Suzanne\’s Blog

Spacewalks aren’t easy. Yesterday’s news was testimony to that.

Ask astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn Piper.

She was doing her seven-hour spacewalk to do some repairs outside the International Space Station when… Ooops…. slippery fingers!

She let go of her tool bag momentarily while cleaning a greasy mess made by a malfunctioning tool. The 13-kg tool bag just drifted into space…

Now when it’s lost in space… it’s really lost… but when the reports came out initially, there were worries that the bag might come back and hit the ISS (International Space Station) and cause more damage - I guess like a boomerang effect in space?

Never heard of it… but hey you never know what happens up there, it’s an unknown universe. Apparently, the crew had spotted a screw floating by earlier in their mission but were too far away to catch it. They had no idea where it came from…

Anyway, I got a little curious since I know little about space. I was thinking ” if it was slowly drifting away, why couldn’t she just reach out and grab it… like you would with a balloon that just slipped away…” Well, it’s not that simple obviously. I watched this clip and it made everything much clearer to me. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7737250.stm

Astronaut Heide had to constantly be holding onto something or SHE would have been ’lost’ as well I suppose. Forces of space would pull her away. I guess it’s really like when you’re underwater.

Imagine you’re fixing a nozzle at the bottom of the pool. To stay there, you need to hold onto something or you’ll float to the top. So when one of your tools floats away to the top (even though this happens at a slow-motion pace) you become helpless once the tool is just even an inch out of reach… Interesting… I learnt something there.

Oh and another trivia which I found very amusing. A spider runs amuck in Space! haha

Two spiders were taken to space with the crew as part of a science experiment aimed at generating interest among students grades K-12 ( hey, they got me interested too!)  They wanted to see and study how spiders weave their webs without gravity.

Well pity the space spiders and the webs they weave… because obviously the spiders fought a battle with weightlessness and lost. The web turned out to be just a tangled mess, a far cry from the elegant symmetrical creation that we see here on earth.

Take a look at the photo made available courtesy of NASA. This is what the web looks like…

Spiders are confused? Deranged?

According to a spacewatcher… it seems one of the two spiders grew irritated at its habitat and its helplessness, so it broke free and is now nowhere to be seen. Maybe it’s having artistic troubles and is looking for a good place to drown its sorrows?

Or maybe… it’s just camera-shy.

When the spiders come home at the end of its 15-day mission later this month… boy, will they be relieved…

But funny incidents aside, the men and women involved in space exploration and science are carrying out incredible missions and collecting invaluable information on what awaits men in space. Space study is about our future and you’ve got to hand it to them to take such unknown risks in the name of science.

We’ve come to the end of watching a remarkable journey … and what an unexpected one it has been.

Watching Obama’s victory speech gave me the goosebumps… he is that good. I’m not American, but I was pumped with hope for America and what good sea change this means for the rest of the world. I endorse his stance on climate change, his take on how the rich should pay and contribute more and am convinced he has a better and real sense of the bigger world around him. John McCain is an admirable man but he appeared to lose focus time to time during this election.

We’re now going to see lots of post-election analysis report from various media and different people giving different opinions on the election and what went wrong/right. Well I thought I’d write my two cents worth about how amazing this race has turned out to be… not that I think it’s important for you to know but simply because it has been such a breath-stopping, exciting follow through for me as well that I feel I need to now let it all out and come to a conclusion of my own… so that I can just wrap it up,  put it aside and get ready for a new chapter… just like how Barack Obama did in his victory speech… except I don’t think I could do it as beautifully as he put it

You know, I vividly remember when I was first introduced to the name ‘Barack Obama’. It was just 4 years ago, when I was getting ready for the Democratic National Convention 2004 and whispers reached my ears to look out for a young promising man who will be making a speech that night to endorse John Kerry.  “Barack who?”…

Well, he’s turned out to be more than just promising. Look at the story now and it’s an impressive and incredible one. And having watched him and followed him since has made me a fan of Obama. It is his ability to electrify young voters, get them interested and more aware of what’s happening in the world around them that really makes him exceptional. He drew millions of new voters and the young has never been so active in politics as in this race we’ve seen.

He must know what an inspiration he is to all young black men especially…
And that his story, perseverence and success is giving other people of colour more confidence in their everyday life too.
He has sent out a message of hope and planted seeds in tomorrow’s generation to dream for their future and about their future.

And I, coming from a family of teachers, enjoying interacting with young students and just being someone who cares a lot about our younger generation, firmly believe and cannot stress enough how so important it is to dream, not to be afraid to dream and work towards that dream. Well, he certainly is today’s great model for all youth. I am so proud of him for that.

Here comes the hard part.

Barack Obama will soon be embarking on his “actions speak louder than words” mission come January when he has to start delivering on his promises to his country and to the world. 

The world’s high hopes for Obama are probably unrealistic. But hey, having said that… he’s known for breaking records. This campaign, thanks to him has been the longest and costliest campaign in US history. Barack also made history by breaking the ultimate racial barrier to become the first African American to claim the country’s highest office.

After sweet victory, the hard work begins now.

Though his honeymoon period in office is likely to last longer than previous presidents, bearing in mind the massive mess he inherits from George W. Bush… I do hope to see some form of refreshing change in the first 100 days in office.

That would mark a great start to indeed a new dawn as he calls it in his victory speech.

Having read, heard and then watched previous interviews of Sarah Palin, I have to admit there was a part of me tuning in to be ‘entertained’. Especially after cringing at her interview with Katie Couric. THAT ONE… the media loved. She gave us so many interesting answers, one couldn’t resist but news-ify them. My favourite? How she told Katie Couric that merely living next to Russia helped to boost her foreign policy credentials. Right… So, I was just one of the millions watching this debate just to see how Mrs Palin performed.

You know what? She did a great job - she brushed up her knowledge, sold herself as much as she could with the thin resume she had and maximised opportunities to let her charisma and passion shine through on topics close to her heart. She even had the candor to wink a few times at her audience! Though looking nervous, depending too much on her cue notes and often swallowing hard after the end of each answer, she held herself up high and well.

Could you do that knowing over 55 million pairs of eyes in the US alone were watching you for that ‘gotcha’ moment? I couldn’t.

Palin fans can no doubt breathe much easier today than yesterday…

But hold on. She’s only proven herself to be a competent speaker. What about having the vision AND the potential to be a leader? She didn’t score there.

Whatever good she did in her answers on domestic issues and others, may have vaporised when she said she was not entirely sure that global warming was a man-made problem. And reality check… the NATO commander is General ‘Mckiernan”, not “Mclellan”. She’s still got some homework to do.

So, good for her, this debate might only have a shelf life of about 24-48 hours some critics say. And there were no moments I think will get replayed over and over again.

Same goes for Joseph Biden.

He was good. But that was expected. What really helped him was that he managed to keep to the right tune and tone the whole time during the debate. A little too defensive at first, but soon his sharp tones directed at McCain came through and I think the Democrats were happy to see that.

But the most effective moment came when we saw Biden choke up and briefly lose his voice when he spoke of his family. Biden lost his wife and daughter in a car crash and almost lost his two sons. One of them is currently serving in Iraq.

That was when the whole hall went silent. I don’t think I was the only one moved by this.

Palin though fell on deaf ears and her eagerness to get her ‘maverick’ message across might have come off looking a little cocky right at that moment.

I suspect this might have cost Palin dearly…

Palin did good.

But Biden did better…

I get that question a lot. And I’ve had a few people asking me that too on my blog comments.

Yes I am Korean. But I’m also half-Singaporean…
No, I’m not mixed. Both my parents are Koreans.
Yes, I’m a PR here… have been for a long time now… but that’s not why I consider myself half-Singaporean.

I’m what Koreans popularly call “the 1.5 generation” or better known as 1.5G in other countries. It’s not a term commonly used here but basically it refers to people who relocate to a new country before or during their early teens. So, 1G refers to immigrants themselves (in this case, my parents although my family’s move is not strictly immigration) and 2G refers to the first generation born in the new country. (maybe my children if they’re born here?)

