Yahoo! Singapore Answers blog

I caught the famous puppet musical, Avenue Q, last week. And boy, did I laugh my *bleep* off! You would think that when puppets are involved, perhaps the cast controlling the puppets would have their faces covered or something. But not for Avenue Q! It is so fascinating (and also a little distracting) to watch the puppets AND the cast’s expressions at the same time.

It’s like seeing 4 “people” singing at the same time, lol.

*Warning: spoiler ahead!* Avenue Q may be famous for the naughty songs and raunchy puppet sex, but the underlying theme is the search for one’s purpose in life. And what really strikes a chord in me was in one of the final songs called “The Money Song”, where Princeton tries to raise money to help Kate Monster to build her monster school. He sang,

“… helping other people out makes you feel fantastic! All this time I’ve been running around thinking about me, me, me – and where has it gotten me! I’m gonna do something for someone else! …When you help others, you can’t help helping yourself!”

Like Princeton, I think that people now have been too caught up in themselves. Thinking of “me, me, me” all the time. But if we really take the initiative to help others (you can start small by helping those near to you), and think more of others than ourselves, I think you will feel really happy.

So do share with us, have you ever done something or helped someone which made you feel fantastic in return? The Best Answer chosen will receive a little surprise, so do make sure you check your email often!

To Note: (1) Only Best Answerer chosen from Singapore will receive the surprise. (2) Please answer at Yahoo! Singapore Answers and not just on this blog entry. (3) You will be contacted via the email address you’ve used to create your Yahoo! Answers account, so make sure it’s active!

And in 3 more days, Singapore will see the dust fly from beneath the spinning wheels of the sleek F1 race cars.

A McGregor Car

Yes, Singapore will be hosting the world’s first Formula One Night Race! It’s like watching Daytona, Gran Turismo or Need For Speed come to live. I used to love playing these racing games (even though I always crash into the walls) and the image that remains quite deeply in my mind was the scene where I “drove” my race car through the city streets at night. And it’s finally coming true! Though if you take a look around the designated route in Singapore, with all the spotlights blasting down, I think it’ll look more like “day” instead of “night”!

Padang Grandstands

Glitz aside, there are a lot of firsts in this race. It is the first night race, the first time F1 is hosted on Asian city streets, and the first time Singapore will be mentioned on the “global sports map“. The self-named “Monaco of the East” is hoping to attract an estimated 40,000 overseas visitors and expects a revenue to the tune of 100 million dollars. The Yahoo! Singapore Editors have posted up the question to all of you: “How excited are you about the F1 coming to Singapore?” Are you excited about this historical first in Singapore? Granted it’s the famous F1 (and we don’t have to go to Malaysia for F1 now), and it’s happening right at our doorstep. But, look at all that traffic congestion due to the road blocks! Personally, while I may like to play car racing games, I find the actual car races a total bore. So to me, I’m not really that excited about F1 coming to Singapore, I’m more concerned about the traffic jams and buses being routed to spots far away from their original stops.

The traffic jam along Nicole Highway.

And to think that Singapore has the race contract for five years, with an option for another two. Oh dearie-me. Well to each their own. So here’s wishing Singapore that the F1 will go with a bang this weekend! As for me, I’ll be hiding away comfortably in my hidey-hole away from the crowd. What about you?

Watch out for the F1 Grid Girls!

Not me, though yes I’ll be getting older soon (no! I’m not telling when and how old!). But our nation will be celebrating 43 years of independence this Saturday! How many of you will be there at the floating platform and soaking in the atmosphere?

Well, you definitely won’t find me there, I’ll be home, sitting in front of the tv instead. Not that I’m not patriotic, but the idea of squeezing with so many people just puts me off. Imagine big, burly, sweaty men pushing past you and harried women with monster prams bulldozing their way forward. Not a pretty sight.

Anyway, how much do you know of the old Singapore? Did you know that the Fullerton Hotel used to be known as the General Post Office Building in 1928? Did you know that Orchard Road used to be lined with nutmeg, pepper and fruit orchards, and at the later part of 1840s, with graveyards? I certainly didn’t.

(Photo thanks to Suzz.com)

Who still remembers the old National Library at Stamford Road before they tore it down?

As the country gets older, more modern and new buildings will emerge every year, but I think we should not forget our past and heritage. In fact the National Library (at Bras Brasah) participated in the National Heritage roadshow last Saturday, showcasing 43 specially picked photos representing Singapore. They have also set up a community on flickr called SNAP (Singapore National Album of Pictures) where members of the public can upload heritage photos taken before 1980s and share it with one another.

So if you have any old photos (or if your grandparents, or parents have any old photos), do scan them in and upload onto SNAP. Let’s share the old memories.

Hi Fellow Answers Members,

Not sure if you have noticed but we’re trying to customise Yahoo! Answers Singapore so that it’s relevant to all Singaporeans. We’re customising it via different ways, such as the blog, featuring some Singaporean questions on the main page, having our own Yahoo! Singapore Editors asking questions relevant to current news etc.

I know that many of the questions we see on the main page (and also on the different categories) are questions most probably asked by folks in America or other English-speaking countries and hence are not relevant to you. But if you wish to look for questions asked by people in Singapore, all you have to do is scroll down to “Show:” (on the left-side column), and then click on “Singapore questions only”. See the picture below for illustration purposes.

Just a little inside news, we’re gonna try to change it so that by default, you’ll see questions asked in Singapore first, instead of other English-speaking countries. Hopefully that will make you feel more at home with the whole Yahoo! Answers Singapore product and not feel as if the Travel > Asia Pacific > Singapore sub-category is the only place you can hang out.

Let me know if there are other things that we can help change to make Yahoo! Answers Singapore a better experience for you.

Web 2.0, especially Social Networking, is THE buzzword right now. How many of you have an account on Friendster, Multiply, Facebook etc?

Well, we understand how these social networking sites are a part of our lives, so we’ve brought Yahoo! Answers Singapore to Facebook! Alright, not exactly bringing the whole Yahoo! Answers, but at least there’s a place where users of Yahoo! Answers (regulars and even newbies) can meet virtually. Hey, and if the community is big enough, we can even organise a Meet-Up! So introduce your friends to Yahoo! Answers. And may we build up our database of knowledge to rival even the famous historical Library of Alexandria!

See you at The Wall