2009 Opening Secrets
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi has a secret to share. She uses a certain brand of “pure mineral powder foundation” that has been “clinically proven” to increase radiance and “luminosity” by 36% (I wouldn’t want luminous skin, especially if I want to sneak out at night). But wait a minute. That may be the secret that Zhang Ziyi intends to share with everybody, but that’s not the secret about Zhang Ziyi that everybody knows.
What everyone knows, is that Zhang went to the Caribbean island of St Barts with her fiance, Israeli investor Vivi Nevo. The star of the Hollywood film Memoirs Of A Geisha was shown taking off her red bikini and lying face down, with her buttocks exposed. Nevo was shown stroking and nuzzling her buttocks. Zhang was also shot lying on her back, with her breasts clearly revealed. There were also less revealing pictures of her strolling along the beach with Nevo, who reportedly has a private beach on the island.
Not surprisingly, back home in China, Zhang was slammed by netizens for being a shameless exhibitionist. Some even accused her of bringing shame to China and staging the shoot to generate publicity for herself.
‘What a disgrace to the Chinese people,’ said one moralist.
Ei, you jealous is it? At least when Zhang Ziyi is taking off her bikini off-stage, millions of people want to watch. And how could she have disgraced the Chinese people? These noisy folks should really try to get a foreigner to kiss their ass - if they can. 章子怡绝对没有丢中国人的脸。反而是老外的脸贴在她屁股上。Staged publicity stunt or a victim of voyeurism, shouldn’t we appreciate her “sacrifice” and quickly turn our angry attention back to the evil folks who put melamine into milk powder? Hmm … maybe there’s more to Zhang’s little “sacrifice” than meets the eye.
OK, let’s fly back less juicy Singapore and look at our poor Singapore Flyer which is undergoing “annual maintenance” according to what some tour guides have been telling our smiling foreign visitors who already knew all about it. There has been another breach of confidentiality here. Apparently, the sudden resignation of general manager Steven Yeo is supposed to be a hush hush matter. How did the press learn about it before a formal press conference was held? Fishy, but who cares? To let everyone know how seriously they take such premature annoucements, the Flyer’s management had made a police report. I can see people smiling again.
The next thing we learn about, is that a 3-man “Executive Committee” comprising former MP Chng Hee Kok, NTUC Club Investments’ ex-GM Shirley Leow and Adval Brand Group MD Patsy Ong are now in charge. Poor Mr Steven Yeo was said to have tendered his resignation when he saw “officialdom” descending upon him. Yet, their spokesman insisted that the the takeover …. oops, I mean … the new committee was decided on since 23rd Dec 2008.
With this new committee in place, we can certainly look forward to safer and more efficient and trouble-free days for our Flyer. Stoppages will not be announced prematurely and the Civil Defence will probably respond faster. Perhaps they should also include some retired brigadier general from the Civil Defence in the Executive Committee.
