Jetstar, a low-frills airline run by Quantas, seems like the perfect solution for those wanting to fly on the cheap. For example, Jetstar Asia goes from Singapore to HK for around HK$ 900 and Singapore to Macau for HK$ 600. Destinations from Hong Kong include Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
Low-fare airlines are usually cheap for a reason, just check out these situations which occurred on Jetstar flights just this past March when passengers suddenly saw sparks and flames on the aircraft. Or this story where several passengers and some crew members fell ill after a mysterious chemical smell made its way through the plane. Shame on you Jetstar!
But of course we’ve saved the best for last. A flight on Saturday from Darwin to Singapore cancelled its landing because the pilot was apparently……wait for it……TEXTING while landing. Although this may sound absurd, we believe the pilot was efficiently setting up a booty call to make maximum use of his layover. ATTA BOY!
Who needs to watch TVB’s copycat dramas when you have Donald Tsang and his rivals in town? Last Sunday, Bowtie and his ministers stormed the city (or more precisely, the shopping malls) for a second time in a row to promote the government’s political reform package and it got even more chaotic than before. Our great CE first went to Taikoo and was immediately greeted by an angry LSD mob (0:30). There, he murmured some words into his microphone, only to be completely owned in volume level. It’s reported that he only stayed there for 10 minutes, handed out zero leaflets and left.
Donald then went to a staged event in an obscure public estate mall and got greeted by an enthusiastic crowd for a change (1:50). We don’t know exactly how they managed to get that crowd there to wait for our CE instead of queuing up for dim sum on a Sunday, but we could see how Bowtie went frenzy at 2:11 and told us that the majority of Hongkies support the government’s proposal.
One interesting thing we noticed however, is that the asswhip minister responsible for the proposal package, Stephen Lam, had a much easier ride on Sunday than his boss (6:05). Stephen was in an air-conditioned department store, handing out leaflets to children who are too young and ignorant to know how to give him the finger. Donald, what about feeding Stephen Lam to the LSD mob next time? (more…)
An update from Korea today, the southern part to be exact. While the North is busy cooking up more excuses to cover up their recent torpedo attack, the South is focusing on the more important matters. Seoul is about to enact a law to PROTECT the enormous population of (aspiring) actresses. This is in response to a survey that revealed approximately 6 out of 10 have received sexual advances from people who could influence their careers. The answers of 111 actresses and 240 aspiring ones also showed that 45% of them have been forced to drink with “influential figures” and 32% have had experienced unwanted physical contact.
The report included a tragic account from an unnamed actress in her mid-20s, who said she is still suffering from a nightmarish experience with the boss of her agency. She was apparently dragged into a hotel after her boss allowed her to buy expensive clothes and accessories: “A-ni-yo.. I had no idea. I figured his man liked me because I make such good conversation.” Well, there are of course various ways to deal with such situations.
We endearingly refer to Singapore as our retarded, Singlish speaking little brother with less people, more space, less brothels, more hotties and less drugs. Especially with regard to the latter, Singapore has drawn a lot of criticism for the way it handles drug offences (read: hangs anyone carrying more than 15 grams of heroine, 30 grams of coke or 500 grams of weed).
This heavily censored, gum-free city-state had the highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999, estimated by the United Nations to be 13.57 executions per one million during that period. For reference, the next highest was Turkmenistan with 12.43 at the time. This number has dropped a bit, but SG nevertheless still insists on killing impoverished and vulnerable people who made a mistake and conveniently revealing very little about the process.
However, currently a case against a 22-year old Malaysian sentenced to death (for carrying 42 grams of heroin) is under review in Singapore’s Court of Appeal, as London-based “Death Penalty Project” is challenging the government for its backward policies. Likely to no avail, yet at least something is happening. In the meantime, as long as nothing changes, we say it’s A-OK to throw your used chewing gums at any Singaporean you encounter. Especially at chicks like these. We know Jackie concurs.
In keeping with today’s sad theme, here’s a bit of news that certainly falls under ‘the dark side’ of Hong Kong. Local media reported today that the Hong Kong police is currently investigating the third student suicide in approximately two weeks. Postgraduate economics student Wei Huiying, 23, was found hanged at lunchtime yesterday in her dormitory room at our Chinese University. She had left a note saying she was under pressure over her university work. Wei Huiying is the 3rd student to commit suicide since 1st of March, as earlier this month two students of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong said farewell to this world as well.
The suicide rate among our teens and adolescents is one of the world’s highest and hence poses a serious problem. Study loads and family pressure are frequently cited as causing this sad situation. RIP Wei Huying and all others that have preceded her. University life should be demanding and fun at the same time. On a lighter note, at least today we managed to understand a bit better why the Japanese kick ass in math and actually enjoy doing so.
Hello everybody! Seems like some people have engaged in some serious research and discovered that the Dark Side trademarks are actually owned by TDS Media Ltd., and that TDS Media Ltd. has two directors, namely Daniel Ben-Ezra and Doron Vermaat. Two gweilos living in Hongkers. See here for proof. LOL. Bravo people!! You must have hated The Dark Side pretty bad.
Now it may come to a surprise as some, but there is actually an entire team behind the Dark Side providing the content that you love/hate. Doron and Daniel are no native speakers and frankly, their English blows. They did however come up with the idea. In fact, TDS Media Ltd. is a business that has interests in multiple online projects. So by all means, hate them as much as you want. Yet don’t be surprised that once they are killed by an angry mob, The Dark Side will continue publishing the other side of Hong Kong. Um’koi!
Ps. Unfortunately the above link is no longer valid as the entire Flickr account has been deleted. So quickly!
