penny press machine

XinYun and I bumped into a penny press machine at Suntec City. Being very curious, we decided to each contribute S$1 to see what a pressed penny is.

(warning: heavy use of Singlish and high pitch voice of excited boy in the video)
Please pardon me. Spur gears make me high. How come her phone rang just when she had just inserted the coins?

It is said that the first pressed penny appeared in 1892. What the machine does is, it has the reversed image of the design, sort of like a mold. So when the user cranks the handle, the coin (not the coin you inserted) is fed in and is pressed under great pressure until it becomes oval in shape, and with new imprints on it.

This is the end product. Didn't photoshop to skew it ok!Users get to choose from the 4 available designs on the same machine. Do check it out if you are curious!

at the crossroad

Not long after reading my coursemate Dusty write about the traffic police at Tampines, I myself had similar experience at Ang Mo Kio.

I was waiting to cross the road junction outside Ang Mo Kio MRT Station when suddenly an auntie approached me and in a hushed voice, told me that there were policemen catching jaywalkers. I looked across, and true enough there were 5 police officers in their dark blue uniform. It wasn't an ambush, it was a defensive position. During the short duration of waiting for the red man to turn green, I already saw 2 caught.

I don't have the habit of jaywalking at the busiest junction in Ang Mo Kio, but I still find it amusing that the auntie told me about it. It's like people vs police. In fact I was worried that blogging about it would compromise police operation, but hey I'm just discouraging people from jaywalking at that junction in Ang Mo Kio. *wink wink* I'm a good citizen. So people, don't jaywalk there ok? (there's a saying that waiting for the light to turn green at an empty road is stupid. What about getting caught cos you are smart? So now on top of "look right, look left, look right again", you have to add in the "look across for any law enforcement officer". Same thing I learned from people in Hong Kong)

On a side note, something that has been bothering me for an uber long time. How come police officers in Singapore don't have to wear head dress when on official business, except the police MRT unit, the Gukhas, and when my MP (member of parliament) is around? When I was in Hong Kong and mainland China, their policemen wear their peaked caps proudly when on duty. Talking about some of the best police forces in the region.

pay for your plastic

The story about BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) seems like never-ending. While supermarkets in Singapore are still providing shoppers with free plastic bags, those in China have long stopped giving out free plastic bags. And Hong Kong is going to join in.

From July 7 onwards, shoppers in Hong Kong have to pay 50cents for plastic bag whenever they shop at registered retail shops. Shops that provide free plastic bags will be fined. I remember some time back there was some hoo-haa when ParkNShop, a local supermarket, decided to charge for plastic bags and got quite bad response from the public. Seems like you need legislation for things to happen. But then, being quick to respond, some convenient stores are giving handle-less plastic bag (those you use for freshies) in place of the normal plastic shopping bag, and the authority can't fault them for that.

I experienced what is meant by no-means-no in China. I went to a supermarket to shop for ingredients for cooking, but didn't have a shopping bag with me. I wasn't willing to pay for the 10cents plastic bag, so in the end I was carrying (literally) bloody fish and some veggie, walking out of the supermarket.

While I am not suggesting Singapore to follow suit and have legislations for giving out plastic bag, but I think cashiers can start asking if shoppers need a plastic bag instead of handing them out like SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). As a shopper, when asked, at least I would spend the extra nanosecond to think whether I really need the plastic bags. Or if I decide to walk out of the supermarket with bloody fish.

dress academically

I wonder if it's too early to congratulate the class of 2009, since Commencement / Convocation hasn't started. But by now, those who are attending the ceremony should have gotten their academic dress.

At first I was wondering if I can use my elder brother's academic dress. He was from engineering, but from the other university. Nah, better don't take the chance, in case one has a big lion printed on it and the other has the other lion. So I got my own set.

Turn out, the colours and patterns are the same. So it doesn't mean your university's ranking is way higher, the academic dress is different. But like what the Thais say, same same but different.

I remember the time during my brother's Convocation, he was struggling with fastening dozens of safety pins onto his gown to keep everything in place. Not anymore. Introducing the NUS academic dress. It comes with zipper for the gown and velcro to attach the hood to the gown. The tassel is sewed to the correct side of the mortarboard and the mortarboard even has an arrow telling you which side to face enemy front (sorry, mixed up with Claymore mine). No safety pins needed. (sold separately somemore)

The brother says idiot-proof designs are for idiots. I can understand why he would say that, cos that's the difference between them n'us.

tam²

While at Beijing I visited the Tiananmen Square. Or known as Gate of the Heavenly Peace Square from direct Chinese translation (what a mouthful, sounds like some formula), it is the largest public open space in the World.

It also packs the most number of policemen, from the armed police in green, the gong an in blue and the unknowns in plain clothes.

This was what I saw. A young man was aiming with his camera, walking backwards trying to get a nice shot of the Tiananmen Square. Then as he reversed, he accidentally bumped into an old lady and she fell. She made a big fuss about it and soon people from her tour group gathered and all joined in in scolding the young man. No authority in the world likes angry mob, and within seconds 02x Iveco Police patrol cars arrived at the scene, right in the middle of the Square.



I'm glad I didn't do any funny stunt or show any un-welcomed flags (read: Tibet and Taiwan) If not the next thing I know I would be pinned on the ground like a crab.

quote on arrival

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hong Kong

.... I beg your pardon...

Welcome to Singapore.

-- cabin crew announced on landing at Changi Airport

So the Airbus A320 actually flew around in circles for 3 hours 20 minutes.

nationwide exam stress

I was in China during the whole duration of their National College Entrance Examination, something like our GCE 'A' Level examination. It was amusing (and sadistic) enough to look at other people taking exam, but to see the whole nation stressed out over it was really something.

Some parents apply leave 1 month before the exam to revise with their kids. Some kids go to hospital and breathe pure oxygen in a pressure chamber while revising (I thought only divers use that?). Some parents drag their kids to the examination venue on the day. On the exam days, some public buses were reserved to ferry candidates to exam venue. And police cars and bikes cleared the path in front. If during the exam they find the noise level too high around the exam hall, the police would set up road blockades and divert traffic. At the front gate, teachers dressed up as cheerleaders to cheer their students on...

Cheating is a criminal offense. Around the exam venue there were officials carrying electronic devices to detect any radio transmission. True enough there were people selling undergarments with transceiving device -_-. High tech cheating indeed.

On the newspaper "experts" would analyze the weather, and whether the thunder would affect the listening test, what to eat to prepare for exam, etc... and after the paper they would analyze the exam question and comment on whether it was a tough question, how to answer it... then they will report how many cases of cheating in all the provinces. On the Guangzhou Daily the topic of exam easily took up 2-3 pages from the front page.

Seriously, where else can you find this kind of exam culture?