26 December 2008

Our New Attraction













Come experience the Flyer
Relive peeing into a diaper
Or what the hag
Just use a plastic bag

Oh my goodness
What if it's big business?
Why haven't we thought of that?
Er, can drop them into your hat?

Wonder why it's called a "flight"?
'Cos last 7 hours it might
You could have flown to Hong Kong and back
But with us, you just stay put and relak

You may be chosen for an extended stay
If you are, take time to admire the bay
Yes it may seem a little boring for some
But the most exciting part is yet to come

Be treated to a rare acrobatic display
Climbers on the spokes coming your way
While watching entertainment you deserve
Refreshments from the sky we serve

You could have missed it in the army
No, it is not in the itinerary
Something that's called "abseiling"
We assure you it's very exciting

The climbers do not just entertain
In abseiling they did train
Oh so you do have acrophobia?
Just close your eyes and you'll not fear

Eh, why are you complaining?
For only a 35-minute ride you are paying
You get a 7-hour adventure
Anyone would've been thrilled for sure

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha Victor...good poem but I sure hope none of the victims read it!

gurkhason said...

This poem should be given a grade of C+.

Anonymous said...

gurkhason: you're too kind.

C- to me :-)

Shilpa said...

wahahaha, so bad!!! i suppose the victims won't take kindly to it, but it's really a jab at the S'pore flyer management. :)

yg said...

i am afraid of height, so this flyer's not my cup or capsule. imagine being lowered from 8 storey! i would be dripping all the way down.

Victor said...

Thanks Anonymous for the encouragement. I am sure that one way to get over the trauma for the victims is to view the incident with humour. So I think it should be okay even if any of the victims read my poem. I hope they would prefer to sue the Flyer rather than me. :)

Victor said...

Gurkhason and Meow, you are both too kind. Seriously, I thought my poem wouldn't even have got a passing grade. C+ or C- is not bad as D or E grade.

Victor said...

Shilpa, I actually know of 2 other incidents involving safety lapses by the Singapore Flyer which happened to my friends:

One of them walked into a plain unmarked glass panel at the Flyer and suffered a cut on her lip. On another occasion, another friend was visiting the Flyer with his mother who aged over 70, wheelchair-bound and suffering from rheumatism. The Flyer staff offered to pushed the wheelchair for my friend and you know what happened? The mother fell out of the wheelchair while she was being pushed by the staff! Can you believe that?

These 2 are true incidents as I believe my friends have no reason to wrongfully accuse them. Although the staff did apologise profusely for both incidents, I find it hard to accept such serious safety lapses. They really ought to review at all their safety procedures.

Victor said...

YG, what "8 storey"? I think you could have grossly underestimated the height of the Singapore Flyer. At 165 metres, it is about the same height as a 40-storey HDB building since each HDB storey is approximately 4-metre high only.

Anonymous said...

I'm also afraid of height but if don't look vertically down then OK.

Your poem at least C+. I can't even write one.

yg said...

victor, i know the flyer has been compared to a 42-storey building but i was referring to the point from which some of those rescued were lowered.
are we supposed to rate your poem?

Anonymous said...

Victor,
your poem so good and so quick also to make one is in the class of Edwin Tumboo or Goh Poh Seng although I dont really say I catch what Edwin and Goh are talking.

Victor said...

Fr - If you didn't go on a real Hong Kong flight, you just might be on the Flyer. Haha.

Victor said...

YG - No need to rate my poem lah. Erm, why do I get a hunch that you could have been quite a strict teacher?

Victor said...

Peter,

Do you know that Edwin Thumboo was from Victoria School too? Of course, I can't be compared to him since I write poems which you can understand. :)

yg said...

sorry, if i have given the impression that i was going to rate your poem lower than the rest (a 'c plus') on the contrary, i would say it is a good piece, considering that you finished it in such a short time.

Sathiya said...

Ha ha...good one!

Anonymous said...

I think in Victor's time Victoria was noted for its strength in the sciences. All the pupils aspired to go to the science classes where they took the pure science subjects and add maths.

Icemoon said...

Hmm .. Victor in Victoria .. has Victor blogged about his Victorian days?

Victor said...

YG & Sathiya - Thanks for the compliments.

Fr - Yes, I was from the Pure Science class. I took Physics and Additional Maths but no poetry. :p

Icemoon - I have blogged about Victoria School here.

Anonymous said...

Victor your time @Victoria got girls? Did they wear red skirt and white blouse? I seem to think that way.

Victor said...

Peter - Yes, there were girls in the Pre-U classes. But in my science class, there were only 4 girls and some 38 boys. There were many more girls in the arts classes and don't know why, they all seemed prettier than the science class girls.

Yes, the girls wear maroon-coloured pleated skirts and white blouses.

Unknown said...

Hmmm.... what a light-hearted take on an incident of epic proportions! Sigh.... just hope that they can get their act together soon.

Lam Chun See said...

When I was in Kuching last week, there were hardly any news in the local papers about Spore until this incident.

Likewise I was in Jakarta during the Marriot bombing. When I got back, I found that our newspapers carried much bigger reports and photos than the Jakarta Post.

Says something about newspapers doesn't it?

Victor said...

Cool Insider - I hope that customers' confidence is not shaken by this fiasco. What's more important is that the promise by the Flyer's management that such an incident would never happen again be upheld. Only time can tell.

Come to think of it, this was the 4th time that the Flyer had malfunctioned. It makes one wonder how did so many incidents happen if the Flyer had built-in redundancy as claimed.

Victor said...

Chun See - Much as they claim otherwise, newspapers have their own (hidden) agendas. Yes, that includes our own printed media. That's why not all your "letters to the forum" are published.

But with your own blog, who still needs newspaper to publish your opinion? Just look at Tan Kin Lian's blog and you can find a number of letters which he wrote to the Straits Times but were not published.

I think what's important is that we write responsibly, regardless of whether it's in our own blogs or to the newspapers.

Anonymous said...

Actually I think it is not realistic to promise such incident would never happen again. Accidents and human errors do happen. Maybe they would deal with them in a speedier and more effective way if it happens again.

Haha, maybe TKL has an agenda too.

Victor said...

Fr, yes I think TKL might have agenda, i.e. election into public office. If he really gets elected, that he'd better not only have an agenda but a manifesto as well. :)