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Old favourites at a heritage hotel Posted: 01 Sep 2012 05:18 PM PDT The orange and blue Yeng Keng Hotel at dusk... perfect time for a drink at the courtyard. GEORGE TOWN, Sept 2— With heritage status has come a welcome rejuvenation of George Town, resulting in a fair few new boutique hotels determined to carve their niche in the hospitality industry, not just in terms of providing comfortable accommodation with avant garde facilities, but also in the food and beverage scene. One that stands out is the charming orange and blue Yeng Keng Hotel located near the Penang Road end of Chulia Street. Apparently named after the Mandarin word for "swiftlets" (yen zi) and "city" (keng), the impressive traditional round Chinese entrance leads to the front courtyard of an old Anglo-Indian family bungalow which was built in the mid-1800s. It was converted into a hotel at the beginning of the 1900s, but by the 1980s had deteriorated into a run-down hostel for backpackers. Chicken pie... comfort in every spoonful. In 2009, the property underwent a massive restoration when it was enlarged with the addition of a swimming pool at the back and more luxurious bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms. It is now a popular bolthole for tourists who want to stay somewhere in the heart of town. "It's perfect for those who want to soak in a bit of our heritage atmosphere," said Jackie Chung, manager of the hotel, "and a great base from which to explore George Town." However, if you're searching for good food, you don't even need to put one foot outside – their pork-free Café and Bar serves some quite authentic Hainanese food cooked by veteran Chef Tan Jee Yong. Chef Tan is in his 70s, surely making him one of the oldest and most experienced chefs still hard at work in Penang. Veteran Chef Tan doing the honours with his Bomb Alaska. As Hainanese chefs used to work for expatriate and Peranakan households, the cuisine has evolved to include both English and Nyonya food. One of his most popular starters is probably choon piah, large crispy spring rolls filled with chopped vegetables, prawns and crabmeat, served with a spicy chilli and ang more tau eu (Worcestershire) sauce condiment. Another is Hainanese mushroom soup, a clear broth cooked with sliced mushrooms, tang hoon (glass noodles) and chicken innards, quite different from the Western version. Apart from typical rest house fare like chicken or lamb chops, there is also Macaroni Pie, a dish which combines both local and Western ingredients. Here, the pasta is pre-cooked then fried up with vegetables and chicken meat, set in a dish and baked with a meringue top. The chicken pie is another, basically a chicken, button mushroom and carrot stew baked with a puff pastry lid. Local dishes include Inchi Kabin, the strangely-named Nyonya dish of chicken pieces marinated with fragrant spices then deep-fried, crispy yet moist on the inside, and all-time favourite Fish Curry Assam Tumis. However, some items not on the menu are equally popular, including one of the most famous Hainanese dishes of all time. "Chef Tan's Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of our Chief Minister's favourite dishes," claims manager Jackie Chung. Served with a generous helping of Tan's special garlic and ginger chilli sauce, it has to be pre-ordered, like the meringue-topped Macaroni Pie. Chef Tan's famous "choon piah" is a must-try. Probably a throwback to colonial days is Chef Tan's version of Bomb Alaska, a fruit cocktail, ice cream and cake dessert which is covered with white meringue then quickly baked in a very hot oven. If it's a special occasion, they will be happy to dim the lights as it is brought out, after which it is doused with a spoonful of brandy and lit. It's a great way to celebrate a special occasion or even just the end of a good meal. Yeng Keng Cafe & Bar Yeng Keng Hotel 362 Chulia Street 10200 Penang Tel : +604 262 2177 www.yengkenghotel.com Business hours: 11.30am-10pm daily.

