Penang, Malaysia

A few pictures from our weekend in/on Penang in Malaysia. The smallest of the Malaysian states, Penang is a small island of the western coast of peninsular Malaysia - linked to it by a bridge. Its capital Georgetown was founded by the British as a trading post and was fairly important at least until Singapore overtook it. Historic Georgetown is protected as a UN World Heritage site (a good thing considering the number of condos being built just outside the city limits) and has some very pretty buildings to visit, with a style specific to the region - the mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and British influences - sometimes called Peranakan. The Chinese influence does seem to dominate...
We were also able to take advantage of the beaches not far... a very nice weekend.

Je fais mon cinema

L'avantage de faire un aller retour transcontinental est de pouvoir voir quelques films que j'ai "loupé" lors de leur passage au cinéma sur les 12 derniers mois. Deux très beaux films que je recommande:

The Wrestler
Vous en avez sans doute entendu parler lors des Oscars quand Mickey Rourke a été nominé pour l'oscar du meilleur acteur et que son "comeback" a été prédit. Le "wrestling" est une forme de lutte greco-romaine où les combats sont en fait des spectacles et l'issue de la lutte prédéterminée par les promoteurs. Dans ce film, Mickey Rourke joue un athlète vieillissant, survivant grâce à des petits boulots et combattant le weekend, qui quand il doit arrêter son sport pour des raisons de santé se rend compte que c'est la seule chose qui le rattache à la vie. C'est un film presque à huis-clos, où l'on suit les échecs successifs du personnage principal à s'adapter à sa nouvelle condition. Pas gai donc, mais fascinant et j'ai trouvé que cela donnait quelques lettres de noblesse au "professional wrestling" qui n'est globalement pas consideré comme un sport.

The Visitor
Autre nominé malheureux aux oscars, Richard Jenkins, acteur principalement de second rôle jusqu'à present - vous le reconnaitrez comme le père décedé dans 6 feet under- joue un professeur d'université deconnecté. Lors d'un passage à New York, il se rend compte que son appartement a été squatté par un couple d'immigré illégaux (la seule partie franchement pas réaliste du film, qui laisse un appartement à NY vide pour autant de temps? C'est un prof pas un banquier!). Cette rencontre lui redonne goût à la vie et il s'engage auprès de ses nouveaux amis lorsqu'ils sont menacés d'expulsion. Place importante donnée à la musique, aux percussions en particulier. Tendre et tristre, aussi un réquisitoire contre les nouvelles règles appliquées aux immigrants aux Etats Unis dans un monde post 11 Septembre. Un retour à la vie donc pour ce film à opposer à la descente aux enfers du Wrestler.

Finalement, je vous invite à visiter ce site The Soul Storage Company de quoi s'agit-il à votre avis? J'avoue avoir mis un certain temps à le découvrir...

Low crime....

does not mean no crime. However Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world (will keep a discussion about crime&punishment for another post) and compared to Paris I am becoming very lazy about paying attention to my belongings.... An accident waiting to happen when I visit back home.

Advice from Big Brother

One of the biggest shocks of moving to Singapore (after the weather, the food, the people.....) is the pain the Singapore government takes to advise their citizens how to act and what to do (and I come from France). Government concerns range from preventing Dengue fever (useful) to how to us public toilets properly (really?) and the importance of being courteous.

This generally translates into a variety of signboards around town (a few examples here) all sponsored by a government agency or another or full blown campaigns such as the Singapore Kindness Movement and its mascot "Singa the Kindness Lion" or the current campaign in the MRT (subway) to allow alighting passengers to get off the train (a problem in most urban environments). Currently due to concerns about swine flue (don't forget they had bird flue here a few years ago) a lot of emphasis is being placed on hygiene, as you can see a hand can be full of germs depicted like furry scary monsters.

I haven't yet figured out if people actually pay attention to these campaigns or if they are even needed. Sounds a bit to me like a nagging parent (sit up straight!, don't scratch your nose!). In the meantime I have decided to be amused and collect this advice for the benefit of this blog.

The Great Singapore Sale is on!

June is a pretty important month in Singapore. It is the summer holidays for schoolchildren, it is the hottest month of the year and it's the month of the Great Singapore Sale. I assume it was originally set up to attract even more tourists to Singapore, so they would actually come into town when on their way to Bali, Thailand etc. The first weekend of the sale is pretty hectic with coupons and fliers for deals being handed out at virtually all street corners.

I didn't really take advantage of it this year, and it's a shame as I'm pretty sure discounts were particularly radical due to the recession etc.

Anyway, this poster is not actually about the Singapore sale, but for a search engine promoted by Singtel, the local incumbent telephone company. I still felt it illustrated well some aspects of the sale.

A few views of Singapore (Chinatown)