Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Good and the Ugly
This article is so graphic...
Those who could, ran
Published in The Straits Times, Mar 16, 2011
Bodies found in villages mostly of old folk who couldn't outrun tsunami
NATORI (MIYAGI): Septuagenarian Hirosato Wako stared at the ruins of her small fishing hamlet: skeletons of shattered buildings, twisted lengths of corrugated steel, corpses with their hands twisted into claws. Only once before had she seen anything like it: World War II.
'I lived through the Sendai air raids,' Ms Wako, 75, said, referring to the Allied bombings of the north-east's largest city. 'But this is much worse.'
For the elderly who live in the villages along Japan's north-eastern coast, it is a return to a past of privation that their children have never known.
As in so much of the Japanese countryside, young people have largely fled, looking for work in the city. The elderly who remained are facing devastation and possible radiation contamination, a challenge equal only to the task this generation faced when its defeated, despairing nation had to rebuild from the rubble of World War II.
In this hamlet of Yuriage, the search for survivors was turning into a search for bodies. And most of those bodies were old - too old to have outrun the tsunami.
Mr Yuta Saga, 21, was picking up broken cups after the earthquake when he heard sirens and screams of 'tsunami!'. He grabbed his mother by the arm and ran to the junior high school, the tallest building around.
Traffic snarled the streets as panicked drivers crashed into one another. When they reached the school, mother and son found the stairs to the roof clogged with older people who appeared unable to muster the strength to climb them. Some were just sitting or lying on the steps. As the bottom floor filled with fleeing residents, the wave hit.
At first, the doors held. Then water began to pour through the seams and flow into the room. In a panic to reach the roof, younger residents began pushing and yelling, 'Hurry!' and 'Out of the way!' They climbed over those who were not moving or elbowed them aside.
'I couldn't believe it,' Mr Saga said. 'They were even shoving old people out of the way. The old people couldn't save themselves.'
Then the doors burst open, and the water rushed in. It was quickly waist level. Mr Saga saw one older woman, without the strength or will to stand, sitting in water that rose to her nose. He said he rushed behind her, grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her up the stairs.
Another person on the stairs grabbed her and lifted her up to another person. The men formed a human chain, lifting the elderly and some children to the top.
'I saw the ugly side of people, and then I saw the good side,' he said. 'Some people thought only of themselves. Others stopped to help.'
One woman handed him her infant.
'Please, at least save the baby!' she pleaded as water rose above his chest.
Mr Saga said he grabbed the baby and ran up the stairs. Many of those still at the foot of the stairs were washed away.
He joined about 200 people on the second floor of the building. The baby's mother rushed upstairs, and he put the baby into her arms.
From the windows, they watched uprooted homes and cars flowing by. People did not speak, he said. They just cried and moaned, a collective 'Ahhhh!' as they watched the destruction unfold.
He saw one of his classmates, whose parents had gone back home to get something as the wave came and did not make it to the school. His friend sat on the floor, in tears.
Ms Hisako Tanno, 50, was working at a warehouse when the quake struck. She rushed home to get her 77-year-old father. As she parked in front of her home, she heard screams. She looked down the street to see a 'mountain of garbage' moving down the street at her. It was the wave.
Her neighbours called to her from their home, and she ran up to their second floor. Then she remembered she had left her father.
She could see her house from the window. When the wave hit, it smashed the sliding doors. Then, to her horror, she saw her father swept outside. The water was by now the height of a one-storey building. She saw him grab the ironwork on her home's second-storey balcony and hold on.
'He was trying to pull himself up, but he has a bad leg,' she said.
As the water surged, her father was able to somehow hoist himself over the metal railing and onto the balcony. There he held on for dear life.
'I didn't know he had it in him,' she said. 'He wanted so badly to live that he found that last burst of strength.'
After the earthquake, Mr Jun Kikuchi, 33, who owns a local taxi company, drove to the homes of a half-dozen residents aged 70 or older to ask if he could take them to higher ground. They refused, saying that there was no tsunami alert, so they would stay home.
The next morning, he found out that the homes of all six of the older residents were washed away.
'The elderly can't take care of themselves in a disaster like this,' he said. 'They didn't stand a chance.'
NEW YORK TIMES
---
Another upsetting thing is that some countries and media are spreading unfounded rumours like no one's business. Creating panic among masses? Or just trying to sensationalize the whole incident?
