Hip hop song by 蔡淳佳 & 陈伟联?

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the interesting new song 《犯错》by 蔡淳佳 & 陈伟联. These two Singaporean singers, better known for singing more traditional chinese pop and oldies, were the least of all singers who I would expect to sing a hip hop song together. 犯错 gives the two singers a refreshing new image and is testimony to the need for singers to keep up with times. While the catchy song was a good effort, I still prefer the two singers singing their classic melodious tunes like 陪我看日出 (by 蔡淳佳) and 触摸 (by 陈伟联), which is undeniably their forte.

Blog Action Day poem

Today is Blog Action Day. It is an event in which bloggers all over the world shall post something related to the environment on this day in a bid to raise awareness of environmental issues. To find out more about Blog Action Day, visit http://blogactionday.org/

For my little contribution to the cause of Blog Action Day, I have penned a poem and I hope you will like it.

The Flight of the Last Seabird

Autumn’s coming to an end
The leaves have begun to turn yellow
Before long the chilly Northern winds have come
Presaging the arrival of the impatient winter
But the winter has come too soon, too abrupt
Something has gone wrong with the weather

The time for the Migration has come again
Yet it seems only yesterday when the seagulls settled here
The hatchlings were still too young to fly
But the lake would freeze soon and only death awaits
Leaving the young and the old to their fate
The seagulls reluctantly took off to the skies
Embarking once more on a journey in search for food, warmth and breeding sites
Little did they know that it would be their last flight

The terrain has changed beyond recognition
The forests have disappeared and mountains denuded
Flying over the parched and desiccated land seemingly devoid of life
The sea came into sight much earlier than expected
The coasts and sandy beaches have all but gone
And the land mass shrunken at an incredible rate
Giving up the fight against the relentless encroaching sea

Fishes abound in the never-ending sea
It might have been a seabird’s paradise
But it was not to be
Water was everywhere but not a sip to be had

Having flown for months without rest
Yet not a piece of land in sight
Battling thirst, aching muscles and sudden violent storms
Only a handful of seagulls have survived
Even so the numbers are rapidly declining
Till there was only one last bird flying
Striving against all odds to keep the hopes of dry land alive
But her efforts proved futile
As she finally succumbed to fatigue and plunged into the abysmal sea

Copyright © Ong Wei Guang

The poem illustrates a possible scenario of Earth in the future plagued by global climate changes, unpredictable violent storms, widespread desertification and most prominently rising sea levels which inundate vast swathes of land. The plight of the seagulls trying in vain to find suitable land to rest during their migration highlights the possibility of mass extinction of numerous species of plants and animals, due to the destruction of natural habitats caused by rising sea levels. All these could happen if global warming is left unchecked as man continues exploiting the natural resources of Earth and pumping ever-increasing copious amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere without restrain.

As the concentration of greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, more sunlight is trapped and reflected back to the Earth’s surface, raising global temperatures and melting glaciers and polar ice caps. As more ice melts, less sunlight is reflected back into space and this result in a positive feedback cycle, accelerating global warming. While some scientist have dismissed global warming as alarmist and believe that the Earth will be able to cope with the influx of greenhouse gases caused by the activities of man, there have been increasing evidence in recent years of the manifestations of the dire consequences of global warming all over the world. The Gaia hypothesis proposes that the Earth’s biosphere is a complex non-linear dynamic system and as such, rising global temperatures could reach a certain critical tipping point after which run-away sudden cataclysmic climate changes ensue, as in the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. But of course, do watch the show with a pinch of skepticism as Hollywood movies tend to exaggerate things.

Back from Taiwan

Just came back from my holiday with my parents in Taiwan yesterday. It was quite an eventful trip. Our flight to Taiwan was diverted to Hong Kong halfway into the journey due to typhoon Krosa. Too bad we didn't have much time to explore Hong Kong as we reached the hotel in the evening and stayed for a night there.

After wasting a day in Hong Kong, we finally arrived in Taiwan on 7th Oct in the afternoon. On our bus journey to the hotel I spotted electric windmills along the sea coast, and that's something you can't find back in Singapore.

Our main purpose in visiting Taiwan was sight-seeing and it was much to my chagrin when we realized that we were unable to visit Hualien and Taroko Gorge as the roads there were destroyed by the typhoon. The tour guide told us that the best scenery in Taiwan could only be found there but well, unforeseen circumstances do happen and we just have to change our plans. In the end we spent most of our time in Taiwan travelling on the tour bus, visting night markets and temples. The night markets there are similar to the Pasa Malams in Singapore except that they are permanent and sell different stuff. The stuff there are not as cheap as I expected so I didn't buy much. Food was aplenty but I had difficulty finding food in the night market that suited my taste as they mainly sell pig's organ soup and dried squid which I don't eat. I am not so adventurous in trying out exotic food. The melange of smells in the night markets proved to be quite overwhelming to me, especially that of the smelly beancurd or known as "Chou Tou Fu" and the exhaust fumes from the numerous scooters. The crowded night markets and endless jostling of people was a nuisance to me for I dislike crowds. Walking along the streets in Taiwan can be quite dangerous and irritating as scooters and motorcycles zip pass you every few seconds haphazardly. The motorcyclists in Taiwan do not seem to make any distinction between pavements meant for pedestrians and roads. You have to be constantly on the lookout least you get knocked down. I noticed that the percentage of scooters in Taiwan is much higher than that in Singapore, probably because it is more convenient to use a scooter than a car in negotiating narrow alleys and crowded streets illegally.

Our tour bus broke down on the fourth day on the highway en route from Taichung to Taipei. Seated near the back of the bus I detected acrid fumes that smelled burning rubber and the engine made loud rattling noises. Initially I thought the tyres were on fire but it was actually the engine that was emitting those noxious and suffocating fumes. The bus driver continued driving for a few minutes before the engine died and we were left stranded along the shoulder of the highway. The driver should have stopped the bus and opened the doors immediately instead of continuing driving. After trying in vain to start the engine for more than an hour, the driver gave up and another tour bus was sent to pick us up.

We visited Jiu Fen and Yeliu the next day. Yeliu was nice. It was almost surrealistic standing amidst the peculiar natural stone formations caused by weathering and sea erosion over millions of years. When viewed from certain angles, some of those rocklike protrusions bore an uncanny resemblance to the head of a queen wearing a crown or even the head of the alien E.T. in Steven Spielberg's film.

(That's me squatting on an egg-like stone in a ring-like rock outcropping)

(And that's me hugging E.T. the rock)

The second last day of our tour was free-and-easy. Strolling around aimlessly in the streets, we decided to take a MRT train to Taipei 101. However just as we were about to do so, the train service got disrupted due to an earthquake. So we went to Wulai mountain instead and was treated with the sight of a beautiful waterfall. We also got to see the aborginal dance of the Atayal tribe.

Thought not as fun as I expected, my trip to Taiwan was quite an interesting and refreshing experience away from the rigours of army life.