oh dear - part 2

So it appears from today's Straits Times that a certain Kate Spade-toting, potential MP to-be is currently better known for her brand preference in bags than anything else because she didn't privatise her Facebook page before being unveiled as a public figure.

I'm astounded beyond words.

Never mind the bag, never mind the princessy foot stamp, never mind what Lim Boon Heng may have implied (iroirodori.blogspot.com/2011/03/oh-dear.html). However, this very clearly illustrates the intellectual capacity of this candidate.

"Stunned by online vitriol"? All I can say is that only herself is to blame for not even having the brains to privatise all her public online content. Even my friends who become teachers know to protect their privacy from a few hundred - at most - nosy students. What more when one is exposing oneself to the nation and entering politics!!

I have no idea what the party's game plan is. But I think that "bad publicity is better than no publicity" doesn't always apply, and certainly not for politics.

Perhaps the older folks may go "Oh, it's so sweet that her greatest regret is not having brought her parents to Universal Studios before getting all busy with politics. Such a filial daughter." (and yes, she really said that!!! Wtf!) However, the youth like me - whom she thinks she can connect with - are shaking their heads, rolling their eyes and wondering what the hell is going on.

Sigh.

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eye makeup remover review

a very unimaginatively titled post, but i mainly wanted to say that Clinique’s rinse-off eye makeup solvent is a LOUSY eye makeup remover.

i use fairly heavy-duty mascara – Majorlica Majorca most times – and Clinique’s remover could hardly remove half of what I had on. I tried all the tricks: holding the cotton pad against my eye for 10 seconds, applying a little bit more pressure (which you’re not meant to do), etc, but they didn’t work. I’d even lost two eyelashes in the process!

Actually, today I had applied a few coats of Majorlica Majorca first and then Clinique’s lash power volumising mascara – so it seems like Clinique’s eye makeup remover can’t even remove its own brand of eye makeup.

MEGA FAIL.

For good eye makeup removers, I’d recommend these two instead: Kate eye makeup remover and Kanebo’s eye makeup remover. Actually both are under the same brand, although I don’t think the Kanebo one is available in Singapore.

                      That’s a pity, as I think the Kanebo one is best. All I ever had to do was just wipe the cotton pad across my eyelids and voila – the mascara would come off really easily. For Kate, depending on how much mascara I have on (I usually have several coats), I might actually have to hold the cotton pad against my eyelid for a few seconds – but it’s still a very effective, easy to use eye makeup remover.

Those 2 are fabulous – I value ease of use very much in eye makeup removers and those two fit the bill perfectly. Try them if you get bored easily like I do from just counting to ten while waiting for lousier eye makeup removers to take effect.

Aerins @ Raffles City

I’d previously blogged about Aerin’s here, and I’m happy to announce that their Aerin’s Tagliatelle is just as tasty as I remembered it to be. Even better – they’d reduced its price to $17 from $22!

The mushrooms are incredibly tasty and the cream isn’t too heavy as cream pastas can sometimes be. K described it as “very good cream” and I totally agree. They’re quite accommodating of making the dish vege-friendly too, by replacing the smoked salmon with more mushrooms and other vegetables they have on hand. I was quite impressed by the waiter who was able to ask us straight up – without having to check with the kitchen – if it’s ok for them to substitute asparagus etc for salmon.

I’d also recommend their martinis, which come at $20 for two glasses and I think $12 for one. We tried their raspberry martini, and I was quite happy to actually be able to taste the alcohol. I do turn red with minimal alcohol, but I’ve never gotten as red or as warm-faced with so little. Good value on the alcohol!

Their service can be slightly ‘off’ at times – especially this one particular staff whom i think is at least the head server, if not the manager/asst. manager – but all is forgiven for its lovely scrumptious Aerin’s Tagliatelle.

oh dear

i’m sorry but i have to post this.

for me, it’s not so much about comparing the parties or the candidates, but more about one particular candidate:

http://onesingaporean.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/tin-pei-ling-vs-chen-show-mao-and-a-very-scary-thought/ 

According to the Straits Times:

“IN THE People's Action Party's (PAP) search for new candidates, commitment to serve is the factor that trumps all others, even ability, party chairman Lim Boon Heng said yesterday.”

I can understand the rationale, but this is as good as admitting outright that the candidates unveiled may not be as impressive as they ought to be.

sigh.

