We decided on a Harry-Potter-themed Christmas mainly because every time we watch the movies, it puts us in a Christmas-sy mood, what with the snow and grand feasts in the Great Hall and all. Replicating the food from Harry Potter was too much of a hassle for me, especially since most of it had to be made on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day itself, so I skipped that. But of course, what’s Christmas without candies and goodies.

So apart from the usual ready-made panettone, mince pies, plum pudding and stollen, we had “magical treats” from Honeydukes and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans!

The BBEVB box template was sourced online, then printed on card stock on an inkjet printer. Gourmet jelly beans from The Jelly Bean Factory (sold at Candelite and most hypermarkets). If you thought we’re lucky not to get any puke or earwax flavoured beans, well… there are still a few funky tasting ones here, like awful tasting spicy cinnamon and sickly coconut.

The Honeydukes logo, also sourced online, was printed and simply pasted onto a ready-made box from Daiso (Mushrif Mall). Chocolates and sweets from Candelite (Mushrif Mall), Marks & Spencer (Marina Mall) and Lulu Hypermarket, including chocolate coins, mint humbugs, lemon sherbets, pumpkin-shaped peanut butter or mint chocolates.

And a green wizard’s hat for a Christmas tree – coned-shaped art card covered in metallic green wrapping, with cut-out stars, placed over a lamp.

I also attempted to recreate the Monster Book of Monsters made from a ready-made gift box (Art Friend, Singapore), wrapped in furry felt (Golden Dragon haberdashery, Chinatown), a belt, crazy eyes, fake teeth, etc, but it turned out looking quite comical!

Now this is where things get complicated. I read about how there’s a petition on Facebook by HP fans, for Parker Bros to produce a HP Monopoly. A couple of fans even made sets of their own. So I decided to make a Harry Potter Monopoly set too. I’d rather not reveal how much of a nerd I am, but since many who’ve seen the photos that I’ve posted on Facebook want to know how it was created, here it is.

Firstly, the board. Sticking to the original Monopoly set that has 40 squares on the board, I simply had to select various locations in the Harry Potter saga to be grouped into twos or threes, preferably by type or area. The four corners of the board remain the same, except that you collect 200 Galleons as you pass “Go”, and instead of plain old jail, you go to Azkaban. It would have been too plain to leave each square blank with just the colour tab and name of location, so I added an image of each location to each lot.

Instead of the 4 railway stations, I used the 4 Hogwarts Houses. Then there are a few tweaks, like the Portkey. There are 2 portkey squares on the board – the Triwizard Cup. If you land on one, you automatically jump to the other Portkey, collecting another 200 Galleons if you pass “Go”. There are also 3 squares which make up the Deathly Hallows. If you manage to own all three, you win the game.

Title deeds

7 things I can't live without – Photoshop, Illustrator, an NT Cutter, cutting mat, steel ruler, UHU glue, and music!

The entire board was designed in Adobe Illustrator, then exported to Photoshop for pre-press. The artwork was sent to a digital printing service (I use iSuccess Solutions at Sunshine Plaza in Singapore) where they got it printed digitally as a poster (50cm x 50cm) and finished with a matt lamination. It only cost me S$5. Then I glued the poster to a foam board, making a crease down the middle so that it folds in half.

For the Community Chest and Chance cards, I decided to change it to The Pensieve and the Dementor’s Kiss. It was quite fun creating “lucky” and “unlucky” cards for these that related to HP. The cards were simply done in Microsoft Word and printed at home on a regular inkjet printer. I found a giftwrap paper at Popular Bookstore that had the bluish swirls like the liquid-like Pensieve, and glued this paper to the back of the Pensieve cards. The backing for the Dementor’s Kiss cards is a greyish craft paper with a marbled effect.

Title deeds and Gringotts notes were also created in Word and printed in-house. It would have been cooler if I could find different sized coins to make up Galleons and Knuts, but could not find any after searching most of Singapore and Abu Dhabi. So the Gringotts notes are supposed to represent Galleons.

