Zhao Ziyang, a former premier and the protege of late supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, died only hours ago at the ripe old age of 85 from respiratory and cardiovascular complications. Generally, I have no great love for people of his kind but what made his demise quite poignant was the fact that he had spent the last 15 years of his life under house arrest for sympathizing with the 1989 Tiannamen Square pro-democracy protests. This was also the same man who helped to revolutionise China's economic policies with reforms that probably led China to become what it is today -- one of the world's fastest growing economies. For a man of such significance, it is rather sad that his death is mourned only privately by people who support and revere him still.
On the other side of the world, it was Martin Luther King day for America, who would have turned 76 on January 15 if he wasn't assasinated in Memphis in 1968. This was the same man whose words I used to quote, almost rather flippantly, during my junior college days whenever we had discussions on human rights...
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal...- Martin Luther King, in his address at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug 1963.
Two great and honourable men -- contributors to society and world history -- will always be remembered for their bravery to stand up for their beliefs.
In Singapore, thousands cheered ecstatically when the Lions defeated Indonesia by 2-1 to win the coveted Tiger Cup, in probably one of the most exciting matches we've seen locally in almost decade. The Lions had won the cup previously in 1998 (then led by captain Nazri Nasir, whom the malay girls in my class used to be head-over-heels in love with.. lol ) but what made this win so remarkable was the fact that less than a year ago, not in my wildest dreams would such a feat be thought possible. Let's face it, Singapore had had its share of embarrassing losses in soccer, rite?? Hehhe.. At any rate, I'm feeling rather patriotic at the moment and it's such a shame that I wasnt there at the National Stadium to soak in the jubilant atmosphere...
With such exciting going-ons in Singapore, I must dolefully add however that it is rather unfortunate that we did not receive the live telecast of the 62nd Golden Globes; I would just have to be content with knowing the winners of this prestigious awards show that has been considered to be a good barometer for the upcoming (and probably even more prestigious) Oscars. An abridged list of the winners is as follows:
BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
The Aviator (winner)
Closer
Finding Neverland
Hotel Rwanda
Kinsey
Million Dollar Baby
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Javier Bardem, The Sea Inside
Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator (winner)
Liam Neeson, Kinsey
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Scarlett Johansson, A Love Song For Bobby Long
Nicole Kidman, Birth
Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby (winner)
Uma Thurman, Kill Bill Vol.2
BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
The Incredibles
The Phantom Of The Opera
Ray
Sideways (winner)
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Jamie Foxx, Ray (winner)
Paul Giamatti, Sideways
Kevin Kline, De-Lovely
Kevin Spacey, Beyond The Sea
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Annette Bening, Being Julia (winner)
Ashley Judd, De-Lovely
Emmy Rossum, Phantom Of The Opera
Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Renee Zellweger, Bridget Jones' Diary: Edge Of Reason
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Les Choristes, France
House Of Flying Daggers, China
The Motorcycle Diaries, Brazil
The Sea Inside, Spain (winner)
A Very Long Engagement, France
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE: Clive Owen, Closer
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE: Natalie Portman, Closer
BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways
Closer to home, Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-19 also took place on Sunday but again, Singaporean channels did not air this grand event... which was such a disappointment because I was looking forward to see some of my favorite malay singers in action... (rooting for favorites in a competition makes the watching so much more thrilling, doesnt it?? lol ) Dan pemenang-pemenang Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-19 adalah:
KATEGORI BALADA
SEMUA UNTUKMU - Anuar Zain
PULANGKAN - Misha Omar (pemenang)
MENGAPA HARUS CINTA - Vince
KALA HUJAN - Zamani
KATEGORI IRAMA MALAYSIA/ETNIK KREATIF
ERTI HIDUP - Dayang Nurfaizah (pemenang)
HATINYA TAK TAHAN - Noraniza Idris
SYAIR PESONA - Sharifah Zarina
NAZAM BERKASIH - Syura
KATEGORI POP/ROCK
SIMBIOSIS - Ella
HANYA DI MATA - Erra Fazira
TIPAH TERTIPU - Ruffedge
RELAKU PUJUK - Spider (pemenang)
VOKAL TERBAIK - Misha Omar
PERSEMBAHAN TERBAIK - Noraniza Idris
ANUGERAH JUARA LAGU KE-19 - Relaku Pujuk
I am shocked that Spider's Relaku Pujuk got the best song award because I was expecting Pulangkan, the crowd and critics' favorite, to win this one. In another surprise turn, Anuar Zain has been thwarted yet again by Misha Omar in the running for the best vocals award. Still, the two most deserving wins for the night has got to be Dayang Nurfaizah, whose quaint Erti Hidup is one of the freshest sounding tunes this year, and also the ever industrious Noraniza Idris. In recent years, Juara Lagu awards seem to have (unjustly) missed the latter but this year, her efforts in the Malaysian music industry have finally been recognized. Nevertheless, just knowing who won is surely not as satisfying as actually seeing the whole event take place. I just wish Suria would air Malaysian shows LIVE for once...
PS: I forgot to mention that I almost choked on my spicy seafood kway-teow at Siam Kitchen on Saturday evening. It was MOST unpleasant... I was teary-eyed and coughing like mad for like a whole five minutes!! BUT the tom-yam soup was quite good... yum-yum~!
PS2: A weird thing happened last night -- I was rubbing my right eye when suddenly, my contacts "disappeared"... It was quite excruciating but I finally managed to extricate that damned piece of plastic from my right eye-ball after fifteen minutes of peering in the bathroom mirror (and careful poking of my eye with my finger). Apparently, it had folded itself into half and gotten lodged behind my right eyelid. Quite gross isnt it?? Truthfully though, I've had stranger (and more painful) contact lens-related debacles anyway...
PS3: FINALLY caught the movie Bluestreak, the 1999 comedy starring Martin Lawrence, just now on channel 5. It was quite hilarious, but I did NOT name my bloggy after that show... period~!
