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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Tanked Beer
















Lines - Pencil
Background - Watercolor
Logo - Ink
Final - digital manipulation

*after class crit I went back into the skinny guy
hopefully it works better :]

Houses on Stilts

The floods of Sibu 3lst Dec 2008 and 29 Jan2009 make me think of the suitability of houses on stilts.

Kampong Nyabor where I used to live had two rows of houses on stilts . As I remember floods would come and go but the homes were dry because they were on stilts.

Later as the families grew bigger the children who could not afford to build their own homes and the kampong was just too small to accommodate more new houses they walled up the lower floor and set up home. Sometimes two families would occupy the lower floor. According to a reliable source this was predicted by a wise Malay man many years ago that the new generation would have to make room "downstairs".

As concrete and bricks were introduced by the Sarawak Construction Company in the late 50's more and more houses were built "on the ground" and stilted houses became "old fashion". Two very wealthy men Ting Chew Huat and Ting Chew Hin had outstanding concrete houses on stilts.

One of the most beautiful houses in Sibu built on stilt was the huge Malay style house belonging to our Tuanku Haji Bujang along Jalan Tuanku Osman. Unfortunately I have not photo to prove this.

Another beautiful Malay house on stilt was at the junction of Jalan Kampong Datu owned by Dr. Abang Yusuf's family. I believe it was No.1 Jalan Kampong Datu. What a lucky address!!

This is a great photo by Steve Ling which really shows how high Sibu flood can be. Sibu can be flooded two or three times a year now. The causes can be myriad - king tide or heavy rain in the upper reaches of the Rejang;global warming and melting of the polar caps;rising of sea level; sinking of Borneo island; and not forgetting siltation and erosion caused by deforestation. Apparently at one time the chain saw owned by the Ibans has also been accused of causing floods. Shifting cultivators of course have always been blamed by various politicians for causing floods of gargantuan dimensions.



About 20 years ago my third uncle (Lau Pang Sing)had to build a smaller house as our grandmother's mansion was taken away by the erosion caused by the huge back wash of the powerful express boats. He built a small house on stilts. We never took a photo of this house - it was also painted blue. It was later abandoned and the family moved to Lucky Road Sibu (originally Luik Kii or Sixth District) This Chinese New Year I went back to Sg. Maaw and took a photo of a similar house.

This photo depicts an eco-friendly house. The stilts keep the flood away from the living areas. And ducks can swim in the huge drain and water logged areas.

The car can be parked on the road which is built higher than the house when there is a flood.(Specification of the government for road making)



This is the Lake House (from the movie) which has inspired me a lot. Perhaps one day I could build myself a lake house.


But this is definitely my dream house - it is a cross stitch pattern which I can definitely stitch and put in my living room just to inspire me when flood water is every where.



This is a house on stilt in Whitehaven where you can stay for a good holiday.



This is a Caribbean style holiday house on stilts.



This is a holiday home you can rent in Florida. You can be free from floods definitely.





(http://www.floridamemory.com)

And finally I could have learned a thing or two from Ernest Hemingway's House on Stilts years ago and not simply buy a property because every body else in Sibu was buying a semi D and from a very friendly financier who was just too eager to get his friends to buy one of his projects!! Over the years we have suffered year in year out submergence and horrible after flood distress.

How long can the Sibu folks continue to tolerate this situation. Some times I feel that we have become too flood-tolerant!!

Sibu Five Foot Way under Water




This is a photo by Wong Meng Lei of a five foot way in Sibu.

Sir Stamford Raffles would have flipped!!

According to the urban planners of the late 19th Century five foot ways were constructed to such a height that no flood water could reach it. But today the beliefs can no longer be held true.

It was propounded at that time that urban planning was deliberated and calculated to the miniscule figures until there was no possibility of flood entering the shops in Singapore or the then Malaya.

Singapore drains were built deep and sufficient to carry away rain water from an afternoon downpour or a week's heavy rain.

Flash flood was not known for decades in Singapore.

Today in Sibu five foot ways - a colonial idea we borrowed from Singapore - can be submerged by flood. Town drains can no longer take the rain away from the concrete jungle. Five foot ways were our refuge from daily deluge. They protected us from flood water. And they protected us from the sun.

It is a sad day to see this scene!!!!!!!

Enno Lerian, pose for Popular Magazine

Enno Lerian, Indonesian actress and singer, pose for Popular Magazine.

Click here to download all photos


Laudya Chintya Bella

Laudya Chintya Bella, young and beauty actress and Indonesian singer.

Click here to download all photos collection


Friday, January 30, 2009

River of the White Lily by Peter Goullart

Peter Goullart will fascinate you with his very fine and detailed description of his life in Sarawak. You will read about the accounts of several cooperatives in Sarawak and a good few chapters on the Rejang Basin itself.

I understand that there is indeed a Chinese version of this book.

Goullart came to Sarawak in a Dakota and travelled by motor launches all over Sarawak and especially the Third Divison. He loved the coffee shops of Sibu and boarded with a Chinese Association (which sounded so much like the Foochow Association).

He had his meals in Sibu with a Hailam towkay-neo. It will be a very interesting book to read for those who like history especially.

A very old version of the book (from Google images)



This is my new copy of the book by the Malaysian Heritage Series: The author's name is spelt with only one "l" (Goulart)




The book contains 17 photographs 9 of which were taken by the author himself. The others were taken by Rev. Philip S. Jones.