I guess, depending on the age of  relocation and the community you settle in, your ability to assimilate into a new culture would differ. My siblings and I have been very fortunate in that sense. I was only 5 when we first came to Singapore. I spent 10 wonderful years of my childhood in Singapore before returning to Korea, and most of my fondest memories come from Singapore. My siblings will probably echo that as well although they left Singapore early to study in the US. My parents meanwhile have been living here for over 20 years now!

Honestly I hardly remember what Singapore was like in the mid 80s. Maybe I was too young?

 
But I do treasure a few faint memories I have of our first home on Holland Road, my first English lesson (memories of this are like a silent movie - all I remember is my teacher talking in a language I didn’t understand and me just sitting there thinking “why does she keep pointing at the apple picture in the book?” ) and oh!… the ice-cream uncle and his bell!!! yum~ haha

I’m truly grateful to my parents for making Singapore their and my second home. Singapore was a big part of my growing up years. I made many great friends who I still keep in touch with today AND as my Korean friends frequently point out, benefited from the perfect environment to pick up two new languages relatively easily - English and Mandarin. (If you’ve heard about the English craze in Korea, you can probably empathize with what my friends are saying.) It’s something we take for granted living here but yes indeed, we are really privileged to live in a society that exposes us to different languages, different cultures and different experiences at an early age. I guess that’s why, after being away for so long, I’m back here in Singapore today. Because I have so many memories here and I want to be with my parents too. While away, I missed my laksa and hor fun… (well, now I’m missing my kimchi hehe)…  as well as my daily dose of lahs & lehs and mahs & mehs… but no no, not the durian… yet.

That’s partly how I justify myself that I’m really more Singaporean than many people think. You can disagree.

A Korean and 0.5 Singaporean… or as a “1.5er”… I recognize that I am in a unique situation. I belong to a generation straddling two countries and two cultures and am the bridge between my parent’s generation and my children in the future. Two countries, two cultures, two homes…

You know, I could have found myself sitting on the proverbial cultural fence, with one foot dangling over each side, trying to find my balance.

But I’ve been spared the difficult phase of acculturation and identification that many might have found themselves trapped in. And a big part has got to do with the environment/society I grew up in.

Because Singapore champions multi-culturalism and multi-lingualism and because she is one of the few cities which has successfully done so - she allows me to retain my cultural Korean heritage, be comfortable of who I am/where I’m from, although not a native here, and yet still makes me feel so at home. The best of two worlds indeed.

Happy Birthday Singapore in advance!… which reminds me…

Happy Birthday My Dearest Bro too in advance! - Love, Big sis in Singapore.

We see, hear, touch, taste and smell, thanks to our senses.

Out of the 5, which is the most important to you?  And if you had to give up one which would it be? Tough questions, I know.

Of the 5 senses, sight is the most important to me. It is certainly the one we rely on the most in our daily lives… and my job is very dependent on it too!

I can’t imagine a world without colours.

I can’t imagine a world without pictures.

Neither can I imagine not being able to read people’s faces, emotions and gestures. (Did you know that human communication is said to be 20% verbal and 80% non-verbal.)

I had a scare 4 years ago and a taste of what it’s like to have no vision. I was out for 2 weeks then (this story, perhaps another time…) and it was one of the most frustrating, scary and inconvenient times. After that experience, I really really started appreciating my sense of sight and have been making sure I take very good care of my eyes. I’d be devastated truly without my sight!

Honestly, I THINK I could manage without the sense of smell or even touch… but not being able to see and hear are BIG no-nos. I couldn’t live without hearing the voices of my loved ones too.

Of course, different people will have different takes and value different senses. I guess that would depend on what you do and what your life largely revolves around. Ask a cook and he’d say smell and taste are the most important. Ask somebody else (can’t think of who at the moment… a mother?) and she’d say touch is the most important.

Well, yesterday I was reminded again of how blessed and fortunate we are to have all our 5 senses. We ran a story on PTM about a little 5-yr-old girl who is blind but has an amazing talent! Her name is Yoo Ye Eun and I met her last week when she was here in Singapore for a performance. She can play the piano just by listening to a tune or song once!

