Month: December 2009

If You’re American, You Owe It To Yourself To Watch Food Inc.

Bradley Farless2 Comments
Food Inc. is a documentary that explores the way the food industry has changed since the 1930s.  Have you ever stopped to wonder where you’re food is coming from?  Have you ever wondered how it’s grown, how it’s handled, treated, and brought to market?  Have you ever wondered just how healthy it is?  Go take a look at the items in your kitchen.  Check the labels.  How many have high fructose corn syrup in them?  Ever wonder why everything from your hamburger meat to your Coke has that in it?  Can’t figure out why your carrots cost more than a bag of Doritos?

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=talovecof-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0027BOL4G&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrA hundred years ago, foods (meat, grains, and vegetables) were all grown in a much safer, cleaner way.  Big business has changed all that.  There used to be thousands of meat processing plants in the US.  Now there are only 13, all controlled by just a handful of companies.  That wouldn’t be such a bad thing if they were doing their business responsibly, but they’re not.  How often over the years have we heard about food poisoning cases?  Why aren’t these plants shut down for continually producing bad meat?  Well, the answer is that big business uses its monetary leverage, as well as by placing former high level employees in key government positions, to influence government policy.  They’ve even continually worked to prevent food from being labeled properly.  For example, wouldn’t you like to know if the food you’re buying for your children is genetically modified?  Besides that, these big businesses and government policies are skewing our food industry in such a way that junk food is more affordable than healthy foods.

I think it’s important that people be more aware of what they’re eating and where it comes from.  This movie can explain that to you in an interesting way.  Seriously, it’s a documentary but it’s not boring at all. I had no idea about some of the things they do to raise the food we eat, and I know now why food in the US is so much cheaper than in other parts of the world. I also know why there are so many obese Americans with Type II diabetes. Our government is failing us in a very important way, but it’s kept out of public view. This documentary will definitely influence how I make future purchases in the grocery store, when I get back to the US of course!

To learn about abuses in the system, including gene patenting, using illegal immigrants for labor, and how to find healthy alternatives, watch Food Inc.

Here’s the trailer:

If you’re interested in getting a copy for yourself, you can follow the link to Amazon included in this post or, for more information, visit this page.

More Thoughts on Avatar

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(Read my Avatar Movie Review.)

Some of the comments I’ve seen on Twitter about Avatar say that the movie has a weak storyline and that you should just watch it for the special effects.  It’s true that some plot elements of Avatar can be found in other movies, but I think people are being over critical.  Think about it.  Movies have been in production for about a hundred years now.  Some plot elements are bound to be reused.  You can see the same thing happening in books.  So, instead of watching the movie with the intent to tear apart the plot, you should appreciate the movie for what it is, and for how artfully the story is told.  Besides, it’s really not that weak.  The movie itself is symbolic of a problem that we’re all facing now, in the world around us.

The humans in Avatar have traveled across a vast distance to Pandora in search of raw materials.  They’re there to mine for an ore that’s very valuable on Earth.  I got the impression it was a fuel source of some kind.  In their pursuit of this raw material, they ruthlessly destroy the environment around them without regard for the impact it has on the native population.  The same could be said of what we’re doing to our own planet.  In the pursuit of industrialization we’re polluting our planet at an ever increasing pace.  We’re destroying the habitats of animals.  We’re causing the extinction of whole species.  In some places, like parts of China, we’ve caused the environment to be so toxic that the people living there are seeing massive increases in birth defects and cancer related deaths.

I think that Avatar is trying to teach us that we should be more aware of what we’re doing to our world.  We should take the time to find ways to reduce our impact and to learn to coexist with nature, rather than destroy it for our own ends.  For all our technology, if we continue to pollute our world we’ll one day find ourselves without clean sources of food and water.  The Earth has limited resources after all.  I’m not saying we should all become vegetarian ‘tree-huggers’ but if we can start making a conscious effort on an individual level to reduce our impact, it can add up to a huge difference.  Think about how much better the world would be if everyone recycled, if no one littered, if firm controls were put on industries everywhere as to how their toxic waste was disposed of.  We have the tools available to us already.  We just need to use them.

Avatar is a great movie with a great message that we can all enjoy and learn from.

