Editor's Letter: August 08

We have to admit it, we're constantly hungry for something. It's not just the natural instinct of survival if we come to think of it. Sometimes we just call it cravings or desires, but let's just stick with the term 'hungry' this month. I would say it's the hungriest month of the year, believe me. The beginning of August marks the opening of the Chinese Gates of Hell as well, according to the Lunar calender. Yes, be afraid you naughty guilty ones! The Hungry Ghost Festival 2008 (HGF 08) is once again back to haunt the living.

Hungry for movies? Jack Neo gets the ball rolling for the local film industry by launching his sequel to his classic heartland success ten years ago - "Money No Enough 2". Not sure if the film title is really describing the woes of the living though, since we are sighting a lot of incense "bank notes" burning this month. Followed strongly by a documentary based on the same theme of HGF 08 as well, we have "A Month of Hungry Ghosts" by award-winning Tony Kern. This should be interesting enough as it explores the phenomenon on the effects of HGF on a world class cosmopolitan city like ours. Last but not least, Royston Tan returns once again with a similar genre related to his recent getai-spectacular "881" - "12 Lotus". Roystan is doing all our dear Mothers and Fathers a great favour by providing an opportunity for their offspring to bring them to the theatres for a family gathering accentuated with dialect songs and dances.

Hungry for performances? SINGfest is due to rock and shake your HGF fears off from 2-3 August with an overwhelming calibre of performers such as Alicia Keys, One Republic, Simple Plan and many more! This is definitely a must watch top-class "ang-moh getai" for all of you out there! Not sure if they will be leaving the front row seats empty though. If you're a little artsy-fartsy, you will be glad to hear that the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival will be hitting us on August 6 with 14 plays. Who says you can't mix patriotism with performance when it's happening on August 9 in the form of our National Day Parade 2008? Be sure to stay home too if you want to scrutinize the Parade Commander on tube and compare your "Baris! Sedia!" with this year's choice of candidate.

Hungry for sportive challenges? The Beijing Olympics 2008 is gearing up for its official opening on August 8 (08/08/08), so it ain't such a bad thing after all to heed your parents' advice to return home early everyday when you have the auspicious Olympics on tube. For the itchy feet, the Singapore Bay Run / Army Half Marathon 2008 is scheduled to challenge all you runners out there to beat your own personal record on August 24. The Nike+ Human Race swiftly beckons a week later on August 31 where it sees a worldwide 10km race taking place.

Hungry for supper? Come on, surely you don't need us to enlighten you on that. Head on downstairs to your neighbourhood zichar outlet for a serving of hor-fun or mui-fan . Just remember: Don't feast on the food item randomly positioned alongside the roads even if you're broke.

Welcome to a hungry month of HGF 08.

Managing Editor,

MuHu Son