Sunday, May 30, 2010

Stevey

Yes, that's Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, in person, in Singapore, in the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on Wednesday, 26 May 2010. It was taken on my aging camera-phone, so the resolution and all aren't all that fantastic.






Thursday, May 13, 2010

Lemonade

First, there was the issue of the pronunciation of Esplanade. I would pronounce it 'Es-ple-nard' but the guardians of good Singapore English would have it pronounced as 'Es-ple-nade' as in 'm-ade'. But then, if you listen to the news on the official TV channels, Promenade is pronounced 'pro-mi-nard' and not 'pro-mi-nade'. Talk about being schizophrenic. It just doesn't stop there. Now even language translations show elements of schizoid syndrome that plagues Singapore's officialdom.

With this kind of public display of linguistic ambiguity, who needs good English?

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Tantalising

Saw this in a supermarket. It is at once tantalizing and puzzling. I thought it read 'Buy ALL for $4.00". The '2' seemed displaced. But of course, any offer like this is too good to be true. "Buy 2 for $4.00" would have been much clearer, though not necessarily more eye-catching.