Avatar Movie Review

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Avatar is the best movie I’ve seen in years.  It’s so good in fact that it’s also the first movie to come out in years that I feel is worth paying more money for, to own a copy.  Before going to see this movie, I hadn’t really heard anything good about it.  People were all speculating about the budget and whether or not it would be justified.  I heard a lot of people predicting that it would be flaky.  I’m glad I didn’t listen to them.

Avatar is a breathtaking movie.  From beginning to end you’ll be amazed by the stunning visuals.  The imagery is vivid and lush.  The level of detail is astounding.  But it’s not just the visuals that will keep you glued to your seat.  The movie creates and entire world with depth, history, and tradition that’s full of life.  The Na’vi even have their own language. A sequel would only ruin it, but there’s enough room in the world James Cameron created in this film to spawn an entire series of books, expanding on the history of the Na’vi, the native population of Pandora.

Even though this movie takes place on Pandora, another planet, the human element isn’t lost.  The movie is all about bonds that people form with each other and with the world around them.  The Na’vi are a primitive race on the surface, but their society is very advanced, especially in how they interact with their environment and the role it plays in their lives.  The Na’vi live a simple lifestyle but they’re in tune with their surroundings and they live happily.  There’s also a romantic side to the movie that is predictable, but done in a way that’s touching and interesting.  It adds to the story, rather than serving as a distracting element.

The movie is fast paced and has a lot of action in it.  There really isn’t a boring moment.  With every scene you get to learn more about Pandora and the Na’vi.  There are also bits of humor thrown in, but tastefully.  Some of Sigourney Weaver’s lines are a great example.  This movie will probably appeal most to people who love epic fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings, but it’s hard to compare this movie with others I’ve seen.  It’s really in a league of its own.  It was like watching the rich world of a book come to life on screen.  There’s really something there for everyone.  I doubt anyone’s going to be disappointed coming home from this one.

At the end, you’ll find yourself lost in the world of Pandora and it’s people, wishing for more and reminiscing on the more poignant scenes of the movie.

(Read my follow-up post on Avatar and the symbolism present in the plot.)

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Sim Lim Sales People Drive Me Nuts

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I have a love-hate relationship with Sim Lim.  I love the place because it’s full of electronics and I love new gadgets.  The place has decent retail prices and if you’re looking for replacement parts, it’s often the only place in Singapore that sells them for a reasonable price.

So, why do I hate going there?  I hate going there because I can’t shop in peace.  I’m the kind of guy that likes to take my time, examining the items on display, reading through the specifications, comparing and thinking about what the best deal is.  I’m often not even there to make a purchase.  I just like to see what’s out so I can have an idea of what’s a good deal when I want to make a purchase in the future.

The reason I can’t shop in peace in Sim Lim is because of the aggressive sales practices of the staff in the various stores.  If you even look too long at something in the store while you’re out in the walkway area, a sales person runs out and asks you what you’re looking for, what brand, what price range, what what what what.

When you can make it into the store before being assaulted by a sales person, they’ll typically walk up and lean over your shoulder to see what you’re looking at.  Then they’ll insult your intelligence by reading the specs of the laptop you’re looking at from the sticker that’s prominently displayed on the wrist wrest of the device.  Thanks, but I can read.  I’ve been doing it for a long time and I don’t need help reading stickers that are placed in a clearly visible position by the manufacturer.

Typically, when I walk into a store in Sim Lim I walk straight to the items that I’m interested in browsing.  A sales person will walk up to me and ask me if they can help me with anything.  I’ll quickly tell them, “No thank you.  I’m just browsing for the moment.”  I say it in a no-nonsense kind of way to make it clear that I’m not interested in being “helped”.

At this point, one of two things will happen.  Either the sales person will take the hint, be polite and return to their sitting area, or they’ll just stand there.  Uh.  Hello?  I just told you I don’t want your help!  So, why do they do that?  It’s like having a vulture crouching on my shoulder while I’m there.  Even worse, they follow you around like they’re making sure you don’t try to steal something.  After a few instances of this I started telling them that if I had any questions about anything, I would come to them.  That didn’t work.  They still followed, right to the edge of the store, which is where I would directly go if they wouldn’t leave me alone.