Craft beers enjoy boom despite Italy’s crisis Posted: 01 Sep 2012 07:26 AM PDT BORGOROSE, Sept 1 — With oyster, tobacco and watermelon flavoured brews, Italy's craft beers are flourishing despite a punishing recession that is putting thousands of other businesses out of work. From just seven craft breweries in 1996, there are now more than 445 challenging wine's traditional dominance and experts say there is scope for more growth in a country where tastes for beer are still being shaped. "Creativity and experimentation are the current characteristics of the world of craft beer in Italy," said Luciana Squadrilli from "Birra del Borgo" brewery in the tiny town of Borgorose some 100km from Rome. The brewery, which was a pioneer in the sector when it opened in 2005, produces around 30 different types of beer every year. It was set up by Leonardo di Vicenzo, a biologist who decided to turn his hobby into a business. "At the time we had a total production capacity of 500 litres per cycle of production. Now, we have 2,500-litres," said chief brewer Andrea Lecchini, also a biologist who holds a Master's in brewing. Chief brewer from 'Birra del Borgo' brewery, Andrea Lecchini, poses on August 23, 2012, in the brewery in the tiny town of Borgorose, Italy. — AFP pic "I think consumers like the variety, the chance of combining typically Italian ingredients to make unusual drinks, especially in a country where there is no tradition of beer making which would have pre-determined tastes." The brewery employs 15 people in everything from production to administration to bottling whose average age is around 30, which is very young for a company in Italy where the workforces tend to be older. A report by Assobirra, the association of Italian brewers, said 71 per cent of Italians drink beer and that it is quickly catching up with wine with 28.8 per cent saying it is their favourite drink compared to 37 per cent for wine. The authors of the report said beer "was the most democratic drink" as it could be drunk at all occasions and was cheaper. Craft beers have a higher price tag, however, with a 0.75-litre bottle of "Birra del Borgo" selling for around €10 (RM39). "Five or 10 years ago, we could only have dreamt that the future could look so rosy," said Brooks Carretta, a brewer at Eataly, a temple to Italian gastronomy that opened in Rome this year and includes a small craft brewery. A 0.5-litre bottle at Eataly can sell for as much as €25. "We produce around 1,000-litres per week and now we are going to bring out beers with watermelon and papaya flavours," said Carretta, a young Italian-American who is currently working on a beer with lemons from Amalfi. Craft beers currently make up around two percent of Italy's beer market but the share is growing in double-figures every year as the trend catches on. Carretta said he did not think there was any conflict with wine as the two drinks "are two separate worlds and their paths cross only rarely." "I like discovering the novelties, knowing that there are now major differences between the beers in Italy depending on where they come from." — AFP-Relaxnews

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British entertainer Max Bygraves dies aged 89 Posted: 01 Sep 2012 08:46 AM PDT LONDON, Sept 1 — Veteran British entertainer Max Bygraves has died in Australia aged 89, his agent said today. The singer and comedian died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Hope Island in Queensland, eastern Australia, his agent Johnny Mans said. "His death is a great loss to the entertainment profession and a great loss to all of his friends in the industry," said Mans, adding that Bygraves had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's two years ago. Bygraves started as a pub singer in his teens and went on to become a popular variety performer — appearing in films and stage shows, and hosting the TV gameshow "Family Fortunes" during a long-running career. Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, a close friend of Bygraves, described him as "one of the greats of British entertainment". "He had the audience in the palm of his hand quicker than any other comedian I have seen," Tarbuck told BBC television. "They loved him, and you don't get that love very often." — AFP-Relaxnews

