geekulture - Latest Comments

Re: Well, I’m just misunderstood.

brian — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 23:17:31 -0000

Why, thank you! Why so, though?

Re: Well, I’m just misunderstood.

Eugene Chia — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:25:17 -0000

im liking this post!

Re: SMRT Station Name Translation.. You’re Doing it WRONG!

Invictus — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 06:10:55 -0000

Brilliant piece. Thank you. I agree with you that SMRT is currently powered by deep fried donkey brain.

Re: SMRT Station Name Translation.. You’re Doing it WRONG!

entrydenied — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:48:08 -0000

Phonetically translated names are not always elegant especially when we have existing names in other languages already. Furthermore, one can argue that Japan's one and only language is Japanese and there is no need to offer anything else but close approximations.

It would be best if SMRT at least tries to do more and followup with Tamil and Malay signs and announcements in the future. I also think that the Taiwan train system is a better example than Japan's. They offer announcements in Mandarin, English, Hokkien and Hakka. I can't remember whether they have Japanese.

Your approach to communication is at best a utilitarian one. Communication should be about reaching as many people as possible and reducing inconviences. Sometimes learning different languages (even if it is English) might not be an option. Your argument that Chinese shouldn't be used because some people don't understand it doesn't work. Should we also remove English signs too because some people don't understand English? It is never excessive to provide another language option when it comes to giving instructions and signages.

Re: SMRT Station Name Translation.. You’re Doing it WRONG!

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:23:29 -0000

Your comparison is ridiculous. Romaji, kanji and furigana are from one language, Japanese. Of course they are read exactly the same way. Romaji uses the English alphabet, as does many languages; that does not make them English. It simply isn't 'Two Languages' in the Japan example, no matter how clever you think your "Two Languages, One Pronunciation" is. In short, "Kyoto" is Japanese (in romaji form), "Capital City" is English. 红山 is Chinese, Hongshan is Chinese (in hanyupinyin form) and Redhill is English. If you want Singapore to follow Japan's example, you're basically telling them to change Redhill to Hongshan.

It's pretty pointless to announce 西地哈鲁. You might as well teach the non-English speakers to learn that zheng fu da sha sounds like "City Hall". Both make no sense to a non-English speaker anyway. At the end of the day, your "brilliant" idea simply revolves around doing away with terms like hong shan, and wanting everyone, including the elderly, to learn only Redhill whether in English or phonetically, based on the reason that other people don't know what hong shan is.

And it's principle, not principal, in your text.

Re: SMRT Station Name Translation.. You’re Doing it WRONG!

Keng — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 04:33:23 -0000

"But if the rest of us don't know what 'Hong Shan' is, then it stops being a communication tool." - just because of this you want to deny the benefits which the non-English speaking folks will enjoy? in fact, in today's Singapore where English reigns supreme, they are really the oppressed minorities who have no voice and have their rights trampled upon. and who "the rest" are you? just because you don't understand "Hong Shan" doesn't mean that the many uncles and aunties and other Chinese educated don't.

Re: SMRT Station Name Translation.. You’re Doing it WRONG!

brian — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:58:54 -0000

Hey Jason, you're right, Hiragana and Kanji are not two separate languages. My statement, "One Pronunciation, Two Languages" was referencing English and Japanese.

To your second point, I do stand by my POV. To me, the issue is about communication, not translation.

I haven't anything against your dad, or people like your dad who benefit from the translation. These measures are probably beneficial to them. But if the rest of us don't know what "Hong Shan" is, then it stops being a communication tool. It becomes a one-way street, not a two-way one, which was the point of my discourse.

So yes, I believe a phonetic translation is more pragmatic in the long term.

Whether it's Redhill / Hong Shan / Bukit Merah - Being broadcasted, at least we're all on the same page.

Then the visual signs can include: All the different languages.

Re: SMRT Station Name Translation.. You’re Doing it WRONG!

entrydenied — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:35:17 -0000

Hiragana and Kanji are not two separate languages. The Japanese language uses 3 separate alphabets in tandem in order to communicate. Hiragana is not simply used as a way to make pronounciation easier... To be more accurate, Furigana (that uses Hiragana) is a tool to help people (foreigners or the young) read Kanji.

Also, Hong San and Zheng Fu Da Sha are fine and accurate translations of the locations. For someone like my dad, who speaks very little English (he's a Chinese educated 65 year old), these names are the best possible names for people like him, be they locals or otherwise. Redhill has always been known as Hong Shan for the longest time, or Ang Sua in Hokkien.

Are you seriously suggesting that phonetically translated terms are better than terms that actually make sense? Really? Do you understand the point of translating things?

Re: Cooking Up Excuses

brian — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 03:58:50 -0000

Thank you very much, Angel!

Re: Cooking Up Excuses

Angel — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:21:40 -0000

yayy congrats on the new job! :)

Re: The Avengers (2012) Review

brian — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:40:39 -0000

It's fair to say that Whedon did focus on the relationships, it's really his thing. (Big fan of Firefly & Serenity). But yeah, I think there was a lot of studio pressure to make the music accessible, and smart, funny moments were snuck in, as opposed to being too overt and alieanate mass consumers.

But yeah, 3/5.. It's all a snap judgement, no science behind it. -)

Re: The Avengers (2012) Review

Linc — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:19:31 -0000

To be fair, I think whedon did focus on the relationship between tony and cap (the whole teamwork bit on the engine). Still I kind of felt that on the whole, the movie didn't have the significant impact I hoped it would.

Iron Man seemed to have that. Despite that, Avengers was very well written (Big fan of joss) in terms of the story telling element intersperesed with entertainment. Maybe 3 might be a little of a unfair gradation (in my opinion, due to peronsonal and emotional biases...ie: BIG FAN OF WHEDON), but grudgingly you might be right

Re: “8BITOFSOUL” BY BLIND | & BEV MO

No — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:29:59 -0000

DOPE! Appreciate the repost!

Re: GRAPHEME’s ZINE MOSH!

brian — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:59:28 -0000

Hey, yeah, I figure there's not much sun bathing going on. It was a fun event, I liked the stuff I picked out. Thanks for the info, I'll give it an edit. Must've gotten mixed up with the Polarity Press booth's opening hours. ;)

Re: GRAPHEME’s ZINE MOSH!

amanda — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:43:59 -0000

ooh pasty hipster butts. thanks for spreading the luff! the exhibition runs till next saturday actually, and we're open from 1-9pm till then! :)

Re: The Secret To The Week: Get Out As Early As Possible On Monday

Liana — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:48:57 -0000

okay set, i'm zhaoing early today. -hops!-

Re: The Secret To The Week: Get Out As Early As Possible On Monday

Supriya — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:10:50 -0000

Love the idea - I'm going to try it and will let you know if it works for us in the 'ever-busy' industry =)

Re: The Heavens Parted // St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2011

brian — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 06:30:20 -0000

Why?? I actually like this the best! It's so 'mysterious'. And grimy.

Re: The Heavens Parted // St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2011

Ingrid Mak — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:15:55 -0000

HOLY SHITZ..OF ALL PEEKTURES!

Re: Lost In The Temporal Shift

brian — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 08:45:47 -0000

Thanks dude! We gotta hang in there!

Re: Lost In The Temporal Shift

Adib Jalal — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 06:37:16 -0000

Onwards my friend! to an awesome blogging year!

Re: Clash Of The Titans Review

brian — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 10:37:34 -0000

Dunno. Might have been a 3 then. But today it's a 2.

Re: Clash Of The Titans Review

john — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 10:28:17 -0000

so would the original version have been rated better?

Re: Yeh. Uffie Viz. Wut?

brian — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:52:50 -0000

Hahahaha, I love her tunes. They don't mean Jack, but it's not like she's even trying to prove she's something she's not.

Re: Happy Birthday To Me!

brian — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:51:54 -0000

Hahahaha, cheers dude! I'll keep writing! You might find some of your personal recommendations to me here as well! -p