Hello 2012 and goodbye 2011!
Following past years tradition in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, my first blog post in 2012 will be on the Alvinology Award.
Unlike previous years however, instead of listing the bests of 2010 by categories, I will do a monthly chronicle, allowing more leeway for me to plug my own content and for readers to catch up on good stuff you might have missed.
Here goes:
January:
The Jonal Chong Saga – a self-proclaimed “celebrity hairstylist” in Singapore, Jonal Chong was exposed for doctoring an image of himself with international star Nicole Kidman. Chong also lied that he is the appointed hairstylist of Kidman and a list of other international stars like Hugh Grant and Katherine Heigel. His doctored image with Kidman was first drawn to suspicion on this blog.
Singapore’s Edison Chen, “Gary Ng” (Chen Guilin) was finally exposed and arrested for multiple cheating cases involving women he had slept with. The nickname “Singapore’s Edison Chen” was first coined and brought into prominence on this blog, even before the news hit the mainstream media.
Thanks to Get Singapore and CYC The Custom Shop, I had my first Alvinology shirt tailor-made at CYC in Palai Renaissance.
February:
Attended Jack Neo’s 2010 Chinese New Year movie, HOMECOMING《笑着回家》Gala Premiere and Post Party.
Up-close-and-personal with Seth Rogen and Jay Chou at the Singapore gala premiere of The Green Hornet 3D movie, thanks to Domino’s Pizza.
March:
The start of F&N Singapore Dance Delight Vol. 2; the campaign this year gets bigger and better, garnering F&N a win for Best Digital Use at the Singapore Media Awards 2011.
Watched Let the Bullets Fly《让子弹飞》at the gala premiere, thanks to Golden Village. It is one of the best movie I watched in 2011 and also the best big-budget mainstream China-made movie I have seen.
Watched a very heartwarming theatre production about love, I Love A-Ai《我爱阿爱》at the Drama Centre Theatre, thanks to the folks from The Theatre Practice (实践剧场).
April:
Celebrated Singapore Foursquare Day with omy.sg. 🙂
Beginning of the Gourmet Food Trail with Ah Lun (阿伦笑吃人间 周末趴趴吃). Five weeks of binge feasting saw my waistline grew significantly thicker each week.
Campaigning begins for the Singapore General Election. Spoof posters of election candidates from all parties popped up all over the Internet.
Attended the launch event for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf‘s single serve beverage system, The CBTL.
May:
Went on a Babymoon in Bangkok with my wife, Rachel, staying at the quaint Tenface Boutique Hotel. We attended a friend’s wedding and went for a Thai cooking class.
Rediscovered my artistic self in a painting session with Kit Kat.
The fall or the return (depending on which side you are on) of Potong Pasir single member constituency to the PAP. I wrote an iconic post dedicated to Mr and Mrs Chiam See Tong and My Fellow Potong Pasir Residents and one on Potong Pasir, My Kind of Town.
Uncovered Singapore’s Newest Tourist Spot – The “Welcome to Potong Pasir” Billboard featuring Chiam See Tong (dismantled).
Discovered a new game for Singaporeans taking Public Transport – “Where’s Tuck Yew?”.
Watched the thought-provoking HERstory 她的故事, Dramabox’s theatre production commissioned for Singapore Arts Festival 2011.
June:
Participated in the walking trail on the last weekend at Upper Bukit Timah Road KTM Railway.
Organised and attended the first Singapore Social Media Day (SGSMD) with my omy.sg colleagues and a group of super cool volunteer bloggers. The event saw a day of fun-filled activities at *SCAPE. SGSMD 2011 is an adaptation of World Social Media Day, which was initiated by internet news blog Mashable in 2010 and celebrated on 30 June.
Embarked on three food trail events with a group of omy Blog Club bloggers, hosted by Far East Retail at Icon Village, Riverside Point and Far East Square.
Coca-Cola turns 125 in 2011 and I was invited to the Singapore party.
The folks from PayPal made a music video specially dedicated to Alvinology, with a boyband called “The Promise”.
July:
Had lunch with Dr Tony Tan, together with a group of Singapore’s most influential socio-political bloggers. Dr Tan has since been elected as the president of Singapore.
I was invited to speak at the 5th Asian Publishing Convention. Hence I made my second trip to Bangkok in 2011. omy.sg won two awards for our Singapore Blog Awards campaign. I extended my trip for another 4D3N staying at Citadine Sukhumvit 23 serviced apartment to take a break from work.