Some of them have no sense of personal space either.  I had to ‘accidentally’ bump into one guy that was standing so close behind my wife he could’ve hugged her.  That’s really not cool.  Not at all.

Even if the sales person takes the hint and retreats, you’re still not guaranteed to be out of the woods, because that sales person has colleagues; colleagues that may not be paying attention to what’s going on. Here’s an example.  I walked into a store and when I was approached by a sales person I told her I was quite alright and would let her know if I needed anything.  She smiled and walked back to the sitting area.  Less than a minute later I was approached by another sales person.  Then another.  Then another.  I had to wave away four of them.

I really don’t know what the point of them hovering around me is.  It just puts me on edge.  It makes me feel like I can’t stay in one spot too long and make my own decision.  When they don’t leave me alone, or even worse when they try to offer me a “special price six minutes only” I quickly turn and leave and go to the next store.

I don’t like being uncomfortable and I don’t like feeling pressured when I’m considering spending a large sum of money on an electronic device.  I want to take my time and make sure that I’m picking an item that I’m going to like; not what the sales person tells me I’ll like.

I know this is a cultural difference, because I’ve seen the same behavior from sales people in the Philippines.  It’s odd that this is the only place in Singapore (that I know of) that does this.  Honestly, it makes me want to avoid Sim Lim if I can.  It’s too bad more stores in Singapore don’t have web pages that show their specials and sales.

So, here’s what I recommend.  If you’re a sales person and someone tells you they don’t want to be helped, hand them a flyer with your store’s current specials, tell them your name, thank them for visiting your store, and tell them that if they need anything you’ll be available (not waiting, because that sounds aggressive) in the back of the store.  Also, label your products with prices and whatever specials come along with them, like free bags, etc.  Mark brightly what’s on sale and put it near the front of the store.  Make sure everything has tags detailing the devices capabilities.  But don’t harass your customers!  Let them browse in peace.  If they have questions they’re not going to run away.  They’ll ask.

Good English Isn’t Always Good English in Singapore

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In this sign you’ll see that explanations are made “pristine clear”, which is redundant. It doesn’t inspire much confidence in the teaching ability of the instructors at this education center if they can’t even get their sign right, especially since they’re supposed to be teaching English.

This reminds me of the Speak Good English movement that the government has been pushing. Singapore is a country that has tried to develop a mandatory bilingualism among its citizens. That’s a great goal, but some of my online reading suggests that the plan has backfired and resulted in a large number of Singaporeans that speak both English and Mandarin inadequately.

Speaking to locals can sometimes be a daunting experience. First you have to adjust to the accent. Then you have to occasionally jump the hurdles of grammar errors and mispronunciations. Compound that with the occasional local that addresses you with the local pidgin English (called Singlish) and it can be a verbal minefield that will leave you scratching your head and asking for a translator. I always excelled in English and Literature subjects in school but sometimes I have to ask someone I’m speaking with to repeat themselves a few times to figure out what they’re trying to say.

This problem was very much apparent when I went to SingTel last night. I showed up and got in line to have my plan upgraded to an iFlexi plan. You see, when I first got my iPhone from SingTel the iFlexi plans (which were tailored for the iPhone) were … lacking to say the least. They didn’t really offer any benefit at all. The data allowance was VERY low and it just wasn’t worth having. So I wound up selecting another plan and I just used the wireless@sg that’s available all over the island. Well, not everywhere, but it’s in most shopping centers, libraries, and public buildings. If you’re not familiar with it, wireless@sg is free wireless that’s available to anyone in Singapore with a local phone number.

The release of the iPhone to other carriers in Singapore created a quick round of competition between the three major mobile carriers to offer the best plan for the best value in regards to their iPhone offerings.  Yay capitalism!  Part of that competition called for an increase in the data allowance to 12 GB monthly all around. SingTel was previously only offering 500 MB per month on the low end iPhone plan. Now the 12 GB limit was across the board. SingTel also offered a 30 SGD cap on data usage beyond the 12 GB allowance. That was great, so I wanted to get on board with it.

