Ratatouille ...

A delightful creation!

While it ranks a close second behind The Cars on snoozermeter, I suppose Ratatouille went down better on the palate of the majority audience. Pixar has once again dished out another delectable treat for my senses and Anton Ego's final critic left a mixed aftertaste ... and a little perspective ...

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new."

From the day I picked up squash, the sport had already been termed "a dying sport". And that was even when we still managed to win medals in SEA Games and even Asian Games, producing better results than other sports which did not bag anything. However the reporters just seemed to take delight in highlighting the slide in performance when compared against the heydays of squash.

And as a result of this "thrive on negative criticism, which was fun to write and to read", squash gained a reputation which I think it definitely did not deserve. But a judgment repeated over time by a reputed few slowly became a fact, the truth to be echoed by the masses ...

Perhaps it is time someone should step out to reexamine this statement which I had heard being passed as a matter-of-fact on countless occasions. Let's risk something and look at this decline of squash and of sports in Singapore with some fresh, clear, well-seasoned perspective.


"In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more."

Anyone can play squash, run a marathon etc ... But not everyone can become a great athlete. It takes someone extraordinary, someone with that hunger to attain the highest standard of performance, someone with that big heart to pursue a worthy ambition.

Yet this great athlete can come from anywhere.

Even from this small island Singapore. They walk amongst us ...

Yes, even with our small population. Because we can.

With some fresh perspective.