Existentialist kitty a winner at US cat video festival Posted: 01 Sep 2012 07:18 AM PDT WASHINGTON, Sept 1 —The moody reflections of an existentialist French-speaking feline has taken top honours at an al fresco festival in Minnesota dedicated to cat videos from around the world. More than 10,000 people filled a field outside the Walker Art Centre in Minneapolis after sunset on Thursday for its inaugural Cat Video Festival, thought to be the only one of its kind in the world. Winning the Golden Kitty, chosen by online voting, was "Henri 2, Paw de Deux" by Seattle filmmaker Will Braden, shot in black and white with a solo piano soundtrack, in which the eponymous star broods about his housebound existence. "I am free to go, yet I remain," says Henri via a French voice-over, peering out the window. "The 15 hours a day I sleep have no effect. I wake to the same tedium. I'm surrounded by morons." Henri was unavailable for comment, but in a statement from the museum, Braden said: "This is a great honour. I don't think I've ever purred this loudly!" Cat videos have been an online cult phenomenon for years, but the festival marked a rare opportunity for enthusiasts to view them as a group, rather than on a computer alone at home. "We received a little over 10,000 cat video nominations," including a remarkable number from Japan and Russia, from which 70 were selected for screening, festival curator Katie Hill said. "I knew cats were big in Japan, but I was less aware of the Russian influence on these trends. "From the French side of things, there were a lot of cat videos with French voice-overs narrating cat thoughts or words — thought I'm not sure if they were all actually coming from French video-makers." "Henri 2, Paw de Deux" was a crowd-pleaser, Hill said, because it had all the elements of a winning cat video: "The importance of form and content working together within the video, an adorable cat star and the element of surprise." Established in 1927, the Walker Art Centre is seen as one of the most prestigious modern art museums in the United States, ranked alongside the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York. — AFP-Relaxnews

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Microgreens more nutritious than mature plants Posted: 01 Sep 2012 03:51 AM PDT Some microgreens have more nutrients than mature plants, says a new study. – shutterstock.com LOS ANGELES, Sept 1 – Those tender baby microgreens used to garnish plates in fine dining restaurants aren't just for decoration. Instead of pushing them to the side, new research suggests tucking in after finding that some species of trendy seedlings pack a more powerful nutritional punch than mature plants. Microgreens have become a trendy ingredient in the restaurant scene to add colour, texture and flavour to dishes, sometimes as a garnish and other times as an ingredient. Seedlings of spinach, lettuce and red cabbage are usually 2.5 cm to 8 cm in height and are harvested within 14 days of germination. Among the 25 microgreens analyzed, scientists found that the seedlings of red cabbage, cilantro, red garnet amaranth (a purple-hued plant) and green daikon radish had the highest concentrations of nutrients like ascorbic acids, carotenoids, phylloquinone or vitamin K, and tocopherols or vitamin E, all of which have antioxidant properties. The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry August 29. Red cabbage microgreens had the highest concentration of vitamin C, while green daikon radish microgreens were packed with the most vitamin E. Meanwhile, to prepare microgreens at home, Epicurious takes inspiration from acclaimed restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, renowned for foraging its ingredients, with a recipe for microgreens with a curry vinaigrette. Popular food blog Honest Cooking also suggests topping pizza with fresh microgreens for added texture, eating them as a salad, and adding them to sushi, wraps and sandwiches. – AFP/Relaxnews

Shisha smoking as bad as cigarettes, study finds Posted: 31 Aug 2012 11:57 PM PDT A shisha smoker may inhale the equivalent of 100 cigarettes' worth of smoke in a session.—Picture by Chubykin Arkady/Shutterstock.com PARIS, Sept 1 ― Water-pipe smoking is as bad as deeply inhaling cigarette smoke when it comes to causing respiratory problems, according to a study published on Thursday. Researchers led by Mohammad Hossein Boskabady at Masshad University of Medical Sciences in Iran monitored lung functions among 57 local water-pipe smokers, 30 deep-inhalation cigarette smokers and 51 normal-inhalation smokers. They also studied 44 non-smokers for a comparison. Wheezing occurred among 23 per cent of the water-pipe users, 30 per cent of the deep-inhalation and 21.6 per cent of normal-inhalation cigarette smokers, but only among 9.1 per cent of non-smokers. Coughing occurred among 21 per cent, 36.7 per cent and 19.6 per cent of the smoking groups, compared with 6.8 per cent of non-smokers, according to the probe, which measured smokers over three months in two consecutive years. Sputum