There is a lot of things to say but well i shall start with 2 book reviews... I had the time and patience to go through 2 books today. Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Chang and Adventures of a Mad Chinaman By Richard Lee Boon Peng aka Dick Lee. Although my original intention was to finish Heart Work by EDB and Angela's Ashes. These 4 books were very similar to each other. so now i shall describe one by one

Life & Death in Shanghai
Its is nothing short of terrific I finished about 659 pages of it in close to 4 hours... I was entranced by its most detailed finishing and bold honesty. It was the testament of immense courage to a woman who refused to bow to unbearable pressure and scandalise her own reputation and stain her integrity and the reputation of her family. It is nothing short of a chicken soup for the soul, highlighting the importance of honesty and self belief and self worth. There was no denigration of her own dignity nor that of her pride. She fought valiantly even though the entire system was pitted against her and she won. She WON. The loser: The Cultural revolution and the Chinese Government apparatchik. it was the classic chinese idion of mantis leg against a vehicle. But the mantis won. I feel very inspired and emboldened by her courage and resillience. For all the talk last time about resillience i didn't really know what it was. This is what i call resillience. It was hope against all odds. The stakes were so incredibly high and so unfavorable. But she won. I was left with nothing but a warmth glow in my heart after reading this book. A survivor. Her tale is the true reality TV show survivor. Its not competiting or plotting. Its that of survival. Not to win a million bucks. But to prove her innocence. So many traps, so many faltering steps. But yet she struggled on... holding on to hope itself. I feel like an idiot after reading this book. I am so inferior mentally compared to her. I'm nothing.

Adventures of a Mad Chinaman
It was one huge laugh. I didn't know much about Dick Lee except that he is an urban legend of Beauty World fame and i didn't realise that he had so many things in common w me! We came from the same Primary School and he's Catholic. Besides that, we both have a keen interest in music. Not in performance but creative aspects. He is a person whom i admire cos he pursued his dreams and became a success. Somehow as i read this book i felt that familiar Spiderman 2 quote coming back to me again. Sacrifice is necessary especially your dreams in order to fulfil your duty. I guess its something like that although i can't really remember it now. I felt a sense of happiness when i read his book as its really a heartwarming tale of growing up. He is also into fashion as well and the entertainment industry. Michael Chiang, Ong Ken Seng, Najip Ali, Jacintha, Babes Conde Kumar etc. So many of the big stalwarts in the Singapore scene had their beginings so long ago. I guess im now into autobiographies. I like their unpretentious way of looking at things and no holds barred approach to life. Its so sad that sometimes we can't go all the way with our dreams cos of circumstances and I wish that next time I would be able to let my children fulfil their own wishes and dreams.

HeartWork and Angela's Ashes.
I guess a lot of people have read the latter and the former im not too sure but i can assure you that it is a good book as i read half of it when it was published to mark the aniversary of EDB a few years ago i think. It is highly nostalgic as it evokes the sentiments of the pioneering founders of Singapore and how they managed to get investment flowing into Singapore and they helped in the transformation of our 3rd world country into the 1st world economy it is right now. Angela's ashes was in a way the plight of the irish catholics as they were always the backwater of the British isles, as Sicily is the backwater of Italy and East Germany the backwater of the unified German state. Its a very touching book even though i have only read it halfway and i will borrow it from somebody to finish. I guess our lives are so different compared to them. Here i am bitching and complaining about silly minor things in life and there they are bearing with the hardships that they face on a daily basis. I feel so ashamed. I shall stop complaining from now on cos i think that there are people worse off in this world.

I don't have clothes to wear for Dinner and Dance. What a joke. I need to do some shopping... hopefully can get something nice and cheap.

cute cute: J8 was just a convenient shopping centre to list... maybe Taka would be better...

jb: its just me... Im so socially inept. Can't even strike up decent conversations with anybody

elpis & rayzor: I totally agree w u guys. I really love TP. Its my fave housing estate...



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