At a convocation ceremony, a student blurted out a profanity at the end of her speech.
And for the next 14 days:
The following strip was scheduled to appear on 2011 July 31;
but, as usual, the editors were concerned that it might be construed as
a reflection of our judicial system (which wasn't my intention)
and it subsequently didn't make it to print.
So here it is, online!
Venue:
Toa Payoh Station
Date:
2011 June 10
Time:
Around 11.30am
So there I was, waiting for the train.
When it arrived, one teenage girl approached the platform door.
Then I noticed she had left her pink wallet on the bench.
So I called out to her and gestured towards it.
She went back to get it and entered the train.
No "thank you", no expression of gratitude, nothing.
As a matter of fact, she looked as if I had caused her
a colossal inconvenience by making her retrieve her wallet.
Quite an interesting response, don't you think?
Here's a silly clip I've made with my nephew who,
incidentally, was born on the same year and day as Thien Nhan.
I hope you'll enjoy the ending.
Thien Nhan is now in Italy for an important surgery: to construct a penis
from the upper groin area that will actually 'grow' with him.
This major procedure will be carried out by the famous Italian surgeon
Dr. Roberto DeCastro from Bologna, Italy. The operation will take between
7 and 9 hours and the post-op recovery will be at least 14 to 20 days.
According to Greig Craft, the key organiser of Thien Nhan's surgeries,
Thien Nhan is expected to have an age-appropriate size penis, and scrotum
(with prosthetic testicles). Because his urethra is not damaged,
urination should not be a problem. And due to some nerves that were
not damaged, the penis should have sensation, and even the possibility
to have an erection. Of course, there are complications that can arise,
but we are confident about the prognosis.
The surgery (after discount) will cost 33,600 euros (approx US$45,000).
Associated costs, travel and accommodation for 3 weeks will add another
US$20,000.
As there could be a necessity to stay longer for follow-up care,
the overall total may come up to US$75,000.
Greig will cover his personal costs and travel and will be contributing US$10,000.
On top of that, him, Mai Anh and Elka have raised another US$10,000.
And with our (that is, you readers and myself) latest contribution of US$14,000,
we are near the half-way mark of the targeted US$75,000 for this
life-changing operation. Mai Anh's family are pooling their savings
and during the next two weeks will go all out to get in other contributions.
So if you'd like to lend a hand, please email me.
You can buy my book (see sidebar on the left) and/or a T-shirt.
Or simply just by donating. Thank you.
[Published on 13 September, 2008]
A small Nebraska town is the target of a smear campaign
by a vandal. Beginning more than a year ago, a man has been
skipping from one business to another at night, pressing his
naked behind -- sometimes his groin, sometimes both --
on windows.
Store owners, church workers and school janitors have had to
wash lotion and petroleum jelly off the windows he hits.
"This is the weirdest case I’ve ever seen," said a police chief.
Some residents of Valentine, a remote central US town of about
2,650 people, find some humour in the strange vandalism and have
taken to calling the perpetrator the "Butt Bandit".
The acts first started when the window of a Methodist church
was greased with an imprint.
During one particularly brazen session, virtually all the
windows at a local hotel were imprinted.
No one has a clue as to who the vandal is, except that he is
about 1.8m tall and slender, with a dark complexion and
dark hair styled in a "1980s, feathered look".
In an event of an enemy attack, Singaporeans can seek refuge
in one of the North-East Line MRT stations.
[Published on 22 September, 2002]
Tai-tais, the darlings of designer boutiques, luxurious spas and
top-notch restaurants, are baring their bodies to total strangers.
So are well-paid professional women and housewives with young children.
Money is changing hands too, and it is not going to the nude models.
The naked truth is that women in conservative Singapore are paying
artists up to $30,000 to depict them nude.
Unlike the current exhibition of nude paintings at the Singapore Art
Museum, these portraits will probably never appear in a public space.
They belong in the privacy of the customers' bedrooms.
In most cases, the subject commissions the work as a gift for her spouse.
Depending on the artist and the size of the painting, the price tag
can range from $3,000 to $30,000.