Art Science Museum @ Marina Bay Sands

The special exhibition on the Silk Road at the Art Science Museum was ending its run, so I decided to visit it yesterday, before only the Genghi Khan and Shipwrecked Treasures exhibitions were left.

The verdict? Do not, absolutely do NOT visit the Art Science Museum unless the $30 (incl. booking fee) admission fee is worth the special exhibitions you’re intending to see.

The special exhibitions were good, but the permanent exhibits at the museum are virtually non-existent. Excerpts from the the website’s description include:

“The permanent exhibition..takes visitors on a journey inside the creative process across three unique spaces: Curiosity, Inspiration and Expression.

Curiosity is an arrival gallery that encourages guests to ponder the very nature of how we define art and science, what it means to us, and how it influences our world.

Inspiration is an interactive gallery that celebrates the flashpoint of ingenuity powering the worlds of both art and science.

Expression is a dynamic multi media gallery providing an emotional, impassioned demonstration of the power of human beings to harness inspiration to make the world a better place.

• 3 galleries spanning two levels with nearly 800 square meters of exhibition space
• Your journey begins along a meditative path of Floating Stairs which invites you to question the relationships between art and science”

What all this really means is this: the Curiosity Gallery is just the lift landing. Inspiration is essentially a large room with several computer terminals with touch screens for visitors to ‘play’ with. It will occupy visitors for maybe 15 minutes at best. Expression is where visitors watch a video featuring famous scientists who were also artists and vice versa, such as Leonardo da Vinci. One of the two levels is the staircase – and nothing but a staircase, save for a few pictures of past inventors whom few would recognise anyway.

The uninspiring ‘Inspiration’ gallery.

Whatever examples the museum listed to illustrate the relationship between Art and Science were poor, with da Vinci being one of few relevant examples. For example, how are the Kung Ming lanterns considered art? Furthermore, the museum fails to put forth a convincing argument for how art and science are related –the interactive media simply tell visitors of the scientific aspects of the examples given without linking the science back to the art. Probably mainly because the art-science relationship in those examples were non-existent and highly tenuous at best.

And they used American-English. Tsk.

Frankly, I was impressed by the museum until I reached the permanent exhibit levels, as I’d started with the special exhibits. Even the museum shop didn’t belie the true quality of the museum as it had some interesting things on sale:

Warhol-esque mint boxes and astronaut pens. One is clearly representative of art and the other of science. So that they’re in the same shop is representative of art-science?

It’s a pity the museum content is such a disappointment, as it’s an architecturally interesting building which I’d be quite happy to pitch to visitors and locals alike.

The interesting thing about the falling water was that one could get wet sitting outside, depending on the wind direction.

The surroundings of the Art Science Museum are great too. It started out a bit hazy. 

But cleared up as the day progressed.

Note the waves on the water’s surface

Check out the reflection of Fullerton Hotel and the surrounding buildings

I love the way the stairs look

not the 50 books you must read before you die

The Daily Telegraph had a tongue-in-cheek literary recommendation on what are not the 50 books you must read before you die.

I was quite happy to see some books I thought little of on the list, although some of my favourites are there as well. Let’s take a look at some of them:

7 The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

Jay Gatsby is not as great a character as everyone thinks he is. Neither is this book, or the author, or the million of people who pretend to like it. Full of people doing tedious things, breaking off only to sleep with each other’s wives.

me: I’d actually finished this book, but I was curious as to why it was so widely celebrated as it didn’t seem like a “great novel” at all.

8 Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald

See above. Bizarrely, was given as a present by Michael Howard to woo his future wife. Even more bizarrely, it worked.

me: This book was so boring I didn’t finish it.

11 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Like trying to get to grips with seven generations of your Colombian exchange student’s family tree.

me: As above.

19 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

When superior life forms come to write the history of the extinct human race, they will cite this distinctly unhelpful self-help book masquerading as literature as a turning point in our decline. Stunningly trite, it has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 languages and was highly enjoyed by Madonna.

me: Finally! Someone besides me who thinks this book is overrated and has absolutely no idea why everyone loves it. The same applies to “The Little Prince” and “Life of Pi”. I wish those books were on this list too, especially the former.

27 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

Misleading title for a family comedy set in Peterborough. And probably responsible for the plague of equally annoying titles that followed.

me: This book was interesting enough, although I skipped almost all the tractor parts.

