Chinese New Year Garden Party 2007

Last Sunday, I was invited to the Chinese New Year Garden Party for Grassroot Leaders 2007 held at the Istana. The invitation was for two but my partner had another important event taking place at Changi Airport.

This party is a whole day event but due to the big number of grassroot leaders and the limited space, we were invited at different time-slots. The purpose of the party is for all grassroot leaders to be able to meet the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers. This is the time for us to rub shoulders with our PM and MPs!!!

The invitation card had been pre-autographed by the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament! So there was no need to rush for autographs.

That is the Istana above and the party is at the garden below which is a walking distance from the stairs.
This fountain is at the centre of the garden.

Nice display of oranges!



The Singapore Chinese Orchestra performed live and they took a group photograph with PM Lee.

This group was standing-by to get a snapshot with our PM.




Do you recognise these two MPs?

Yummmy!
Food glorious food!




Eurasian handicrafts were being displayed.
Look at how they decorated Miss Piggy!

The art of Chinese calligraphy. That is the sign for the Pig.

The Malay group wrote in Jawi.
You name it, we write them!

The Indian Society provided henna painting.
Look at the intricate patterns.


The crowd is everywhere!
But where was I?



Yup! Posing in front of the Istana.


Everybody was given a doorgift which is a bag containing two oranges and a red packet (hong bao).

Red Letter Day.

I made an online purchase for two tickets for the movie Letters From Iwo Jima.

Yes .... a midnight movie on Saturday. Well ... Both of us are not working today, so we decided to watch this movie.

It seems that I have been watching foreign films these past few days -- Apocalypto, The Protégé and now Letters From Iwo Jima.


Letters from Iwo Jima tells the story of the battle for the Japanese island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. Clint Eastwood shot this movie back to back with Flag of our Fathers. Both of us did not manage to see Flag of our Fathers due to our busy schedules. (Anybody has the VCD or DVD yet?)

The film focuses on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi ( Ken Watanabe) and Private Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya). Kuribayashi has taken the job of commanding the defense of Iwo Jima after a more well known general passed on it.


Having spent some time in the United States during more peaceful times, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is more used to the bureaucracy of the war then to the actual fighting of it. Due to his close ties with his American friends, many of his commanders do not trust him, and end up going against his orders in crucial moments.


Private Saigo is just a soldier recently drafted to the army. He used to be a baker and has a wife and a newborn kid he has never seen. Unlike the others, Private Saigo views the General differently. You can say that each individuals may have their general and private views of any characters ... (hahaha sorry ... I can't help it.)

The movie revolves around how the General wanted to win a lost war and how the Private wanted to end the war and go back to his beloved family. It turned out that the General saved the Private in 3 occasions.

The first was when Saigo was being punished for his non-patriotic remarks while digging trenches to thwart the imminent American attack.

The second incident was when Saigo's head was about to be decapitated by his own commander for running away and not die with his unit.

The third and last occasion was when the General told Saigo to stay behind while the whole Japanese army or whatever balance left on the island go on a suicide mission against the Americans who had gained control most of Iwo Jima.

Saigo was supposed to burn all papers in the Japanese underground Headquarters. He found the letters that was written by those soldiers in Iwo Jima. These letters had not been posted out yet eversince the Americans landed on the island.

Thanks to Private Saigo's burying the sacks of letters in the cave grounds, Clint Eastwood has enough materials to direct such a wonderful Oscar nominated film.

View Trailer

Featured Soundtrack:
Letters from Iwo Jima (Music from the Motion Picture)
Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens