Arts
A New Dark Age
I have been struggling for a reasonable historical analogy to illustrate where the western democracies are going today. As we have clearly entered a new dark age I do not intend to hypothesise when exactly [more…]
Culture
Arts
The Swaling, Part Twenty Eight
‘Harry’ Lee Kuan Yew was born in 1923 into a comfortably off Straits family, resident in the Reservoir Road area of Singapore. His father was a Shell Oil company executive, his mother the author or [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Twenty Seven
The High Commissioner’s Private Office. Upstairs. The British High Commissioner’s Residence. Eden Hall. Nassim Road. Singapore. I have let myself into the High Commissioner’s office and sat myself in the naughty corner. There are footsteps [more…]
Arts
The Year Turns, Part 1
In this series of articles, I’d like to meander through the roots of some ancient customs, beliefs and rituals that have shaped our culture. Many are still followed, though sad to say, a growing number [more…]
Arts
Death, why are we so frightened of it?
There is one thing sure, death & taxes. We are all going to die, we all know that don’t we ? There are no exceptions. It is why we have car insurance (we might crash) [more…]
Arts
In Defence of the ‘Diversity Coin’
For anybody who may have missed it, in October 2020 a new ‘Diversity Built Britain’ coin was unveiled on the UK public sector information website GOV.UK to mark “the profound contribution minority communities have made [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Twenty Six
The first rule of diplomacy is to be nice to everybody all of the time, especially at Singapore’s social event of the season, the British High Commissioner’s annual bash. Even when cornered by North Korea’s [more…]
Arts
Going Postal with Question Time
Graphic EJ – Updated by Sam. Fiona Bruce presents another hour of the same old faces, same old propaganda. On the panel are: Nicky Morgan, former secretary of state for Education and former culture secretary, [more…]
Arts
Art in Cocklecarrot (Not Cocklecroft) Towers, Part Six
“Come and get me, copper!” East End saying Dark doings in murky waters open Part 6. Specifically- The attempted theft of dozens of priceless artworks from under my very nose! I regret to advise Mrs [more…]