39 Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

A lovely book about an Irish childhood, although indirectly responsible for a decade of misery memoirs: “No, Daddy, not there” etc.

me: This book was interesting enough for the first third, got boring into the second third and remained largely unread at the last third.

43 Saturday by Ian McEwan

What the author learnt after spending two years getting in the way of a neurosurgeon. Not as good as Enduring Love, which is not as good as Amsterdam, which is not as good as Atonement.

me: out of the books listed above I’d only read the best and worst ones, but this is helpful for determining which McEwan book I should read next.

I also had a look at the list of 50 books every child should read in the Independent. Unfortunately I hadn’t even heard of almost all the books listed, save for the classics like “Alice in Wonderland” and “Secret Garden”, but I have no idea why “Moving Pictures” is on that list. Unless kids have gotten a lot smarter since my time, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series isn’t something an 11 year old would understand.

Random shutter shots

It's been quite fun playing with Vignette on my phone, especially when I'm actually out somewhere with interesting things to take pictures of. I was at the new Art Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands yesterday - more on that later, but don't go there unless there are special exhibitions you wanna see - and it was fun snapping pictures of artefacts, things in the museum shop and other random stuff.

I agree…

There’re a few Japan blogs I like to read, and this is one of them.

I like the simple and clear writing style, great photos, cool insights, and most of all I like that its mainly set in Osaka or Kansai (which totally kick ass compared to Tokyo*) – a nice change from all the Tokyo blogs out there.

There was a post providing some short updates on the earthquake, one of which relating to the relations between the two main Japanese political parties. In there was a brilliant quote, which I’m quite inclined to agree with:

“The average mental age in the diet is still five or so, in other words, and there's no sign that this disaster will improve anything on that front.”

It pretty much sums up the state of Japanese politics at the moment, and I REALLY hope for Japan’s sake that the people in charge – and by that I don’t just mean the government, but also those who wield the power and make the decisions in companies – get their act together.

It’ll be a great tragedy should the future see Japan slip further into decline due to poor leadership – forces of nature cannot be prevented, but this can.

Hotel Room deals

A colleague was looking out for places to stay in Japan, and I was telling her of how cheap and affordable the rooms there generally are. That impression has been reinforced after I started looking for hotel accommodation for visitors to Singapore – hotel rooms here are so so expensive and aren’t very well reviewed either!

That, compounded by the wonderful steal of a room I got in Dublin, makes me sad, because it’s impossible to get anything beyond a tiny room in a Singapore hotel that’s not very well located for the prices that I’ve paid elsewhere.

Anyway, I thought to just document some good, cheap places I’ve stayed at while in Japan in case they should come in useful. I always book hotels via Jalan.net as it offers really great deals and has a good search function.

Hokkaido, Sapporo

First up, accommodation in Hokkaido. If you’re in Sapporo, Hotel Tokeidai, or Hotel Clocktower, (ホテル時計台）is my top choice because it’s so cheap. It offers basic rooms* with plenty of luggage space and an ensuite bathroom just 5-7 minutes from JR Sapporo station at about $66 per room for two.

(Note that it’s cheaper than Hotel 81 in Singapore, which has received lots of complaints regarding quality of the beds, sheets and room size – which is interesting, since I’d expect a hotel in the red light district to have better beds and sheets!)

Another good hotel in Sapporo is Weekly Hotel Sapporo, and its annex (ウィークリーさっぽろ２０００＆アネックス). It’s located about 6min from Susukino station, which is the entertainment and food district of Sapporo. The small intersection before the hotel has some cool structures:

The rooms cost about $79 per room (2 persons) a night, and the rooms also seem to have increased in size since I was last there (prices remain the same though), because according to the panoramic flash video on their website, the rooms now contain a sofa. Apart from the usual facilities and ensuite bathroom, each room also contains a microwave, sink and stove, cooking and eating utensils – including a rice cooker, as seen below!

Hokkaido, Lake Toya

I feel that no visit to Hokkaido is complete without going to Lake Toya – for that, I highly recommend Toya Sansui Hotel Kafuu (洞爺山水ホテル和風). It’s a traditional Japanese ryokan – complete with tatami mats, onsen baths and dinner and breakfast provided. And how much did it cost?

A mere $183 a night for two – such Japanese ryokans with meals provided usually charge an average of $126 each, and can go much higher depending on the quality of the food served. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t get good food here though – far from it, it came with a spread which included pork shabu shabu with sesame sauce, fish and prawn sashimi, black cod, a crab claw wrapped in egg, various tasty small dishes and a slice of the famed yubari melon.