Cooperative Societies were not exactly successful in Sarawak. There were often sad tales of poor administration and a lot of "utang". Buying first and then paying later (when the members' rubber and pepper were sold) was never a good system.


I would like to quote him:



Page 23 - "Pochuan told me Sibu had more local "millionaires" than anyh other towns in Sarawak...the streets were choked witgh large American cars. The towkays competed with each other in vulgar display; the longer the car and the larger the fins the more "face" accrued to the owner. Pochuan assured me perhaps half jokingly that some took such a car just to cross the street...."

Page 68 - Find out why one must sit in the front in passenger launches...

Page 71 - a description of a flood in Sarikei by the author..."very soon the road in front of the coffee shop was totally covered with water to the delight of cyclists who rode furiously to and fro leaving behind miniature waves...."

Marudi visit page 144:

"The Foochow principal/headmaster (Puyot)and his wife welcomed us warmly...when clearing the land the Foochows must have been a particularly sensible and sensitive group for instead of cutting the great forest wholesale they left everywhere small groves of specialoly shady and imposing trees and spared many individual giants. Therefore their rubber gardens instead of being the usual monotonous rubber plantations seemed to blend with the original landscape and the result was very pleasing."

This book was often recommended for reading at Form Four level and above when I was a student. Today it is a great tourist souvenir. Many would like to have it as a home library collection item .

If you do manage to borrow a copy from the public libary you will be taken down memory lane especially if you are a Foochow and born in Sibu area in the 1950's.

Will Obama's Presence Mean More Work for Black Models?

The Black Snob has a clip of a CNN story purporting that Barack Obama's presidency could signal increased opportunities for black models in editorials, ad campaigns, and on runways:

In the video David Rogers, a Global Brand Expert, says, "Marketers are finally waking up to it, ya know Black is Beautiful. It's just gonna become part of the fabric of the fashion imagery of pop culture. Which is a great thing."
Hmm...Do you think having Barack in office will significantly diversify the exclusive fashion industry? Or will it continue to be a world where Black is Invisible?

House of Style Returning to MTV

Page Six reports that MTV's House of Style is making a comeback!
They say, "The popular '90s show about fashion and design, which helped make a household name of original host Cindy Crawford, is being revived."
Rumors are also swirling that our fave camera girl Chanel Iman is in contention for the top host spot.
Based on Chanel Iman TV, will you be tuning in to the new and improved House of Style?
For those of you too young to remember the show, a clip:

The music was good...I'm kind of excited!
PS Did anyone else notice that the Herve Leger dress Linda Evangelista wore on the runway in the 90's was almost identical to the one Lindsay Lohan wore to Maxim's Sexiest Awards (in May 2007)?
Everything comes back at some point!

Venus and Serena win Doubles Grand Slam at Australian Open

I was watching TV while on the treadmill today and saw that my mother's favorites, Venus and Serena Williams, won the doubles Grand Slam at the Australian Open:
Source
...watching those girls when I work out makes me just want to run faster and jump higher...they're the bomb!
Congrats ladies!

T-shirt printing- Evolving over the years

tshirts design
In 1959, a more stretchable and durable ink, called plastisol was invented, which allowed more styles and variety in T-shirt designs and T-shirt printing. During the 1960s, screen-printing and tie-dyeing on basic Tshirts caught on and became a huge success. The commonest form of decorating commercial Tshirts is screen-printing. Screen-printing involves separating a design into individual colors. Plastisol or other water-based inks are then applied to the Tshirt through special screens, which limit the area where the ink is applied and deposited. In all commercial T-shirt printing, specific colors in the design to be printed are used. Few companies continue to use the water-based inks on the printed Tshirts that they supply. Most companies manufacturing Tshirts and providing Tshirt printing facilities prefer using plastisol because it can be used on varying colors without needing to make color adjustments at the art level.

T-shirt printing companies keep up with the trends, fashion, and demands and use Specialty inks, which include puff, shimmer, discharge, and chino, based inks. Metallic foils too can be stamped and heat pressed on plastisol ink. When this is combined with the specialty shimmer ink, the metallics provide a mirror effect wherever the screen-printed plastisol ink had been applied. As these specialty inks are quiet expensive they are used more on garments available in boutiques. Some other methods of decoration, which is used in Tshirt printing include airbrush, embroidery, applique, embossing or impressing, and ironing on of flock lettering and heat transfers.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Tshirts with logos of prominent designers became popular, especially with teens and young adults. With these Tshirts, consumers could flaunt their liking for particular designer brands in a very inexpensive way. Some designer Tshirt brands include Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, FUBU, and The Gap. Major consumer product companies like Coca-cola have used printed Tshirts and Tshirt printing for product advertising since the 70s. Since 1990s, companies of all sizes prefer Tshirts with their corporate logo and message as a part of their advertising campaign.

By the end of the last century, designing of custom T-shirts on a Tshirt companies website became very popular. Many Tshirt companies with websites started using digital printing such as DTG printing or Direct to Garment printing, allowing customers to design Tshirts online without the compulsion of having to place a minimum order for T-shirt printing. Customers can place an order for even one custom design. Customers can even select branded Tshirts and get their custom design printed on the Tshirt. They can not only select the brand, style, color, and size, but also the printing method with features like Foil, Metallic, Glitter, and Vinyl. Some companies even provide free graphic designing for orders of 50+ t-shirts, making it a win-win situation for even a small company.

By Clint Jhonson

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