyline, well-developed characters & great choice of cast. “剃头刀” is indeed 1 of the best local dramas in a while; matching standards of “西瓜甜不甜” (my favourite from the 2010s), “幸福双人床” (my favourite from the 2000s) & “福满人间” (my favourite from the 1990s).

the only thing i’ll pick on is the inconsistency of 娟姐’s flip-flop addressing of Nick Shen as 师兄/师父 thruout the show). & of coz, the feeling will be different if this show was entirely filmed in hokkien.

“剃头刀” also proves that if mediacorpse is willing to pour in effort, resources & support, they are still capable of producing good shows.

Watch “剃头刀” (Titoudao) at meWatch.
rating 8/10 good

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Op GP Journal 2: “剃头刀” (Titoudao)   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Op GP Journal 1: Give the nurses & frontline heroes the overdue amount of respect & recognition

03 June 2020

2 recent hospiatisation stays makes me even more aware that medical frontline workers (esp nursing) are extremely demanding, overstretched, but extremely underappreciated professions.

i hope the authotities would stop doing all those superficial/boliao wayangs (e.g. clapping, singing, running-on-spot etc) that are just outright ridiculous/insulting to these hardworking professionals & dont help them at all. seriously what do the authorities hope to achieve thru these lame clapping/singing? what do they expect the frontline heroes to feel upon learning these lame/silly clapping/singing/running? i bet most of them just feel its pretty silly/intangible...🙄 + somehow it also just rudely makes the establishment appear even more pathetic/incompetent in handling the pandemic & worsening their image of totally losing touch with ground sensing (i can totally imagine some big shot screaming “omg, we are failing so badly, we must do some campaigns to self-pat & hype the motivation!”🐏).

perhaps the authority can do something easier, more practical & less humidating: give the nurses & frontline heroes the overdue amount of respect, recognition, justifiable remuneration, benefits, resources & support. stop asking them to forecefully clear their leave/off/UPL (many nurses told me they have to do so, if not, they have to serve in ICU/HD wards).

Response to "Instead Of Claps & Flowers, Canada Is Helping Its Essential Workers By Giving Them A Raise" by Meenu Katariya (original article at https://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/canada-is-helping-its-essential-workers-by-giving-them-a-raise).

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Op GP Journal 1: Give the nurses & frontline heroes the overdue amount of respect & recognition   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.