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Today marks the 5th time ‘m facilitating the Introduction to New Media Course.  For the first time, the course is held at the Civil Service College.  The participants, nearly 20 in all, come from diverse parts of the Singapore Public Service.  Here are some scenes from the class.

Here is Aaron from the Ministry of Information, Communications & the Arts giving participants an overview of how new media has evolved over the years.

A shot of the IT training room from the back.

Another view of the class from another vantage point.

During the course of the day, Kimberley from the National Heritage Board sharing the story of how the organization has been able to reach new audiences, marketing nostalgia via new media.  Check out its Web 2.0 portal Yesterday.sg.

Later in the evening, public sector colleagues from REACH shared how the agency has extended its public consultation online Ivan from the National Library Board gave a presentation (with mini-practice) on Wikipedia, and I gave participants an overview of what organizations in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors are doing with new media.

Universal Studios is more accurately a sprawling theme park incorporating a suite of working film and TV production studios with multiple state-of-the-art sound stages and minutely-reproduced production sets.  The most awesome of the production sets, in my opinion, must be that of the 2005 War of the Worlds set (yes, the one starring Tom Cruise).

Here are some others…see if you recognize them.

A Christmas show just for the kids (and kid-at-heart).

But even amidst the pyrotechnics and hum-drum, there are still areas of pristine tranquility.

One of the highlights of the Universal Studios tour is surely the set of the fabled Desperate Housewives.  Here, set designers have recreated a microcosm of American suburbia on steriods with its ensemble cast of zany characters including Terry Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Camp, Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis, Nicollete Sheridan as Edie Williams, and others.  Do you recognize any of the houses here?

Another classic from Wakin’s anthology.  This time, the crowd favorite <<风雨无阻>>, which is another positive, affirming number that typifies much of Wakin’s works.

Wakin (周华健)’s life-affirming <<朋友>> from One Wakin 华健世界巡回演唱会 – 新加坡 (Feb 7, 2009) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Yes, Wakin Chau forgot his lyrics again, but who cares when his concert is so enjoyable

By jocelyn lee
		Wakin Chau (right) shares the limelight with Singaporean Wynne Sandosham (left). — PHOTO: UNUSUAL ENTERTAINMENT

reviewconcert
ONE WAKIN LIVE IN SINGAPORE
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Last Saturday

Once again, Wakin Chau forgot the lyrics to a song. He’s famous, or infamous, for doing that in live performances.

But this time, it’s understandable. They weren’t lyrics to his own song that he had forgotten and it was only the last line in Stefanie Sun’s early hit Black Sky that he flubbed.

In any case, his fans adore him to bits and have always forgiven him his lapses in memory. That’s how diehard they are, something they proved yet again last Saturday night when they turned out in full force at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

For four hours, Chau, 48, entertained the almost full-house crowd of more than 7,000 enthusiastic fans with a continuous stream of his Mandarin ballads, most of which were mega hits in the 1990s.

His earnest songs about love and friendship, which lend themselves all too easily to singalongs, show how good old-fashioned pop songs could still reign in an era when Mandarin rap and R&B are all the rage.

Fans, most of whom looked to be in their 30s to late 50s, screamed their appreciation. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong’s wife, as well as several Caucasians, were spotted in the crowd.

Throughout the concert, Chau was friendly and playful, bantering and joking with the audience in English and Mandarin. And in order to get close to as many fans as possible, he made sure he covered every inch of a stage designed to look like a rooftop, complete with shooting stars, a moon and a clear blue sky.

How the fans lapped it up. That’s another thing Chau is famous for: being a crowd-pleaser. On past TV charity shows in Singapore, he always could get the donation calls pouring in with just a couple of songs and a few well-timed pleas.

The Hong Kong-born, Taiwan-based singer kicked off the concert with the familiar love ballad, Don’t Want To Be Alone, clad in a glamorous but comfortable-looking get-up of shimmery black blazer coat and matching pants.

Delivering fan favourites such as Unable To Sleep, Actually I Don’t Want To Go, Friends and Let Me Be Happy, Let Me Be Sad, he had the entire stadium waving their hands and singing along with him. Loud cheers fom the audience also greeted all these hits, showing these songs were what they were at the concert for.

Song after song, Chau’s signature powerful yet soothing vocals took centrestage, even on covers of several songs he likes, including Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon and Sun’s Black Sky.

He engendered so much warmth and good feelings in the stadium that the camaraderie between him and the audience spilled over for his special guest, local pub musician Wynne Sandosham, who crooned touching ballads I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone and Love, Me.

The good vibes also resulted in a generous encore that lasted one hour, as Chau patiently took about eight song requests from fans.

When the highlight-packed concert finally ended, it was, ironically, on a touching note: Chau broke into tears while singing Radiant, a song that he said never fails to make him cry.

jocelee@sph.com.sg

A two-year absence has not dampened the ardor between veteran crooner Wakin (周华健) and his fans, judging by the capacity crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Feb 7, which was packed to the rafters and brimming with the warm comfort of Wakin’s music as well as his crisp, pristine voice that has endeared so many.

The sound engineering was excellent–rare for the acoustically-challenged venue–which allowed Wakin’s strong, excellent vocals to reveberate sonorously throughout the stadium.  For this concert, Wakin and his production company invested creativity in bring to life Wakin’s rooftop concept–a place where Wakin spent many a childhood night seeking solace from life’s storms and fantasizing about a career in–wouldn’t you guess–music.

But all the props and pyrotechnics were unnecessary.  For the fans, Wakin’s music was enough.  The warm rapport was clear, with the audience loving his occsionally self-deprecating humor, responding heartily up his easy banter, and of course, singing along without prodding to his signature tunes.

And signature tunes from his musical canon there were many, but what stood out for me were some of the less-often heard songs such a <<最真的夢>>, which was evocative as ever, and Jonathan Lee (李宗盛) ’s rock ballad <<我是一只小小鸟>>  which Wakin plugged at in the final encore with a plaintive, soul-drenched urgency.  Even his originally chirpy <<花心>> was rearranged to bring out its wistful melancholy and longing.

The concert reinforced why Wakin is one of my favorite musicians all these years.  Someone with real talent, and someone who can say that he has  survived 22 years in the capricious music industry with his integrity intact.  I’m looking forward to many more.  Here is a clip of one of his evergreens, <<愛相隨>>, which no doubt served as a soothing balm to many through the ups and downs of relationships.

Nestled just south of San Diego along the Pacific Ocean in a picturesque enclave, Mission Bay is part of the recreational Mission Bay Park, the largest artificial aquatic park in the United States.  The total land area, including the water catchment, is about 4,235 acres (17.14 sq km), placing it the 9th largest municipally-owned park in the country.  I stayed there for a couple of days, and took these pictures from the vantage point of my hotel balcony and along the docks of the bay.

Located on the picturesque Mission Bay, Sea World San Diego is a 200-acre marine adventure park spilling over with spectacular attractions, chief among which is the Shamu show.

Incidentally, Shamu is not a single orca (a.k.a. killer whale) as is popularly believed (or led to believe), but the stage name of Sea World’s iconic orca show.  The sname is shared between several adult male and female performing orcas.  Otherwise, it’d be odd for “Shamu” to simultaneously be in San Diego and Orlando at the same time!  View the Shamu cam here.

And now for the other sights and sounds…

And thrills and spills.