For piano players out there, ok, maybe it’s not thaaat~ hard to figure out what the notes are for your right hand (the main melody)… but the left… oooh~ that’s oh so tricky!! Left hand’s the base… the accompaniment… d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t!! But she can pick that up too!

Her talent wows people, but that aside, Ye Eun’s story is touching… and her sweet nature and innocence, which shone through during the interview, make your heart ache at times… you’ll be even more mesmerized by her family story.

I’ll save myself words and just post the url of the video clip here on the blog… Meet Ye Eun and Connie too as the two angels take your breath away.

Hope you enjoy it…

Have you ever counted how many different types of smiles there are? Hmm… don’t try. You will probably lose count if it’s true that we’re capable of over 200 different smiles as some people claim…

A smile is a very powerful weapon… it can be used to ‘break the ice’. We’re usually drawn to smiling faces, especially those that radiate kindness and friendliness.

A smile sends out a very positive energy too… it’s contagious, truly! My 5-month-old niece came to visit from Korea recently. She’s an absolute darling, smiling most of the time. No matter how tired I was or how bad my day went - and I had a very bad day one time - her innocent smile would instantly brighten me up! I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t smile at a baby for that matter, regardless of the mood he/she is in. ( I can’t resist, so I’m putting up my niece pics… with permission from my sister Isn’t she cute?!!)

Now, if the smile of an infant only several months old can have such a positive effect, imagine what ours can do.

Our smiles don’t just impact others, we feel good as well. There was a study done to prove a forced smile is better than no smile. Apparently, our brains don’t really know the difference between reality and pretense, so when you pretend to feel a certain way, say in this instance, smile… your brain will release endorphins (happy hormones) and you’ll feel better instantly. So that’s why they say keep smiling even if you don’t feel like it… the effects are far reaching…

There’s no conclusive study that tells us for sure how many smiles exist out there, but it’s safe to say many experts agree there are more than a dozen different ones. From genuinely happy to the more reserved, from the flirty flashes to the ‘I’m embarrassed’ grin. If you listen intently, you’ll see that smiling also affects how we speak… to the point that we can identify the type of smile based on sound alone! 

While a smile usually means something good, we know that sometimes they are not what they seem. No, not phoney… just more… complex shall we say? As Shakespeare’s character in Macbeth states ” There’s daggers in men’s smile.”… They’re definitely not the warm type.

Anyway, the reason why I brought up the subject on smiles is because I just interviewed a Japanese lady on PTM… Momoyo Torimitsu. She embarked on a very interesting project looking at how your profession determines the smile you put on everyday… and you wear it like a costume.

She talked about 4 different types of smiles:
- The confident but cautious businessman smile
- Warm and helpful “I’m at your service” hotel bellboy smile
- Fun and Friendly nursery school teacher smile
- Overzealous and excited entertainer smile

Of course, there are many more… Well, out of curiosity, Steve and I asked “So how would you categorize our smiles?”

We labeled ourselves ‘the genuine smile’.
What we failed to mention is that it’s a ‘necessary smile’ too.
Our smiles in the morning help us… well, it certainly does for me and I’m hoping it helps you too - to start your day on a positive and informed note.

So, what say you?

I had a taste of what Osmond-mania was all about. An impressive and a remarkable family. AND very talented musically. They kinda remind me of the von Trapp family.

(The Osmonds and I. All 7 of them look different yet so similar!)

Our earlier arrangement was for PTM to interview 4 of the 7 osmonds. Donny and Marie included. But things changed last minute - as they always do - and we were told 10 minutes before the interview that it was to be all 7 or none. Thank goodness we came prepared with 8 mics because I’d hate to return to the office empty-handed!

The Osmonds are known to be a very tight, close knit family. And it showed during the interview. To whatever question I asked, they would be pretty much singing the same tune and championing the same values. And they know how to give credit where it’s due. They’re not stingy with their words when singing endless praises of each other. Interviewing seven individuals with distinct personality - and all a star in their own right - is a very different ball game from engaging in a conversation with three or even four. It can get messy sometimes… very messy in fact. But the Osmonds would be in rhythm even as they speak! and you couldn’t help but feel at times:” they’ve done this too often/ they know who’s gonna say what next.” No, they definitely didn’t plan it. But yes, I think it’s a result of being so ‘rehearsed’ because of the many many interviews they’ve done over the past 50 years! And yes, perhaps to a certain extent, it’s their strong pride and ego at play… to protect the image and the strong Osmond family bond that everyone knows them for.