Since the squares on the board are not streets and avenues like in the original Monopoly, where you buy and erect houses and hotels along each street, I decided to have “charms” and “lightning bolts”, that one can buy as protection instead of houses and hotels. Most of the pieces used were actually not pre-planned, but solely dependent on whatever I could get my hands on within one week in Singapore, and hampered by the shortage of craft and knick-knack stores in Abu Dhabi. So the lightning bolts are alloy pendants purchased from an online jewellery store and the protective charms are just flat plastic beads that I found in a wholesale toy store in The Verge (Tekka Market, Singapore).

From the same little toy store I bought a packet of rubbery plastic insects and reptiles, from which I picked out a frog and spider, painted the green frog brown (Chocolate frog) and the red spider, black (Aragog). These are two of the many tokens that a player can select from to represent himself/herself on the board. As mentioned, since I was limited to whatever I could find, the sizes of each token are quite random. The cat (Crookshanks) and the dragon are actually ‘em “grow” toys (from Art Friend) that enlarge to 6 times its size when soaked in water!

For the flying Ford Anglia, I had to settle for a Pontiac Firebird, then painted it blue and white.

The broomstick is made from strands from a real broom, tied together with rope. More alloy jewellery charms came in useful for the Golden Snitch (which really doesn’t look like a snitch!), the Mirror of Erised (glued onto a 1 Dirham coin so it stands upright) and Hedwig – an owl pendant painted white and inserted into a birdcage.

A lucky find was this cheapo birthday candle set from Lulu Hypermarket that came with a train of the right size, so again, more paint to get it red and black for the Hogwarts Express.

Then a very wobbly looking Knight Bus, dead-looking Whomping Willow, and the crowd-favourite, the Sorting Hat, were molded from paper clay, sun-dried and painted.

More foam board used to make the box and different dividers/compartments. And voila! Our very own ultimate Harry Potter nerd pack – the homemade HP Monopoly set!

Our wish for you this new year are some wise words from Professor Dumbledore, to always remember that “happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light“. Happy New Year!

As nerdy as we may be at times, we’re not celebrating Green Lantern’s “light”, but actually referring to the shortest day and longest night – Dongzhi – the Chinese winter solstice, which took place yesterday. I actually forgot all about it until I saw people posting photos or wall posts about “tangyuan” all over facebook.

In the Chinese lunar calendar, the Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) Festival, is a very important day. The words dong zhi literally mean “winter’s extreme”, the middle of winter when a day has the shortest hours of daylight and the longest night. What makes it significant to the Chinese however is that it was originally celebrated as the end of harvest when families get together for a reunion, and a new beginning, because after the Dongzhi, the days will return to having longer daylight hours, thus more positive energy or “chi”.

During family reunions such as on Dongzhi Festival and Chinese New Year, tangyuan is eaten for symbolic reasons. Made of glutinous rice flour, traditional tangyuan is usually just plain (no filling) and usually a mixture of white and pink balls (sometimes yellow or orange ones too). It is simply glutinous rice flour, kneaded into a dough with water, shaped into small balls, then boiled in a light syrup (water & sugar; ginger or pandanus leaves for added flavour is optional).

Because tangyuan is eaten on these dates that mark a new beginning or new year, many also associate the eating of tangyuan with becoming a year older. When we were kids, the older folk would say, “Eat the tangyuan and you become a year older!”. However, its symbolism is actually in its shape – the roundness symbolizing the coming together or reunion of the family. And personally, I would add that the glutinosity would definitely represent not just family reunion but sticking together!

Tangyuan can also be made with filling – peanut, sesame, red bean, etc. Like Japanese mochi. This year, because I only realised it was Dongzhi in the evening and had to rush out to quickly search for glutinous rice flour, I made an experimental “short cut” version. The regular ones without filling were no problem. For the syrup, I used a bit of instant ginger tea, boiled with water and rock sugar. Since it’s just a few days to Christmas, I made a few of the balls green.

The experiment came with the filled ones. No time to buy chopped peanuts to roast with sugar for the filling, so I used chunky peanut butter for the filling instead. It turned out…ohh-kay… Not disgusting, just… different. Best to stick to the original recipe next time!

Have a happy wintery holiday, and Happy Fooding!

