Making small talk

by Christine on August 22, 2010


A remarkable young man working at Chilli’s restaurant inspired me to write this article on conversational skills. I was all prepared for a boring lunch on my own but this friendly, respectful and intelligent guy made my day with his light chatter.
Why did he impress me?

He did his job well. He took my order efficiently, [...]

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The best things in life are FREE

July 18, 2010

Everyone loves freebies but then, not every freebie is loved by everyone. As Frank Sinatra (or Old Blue Eyes) crooned, the best things in life are free.
For example, when I had a baby, I received a free “New Mom Bag” (after the hefty hospital bill…), which is an upgrade from the plastic bag I got [...]

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The Blue Mansion in Georgetown, Penang

July 12, 2010

On 8 July 2010, Penang celebrated Georgetown World Heritage City Day.
To commemorate (belatedly) this special day, I’d like to share with you some photos taken of this heritage building called Cheong Fatt Sze’s mansion.
These photos were taken in 2004 when we became “tour guides” to a lovely young couple from Texas, US. I used a [...]

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I have a job interview!

May 26, 2010

“WOULD you be free for an interview next week?”
Congratulations if you have just received such a phone call. For the job-seeker or the student applying for a scholarship, this is an important stage towards achieving your goal.
Now that you’ve got your foot in the door to the application process, your next step would be to [...]

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What’s KFC or McDonald’s like in your country?

May 25, 2010

I’ve been re-organizing my photos for printing, posting and ptooi-ing and came across these photos I took while dining at KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Beijing, China.
Actually, I’m not a fan of fast food outlets like McDonald’s, KFC or Pizza Hut – ok, I have a weakness for [...]

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How to start a media monitoring service

April 28, 2010

Recently, a PR agency asked if I’d be interested to monitor the local print media for a period of 3 months, with the possibility of extension. I used to do this when I was a sweet young thing i.e. a public relations / corporate relations officer
WHAT IS MEDIA MONITORING?
Media monitoring is done on [...]

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Weekend at Riyuegu Hot Springs Park in Xiamen

February 6, 2010

When my husband told me that we were headed for a hot springs park, I thought the early winter had got the better of him. Who would strip down to their swimsuits in 10-12 degrees Celcius temperatures?
As it turns out, a hot springs park is perfect for the winter because the husband, the toddler and [...]

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Xiamen: The Art of Slow Living in Air Macau

January 6, 2010

Happy New Year! I hope that you’ve had a bright start to 2010
I know I had a *really* busy time wrapping up a much-delayed communications and translations project while working on a few articles.
The fun part about being a freelance writer is that you never know who’ll meet and what your next story [...]

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Entrepreneur: Beading Glory

December 13, 2009

An enterprising woman crafts baubles threaded with conservation, friendship and community service.
WHEN Francesca Kiing was wandering along the bustling shopping streets of Hong Kong a few years ago, little did she know that the roots of a booming business lay in a RM2 packet of multi-coloured plastic beads.
A native of Sibu, Sarawak, this former flight [...]

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Food for thought

November 11, 2009

Actually, that was the initial title for my article in the The Star’s “Mind Our English” column but it’s such a clichéd phrase, I decided to go for Foodalicious Phrases (I have a penchant for alliteration and assonance).
In the end, the editor decided on The Whole Enchilada
I looked through my photo archives for [...]

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“Has had” or “had had”?

October 27, 2009

A while ago, MiszSensei, an English lecturer from KPTM – Kolej Poly-Tech MARA, asked me the above question, which is on the perfect tenses. I understand her situation because my own students used to be puzzled by this as well
I’d like to refer her to “Wren & Martin’s High School English Grammar and [...]

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Are your emails effective?

August 28, 2009

Writing my recent article on “Effective Emails”, I’m struck by this quote from Plato:
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
In today’s click-happy, high-tech world where anyone and everyone has something to say (or blog or Tweet), it’s easy to send out too many messages…and have those [...]

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American English at work

May 27, 2009

This article appeared in The Star’s “Mind Our English” column yesterday, which was the last issue edited by Kee Thuan Chye, who “manned” the column for the past eight years. (Read his farewell note ‘Goodbye and thank you‘.)
It has been a pleasure working with Mr. Kee and I know we won’t be seeing the last [...]

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