Canon raises funds for Singapore Cancer Society through its sponsorship of the Blue Man Group show in Singapore

Singapore, 31 March 2016 – Canon Singapore today announced their role as presenting sponsor of the Blue Man Group show run in Singapore. Through this sponsorship, Canon embarks on their fourth consecutive year of fund-raising activities for the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS). 

Blue Man Group’s combination of elements such as comedy, theatre, rock and dance, is an eclectic mix, promising a lively and colourful performance for audiences in Singapore. 

“At Canon, our kyosei philosophy – living and working together in harmony for the common good  is very much in sync with the positive and vibrant energy of the Blue Man Group and we are delighted to be a part of their first-ever performance in Singapore and Southeast Asia,’’ said Mr. Kensaku Konishi, President and CEO of Canon Singapore. “We hope that audiences will take the time to support a good cause through their donations at the Canon’s public photo booth.”

Canon will set up and manage a public photo booth for theatre-goers at the MasterCard Sands Theatre during the entire run of the Blue Man Group show from 29 March to 24 April 2016. With a token donation, theatre-goers can amp up the fun by posing in Canon’s public photo booth and go home with a photo souvenir. All proceeds from the donation will go towards funding SCS Public Education community outreach programmes, SCS Multi-Service Centre at Bishan, SCS Hospice Care services and SCS Rehabilitation Centre services.

Mr. Albert Ching, Chief Executive Office of Singapore Cancer Society said, “We are thankful to have Canon’s continued support of our cause in rallying the community to ‘minimise cancer and maximise life’.  We believe no one needs to fight cancer alone and we are especially grateful that Canon’s corporate philosophy demonstrates this.”

Now approaching their 25th year of creativity, Blue Man Group’s partnership with Canon aims to redefine entertainment in Singapore and benefit society at the same time. This will be the fifth consecutive year that Canon is sponsoring an international act as part of its commitment to the arts and community.

More ez-link cardholders to savour the power of Justice this year

EZ-Link extends popular Justice League ez-link cards to holders of ez-link cards expiring before 31 December 2016 at only S$3 per card

Photo Credits : EZ-link Pte Ltd

SINGAPORE, 31 March 2016 – EZ-Link Pte Ltd, Singapore's largest issuer of CEPAS-compliant cards, today announced that the ‘Travel with your Justice League Super Hero’ campaign will be extended beyond 31 March 2016. With the extension, holders of Adult Anonymous ez-link cards expiring before 31 December 2016 can now get their hands on the special Justice League ez-link cards.

The set of ten Justice League ez-link cards has won over the hearts of many ez-link cardholders and perked up their everyday journeys with superhero charm. All ten designs including Superman, Green Lantern, Robin, Flash, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, The Joker, Catwoman and Batman will be made available as part of the extension on a while-stocks-last basis.

Eligible cardholders can now visit any TransitLink Ticket Office to get the Justice League ez-link cards at a subsidized cost of S$3 per card, which will be directly deducted from the expiring cards. The remaining value in the old cards will be transferred to the new cards, which are without any stored value. Cardholders will be required to top up their expiring cards if there is insufficient card value for the transaction. If their cards have already expired, cardholders may use other valid ez-link cards to make their purchase. Availability of each Justice League ez-link card design will vary at different TransitLink Ticket Offices.

To verify the expiry dates of their ez-link cards, cardholders can go to the EZ-Link website (www.ezlink.com.sg), General Ticketing Machines, Add Value Machines and My EZ-Link Mobile App which can be downloaded from Google Play Store. Alternatively, they can check the expiry dates on top-up receipts at EZ-Link Top-up Machines, TransitLink Ticket Offices and Passenger Service Counters.

Customers with expiring cards who are on EZ-Reload (Auto Top-up) can also purchase the Justice League ez-link cards and re-apply for the service with their new cards. These customers can still use their expiring card upon purchase of the special Justice League card to continue to enjoy the EZ-Reload (Auto Top-Up) service until the card’s expiry date. PAssion ez-link card holders and bank co-brand credit or debit card holders with ez-link functions are not eligible for this campaign.

To get the the latest updates on the special Justice League cards, please visit www.ezlink.com.sg or follow EZ-Link’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/myezlink), Instagram (www.instagram.com/ezlinksg) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/ezlinksg) pages.