Attended the official launch of Shine Youth Festival @ Scape and rubbed shoulder with the famous Yam Ah Mee.
Organised and attended the 4th Singapore Blog Awards at Shanghai Dolly.
August:
Took a blogging hiatus as I adjusted to my new status as a father to Asher Lim Yu Yi, born on 21 August 2011.
Singaporean JC tutor, Gay Chao Hui, Joachime, and his Filipino wife, Rachelle Ann Beguia courted controversy online via their various Facebook posts insulting Singaporeans. The “Curry Conspiracy” followed, again related to new immigrant issues.
Rachel and I took a Maternity (36 weeks) Photo Shoot with her sister, Eunice.
Singaporeans got busy with the Presidential Election while I tried to decide which Tan couple would have the best Presidential Portrait photos.
September:
omy.sg Turns Four. Yes, I have been with the team for this long. I was down with stomach flu for a week, followed by mumps for another week. Talk about bad luck.
Attended the Film Premiere of ECHOING LOVE, Produced by Edmund Chen (陈之财).
Caught up with my reading during my 3 weeks reservist, including the addictive crime thriller, Shuichi Yoshida’s Villain (Akunin) and a satirical novel on the newspaper industries, Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists.
October:
Embarked on a 6D5N Sydney escapade with HTC EVO 3D, hosted by Destination New South Wales. I got to ride a helicopter; race on a quad-bike in sand dunes; learn surfing at Bondi Beach; and go wine-tasting at Hunter Valley.
Armed with a new HTC EVO 3D smart phone, I can now take 3D images!
“High Classed” Chris’ Tea House learned the Importance of Social Media PR, the hard way.
Attended the Halloween FrightFest @ Singapore Flyer.
Workers’ Party MP, Chen Show Mao gave his Maiden Speech in Parliament and it rocks.
The world was shocked by an incident in China whereby a two-year-old girl, Yue Yue, was ran over by two vans and ignored by 18 bystanders. She subsequently died in the hospital from her injuries. The case brought attention once again to The Curious Case of Peng Yu from Nanjing (南京彭宇案) and China Society.
November:
Thanks to the Wildlife Reserve Singapore, my family attended One Year Old Baby Elephant Nila Utama’s Birthday Tea Party at the Singapore Zoo. This trip also marked Asher’s first visit to the zoo.
Another round of binge feasting at a series of four omy.sg and Wanbao Festive Gourmet Food Trail, sampling Christmas and Chinese New Year dishes.
Exposed Gen Z Ah Lian, Adelyn Hosehbo who boasted of slapping her own mother on Facebook and stealing $10,000 worth of jewelry from her.
Thanks to IMS Marketing Pte Ltd, I got to experience the sound of luxury with the AKG K3001 earphones which cost a whopping cool S$1599. The price for quality.
Experienced Online Banking Simplified with OCBC Bank.
December:
SMRT and its CEO, Saw Phaik Hwa became the centre of attention in Singapore for the worst train breakdowns in Singapore history over three consecutive days.
Eighteen-year-old Singapore Ah Beng, Aaron Tan from “Bolok Town Secondrary” introduced Singaporeans to many new Singlish lexicons like “Priest Lor” and “Limpeh Wong You” with his hilarious comedic video rant against a 14 year-old love rival.
Attended the launch of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank)‘s latest FRANK Store at VivoCity. I got myself an OCBC FRANK Credit Card after the event.
Thanks to the folks from Clover Films, I attended the Singapore press conference and gala premiere for the Chinese movie, MAGIC TO WIN (开心鬼 之 开心魔法).
A China driver on SBS Transit Bus 52 lost his way and took passengers on a 2 hours Singapore tour.
Internet “Superstar”, Steven Lim was intentionally shot and injured in both eyes by a confetti rocket.
Temasek JC Student Kwek Jian Qiang wrote a letter to TODAY newspaper, insulting ITE students and boasted that “our brightest students (referring to JC students like himself), who will become Singapore’s future leaders, should get the best facilities”. He apologised the next day.
A statement by Member of Parliament Seng Han Thong on the SMRT breakdown fiasco sparked online furor, with many branding the PAP MP as a racist and calling for his resignation.
Ran a voting exercise to choose the TIME Person of Year 2011 (Singapore edition). The winner was the Aljunied GRC Workers’ Party team who created history by gunning down the first ever GRC from the ruling party, booting out a popular Foreign Affairs Minister along the way.
Wow… thats quite a year in review!