Dialectics of Contestation

André C. Drainville, "Resistance to Globalisation: The View From The Periphery of The World Economy", International Social Science Journal, 2009, 192, 235 - 246. Using a world-system analytical perspective, André C. Drainville examines how the periphery articulated its global presence in contesting globalization. In the process, he reviews the different forms that contestation took at different modern time periods and the current spaces of struggle against neo-liberal globalization. To put it simply, these forms of contestation articulate the social presence of the periphery on the global scene and relation to the world order. What is the world order that the periphery faces? According to Drainville, "The core of the world economy is no longer just a country or a group of countries: there is also a transnational elsewhere, beyond the reach of all nationally organised societies. It is there that transnational capital made itself into a self-knowing political subject (Cox 1987; Sklair 2001; van der Pijl 1984), where it set up a nebulas of institutions (such as the International Monetary Fund [IMF] and the World Bank) to read and reproduce general conditions of accumulation, and where it attempts to assemble an apolitical global civil society to legitimate the new world order (Drainville 2004)." (235) Which means, of course, that current globalization, far from eliminating social inequalities between areas of the world-system or from generating one world under cultural homogenization, has created a vastly differentiated space. Correspondingly, forms of contestation are equally differentiated. Drainville puts it better: "Notwithstanding the transnationalisation of finance, the delocalisation of production or the cosmopolitan rhetoric of global governance, the world has not become an undifferentiated field of action." (236) In typical world-system analytical fashion, Drainville then takes the perspective of longue duree to examine the modes of contestation of the periphery against the world order. The central thesis of the article is then: "At the periphery of the world economy, in what Amory Starr and Jason Adams call the "global South" (Starr and Adams 2003, pp. 28 - 29), social forces have historically constituted themselves in their meeting with world order. What is new to the current phase of globalisation is that terrains of world significance are less authoritatively circumscribed then ever, and that the social forces involved in struggles are more varied and less isolated from one another than before, both on the terrain of the world economy and locally. As a result, what we may term the dialectics of global presence operates to greater effect than ever." (237) Drainville distinguishes between three different historical periods with their respective mode of peripheral constestation. From the second half of the 19th century until WWI, this era is structured by colonialism and imperialism. Contestation then took the form of everyday resistance from peasants and indigenous workers. From the end of the colonial era until the crisis of the Bretton Woods order, this period is marked by the struggles for decolonization but also against the world ordering processes of the Bretton Woods institutions. Ultimately, the debt crisis and structural adjustment programs prevailed as peripheral authoritarian regimes failed. From the end of the 1980s onward is the era of global governance, marked by a softening of global regulations and programmatic impositions on peripheral countries but for the same purpose, bring the global South more deeply into the world economy. For Drainville, global governance means something more specific than just issuing global regulations or international air traffic: "Global governance is the political face of the globalisation project at the periphery of the world economy. It has been accompanied by attacks on state corruption and violence, efforts to bypass state agencies and anchor regulation directly in civil society, and attempts to institute low intensity democracy". (238) "Low intensity democracy" means that the economy is off-limit to states action through massive privatization, lower government spending, openness to foreign investment, deregulation and liberalization, firing of government employees, and overall reduction of state capacity down to its repressive functions (police and military). And the civil society here refers to the private sector, which include the economic private sector. We already know that the social consequences of this process of pushing for low intensity democracy have been across the global South, and there lie the roots of contestation across the social structure: "Nowadays resistance does not take place only in haciendas and plantations, it does not only have the colonial or neo-colonial state as its targets, and it is not a creation of specific groups with particular histories and trajectories. Rather, it involves a broad array of the dispossessed: those without roof, without land, without work, without rights (Zibechi 2005, p.13), the impoverished middle classes, small and medium agricultural producers, indigenous peoples, unemployed professionals, public employees, women in the informal sector, small savers, retired people, "students, lecturers and nurses in Angola; public sector workers in Benin, farmers, electricity workers and teachers in Kenya; municipal workers in Morocco; health workers in Nigeria; community groups and organised labour in South Africa, displaced farmers in Mexico, maquilla workers in Guatemala, garment workers in Bangladesh and peasant groups in Brazil and India (Bond 2003)." (238) Based on such a diversity of forms of contestation, Drainville identifies three specific spaces of struggle in the global South where resistance to world-ordering processes are questioned: Global Cities where the transnational capitalist class and the slum-dwellers coexist uneasily (see, IMF riots) Export Processing Zones where workers, especially women are the manufacturing base of the world economy Countryside where peasants and indigenous peoples are located fighting for self-determination and land reform All three categories are engaged in struggles again neo-liberal globalization according to what Drainville calls the dialectics of global presence. The dialectics works in two stages: "In the first stage of the dialectic, social forces ensconced in localities are brought out of their situated selves by the exigencies and opportunities of increasingly globalized struggles." (240) Good examples of this are provided by the EZLN holding its global meeting at Aguas Calientes a few years back, or the women of the Niger Delta occupying a Chevron Texaco refinery. Local dynamics shape the structure of the global struggle. This is at this stage that local connections are linked with other groups globally, creating transnational networks involved in gathering information, or promoting organizational models or straightforward activism and advocacy. Local movements make global connections. "At the second stage of the dialectic, what was created globally (the alliances made and networks formed, resources gathered, strategies and tactics learned) is brought to bear on localities." (241) As an example, the EZLN uses its global connections to organize the defenses of localities in the Chiapas fighting for self-determination and autonomy. But what is new about this dialectic? "What is new in the current phase of globalisation is how relatively open and diverse peripheral terrains of world significance are, how struggles born there have found focus outside state-centred struggles and how pregnant is the sentiment of global propinquity that unites different movements. Never have such distinct social forces so rooted in local struggles taken place on the terrain of the world economy, never have they been as conscious of a common context of struggle and never has this context so informed and radicalised localised struggles. Never, in a word, has the dialectic of presence been activated to such effect." (243) Indeed, the article is rich in examples and mentions that reflect the incredible diversity of peripheral global presence articulated according to the dialectic, and localized in the three main spaces of contention. These various movements are unified in their struggling to define their connection to the world order, but they do so in great diversity of modes of resistance. Authored by SocProf. Hosted by Edublogs.

