Thursday, August 23, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians - 5 Reasons Why You Need To Watch It

By now, I am pretty sure that most of you have seen/heard of the media buzz from the newly released movie, Crazy Rich Asians (based on Singapore-born Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel with the same title), being a movie buff, I am very excited about the movie. 

The very first piece of good news is, the movie was released last week in US and it topped the box office with a crazy 5-days opening of USD 34 millions (the movie was reported with a budget of USD30 millions). With the box office pressure being taken care of and both movie critics and fans are singing praise about the movie, I am sure it will be a great milestone for more Asian cast movies in the pipeline.  

The second piece of movie is that a sequel project has been confirmed by the director, Jon M Chu, probably based on the second book of Kevin Kwan, China Rich Girlfriend [2015].

Following are my 5 reasons why you need to watch Crazy Rich Asians:

1. It is not just a movie
It is not just a movie, but a movement, a stepping stone to open the door for talented Asians (not only Singaporeans) to be represented/cast in the Hollywood big budget movies. Can you imagine that it has been 25 years since the last "comparable" all-Asians casts movie from Hollywood, in the name of The Joy Luck Club (1993)? So, in order not to wait for another 25 years, do support the movies by going to the cinemas and watch it with your friends/family (trust me, it's worth it). 

2. It is a great movie
I've just watched the movie today and I must say that it is a great movie (no bias here). It is colorful, entertaining, funny (especially from Awkwafina, playing the role of Peik Lin, good friend of Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu as well as Nico Santos, playing Oliver Tsien, the "rainbow" cousin of Nick Young, played by Henry Golding) and heartwarming at the end. 

Besides, the chemistry among the casts, especially between Henry Golding, Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh (the entangled triangle). 

All in all, Crazy Rich Asians is a perfect romantic comedy.

3. The Singaporean Casts
I believed this is the first big budget Hollywood movie with most Singaporean casts, their performance are commendable (of course some of them are still with room for improvement). Following are the noticeable casts from Singapore, just to name a few:
a. Pierre Pang, playing Michael Teo, husband of Astrid (played by the gorgeous Gemma Chan)
b. Fiona Xie, playing the bitchy Kitty Pong
c. Koh Chieng Mun, playing Neenah Goh, mother of Peik Lin
d. Tan Kheng Hua, playing Kerry Chu, mother of Rachel Chu
e. Selena Tan, playing Alix Young, one of the aunties of Nick Young

4. The Shooting Locales And Singlish  
From Newton Hawker Centre to Marina Bay Sands, to Gardens By The Bay, there are so many scenes from the movie that most Singaporean can relate to. It is one thing to visit the place but another to see them represented in an Hollywood movie.

Even though most of the dialogues in the movie are in proper English, luckily we do have chance to hear a couple of Singlish dialogues (mostly from the Neenah Goh character) which is apt. 

5. The Soundtrack
"Wo"
"Wo Yao"
"Wo Yao Ni"
"Wo Yao Ni Di"
"Wo Yao Ni Di Ai..."

The nostalgic Mandarin oldies sprinkle throughout the movie make it an apt and perfect soundtrack. Personally, my favorite is the song played during the wedding ceremony, Can't Help Falling In Love (by Kina Grannis)


Ok,enough say already, do book your tickets early if you are planning to watch Crazy Rich Asians during the weekend as I foresee that it will be selling fast. Oh, also take note that there is one mid-credits scene, so do stay back a little while after the show...

Cheers!

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Recount Of My Recent Day Surgery And The Importance Of Medical Insurance

Yesterday, just underwent a minor day surgery at hospital and this post is just a recount of my experience and also touch a bit on the importance of Medical Insurance, especially Singapore since the medical cost is high. 

The condition that I had is sebaceous cyst (x 2) and the day surgery that I went through is excision biopsy (as per the specialist, the cysts should be benign but there is a risk that it might be growing in size if leave them there, hence, I've made a quick decision to get them removed ASAP). As I decided to do the op in a Private Hospital and hence it can be arranged quite quickly.

Even though it is deemed a minor day surgery that requires only LA (local anesthesia) but the preparation before and after the surgery is kind of intensive too. My op is scheduled at 10.30 AM and I need to reach the hospital 2 hours earlier for pre-op registration/preparation  (kind of like doing check-in before boarding the plane lol). 

