Author: Nicole Han

GE2020 might be long over, but the heat doesn’t seem to subside. The notable speeches, politician antics, creative memes, and entertaining mobile stickers still dominate most table conversations. In this election, we witnessed many young people stepping up, being keenly passionate about politics, and empathetic about the nation’s developments. One of the overnight sensations is Reform Party’s Charles Yeo, who was initially mocked for his poor mandarin on national television but gradually gained popularity despite losing in his contesting constituency. We followed the developments of this young politician in reports and forums and know for sure that, though he lost…

“This is home truly, where I know I must be Where my dreams wait for me, where the river always flows.” In less than a month, we are ushering our nation’s 55th birthday. Unlike the usual “I [heart] SG” crimson red shirts we get from some local retailers that we immediately abandoned when the annual party ends. Why not get these relatable graphic apparels, which you can don, all-year-round, and beamed with Singapore pride. Don’t be deceived by their appearance; though the fashion parody tees come mostly in monochrome, it exuberates strong unique Singapore vibes with colloquial slang, jokes, and…

Few days ago, my sister and I found ourselves watching GE2020 eRally videos on Youtube as our post-dinner activity. While we applaud at some good witty speeches, we were also guffawing at the interesting captions and meme incorporated into these videos. Election fever—still can’t get over it? Here are some stickers we can download into our chats to reminisce the heat of the campaign. https://www.facebook.com/747683245/posts/10157661815548246/?app=fbl A friendly netizen, Neo Wee Tao, has graciously compiled them into links for ease of downloading. Whether you subscribe to WhatsApp, Telegram, or both platforms, these creative politician stickers will surely crack you up. The…

Our Greek Sporting Goddess, Nike, is always raising its bar in its effort towards sustainability and climate change. This time, the newly launched Air VaporMax 2020 Flyknit marks Nike’s most sustainable shoes to date. Through Nike’s creative implementation of recycled materials and cutting-edge technology, there are the four features you cannot miss. 1. 75% recycled material on full-length VaporMax Air Unit Attached to the bottom of the shoes, Nike presents its first full-length VaporMax Air Unit that creates a smooth transition with every stride while optimising underfoot responsiveness. This is an improved iteration from its 2008 Air sole innovation that consists…

Who would have thought that wearing our masks would be as important as wearing our shirts today? Well, when a pesky pandemic like COVID-19 hits the globe, we ought to be responsible citizens, wear our masks, and stay safe. Following this mask-wearing protocol, designers worldwide have exercised their creativity too. Check out Japanese designer, Takahiro Shibata, who recreated a ramen mask that looks just like an actual bowl from a Japanese restaurant. Unlike the usual fabric mask, the mask illustrates a half bowl of delicious ramen with char siu, pink spiral fish cake, crunchy bamboo shoots, and garnished with green…

Now that GE2020 is over, let’s get down to more, ahem, patriotic business. As August lurks around the corner, so is our nation’s birthday. Like every other year, homegrown musicians gather and present a new song or an interesting jingle in this joyous celebration. However, unlike other years, we all know deep down that NDP2020 is going to be a very different one. Here’s our NDP2020 theme song titled “Everything I Am”. Composed by Joshua Wan and performed by Nathan Hartono, the 3-minute long music video captured snippets of Singaporeans’ daily footprints and scenes of communities—which everyone probably misses dearly.…

Sometimes the weather gets hot but you need to get out of the home. Haven’t you always wished you could drag the air conditioner out with you? Well, now you can, with Sony’s latest very own wearable aircon device, also known as the Sony Reon Pocket. The portable device is slim and can be placed at the pocket pouch at the back of your shirt. When worn, it sits at the base of the neck and uses the ingenious method of the Peltier effect, which either absorbs or emits heat, thus keeping the body cool despite the environment temperature. On…