HEAVEN IN THE DARK 暗色天堂 Movie Review

Synopsis

After sharing a passionate kiss with Pastor To (Jacky Cheung), Michelle (Karena Lam) files sexual harassment charges against the pastor. The scandal and the proceedings take their toll on both of them in different ways. When they meet again years after, To and Michelle both realize that truth and absolution was never the ultimate destination.

Casts

Adapted from the original play “French Kiss” by Candace Chong

Presented by - Emperor Motion Pictures

Director - Steve Yuen

Starring - Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam

Co-starring - Anthony Wong, Wong He, Law Lan, Edmond So, Michelle Wai, Catherine Chau, Tyson Chak, Vincci Cheuk

Review

Heaven in the Dark is a highly charged social drama set in a religious context that could be sensitive if not handled with care. It is about a charismatic pastor, Marco, played adeptly by Jacky Cheung (singer/songwriter), who at the same time acted as a leader of an innovative social enterprise to supply medicine to the third world. There he met a newly joined junior staff named Michelle, played superbly by newly acclaimed "Best Lead Actress" at the 52nd Golden Horse Award, Karena Lam, 14 years after their last collaboration with Jacky in "July Rhapsody". 

Attracted by Marco’s charisma, Michelle started to attend the church where Marco preached. When a highly eligible bachelor and a charming secret admirer were brought together, the stage was set for the firework that would follow.

In a sermon that Michelle attended, Marco preached about the temptation of the red succulent apple. Asking anyone in the congregation to spare an apple as a demonstration, he randomly (or was it?) chose the one that Michelle brought and ate it, core and all. Yet he advised his congregation that the best way not to fall into temptation is to avoid it. That episode could effectively be the theme of the story as he did not follow what he preached.

As the relationship quietly developed, Michelle had a beautiful though intoxicating farewell dinner with Marco before he was to leave for overseas. After the dinner, the eligible bachelor and the ardent admirer shared a passionate kiss in the car at the scenic Victoria Peak, enhanced by the effect of liquor.

What followed was a scandal arising from a court case brought about by Michelle herself accusing Marco of sexual molest. Marco was found guilty, and subsequently abandoned priesthood and nearly his faith. Four or five years later, when they met for the first time, Michelle, already married with a kid, seized the opportunity to forgive Marco, who was clueless what he had done wrong to deserve the trial and tribulation brought upon him by Michele. An explosion of emotions followed. The revelation by Michele transformed him to recover his faith.

Directed by Steve Yuen, who in real life is the husband of Karena, has skillfully brought the drama to an explosive end. The flashbacks, while useful as a technique, can be minimized. The building up of suspense that culminates in the expected revelation by Michele is stretched a little too thin, but sustained by the emotionally charged though protracted dialogue.  

With star and entertainment appeals, I would rate the film 3 stars out of 5. In three words, I enjoyed it!

This M18 movie will be showing in cinema starting from 7 April 2016. 

Trailer

Interviews

Reframing Modernism, the First International Special Exhibition at National Gallery Singapore, Sponsored by Singtel

The first international special exhibition, Reframing Modernism, will be held at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery, National Gallery Singapore (the Gallery). More than 200 art works from 51 artists, jointly curated and co-presented by the Gallery and Centre Pompidou, Paris. Approximately half from Centre Pompidou and the other half from Southeast Asia.

Reframing Modernism challenges the existing paradigm of how modernist painting is presented. It brings to light previously unexplored perspectives which enrich the overall discourse. Taking a comparative approach, the exhibition reveals shared concerns between the artists and their bodies of work to create a new and different narrative of modernism. 

Throughout the exhibition, visitors are invited to draw their own connections and conclusions about the history of modernism and its relevance to the development of art in Southeast Asia. The unprecedented presentation includes works by Southeast Asian artists such as Le Pho (Vietnam), Nguyen Gia Tri (Vietnam), SSudjoono ( Inodnesia), Affandi (Indonesia), Latiff Mohidin (Malaysia), Galo B Ocampo (Philippines), Georgette Chen (Singapore) and Tang Chang (Thailand), as well as European masters Vassil Kandinsky, Fernand Leger, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. 

There are three gallery, spanning across a total floor area of approximately 20,000 square feet. This was made possible by Singtel's $20 million contribution last year to the Gallery.

