Singapore's Newest Attraction is a Gem

Looking up at the 40-metre tall waterfall, the world's largest one indoors

Apart from the marvelous shopping and eating options (the pandan chiffon cake at Bengawan Solo) at Singapore's Changi Airport, there's another new attraction called Jewel.

There's lots of greenery and water inside the giant dome

It opens on Wednesday and locals got a a sneak peak the other day. What was previously an open air car park has been transformed into a massive 10-storey complex with the focal point being the world's tallest indoor waterfall at 40 metres high. Oh and there are 300 shops and dining outlets in there too.

The complex, encased in a dome-shaped glass structure, was designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, who also was the creative brains behind Marina Bay Sands.

So if you only have a few hours to kill, and not enough time to venture out in the city, perhaps Jewel will be the solution to hang out. There's even a Shake Shack for those hankering for a New York burger fix, A&W Root Beer, and Pokemon Centre, where fans of the video game can buy all the merchandise they want.

It's not hard to see why the complex is called Jewel

Changi Airport is the seventh busiest in the world, hosting more than 65 million travelers in 2018.

Politically Incorrect Opening Ceremony

Two roast pigs mark the opening of a veterinary centre

When a company opens a new office, a film crew starts production, or families celebrate upcoming nuptials, a roast pig is usually presented as an auspicious way to mark the occasion.

Key personnel stand around the pig carcass and pose with the chopper, everyone with big smiles all round -- except for the poor pig. Or should I say roast pork.

Animal activists criticized the university for having roast pigs

However, the optics were really bad when the new Veterinary Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po opened on March 27, and they celebrated with not one, but two roast pigs.

How could a medical centre started by City University kill two pigs before it had even saved the life of an animal?

That was the scathing point made by people on social media which spread like wildfire, prompting the university to realize the terribly tone-deaf public relations blunder. It then issued a memo, urging all departments to stop the traditional roast pig-cutting ceremony.

The university tried to explain that the organizing committee had made the arrangements as a gesture of blessing, and that members of senior management did voice their concerns about having the roast pigs for the new veterinary centre's opening.

Now the university tells department to not do "outdated rites"

And now because "considering environmental protection and the concerns of different sections of the community", senior management was now asking all departments to consider cancelling such ceremonies and "other outdated rites at future celebrations".

This traditional pig-cutting ceremony doesn't have to be shelved completely, but it just had the wrong connotations for a veterinary centre. It just looks really bad and makes the opening far from lucky...

Picture of the Day: Church for the Disabled

Located along a busy road in Kowloon is this church... for the disabled...

Yesterday I went to Homantin in Kowloon for an appointment and got there by taxi because it's not near the MTR station. Afterwards I walked along Princess Margaret Road and came across this Catholic church.

It's not just a church -- it's one for the disabled. But how is it accessible when it is located along a thoroughfare with no parking nearby and the only way to get there is by taxi or bus?

However more importantly, if God is inclusive, why a church specifically for the disabled? How are their services different from able-bodied parishioners?

I tried to find more information online and the only thing I could find was its address and times of services.

This place just brings up more questions than answers...

Hong Kong Government Incompetence Continues

Hong Kong somehow manages to function with inept civil servants

The Hong Kong government has a bad a habit of throwing away taxpayer money. It seems to have so much money that it doesn't mind keeping the public in the dark about how it's used.

We found out the giant air purification system installed outside the Central-Wan Chai bypass malfunctioned a month after the bypass opened on January 20.

Jimmy Chan didn't reveal the damaged air purifier until now

But we only heard about the problem today.

Director of Highways Jimmy Chan Pai-ming said the department was investigating why seven out of the 15 fans had been damaged and mounting bolts had come loose at the green ventilation facility near Causeway Bay. Chan says because of the defects and safety reasons, the ventilation system was shut down since February.

"We did not cover up the issue," Chan said. "We needed to study the scope of the issue and the extent of the damage to the fans... we also needed to gauge the air quality, which takes time."

If the ventilation system isn't working, surely the air quality is not good in there? Is there really a need to measure it? And isn't it better to be transparent about informing the public earlier that it's not working?

The air purifier hasn't been working since late February

The air purification system cost HK$250 million (US$32 million) and was supposed to remove 80 percent of harmful suspended particulates and nitrogen dioxide, two main roadside pollutants.

Interestingly enough two other air purifiers, one in Central and the other in Wan Chai seem to be in fine working order. This prompted Stephen Ng Kam-chun, chairman of the Wan Chai District Council to question whether the contractor Leighton should be trusted for installing the air purifier properly and if it should be granted contracts in the future as the company is also linked to the troubled Sha Tin-Central rail link.

Another shocking thing we the public discovered was that while former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was in jail, us taxpayers continued to foot the bill for his three staff at the cost of HK$1.4 million (US$178,413) to HK$1.6 million a year.

The figures were revealed in a Legislative Council meeting when acting director of administration Bobby Cheng Kam-wing said the expenditures of the Office of Former Chief Executives had increased from HK$5.59 million in 2014-15 to HK$9.11 million in 2017-18.

Even while Donald Tsang was in jail, his staff were paid

Cheng explained each former chief executive was given three staff -- a senior personal assistant, an assistant clerical officer and a driver.

Tsang was sentenced to 20 months in jail in 2017 and after an appeal managed to get it shortened to 12 months.

Lawmaker Au Nok-hin asked if the money was spent on staff when Tsang was in prison, wondering what work they had done.

Cheng replied: "All the former chief executives' teams continued to work in the office [regardless of the jail term], so the money still had to be paid."

Another lawmaker, Cheng Chung-tai said because Tsang was in jail, he should be deprived of his benefits as a chief executive and that the money was "wasted".

"The money was for promotion, but what could he promote? Promote himself as a former leader who broke the law?" asked Cheng.

Bobby Cheng had the gall to say the money was used in accordance to government policies. So there is a government policy that says convicted chief executives can still have staff?

It's outrageous and arrogant for the Hong Kong government to believe that Tsang still deserves benefits as a former leader, and that the public doesn't need to know that a massive air purifier isn't working.

Meanwhile one-fifth of the population is poor and the government is nit-picking over the definition of who is above or below the poverty line, and how much fruit money the elderly should receive.

It's a sorry state of affairs when civil servants just blindly continue to defend policy without thinking about the moral implications of their actions.