Here's something cheesey on this fine Friday afternoon:-

(Via British born Chinese blog)

Being brought up as a Hakka-Cantonese kid, I noticed that Cantonese was predominant language amongst the Chinese community when I was young. A day trip to Dublin would entail dimsum at The Imperial before loading up with Chinese goodies from The Asia Market in Drury Street. All you hear around you is Cantonese. Today, my brother, his girlfriend and I went into the Asia Market, my brother commented to me that it's so weird how things have changed, as most people around us are speaking Mandarin. The feeling that Cantonese slowly being evolved out like the Hakka language. It's just another generation, another time that will be forgotten, and we are not the only ones feeling alienated with the changes.

Saw this article about Chinese in NY and how the language shift is moving towards Mandarin as well. Chinese being practical minded as usual, bring their kids to Chinese school to learn Mandarin instead of Cantonese. It's still important to know how to read and write Chinese though.

I wonder in the future, will there be another dialect that will overtake Mandarin in such global scale?

(Source: NY Times)

Aside from reduction of child benefit of foreign nationals, to help reduce fraud, the Social and Family Affairs Oireachtas Committee proposes:-

• A crackdown on separated fathers who do not pay child maintenance for their children. This would include ensuring a father’s name is registered on a child’s birth certificate – which is not mandatory at present – to help recovery of maintenance payments.

• A mandatory national ID card with biometric information for all citizens – similar to those other EU states – to help tackle identity fraud.

• Implementing long-standing plans to reform the lone parents allowance which would axe the “cohabitation rule” that recipients must not be living with a partner.

• More frequent monitoring of welfare schemes that are most susceptible to fraud, including the jobseekers’ allowance and lone-parent payments.

• More unannounced home visits to social welfare claimants to help tackle fraud.

Read more...

(Source: The Irish Times)

I wish there was more of these plastic food samples over here, I was tempted to buy some while I was in Tokyo. I just didn't have the time, there's a whole area that manufacture and sell these realistic looking food samples. It makes good pressies though, for anyone who is traveling to Tokyo.

(Source: BBC News Online)

Now this is ridiculous, an apartment for $57 million in Hong Kong. Property prices are going up, oh noes, have they not learned from 1997 and recent property fiasco?

Check out the pics and its article. For people unfamiliar about Testujin 28-go, here's information about the robot.

It's sickening to hear that this carry-on still happens.