Sunday, November 08, 2009

I stand with Ajahan Brahm


Kalama Sutta

Do not believe in anything (simply)
because you have heard it.

Do not believe in traditions because they
have been handed down for many generations.


Do not believe in anything because it is

spoken and rumoured by many.


Do not believe in anything (simply) because

it is found written in your religious books.


Do not believe in anything merely on the authority

of your teachers and elders.


But after observation and analysis

when you find that anything agrees with reason

and is conductive to the good and benefit of one and all

then accept it and live up to it.

- Buddha

Friday, November 06, 2009

How to make an Aries fall in love with you

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-an-aries-fall-in-love-with-you-217897/

Is this why my girlfriend can take all my Aries nonsense?

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Director of Photography

Director of Photography Pang Sern Yong goes by many monikers in school.

The guys call him Tun Datuk Pang and Bruce Lee, while the girls call him Hunk or Metro. But on set, he is THE DOP. Not just any DOP, but, THE DOP.

As you can see from the title, it is a very important job, just like how ‘Tun Datuk’ is a very important title in Malaysia. He basically presides over the grips, gaffers and camera assistants, and similar with the director, has the last say with lighting and camera angles (Wikipedia say one). Hence, it is o wonder that in many film sets, the DOP and the director ends up rolling on the floors with their fists up.

Thankfully, such a thing will definitely not happen (hopefully ><) on the set of this film.

Afterall, who wants to pick a fight with a doppelganger of Bruce Lee?

The Producer

The Producer’s biggest fear is when the production team comes up with crazy ideas that threatens to blow the budget into pieces, and this is exactly what is happening now. P.S. The Producer aka Mama Zixin is the Mother Hen of the group (the rest being Otaku Girl, The Hunk and the Alpha Male).

Onset a Cambodian documentary film. Zixin also likes to take photos of herself.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Day-Jobs

Something for filmmaking enthusiasts to think about, especially when they want to have direct control of their works and yet, not work up the cruel system.

Your cell phone rings. You've been short listed for the Oscars. So why are you taking this call in a Home Depot parking lot, surrounded by drywall and new flooring, on your way to repair a disastrously flooded apartment?

You may be a filmmaker, but you're also a landlord. This is the day job that makes your film career possible, and now the flood is your problem. Welcome to a filmmaker's glamorous life.

Read more: A Filmmaker's Glamorous Life, Filmmaker Magazine.

On a side note, I think I am really cursed by Fly-By-Night Video Challenge. Last year we were caught by the police for trespassing. This year, the entire footage was mysteriously missing from the tape. In the end, there was no submission. Maybe there won't be next year. $25 donation to the arts community.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Nietzsche and the Buddha

As one of the 'best read and most solidly grounded in Buddhism for his time among Europeans'
Western Buddhists sometimes use Nietzsche to champion the Eastern philosophy in traditional European Christian societies:
"It is a hundred times more realistic than Christianity - it has the heritage of a cool and objective posing of problems of its composition, it arrives after a philosophical movement lasting hundreds of years; the concept 'God' is already abolished by the time it arrives... it no longer speaks of the struggle against sin; but quite in accordance with actuality, the struggle against suffering. It already has - and this distinguishes it profoundly from Christianity - the self-deception of moral concepts behind it - it stands, in my language, beyond good and evil." (Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols/The Anti-Christ, p. 141.)

Nietzsche however still sees Buddhism as a danger:
"an historical parallel between his own age and that of the Buddha. The Buddha, according to Nietzsche, saw in his own age, just like Nietzsche, that 'God is Dead'. But, rather than create a new avenue by which human potential could unfold, thereby passing beyond nihilism, the Buddha failed by creating a new religion that simply helped man adjust to nihilism. The Buddha's response to the possible 'awe inspiring catastrophe' 21 of his own time was to found a religion which, rather than help people overcome the newly felt meaninglessness of existence and create a new more meaningful vision of existence, simply helped them adjust to nihilism with a certain degree of cheerful acceptance."

A short defense of Buddhism against Nietzsche's criticism.

Pankaj Mishra's view of Nietzsche's ideas:
He considered Buddhism a 'danger' partly because he admired it himself. He described the Buddha as a 'physiologist', administering to a depressed people, to late human beings... races grown kindly, gentle, over-intellectual who feel pain too easily'. He gave a succinct account of how he tough the Buddha dealt with the spiritual weariness caused by the collapse of old beliefs and the rise of nihilism in his time:

with life in the open air, the wandering life; with moderation and fastidiousness as regards food; with caution towards all emotions which produce gall, which heat the blood; no anxiety, either for oneself or for others. He demands ideas which produces repose of cheerfulness - he devises means for disaccustoming oneself to others. He understands benevolence, being kind, as health-promoting... His teachings resists nothing more than it resists the feeling of revengefulness, of antipathy, of ressentiment (Nietzsche, Anti-Christ, p. 142.)

