i Light Singapore 2019 - Bicentennial Edition

This year's Light Art Festival was special as it also commemorated the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles 200 years ago.

Click here to view the installations for this bicentennial edition.

The following are some highlights for your refreshing:-

Click here for an 'enlighted' soccer moment.

The Refreshing Power of Voices

Words are powerful be it written, spoken or sung. They give us a voice of what is being communicated. 

In particular, when words are composed and performed as a song with panache, they not only communicate but connect with our emotions and impact our soul. Yes, by now we have heard a lot of singers and their voices. 

Photo by Josh Rocklage on Unsplash

Nonetheless, there is still so many new voices that remain hidden and undiscovered. Thankfully, there are available avenues to unveil them.

Click on the following for a refreshing take on voices:

14.y.o Girl Leaving the Judges Open-Mouthed With Her Talented Voice | Week 6 | BGT 2017 

Judges Were Skeptical and Doubting Him but Then This Happens...

Little Girl SHOCKS The Entire Audience With Her Voice

Pinkish February

Incidentally, in this month also on February 5, Pink was honoured with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Click here for Pink's Message to Her Family at Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony Is Perfect.

Weighty Matter to Stomach

Curry Delight

There are hawker food and restaurant food. Which is better? All other things  being equal, it would depend on the cook or chef. 

While hawker food is generally low-brow in comparison with food served in a restaurant, some hawkers have mastered their craft so well that they are listed on the Michelin Guide, with the exceptional ones garnering a coveted Michelin Star.

On fine example of hawker food which has made it to the Michelin Guide is: Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee.

This piping-hot humble plate of bee hoon (rice vermicelli), soaking in a broth of tantalising curry with a mild sting of chilli, makes for a hearty culinary combination as with the tender chicken meat, spongy fried beancurd and slices of fishcake, which can pass off as abalone in appearance. Oh, yes, not forgetting the pieces of potato which melt in the mouth.

The proof is in the eating and it certainly is outstanding with its agreeable altogether-there wholesome flavour and range of texture. Happily for the vendor, this food fare can know be offered at a starting price of SGD 5.00 which is a premium to usual ones at around SGD 3.50.

Good food such as this (without delving into the nutritional aspect and on the basis that one maintain a balanced diet) makes us think of how we can refine our own work approach and processes so that we love what we do and are able to bring forth a product or service that is outstanding in value so as to delight our customer.

If there is passion or a willingness to aim for the star, you will find a way to attain it with hard work, innovation, continuous learning/adaptation and persistent belief that you can achieve your goal and sustain it. 

That, my friend, is a free takeaway from visiting a hawker centre which is more impactful than attending a classroom lesson on achieving success in life.

Hogging the Limelight

On this morning of Chinese New Year Eve around 9 a.m., the street scene along New Bridge Road in the heart of Chinatown is still quiet. The traffic is light and workers who are not on leave or jetting overseas for the Chinese New Year public holidays are beginning to trickle forth from the nearby MRT station.

Only a sprinkling of shops and hawker stalls have opened and when they are duly opened in an hour's time or so, the throng of both locals and tourists would be coming forth in full force.

But the ones who are gonna be the well-rated star attraction have already made their presence felt all around in the run-up to the lunar new year celebration. 

This year piggyback and piggy bank will be infused with renewed meaning. Who knows, pigs might fly this year with a good outcome or fortune!

Do you really need to wear a watch?

If the purpose of a wrist watch is to tell you the time of the day, do you really need to wear one when your smartphone or computer can already fulfill this need?

One would have thought that watches would be phased out or sidelined. On the contrary, not only are people still buying watches or eyeing their first Rolex, but they are also spoilt for choice with the advent of smart watches.

What is the draw of a watch? How would your ideal watch look like? Daily Refreshing opined that the concept of time is one of the main drawing power behind our romance with watches. 

Time is subjective to human beings. When we are running late, time moves so fast. Time is slow when we are waiting for our turn at the bank. Also, we wish that the good times would last longer and the suffering or problematic seasons would be shortened. 

However, time in itself appears to be objective and moves with constant consistency. It is no respecter of persons or seasons. 

Mathematically, time equals distance divided by speed; lapse of time in a journey from point A to B, or passage of time between two events or conditions.

As it it, the experts are still putting forth deep concepts of time such as non-linear or cyclic time, time-warp, space-time and so forth. It is so deep that the some, including Albert Einstein, had thrown in the spanner -- that time is a persistent illusion!

Now, wouldn't it be fascinating to encapsulate the concept of time in a contraption that you can wear on your wrist and reflect your personal expression of time?! (Hint: you need to wear a watch, man, woman, boy and girl.)

With Valentine's Day looming, watches will be flying off the shelves powered by timely phrases such as "The time for love is now", "Let your moments be full of love" and "Love can be perfected with time".