Church Penalties Part 1

Due to an increasing number of infractions, both incidental and intentional, the league office is assigning teams to officiate weekly services. The following is intended to serve as a primer to familiarize yourself with Sunday morning infractions, and the associated penalties. *** Infraction: Improper giving of directions Explanation: Usually cited in the foyer or hallways, this penalty is called whenever a church member serving either in an official capacity, or in "just being friendly" improperly delivers incorrect directions to another person. Typically seen in sending young families to the senior adult department. Infractions occurring in the sanctuary will also be cited. Penalty: Two weeks "penalty box" service in extended session or nursery. Infraction: Excessive End Zone Celebration Explanation: Much like a wide receiver over-celebrating a touchdown, this infraction cites the front row worshippers who draw attention away from God and to themselves by improper clapping techniques (as demonstrated by the official) or excessive booty-shaking, pew jumping, or aisle-rolling. Penalty: The offending person will be penalized fifteen rows in the sanctuary, or assigned to the balcony for the remainder of the service. Infraction: Excessive use of alliteration Explanation: This infraction is called on preachers who attempts to make three points of a sermon all beginning with the letters X, Q, or Z. This penalty can also be imposed upon a preacher who attempts to nest alliterative sub-points within already-alliterated major points. Penalty: The official will dock ten minutes from the alloted sermon time. Infraction: Improper Question Asking Explanation: Usually cited in the Sunday school or Bible study environment, this infraction is whistled when a student asks any off-topic question or poses to ask a question with the intent of passing off a comment from his study Bible as his own idea. This penalty can also be called if a parishoner mistakently attempts to answer a rhetorical question asked by the pastor from the pulpit. Penalty: Compulsory five-minute censorship placed upon the the penalized individual. Infraction: Excessive Drawing of Attention to Self Explanation: Another Sunday school or Bible Study penalty, this infraction is called upon the person who tries to share a personal experience with every teaching point of a lesson, thinking the gathering is "all about me." This violation is affectionately called the Penelope rule, and can be cited against any individual who offers multiple attempts to "one-up" someone else's personal experience. Penalty: Offender will be required to ask five questions about other people for each violation. Infraction: Unnecessary use of Announcements Explanation: Usually cited for improper use of alternative information media, this violation is called when pulpit is used to convey more than three announcements consecutively, or back-to-back announcements that do not apply to the majority of the church congregation in attendance. Penalty: Loss of Announcement in the subsequent week's services. Infraction: Improper Folding of Arms Explanation: Called in the sanctuary against congregants with the "I dare you to bless me" mindset. Usually in church against their will, the folded arms gesture is a subtle expression of misery or defiance. Penalty: Required to laugh out loud at the pastor's upcoming joke, even if it is recycled and unfunny. Infraction: Unnecessary or Inappropriate Pounding of the Pulpit Explanation: Cited whenever a preacher begins hammering away on the pulpit excessively, particularly on sermons about love, joy, peace, or happiness. Also, if the pastor deviates from a message and begins smiting the pulpit on a tangential monologue on politics, MTV, or teenage boys who don't wear belts on their britches. Penalty: Immediate removal of pulpit or podium, and issuance of broken music stand from which to preach for the remainder of the sermon. Infraction: False Start Explanation: When a preacher exceeds one-fourth of preaching time with the introduction, nests anecdotes within the introduction, or re-preaches two-thirds or more of the previous week's sermon as a means of introduction. Penalty: Loss of third sermon point for current week's message.

