Media relations 101

Looks like there are plenty of twits in this world who do not know what journalists do for a living.

And these twits are causing me a lot of pain and putting the anti-wrinkle properties of my pricey SKII lotions to waste.

There are three essential things one needs to bear in mind when they decide to approach the media. And quite frankly, these three pointers are common sense.

First and foremost, do not share what you don't want published, but if you are dying to blab, please at least inform the journalist that whatever you've just said is "off the record". Journalists will respect and abide by your request, unless you have just confessed to a murder.

Second, for god's sake, don't insist on "meeting to tell you more about what we are going to do" if you intend to retract everything after the story goes live. On the same note, please don't insist that we come to your office to hear about your grand plans but don't allow us to ever write about it. We have no time for such nonsense. If you want an audience for your grandfather tales, go look for your secretary.

Third, journalists are not obliged to show you the unpublished copy first for your approval or corrections. You want control over content? Pay for a fucking ad.

Then there are also twits who suddenly realised that they had said things to me they should not have, and their words have been placed in print for all to see, and in an attempt to protect their jobs, they threaten me with legal action. Unauthorised reporting, they would scream.

Yeah. I had drugged and bound them, and then forced them to reveal their company's plans and business performance with a pair of shears to their necks.

There is no such thing as 'unauthorised reporting'. There isn't "authorised reporting' too – that would mean an advertisement. Yet, it is a phase that is being bandied around too much by fools who deal with the press.

So what I've done is to put these twits into my little black book, and when a press release from them pops into my mailbox, I would delete them right away. They can forget about getting any editorial coverage from me forever, unless they have something revolutionary.

See, never piss off a woman.

I really do wish companies would invest in media communication training for their management personnel. That will save everyone from a lot pain and trouble.

New crush

Hokay. I admit I have a thing for men with small eyes and lush, well-groomed eyebrows, and who are able to manipulate both features to create an absolutely sad expression that would make me give up everything, including the last limited edition schokolade cookie from Berlin.

So my last few evenings have been spent glued to the TV with the South Korean drama, The Princess' Man, on. Lead actor Park Shi Hoo has taken over my heart and the best of my imagination with his eyes.

My god, this man can speak volumes with his eyes. There were so many scenes in the drama where emotions were just spilling out from his eyes - just like in the still above, and I just have to kiss his eyes and take away all the sadness.

I've never known this actor prior to The Princess' Man, and watching him in ancient shapeless garb, I had envisioned him to be yet another fair-skinned, lanky chap with a pretty face. Then came that fateful episode in which he was half naked and washing himself in a river, and I almost fell off my chair. He has been hiding a well-sculpted bod under those layers of cloths!

A picture is worth a thousand words. While I am unable to find a still of that particular scene online, I did discover this photo of him from a fan's blog.

Piece of art, isn't he? :)

Dining with the family

It is Eat With Your Family Day today, one of my favourite days of the year.

It is a day for people to get off work earlier than usual, so that they can go home to prepare a nice meal to share with their family. As encouraged by the government, the office let us off at 4pm.

Since I cannot cook for nuts, and I sure don't want daddy to cook (he gets to do it most days and deserve a rest), I gathered the family at Lei Garden.

Lei Garden is special for several reasons: it is one of Singapore's best Cantonese restaurants, it is one of daddy's favourite restaurants but he would seldom dine there because price is an issue, and it is also the place where Josh and I held our solemnisation ceremony and dinner for a few of our closest relatives in 2007.

I was also bent on having dinner there because I missed Lei Garden's poached rice in a rich stock. It is one of the most wonderful rice dishes I've ever had in my life. It is almost like teochew porridge, as rice grains are soaked in soup. But Lei Garden does it with a dash of glamour. It uses a fragrant lobster stock, and adds some crunch to the dish with rice crispies.

And since I was the pay master, I could order all my favourite dishes! So I filled the table with Peking duck, a platter of suckling pig and crispy sesame chicken, poached prawns, scallops and asparagus, a dish of spinach just to prevent daddy from nagging about the lack of greens in my diet, and, of course, poached rice.

Tonight's dinner turned out to be one of the better ones in recent times because my youngest brother was finally able to join us. Most times he would be away on some mission (he's with the navy), out with his girlfriend (she's obviously more important than his family) or brooding alone in his room (he's emo like that). So, yay.

Hence, this full family shot was possible. Pity though that Kenny's love-of-his-life was mugging for exams and could not join us tonight.

I love how daddy and mummy were especially jovial tonight, with several tender moments - mostly involving daddy attempting to feed mummy. Somehow, though, mummy had such priceless expressions that made perfect candid shots! Just like this one below.

It would seem like she wasn't quite delighted with daddy, but in reality, she had enough of dessert and wanted daddy to have the rest for himself. Heheh.

That's that, people. I hope you've had a wonderful Eat With Your Family Day too. :)

Cleaning out my social circle

In an ideal world, friendships last forever.

But we don't live in an ideal world. And as we grow older, experience more facets of life in our immediate environment and beyond, and thus form new and perhaps different views of life, we sometimes outgrow our friends.

Not all friends; some friends.

I'm writing this because I've started to grow quite sick of some friends who have become painfully vocal about their intolerance towards other races living in our midst and towards citizens who had voted in favour of the current ruling party.

First of all, every Singaporean is entitled to their own political beliefs. Supporting one party over the other does not make them idiots who are blind to reality. We all have the freedom to make choices.

And just because some of us don't feel the pinch of inflation nor respond supremely negatively to rising competition from foreign workers, it doesn't mean that we are lying to ourselves or living in denial. It just means we have decent employers who pay us decent salaries and who try to hire locally before looking overseas.

Like I've said many times, if your company does not pay you enough to get through inflationary shifts or had retrenched you in favour of foreign talents, then you are better off with another company. What's the point of forcing yourself into a situation you hate and end up resenting others who are living a better life than you are?

Secondly, there is absolutely no place for racism in Singapore or anywhere in this world.

You may detest individuals who take away the peace in your neighbourhood by screaming loudly in a language you don't understand, who hurt your aural senses with smells that you find appalling, or who behave in ways unlike what you've been accustomed to. But you should not detest the whole race of those people.

Moreover, what makes you think your lifestyle is not bothersome to them? They may even have been making an effort to tolerate the lifestyle and cultural habits typical of your race.

Singapore took years of hard work to build this racial harmony we now know. We must not condone those who belittle fellowmen of other colours.


So what I've done is to flush out these racist friends from my Facebook and real life social circles. I'm glad I found the courage to do so. Life's too short to be wasted on forcing myself to be cordial with them. I've far more genuinely good people around me to love and be nice to.

Gone shopping!

The Great Singapore Sale has started.

Hurrah!

And since large crowds always draw out the Hulk in me, I very smartly woke up early this morning and hit town by 10.30am.

It was such a bliss to have the whole mall to myself and a few other equally smart women. :)

When I was much younger, I would exhaust my funds before I was tired of combing the shops. Now, at 32 years old, my feet and back are exhausted long before my funds are. It is horrible.

Still, I managed to haul home some pretty finds, which I realised were mostly clothes in pinks and whites (it is the spirit of spring/summer!), save for a very India-inspired Lou Paris lingerie set. Do check out Lou Paris' website. Apart from being able to ogle at very pretty Caucasian ladies, you will be inspired to inject some sexiness into your underwear drawers.