Using the above mentioned blog as a reference point often when looking for the best local food in Singapore, I recently hunted down three highly-popular food stalls for:

1. roast duck, char siew & siew yoke

2. bak chor mee (mee pok tah)

3. wantan mee

Now in Singapore, if any food stall is considered to be one of the best in the country, or recently given rave reviews on a local TV food programme or magazine, you can expect bloody long queues! Singaporeans queue up for almost anything, except when it comes to common courtesy when boarding a bus or MRT train. I highly suspect that some Singaporeans join queues just because there’s a queue, without knowing what he/she is queuing for! Seriously. Queue first, find out later. If there’s a queue, it must be for something good!

And if it’s a popular or crowded food court or kopitiam (coffee shop) that you’re at, it’s best to work in pairs. One person to queue, one person to chope seats (sit at a table to reserve seats). Some people even put a measly packet of tissue paper at a table to chope their seats!

Just look at that long queue in the background!

I had very little time during my recent trip back to Singapore, so I had to narrow the selection down to stalls situated around the same locale, and nothing in the West since I live and work in the East. The reviews for the roast duck and wantanmee stalls that I selected were really good, but not necessarily known as the best in the city. The bakchormee stall however, is hands-down, known to all bakchormee lovers, as THE BEST BAKCHORMEE IN SINGAPORE. Now let’s see if it was well worth it to be a typical Singaporean, to queue for 30-45 minutes at these food stalls one busy weekend.

With major errands to run in the Bugis/Rochor area one Saturday afternoon, I headed down to Block 269B Queen Street #01-235 (somewhere behind Fu Lu Shou Complex) to buy a whole roast duck ($38), $10 worth of charsiew and $10 worth of siewyoke, from New Rong Liang Ge. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a long queue at this stall, but I still had to wait about 20 minutes since my order was considered “large”. Some linguistics first before I progress further, for the benefit of those not familiar with Chinese food names. Char-siew (cha-shao) is barbecued pork – a boneless piece of pork shoulder that is seasoned with honey, five-spice powder, red fermented beancurd, dark soya sauce, hoisin sauce and sherry or rice wine, skewered and then barbecued or oven-roasted.

Char Siew

Siew Yoke

Siew-yoke (sio-bak/sau-ro) is like the Cantonese version of crispy pork knuckle, just that the pork belly is used for its beautiful layering of meat and fat. Cantonese roast duck and roasted meats originated in Hong Kong, and we did have a go at some of the best during our visit there two years ago.

I prefer roast duck to braised duck, because although flavour matters, it’s not really the duck that I care for but the roasted duck skin! However, to rate these Cantonese favourites, flavour and texture is usually key. The roast duck meat has to be tender while the skin slightly crisp on the top, and juicy with the layer of fats beneath. This stall doesn’t give any of the usual hoisin-based sauce to go with the duck, but a bit of plum sauce and sambal on the side. Ben says if the duck is really good, you don’t need any sauce.

Cantonese-style Roast Duck

For charsiew and siewyoke, the type of pork used is very important because it greatly affects the overall flavour and texture. Both have to be roasted just right, the meat still tender and not too heavily seasoned. The perfect charsiew must have some fats in it so you get a light, juicy crunch now and then, coupled with some chao-tar (burnt) bits. Some charsiew connoisseurs will request for the “bujiantian”, or to be slightly crude but anatomically correct, the pig’s armpit, because this part has more fats, making the charsiew more flavourful and juicy. Seasoning for siewyoke is extremely important. The meat must not be too salty, and with just the right amount of marinade, roasted to crispy perfection. The perfect siewyoke should have the perfect texture combination of crispy but not hard skin, tender meat and juicy fats.

After all this talking, I unfortunately can’t tell you how good the meats are, or aren’t, as I haven’t tried it yet! It was frozen, packed, and traveled back  to Abu Dhabi with me for Ben and colleagues to feast on soon. But just looking at the photos makes me weak in the knees, so I do hope the boys get a day off soon!

Now for the real queues and the cue-cue. Hill Street Bakchormee. Best in Singapore. Confirm. Double confirm! Don’t go scouring Hill Street for this though. The stall is located in a small coffee shop at Block 465, Crawford Lane #01-12 (behind the ICA Building in Lavender). Like a few other popular family-run foodstalls in Singapore, this stall has its share of family drama – some sort of feud between relatives starting another branch – hence the sign above.

