Vaccines Rolled Out, and Irish borders remain open in the UK

Good News - Vaccine Roll-out in the UK

A couple of my distant relatives my marriage, in their sixties, because of their age, are getting their first jabs shortly. 

They won't get the second jab, which will be of the same type, for a while. The UK priority is to give the first jab to as many people as possible.  

Nurses Needed

This should relieve pressure on the health services. They can build a new hospital, put up a field hospital, or convert a nursing home into a hospital. but they needed nurses. At the moment one nurse is watching over four in high dependency units instead of just one.

You can have people hooked up to machines and watched on banks of videos. But when the beep goes off, somebody has to go running to look.

UK Government - Good News? 

My family has confidence in the new health minister in charge of the vaccines. 'She was dealing with medical start-ups. She has experience in the field. Medicine. And new ventures.'

My family were also upbeat about the UK prospects of getting the ordered vaccines. 

'The EU tried to stop them. But we had contracts signed long ago and goods already paid for. You can't change the laws at the drop of a hat affecting deals retrospectively without losing confidence on Europe's laws. 

Flag of the Republic of Ireland

Irish Borders Blocked? 

The idea of blocking the Irish border with barriers came and went too. The EU wanted to close the border to stop the vaccines being taken across from Eire (Replublic if Ireland, flag above) to Northern Ireland (which uses the UK flag). 

My Uk based family member laughed, 'For years nobody could get Eire and Northern Ireland and the UK government to agree on anything. Then the EU did it straight away!" (I could hear the speaker and their family in the IK were laughing.) 

'Also, (over in America, new American President) Biden keeps mentioning his Irish roots. So the Americans would also have been against the border.'   

So, Lockdown London has a little good news to send us and the world.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is teacher of English. (Advanced English and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, an aspiring polyglot.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs, and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Find Friends In Singapore And Worldwide

Problem
How to find like-minded individuals?

By age:
STUDENTS
Student groups such as Toastmasters International at the NUS (National University of Singapore0 meets every week in term time.
Mother and toddler groups.
Ex-pat groups including wives attached to the clubs : American, British, Canadian, Dutch, Japanese.

By Language
Go to a Toastmasters club meeting speaking
English
French
Chinese (Mandarin)
Tamil

Francophone de Singapour, French speaking club in Cairnhill Community Club, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

By Games
Cards and Boardgames
Meetup has a boardgames section.

Belote or Baloot
Popular with Scandnavians, Europeans, Arabic countries.

Bridge
Bridge Clubs meet at some of the ex-pat and country clubs. At one time the American Club, the Tanglin Club and the Dutch club all had meetings. Tanglin moved the venue and closed the club. These things come and go. They might close down then open up again.

The American Club uses the American bidding system. The Tanglin club used Acol system which started at a bridge club in London, England. Some clubs let you use whichever system you and your partner agree on, so long as you tell the other couple.

If you want to practise bidding at home, save the free playing cards which you can get on Singapore Airlines. Revise your bidding on the plane.

Mahjong
Mahjong is also very popular, especially witht he Chinese and Asians. If you don't yet play mahjong, go to a class and meet other beginners.

Religious organisations
Christian
YMCA - the big branch in Orchard Road, another is the second YMCA, also the YWCA.
Many activities and classes meet weekly.

Moslem
Several Mosques.

Jewish
A synagogue with events such as Friday night meals. (High security so contact them in advance and take your passport and identity cards to get through the barriers.)

Indian Temple
The Toastmasters meeting which I went to at a Hindu Temple had four prepared speeches, at least one of which was about a religious story or myth, and spicy vegetarian food.

Museums
Become a friend of the museum for reductions in the museum shop, free entry or by-pass queue (line up as the Americans say) to exhbitions, and be emailed about events, and train to be a docent, go to seated lectures, or join walking tours.

Theatre and Performing Arts
Lots of events and courses and tours.

Wine and Dine Events In Restaurants
Many restaurants run wine and dine events. Find out if you will have a chance to meet other people. You often circulate with a sparkling wine or cocktail at the start. You might be seated at a long table which is ideal, especially if you are seated in the middle. Try to avoid being on the end or next to an empty place.

You might find individual tables set up in a foursome, or just two or a single. If you went out to meet people, being alone or with your partner is not very sociable. One method is to find  another chatty couple and either sit in a foursome of at two adjoining tables. With luck, if you can't hear what the other couple are saying, one of them will decide you might as well push two tables together. Failing all else, arrive early, ask where you are sitting. If you don't like it, ask to be moved. you have paid - you might as well enjoy yourself.

Websites
Board games so you won't be bored watching sleeping (nocturnal) cats at the Cat Café in Boat Quay.
https://www.facebook.com/CatCafeNekonoNiwa
https://www.meetup.com/Singapore-International-Boardgames-Meetup/
https://www.couchsurfing.com/events/
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

More Malay Words in surveys and questionnaires : passenger, age, sex, holiday, residence

Malay - English
nomor - number (no more numbers!)

