Was at the Esplanade today for

The President's Command Performance..

.

The dress code was formal.. But I didn't know because Zach didn't know.. So we went there in smart casual.. And why Zach didn't know was because he got the invites from his friend only just before the event.. Anyway, we saw a few "birds of paradise" in the crowd.. And these were guys, not ladies.. Some of the ladies looked like dumplings in their gowns though.. One scrawny guy wore a trenchcoat! WTF.. By the way, the event had a strong nationalist overtone.. Well if you would have noticed, most of the 11 luminaries featured in the event had to make it big elsewhere before returning to Singapore a "national hero".. Some of them still live and work overseas! Ashley Isham for example has the word London incorporated into his logo.. Considering if the word Singapore was incorporated into his logo instead, I wonder what would be its appeal then.. In any case, it was nice to see Varian's dad (Jeremy Monteiro) amongst the 11 luminaries featured along with Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin.. JJ Lin gave a wonderful rendition of "Home".. Somehow, I really do feel proud being Singaporean.. After returning from overseas, you realise that no matter how tiny or insignificant Singapore may be on the world stage, it is still home.. This is the place where all things work.. Patriotic feelings aside, I was really happy to hear Margaret Leng Tan (Zach's mad woman) play on both the Steinway and toy piano! Abigail Sin did a fantastic job on the Steinway too.. Catch the telecast of the event on Channel 5 at 7.30pm on April 19!