It was about 5pm when I found the holy grail of bakchormee hunters, so thank goodness the wait was only about half an hour. During breakfast or lunch on a weekday, the wait is almost an hour long! I’m sure people working around that area often exceed their one-hour lunch breaks, or have suffered indigestion many a time from wolfing down a bowl of meepok in 2 minutes. Q-Q noodles? Check! Flavour? Check with a hell yeah!

Bakchormee (minced meat noodles) is usually meepok (flat yellow noodle) with minced pork, sliced lean pork, pork liver, dried mushroom (and sometimes with a pork meatball or two) garnished with a couple of lettuce leaves and spring onion, scattered with bakyupok (small morsels of deep-fried pork fat). The sauce has to have just the right amount of black vinegar and chilli. Many places either put too much or too little vinegar, and most add way too much chilli even when you request “sau-la” (less spicy). Traditional Teochew bakchormee, like the one you get at this Hill Street stall, also has a sliver of crispy, deep-fried sole fish as a garnish. You can usually order the same meepok but with fishballs and fish cake slices, but then it’s no longer called Bakchormee, but just Fishball Meepok. Or you can order Bakchormee and ask them to add fishballs if that suits your fancy.

Hill St Bakchormee is the answer to bakchormee perfection! Besides the spot-on balance of spice, vinegar and Q-Q-ness, the liver is cooked just right – it is so, so tender that it’s no wonder if these guys have cooked a few million bowls of bakchormee before to get the liver that perfect! Most places cook the liver till it’s dry and rubbery, while some try so hard not to overcook it that it’s still bloody when served.

The next stop was Tiong Bahru Market the next morning for really, really good wantanmee. All the photos of long queues above were taken at Tiong Bahru Market. I suppose it was especially packed as it was a Sunday morning in the highly populated Tiong Bahru neighbourhood, with hordes of people doing their weekend marketing, families having breakfast or brunch after Sunday mass or a visit to the temple, plus the regulars who haunt the place on a daily or weekly basis. The next time Ben and I are back in Singapore, I think we should spend half a day queuing  at the popular stalls here to test the fare.

Now, it’s difficult to say what is the perfect wantan mee (dumpling noodles) because there are many variations to this dish, and it also depends on your rating priority – noodles first, then wantan (dumpling), then charsiew, and finally sauce? Or does the wantan take precedence? There’s the Malacca- or Kuching-style wantan mee known as konlomee/kolomee that some love, but others find the noodles too soft, almost soggy and bland. The famous “Fei Fei Wantanmee” is styled this way too. The noodles are thicker and made with less or maybe no kansui (yellow alkaline water).

Then there’s the “Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee” that’s famous for it’s super-crispy fried wantans but not so spectacular noodles and “fake charsiew”. What I mean by “fake charsiew” is the charsiew that a lot of wantanmee stalls use that are probably mass-produced, made from any lean pork meat, badly seasoned and marinated with red colouring, almost tasteless and very dry.

Wantanmee in Malaysia uses dark soya sauce, whereas in Singapore, you have to request for wantanmee “orr” (black) if you want it that way. Otherwise, it’s just some soya sauce, sesame oil and chilli that gives it its flavour. If you want it without chilli (sambal), they usually substitute with tomato ketchup, which we Malaysians find really absurd!

This particular stall at Tiong Bahru Market #02-03, however, is popular for #1 – GREAT charsiew, #2 – perfectly Q-Q noodles. I’m not really a big fan of wantans, so I didn’t really pay attention to them! Queue time at 11.00am on a Sunday – 45 minutes! The stall closes when the charsiew runs out, so go early! They can proudly put up the Premium Cha Shao sign in their kitchen because the charsiew is really that superb! I always prefer siewyoke to charsiew, but having had the charsiew wantanmee from here, I’ve become a new fan of charsiew – only the real stuff of course!

I don’t know the name of this stall as their name on the signboard is in Chinese, which I can’t read or write. You can understand why the queue at these “famous” stalls are so long also because they usually cook your order one portion at a time. And at Stall 02-03, you can tell that the owner pays the utmost attention to the Q-Q-ness of his noodles by the way he tests the doneness of each portion of noodles he cooks. It’s like clockwork – he takes one portion of noodles, drops it into a pot of boiling water, scoops it out with a strainer, swirls it under a tap of cold running water and does the “break-a-noodle-with-your-thumbnail-and-forefinger-test”, drops it back into the boiling water if it needs to be more cooked, or into another pot of lukewarm water if it’s done… Same steps for every single portion of wantanmee, again and again. The result, the best wantanmee I’ve eaten in Singapore so far:

Just look at the layers of tasty fat in the charsiew slices!