Theft

Michael Boone, alias Butcher Bones, is a once celebrated Australian artist who’s just got out of jail for various crimes that resulted from his divorce and what he sees as the appropriation of his work as marital property. His reputation is in the toilet and he’s broke. His only benefactor, a collector named Jean-Paul, provides a rundown rural house in the far north of New South Wales and, there being no alternative, Michael and his retarded brother Hugh (for whom he’s legal guardian) light out for the territory to become caretakers. Once there Michael leverages Jean Paul’s property and credit to provide himself with minimal art supplies and begins to paint. The novel is narrated by Michael—and sometimes by Hugh—and those voices are almost as great an achievement for Carey as was that of Ned Kelly. Michael and Hugh are both big men, violent and crude and funny. If you start the novel disliking them, chances are the further you read, the bigger fans you’ll become. Michael is a careless guardian but staunch defender of Hugh. Hugh, whom Michael frequently calls an Idiot Savant, provides commentary, often moral commentary, on Michael’s activities as well as carrying out his own shenanigans, which include the need to carry a chair with him at all times. They come from a pretty violent working class family (father a butcher; mother hid the knives at night) and haven’t modified their attitudes or behaviors much since entering the “art world” which seems artificial and anemic in comparison. One rainy night a sleek sophisticated New Yorker (as Michael assumes) Marlene Liebowitz turns up looking for a neighbor’s house which is virtually inaccessible across a flooded creek. Captivated, Michael manages to get her there with Jean Paul’s mowing tractor. Turns out she’s come to authenticate a genuine Liebowitz owned by the neighbor. From there the plot twists are truly gargantuan. Marlene is not a New Yorker but an Aussie girl who burned down the high school after she was expelled and married the son of the famous painter in New York where she influenced him to use his droit moral (hereditary right to authenticate his deceased father’s work) to financial advantage. The Liebowitz owned by the neighbor is stolen that very night and because Michael’s current canvas turned out to be the exact same size, he’s soon raided by the art police who confiscate his work on the assumption that he’s hidden the valuable work underneath. And that’s only Act 1. The major theme is the value of art and how value is determined. A difficult enough question in itself but complicated immensely by the fact that the entire art world in this novel is out to maximize profits and schemes to do so are perpetrated, usually at the expense of the artist. Marlene is clearly one of the thieves, but she’s a refreshingly candid one, and Michael’s obsessed with her—until she goes too far.

mark

Whenever life takes you away from the people and places you have known, there is a mark that you leave behind you. Whatever the people from your past remember about you and whatever deeds you did to change their lives or the situation you were in together becomes your legacy. I thought it would be interesting to think about the legacies some of the people in my life have left for me. I'm going to try to keep the lists to two or three items per person and go for a chronological listing of when they exited my life so that the end of the list are the people who are still in my life. Part two will be written some other time and it will list the legacies I hope to leave for others.My biological father - A dad is someone who takes the time to get to know you, loves you and raises you. Sperm donors are a better name for men who don't do anything but inseminate your mother. (Only makes the top of the list because he exited my life before I was born.)My maternal grandmother - Unconditional love means forgiving people. Never marry a substance abuser. Tell people how much you love them regularly so that you do not have regrets when they are gone.My maternal grandfather - Substance abuse can ruin lives. It is important to apologize to people you may hurt before you are on your death bed. Introduced me to chocolate.My maternal aunt - Always do your best. Know when it is time to cut your losses. You do not have to be wealthy to lead a rich life.First foster family - God will forgive you for just about anything, but you need to ask and really be sorry that you messed up. There are gifts you can make that are better than anything you can buy in a store. You are never too old to be young.Second foster family (also see sixth foster family) - Families are important. Anger makes people do stupid things. I never want to own a horse when I grow up.Third foster family - The Department of Human Services is totally oblivious to what foster parents are really up to in their homes. Children are powerless to stop adults who want to hurt them. Adults are fallible.Fourth foster family - The Department of Human Services treats good foster families like crap. A good family with a small house gets less respect from DHS than a corrupted family with a big house.Fifth foster family - Foster parents sometimes take in children to meet their own selfish emotional needs. You can make money by being a foster parent, but you have to deprive the kids to do it. Some foster parents are willing to deprive the kids of basic needs.Sixth foster family (see also second foster family) - Anything can be forgiven. Families are forever. Nobody is perfect.All of my foster grandparents - Being a grandparent rules. The more grandkids, the merrier. Once you are part of a family, you will always be part of that family, no matter what happens.Best friend #1's family - A real Christian does not judge people. Your family can be made up of anyone you want it to include. God only gives us what he knows we can handle.Best friend #2's family - Even perfect looking families have their problems. Being a young mom is not always a bad thing. Figure out whose back you have and make sure they have yours too.Best friend #1 - Geographic distance does not kill a friendship that is real. People can be ugly ducklings too. No matter how much you love your best friend and wish she was your sister, having her date your brother would be too weird.Best friend #2 - Just because someone is as strong as stone does not mean they do not have feelings. Too thine own self be true. Don't let anyone tell you who to love and not love.My birth mom - The number of years you have been alive has nothing to do with your real age. Though a person's capacity may be limited in some regards, it is often heightened in others. Intelligence is highly over-rated.My sister - You can be anything you want to be, as long as you are yourself. I am an admirable person. Your twin is sometimes born ten years after you, and has no blood connection to you.My husband - Anything is forgivable. Anything is achievable. It is possible to fall madly in love with someone you once refused to even consider dating.

