Monthly Archive for February, 2006

Memories at Old Ford Factory


Memories at
Old Ford Factory

Last Saturday, I went to the newly opened Memories at Old Ford Factory. Run by National Archives of Singapore, the factory - a gazetted national monument - houses an exhibition about life during the Japanese Occupation. It is rich with accounts and photos of life in Syonan-to.

Why house an exhibition gallery in Bukit Timah? Well, the Old Ford Factory was the place where the British surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February, the first day of Chinese New Year in 1942.

I’m not sure what it was but the exhibition moved me deeply. Over the years, I’ve read accounts of the war years; I always read them with an air of detachment. Somehow, the exhibits at Old Ford Factory brought the Occupation to life.

Memories at Old Ford Factory
The driveway leading to Memories at the Old Ford Factory. There are information boards along the driveway which describes the Fall of Singapore. It sets the scene for what’s to come in the gallery.

Japanese comic depicting the last days of British rule
This comic is among the first things visitors see. It’s interesting because we usually speak of the Occupation from the Singapore perspective. The drawings speak volumes about what the Japanese thought of the British. Nevertheless, I wish I knew what was written.

Percival and Yamashita
Percival and Yamashita. If they could speak, what would they say?

POW exhibit
A young Singaporean finds out about life as a Prisoner of War in Singapore.

Lim Bo Seng's diary
Lim Bo Seng’s diary: “We then took leave of each other. The children were too stupefied to realise what was happening. Each of them kissed me goodbye. I shall never forget their tear-stained faces as long as I live.”

Wedding Dress
Life went on during the war. People got married and had children. This wedding dress bears testament to that.

Wartime Garden
The wartime garden (behind the building) shows the types of plants that were important to the people during the war. Not many people seem to be aware of the existence of the garden.

Visitor information
More photos
Video of the surrender from Singapore Paranormal Investigators. I don’t subscribe to their views, but their page has interesting historical photos and information.

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Another anniversary: 1 year of Fr Roderick Vonhögen’s podcasts

Every weekday morning, I listen to a particular priest.

No, I don’t attend daily mass. But I do listen to a Podcasting Priest on The Daily Breakfast.

This podcast is the work of Fr. Roderick Vonhögen from the Archdiocese of Utrecht in Holland. Visit the StarQuest Podcast Network (SQPN) and you’ll see that he has great flair for graphics and design. Listen to his podcasts and you’ll hear audio shows with very high production values. He is a very talented, creative and engaging guy.

And somehow, he finds the time and energy to do this every weekday.

The Daily Breakfast is about 20 minutes to half an hour long. He usually starts by playing a song from the PodSafe Music Network or GarageBand.com. The rest of his show consists of interesting news, a fair bit of geekiness, occasional health advice, listener feedback and a segment about Catholicism called “The Peculiar Bunch”.

Some listeners think he’s too light on Catholic content and too heavy on 24, Lost, Star Trek, Star Wars, Macs and other geekazoid, popular culture topics. Me? I think his shows are quite well-balanced. But then, I am a geek. =P

A year ago, he started SoundSeeing tours of Rome, where he was studying. He happened to be there when Pope John Paul II passed away. He was there when Benedict XVI was announced as the new Pope. He has podcasted while running. He has podcasted from a boat. (Links in this paragraph are to mp3 files.)

Congratulations PodFather Roderick, on your first anniversary of podcasting. Keep up the terrific work, and God Bless!

———-
You can download The Daily Breakfast directly from SQPN. The easier way, of course (you can see this one coming), is to subscribe to the podcast feed. If you’re really keen, I can walk you through the process. If you’re not Catholic, don’t shy away from listening to his podcasts. This Breakfast is for everyone!

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Happy Birthday, Blog

My blog is three! Actually, I’ve blogged for three years. My blog has previously existed as an EasyJournal and a LiveJournal.

Naturally, I wanted to continue the User ID on blogspot, but someone took it. That someone hasn’t blogged since… August 2003!! Well, that’s why:

a) This site is ‘acroamatical’; and
b) I am squatting on WordPress. Just in case.

I know, I know, I can hear people like Sam saying, “Get your own domain!” Well, it’s hard to beat free.

Anyway, I meant to say that it’s been quite a journey. I never kept a journal prior to blogging. I never thought I would. So it’s always interesting to read my past entries. Sometimes, it’s almost like reading someone else’s blog: Did I really say/write/do that?

Besides documenting the good times and the bad, as well as being a repository of interesting resources, some of my posts remind me of what I failed to mention, either on purpose or otherwise. There’s context around each post that only I am privy to.

That’s ironic, yet comforting. Blogs are supposedly where some people bare their soul. Yet it’s a refuge all the same. I think my previous sub-title says it best: A place to hide | A place to reveal.

Photo by Aaron Logan, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

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Brain death by dull cubicle

DSC_0001 DSC_0002 DSC_0003 DSC_0004 DSC_0005 DSC_0006

Even if it’s not true a “dull, lifeless work environment [can] cause brain damage”, I like my cubicle the way I’ve done it.

The individual photos are annotated, so click to find out more. (You’ll have to mouseover the photo once on the individual photo page.)

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Churning

12 noon. Denise’s birthday lunch at Paulaner Brauhaus. Buffet. Meat galore. Free flow of beer. Eat to heart’s content. Stomach protests.

2 pm. Follow my parents to Harvey Norman to get a new cordless phone. Needed the walk.

3 pm. Meet Sister Theresa with Adrian, Dennis, Felicia, Gerry and Terence at TCC next to Plaza Singapura. Have a Latte Mocha. (Or is it a Mocha Latte?)

5 pm. Terence and Felicia go on their way. Accompany Sister Theresa to JL, where she meets fellow nuns. Follow Dennis on his quest for new jeans. Adrian offers his. (And we were just talking about Brokeback Mountain prior to that. You make your own conclusions.)

6 pm. Follow Gerry for dinner at S-11 Cuppage. Have lime juice and Cheng Tng.

7 pm. Gerry leaves Adrian, Dennis and I. Adrian decides he is hungry. We eat at Sakae Sushi, Heeren. I have two pieces of Genkan Sushi. Still full from lunch.

8.50 pm to 9 pm. International phone call.

9 pm. Meet Theresa and Cheryl at Starbucks. Have a Raspberry Frap. Feel stomach churning.

11.15 pm. Home. Toilet. Frap turns to crap.

11.45 pm. Crap again. Watery stuff again.

12.15 am. The third time. Hopefully the last for tonight.

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