i just watched this year's ndp in the tv room in hall with some of the gang.



it seemed pretty nice this year. i don't know whether it's cos i can't really remember how it was last year or it's cos i'm here and not at home.



i enjoyed it more this time round. the light displays during the latter segments were really pretty.



watching the parade, i remembered something. during my first two weeks here, i had the immense good fortune to run into Ong Kim Seng, probably the top watercolourist in singapore. the first time i saw him, he was walking around the school compound with his friends and i kept on looking at him and he smiled back. the second time, he and his friends were seated on small stools, concentrating on the paintings in front of them. this time, when he glanced up and saw me, i waved at him and said hi. later i went up to them and looked at their paintings. the third and final time i ran into him, it was in a same area and me and yu were on our way to school to do something. i dragged yu with me to them and i said hi and eventually started up a conversation with him and his friends. he seemed surprised and a little disappointed that i could recognise him, to which his friend told him in mandarin,"You see Mr Ong, you are a national treasure. Everywhere you go there will be people that will recognise you."



the conversation was pretty interesting and fun. his friend did most of the talking. he had some strong views on singapore and its leaders. Mr Ong didn't really share his views but it was all good cos they were good friends, you could tell. me and yu hung around with them for quite a while and eventually i said that we had to go do our stuff in school. we left them to their painting.



it was really cool to meet him. all the more so that i'm meeting him here in perth. which is a pretty good thing in a way cos if i had run into him in singapore, i'm pretty damn sure that i would have never have gone up to him to say hi and talk to him.



yeah well, that was saturday night for me here. pizza and a tape recording of the ndp.