Cheating Online.

I was watching devorce cort on t.v. yesterday, and this one of the questions that came up when they poled the viewers of the show. I'm very interested to hear what the folks on here would respond to the same question.

If you also begin seeing someone online, would you consider it to be cheating on your partner or not?

Marketing Campaigns Manager

Location: Palo Alto,CA Job Description: Yoh Talent Solutions has an opening for a Marketing Campaigns Manager located in Palo Alto, CA. Job Description: Working with the SME marketing organization, your focus will to support SME demand generation efforts for both direct sales and indirect partner channels. This includes: developing strategy and execution of end customer campaigns, driving adoption of partner marketing activities through the development of a channel communication strategy and manage the Market Development Fund process. Key Areas of Responsibility Include: Support and Execute End Customer Campaigns and Demand Generation Strategy Contribute to strategy and development of demand generation programs targeting end customers in the SME segment Develop and project manage campaign assets, time lines, and updates with key stakeholders Diligently track and measure results against targets Work closely with sales and partners to communicate and drive participation in key marketing activities and campaigns Manage and Maintain Regional Channel Partner Communication Infrastructure Maintain brand and content quality standards Oversee overall Partner communications for VAR partner community Provide editorial guidance on content for the Americas Channel Partner Portal Oversee regional partner e-newsletters Drive one-off communications in support of regional initiatives (ie events) Manage and Monitor Regional Marketing Development Fund (MDF) for Regional Channel Partners Support troubleshooting issues and addressing partner questions on MDF submission process and claims Liase with Partner Edge program and MDF infrastructure leads to support updates to the MDF process and system in North America Manage communication and enablement for partner adoption and utilization of MDF Job Requirements: To be considered candidates must have prior experience marketing to mid-market organizations with target audience IT and Line of Business Post-secondary education in marketing or equivalent experience Required Minimum 5 years experience in a field or channel marketing role in High Tech Industry Individual must be knowledgeable about the market, understand how products and technology fit business requirements and solve business challenges Prior channel marketing experience Experience in Business Intelligence technology a must This is a long term contract located in Palo Alto, CA. Submit resumes to Type: PermanentLocation: Palo Alto,CACountry: United States of AmericaContact: Yoh Managed ServicesAdvertiser: YohReference: JSJ7X6FR5ZS9JG5LDLV7K

Kamden tunrs eight

Today I figured out the disadvantage of having to leave for work at 6:30 am. Today is Kamden's 8th birthday and I was going to miss seeing her first thing to wish her Happy Birthday and watch her open her ginormous card that we got her along with a certificate that entitles her to a brand new bike as she has outgrown her old bike. While I was on the treadmill this morning and Trevor was on the bike I told him that I really feel bad that I have to miss seeing her open her present and he said why don't you just wake her up before you go. I wasn't too sure if this was such a good idea as kids that get up early tend to have rather rough days, but I decided that I would take the chance. So off I went to wake her up at 6:25am. Surprisingly she was quite pleasant. So we all headed to the living room and she opened her card...I did take some pictures and I will try to get it up by the end of the day...She loved it and was thrilled to see that she was getting a bike from us. Off to work I went...the kids dropped by my office at 8:30am to say Hi, which they do every morning. Kamden had on a tiara and a flashing Happy Birthday badge...that's our Kamden. This morning the kids had an Assembly on Integrity and Kamden go to stand up in the middle of all the kids and they sang Happy Birthday to her...what a treat!! Working out is coming along now. I still HATE getting up early. Usually the alarm goes off at 4am and Trevor, Mr. Gung Ho, gets up and gets ready to go and exercise. I just lay there and I say to him I'll do my workout later on this evening. As I lay there to go back to sleep I feel guilty and I usually get up and get on the treadmill. Man...it is tough to get these workouts in. Only 3 weeks till IM training starts and then I'll have to get to the pool in the evening...I am going to be wiped out. Luckily there is a pool that has lane swimming from 8-10 pm, so that will work out better for me...better than having to start at 9 pm and end at 10 pm. We signed up for a few races...my next race is a St Patrick's Day run a 10km...the race is not actually on St Patty's Day, but somewhere around that time and then the Police Half at the end of April. The next race is the Calgary Marathon, which has been moved to May 24th (I believe that's the day). After that the only scheduled thing is Calgary's Half Ironman on August 2nd and Ironman Canada on August 30th. Obviously, I would like to get more smaller runs in there...ideally half runs...still working on getting that sub 2:00...maybe this will be the year. Work is going good and keeping me busy. I am now a part timer when it comes to blogging. I wish I had the energy to blog in the evenings, but all I want to do is go to bed after I've made supper, made lunches for the next day and cleaned up a bit.