Breakfast was a simpler affair as it always is, but was still filling – with fish, tofu, japanese omelette, grated yam and a serving of melon (in the covered bowl on the left).

Nikko

A useful comparison to the Toya Sansui Hotel above would be where we stayed in Nikko. Perhaps best known for being the place where the Tokugawa mausoleums are located, Nikko doesn’t seem to have many overnight travellers. Like most of the other hotels there, our accommodation – Seiyou Hotel Ichibankan (西洋ホテル壱番館）was a short 5 min taxi ride from the station.

From its name, it’s clear that it’s a western-style hotel – it’s literally a western-style house which has been converted into a hotel, and everything on the inside (apart from the presence of onsen-style baths) is western in style, which was a nice change. It was $123 each per night, inclusive of dinner and breakfast.

     

I unfortunately have no visual record of what exactly we had there, because it was so appetising aesthetically that it all went down pretty fast. The hotel owner was formerly a western cuisine chef, which explained why the food was so good. There was a delicacy of taste to the meals, which I realise is difficult to achieve and nearly non-existent in what you’d usually get here. As it was low-season and a weekday when we went, we were the only two people in the entire hotel, which made it even better.

Yokohama

The last recommendation is Porto Hostel Yokohama, located about 10-15min walk from Yokohama’s famous Chinatown. It actually has an English website and is quite a large hostel. The place seems slightly foreboding on the outside as it appeared to be rows and rows of rooms, but the rooms are actually rather cheery and nice, with space nearer the door for more luggage:

 a posed picture from one of the travel websites, provided by Porto Hostel Yokohama itself

Private rooms are $47 (or $70 for a twin or double room). Being a hostel, it doesn’t provide the usual amenities and the bathrooms are shared coin-operated showers, but breakfast – consisting of eggs, toast, salad, juice and coffee – is provided. It’s a comfortable stay though, and due to Yokohama’s proximity to Tokyo and consequent prices, is rather reasonable. A general tip, however, is that hotels are more value for money in Japan than hostels are!

*  *  *

*: Basic rooms in Japan all contain the following amenities, which are not necessarily available in Singapore hotels – free internet in rooms (often wireless), hairdryer, shampoo, conditioner, shower foam, hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste, towels, tea and coffee, slippers, shower and japanese-style bathtub, yukata/bathrobe, TV.

Case study on Singapore in The Economist, 17 March

I think I’m most certainly biased, but there’s an excellent and very interesting article in the Economist which is essentially a case study on Singapore – why its government works and what the West can learn from it.

Because Singapore gets dissed so often by international press, I really enjoy articles that sing a different tune, especially when national pride comes into play. Here are some highlights:

“Singapore is important to any study of government just now, both in the West and in Asia. That is partly because it does some things very well, in much the same way that some Scandinavian countries excel in certain fields… First, Singapore is good at government (which is largely true). Second, the secret of its success lies in an Asian mixture of authoritarian values and state-directed capitalism (largely myth). Third, China is trying to copy Singapore (certainly true). Last, China’s government is already more efficient than the decadent West (mostly rubbish, see next section).

…

There is an odd imbalance between the things that Singapore and others make so much noise about and the reasons why the place works. In particular, the “Asian values” bits of Singapore—its authoritarianism and its industrial policy—that the Chinese seem to find especially congenial are less vital to its success than two more humdrum virtues: a good civil service and a competitively small state.

…

One thing that stands out in Singapore is the quality of its civil service

…

But arguably the place that should be learning most from Singapore is the West. For all the talk about Asian values, Singapore is a pretty Western place. Its model, such as it is, combines elements of Victorian self-reliance and American management theory. The West could take in a lot of both without sacrificing any liberty.”

“China’s Facebook Syndrome” and another story

There’s an article on Bloomberg Businessweek on Facebook and China:

“Since 2009, China has blocked Facebook, the world's largest online social media network. This year, Renren, one of China's largest social networks, plans to raise $500 million on the New York Stock Exchange. So a Chinese social network can tap U.S. capital markets, but American social networks can't tap Chinese consumer markets. Does that sound fair?”

This reminded me of a something else that is brewing in China regarding electronic payment processing – the US has formally appealed to the WTO over China’s Unionpay having a monopoly over electronic payments. The gist is that in China, customers who wish to pay for their purchases electronically or withdraw money from an ATM machine are generally required to own cards issued by China’s Unionpay in order for the payment/withdrawal to be processed (read more here and here). This is despite Unionpay being accepted overseas - i’m sure many would recognise its logo – and sounds completely like Facebook being banned in China but Renren being able to be accessed outside of China.