So, happy food hunting, or as Ben puts it, Happy Fooding!

It’s less than 20 days to Christmas! My favourite time of year! Needless to say, Christmas doesn’t get “pimped up” here in the Middle East as much as back home in Singapore, or most other countries. But we’ll make do

In Singapore, the biggest draw this time of year is the Orchard Road Christmas light-up. I didn’t manage to squeeze in an evening to check it out this year, but did have a few minutes in the area one afternoon. Doesn’t look very impressive in the day, but I must say the giant snowglobes outside ION Orchard were unique.

There were also adorable and beautifully decorated elephant statues all along Orchard Road in conjunction with The Elephant Parade, with Tangs paying tribute by incorporating our endangered, large-eared friends into their decor this year.

If you’re in need of Christmas trees and decor, ribbons, giftwrap, artificial flowers & fruits, party decor, party packs, toys and gifts, head on down to The Verge at Tekka Market. Shops here were relocated from the now demolished Concourse, and you can get almost everything you need for parties and the festive season here. A few other wholesale party shops from The Concourse have also been relocated to the Junction of Middle Road & Queen Street (behind the This Fashion along Victoria Street).

This time of year, the shops are decked out with all things Christmas, and soon it will be replaced with all things red and shiny for the Chinese New Year. In September/October, all your Halloween party needs can be settled here too. I often see parents here, shopping for a bulk load of party gifts and accessories, even costumes for the special birthday girl or boy.

Restaurants and bakeries have gone all out for Christmas too. There were a few Christmas-sy creations I saw at Breadtalk that were really cool, but did not have the time to grab a few to photograph and enjoy. I did however have a quick dinner with some friends at Swensens, and ordered a special gingerbread icecream sundae Yum!

What takes the cake though is the decor outside Hershey’s Chocolate World at Resorts World Sentosa. If ’tis the season to be jolly, this definitely is just that, and brings out the candy-loving kid in all of us! Fill up your stockings, one and all!

As always, Happy Fooding… and Happy Holidays!

Ramly Burger is a burger created by one Ramly Moknin in Malaysia in 1979, and has since grown in popularity in Malaysia and Singapore. Ramly Burger stalls usually sell a variety of burgers, as well as hotdogs and Roti John. The Ramly Burger most of us are familiar with however is the flagship, Ramly Burger Special – original Ramly beef burger patty, smothered with tomato ketchup, mayonaise and Worchestershire or HP Sauce, wrapped in a thin layer of egg.

You can find Ramly Burger stalls all over Malaysia, especially in KL and PJ, but in Singapore, it is usually only found at pasar malams. The import of Ramly Burger beef patties into Singapore was banned for years, making it even more desirable to food-loving Singaporeans. Luckily, the Ramly empire tweaked their production to adhere to Singapore’s strict AVA rules, and now, pasar malams in Singapore, big or small, feature at least one, to as many as three Ramly Burger stalls.

What’s so special about this burger? Well, first of all, you can’t compare a Ramly Burger to any other burger. I guess you could say it’s in a league of its own. Not that it’s blow-your-mind good. It’s just different. It’s far from being a juicy, meaty gourmet burger. It is mass-produced and frozen, but also not like a regular beef burger from a fast-food joint. And it’s definitely not healthy! I suppose it’s the flavour that sets it apart from other burger patties, and just the way it is prepared on the spot for you, and even customized with more or less sauces, condiments and add-ons if required.

Unlike the Chilli Crab and Chicken Rice that Malaysia tried to lay claim on, why not pay homage to this burger that even Singaporeans can’t get enough of. Japan – Land of the Rising Sun. Hong Kong – Pearl of the Orient. Israel – Land of Milk and Honey.

Malaysia – Home of the Ramly Burger.

The ‘pasar malam’ (Malay for night market) is quite different in Singapore compared to Malaysia. Pasar malams in Malaysia are usually a permanent feature, meaning, it is held on a specific night of the week at the same location every week. In Singapore however, pasar malams are like a travelling circus, popping up at any time of the year for a week or two in one neighbourhood at a time. And like the circus coming to town, everyone gets excited the minute they spot the tell-tale blue-striped tarpaulin and tables being set up in their housing estate.