production, meanwhile, was found in 14 per cent, 10 per cent, 3.9 per cent respectively among the various smoking groups, but among 6.8 per cent of the non-smoking group. The results, published in the peer-reviewed journal Respirology, added that a further scientific blow to the defenders of shisha who claim that water pipes are safer because they filter out tobacco toxins. The water pipe, often used with sweet or fruit-flavoured tobacco, is a centuries-old tradition in the Middle East but in recent years has become fashionable among young westerners, particularly women. "Our findings reveal that there were profound effects of water-pipe smoking on lung function values, which were similar to the effects observed in deep-inhalation cigarette smokers," Boskabady said in a press release. "Normal" inhalation cigarette smoking had less of an effect compared to the water pipe, but still contributed significantly to respiratory disorders, the paper stressed. According to a 2005 study by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO), water pipe smoke has high concentrations of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals, cancer-causing chemicals and potentially addictive levels of nicotine. Cigarette smokers typically take eight to 12 puffs over five to seven minutes, inhaling a total of 0.5 to 0.6 of a litre of smoke. In contrast, waterpipe sessions typically last 20-80 minutes, during which the smoker may take 50-20 puffs that each range from 0.15 to one litre each. "The waterpipe smoker may therefore inhale as much smoke during one session as a cigarette smoker would inhale consuming 100 or more cigarettes," the WHO said. The Iranian research used a gadget called a spirometer to measure how deeply smokers inhaled and retained the puff. "Normal" inhalers typically inhaled less than 10 per cent above a benchmark of lung inflation called tidal volume. For "deep" inhalers, it was typically more than 30 per cent, and for water-pipe smokers it was usually 40 per cent above tidal volume. — AFP/Relaxnews

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Overdue 78 years, Oscar Wilde book returns to US library Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:21 PM PDT A portrait photograph of Wilde, taken in 1882 by Napoleon Sarony. CHICAGO, Sept 1 — A Chicago-area woman wanted to return an overdue copy of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" to the Chicago Public Library, but first she wanted to be sure she would not go to jail. That was because the book, a rare limited edition of the Oscar Wilde novel, was checked out in 1934. Harlean Hoffman Vision found it in her late mother's possessions, with a Chicago Public Library stamp. The library is conducting a rare three-week amnesty programme for overdue items, and Vision figured this was her chance to return the book, said Ruth Lednicer, the library's marketing director. The books was returned Thursday. "She kept saying, 'You're not going to arrest me?' and we said, 'No, we're so happy you brought it back'," said Lednicer. Vision did not know the library caps late fines at US$10 (RM32) on books — without the cap and the amnesty, total fines on "Dorian Gray" would have amounted to US$6,000. The last amnesty was held 20 years ago, and resulted in the return of 77,000 items. — Reuters

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Adnan: Isu bahan kimia di lombong emas hanya propaganda pembangkang Posted: 01 Sep 2012 02:24 AM PDT ALOR SETAR, 1 Sept — Mentri Besar Pahang Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob menyifatkan isu penggunaan bahan kimia sianida di lombong emas di Bukit Koman, Raub, Pahang, yang didakwa sebagai punca penyakit kulit kepada penduduk hanya merupakan propaganda pembangkang. Beliau berkata perkara itu mempunyai kaitan dengan pihak tertentu yang gagal mendapatkan projek tersebut dan parti pembangkang, iaitu DAP, turut mengambil kesempatan terhadap isu berkenaan. Namun, katanya Timbalan Pengerusi DAP, Dr Tan Seng Giaw (yang juga seorang doktor penyakit kulit) turut mengakui bahawa tidak terdapat bukti kukuh penduduk Bukit Koman dijangkiti penyakit kulit akibat pencemaran bahan kimia tersebut. "Ini satu propaganda yang direka oleh parti DAP sahaja. Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia yang melakukan kajian di Bukit Koman telah mengesahkan tiada sebarang punca penyakit kulit ditemui. "Kerajaan negeri menjalankan kajian mengenai perakara tersebut dari semasa ke semasa bagi memantau tahap kesihatan di kawasan perlombongan emas itu," katanya, yang juga Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Pahang kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan Persidangan Perwakilan Umno Bahagian Pokok Sena dekat sini hari ini. Naib Pengerusi Kumpulan Anti-Sianida (ACG) Sherly Hue sebelum ini turut mengakui gagal mengemukakan bukti bahawa sianida di lombong emas itu punca penyakit di kalangan penduduk. Sementara itu, Adnan secara sinis berkata kerajaan negeri mengalu-alukan cadangan untuk mengadakan Himpunan Hijau di Bukit Koman. Laporan sebelum ini menyebut pembangkang bercadang mengadakan perhimpunan bagi menghalang pihak pelombong dari terus beroperasi selepas kononnya aktiviti pelombongan itu menyebabkan penduduk terdedah kepada penyakit kulit. "Demonstrasi itu dapat membantu kerajaan negeri dalam pelancongan dan idea saya mengenai galakan 'demotourism' berjaya," katanya. Mengenai politik, Adnan menyaran Umno Kedah khususnya di kawasan Parlimen Pokok Sena agar menumpukan kepada soal kebajikan rakyat. Katanya jika soal kebajikan rakyat diambil berat oleh Umno, sudah pasti kerajaan negeri (Kedah) yang dikuasai pembangkang dapat kembali kepada Umno dan Barisan Nasional pada pilihan raya umum akan datang.  — Bernama

NGO: Golongan Sindrom Down perlukan sekolah khas Posted: 01 Sep 2012 02:01 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 1 Sept — Sebuah sekolah khusus untuk kanak-kanak Sindrom Down perlu ditubuhkan bagi membantu perkembangan golongan istimewa itu sekali gus membolehkan mereka menjalani kehidupan seperti orang lain. Ketika membuat cadangan itu, Presiden Persatuan Sindrom Down Malaysia (PSDM) Wan Hanizan Wan Ramlan berkata penubuhan sekolah berkenaan perlu disegerakan sama ada oleh pihak kerajaan atau swasta. Beliau berkata kanak-kanak Sindom Down memerlukan pendekatan tersendiri daripada segi rohani, jasmani, pendidikan serta penjagaan kesihatan. Wan Hanizan menarik perhatian bahawa pusat-pusat jagaan khas yang diwujudkan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan sekarang menempatkan golongan istimewa seperti mereka yang buta dan pekak serta penghidap Sindrom Down dan Autisme di bawah satu bumbung, dan ini, menurutnya, adalah sesuatu yang tidak wajar. "Respons setiap Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) kepada satu-satu perkara berbeza. Sebab itu mereka (goongan Sindrom Down) perlu ada sekolah sendiri supaya mudah untuk pantau dan tahu kesannya kepada perkembangan mereka," katanya lagi. Selain itu, Wan Hanizan mencadangkan supaya syarikat-syarikat konsesi tol membuka peluang kepada golongan OKU, termasuk penghidap Sindrom Down, untuk berkerja sebagai juruwang di plaza tol. "Bagi tiket satu kerja mudah dan patut bagi peluang itu kepada orang Sindrom Down yang 'high function', selain daripada orang sihat dan sempurna kerana kalau tidak sampai bila-bila pun mereka tak boleh kerja," katanya. Bagaimanapun, Wan Hanizan berkata keluarga terutama ibu bapa perlu terlebih dahulu membuang perasaan takut atau bimbang untuk melepaskan anak-anak istimewa mereka bekerja. Menurutnya, dianggarkan terdapat 50,000 individu Sindrom Down di seluruh negara ketika ini dengan satu kes Sindrom Down bagi setiap 800 kelahiran. —Bernama

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Question of time for Reds and Rodgers Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:08 PM PDT SEPT 1 ― Liverpool fans have endured so many false dawns in the last few years, they'd be excused for refusing to trust the daily emergence of the sun as it rises over the horizon. It's now 22 years since the famous Anfield club last lifted the English championship trophy ― it wasn't even called the English Premier League back in those days ― and, although there has been a smattering of cup success in the intervening period, a return to domestic supremacy is the prize that the global legion of Reds supporters value more highly than anything else. There have been plenty of unfulfilled promises over the last couple of decades, starting in the mid-Nineties when Roy Evans assembled a stylish team based around the fabulous goalscoring powers of Robbie Fowler, but the team couldn't finish any higher than third. Then came Gerard Houllier, who capitalised on the goals of Michael Owen to lead the Reds to a memorable cup treble in 2001 (League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup) and a second-placed Premier League finish the following year. But he still couldn't clinch the ultimate prize. Next up was Rafa Benitez ― and when the canny Spaniard secured the European Champions League at the end of his first season with that unforgettable penalty shoot-out victory over AC Milan, hopes were raised for a return to the glory years. Although Benitez came close in 2009, finishing in second place four points behind Manchester United, his reign ultimately flattered to deceive, and the long wait for the elusive championship continued. Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish made no progress whatsoever during their brief spells in charge (quite the reverse, if anything), so now the latest man in the hot seat is young and ambitious Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers, lured from Swansea this summer despite having just one season of Premier League management under his belt. Rodgers's first League game in charge a fortnight ago was nothing short of a disaster as his new team were reduced to 10 men and suffered a 3-0 drubbing at West Bromwich Albion, causing the knee-jerk reactionaries amongst the fan base to bemoan the appointment of such an inexperienced boss. Last weekend, though, hope was restored with an exciting and high-quality performance against reigning champions Manchester City, which only failed to be rewarded with a famous and deserved victory after a late defensive error by Martin Skrtel gifted an equaliser to Carlos Tevez. Will Rodgers be the man to return Liverpool to the summit of English football, or will this prove to be yet another false start? It's far too early to say, of course, and only time will tell ― assuming that "time" is an ingredient that Liverpool will be prepared to grant to their new manager. And that is an absolutely fundamental point to remember. Liverpool's owners and fans must constantly remind themselves of this crucial point: it will take time ― potentially a very long time ― for the Reds to win the Premier League title. There is no way it can happen this season, and almost certainly not next season either. There is a lot of work to be done and the financial gulf between Liverpool and their would-be title rivals ― the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea ― is so great that it's not really fair to even suggest that Rodgers should be challenging for the title. Instead, relative success would be a consistent return to the top four and the knockout stages of the Champions' League. The ongoing decline of this weekend's opponents, Arsenal, has presented a genuine opportunity for that to become a realistic ambition for Liverpool. But it will not be quick or easy because Rodgers is intent on instilling an entirely new footballing philosophy at Anfield ― and that process takes time (yes that word "time" again). Immediate success occurs occasionally, but only very rarely ― especially when the team concerned finds itself so far from competing for honours as Liverpool are now. Most famously, Sir Alex Ferguson failed to win the title with Manchester United until he'd been in charge at Old Trafford for nearly seven years. And at Barcelona, the seeds for the recent achievements of home-grown talent playing in a specific style were sown way back in the 1990s by Johan Cruyff, and only started to bear fruit more than a decade later. Considering the demands for instant gratification that prevail in contemporary life, it's almost unthinkable that Rodgers will be given that long in charge at Anfield if he fails to land the big one, but the general point is inescapable: long-term success takes time. For now, Liverpool fans should be prepared to completely write off this season's results. A new style of play and a new set of players are bound to lead to inconsistent outcomes in the short-term, and there will be more afternoons like the one endured at West Brom before Liverpool truly find their feet under Rodgers. All that can be expected is a gradual year-on-year improvement. This season, poor results should be excused if there is a discernible development in terms of the playing philosophy and tactical approach. Next season is the time to start to judge results ― but only small improvements should be expected or demanded. Only then, when Rodgers has enjoyed two full seasons in charge to instil his philosophy and develop his own squad to execute it, would it be fair to increase expectations towards Champions League qualification. But the question is this: will Liverpool and their fans be prepared to wait until 2015 before they start to see Rodgers deliver significant results? If they have the long-term interests of the club at heart and they can perceive small improvements along the way, they should. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

