Some random shots I took, of a bag and the church where my friend got married, back when I had this “Retro Camera” app on my phone.
I think I have since given up with using my phone’s camera for anything more than a regular photo to help me remember or note down things – it’s really lousy despite supposedly being 5 megapixels.
A bag which has since spoilt
Hymn books tucked neatly
I love the arches in churches
It’s always interesting to read articles or books which remind us that the world order was not always as it is; that the might didn’t always lie with the West and that Asia was once at the forefront of civilisation and development.
Yet, it also always begs the question – what happened to make it all change?
Just some paragraphs from Predicting the Unpredictable (The Diplomat, 23 Dec 2011), by Jason Miks:
After all, in the middle of the 18th century, Asia accounted for 58 percent of the global economy, a share that gradually slid as the West underwent its Industrial Revolution. Rapid development in the West saw Asia’s share of GDP tumble to around 15 percent by 1952.
So is the rapid development that economic reforms have unleashed all thanks to a Communist Party master plan? Gordon Chang, in our first essay, thinks not.
“The world credits the diminutive Deng Xiaoping for the startling transformation of Chinese society. We believe, according to the universal narrative, that his dictatorial state first debated, then planned, and finally decreed change,” Chang writes. “Yet reform, in reality, progressed more by disobedience than design.”
“China has enjoyed an ‘economic miracle’ largely because desperate peasants and frustrated bureaucrats openly made themselves into plucky entrepreneurs. By ignoring central government decrees, they built large and small private businesses and changed the Chinese economy beyond recognition.”
Despite the popularity of online shopping on blog shops, Gmarket and the like, online shopping in Singapore is in no way comparable to what is available in some other countries, like the UK for example.
For one, there’s a larger variety of retailers that offer online shopping and many retailers with physical shops also allow for online orders via their website and delivery.
Also, while online shopping in Singapore is more or less limited to women’s fashion – clothes, accessories, shoes and jewellery – you can buy and sell just about anything in the UK.
The jewel in the crown is definitely the presence of Amazon – it’s amazing how one website can offer a phenomenal variety of products from a whole range of suppliers. I love that individuals can set up an online presence on Amazon too, and ride on the brand name, search function and site traffic to sell their products – thanks to Amazon’s marketplace, I managed to sell quite a few books and CDs when I was in Japan.
I’ve been shopping online at UK websites and stores a lot more in the past year and a half, and I have to admit that the variety and choice available makes buying gifts SO MUCH EASIER.
Nonetheless, I was quite stumped when trying to buy a cake – Google searches weren’t very helpful, and the few relevant websites that I managed to find via Google didn’t deliver to my requested destination, didn’t offer quite what I wanted or never responded to my enquiry.
Stumped, I went back to Amazon UK just to try my luck – I didn’t expect them to sell much food. However, lo and behold, it actually managed to give me quite a few good results! I’ve placed my order with a shop which I found through Amazon – they have a physical presence too – and I’m really happy because my mission is complete :)
Now I just have to wait for the items to be delivered – hopefully the recipient will be delighted too!
Wasn’t too happy today – perhaps I was being overly sensitive – when it was suggested that I walk all over my boyfriend and do not compromise just because I am opinionated, have a strong character and do not shy from expressing my opinions.
It was also said that I’m definitely more tempered when around him – “You meet only once in a while, of course you’ll be more tempered. Wait till you see him more often or every day! (then your true colours will show!)”
Ok, to say that I wasn’t too happy is an understatement. The above offends two people: me, for implying that I am the sort of person who treads all over my boyfriend, and him, for suggesting that he is the sort of spineless, useless man who lets his girlfriend trample all over him, his opinions, his feelings and his pride.
As if I would ever – EVER – be with a guy like that?
No man of mine will be in want of a backbone, for I’ll have little to do with men I can’t respect.
Plus, there was a time when we did see each other every day, or nearly every day – and that lasted for more than a year. I think he has had ample time to see my “true colours”, and they are certainly not anything like what was suggested.