showing on five

Extraordinary PeopleExtraordinary People, showing Wednesday April 22nd on five at 9:00pmThe documentary strand exploring remarkable tales of human experience continues. This edition follows a leading Chinese surgeon as he performs a partial face transplant on a man mauled by a bear. Meanwhile, a burns victim hopes that the successful outcome of this case will pave the way for his own full face transplant.In 2005, doctors in France made international headlines when they performed the first-ever face transplant. Six months later, surgeons in China surprised the world with the news that they had performed their own facial transplant. This film follows the tale of this pioneering treatment and the prospects it holds for other patients.At the Xijing military hospital in Xian, Dr Guo Shuzhong has become accustomed to treating patients with horrific injuries. News of the face transplant in France is of especial interest to Dr Guo, who wants to make his hospital, and his country, a world leader in this extreme new form of surgery.A candidate for the first Chinese face transplant appears in early 2006. Word reaches Dr Guo of a tribesman in the remote Yunnan province who suffered horrific injuries after being mauled by a black bear.After studying photos of the patient, Li Guoxing, Dr Guo invites him to the hospital - a gruelling, four-day journey over 1,500 miles. Li does not speak Mandarin Chinese and is unused to the big city. Accompanied by his nephew, who acts as translator, he undergoes his first medical exam. Dr Guo finds that Li's face has been utterly destroyed by the bear - his nose has gone, his cheekbone is broken and there is a gaping wound in his cheek, revealing the tissue below. Before surgery can begin, doctors must find a donor face that matches the age and shape of Li's own.The face is eventually provided by a road-accident victim. Now surgeons begin a mammoth 18-hour operation to remove the face and stitch it onto Li's head. The surgery is particularly complicated because bone from the donor must be attached to recreate Li's nose, and each blood vessel must be sown under a microscope. However, the initial results are good. A face transplant requires a lifetime of follow-up treatment. To stop his body rejecting the donor skin, Li must take drugs to suppress his immune system. He faces three threats in the form of infection, metabolism changes and an increased risk of cancer. But after 18 months in hospital, a homesick Li checks himself out against medical advice and returns home.Li is now so far away from modern medical facilities that he runs the risk of complications with his surgery. Dr Guo soon learns that Li's skin is rejecting the transplant. He travels to Yunnan to confront his patient and discovers that Li has stopped taking his drugs because he was feeling better. Despite Guo's entreaties to move to the city full-time, where doctors can keep an eye on him, Li insists on staying in his mountainside village. The outcome of the pioneering surgery now hangs on Li's promise to resume his medication. If Li's transplant fails, it could have serious consequences for other patients hoping to undergo the procedure. Among them is petrochemical plant worker He, who sustained appalling burns whilst saving his colleagues from a gas leak. His act of heroism left him totally disfigured and he has been shunned by society. Surgery is his only hope of returning to a normal life. He has already moved closer to the hospital and is prepared to follow the doctors' instructions.