Those who could, ran
Published in The Straits Times, Mar 16, 2011
Bodies found in villages mostly of old folk who couldn't outrun tsunami
NATORI (MIYAGI): Septuagenarian Hirosato Wako stared at the ruins of her small fishing hamlet: skeletons of shattered buildings, twisted lengths of corrugated steel, corpses with their hands twisted into claws. Only once before had she seen anything like it: World War II.
'I lived through the Sendai air raids,' Ms Wako, 75, said, referring to the Allied bombings of the north-east's largest city. 'But this is much worse.'
For the elderly who live in the villages along Japan's north-eastern coast, it is a return to a past of privation that their children have never known.
As in so much of the Japanese countryside, young people have largely fled, looking for work in the city. The elderly who remained are facing devastation and possible radiation contamination, a challenge equal only to the task this generation faced when its defeated, despairing nation had to rebuild from the rubble of World War II.
In this hamlet of Yuriage, the search for survivors was turning into a search for bodies. And most of those bodies were old - too old to have outrun the tsunami.
Mr Yuta Saga, 21, was picking up broken cups after the earthquake when he heard sirens and screams of 'tsunami!'. He grabbed his mother by the arm and ran to the junior high school, the tallest building around.
Traffic snarled the streets as panicked drivers crashed into one another. When they reached the school, mother and son found the stairs to the roof clogged with older people who appeared unable to muster the strength to climb them. Some were just sitting or lying on the steps. As the bottom floor filled with fleeing residents, the wave hit.
At first, the doors held. Then water began to pour through the seams and flow into the room. In a panic to reach the roof, younger residents began pushing and yelling, 'Hurry!' and 'Out of the way!' They climbed over those who were not moving or elbowed them aside.
'I couldn't believe it,' Mr Saga said. 'They were even shoving old people out of the way. The old people couldn't save themselves.'
Then the doors burst open, and the water rushed in. It was quickly waist level. Mr Saga saw one older woman, without the strength or will to stand, sitting in water that rose to her nose. He said he rushed behind her, grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her up the stairs.
Another person on the stairs grabbed her and lifted her up to another person. The men formed a human chain, lifting the elderly and some children to the top.
'I saw the ugly side of people, and then I saw the good side,' he said. 'Some people thought only of themselves. Others stopped to help.'
One woman handed him her infant.
'Please, at least save the baby!' she pleaded as water rose above his chest.
Mr Saga said he grabbed the baby and ran up the stairs. Many of those still at the foot of the stairs were washed away.
He joined about 200 people on the second floor of the building. The baby's mother rushed upstairs, and he put the baby into her arms.
From the windows, they watched uprooted homes and cars flowing by. People did not speak, he said. They just cried and moaned, a collective 'Ahhhh!' as they watched the destruction unfold.
He saw one of his classmates, whose parents had gone back home to get something as the wave came and did not make it to the school. His friend sat on the floor, in tears.
Ms Hisako Tanno, 50, was working at a warehouse when the quake struck. She rushed home to get her 77-year-old father. As she parked in front of her home, she heard screams. She looked down the street to see a 'mountain of garbage' moving down the street at her. It was the wave.
Her neighbours called to her from their home, and she ran up to their second floor. Then she remembered she had left her father.
She could see her house from the window. When the wave hit, it smashed the sliding doors. Then, to her horror, she saw her father swept outside. The water was by now the height of a one-storey building. She saw him grab the ironwork on her home's second-storey balcony and hold on.
'He was trying to pull himself up, but he has a bad leg,' she said.
As the water surged, her father was able to somehow hoist himself over the metal railing and onto the balcony. There he held on for dear life.
'I didn't know he had it in him,' she said. 'He wanted so badly to live that he found that last burst of strength.'
After the earthquake, Mr Jun Kikuchi, 33, who owns a local taxi company, drove to the homes of a half-dozen residents aged 70 or older to ask if he could take them to higher ground. They refused, saying that there was no tsunami alert, so they would stay home.
The next morning, he found out that the homes of all six of the older residents were washed away.
'The elderly can't take care of themselves in a disaster like this,' he said. 'They didn't stand a chance.'
NEW YORK TIMES
---
Another upsetting thing is that some countries and media are spreading unfounded rumours like no one's business. Creating panic among masses? Or just trying to sensationalize the whole incident?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Forces of Nature
This town, Kamaishi, in Iwate prefecture, held the record of having the deepest breakwater in the world to shield from tsunami strike, but...
Pay attention to the 0:40 part. Did that person manage to escape??
And this person (shooting the footage) was pretty brave. I probably won't do that if I were him/her. But this video indeed shows the extent of destruction that tsunami can cause, from ground-zero POV.
