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Source Code: Bill Gates decodes Bill Gates
The earnest, high-minded philanthropist Bill Gates donating billions to safeguard public health we see today has another side, revealed in his memoir, Source Code. It’s striking how engaging he – once the world’s richest man – can be. As in the first chapter, titled Trey, after his nickname. “It was…
5–7 minutes -
Updike romanced the 1950s
John Updike never disappoints. Anytime I pick up his books, I am mesmerised by the beauty of his prose. I don’t read him for his plots, his pace; his novels are to be lingered over and savoured for their vivid images and sensory details. He is a sensuous writer whose…
6–10 minutes -
The most popular love songs of the 1960s and 1970s
“If music be the food of love, play on,” says Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night. Music, pop music, certainly overflowed with love back in the 1960s and 1970. There was no dearth of love in music from the 1950s — I love songs like Walk the Line by Johnny Cash,…
10–15 minutes -
A Strange and Sublime Address: Calcutta as it was
A Strange and Sublime Address vividly recalls Calcutta as it was in the 1970s and 1980s. Amit Chaudhuri’s first novel, published in 1991, A Strange and Sublime Address tells the story of a Bengali boy’s visits to Calcutta. Ten-year-old Sandeep goes with his mother from Bombay (Mumbai) to Calcutta to…
10–15 minutes -
Krishna and Jesus, according to ChatGPT
There’s an amazing similarity in the accounts of the birth of Jesus and Lord Krishna (seen with Radha in the picture). I was suddenly struck by the similarity on Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna, which was celebrated by many people on September 6 and by others on September 7 this…
13–19 minutes -
Singapore: A ghost town in America
Singapore is a ghost town in America. Mr Lawrence Wong, deputy prime minister and finance minister of the other Singapore, the thriving city-state in Southeast Asia, remembers the ghost town. “We know that it is very easy for small cities like us to fail. I had a very vivid reminder…
3–4 minutes -
Singapore’s Obama moment
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. After recent controversies, Polling Day (September 1) was a breath of fresh air as Singaporeans came together to elect Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam as their new President. In the first presidential election broadcast by Channel NewsAsia, Mr Tharman and his opponents, Mr Ng Kok Song…
3–5 minutes -
Magnificent seven heroines of Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s heroines as summed up in the book, Shakespeare Basics for Grown-Ups, by E. Foley and B. Coates
4–6 minutes -
Pop music from the 1950s to the 1970s
“I can hear music, sweet, sweet music,” sang the Beach Boys, and that’s what I am hearing, leafing through a marvellous history of pop music. Harvey Rachlin takes us on a spin down memory lane in Song and System: The Making of American Pop Music. Elvis Presley and the Beatles,…
8–12 minutes -
Simon Schama inspired by nature
The historian Simon Schama is a wonderful writer bringing historical figures to life, vividly recounting the past. He humanises history. Like any good writer, he also has the gift of metaphor. Striking analogies are to be found in his writing. He finds inspiration in nature as he writes about history.…
6–9 minutes
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