After the registration counter staff explained/confirmed with me on my surgery, I was made to sign a number of papers (just like signing-up a telco service lol). One of document showing an estimated bill size (my op is estimated to cost around $4K to $5K), as I am existing Integrated Shield holder, I am entitled to the waiver of deposit and the bill will be efile directly to my insurer for their assessment (on both the insurer's liability as well as the Medishield Life's liability, latter is under CPF Board), the hospital will bill me only if there is any balance not sufficiently covered by my Integrated Shield Plan and Medisave Account. In short, I discharged without paying anything for the time being. This is the part that I would like to emphasize the importance of personal Medical Insurance especially in Singapore. Of course, for Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Residence, the national Medishield Life coverage is compulsory but I personally view that it is not sufficient, hence Integrated Shield Coverage is here to supplement it and provide the features like waiver of deposit (letter of guarantee) benefit (by selected insurers). This (waiver of deposit) is especially important if you need to be admitted to the hospital urgently or need to go through a major operation, you and your family members can have a peace of mind that medical cost will likely be taken care of (at least a main part of it).  

After the registration, one of the nurse led me to the Day Surgery ward/bed to get myself changed and prepare for the op. Before pushing me to the OT (operating theater) room, there are 2 rounds of verification (by 2 different batch of nurses) of my particulars and confirmation that I am aware of the surgery that I am going to go through. I am not sure whether this is the practice in Private Hospital only but I have no complain since it is important to ensure that correct op is done on the correct patience by the correct doctor. 

The OT room is huge, cold and clean. After gently "rolled" me onto the OT bed, the nurses prepare myself for the op by attaching a couple of sensors on my body to the monitoring devices (like blood pressure and heartbeat etc..). As I am only on LA, I was awake throughout the whole surgery, only the injection (of the LA) part give me a tinge of pain, the rest are just numbness (even though I can still feel the pulling and stretching of my skin but there is no pain, the beauty of anesthetic). All in all, the surgery took about 1 hour and the outcome is the successful removal of 2 egg-shape like cysts.

After the op, the nurses push me back to the day surgery ward where I stayed there for another 2 hours before "checking-out". During this period, porridge and coffee was served.  

That's all I have to share for my maiden day surgery experience. Overall, it is a smooth sailing experience, for now, I will focus on the recovery. 

Stay Healthy and Stay Happy!

Cheers!

Friday, August 10, 2018

2 Upcoming Events That Might Affect The Stock Trading Volume

We have just celebrated Singapore's 53rd birthday yesterday and soon, we are going to go through 2 upcoming events that might have some impact to the stock trading volume (at least to me).

Do take note that this is a weekend post, so, take it with a pinch of salt :-)

Event 1 - The Hungry Ghost Month (7th Month) 

By the time you read this post, we are officially step into the first day of Chinese' 7th month (aka the Hungry Ghost Month). If you are following this customary, you will know that there are many things that we SHOULD NOT do during this period e.g. avoid staying late outside, avoid stepping on the offerings items or joss stick on the side of the road etc..


For those who are really superstitious, they might avoid risking too big a stake during this period in terms of gambling or "investing" as Chinese there is a saying "宁可信其有,不可信其无” (loosely translated as "better safe than sorry"). So, personally think that it will more or less affect the stock trading volume, especially in the Asian countries. 

Event 2 - The kick-off of English Premier League Soccer Season

From tomorrow (11 Aug 2018), we will be welcoming back the brand new season of English Premier League (2018/19), with the first match between Manchester United and Leceister City (at 3 AM). Of course, going forward, most EPL soccer fans in the world will be busily glued to the TV/screen during the weekend. 


The effect? Less motivated to trade aggressively due to lack of sleep/energy lol

Anyway, the above are not proven and just share for fun. 

Cheers!  

P/S: My friend has just uploaded the second video clip of us "talking movie" (in Mandarin). This time round, it's on Mission Impossible 6 - Fallout (a MUST WATCH action movie to me). If you can understand Mandarin, feel free to check out the videos below (SPOILER ALERT!!):

Short version (less than 7 mins):

Extended version (47 mins):

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