I realize I could’ve just called in, but we were at the mall anyway and I thought it might be a better idea to just handle the problem in person. When I got in line a girl came up and asked me what she could help me with. I told her I wanted to upgrade my plan to take advantage of the new offerings in the iFlexi plans. She took down my mobile number and other details and then went to a counter. She came back after a few minutes and told me that I’m not eligible to upgrade my plan. After quite a bit of going back and forth with her I asked her to get someone that spoke better English to assist me. Shortly, the manager came back and we quickly resolved what it was I was trying to do and I was able to upgrade my plan to an iFlexi plan. I’m not quite sure why, but the girl thought I wanted to re-contract my iPhone.  She was trying to tell me I wasn’t allowed to upgrade to a better, more expensive plan.  That obviously makes no business sense so I knew she was missing the point.

It can be funny finding signs like the one pictured above, but living in Singapore has taught me how important it is to be able to communicate effectively and it makes me glad that the ‘international business language’ is my native language. I hear English is one of the hardest languages to learn, so good job to those that have mastered it as a second language.

Western Names in an Eastern Country

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One of the things I’ve always found curious about Singapore is that there are lots of ethnically Chinese people that have Western names.  When I first found out about the Western style names I assumed that ethnic Chinese in Singapore had simply started using Western first names in place of Chinese first (or given) names, followed by their surname (ex: John Goh, Michelle Tan, Jimmy Lim, etc).

So, I was a bit confused when I found out that in Singapore, ethnic Chinese have a full Chinese name, but at some point choose an English name to use in addition to their Chinese name.  It sounded a bit silly to me at first, like a bunch of kids at a sleep over picking fake names to role-play with, but I’ve found a few reasons as to why it may be done.

The practice is very common in modern China.  The people there tend to choose an English first name for a variety of reasons.  They might do it because they frequently have to do business with foreigners, and an English name is easier for them to pronounce and remember.  They might do it as a way of expressing social status.  Some do in fact choose an English name that embodies their dream or ambitions for the future.  In China, it is believed that your name will affect your destiny.  This practice has carried over to Hong Kong and Singapore.

I’m just making a guess here but I think the reason that Western names are so popular in Singapore among ethnic Chinese has to do with business reasons.  Singapore is constantly maneuvering and positioning itself as a business hub, and more recently a technology and media hub, for this region of the world.  As such it does quite a bit of communicating with foreign investors and main branches of MNCs that have set up regional offices here.  So, for the sake of simplicity in regards to carrying out that business, I think people here choose English names to use in place of their Chinese names when in the work place.

If someone knows more about it than I do, please enlighten me in the comment section as I’d really love to know!

Also, I think it’s an interesting opportunity to be able to give yourself a name.  In Western countries we’re given the only name we’ll ever have by our parents at birth.  There is a way to legally change your name in the US, but who really does that?  You risk insulting your family if you do.  Sometimes our parents give us names that are really outdated, are in poor taste, or just make you say “WTF?”.  Having the opportunity to choose your own name, based on your own hopes and interests is great!

(Image from Posh Little Baby Names)

How To Chope a Table in Singapore

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This applies mostly to tables at hawkers, since you’re seated as usual in a “sit-down” restaurant by a host.

In a hawker center (take that to mean food court and kopitiam as well) there are a lot of people trying to eat and there usually aren’t enough tables to go around.  In Singapore, it’s not uncommon to get your food, turn around, and then realize there’s no where to sit, especially at high traffic times during lunch and dinner hours.  You might stand around for quite a few minutes looking for a spot for yourself and whoever might be with you.  That can be really frustrating and sometimes you wind up eating with strangers, which doesn’t seem to faze locals, but was uncomfortable for me at first.  In food courts in the US you eat at your own table with your own friends and family and that’s it.  There aren’t any strangers buddying up next to you.  It’s awkward and unwanted and depending on who you try it with you might get whacked in the head for your trouble.

Singaporeans have a solution for their dilemma.  They call it “choping”.  Basically, it’s a way of reserving a seat in advance.  If you’re from the US, the term “dibs” is about the same.  If you chope a table, you’re calling dibs on that table, though it’s taken a bit more seriously here.  By the way, in Singapore “Dibs” are ice cream bon bon things.

I call dibs on these Dibs.

The way it’s typically done is by leaving a travel-sized packet of tissue on the table.  If you’re wondering why people would all have tissue on them (other than women, who have everything under the sun in their bags), it turns out that at hawker centers it’s incredibly rare to be provided with a napkin to go along with your meal.  The only place I know of that does it is a Western-style hawker stall called Amigos in Pasir Ris.  So, if you’re a local and you’re going to the hawker you have tissue with you.  You deposit this tissue onto the table to claim it as yours and then you go get your food.  This practice ties in with Singapore being safe because in a lot of places if you left your tissue on the table (and it was obviously not used) it would disappear before you got back.

I’ve seen some posts on the internet about Singaporeans having a fit because foreigners don’t respect their “chope”.  Luckily, most of them are smart enough to realize that choping is a local custom and the foreigners more than likely just didn’t know what the tissue was doing there, or thought it was tissue provided by the hawker.  I recall sitting down at a table that had a packet of tissue on it once.  I even pocketed the tissue.  I guess some one ate their lunch in brooding silence that day.  It wasn’t until I’d been in Singapore for about a year that I learned about choping.

Nowadays I think the practice is starting to fade out and is being replaced with a more familiar way of claiming a table.  Someone from the group simply sits at the table and claims it while other people go get their food (and hopefully that person’s food as well).  But, if you find yourself standing, looking out over a huge crowd of seated people, remember what the tissue on the table means!

Singapore Starbucks Supports A Salvation Army Initiative

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Earlier today, from 5 to 7 PM Singapore was giving away free ‘tall’ sized drinks, but with a good-hearted catch.  They weren’t just handing out free drinks because they felt generous, or to drum up business or publicity, it was to raise funds and awareness for the Salvation Army.

I went to the Tampines Starbucks at 5:30 PM and there was already a sizable line reaching back out the door.  Starbucks was well prepared for the crowds with partitions set up and employees outside to keep the line under control.  I decided to go eat dinner first, but when I came back at 6:30 PM the line was still wrapped around the back of the cafe.

Regardless, I wanted my chance to get a drink and offer a donation so I got in line.  As I fell in at the back of the line a Starbucks employee asked me what I wanted and then handed me a paper with my order on it.  I suppose that was their way of ensuring that they could effectively cut off the line when the promotion time was over.  Shortly after that the line moved and I walked up to two Salvation Army workers with the traditional bell and pot.  I made my donation and moved on.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take me long to get my drink, which wound up being a vanilla latte because they ran out of toffee nut, and I found a seat inside and watched the end of the event.  The employees were surprisingly upbeat and excited, despite the overwhelming crowd.  There looked to be about 20 of them there though so they weren’t overworked.

After the event was over they all posed for a group photo.  Another person was there taking photos with a big DSLR.  He seemed to know the employees so he probably worked for Starbucks as well.

I think this was a great way for Starbucks to help give back to the community in Singapore and I was more than happy to part with a few dollars, which would’ve been spent on coffee anyway.

McCurry and McBath

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Both of these photos were taken in Kuala Lumpur.

I saw this McCurry while riding a bus and had to rush to snap a photo of it.  This place is owned by a local business man and I remember reading about an 8 year legal battle they went through with McDonald’s, who sued them for trademark infringement.  In the end, the Malaysian courts ruled in favor of McCurry, which only makes sense.  I’m sure the name of this store was inspired by McDonald’s but how can you trademark the “Mc”?  Though not common to Malaysia, “Mc” is a common part of names.

I guess this place followed suit and took it a step further by equating the “Mc” with an American Standard.  I didn’t realize there was an American standard for McBaths or McToilets, but if you’re looking for McBathroom Fixtures this is the place for you.

The Running Green Man

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I’ve done quite a bit of traveling and I’m used to seeing things that are a bit different from what I’m accustomed to, but this one caught me by surprise.  In New York City the green lights for pedestrians have the word “WALK” in capital letters.  In Singapore the green pedestrian light is an image of a guy, accompanied by an audible alarm when you’re able to cross and meant to wait.

The pedestrian green lights in Kuala Lumpur are the coolest I’ve seen though.  What’s great about them is that they’re not just plain and boring; they’re animated!  Audible alarms are nice, especially for people with vision problems, so it would be great if they incorporated that, but watching that green running man is really entertaining.

Here’s a video of it: