SM Entertainment

2014 has been a very bad year for SM Entertainment. It started off with Kris filing for a lawsuit to leave SM Entertainment. Next comes Baekhyun and his scandal with Taeyeon from SNSD. Then comes Sulli leaving fx. Followed by Jessica's denial of joining Girl's Generation and their promotions. Lastly, Luhan filed for a lawsuit to nullify his contract with SM Entertainment. All of this happen within a year and I have difficulty thinking of who to side with.

Initially when Kris left EXO and SM, I wasn't surprised by the news. After all, from various variety shows, I could tell he wasn't really mingling well with the members. So at that time, when he left SM and didn't leave much explanation, I sort of stood on the grey area. Siding with none. I had thought it takes both hands to clap. So both have things they did wrong.

Afterwards came Sulli which was an abrupt and shocking news cause no concrete reason was given to reassure fans of why she left. And since it was a news that was quickly hushed over, I didn't really pay attention and fought hard to seek the truth.

Recently, Jessica was asked/told/forced to leave Girl's Generation. Initially I heard she was to leave Girl's Generation but would still be within SM Entertainment. When I heard this, I thought it sound reasonable cause she was probably being arranged to go solo. However, Jessica herself revealed that she was forced out of Girl's Generation just because of her own career out of SM. yet, SM revealed news to attack Jessica and sort of accused her for not contributing much to Girl's Generation cause of her own career. Wow! So much drama there! So who is speaking the truth. So much news came tumbling out about SM, Jessica as well as her boyfriend. Before this news was given a conclusion, Luhan dropped another bomb and the stock prices of SM dropped.

Of the remaining Chinese members in EXO (Lay, Luhan and Tao) I thought that Lay would most likely be the next one to leave cause he also doesn't seem to mingle well with the rest of the members. Also, Luhan is really close to XiuMin and he seems to be able to blend in really well with Kyungsoo and Sehun. Tao on the other hand has leader, Suho, and Sehun who are close to him. Yet there are news where the last 2 Chinese members may leave EXO and return to China to form a boy group with Kris and Luhan. With their popularity in China, I won't be surprised if such rumours turn out to be true. After all, when there's smoke there's bound to be fire somewhere.

When Kris left EXO and he used the same lawyer as Hangeng, my Mum already suspected that there may be bigger players who are pulling the strings from China. Hence the Chinese members would have the audacity to file for lawsuit. After all where does the money for the lawsuit come from? And where did they get the courage to go against SM, such a huge empire? It sounds pretty logical for me.

As for SM, I believe there's lots more reasons from within cause it seems they always have troubles with members. I see none from the other companies. SM never seem to learn their lessons from past mistakes. TVXQ and Super Junior were a huge loss for them. They should have learned to treat artistes with respect and more from them.

The rate at how EXO is working is seen by all. After each concert, without resting, they move on to the next place to meet their fans. I understood their pain and felt really bad for them cause they seem to spend more time on the plane then on their beds. I always read news of them appearing here and there to meet fans or hold concert. Because of their hardships and the immense work they put in to appear happy, I became their fan.

Among all this fiasco, I think Red Velvet debut at the wrong timing, there are too many scandals and bad news that override them. It's really a bad timing.


With all this fiasco that's going on, I wish Luhan all the best with his departure. I wish the remaining EXO members all the best as well. As for SM, I hope they can learn their lessons.

YG's new idol group-WINNER

So Winner just debut recently and they sure took a long time to debut. I don't blame them nor YG, cause after all, the delays just meant YG wants the best for Winner.

Their release of the MVs "Empty" and "Color Ring" are up to my expectations whereas some eager fans aren't liking the songs as much. It's true. Both songs sound similar. And it's true. Most of us were expecting a more upbeat song. But then again, the ballads are equally fantastic.

Winner came a long way before they make their debut. I believe Yang Hyun Suk delayed their debut cause he felt they weren't up to standards. But the delays were worth it. Within a day, Winner top charts around the world and it's just their debut album. It's not like they're already mega stars like Big Bang or EXO. I'm pretty sure the members of Winner themselves were worried if they'll even debut at all cause one year of delay is really long. Lots of changes must have been made for their songs. Otherwise, why the wait?

YG is not your typical music company where they release music frequently. They only released your music if it's up to their standards. And I quite like that. I'm never ever disappointed by the albums they release. Be it G Dragon, Taeyang or AKMU. Every songs in each artistes albums are fantastic. Each melody is unique and the voices are fabulous. Songs like Taeyang's 1AM, This isn't it, Love you to Death and G Dragon's Black, Window, Crooked and AKMU's Give Love and It's Cold are really worth listening. The songs fit the artistes. Just as the artistes fit the song. I wouldn't expect Taeyang nor AKMU to be singing along to G Dragon's Crooked. The image and singing styles doesn't fit.

That's why, for Winner, the ballads suit them to a core. From Win, the TV series, I could tell they were not your typical dancing kind of idols like Got 7 or EXO. They are more emotional and could pull off ballads easily. I'll have to give credits to Mino and Nam Taehyun in "Empty". Their voices are way too good in the song. I wouldn't expect Winner to be following the routes of Got 7 nor EXO. They should follow their own styles. Mixing each and everyone's unique vocals into their songs. Winner is Winner. They aren't the next Big Bang. They aren't the next Epik High. They are Winner. I hope fans and non fans would stop saying they're disappointed by the ballads Winner picked to be released as MVs.

Having made their debut, I hope Winner would continue to produce music in their own flavours and not to be influenced by others. Unique is YG's style. So Winner should be different too.

There'll be haters

So I came to this comment randomly in CL's Instagram calling her names that are not sassy nor nice. After that comment came thousands of rebuttals from Blackjacks and then some more crude comments and I stopped reading.

I've always admire CL's style and her attitude on stage. The aura she displayed on stage beats many others including that of SNSD. (No offence to the Sones out there, this is just my personal view). CL has the characteristic of a badass female leader who will never ever display any sort of aegyo or any signs of being weak. Cause she is "The Leader" and a GZB. Her cool and aloofness is what makes her who she is. I can never imagine her being all cute and sweet. Nah. Never.

Which brings me to my next point. Why the haters? Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and even One Direction have haters that can add up to millions. With every good comes bad, with love comes hate. I've read articles where many idols and artistes have talked about their reactions to the comments spammed on their websites or any site portals and I feel really bad about them. People err, we are all not perfect. Just so he or she can't act well in this show doesn't mean he or she can't act. It's just perhaps he or she couldn't grasp the character well or may have thought of another version for the character. Sometimes, I feel that antis shouldn't harass these idols too much with hateful comments.  Just look at Tablo and his case. It's just a certificate!

Haters be them hating, but they should reserve what they say online. Sometimes, their comments are way out of hand and unnecessary. In a sense, it came of as childish and spiteful. I'd wonder what has cause them to be against these idols/artistes. Did these idols/artistes create havoc in your lives? Did they caused you to lose your job or family members? Well, then what would cause all this resentment? If your reason is that they can't sing, they can't dance or they can't act or be funny, I think these reasons are a little absurd. Could you sing? Could you dance? Could you act?

I also watched Hong Kong variety shows where famous actors and actresses would talk about how they were criticised severely by anti fans. And I feel really bad. Look at the amount of suicides and druggies in the entertainment business. Countless. And most of them are hidden from us. Being in the entertainment business comes great sacrifices. Everything about these idols and artistes are criticised to the minute details. Their fashion, their pimple and so on and so forth. Not a day could they really have a good rest.

My point is that people shouldn't pinpoint nor criticise absurdly. Idols and artistes are humans after all. I know this is an open world and we can say whatever comes to our mind as we like but would it kill to at least hold it back a little? Nope I don't think it will. It's just a matter of how well haters can control their tempers and emotions and thoughts.

Last but not least, idols and artistes themselves shouldn't let these hateful comments result in their demise. Embrace the criticisms and acknowledge them. Don't ever get hurt due to such comments. I don't think it's worth it to commit suicide or take drugs to numb yourself for such comments. This is your life. Live it.

Small acts of kindness

Recently, there was a heavy downpour at where I was staying and due to the heavy rain, I took a bus to the MRT station. When the bus reach the destination that I wanted to alight, I alighted after a Mother and her little daughter. After they got into the shelter of the bus stop, they stopped to clean off the rainwater on themselves. I overtook them and was suddenly tapped by the little girl. She looked at me and asked me to be careful in Mandarin. I was taken aback by her thoughtfulness. As I was wearing heels and there were aplenty of puddles of water. The way she said it was sweet and innocent. I'm no pedophile but she really made my day. I was slightly flabbergasted by her words and merely smiled at her and her mother. Her mother was a little embarrassed too. But the small acts of kindness does put a smile on others. Thank you little girl.

Remake of dramas in Taiwan, Japan and Korea

So recently, I read an article that Korea is remaking their version of 'Fated to love you' after the successful hit from the original drama in Taiwan.

Rumors said that Choi Jin Hyuk will be starring in this drama! YEAH!

That said, I have high hopes for this remake in Korea because the Taiwanese version was just too good. It's one of the best Taiwanese drama I've ever watched. It was emotional and humorous as well. A really good drama with a nice setting although towards the end, it was getting a lil' draggy. But overall, the drama was really nice!

After the success of Boys Over Flowers in Korea, it seems like they'd like to remake this drama as well.

Taiwan, Japan and Korea are three countries that are very close to one another. They share similar cultures with infusion from one another; especially Taiwan which has Japanese history (as you can see from some of their ancient houses and that they love Japanese manga) and has now gotten influenced by the Hallyu wave. Other than Boys Over Flowers, the three countries have remake 'It Started With a Kiss' (originally from Japan), 'Hanazakarino Kimitachihe' (originally from Japanese manga but started filming by Taiwan) and 'You're Beautiful' (originally from Korea). Such dramas are hits from their original country. Interestingly, the Japanese drama 'Absolute Boyfriend' was remake in Taiwan with a Korean female lead (Goo Hye Sun). However, there's also rumors that Korea is planning to do an adaptation on this drama.

I wouldn't mind if the countries do a remake of hit dramas from other countries but I believe such challenge would either be a huge success or a huge failure. It's demanding and challenging. To the producers, such a move to do a remake/adaptation is not easy because the success and failure could be seen almost immediately when they compare with the original. (Although such comparison is unfair cause of there could be other influences for the tv ratings in each country.) In a sense, it sorts of make it seems like the producers and scriptwriters are running out of ideas to produce another drama. I wouldn't be surprise looking at the number of dramas produced annually. Even movies have started to run out of ideas and they're all looking back into Disney/Cartoon characters and making them come out alive. (Think Smurf and Garfield)

An adaptation of dramas is quite common in these countries and I wouldn't be surprise if they continue to do so down the road. Whenever a country announced that they want to do a remake, I'd have my doubts cause I'll fear for them that it won't be as good as the original. The remake of It Started with a Kiss in Korea was a little disappointing to me. The remake of Absolute Boyfriend in Taiwan was also a little disappointing too. So you see, remake/adaptation of a drama is tough. It sort of creates hope in people that it'll be better than the original and if it didn't, it became disappointing.

Remake/adaptation of drama isn't as easy as it seems, lots of things need to be planned out fully to make them even better than the original cause after-all, isn't the goal of a remake is to do better than the original?

Technology advancement

Recently, I came home and missed the lift but I caught a glimpse of the people standing inside. A male and a female, both engrossed in their own smart phones oblivious to the surroundings.

Smart phone is the latest must-have in Singapore. Without one, you wouldn't be able to Whatsapp nor accessed information online swiftly. With a click and a swipe, you've already retrieved information you need for sale items or bank information. Personal details are also accessible online with just passwords and perhaps some Q&A to determine that you're the right person. Smart phone is a life-saver, you'd say. However, does it really help us?

With phones, we can access any sort of information as fast as the optical fiber can. We can gain knowledge that far extends from the books we have. We can get first hand news from the other end of the globe. When you're bored, you can even watch videos on YouTube or play games. That's smart phones. A mini computer right in your palm. (Yep, with Samsung, it can almost replace that laptop you have at home).

However, with smart phone, you start to get isolated from the people around you. Have you ever seen a group of people without any single person burying themselves in their phones? Nope, I haven't. Even if there is, it's very rare. There's bound to be this lone person who wants to use their smart phone to check out anything but be engaged in the topic the people around are saying. Perhaps, he/she finds the topic boring or unrelated. Perhaps. However, from the lift scenario, I think people now tend to be too engaged in their smart phones, such that they neglect the most basic communication such as talking.

I have friends who reply to me on whatsapp when I'm just sitting right next to them. It's like. 'OMG. Why do you have to reply on the phone when I'm next to you??? Just talk to me. I'm not a ghost.' Yep, this is quite common. And no, I'm not a ghost.

It's not that I'm not addicted to my smart phone as well, but perhaps we should take a notch down. Slow down this technological advancement. My young cousins are all hooked on their iPhone, iPad or tablet and without them, they'll start crying non-stop. And I can't help but notice that their eyes are batting at a speed faster than normal. 1 of my blink is around 2-3 of theirs. It's not benefiting the eyes at all. No good.

With an advancement in technology, we become lazy (to even step into the library and browse for hard copies of information.) With advancement of technology, we've spoken less with one another. With advancement of technology, we become more oblivious to our surroundings and the people around us. With technological advancement, we will probably face a change in human nature. Where people won't communicate verbally. Perhaps, you'd say I over-imagined the scenario and took things a bit too far. Okay, perhaps I may be a bit too imaginative, but we should probably start putting our phones down and face the people around us and talk to them. No matter how you dislike the person and would rather spend your time on the phone, at least make small talk and just talk. Don't reply on the phone.

My parents kept complaining about the youngsters these days, saying that we are too engrossed in our smart phones. They also nagged about me too. And I kind of admit it. I'm really one of those youths who are so engaged in their phone that some of us actually neglect that we're crossing the road. (I'm not one of them, I do watch out for my own safety when I cross the road. But I did fell down the stairs before cause I was typing messages on the phone and fractured my leg. Once bitten twice shy. But there are people who cross the road, engaged in their phones, oblivious to the cars that are coming straight at them. Nope, not joking. Some don't even bother when the cars honked at them. They just walked across the road with their heads buried in their phones.)

Smart phones have pros and cons. It's just a matter of how we use them and how we set ourselves straight. Think twice before you use your phone and cross the road. Your smart phone can't save you if any accident happen to you.

Slippers in Singapore

I have a love-hate relationship with slippers and I'm sure many has the same relationship as me.

Sippers is very common in Singapore such that it has become a part of our culture. Almost everyone I know owns at least a pair of slippers. There'll be people who owns a pair of Havaianas or iPanema or Cotton On or even Billabong. It's really common. Prices of such slippers range from as cheap as $5 to $30++ and counting. 

So why a love hate relationship?

I like slippers cause it's very simple and whenever you feel lazy, you can just slip on a pair of slippers and be on your way to school or to the shopping malls. When you feel like buying something from the shop downstairs or across the street from your house, you'll just slip on a pair of slippers and be on your way. You wouldn't wear a pair of Nike running shoes or those with fanciful laces cause it consumes time (and we all know time is money in Singapore). You'll like slippers cause, compared to other shoe designs like flats or platforms or heels, it's relatively cheaper (On the basis that you don't get an iPanema or a Havaianas but just a cheap pair from Cotton On) and when it rains, you don't have to worry about the slippers being ruined. It's something like water-proof. You don't have to worry about walking across the flooded walkway outdoors. Also, it's meant for beach wear cause you can remove them easily and walk along the beach. You don't have to worry about getting sand in your shoes and having that irritating and painful sensory feeling of sand in your shoes. Slippers are brilliant in their own way. You can buy different colours and mix and match them according to the feeling you are on that particular day. Say pink mix with blue. Or red mix with white on Singapore National Day.

However, just as what it's called, it's very slippery when it rains and you get a wet floor. It'll be worse if the floor tiling is those glossy type where friction is almost zero. When you're wearing a pair of slippers, most likely you'll slow to a crawl like an elderly while walking along the wet floor or you'll be having multiple heart attacks along the way as you almost slip and fall. If you ever did slip and fall, I can't even... Just take care.

Singapore has rainy season and being a tropical country, there's bound to be rain most of the time. When it rains, I'll have a hard time between choosing a normal shoe with a pair of slipper because on one hand, I don't have to get that heart attack and worry about me slipping, on the other hand, I don't wanna ruin my shoe cause of the rain water splashing and flooding on the road out of my house.

Some might say, why don't you just send in a notice to the local MPs about the flooding along the road. Yep, I believe many people did but such flooding won't be solved properly. When they amended this stretch of road to make rainwater flow better, somehow it'll cause the next stretch to flood. And in the end, they just keep amending the different stretch and the flooding didn't end. (Just admit it, there's much to improve on the draining system in Singapore. It's not the increasing amount of rainwater. It's the draining system.)

Well some might also suggest that I get a pair of Havaianas or iPanema cause somehow the friction is better and they last longer. I would if they could really last that long. So far, from the comments that I got from the friends around me, iPanema is the most highly suggested. Havaianas lose out because the strap comes off easily. There's many complains that the strap comes off countless times despite the slippers being a new pair. And for iPanema, not many of my friends own a pair but for those who does, the slippers lasted for more than a year. However, the cost of one is just too over-rated. I wouldn't spend $30++ for a pair of slippers. It's just too expensive. I rather invest more and get myself a Wellington Boot. Or some sort of boot meant for rainy season.