Sunday morning at Chinatown

When I think of Chinatown, I think of thick sweaty crowds amidst narrow lanes in the darnest most uncomfortable humidity.The tedious process of getting stuck in and wiggling through a sea of unknown human bodies is rather unappealing to an adult. But somehow kids love it. I only say it because I used to fancy getting lost. It was scary but oh so exciting. God only knows how many times I've gotten lost. That is just so telling of what kind of child I was. Call it a hunger to explore or pure playfulness if you will; only one thing is certain in these scenarios - adults hate it. And you must understand that kids relish anything that adults hate. Perhaps it's that thrill of being away from your naggy parents (come on, don't tell me you enjoyed the constant repetitions of 'hey, stop that', 'get back here!', or the usual 'you'll get it from me when you get home!') and the sheer excitement of being able to go whereever you want.But as with all things exciting, once you realise that you might indeed get lost for real with no chance of getting home (highly unlikely here in Singapore though, it's such a small island!), then you'll start to panic. At this point, excitment turns into anxiety and gleeful eyes turn red and glossy, and your breath quickens as you try to retrace your steps. I am sure that most of you have gone through this at least once.Getting lost is by far no laughing matter especially when your 3ft tall (or short for that matter) frame is at a disadvantage, amidst a sea of tall, lengthy adults. Perfect example - visiting Chinatown during Chinese New Year. Now that's what I'm talking about. Swarmed with tourists, locals, mums, dads and kids all checking out the various goodies ranging from bak kwa (barbecued minced meat), melon seeds, love letters, pomelos, white rabbit candy (i know it's now a god-damn poison carrier but hey i loved it! i can still remember the creamy sweet chunk of goo wrapped in edible rice paper, one that i lovingly ate before popping the entire sweet into my mouth), etc.At that time, I believed that a Chinatown experience should be what the Chinese term as being 热闹. The noisier the better, the more crowded, the more fun it was. The Chinatown crowd is especially fierce during Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is also not Chinese New Year without that annual trip to Chinatown during the festive period.I still enjoy strolling down the streets of Chinatown and I still get do get lost sometimes but that usually happens only when I head down to the area during Chinese New Year, and Mid-Autumn festival. That's when the place gets busy and becomes untolerably congested. So congested that you can't see where your feet are and where you're headed to.Chinatown has changed quite a bit since my childhood days. It's cleaner, the roads are wider and even the food centres have undergone an overhaul, making it less dingy and more sanitary. I like the present day Chinatown and I love the fact that it's chockful of great food at cheaper than cheap prices. Hawker centres (or food centres) are indeed a great blessing. That's one thing I'm glad we have here in Singapore.There are a few hawker centres in the Chinatown area but my current favourite is the one located right smack towards the end of Smith Street. Oh wait, I just did a quick Google search, it's at 335 Smith Street. And the proper name's Chinatown Complex Food Centre. It is apparently also one of the must-visit hawker centres recommended by the Singapore Tourism Board.The last I heard, there are a mind-boggling 200 stalls at this food centre. You can work up an appetite just thinking about it, or actually visiting the glorious food haven to see for yourself what the hawkers have to offer. You have to trust me when I tell you that it is an ultimate buffet spread. There's everything you can possibly imagine. I reckon that this would be the best place to visit if you have a craving (well even if you don't, just checking out the stalls will make you salivate). So just what do you crave for? Dim Sum? Yes they have it. Claypot rice? Check. Porridge? Check. Kway Chap? Check. Popiah, fried Hokkien mee and Guo tie? Check. Duck rice? Chicken rice? Banana fritters? Beef noodles? Minced pork noodles? Thick peanut butter toast? Pumpkin sago? Xiao long bao? Yes this place has all of the above.I would love to continue that list but I won't. I will not spoil the experience for you. That's because part of the fun lies in getting lost in the maze of food stalls there. No kidding. You have to remember which route you took or else you'll get lost. I'm speaking from experience.On Sunday, after a very early morning mass (I usually go for the afternoon or evening one but Mum tempted me with a Chinatown brunch adventure of sorts and oh how could I resist? :D ), my mum and I headed down to the said food complex to have brunch. I knew I was going to have an interesting time from the moment I stepped foot into the food centre. I could tell. I saw plenty of queues and you know what queues mean :) Very much intrigued, I was determined to go round the entire food centre at least once to suss out the 'hot' stalls plagued by incessant queues. I did all this exploring while my mum did the queuing at one 'hot' stall. You know a 'hot' stall when its queue is ridiculously long. I can say for a fact that this stall had one of the longest queues, and the average waiting time varies from 15 to 30 minutes. All just for a bowl of yong tau fu...My mother first read about this famous stall in the papers a couple of weeks back. Since then she has been patronising the food complex in search for it. She was very determined to try a bowl. I mean come on, yong tau fu is one of the simplest dishes you can find. Isn't it just some noodles mixed with a broth with pieces of tofu? I thought the exact same thing. I found it silly that my mother would want to queue that long for just some plain yong tau fu. Little did I know that I would soon join the fan club.The draw I believe, is in how they prepare the noodles:Or rather, the condiments they serve the noodles with. Most patrons usually request for the rice vermicelli (bee hoon). I went with the thicker flatter rice noodle (kway teow) because I wanted to be able to get more mouthfeel. Their yong tau fu is unlike any others. Order it dry and you'll be surprised to see none of that maroon-ish, brown sweet sauce usually served with yong tau fu. Instead you get lightly oiled noodles topped