English - Malay
number - nomor

MALAY (My memory aids in brackets)
penumpang - passenger (pa..ng passenger has pangs on flight)
yang - the
terhormat - respectable / terribly honourable (respectful greeting)
selamat datang - welcome
di - at
penerbangan - flight (penetrating the skies)
negara tujuan - country destination (country you are going to)
jenis - type
kelamin - sex
umur - age
liburan - holiday (leisure / liberty)
apakah - what
dewasa - adult ( d .... a - or think d.w.. a one who works)
berapa - how much (tell me the price and we can wrap it up)
kali - times (count all)
dalam - in
sekali - once (solo event)
diatas (on top, in addition, more than that)
negara asal keberangkatan (country departure)
data pribadi data private  / personal
tempat tinggal (residence)

ENGLISH

passenger
the
respectable
welcome
at
flight
destination country
type
sex
age
holiday
what
adult
how much
times
in
once
on top
country of departure
personal data
residence

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages

Me A Model? At My Age? Maybe Yes. Maybe No. Agencies in Australia, UK, Singapore

Australian Model Agency 

I have a friend, William, who appears in TV serials in Australia. He is signed on with an agency. They got him work on TV. Great success.

UK Work
Film Extras
I once answered an ad for extras in a film in the UK. We sat around all day in a church as part of a crowd at a wedding. We had to come with a hat. Most of the time you did nothing except sit silently.

No Pay
We filled in a form at the beginning. Everybody was asking everybody else, 'How much are you getting paid?' People were reeling off lists of film shoots they had been in earlier that month. I was at first too embarrassed to admit I was not being paid.

Payment
However, when I finally said I was not being paid, one of the older men who I thought would sneer at me instead was very kind and protective. He was indignant on my behalf and told me to say I came from his agency because I would then be paid a small sum of about £20. That was not much for four hours (plus travel) but a lot better than nothing.

Spotlight
I was asked to join Spotlight after my late uncle died. I had phoned them to cancel his subscription and to explain that he had died and they asked if I would like to join. This would have been really right for me a couple of years earlier when I would have loved to be featured in a professional listing. Unfortunately, at the time when I was in touch with them it was not a sensible use of money because I was a full time, on call, carer for my late father and I did not want to work, to be away from home. 

You had to pay an annual fee for membership which included a listing in their directory. If I remember rightly, to be listed you had to supply a professional photo or two, ideally one face close up and one full body.

Now I'd like to fulfil my dream and be a character actress. My favourite actress was the little old lady in The Ladykillers. She was in the film with Peter Sellars, and Alec Guinness.

Singapore
I passed a sign for a model creation agency in Singapore. I thought I'd go in and find out if they had any opportunities for an English voice over.

I filled out a form and was told to come back for an appointment. Because I had other engagements that day, I made an appointment for the following day. Meanwhile, I checked them out online.

It then transpired that I had to pay about 600 Singapore dollars - the sums were quite complicated, so much for the photographer, plus the make up artist, and the hairdresser, and that included so many photos for them to send out, plus several for me to keep, but after the first mailing out another set of photos would have to be printed, but I would not have to pay for these, it would come out of my first salary.

What if I did not ever get a job? Would that be a debt? I was told I would not have to pay the second sum. However, nothing in writing. I can't prove to you what was said, and that was what put me off the whole deal.

Apart from the actual cost, I was concerned that they could not give me any written account of the sums involved, just wrote it out on a piece of paper. To me that did not seem professional. The sums might increase. I had no way to be sure of the total.

They admitted they had very little chance of finding work for a Caucasian of my age, except for occasional government ads which features people of all races when promoting services for the retired.

I asked why I could not use my own photographer and they said it was a question of copyright, as well as having suitable photos of the kind they needed.

I looked at reports online for scams. One website I looked at said that any agency which insisted that you use their photographer was a scam.

CV and Portfolio
I would still be interested in putting together a portfolio including professional photos. If you look at online agencies you can see what is required. 

Some charge a monthly fee to reveal job ads. The ones I looked at required one face photo and one full body shot. If you a modelling any other part of your body, such as hands for nail polish advertisements, you are advised to include those. Some sites have a minimum number of photos. Others have a maximum.

Another promotional activity is to have a showreel of yourself, demonstrating your skills such as accents or singing or clips from previous amateur or professional productions.

Your CV will include age, height, weight, vital statistics (bust, waist, hips), language, accent, race, maybe shoe size. So if you don't know your weight and hip size, you might want to find out.

First, the photo. You need a professional photo (with copyright, meaning permission to use it by printing it or online for self publicity without paying the photographer for every use). It should be in focus. Ideally several shots, serious, smiling, assorted expresions. Clear background. Also any unform you may have (with permission to wear it).  

Angela Lansbury, travel writer

Hecklers - welcomed?

Problem
You are invited to give a comic speech or performance and you get hecklers. What do you do?
How do you respond to hecklers?

Answers
1 Do not get angry. Do not walk off stage nor threaten to do so. Remain good humoured. Be prepared. If you can't think of an answer, you could try silence.
'It's lovely to have such an involved audience.'
'I'm glad to know you care. Not about me, but about somebody.'
'The feeling is mutual.'
'He means well.'
'I'll thing about that - later.'
Flatter the audience.
'Ninety-nine per cent of Singaporean / American ? (whatever city or country you are in) are lovely. When they said we had sold 100 tickets for this show / this theatre held a hundred people, I thought, there could be trouble.'
When the organiser asked me, 'Do you like surprises? I said yes. That was a mistake.'

2 Plan and list some possible heckles, work out possible responses and memorise responses.
Depending on the age of the heckler - or for humorous effect if you reply as if they were a different age:
'I asked my father to come along. That was a mistake.'
'Never invite your ex along.'
'OK you can be part of the act - but you won't get paid.'
'Anybody got a funny answer to that? Thank you / Maybe there isn't one.'
'I told my brother, pretend to be drunk, angry - and stupid.'
'I said I was too busy to come to your stage act. I just changed my mind.'
'I told them I liked a challenge. Learn from my mistake.'
'I have always regretted not learning karate.'

Angela Lansbury, author, speech trainer.