Floating Platforms to house foreign workers? I also want!

You've seen the news, the authorities are thinking about housing foreign workers on floating platforms liken to the one at Marina Bay because there is nowhere and nobody on mainland is willing to accommodate their presence.

I don't know about you, but now I'm definitely envious and even jealous that these foreign workers who toil for our nation's development are getting the ultimate upgrade! Why? This is waterfront living at its best lor!

Think about it, the rich spent millions just to get that sea-facing apartment in places like East Coast, Tanjong Rhu and Sentosa Cove. But now, foreign workers now stand to get the equivalent without paying a single cent!

Living on the floating platform, the inhabitants will be so much closer to the water compared to the mainland counterparts where they can only see and not touch the water. For recreation, the inhabitants will undoubtedly improvise and develop new fun activities that will have us mainlanders exclaim, "Hey! That's so cool! I wanna try that too!"

Their monthly mass swim around their floating platform could well become the iconic pastime of this innovative solution.

Subsistence would be well taken care of as the floating platform would become a kelong on steroids. The inhabitants would live on the freshest catches which are larger because they feed on the additional "nutrients" from the floating platform. Or perhaps to make fishing easier, a dedicated kelong module can be attached to harvest the fish that the inhabitants will grow to love.

Speaking of modular design, facilities can be added and removed easily! If the inhabitants want a playing field for cricket, it can be attached to the west wing of the floating platform! They could even start a floating platform cricket league and perhaps even discover a world class cricket team that will win Singapore an Olympic medal or two.

Bored of cricket? Just replace the attachment with a sports hall with ping pong tables and voila! A place to tap into another pool of potential medal winners. Better yet, both recreational facilities can co-exist as a statement of harmony. Of course, there will also be the grass patch module that emulates the open fields that the foreign workers love to frolic in on weekends.

On top of it all, the floating platform will have no risk of typhoons, hurricanes and the impending rise of the sea level, thanks to global warming. This should have forward thinking property developers enthusiastically proposing projects with taglines like, "The final frontier of waterfront living."

Such projects will be marketed as the ultimate waterfront luxury that is sought after by the rich, glamorous and powerful. The people will lust after it for the prestige and security.

Mainlanders will inadvertently get into a panic buying mode to buy their little plot of a floating platform as they observe the sea encroach into the land. Yes, floating platforms will become the ultimate real estate investment. So much so that we will then probably need to displace the first floating platform of foreign workers, probably back to the less valuable mainland.

The Padang at Night

I was there waiting for the fireworks, but it turned out to be a bad session thanks to the wind that turned the intended fireworks shots into something that might be mistaken as aurora borealis.

To Singapore, With Love

The view from Fullerton Hotel

At night...

In the morning...

It is literally a thousand dollar view. (because it costs that much for a night there.)

Trioon Fashion Shoot

Well, sort of.

Helped a friend to shoot her own line of clothes.
So I guess while I am at it, I should promote it as well.

Go to www.trioon.com. Besides clothes, Trioon (pronounced "three on") also carries plenty of accessories for the total package as well as homeware to light up your abode.

...And back to a little bit of technical info of how these shots were taken: No fancy set up of muslin backdrop, just a plain wall and a speedlight flash bouncing off from the ceiling. And I conveniently cropped the shots around the knees to hide the ugly convergence of the wall and floor.

Camera setup: D300, 18-200mm VR, SB600

For more photos from this shoot, visit: http://kormmandos.multiply.com/photos/album/200/Trioon_Fashion_Shoot

Madonna Hard Candy Album Launch Party at Zouk

It's amazing how someone half a century old remains so relevant in this day. I quote a friend: "She seems to get better with age."
Even more amazingly, what he said over ten years ago stays true even today. No, I am not talking about wine here. It's Madonna, and she's looking better than ever on here new album cover.

Unfortunately, the iconic artist herself did not grace the event to launch her new album, Hard Candy held at Zouk. Oh well, it would be a miserable party by her cultural icon stature to attend anyway.

But still, credits to Zouk for throwing the party with all the bell and whistles paying tribute to Madonna and her new album. Snippets of Madonna trivia adorned the walls all over as I entered the main area. Models distributed various candy treats and over-sized lollipops with sticker of her latest album cover. The whole setting was awfully fun, in a cheesy kind of way.