There are two types of pasar malams in Singapore. There’s the “giant” pasar malam, usually set up in a central location of a neighbourhood such as a large open space or field near an MRT station or bus interchange. These types of pasar malams sell the same items that the small neighbourhood ones do, but the stalls are either bigger, or in multiples – you can get up to five different stalls competing and selling the same products. Some of these giant pasar malams include a funfair area – with mini rides, games, and sometimes even a small-scale ferris wheel and rollercoaster.

The smaller neighbourhood pasar malam usually stretches along a main road or both sides of a main road, for about 200-300 metres, with most stalls selling food, and others selling almost anything…

The beauty of the pasar malam is that, somehow, to compensate for the darkness and dreariness that comes with night, sight, sound, smell is amplified. You are bombarded with every colour imaginable, and attacked by all sorts of aromas – the comforting smell of charcoal from the stall selling roasted chestnuts, scents of grilled meats and bread from the Ramly burger & Roti John stall, lovely pandan or peanut aromas from steaming kuih tutu or waffles, fried chicken, cotton candy, fishball, mee goreng, durian, jackfruit, and so much more, and above all, The Buzz — Mai yi, song yi – Buy one, free one! — Ah two-dollar, two-dollar – Liang kwai, liang kwai – dua-dollar, dua-dollar — Otah! Goreng pisang! 5 for 2 dollars — iPad cover, iPhone cover…

Stuff sold at pasar malams can mostly be found at other shops any time of year, but I guess it’s just the novelty of this night market and the excitement it brings that always makes you leave with a bag or two of oily food or something you would never usually think of buying, like a bamboo back scratcher or singing alarm clock.

Two ‘guns’ actually. Each acquired for very different purposes, but boy do they get the job done! They’re my favourite new toys at the moment, making me the trigger-happiest kid on the block.

All the king’s soldiers and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again? Well, say hello to my little friend – the cheapo glue gun! Who would have thought that such a simple glue-melting tool could bring so much joy!

The next toy that has me shooting anything in sight is our brand new “mini-cam”. Ben and I have quite a few cameras, usually given corny nicknames like “the big boy” for the D90, or “baby cam” – a small & slim point & shoot Cybershot that has served us well but has been lacklustre of late. So we needed something with some of the power and features of a DSLR, packed into the small and neat body of a little point-and-shoot camera. Say hello to the new love of my life…

There was a write-up in the Straits Times about the dressing down of Singapore a few months back. Not just about Singaporeans wearing way-too-short shorts everywhere, but tattered t-shirts and slippers (flip flops) too. It took the media a while to notice this huh? We’ve been aware of this awful trend for some years now. The worst part about the newspaper feature was that, to be subjective, they had to take comments from both sides. And this got us even more mad, because these bad “dressers” actually argue that since Singapore is a tropical country, wearing shorts, singlets and slippers anywhere is acceptable and should be allowed as the norm.

I grew up with quite a strict Catholic upbringing – Mass and Sunday School every week, no meat on Fridays, fasting during Lent, etc. Over the years, as the Vatican relaxed the strict laws of the Roman Catholic Church to keep up with the times, my parents relaxed a little too. But dresscode for church always remained the same. You put on your Sunday Best – or what you thought was the nicest thing to wear to church. Now this can be quite subjective, because in my confused teenage years, what I thought was “the nicest thing to wear” had to look “cool”. And back then, it was the Reebok-L.A. Gear-MC Hammer era, and putting on as many colours as possible, which I would now consider just plain awful dress-sense!

I was back in Malaysia last weekend and attended Sunday Mass at the Church of the Assumption – the church I’ve been going to since I was born, and the church where Benjamin and I were married. It’s just a ten minute walk from my family home in Petaling Jaya. The day before, my parents had already informed me of the strict rules set by a new parish priest, including a dresscode implementation, as well as the stir he caused at a recent wedding mass. I didn’t catch his name, so let’s just call him Father X.