Ms Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group CEO said, "We are excited that our contribution to National Gallery Singapore will enable Singaporeans to enjoy both iconic masterpieces from around the world alongside equally accomplished Southeast Asian art that we are proud to champion. We congratulate NGS and Centre Pompidou on their first-ever collaboration. Art is for everyone and we hope this will reach as many people as possible. "

Dr. Eugene Tan, Director at National Gallery Singapore

Senior Curator Lisa Horikawa giving us more details on the exhibition.

My Opinion

During the Q&A session with participants from both countries, there was much excitement among the media audience when our late Singapore artist, Georgette Chen's art pieces were part of the exhibition. In fact, we were quite surprise that her early art pieces were collected by Centre Pompidou. She was indeed a world renown artist. 

Even though I have a keen interest in art pieces myself ( I took Arts during my GCE "O" Level), I did not know who was this Singapore artist, Georgette Chen. I shall embarked on a research on her in another of my blog posting. Do look out for it. 

Curator Dr. Phoebe Scott

L-R Curator Dr Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov, Senior Curator Lisa Horikawa, Deputy Director of Centre Pompidou's National Museum of Modern Art-Industrial Design Centre, Catherine David, National Gallery Singapore Diretor Dr. Eugene Tan, Curator Dr Phoebe Scott

As we entered into the first gallery, guided by Senior curator, Lisa Horikawa and Curator Dr Phoebe Scott. Both curators imparted their inside knowledge of both the artist and their particular piece, which truly help us in better appreciation of these art pieces. As stated earlier, the use of comparative techniques by various artists, grouping them together so that we were able to make comparisons. In fact, the chosen art pieces for the exhibition has significant importance to the later development of the other artist's pieces. Whether it was going to be a new technique or a hybrid of techniques, is yet to be seen in the art pieces creation. 

The curators also highlights some of these pieces that creates controversial among the public at that time. It was later view differently by others as well as by the later generations of art experts. 

I do enjoyed the sneak preview of this exhibition especially with the information and stories behind every of these art pieces, the artists as well as the message within the art pieces. Art can be interesting and through arts, new ideas, new directions can be discovered. It simply make you think deeper through another form of expression. 

Exhibition Information

Exhibition : Reframing Modernism

Venue : Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery, Level 3, City Hall Wing,

National Gallery, Singapore

From 31 March 2016 to 17 Jul 2016.

Time : Sun-Thur, PH 10am to 7pm and Fri-Sat, Eve of PH 10am to 10pm

Admission Fees : $15 for Singaporeans, $25 for Non-Singaporeans, Concessions apply. 

Website : www.nationalgallery.sg/reframing-modernism

Meltwater Acquires Encore, Strengthening the Actionable Intelligence that Drives Real-Time Insights for Marketing and PR Professionals.

March 29, 2016 (Singapore):  Meltwater—the global leader in media intelligence solutions—today announced the acquisition of Encore, the Virginia-based SaaS platform that uses artificial intelligence to sift through online information 24/7 to derive critical insights used to improve a company’s marketing and PR efforts.

“Having the ability to use real-time smart alerts to help marketers act on the right insights at the right time is the perfect complement to the robust media intelligence solutions we provide our customers today,” noted Jorn Lyseggen, founder and CEO of Meltwater.  “There’s a tremendous amount of noise that is woven into the fabric of the media landscape, and with the Encore solution integrated into Meltwater, we’ll be in a superior position to filter out that clutter and automatically bring to the surface critical, actionable insights about emerging trends, crisis, important events and important people.”

Encore uses their proprietary algorithm to sort through online content—24/7—to bring forth company-specific trends, track interactions with important influencers, and arm users with critical industry intelligence.  By sending alerts of only top priority conversations, Encore frees marketers from spending time sifting through overwhelming data dashboards and helps them concentrate on what matters most.

Encore is currently utilised by companies to transform millions of social media posts generated each day into insights that accelerate their follower growth, increase engagement, drive referral traffic, and protect their brand reputations.  As such, Encore supplements and complements the Meltwater offerings like no other.

"We are very excited to be joining the Meltwater family,” noted Encore CEO James Li.   “As the volume of online conversations about brands continues to increase at an overwhelming rate, the need for smart alerts that show marketing and PR professionals what to focus on is stronger than ever.  The team at Meltwater shares this vision, and we’re excited to work with them to bring this solution to their thousands of incredible customers worldwide."

“What is really exciting is how the Encore tool informs marketers of the most important trends across social media, recommending responses that take the hassle out of managing an increasingly complex social landscape,” added Mr. Lyseggen.  “Together we now provide an amazing solution that takes the integral use of media intelligence to the next level.”

This acquisition provides an added value service to local companies using the media intelligence platform. It will enable them to filter out the online clutter, focusing on relevant news and conversations for their brand. 

———————–

About Meltwater
Meltwater (www.meltwater.com) helps companies make better, more informed business decisions based on insights from the outside.  More than 23,000 companies use the Meltwater media intelligence platform to stay on top of billions of online conversations, extract relevant insights, and use them to strategically manage their brand and stay ahead of their competition.  With 50 offices located on six continents, Meltwater is dedicated to personal, global service built on local expertise. 

Meltwater also operates the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), a nonprofit organization devoted to nurturing future generations of entrepreneurs.

For more information on this press release, please email kumudha@flamecomms.com or call 6259 3193. You can also follow Meltwater on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube or visit www.meltwater.com.

https://vimeo.com/122267679


About Encore
Encore (www.encorehq.com) uses artificial intelligence to help marketers at brands automatically identify and quickly act on emerging trends, PR crises, and important web mentions.  Founded in 2013 and backed by top investors including 500 Startups, HBS Angels, and NextGen Venture Partners, Encore was acquired by Meltwater, the global leader in media intelligence, in March 2016.

My first experience with the ancient Chinese Classical NanYin Music

I have always wanted to cover traditional music event but have been busy with other events. Recently, I manage to spare some time during last Sunday. NanYin music was staged at the Thian Hock Keng Temple. 

I know some of my photographer friends will be there to film and photograph the event. It was also a good time to catch up with them. 

One notable difference is the pipa is held in the ancient manner like a guitar which is different from the near-vertical way pipa is now usually held.


This was my first encounter with NanYin music. It was nothing like the Chinese Orchestra which we are familiar with. It was an ancient music in the Southern part of China that has been passed down generation after generation. 

The performing musicians were from Siong Leng Musical Association. During the Sunday performance, it was to celebrate the Goddess of Mercy's birthday. The Association have also invited Yayasan Oriental group, established since 1983, from Indonesia to perform with them. Interestingly, the Indonesian NanYin group do not really read much Chinese, but their dedication and love for the NanYin music, they perform well. 

How much do we know about NanYin music ? I did some research on it and are some information on NanYin music. 

From Wikipedia

Nanguan (Chinese: 南管; pinyin: Nánguǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lâm-im; literally: "southern pipes"), also called nanyin (南音), nanyue(南樂), or nanqu (南曲), is a style of Chinese classical music originating in the southern Chinese province of Fujian, and is also now highly popular in Taiwan, particularly Lukang on west coast.^[1]

Fujian is a mountainous coastal province of China. Its provincial capital is Fuzhou, while Quanzhou was a major port in the 7th century CE, the period between the Sui and Tang eras. Situated upon an important maritime trade route, it was a conduit for elements of distant cultures. The result was what is now known as nanguan music, which today preserves many archaic features.

It is a genre strongly associated with male-only community amateur musical associations (quguan or "song-clubs"), each formerly generally linked to a particular temple, and is viewed as a polite accomplishment and a worthy social service, distinct from the world of professional entertainers.^[1] It is typically slow, gentle, delicate and melodic, heterophonic and employing four basic scales.^[2]

More will be explained at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanguan_(music)

More information on :

Siong Leng Musical Association 

Thian Hock Keng Temple 

Here is an informative video about NanYin music produced by UNESCO. 

My late parents' hometown were from Foochow. I have the opportunity to visit Foochow, Qianzhou and Xiamen on a church trip together with my mum many years back. I recalled some old people gathered together to perform at the park. At that time, I did not know that they were performing NanYin music. 

Most of Singapore early migrants were from the Hokkien and Guangdong  Province. I guessed this ancient classical music NanYin did flourished in Singapore. Glad that this form of music continue to be popular among the younger generation. 