The music for the night was all Madonna's music new and old. All were great, just that you probably couldn't tell which one came from the new album that the event was supposed to promote. In between songs, the large screen aired excerpts of interviews with Madonna sharing about her music.

At the central dance floor, a boxing ring was erected for the main event of the party, Muay Thai. According to the host of the night, MTV VJ Taya, Madonna keeps in shape with this rigorous sport. Her well-toned arms are definitely testaments of the tough training associated with this martial art.

MTV VJ Taya

Anyway, there would be two matches for that night between 4 ladies. I was darn suspicious that the matches would probably be intentionally staged a-la WWE. I mean, Girl-versus-Girl Muay Thai reeks of more of cat-fight than the esteemed sport. It didn't help that Taya added that the fights would be given a "fun" twist.

The first fighter was introduced to the audience when her prancing around with a fencing sabre, clumsily poking an imaginary target. Then it got worse with the second fighter appearing in the ring looking like a geisha. Oh yah, both of them had video clips aired before their appearances exaggerating how bad-ass they are in the ring and how they kick serious butt with less than a total 18 months' of training between them.
Riiight...

So the fight went underway both fighters went head on and unleashed endless flurry of merciless punches and kicks against each other that would make bouncers look like wimps. Each blow emitted shockwaves that could be felt by the audience. No, wait, I was kidding. Actually, they pranced around each other and daintily kitty-scratched, er, I mean punched each other, and occasionally delivering surprise but off target tickles, er I mean, kicks.

As the rounds came to an end, rather buff topless guys stepped on to stage with a placard to signal the next round, just like real boxing matches except with the roles reversed. They definitely earned plenty of wolf-whistles from the crowds.

Then something interesting happened, one of the fighters adopted a awesome strategy of attacking the opponent's fists with her face! It was so effective that her adversary relented with apprehension when blood trickled from her nose! The crowds approved with louder cheers in sadistic ecstasy to drum up the aggression in the fighters. Screams of approval for more blood were everywhere. "More! More! More!" they cheered.

When the match was over, the referee announced both fighters as winners.
"Kelong!" the crowds booed and jeered in good fun. Obviously, the results was staged. But there would be a prize for the favourite fighter that would be decided by the audiences' cheers, the fighter with the louder support walks away with a brand new Samsung MP3 player.

Next up would probably be one of the most embarrassing moments ever. Taya introduced a British lady kick boxer who has won 7 consecutive British Championships and a European Championship. She was invited to Singapore for the event, but there wasn't anyone locally who would step into the ring with her. A challenge was then issued to the audience for anyone, male or female, who would spar with her. As you might have guessed, nobody took up the challenge, and the 7-time British Champion and European Champion was all alone doing her kick boxing display thing in the ring until her time was up and left.

The crowd was expecting a more exciting second match following the blood from the first match and the display by the British champion. Their cheers significantly louder as the fighters of the second match arrived on stage.

Unfortunately, the fight turned out to be a less eventful one, with one fighter carelessly tripping over her opponents foot in the first round. The fighters were considerably less aggressive compared to those in the first match and it definitely look a lot more like an actual cat-fight with plenty of rather comical kitty-punches. But everyone there was still well-entertained by the fight. The presence of ample alcohol definitely helped to keep everyone happy.

Predictably, both fighters were announced as winners but they got into a tie with both garnering equally strong support from the crowd. The host eventually awarded both fighters with an MP3 player each.

Oh, and if you didn't notice, the best thing to happen for this whole event was that I still have no idea how Madonna's new album sounds like. So now I probably have to buy, beg, borrow or steal to satisfy my curiosity.

Haji Sulaiman and Wartinah's Wedding

Congratulations to Haji Sulaiman and Wartinah!

Malay weddings are really nice, fun and warm because of the location and setting, usually a HDB void deck that is elaborately decorated and sometimes lasts for a few days to cater to literally the whole kampung or nearly the whole neighbourhood. Yup, it is a community event with a very unique kampung-spirit.

The life of these parties are almost always the parents and relatives that congregate at these momentous occasions to shower their blessings on the couple. Their expressions are of pride and joy and absolutely infectious.

Negotiations

Click here for more pictures from the event!