When one problem triggers another...sigh.
Pay attention to the 0:40 part. Did that person manage to escape??
And this person (shooting the footage) was pretty brave. I probably won't do that if I were him/her. But this video indeed shows the extent of destruction that tsunami can cause, from ground-zero POV.
When one problem triggers another...sigh.
Friday, March 11, 2011
华文智多星（第四集）
只要有恒心（和时间），答案其实可以从网上或字典搜得到。。。
我懂你们在想什么。‘燕’不是一个正确答案。
接下来的问题，主持人说答案简单，不用想得太难。这样反而给我造成压力，就想不出来了。
读音一样，意思也相似，烦死人了。
我对本地的慈善家不是很了解。
多亏曾经看过一部多年前的本地连续剧（郑惠玉主演），才懂这些仆人叫什么。
我懂英文路名，只是不懂它的华文翻译，因为不常用。这题没人抢答。
这题也没人抢答。我对花不是很有研究，更何况是它们的华文名称。
真的不习惯以拼音解读句子。
‘participate’ 太长了。用华语表达比较顺口。
提示：跟赌博有关
想出那关键的四个字就能概括全部意思。这是胜出的不二法门。
我懂你们在想什么。‘燕’不是一个正确答案。
接下来的问题，主持人说答案简单，不用想得太难。这样反而给我造成压力，就想不出来了。
读音一样，意思也相似，烦死人了。
我对本地的慈善家不是很了解。
多亏曾经看过一部多年前的本地连续剧（郑惠玉主演），才懂这些仆人叫什么。
我懂英文路名，只是不懂它的华文翻译，因为不常用。这题没人抢答。
这题也没人抢答。我对花不是很有研究，更何况是它们的华文名称。
真的不习惯以拼音解读句子。
‘participate’ 太长了。用华语表达比较顺口。
提示：跟赌博有关
想出那关键的四个字就能概括全部意思。这是胜出的不二法门。
Monday, March 07, 2011
Finally?...Or not?
Hmm...this article from IWeekly expresses exactly what I feel about Channel U's newly bought drama. (click to enlarge)
Since the Korean boom started n years ago, Japanese dramas seem to have (almost completely) disappeared from the local TV scene. Many are familiar with Korean celebrities, actors and actresses, but know nuts about the current popular figures in Japan. Most are still stuck within the Kimura Takuya, or SMAP era. Ok I admit they are still very much famous in Japan as well as Singapore, judging from the hooha caused by their secret arrival to MBS.
Still remember the past when there were many Japanese dramas shown one after another on a regular weekly basis, usually during the late night slot after the 10pm news. Sometimes there were even 2 or 3 dramas showing at the same period. Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of Jdramas at that time so I didn't really watch a lot, though I caught a few popular ones. Managed to watch few of them on streaming sites since my interested began few years ago. Surprisingly, the video used was taken from Channel 8 haha.
The previous Jdrama aired in local TV should be 'Absolute Boyfriend', a story about a girl having a robot boyfriend having 'perfect qualities'. It has been re-aired over and over again. Even though this drama is relatively new, its initial broadcast in SG was still slower than that of Japan by about 1 or 2 years I think. By that time many (Jdrama fans) would have already watched it, and its popularity would have faded. This is true for dramas from other countries too.
However this time Mediacorp is pretty quick in securing the broadcasting rights for the Jdrama, 'Beautiful Neighbour'. In fact it's still airing in Japan, though it's going to end soon. A little pity is that this drama is not really the popular one among all the dramas airing this season. Yea, non-very-popular dramas are cheaper and easier to buy, from an economic point of view.
Despite the quick airing, I don't expect a lot of people to watch it. There are no actors/actresses that are really popular in SG among the cast. No young 帅哥 and 美女 to attract fangirls and fanboys. And the plot is a little eerie and mysterious. Starts off a little slow in the first episode. Don't think most Sgeans are really accepting of these kind of shows.
Even I don't plan to watch it from Channel U hehe. I prefer to watch it in its original language, without the huge chuck of both English and Chinese subtitles at the bottom. The timing isn't that good (starts at 11.30pm every Friday) and most importantly I want to watch it at my own pace.
The lead actress (on the right) is actually one of my favourite Japanese actresses - Nakama Yukie. She is versatile, able to take on both mysterious and wacky roles, and always has her characteristic long hair.
This drama might not necessary mean that local TV is gradually opening up to Jdramas. Probably it would be back to square one after this. The popular Jdramas are still not being shown in SG, even though their movie installments (usually the sequel following up the drama ending plot) had been released in cinemas, like Nodame Cantibile, Hana Yori Dango, Kurosagi, etc. Even the ever-popular tearjerker 'One Litre of Tears' hasn't been aired at all.