with crisp fried ikan bilis. In the above photo you'll see a pool of chilli. It's usually served separately but trust me, it goes better when thrown in together with the noodles. Very reminsicent of those served with Hainanese chicken rice, this chilli sauce has plenty of zest and omph factor. I finished up two saucers of it. It goes well with the yong tau fu pieces too of course.I thought it tasted fantastic with the very buoyant fishballs. I just had to dunk them into the fiery red sea...Okay I feel like having some of that right now. Here's the bowl of yong tau fu soup and the seven pieces of tofu, fishballs etc that comes with the noodles:At $3, it is not only cheap but satisfying, and healthy too. That is if you discount the fact that they deep-fried the ikan bilis. It was lovely to watch the vendors at work. This stall occupied two stall spaces and one was solely for assemblage, serving and payment while the other side busied with the cooking and frying of the ingredients. The two halves worked like a well oiled machine and it was a pleasure to watch. There was something about that Sunday that overwhelmed me in a very good and inquisitive way. Food centres are not new to me, I am afterall a big fan of the good 'ol decent no-fuss meal. I adore a $3 plate of well-made fried hokkien mee, complete with smokey 'wok hei'. So why the sudden hoo-ha about a visit to a food centre? I don't know, maybe it was the fact that it was a Sunday and I had all the time in the world to stroll and explore as long as I want. I need not rush because I had no where else I wanted to go to. That's what made it different. I eventually walked around the food centre, checking out the 200 stalls and only stop short of ordering food from all of them. Some were closed of course, but most were open and alot of them had really good stuff to offer. I should have taken more photos but I was so caught up with soaking up the sights and smells. Here are two cool stalls I think you should check out:Gogo Beanz must have some of the most delicious soybean combinations I've ever seen. You can have red bean with your soymilk, or aloe vera, or pineapple or candy jelly, or oreo or peach. I tried the one with red bean, which I liked. Well I like anything red bean anyway!Another stall I reckon is worth trying is this one:They sell glutinous rice. Just the rice, with some fried shallots, some sesame oil and a light dash of sauce (light soy i think!). Their queue is one of the longest. As curious as I was, I wasn't patient enough to stand in line (which was a smart move because soon after I took the photo, half the queue was forced to leave empty-handed because they had run out of rice). So if you have tried their glutinous rice, pray, do tell. I'm curious. It must be so good, considering that it looks rather plain. But as I have learnt that day - plain looking food (yong tau fu included) can be as delicious as anything. After I was done exploring the food centre, I went to the basement together with my mum to buy some groceries. I needed to get some sweet potatoes for a sweet potato bundt cake I wanted to make. Martha Stewart featured it on her Thanksgiving special.I was pleasantly surprised by how clean the market was. The stall we bought our groceries from was manned by a sweet old lady and her family:I promise that she wasn't trying to throw that huge aubergine at my mum. But I am sure she was gesticulating while my mum tried to bargain for a better price. As much as I fancy supermarkets and their sanitary clingwrapped meats and prepacked vegetables, I still find wet markets a pleasure to visit. It is very much an adventure and that Sunday I renewed my love for wet marketing.I also came across a few vegetables I did not recognise. Maybe you could help? The lady tried to explain it in Chinese. She said that it's usually a garnish for fried prawns and meat. Alas she could not remember the name. My guess is that it belongs to the spring onion or scallion family:And now, let me present to you, Exhibit A:This vegetable bewildered me. It looked like something that belonged to the ocean, or perhaps another planet. I thought it resembled a coral. Beautiful ain't it? Care to guess what it was? You'll find out... soon.Check out their red tomatoes:For local tomatoes, they looked pretty good. And hey, she sells banana leaf, curry leaf and laksa leaf too...I know some people have trouble finding those leaves so I thought I should highlight this fact. Now you know where to find them. That's the entire stall. Such a jovial chatty lady. I will be back for sure.After grocery shopping, mum and I (being the gluttons we were), had to get some dessert. We shared a green tea snow ice dessert with red beans.Mum kept insisting that it looked like a pile of vegetables. Well yes it did, but it tasted nothing like it of course. This was a light and refreshing dessert, perfect for the two of us. I forgot to take down the name of the shop. All I know is that it's the famous warm dessert shop that's known for their mango pomelo sago as well as their walnut cream, almond cream and black sesame cream. Oh and Cantonese dumplings. It is quite easy to find this shop if you know where the CK departmental store is. The shop sits on the same street that CK is on, and it's at the start of that street. I'll update when I find out the exact name and location.Back to Exhibit A. Did you manage to guess what it was?Perhaps this will help:Ah-hah! It's actually Romanesco broccoli. Mind you, I did not know what its exact name was, until my smart cousin told me on Facebook. I had posted up the a photo of the beautiful broccoli and before I knew it, he pointed out Romanesco broccoli! Thanks Nigel! :)I actually thought that it was just a different breed of cauliflower. I believe it is also called a Romanesco cauliflower. It also tasted more like cauliflower. Whatever it is, it is a marvel in itself. A true art-work of mother nature. The main pattern it follows is known as a fractal form, referring to its self similar pattern throughout the florets. The Romanesco broccoli is rather intriguing I must say, but perfect if you want to generate buzz at a dinner party.If you're ever bored of the countless malls and cannot take one more chill-out session at Starbucks or Spinelli's, then you should try heading to Chinatown for a fun day of good and cheap eats. Don't forget to get lost along the way. That is after all the essence of Chinatown - to stumble upon treasures you never knew existed.