Last Friday was an extremely popular day for weddings all over the world because it was 11-11-11 (11th Nov 2011). As such, churches were probably packed from morning till evening with wedding masses back to back. Auspicious or one-of-a-kind date or not, Father X has repeatedly warned to-be-married couples that wedding masses must start on time, and the bride or bridal party must be punctual. Flouting his warning, this one bride did not get to church on time, and Father X started the mass without her! Seriously! No bridal march, just wham, bam, start a wedding mass with a groom standing all alone at the altar without a bride! No Daddy to walk his little princess down the aisle either.

Tardy bride arrives later, some time around the “second reading”, which is usually about 20 minutes into the Mass proper, and she waits at the entrance of the church in shock. Father X then bellows over the microphone for all to hear, “What are you doing there? So you want to come in or not?!!”

So anyway, back to the Mass I attended, and the “feast”. Towards the end of Mass, Father X informed the congregation that the next Sunday would be the Feast of Christ the King. Now, in Catholic lingo, “feast” doesn’t mean a big banquet or makan besar. A Feast Day is a special day in the Catholic calendar, a Holy day to commemorate.

[The Feast of Christ the King (aka Solemnity of Christ the King) in the Catholic calendar falls on Sunday, 20th November this year. It is the last Sunday in the liturgical year, before a new liturgical year begins with the first Sunday in Advent, leading up to Christmas. This Feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925, and assigned the highest rank - "Solemnity" (or first class). I'm no expert in theology or archaic religious practices, but I believe this probably means that the Feast of the King of Kings, is the Feast of all Feasts! It is a joyous feast honouring Christ, celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, as well as Anglicans, Lutherans and most Protestants.]

Father X then went on to remind everyone about his new dresscode rule in church, and that it would take effect on this coming Feast day. In some ways, the way he puts it, it sounds right. Christians believe Jesus to be the King of Kings, hence terms like the Kingdom of Heaven, etc. And so Father X asks, if you were invited to the King’s Palace or Court, would you come in shorts, a tattered shirt and slippers? I feel it is right of him to be upset that there are those who do attend Mass as if they overslept and came in whatever they were wearing at home. It is okay to point out to people if they are inappropriately dressed. But Father X goes a bit too far, by saying that his dresscode rule means that those deemed “badly dressed” will either be turned away from Mass, or not allowed to receive Holy Communion (holy bread).

Suppose it is July or August, the hottest months of the year in Malaysia & Singapore. I think tailored bermudas for guys are ok if the weather is humid and temperatures are soaring – especially if the church is not air-conditioned. Sleeveless tops used to be taboo a long time ago, but are a lot more accepted now. As fashion-sense is so subjective, implementing a strict dresscode for Mass at church might be a bit extreme, don’t you think? Ben doesn’t agree with me and thinks it’s great that this priest I told him about is making such a big change. But my main argument is that, yes, it’s not right to go to church badly dressed, but it’s also not right to refuse anyone from attending Mass. This is not like a posh fine-dining restaurant, where guests can be turned away if they’re poorly dressed. A church, although a holy place and house of god, should also be a place ANYONE can go to to seek refuge.

Well, taking the posh restaurant as a comparison, Father X believes that the Church has a reputation and image to maintain too. Apart from dresscode, he also said that communion servers are given the green light to reject giving Holy Communion to anyone with facial piercings! This is because, in his words, “Your body is a temple… If you desecrate it with all sorts of facial piercings, it says that much about what kind of person you are!” Which is? I have a tongue-piercing. Does that make me a bad Christian?

Father X goes on to stress his point with conviction, saying “If you’re not happy about this, you’re free to join a different Christian denomination that makes you happy. This is not a Protestant, or AOG, or Evangelist church. This is a Catholic church! WE MUST BRING THE SACREDNESS AND SANCTITY BACK TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!”

Wow. What next? Chastisement with whips?

The President of Singapore holds Open House days at the Istana (official presidential residence) on special occasions such as for festive days (Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, etc). On these days, anyone from the public can enter the Istana grounds, and admission is free for all Singaporeans and permanent residents. There are cultural performances held, and the President meets and greets EVERYONE - regardless of race, language or religion, or even dresscode! Singaporean presidents usually try to come across to the public as a man of the people, a humble man, the father of the nation. So I would presume that this is the same with any King. Prince or pauper, we all look the same in God’s eyes. After all, it’s not the packaging that matters, but the content/intent. So the question now is, what would Jesus do? Haha.