Anyway who cares about airing it or not. Those interested in watching would have already gone to online streaming sites long ago. I guess long running, family-orientated dramas (like 爱) are still the way to go in SG, as proven by viewership ratings, and due to economic feasibility.
Youngsters are calling for a change in genre, yet they don't watch local TV shows, leaving viewership ratings to be dominated by conservative middle-age to older generations. So ironic.
Since the Korean boom started n years ago, Japanese dramas seem to have (almost completely) disappeared from the local TV scene. Many are familiar with Korean celebrities, actors and actresses, but know nuts about the current popular figures in Japan. Most are still stuck within the Kimura Takuya, or SMAP era. Ok I admit they are still very much famous in Japan as well as Singapore, judging from the hooha caused by their secret arrival to MBS.
Still remember the past when there were many Japanese dramas shown one after another on a regular weekly basis, usually during the late night slot after the 10pm news. Sometimes there were even 2 or 3 dramas showing at the same period. Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of Jdramas at that time so I didn't really watch a lot, though I caught a few popular ones. Managed to watch few of them on streaming sites since my interested began few years ago. Surprisingly, the video used was taken from Channel 8 haha.
The previous Jdrama aired in local TV should be 'Absolute Boyfriend', a story about a girl having a robot boyfriend having 'perfect qualities'. It has been re-aired over and over again. Even though this drama is relatively new, its initial broadcast in SG was still slower than that of Japan by about 1 or 2 years I think. By that time many (Jdrama fans) would have already watched it, and its popularity would have faded. This is true for dramas from other countries too.
However this time Mediacorp is pretty quick in securing the broadcasting rights for the Jdrama, 'Beautiful Neighbour'. In fact it's still airing in Japan, though it's going to end soon. A little pity is that this drama is not really the popular one among all the dramas airing this season. Yea, non-very-popular dramas are cheaper and easier to buy, from an economic point of view.
Despite the quick airing, I don't expect a lot of people to watch it. There are no actors/actresses that are really popular in SG among the cast. No young 帅哥 and 美女 to attract fangirls and fanboys. And the plot is a little eerie and mysterious. Starts off a little slow in the first episode. Don't think most Sgeans are really accepting of these kind of shows.
Even I don't plan to watch it from Channel U hehe. I prefer to watch it in its original language, without the huge chuck of both English and Chinese subtitles at the bottom. The timing isn't that good (starts at 11.30pm every Friday) and most importantly I want to watch it at my own pace.
The lead actress (on the right) is actually one of my favourite Japanese actresses - Nakama Yukie. She is versatile, able to take on both mysterious and wacky roles, and always has her characteristic long hair.
This drama might not necessary mean that local TV is gradually opening up to Jdramas. Probably it would be back to square one after this. The popular Jdramas are still not being shown in SG, even though their movie installments (usually the sequel following up the drama ending plot) had been released in cinemas, like Nodame Cantibile, Hana Yori Dango, Kurosagi, etc. Even the ever-popular tearjerker 'One Litre of Tears' hasn't been aired at all.
Anyway who cares about airing it or not. Those interested in watching would have already gone to online streaming sites long ago. I guess long running, family-orientated dramas (like 爱) are still the way to go in SG, as proven by viewership ratings, and due to economic feasibility.
Youngsters are calling for a change in genre, yet they don't watch local TV shows, leaving viewership ratings to be dominated by conservative middle-age to older generations. So ironic.
Friday, March 04, 2011
华文智多星（第三集）
既然有人要求，我就继续做下去啰...
---
怎么这个项目的问题越来越难？！
太难了吧？！谁能在15秒内答对以下这个问题，我就拜他为神。（1分钟也好）
---
这个回合的题目反而变容易了…
---
对本地人来说应该没太大问题。
---
翻译题。这集考电脑用语！
来考考你们，’computer hang/freeze’ 华语叫什么？
提示：跟一个古代人物有关
---
完成句子
精简啰嗦文
---
怎么这个项目的问题越来越难？！
太难了吧？！谁能在15秒内答对以下这个问题，我就拜他为神。（1分钟也好）
---
这个回合的题目反而变容易了…
---
对本地人来说应该没太大问题。
---
翻译题。这集考电脑用语！
来考考你们，’computer hang/freeze’ 华语叫什么？
提示：跟一个古代人物有关
---
完成句子
精简啰嗦文
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