Joi Chua, Back to Basics 回到最初 。蔡淳佳

My apologies to all madams and gentlemen! I have been busy recently. There are some things in line but I can’t reveal any of those yet, so wait for the good news!

My recent contact with some Taiwanese friends made me proud of our Singapore culture. My previous impression of myself speaking Singaporean accented Mandarin or Singlish seemed embarrassing. I tried to cover up by imitiating how the Taiwanese accent their language. Though I must admit it was quite interesting and fun, but nothing beats the expressions on their faces when I say Singlish.

When the Taiwanese say “Zhan!”, I replied back with “Steady Pom Pee Pee!” and they’ll go ‘Har,what is that??’
The next thing you know, they try to imitate our accent. There were lots of laughter. The initial uneasiness with me speaking Singlish was gone. It became a cultural exchange.”

It’s really quite funny to watch my Taiwanese friends speaking singlish. Another friend of mine can’t wait to show me the lines he learnt from the movie ‘Hainanese Chicken Rice’.

Familiar sounding words came on…”Ma-der tell me not to kay-po”, “You go shopping, I go parking lah”, “Wah lau”

I was holding onto my stomach and haha-ing by the time he finished…

So, it’s not about speaking American accented English or speaking perfectly curled-up Mandarin words like the Beijing people do. And I’m NOT saying that proper expression is not important. In fact, I think it’s very important to express clearly and fluently. However, at that point of time where I expressed the language I grew up with to foreigners made me feel that people recognise me as a Singaporean and also the fact that Singaporeans have quite a comical streak in them! We are not just a bunch of disciplined, strict and boring people! Also, more importantly, it makes me feel at home.

If only Singaporeans become less shy, more daring and more articulate in expressing their thoughts, I believe there’ll be more talents found, more creativity and probably a more gracious society. What do you think?

My treetop walk last Saturday was good. I went with Dr Chua who was invited to HSBC’s unveiling event of the treetop stamp series. There was a slight misty drizzle in the early morning. We started off with a slow walk uphill to the site where the launch is before proceeding to the treetop.

We were the last group to set off . Weather had turned fair by then. At the moment of time, I felt that city dwellers like me really need the nature more often. Just a mere 30 minutes in it already lightened my mood.

My ignorance turned into appreciation with the explanation of our very good guide, Genevie. With her explanation, a connection was formed with the nature. What is happening, why is it the way it is and how we respect and care for it.

The scenery from the bridge (which is 14 storeys high) is magnificent and we were actually at bird’s eye level where we actually got to view alot of plants and animals like birds. I was a little put off by some rowdy people (they are adults, by the way)behind us who were just too eager to complete the 3.5km trail instead of appreciating the surroundings. They were shouting and screaming away, bouncing on the bridge, disturbing all the wildlife…Argggghhh… THEY, really, should go to a pub instead.

After the bridgewalk, we started to walk downhill… a height of 24 storeys altogether… sounds intimidating? Nah, kinda fun actually. The trees act as wonderful shelter against the sun and I got to see tree branches forming in a natural, artistic way (in my imagination). Didn’t get to see animals coz I think there were too many people walking around. Homo Sapiens are afterall, the scariest of all animals …

There was this Cheng Tng tree…yes, the Cheng Tng we drink for desserts, the Tongkat Ali plant (in case anyone of you dun know… erm, find out yourself ya…? ;P hehe..), the Singapore durian with fleshless seeds (only found in Singapore), and many others… It’s back to school days again

We completed the trail in 2 hours and there was some ‘continuing’ education on different beetles, caterpillars, plants..etc in the offices of the National Park. I took some pictures with some snakes as well. Their colours were gorgeous and woooo… exciting… keke
Check out the pics I posted in my photos section!


That’s Dr Chua and myself


Me against the backdrop of the stamp series launch


Genevie and moi