Saturday, October 31, 2009

MM Lee in the US

For the most powerful country in the world to give such a warm reception to a tiny red dot is a symbol of the US respect and recognition of MM Lee and the miracle of Singapore. It is a sign that despite what detractors may say, our country is not falling into redundancy. Its place in the world, especially in Asia, is still vital.

"This is one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries," - President Obama on MM Lee.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Day Job (1)

"I work at the second largest Banana Republic in the world. Beat that! I’m the shipment lead, which means at 5:30 in the morning I meet a truck in an alley off Union Square and direct a crew through the unloading and unpacking of hundreds of boxes. The pay is nominal, not nearly enough to make rent let alone fund films, but I’m off by 2:00 PM and free to hit up coffee shops to write during the mid-day lull. The people I work with at Banana are some of the most interesting I’ve ever met. A few are in the film, actually."
- Barry Jenkins, director of Medicine for Melancholy


For Nation



Our forefathers have done so much for us to enjoy the fruits of their hard labour, their blood and sweat. Our country has gone through so much and yet in less than 4 decades, we have leapfrogged from third world to first. Now isn't the time to rest on our laurels. To be a Singaporean is to also accept and recognise the weaknesses of the country and then to work and improve it. We can choose to not be mere armchair critics with big ideas and bombastic words.

Yet as we have achieved material success, the next step will be to enrich the soul of the people. The country is still far from there. But development takes time. Why not you be a part of it?

Force 136



Isn't SOC a modern day thing?


The good ol' days of Singapore television.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Military Police

"Tsuchikane knew he stood no chance. Military Police were a special breed. They got extra military education and they, too, were selected from the finest. Even a non-commissioned Kempeitai corporal could roast any officer up to the rank of lieutenant with impunity." - Guns of February.

There's no guessing why I selected the above phrase. Having served as a Military Policeman back in NS days, the huge contrast makes me wonder if the standards of soldiering has dropped.


Guns of February
is a fantastic book and one that touches the heart. It consist of accounts from 6 Japanese soldiers who fought in the Malayan campaign and the Occupation of Singapore. And while history is written by victors, the book give the invading Japanese soldiers a human side that is often neglected in this part of the world. The soldiers were after all, still human beings.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Talentime

5 stars for this film. So beautiful and it makes me wonder why no one in Singapore has ever made films like Yasmin does? But then again, she is indeed irreplaceable. But considering the racial mix of our country, it can be a tad disappointing to note that our films are still too Chinese-centric. Rarely do we have a good racial mix. The latest, however, being Huang Yiliang's Autumn in March, which made an earnest effort to portray Indian and Malay characters in a goodlight, though the screentime is still limited.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

CCP or the KMT?

Zak, fresh from City of Life and Death, embarked on some sort of a "street poll" with some of the ethnic Chinese Singaporeans in school; The Chinese Communist Party or Kuo Ming Tang?

After about 4 or 5 or our peers, we realise that none of them are even aware of the different idealogies each party represents. Needless to say, no one made a choice, except for apathetic responses. The early Chinese in Singapore have always had a deep interest in the political affairs of China, especially pre-war. But in retrospect, this "street poll" is sort of a litmus test of the social mindset of Singaporeans Chinese. We just don't identify with China anymore.

In any case, I chose KMT, if I was there at that time. Afterall, most of the Hakka Chinese were on their side. But that was then. Now, we know there is possibly little chance for Taiwan's independence.

Another question. Does the late Deng Xiaoping deserves a Noble Peace Prize for opening China up and taking the first steps of eradicating poverty and famine in the country?

"There are no friends in CS"

"There are no friends in CS," said Ziliang the Jock.

"There are no friends in CS, but people with similar interests," added Zak the Pseudo-Mat.

I am less cynical. I always believe that there are true friends in CS, except that there are more shallow people with ulterior motive.

An incident in the past week has only strengthened our views. It's sad to realise that the people here can be a bunch of ungrateful lot who at times require a scapegoat to be an excuse of their shortcomings.

Autumn in March

Huang Yiliang is more well-known to many of us as the 'uncle' in all the SBC/TCS/Mediacorp shows, and there's an affinity my generation had with him. Afterall, we grow up watching his shows. When Huang announced his filmmaking dream last year and boldly made the jump to shoot his first film, I could identify with his dream and passion for the craft, and was anticipating to its hopeful release on the big screen. But I was eventually disappointed to find out from Pang that Huang's film has failed to be picked up by distributors and will instead go into a DVD release.I went online and ordered the film and within 2 days, the DVD reached by mail. My verdict for Autumn in March is definitely better than some of the local commercial ones that we've seen being released by the same ol' guy. And it's a pity really. It has a very interesting story and is technically sound. But what may have failed it is the gamble to take on a new face as the lead role in the film. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. In this case, it probably did not seat well with the big honchos of the local distributors.

To sustain a filmmaking dream is hard and daunting. To even make that leap into realising that dream is even harder, especially when we all know that filmmaking in Singapore is usually 99.9% a money-losing venture. If you would like to support Huang, you can purchase the DVD of the film at the official website.