Moving into a new home is usually an exciting milestone for most of us, but not for netizen, Geraldine Tang. Instead of building a dream home and looking forward to staying at home, she found herself fighting over what seems like a never ending nightmare. In her Facebook account, she recounted her grievances against her new flat. Her predicament is extremely unfortunate, the structural hiccups are appalling, and it has left homeowners like her in an extremely devastated state. As she puts it simply, “The car is our second home.” These are the five issues she faced. 1. Mysteriously Wet…

An Internet election has taught me the power of social media and our dual role as citizens and netizens today. With greater scrutiny comes more uninvited attacks—baseless or not—and of course, greater vigilance of the candidates and crisis management on the Party’s leadership becomes a crucial skill. Unfortunately, there are young folks who failed to escape public controversies in GE2020; Ivan Lim, a previous PAP candidate, and Raeesah Khan, a running WP candidate of the 4-man Sengkang GRC. Whilst this article does not attempt to investigate the truth behind the accusations towards the individuals, we placed the responses of the…

Writ of elections, nomination day, public debate, party political broadcasts, cooling day, and polling day; fellow Singaporeans, we have come this far and finally arrived at the time for the highly anticipated results—the fate that seals and determines our Parliament House for the next 4 to 5 years. Since polling ends at 8 pm on 10 July 2020, you can start tuning in to these channels to watch the live stream of the results. Whether you are gathered in your polling “party”—strictly in 5s—or watching from the comfort of your homes, remember to get ready your chips and drinks ready…

Everything seems quieter today. It’s nice to start cooling-off day on a chilly Thursday morning. While being in the midst of this election blackout period, here are some neutral and fun facts we gathered about this special Singaporean day from the open Internet. 1. Cooling-off Day has many names It is also known as “Election silence”, or more literally as “Campaign silence”. Otherwise, you can call it “blackout period”; or in some countries, it bears a rather sophisticated name called the “gentlemen’s agreement” between political parties. Since we live in Singapore, let’s stick to the term “cooling-off day” for the…

Are Zoom meetings still a reality for you? It might be the cooling-off day but as we linger in this pensive electoral mood, check out these five timely Zoom backgrounds we can all use to spice up our virtual meetings. During the start of the meeting, you can use this background. If the discussion is turning serious, this would be an extremely suitable backdrop to help convey your salient point across. If you are a participant and prefer to play the role of an active listener, this screen will best express your desire for silence. Admit it, we all have…

As a true blue Singaporean and a soon-to-be second-time voter, I’ve never felt more pursued by our politicians. As the heat of the 13th General Elections draws near, Shopee, too, decides to join in the hype of virtual campaigns with their first-ever Shopee General Elections. Here’s how the Shopee GE works: 1. From now to 8 July 2020, users can vote for their favourite items based on the wide array of categories from Electronics, Beauty, and Fashion that you want to be discounted on Shopee. 2. Similar to our GE2020, 9 July 2020 is the Cooling-off Day. While we take…

If you haven’t heard about the Jalan Besar Walkabout video, this is the video we are referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OJVptkxqWA This video was taken by a netizen and shared widely on social media platforms. The 34-second video features 3 politicians—Miss Josephine Teo, Mr. Heng Chee How, and Miss Denise Phua—during a walkabout within the Jalan Besar Constituency. In the leaders’ political broadcast on 5 July, the constituency is described as a “place of history” and covers rich heritage areas like Little India, Desker Road, Kolam Ayer, and North Crawford. If I may add, besides being a culturally rich district, some estates…

E-rallies, live telecast of public debates, and small team walkabouts—this is the reality of GE2020. With stricter campaigning rules, our local politicians are starting to think outside of the box when it comes to campaigning and winning the hearts of their voters. Over the past week, this is what we’ve gathered on social media—a concerted effort to showcase their talent, exhibit their camaraderie, and profess love for the people and party. While we patiently and excitedly await polling day on 10 July, why not do an easy poll for now? Which of the ideas below do you live for? 1.…