Only One More Post About Money, I Promise

So Gaurav at Gauravonomics has decided to go "off consumption" for a year. (His chronicle of the events can be found here.)Unlike his predecessors No Impact Man and the people at The Compact, he's not giving up consumption for environmental reasons. He's doing it to gain "insights into what drives us to consume, or not, into the nature of consumption, into human nature itself."Oh, and he's crossing his fingers for a book deal. ^__^I support his choice while at the same time part of me goes "What's so special about not buying stuff? Hundreds of thousands of people already know what it's like to pass by a restaurant or store window and not be able to go in, even though you really want to."Part of me, truth be told, is jealous. I should have rewritten these past few months of enforced frugality as an "off-consumption" experiment and tried to net me a book deal.But, as Gaurav notes, actual poverty is different from "giving up buying." Today he offered the interesting observation:Actually, if I did have financial problems, I probably wouldn’t have been able to turn my frugality into a public performance. Only because I feel secure, in terms of both money and status, I can be confident enough to do it.The moral seems to be: when you're poor, you do what you can to appear better-off, even if it negatively affects your cash flow (e.g. buying interview clothes on credit for a job that may or may not materialize). When you're financially comfortable, as Gaurav and No Impact Man are (No Impact Man allowed his wife to spend $1,000 on two pairs of shoes before the experiment began, to make up for the lack of shopping to follow), then frugality becomes a statement which can be worn proudly.Gaurav, I await the riposte. ^__^

Encourage Others to Be Brilliant

It is a beautiful thing to create, to produce, to go out there in the world and make a contribution.


Why? Why not just worry about our own creations and productions? What’s so important about helping others to succeed?
You multiply your contribution.

Unfortunately, many people seem to have a problem with this concept. They tear people down, block them, hoard the goods for themselves, and are jealous of the success of others. We need to break free of this jealousy and meanness. We need to learn to be happy for others, and what’s more, to count their success as our success and feel proud of the contribution we’ve made in helping others make a difference.

So go out in this world and create — make something brilliant, whether it be a piece of art or a book or music or a wonderful new invention or a world-changing business or whatever it is you do in the world.

The real unemployment rate? Try 15.6%

The official US jobless rate, now 8.5%, excludes millions of people -- among them those who have given up on finding work and those forced into working fewer hours than they'd like.An 8.5% unemployment rate is unmistakably bad. It's the highest rate since 1983 -- a year that saw double-digit unemployment, nearly 30 commercial bank failures and more than 15% of Americans living below the poverty line.
But the real national unemployment rate is far worse than the U.S. Department of Labor's March figure, announced today, shows. That's because the official rate doesn't include the 3.7 million-plus people who are reluctantly working only part time because of the poor labor market. And it doesn't include the workers who have given up scouring want ads for seemingly nonexistent jobs.
When those folks are added to the numbers, the unemployment rate rises to 15.6%. In March 2008, that number was 9.3%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking this alternative measure (.pdf file) in 1995.

Finding the Natural Rhythms and Flows of Working

Being self-employed is definitely an experiment in working styles, as you learn by trial and error and figure out what works for you.
More and more I’ve been becoming a believer that forcing ourselves to work (or being forced to work by bosses) is detrimental — to our health, productivity, happiness, creativity.
Being forced to work, by ourselves or by others, makes work pure drudgery, and no matter how many productivity and motivational tricks we throw at this situation, it’s still drudgery. Sure, we’ll always have to do things we don’t like to do, but does that have to make up the main of our existence?

The rise in people who are office nomads, self-employed, free-lancers, consultants, web workers, just knowledge workers in general, has led to changes in the ways people work. Sometimes it has meant they work more than ever. Other times it means they can work from wherever they want, setting their own schedule (but oftentimes still working as much or more than before).
For some of us, it has meant we’ve become our own bosses, while working collaboratively with others who are their own bosses. It has meant more freedom for some of us, with the ability not only to choose the location and time of our work, but the kind of work we do and the amount of work we do.
That’s amazingly liberating, and what’s more, I’ve found it to be amazing in many ways: I’ve found more time for what’s important to me (not just my work), I’ve found an increase in my love for my work, I’ve been happier and more creative and in general I think the quality of my work has increased.
I don’t produce more than ever before, but what I do produce is better, at least in my eyes.
Yes, But What About Me?“That’s great for you,” you say, “but what about for the rest of us, who are office-bound without those kinds of freedoms?”

When the focus is the work, and not the hours cranked out or the method of working or any of that, then we realize that none of the things that used be important really matters anymore: office attire, neatness of desks, what time you clock in, how long lunch breaks are, and all the other nit-picking details. All that matters is the work.

Some of you might already be in the ideal situation to be self-employed — you might have been laid off recently. That’s horrible, of course, but it’s also an opportunity to reinvent yourself, to find the work you’re passionate about, to set up a web presence and start seeking free-lance or consulting gigs, to be your own boss. It’s scary, but it’s been done by many, many people.

What Does That Do for Working Rhythms?When work is freed up, the questions of how much work we do, what kind of work we do, and when we do it, all become open.
When do you want to work? In the early morning hours, or starting at 10 a.m., or maybe just at night? What time do you feel most energetic? Each person is different and it often takes some experimenting.
What work do you want to do? Often we do work because we have to do it, but when you start choosing work because it excites you, it changes the game completely. Choosing work you’re passionate about is the absolute best way to become more productive and happier.

How to describe the beauty in English?

1. Hey, look at the chick over there.

2.She is a babe.

3.She turns me on.

4.I think she is a hottie.

5.She is a cutie.

6.She is well-developed.