zaobao reports that the singapore zoo has just completed the construction of a new wildlife healthcare research centre. it's five times as large as their old veterinary care facilities, and will have a viewing gallery so that students of zoology and vet science (and the public) can observe surgeries performed. (min-yin would like that, i'm sure.) singzoo is expecting increased collaborations with other regional universities and zoos, especially as a breeding centre for endangered animals. it wants to be the KK of animal hospitals, it says. ( KK is the name of singapore's obgyn and paediatrics hospital. seven out of ten singaporeans my age would have been delivered there.)

lee boon yang says that zaobao should become a free paper. he doesn't say, however, how zaobao would support itself - through government funding? advertisements? already the paper is much thinner than it was ten years ago. and that's understandable - if i were living at home, and living alone, given limited time and means i wouldn't subscribe to both paper, just the ST. but all my life i have come downstairs in the mornings to find both paper and it would certainly be a loss. zaobao does good features. and i do feel very supportive of the zaobao especially after the evil straits times has gone and cut itself off.

chiam see tong is muchly in the news. i really do like him. i wonder if perhaps he didn't stand in potong pasir but led a strong team in a grc, they wouldn't stand a good chance of actually winning one. he's right that the psychological of winning a GRC - on the government, the opposition, and the voters - would be phenomenal. and he's quite tactful about grassroot organisations: 他说,一种看法是基层组织的存在,对反对党是不公平的,因此应该废除,并以中国历史上的保驾体制来比喻基层组织。另一种看法则是基层组织确实对居民有所帮助,因此保留也无妨。