Some say the family’s just born to be stars. Marie truly believes so. She says it was natural and normal for her to go into show business.

So, I guess that makes it quote-unquote “natural and normal” for the second generation Osmonds as well to wanna follow their parent’s footsteps too? Why not since they seem to have inherited the family talent. Their last name will surely mean something in show biz too but having said that, it won’t be easy to replicate the success of their parents.

Times have changed, the industry has changed and the audience has changed too. It takes more than talent today to make it big in showbiz today.

There’s no doubt the first generation of singing Osmonds are seen and recognized as an entertainment legend. It’ll be up to the young Osmonds to see if their last name can still work their magic for another 50 years.

My theme for the week is Food.

Yes, food, food, glorious food.

Food is a big part of my life… not only because I’m hungry all the time due to the very early start every workday, but also I’ve always known how to eat well and appreciate food since I was a kid. Yes, you would get a “tsk tsk” in my house if you didn’t finish your bowl of rice. My father would always tell us how he had to fight to earn his rice bowl when he was young. Of course, I’m grateful I didn’t have to go through the same experiences he did, but I’ve had my fair share of food battles as well. Let’s put it this way; I learned early on that “you need to watch what you eat.”

Having said that, there was a provoking email I received recently, which is really what I want to talk about. As you can see, there are some amazing pictures. The Washington Post describes the work as, “A coffee table book that will certainly make coffee interesting.”

The images really speak for themselves. What do their clothes, food and diet say about their lives? What can you infer about their cultures from the pictures?

It’s pretty unbelievable and at the same time, sort of cool, don’t you think? I’m actually glad that somebody has decided to do this and take a look at the world from this particular point of view. I appreciate it because it has led me to rethink some things…

Food For Thought…

Take a good look at the family size & diet of each country, and the availability & cost of what is eaten in one week.

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina (Sure hope most American families eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less junk food than this family.)

Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

All of us probably take away different bits of information and conclusions by looking and studying these pictures. Personally, I was blown away at the amount of food consumed by some families. But beyond that initial astonishment, I found myself wondering what the social, nutritional and environmental implications were – blame it on my journalistic instincts. 

The Rich vs. The Poor (Take Chad and Germany for example- A family of six living in eastern Chad’s food costs $1.23 per week, while a German family of four’s food budget amounts to $500.)

Slow food vs. Fast food (Do you notice how Bhutanese food is almost all fresh while food consumed in countries such as the US and Germany are mostly packaged and processed?)

Cultural Homogenization. (It is fascinating how excluding places where poverty is the most extreme, Coca-Cola makes a frequent appearance. A Good or Bad idea? — you decide.)

Oh, and don’t forget who’s healthier too!

Obviously, each family’s diet is determined by factors such as poverty and globalization. The series of photos provide an insightful look at what families from all around the world consume in a week. The contrasts between the well-off and the families of the Third World are enough to put some of us to shame at how we waste food or overly indulge in food. It’s a bit sad knowing that some studies have shown there are now more overweight people on Earth than those who don’t have enough to eat.

I can’t help but wonder what my week’s worth of food would look like and what surprises it might reveal to me. 

So, where do you stack up?

I’m finally at it again… after taking a 3 year break. My work and my life kept me from blogging as much as I would have liked in the past. I’m hoping it’ll be better this time although nothing’s changed on the work and family front. Well, you basically learn and realize quickly that life only gets busier. Maybe that’s why we’re constantly warned against procrastination. The list of things to do only keeps piling up.

Anyway, it’s always good to be starting something again. And this blog will probably capture snapshots of what’s on my mind at different times of the day/month or year.

Lately, there’ve been two major issues dominating my thoughts.

I’ll touch on one of them today after I grab myself a cup of quick coffee. It’s already been 13 hours since I’ve been awake and I need one to keep me going till evening…