Little India, Singapore

May your soul rest in peace Mr Sakthivel.

A sensible 8 point urban renewal plan for Little India that bears consideration.

Little India, SIngapore

Perspectives on the 8 December 2013 riot in Little India:

• Bertha Henson gives her thoughts on the framing of the riot in the local media, the impact of alcohol and the next steps.
• Fascinating perspective from an ex policeman who reflects on how he could have stopped the riot. Wishful thinking?
• Insights from the foreign press Al Jazeera & The Economist
• Transient Workers Count Too on the need to treat foreign workers as human beings not commodities to be herded.

Little India, Singapore

Big Trouble In Little India, The Economist

"… And it seems fair to suppose that booze served as fuel to help fire up a boisterous part of the crowd. Yet as an explanation, it offers pitifully little insight as to what turned some 400 people into a fervent mob. It cannot be ignored that the violence targeted uniformed personnel, specifically those who responded first to the accident. Neither the government nor the mainstream media has ventured to draw any link between the sudden display of rage and the dire state of rights for migrant workers. Rioting is not dissent, but the two things often share common cause."

Little India, SIngapore

Little india remains one of my favorite places in Singapore. I used to go there every other Sunday to take pictures. I will go there again next weekend.

The Online Citizen provides some context to the riot of 8 December 2013.

Kids, Jakarta Selatan

First prize in the Barclays SimplyAsia photography competition.

These kids live next to my parents in law in a kampung in south Jakarta. I've known them for five years and have watched them grow up. Apparently, they are very rude and naughty. When I took this image they were running around and being silly.

Save The Bears

"At the March 2009 range states meeting of the five polar bear nations, scientists agreed that climate change is the single biggest threat facing polar bears."

On The Way To Tondo, Philippines

How you can help the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan - Please donate to any of the following:

• Disasters Emergency Committee
• UNHCR for Australia - Emergency Aid for survivors
• The Australian Red Cross
• ChildFund Australia
• Save the Children

Halloween

From the Belly of the Cat, an anthology of fifteen feline tales by some of the city-state’s most exciting writers and notorious cat sympathizers (including me), is available at the Books Actually on line book store now

Happy Halloween

I am privileged to have a story in From the Belly of the Cat, the anthology of feline-themed Singaporean short stories edited by Stephanie Ye.

My story is called Other People's Cats. 

The book will be launched at the Singapore Writers Festival on Nov 3 (Sunday) from 11.30am to 12.30pm at the Festival Pavilion, Campus Green, Singapore Management University. Admission is free!

Please come! It would be great to see you there.

 

Kids, Jakarta Selatan

New Indonesian studies centre to improve ties with our northern neighbour

"Tapsell also said he hoped the centre would be “independent of government direction”.

“There is more to the relationship than just the current asylum seeker debate. And what is really needed is to establish centres, like this one, that can get a new generation of Australians to be more interested in Indonesia and hopefully learning Indonesian language.”

“Of course, a lot of Australians do go to Indonesia but they tend to go to Bali just for a holiday… we need to go beyond that for a greater understanding of the issues which affect our neighbours,” Tapsell said. He hoped the new centre would help change and shape the way Australians thought about Indonesia and Indonesian stereotypes."