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S’pore will not emulate other countries in its goal to be a global city
By Hoe Yeen Nie/ Jeremy Koh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 04 February 2010 2322 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1 Motorists travel over the bridge against the view of Singapore skyline.

SINGAPORE: The Economic Strategies Committee has sketched out broad ideas to make Singapore a global city. But it said Singapore will have to do it its own way.

That means, what is allowed overseas - like gay parades - may not necessarily be allowed here.

Lui Tuck Yew, Co-Chair, Global City Sub-Comm, and Acting Information, Communications & the Arts Minister, said: “We will have to chart our own way. It is not for us to copy the type of openness that is seen in New York, London or Paris, some of which may not be applicable in our own local context.

“But we will do so in a manner which, I think, Singaporeans as a whole agree on, at a pace that is comfortable, calibrated and gradual.”

Separately, the new National Art Gallery will be the latest addition to Singapore’s growing arts and cultural district. The area, located in the civic district, includes several museums, theatres and historical sites.

And it is through developments like this that could make Singapore a city of culture. Singapore may rank high among global companies as a place to do business. But it fares less well as a city to live and play in.

Other plans include weekend markets and new retail options at Bugis and Bras Basah to make the area more vibrant.

The committee also aims to bring in more top-class educational institutions by 2020. - CNA/vm

Say hi, everyone, to the “Durian Star” (榴莲小星), mascot of the Singapore pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai. It promises to offer an “electrifying Expo experience” indeed. Tell me please — anyone — is it possible at all to design something uglier than this complete and utter monstrosity? It’s a frightful, grotesque and nightmare-inducing eyesore — some of the autistic children I’ve worked with could design something better with their eyes closed. As another Singaporean friend in Shanghai commented to me, someone at the MFA (nah, STB perhaps?) needs to get fired. I agree. In another 155 days when Expo 2010 finally opens, I know the Singapore pavilion is one that I will avoid like the plague. [UPDATE: Okay, the artist's rendition does look a lot less awful than its realisation but, still, thanks guys for letting me know what I'll be dressing up as for next year's Halloween.]

Haha.

Ever wondered what it’s like to live like a hamster? For €99 per day at this hotel in Nantes, France, you can eat hamster food, run in a wheel and sleep on hay.

When I was asked by the China Daily some time ago to write a piece on homosexuality in China from the perspective of a foreigner, I had no idea this was going to show up as part of their special National Day supplement, entitled 60 People, 60 Stories. The title of the supplement is somewhat of a misnomer because they ended up featuring way more than 60 people, more like 120. In the story on homosexuality, which zooms in on lawyer Zhou Dan, my little vignette plays a supporting role, painting the picture of how the gay community in China has grown. Here it is:

Subeditors at the China Daily often have the uncanny ability of making people go huh? with the headlines they choose, and my greatest regret in the rush of producing this piece is that I didn’t supply them with a suggested title — hence the rather unfortunate headline you see up there which was lifted from my final line but makes absolutely no sense for the story as a whole.

A few lines in my piece did get edited out — to my dismay. For posterity’s sake, here’s how my story should have ended. The first paragraph (in italics) is the punchline I hoped against hopes would make it to print:

I have often told people that the single greatest paradox that I experience on a day-to-day basis as a gay Singaporean man living in China is this — that my home country continues to criminalise homosexuality in 2009 while gay marriage has already been proposed not once, but thrice in the highest levels of power in my adopted home.

Of course, gay marriage is still not a reality in China, but it is symbolic acts like these that help dismantle homophobia and shift China beyond mere tolerance to the acceptance of its gay citizens.

They send a clear signal to each of the millions of gay men and women in China that they — and their happiness — matter.

Much needs to be done for the heretofore invisible and long disenfranchised LGBT community, but there remains much to be hopeful for.

I see the hope in the eyes of some of the young men I’ve met who set off from their village straight to Shanghai’s gay bars in search of freedom.

And I see it in the eyes of my friends who volunteer their time hanging out in bars and bathhouses to distribute condoms and safe sex messages.

The echoes of this hope reverberate around the world today and it is a voice crying out loud to be heard.

Beijing at the 60th National Day Parade, by Dan Chung:

Shanghai, by Joe Nafis:

Singapore, by Yeo Wee Han:

I met Wong U-Wen once 14 years ago (geez, I’m getting old) when I was just starting to learn sign language, and boy am I proud of what he’s doing now. Go U-Wen Go!