Only with the threat of losing her as we drove to the hospital without knowing anything except that she was in the emergency room reminded me that she is an omnipresent background love in my, our, life. We hardly talk now due to my lack of Cantonese, and we aren’t close in any conventional sense. But she’s my Yee Mah that’s always been Yee Mah. And I can’t explain the bond I have with her any other way.

Last night, no less than 15 members of our extended family showed up late at night to rally around her as she was laid up in the hospital bed. And then I was reminded of how powerful my family can be, all the aunts, cousins, partners of, etc. As my mother and father held her as she vomitted all over them and as they cleaned her up afterwards, I was reminded of how amazing my parents are.

Yee Mah was conscious and remembered all our names last night. She’s definitely in pain and in shock but she should, I hope, be fine. She’s a strong gal. Send her all your good vibes and keep this lady in your thoughts and prayers, even if you don’t know her. Actually, now you do, in this blog.

We went to Geylang also to check out the infamous prostitution district. It was all very well for me to spout this Economist article about the virtues of legalizing prostitution. It was a little harder to spout the same principals as nonchantly and academically when I see a young girl staring blankly into space while surrounded (literally) by men looking at her up and down as they decide on their price.

I still hold those principals as put forth in the article linked above, even if I wriggle in disgust at that scene of the old man looking at the girl that keeps replaying in my head. I don’t know if "respect" is the right term, but I have some respect for those women who chose to do what they do given their circumstances (unless of course they are underaged/forced into it, that’s another story and argument), because I do not know each of their stories, and I don’t know how I’d have dealt with the life choices they were given, which I’m thankful wasn’t given to me. Walking through Geylang kinda felt familiar…doesn’t that meat market resemble some clubs we go to, where (some) girls dress up close to nakedness to be gawked at by (some) men with the same thoughts running through their head as those in Geylang? At least in Geylang, there is no masking it with faux glamour.

*little spoiler*
My favorite scene was when Roland (Macaulay Culkin), a cripple, comes to school in his halloween costume, with a black top and white laces on it. When asked what he was, he replied "I’m a rollar-skate". It’s kinda hard to describe the scene but I cracked up.

This review is not bad.

Seperately, he had ordered a fish burger when I went to get a char siew bao. We ended up sharing half of each. We are such cliches.

Then I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature.

I really don’t know where that last one came from.

Party people, (front, from left) Miss Indranee, Mrs Lim (in black), Dr Chong, Miss Low and (at the back) PM Lee, groove on at Zouk. — AZIZ HUSSIN

‘The PAP is a serious party, but we’re not a square party. We have some serious people, but we know how to enjoy ourselves too,’ he said, before joining party revellers on the packed dance floor.

–thanks to my brother for the heads up.

I’m struggling through Atlas Shrugged. Patrick threw David Sedaris’ ‘Barrel Fever’ at me, and it’s friggin’ hilarious, and so not Rand. I think I need an Ayn break.

I do hate stopping books halfway though. I feel like I had ‘wasted’ time on what I’ve already read. I never finished Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’. I’m halfway through Austen’s ‘Persuasion’. And Henry James’ ‘Portrait of a Lady’. Patrick thinks I should just give myself a break, then pick it up again refreshed instead of boring myself through it. My view is that I’m already feeling bitter about quitting halfway; and should I want to pick those up again, I’d have to read it from the start. We have very different styles of reading. He is usually in the midst of 5 different books, all of which he’ll stuff in his big back-pack and lug around and I wonder why he does that. I’d rather neatly go through one at a time. Especially since I’m half his size and don’t like to lug heavy bags around. It’s good for me though cos he’ll always have something extra for me to read.