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A Visit To The Shrine Of Remembrance

13 August 2012

I’ve always wanted to visit the Shrine of Remembrance at the Botanic Gardens but have also put it off for various reasons. Earlier this year, I was adamant I that I would go to the dawn service on Anzac Day and check out the parade and nothing was going to stop me.

Well, it rained cats and dogs on the morning the service was held and my king sized bed was just too comfy and warm to get out of. I’ve inadvertently found an excuse not to stay in bed when hundreds braved the rain for the service at the shrine.

Forward a couple of months later, I was out and about in the city attending the Game Masters exhibition and had my camera with me and thought it’ll be a good chance to mosey over to the shrine since it was just a stone’s throw away from Federation Square.

It was an extremely awe inspiring experience to say the least, looking at exhibits on display seeing what the diggers have to go through during the 2 World Wars and it’s an harrowing reminder of what destruction war can bring and how resilient the human spirit is when it comes to preserving our freedom.

I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the crypt of the shrine and was greet with a huge union jack flag named the “Changi Flag”.

The flag flew over the Sultan’s palace in Johore, the southernmost state of Malaya until in 1941 it was removed by Captain Ken Parsons of the 2/3rd Motor Ambulance Convoy to prevent it falling into enemy hands. After the fall of Singapore the flag was held by the captured Australians in Changi Prison , where it was kept safe until liberation in 1945. Throughout the prisoners’ captivity, the flag was brought out on ceremonial occasions, including the burial of prisoners, then secured again. It became a symbol of the courage of the prisoners of war.

Between 1942 and 1945, over one hundred signatures were placed on the flag. Of these, 91 are Australians, including 33 Victorians, 36 New South Welshmen, 16 Queenslanders and 2 Western Australians. The remaining signatures are attributed to members of the liberating force in 1945 and foreign patients of Australian medical units.

Source: Changi Flag

Pretty cool to see a little bit of Singapore etched into Australian history for all to see at the shrine. More pictures from my trip below:

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Happy 47th Birthday Singapore!

9 August 2012

It’s that time of the year again where Singaporean pride is at its epitome. The red and white flag of Singapore flags adorning the blocks of HDB flats in housing estates, the constant booming of fireworks weeks before National Day if you lived close to where the National Day Parade was being held and families gathering around their television sets watching the parade of our military and mass display prowess.

I’ve been away for 8 years now, moving to Melbourne in 2005 and I admit, the earlier years were a bit of a struggle. I missed being back home in Singapore and missing hanging out with my mates and getting into shenanigans but as the years passed by, the need for keeping up with what’s happening in Singapore started to diminish.

I gradually stopped chatting online with my friends from Singapore, letting Facebook keep me updated on what everyone’s up to, stopped reading news about Singapore and even in the current Olympics, I wasn’t even the least bit interested on how Singapore was doing. I did noticed the girl that was running next to Sally Pearson in the heats of the 100m hurdle though but that was it.

I travel with an Australian passport, my family is here in Melbourne, I shouted myself hoarse when cheering on the Aussie athletes in the Olympics and I love everything about Australia. Saying that I’m not abandoning Singapore altogether, Singapore will always have a special place in my heart but Melbourne and Australia is home now.

I hope everyone back in Singapore is enjoying their National Day public holiday and enjoy the National Day Parade later in the day! I can’t stand the theme song though, it’s so cheesy it makes me cringe every time I watch it.

In contrast, look at this ad that Telstra did for Australia’s Olympic campaign. Makes me smile every time I watch it. The comments on the Youtube cracks me up too.

Sally Pearson Wins Gold In 100m Hurdles

8 August 2012

Finally an Australian Olympian who lives up to her reputation.

I know Tom Slingsby won Australia our second gold medal yesterday in sailing but because of his terrible performance in Beijing four years ago, everyone’s not giving him too much pressure for his event.

Sally Pearson on the other hand was impressive in her heats winning them in record timing without fuss and this morning, blazed through her 100m hurdles final just barely crossing the line before USA’s Dawn Harper to clinch Australia’s third gold medal in the London Olympics.

A true blue Aussie legend who is there at the Olympics to get the job done and not choke like the swimmers and then blaming it on social media after. You could just turn off your phones you know?

Anna Meares also won Australia’s fourth gold medal in the women’s sprint event in cycling FINALLY, Australia’s standings on the medal tally table looks a little more respectable.

COME ON AUSSIES!

With the English Premier League season ending about a month ago and with the A-League not starting until October, it’s tough being a football fan in Australia. It’s an even TOUGHER task wanting to support our very own Socceroos but we have to accept the inevitable that the golden generation of Australian football is truly over.

Omani keeper Ali Al-Habsi

The World Cup qualifying match against Oman last Friday demonstrates that the Socceroos need to pull their socks up if they want to qualify for Brazil 2014. Oman was fielding a fairly young and inexperience team and we had trouble matching their pace and technical skills. We went back to our old habit of pumping the ball up field and hoping someone does something with it.

Granted Carney pull a good save out of Oman’s goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, who ply his trade with Wigan in England’s top league, the rest of the Socceroos team was struggling to find inspiration, running around like headless chooks trying to break down an organized Omani team.

Oman had two men marking Kewell from the moment the kick off whistle blew and with Kennedy and Cahill on the bench, our crosses into the box was never really going to be effective.

And the fact that our team was complaining that the 5pm kick off in Muscat was not favourable because the heat was too much for the Aussie players was just embarrassing. It wasn’t like the heat was just going to affect the Aussie players.

We were just not good enough.

I’m no genius when it comes to football but it was clear that we need some young blood in the Socceroos camp. Why call up Archie Thompson we have Melbourne Heart youngster Eli Babalj who recently secured a move from Heart to Serbian power house Red Star Belgrade, coached by former Barcelona and Real Madrid star, Robert Prosinecki?

Kagawa and Honda

It scares me knowing that our next opponents are the Japanese in Brisbane next Thursday. With mercurial superstars like Honda and Kagawa, who famously made the swap from Borussia Dortmund to my favourite team Manchester United recently, our defence is going to have a field day making sure those two don’t run rings around our players.

The mood in the Japanese must be buoyant after beating Jodarn 6-0. Hopefully, our old guards like Sasa Ognenovski, Lucas Neil and Mark Scharwzer could save us from embarrassment and we can score on the break and frustrate the Japanese.

Fingers crossed that results will go our way because if not, the AFL buffoons will have another weapon in their anti-football arsenal.

Houses From The Block Australia 2012

30 April 2012

I’m not normally a huge fan of reality TV but for some reason, Channel 9′s new season of The Block has me captivated. I can’t seem to peel my eyes away from this show and the fact that the houses that were to be renovated this season were based in South Melbourne definitely adds to the sense of familiarity.

Seeing the contestants running around like headless chooks around places like Chadstone and DFO South Wharf was pretty cool and all of the contestants on the show are so funny and lovely. My favourite couple on the show would have to be Dan and Dani. They’re both from Victoria and Dan’s extremely funny acting like a goose most of the time but hey, that’s what makes good TV isn’t it?

So a mate and I decided to check out the houses on the show at Dorcas Street and by now, the actual houses are already done up and looking awesome. The windows all had curtains so we couldn’t actually peer into the rooms but the house looked gorgeous from the outside. We took a couple of photos and will definitely be checking the houses out when open day comes along.