Short notes before nipping off to meet The Great One at Westmall:

Just finished The Shadow of a Shadow of a Dream by Catherine Lim today. Interestingly, it was first published in 1987, and republished in 1999 - the same year after she won the "1999 South East Asia Write (sic) Award".

Catherine Lim is perhaps the most touted of local writers, but "Local Flavour" isn't really much of a draw for me and I am not all that fond of her style. It is rather readable, but not overly exciting ; I did not get the "one more page syndrome" while reading this book. Perhaps that is the point, though - to convey images in an understated way. Many of the stories don't end satisfactorily or conclusively, and there is something missing ; the reader is left hanging. Perhaps that, again, is the point.

There are subtle anti-government jibes here and there, and the SDU and the "problem" of graduate women not marrying is mocked. The sardonic way government officials spokesmen are quoted and what they say is really amusing. Heh heh.

Also read: Iron Man, by Neivelle Tan. A rather typical story of redemption.


The Pizza at Pastamania isn't very good. I think I have a new rule about Pizza places: If I can finish a pizza from there, odds are that it isn't good.

Mysteries of life: Whose English is worse? Fann Wong or Jackie Chan? (Re: Today's viewing of Shanghai Knights, during which, iirc, not a single handphone sounded! Except for Jackie Chan's during the bloopers segment.)