Of course, larger merchants like hotels (I’ve never had problems paying for accommodation even in domestically-owned hotels) and those in the larger cities (my friend has shopped and paid via card in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc) accept Mastercard/Visa. However, my guess is that they have to pay extra to provide this service. Frankly, I wouldn’t have blinked when I heard the news about the US appealing a dispute until I was in Hefei, Anhui the other day and trying to pay for a really pretty winter coat (on 40% off!) at Mo&Co De Paris only to have both my Visa and Mastercards rejected. I managed to buy the coat in the end – thanks to there being someone I could borrow money from – but otherwise tourist dollars would have been lost, as I couldn’t have been able to withdraw money from the ATMs either.

Lesson learnt from this experience – bring more money when travelling to the lesser known/developed Chinese cities! They might have new shiny malls with expensive shops like Korean fashion brand Roem where a dress costs SGD180 or a jewellery/accessories shop that had SGD1000 crystal-studded shoes in its display case, but no cashless payment available!

reminder to self

to watch “Mary and Max” when it opens on 24th March.

Till I return..

I’d prefer to post something a little bit more uplifting before my hiatus behind the Firewall, but it’s hard to do so when all the news on Japan is so depressing. I’m feeling this way even though I’m so far away from where disaster struck; I can’t imagine how trying and difficult it must be for those in Japan itself, much less those who have been affected by the earthquake.

I draw attention to two links below. The first shows high resolution before and after pictures, and the other is an account of what it is to be one of those on the edges of the affected areas:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

http://newpacificinstitute.org/jsw/?p=5291

I’m sure everyone has by now heard of Minamisanriku, the coastal town that was completely wiped out by the tsunami, with only its hospital left standing in sea of debri.

I wish I’d taken more pictures of beautiful Sendai when I was there.

Zoom.

It’s crazy how this week just went past.

Two colleagues are out of the office, one of whom I share responsibility with. Though there weren’t that many big ticket issues that had to be dealt with, enough little things trickled in to make me constantly occupied.

That, coupled with two nights out (to meet up with friends and to watch The King’s Speech*) plus the fact that I’ll out of the country next week meant working late today, watching a grand total of one show this week (an episode of 30 Rock caught on the way to work!) and getting to sit at this computer today only slightly before midnight.

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan meant lots of time spent on Facebook and the net, checking out if friends are ok and catching up on the news. So quickly was the admission that Naoto Kan had accepted donations from a ‘foreigner’ pushed aside as graver news came in. Two of my colleagues happen to be in Tokyo now too, which meant concern in the office as well.

My attempts to recall what I did last week – it seems like so long ago, yet I’ve suddenly found myself at the end of another week – bring to mind two things. First, that it’s been nearly two weeks now since I played Portal I think; the cake at the moment is still a lie, and I’m quite eager to see that changed. Unfortunately the ‘end boss’ still stands between me and my reward (cake and a cute song; what more can one ask for?) and I’m terrible at playing games.

Second, is what occupied me for several hours last weekend and the reason as to why the Uniqlo calendar is at the top of this page. The calendar is fascinating and awesome beyond description, and inspired me to try out some of my own:

Thoughts of Japan also remind me that I’ve only tried making one tiltshift picture of a Japan scene (which wasn’t very good), and that I should go through my photos of Japan to make some more.

 

*: Good show! Go watch it – it was enjoyable throughout with never a dull or slow moment. I like that British films always have a subtle quality to them and tend to contain witty dialogue.

Six Pack

Things I learn from reading Ian Rankin:

"…It’s a punishment routine in Northern Ireland usually carried out by the IRA..
For minor offenses, there’s a bullet in each elbow or ankle. For more serious
crimes, there’s a kneecapping on top. And finally there’s the six-pack: both
elbows, both knees, both ankles."

Here's its definition on UrbanDictionary.com.