Canon celebrates 13th consecutive year of No. 1 share of global interchangeable-lens digital camera market

SINGAPORE, 29 March 2016 – Canon today announced that the Company’s interchangeable-lens digital cameras (digital SLR and compact-system cameras) have maintained the No. 1 share of the global market for 13 consecutive years from 2003 to 2015 .

Canon, which develops the key components featured in its interchangeable-lens cameras — the CMOS image sensors, image processors and interchangeable lenses — employs these cutting-edge technologies across its entire product line-up, from entry-level models to professional-use flagship cameras. Through its robust product line-up that effectively responds to the needs of a wide range of users, Canon has continuously secured the top global share within the industry.

In 2003, the dawn of digital SLR cameras, Canon introduced its breakthrough EOS 300D. This ground-breaking camera, which was competitively priced and featured a compact, lightweight design, captured the top share of the global market and set the stage for growth in the digital SLR market. Since that time, Canon has continued to launch a range of epoch-making products, including the professional-model EOS-1D series and the EOS 5D series which, equipped with a 35 mm full-frame sensor, paved the way for digital SLR video recording.

During 2015, Canon introduced an impressive line-up of new interchangeable-lens camera products that supported the Company’s achievement of a 13th consecutive year at the top of the global market. In June, the Company released the EOS 5DS and 5DS R digital SLR cameras, which realize the world’s highest pixel count  with approximately 50.6 megapixel resolution; while in April the EOS 760D and EOS 750D digital SLR cameras were released. Also, in March, Canon launched the EOS M3 Mirrorless camera.

Additionally, further bolstering Canon’s product line-up designed to meet the specific needs of a diverse user base, the Company announced in February this year the introduction of the EOS-1D X Mark II, capable of high-speed 14 frame-per-second continuous shooting, and the EOS 80D, which combines full-fledged still image capture performance with exceptional movie-shooting operability. Also, the extensive EF lens-series line-up, production of which surpassed the 110 million unit mark in June 2015, currently comprises a total of 98 models  and represents one of Canon’s biggest strengths, supporting the EOS series by enabling a wide array of shooting possibilities and rich expressive capabilities. To support the work of photographers in creating dynamic photo expression with different textures and substrates, the imagePROGRAF PRO-500 supports an extensive range of paper media from Canon and other media partners, including Hahnemühle, and Canson Infinity fine art media types.

Through the further refining of its diverse imaging technologies, based on the Company’s core optical technologies, Canon will continue striving to create attractive and reliable products aimed at contributing to expanding the culture of photographic and video imaging.

Time for a property portal that genuinely help home seekers find affordable houses.

This is a sponsored blog

The number of property portals have been growing over the years. Most of them are offering similar features and some with outdated information making it difficult for home seekers to go through. Some of them are not even genuine. It is a waste of time going through the list of houses only to find out later that they either no longer available, wrong selling price or sold off years ago. 

A newly launched property website belowVal.sg should address some of these issues effectively and efficiently but best of all, list down those affordable houses. As the website name implied, listing down below valuation houses for you to consider. Great for first time home seeker especially affordability is an important consideration.

The portal was first launched in October 2015, this increasingly popular portal has already received thousands of below market valuation properties at their website. 

According to the founder, Mr Winston Lam, "We are heartened by the great reception of this new portal in the market. Users have told us that the portal has helped them fasten the sale process of their properties. There's an increase element of authenticity as we check and verify every ad before it is allowed to be posted.This results in a pleasant home seeking experience as there are no fake or outdated advertisements in our portal. It is also a very user-friendly and simple website which users can easily use and navigate."

If you decided to sell your property, there are 5 reasons why you should list your property with belowVal

(1) belowVal lists only below Valuation properties.

(2) belowVal takes out the clutter and show the listings in a clean and simple platform.

(3) Using belowVal is easy and simple.

(4) belowVal attracts genuine buyers interested in below Valuation properties.

(5) You end up selling to real buyers and not big property players.

So start listing your properties with belowVal or for home seekers, you have found another good and effective property portal for your search. 

Be a Property Guru Today and Act Now!

For more information, users can access

Website: www.belowVal.sg

Facebook : www.facebook.com/belowValSG

Address : 73 Ayer Rajah Crescent, #02-23 Singapore 139952.