I made a phone booking for a taxi yesterday from my mom’s place, which is a terrace house in a private estate. The automated voice said the cab would arrive in “3 to 5 minutes”. It came after 15 minutes. Instead of apologising for being late, the cabbie’s first words were “Wah lau…this area damned confusing!”. What did he want me to respond with?

Yesterday, too, I attended Sunday service in church. Since it was the first day of the Chinese New Year, many parishioners wore red. There was this family of non-Chinese who also got into the spirit by wearing all red. The mom and dad were in red t-shirts while the three kids were in traditional Chinese attire. I thought it was rather cute. Until I saw waht was printed on the back of the parents’ t-shirt. It said “United States Marine Corps” and had the picture of a pig’s butt right in the centre. I pity all those people seated behind this family….they all had to endure the view of the pig’s butt throughout the service.

I don’t see families really taking the trouble to dress up for Chinese New Year like we traditionally did in the past. In fact, I saw more people in BLACK attire yesterday - the first day of the new year - than I’ve ever seen in all my life. And it wasn’t just young people; even adults were wearing black. I thought black was considered bad omen, especially for ushering in the new year. And there were entire families that wore just t-shirt, bermudas and sandals while going visiting!! Maybe it’s the weather or maybe today’s generations doesn’t treat the new year as significantly as our ancestors did.

I was watching the 2010 Grammy Awards and as usual, there were great performances by some of the biggest names in music today. With talent such as Beyonce’s breathtaking performance of “If I were a Boy” and her incredible vocals ringing in the hall long after her song was done, I could feel what it might be like to be in the audience. But these are all fellow singers and musicians gathered for this annual event. As well as Beyonce did to wow her peers, I felt the evening’s accolades truly belonged to Pink, who performed “Glitter in the Air” suspended in the air like a Cirque du Soleil act. As if all that twirling wasn’t eye-popping enough, she emerged for the second half of the song completely drenched and did body spins over and over…while singing. Wow! Now THIS is what I call a performance!

Joe