Friends@Jelita

BigDeal.sg had a really good deal for a 4-course meal at Friends@Jelita – $15 for the meal instead of $45. The menu was:

Starter

Chilled Angel Hair & Lump Fish Caviar

tossed with konbu , chives , & white truffle oil

Soup

Wild Forest Mushroom Soup 

 

Main

Roasted 'Sakura' Probiotic Chicken Supreme 

served with mashed potatoes & truffle spit jus

 

Dessert

Chef Special Dessert of The Day

 

Hot Beverage

Freshly Brewed Coffee / Tea

 

The starter was really delicious, and the soup was thick and served in a teacup, which we found quite cute:

We also were able to get pear cider at 1-for-1. The cider was bubbly and a little dry, so we didn’t like it that much. Apparently the bubbles in champagne when it’s poured out occur because of dust in the glass – our cider was very bubbly. haha.

the main course was really good. the chicken was cooked red at the bone, just the way i like it. i was surprised that the chicken was done this way, as most of my friends wouldn’t eat chicken that’s remotely pink, but this ensures that the chicken is still tender and juicy, even for breastmeat! the chicken was well marinated and delicious, and sat on a bed of very tasty, buttery mash.

the meal ended with a relatively small serving of dessert and coffee which happened to be just the right portion. the cheesecake was accompanied by an equally small fork and a mild blueberry sauce:

we definitely enjoyed the meal greatly. the food was good and ambiance just right – however, while a fantastic deal at $15, we don’t think it’d be worth the full price at $45 despite our satisfaction.

English everywhere is going down the drain

I was horrified to discover that "incentivise" actually exists as a word in the dictionary. Here's a definition of it at UrbanDictionary.com:

Incentivize

A corporate-jargon non-word meaning "motivate," coined in 1968. Some 10 years later, it was shortened to the equally annoying verb "incent." Unfortunately, both are recognized by both Merriam-Webster and the OED.

The only respectable form of the word is the noun "incentive."

I would like to motivate him to never say "incentivize" again by telling him I
will rip his windpipe out of his throat the next time I hear him say it.

I hope everyone who says "incentivize" in earnest knows they come across
as a jargon-spewing ahole.

Tiger Mum

I have little to contribute to the ‘Tiger Mum’ furore, but I came across this interesting paragraph in Elizabeth Kolbert’s article on Amy Chua's "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" in the Jan 31 issue of The New Yorker - and more so because it refers to Singapore. I include the preceding paragraphs for context:

“On our good days, we tell ourselves that our kids will be all right. The new, global economy, we observe,puts a premium on flexibility and creativity. And who is better prepared for such a future than little Abby (or Zachary), downloading her wacky videos onto YouTube while she texts her friends, messes with Photoshop, and listens to her iPod?

"Yes, you can brute-force any kid to learn to play the piano--just precisely like his or her billion
neighbors" is how one of the comments on the Wall Street Journal 's Web site put it. "But you'll never get a Jimi Hendrix that way."

On our bad days, we wonder whether this way of thinking is, as Chua might say, garbage. Last month, the results of the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, tests were announced. It was the first time that Chinese students had participated, and children from Shanghai ranked first in every single area. Students from the United States, meanwhile, came in seventeenth in reading, twenty-third in science, and an especially  demoralizing thirty-first in math. This last ranking put American kids not just behind the Chinese, the Koreans, and the Singaporeans but also after the French, the Austrians, the Hungarians, the Slovenians, the Estonians, and the Poles.

"I know skeptics will want to argue with the results, but we consider them to be accurate and reliable," Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, told the Times. "The United States came in twenty-third or twenty-fourth in most subjects. We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we're being out-educated."

Why is this? How is it that the richest country in the world can't teach kids to read or to multiply fractions? Taken as a parable, Chua's cartoonish narrative about browbeating her daughters acquires a certain disquieting force. Americans have been told always to encourage their kids. This, the theory goes, will improve their self-esteem, and this, in turn, will help them learn.

After a generation or so of applying this theory, we have the results. Just about the only category in which American students outperform the competition is self-regard. Researchers at the Brookings Institution, in one of their frequent studies of education policy, compared students' assessments of their abilities in math with their scores on a standardized test. Nearly forty per cent of American eighth graders agreed "a lot" with the statement "I usually do well in mathematics," even though only seven per cent of American students actually got enough correct answers on the test to qualify as advanced. Among Singaporean students, eighteen per cent said they usually did well in math; forty-four per cent qualified as advanced. As the Brookings researchers pointed out, even the least self-confident Singaporean students, on average, outscored the most self-confident Americans. You can say it's sad that kids in Singapore are so beaten down that they can't appreciate their own accomplishments. But you've got to give them this: at least they get the math right.”