The Beach Boys magic Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT SEPT 1 ― There's something special about the letter "B" when it comes to band names in pop and rock 'n' roll. For normal pop and rock 'n' roll fans, The Beatles and The Beach Boys are obvious touchstones. For power poppers like me, there are even more touchstones to add to the two, with Big Star and Badfinger being the most prominent examples. When you're crazy about bands this old (and you're as young as me, haha!), you just take it as an accepted fact that you will probably never get to see them with your very eyes, especially when you're way out here in Asia. There's practically no chance now for me to ever see The Beatles, Big Star and Badfinger live as their key members are all gone now. And with The Beach Boys having already lost two of the Wilson brothers in tragic dreamer Dennis and the angel voiced Carl, I've long given up hope that I will ever get to see them live as well, especially considering the rifts between the surviving members of the band which resulted in various incarnations and lawsuits pertaining to the use of the Beach Boys name for live shows. So I truly considered it a miracle when out of the blue, all the surviving members of The Beach Boys united to release a new album, "That's Why God Made The Radio", earlier this year and then announced a world tour to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. Even more of a miracle is the fact that they announced that Singapore would be one of their stops. So, even though the concert was on August 22, 2012, which was the fourth day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, there was never a doubt in my mind that this was a concert that I would never want to miss, even if I had to limp to go see it. Everyone knows how big a deal the Raya holiday is, so I'm truly thankful that my mom knows me well enough to know that The Beach Boys have been a huge part of my life and didn't make a single fuss when I told her that my Raya holiday at home this year would have to be cut short by my need to see Messrs Brian Wilson and co. There was another show happening the same night in Singapore as well, with 80s legends New Order. So even though I expected that there will be a drop in turnout because of that, I was still frankly shocked to see how few people turned up to see what's probably a once in a lifetime chance to see such a giant of a legend like The Beach Boys live in concert with a lot of the key members still there in the line-up. This being their 50th anniversary and also the first time they've made their way here, it's surely very unlikely that another concert will come anytime soon, especially since the band members are probably now in their 70s already. The audience was mostly made up of older people decked in Hawaiian shirts, obviously fans from the band's 1960s heyday, and it was fun listening to their conversations, mostly recalling moments when they first or last heard or saw the band. Knowing how old The Beach Boys are now, I've significantly lowered my expectations when it comes to their trademark vocal harmonies. I've already kind of expected that their backing band would be a monstrously tight one, the backbone of which consists of power pop geniuses The Wondermints alongside many other familiar names in the power pop scene like the honey-voiced Jeffrey Foskett, percussionist Nelson Bragg, keyboardist Scott Bennett and former drummer of The Cowsills and Tommy Tutone, John Cowsill. But right from the start it was just hair raising how beautiful the Boys' harmonies still are. Launching into "Surfer Girl" very early on in their set, I felt like a helpless little girl listening to the wondrous blend of their voices, and "Surfer Girl" is not even in my top tier of favourite Beach Boys songs. All in, I think they played around 50 songs that night, with some of them medleys of course. Highlights would surely be Pet Sounds era songs like "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "God Only Knows", "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" and established classics like "Good Vibrations", "Heroes And Villains" and of course their classic and car and surf songs like "I Get Around", "Don't Worry Baby" and "Surfin' USA". My true favourite moments though, were when they surprisingly went into deeper album cuts, songs that were never made singles and were therefore not 'hits', but which I personally think are extraordinarily beautiful. "Please Let Me Wonder" from their album "Today!" is one of my all time favourites, and was given a stunning rendition that almost left me in tears. Same goes for "Kiss Me, Baby", "Darlin", "Wendy" and "This Whole World", a gorgeous gem from their 1970s era that deserves to be better known. The sight of Brian Wilson looking incredibly tired and quite unwell on stage was quite a sad one to witness, but the undeniable songs and the obvious joy of everyone onstage made all of us forget for a while how exhausted these old dudes must be feeling to go on a world tour and perform 50 songs a night. It was surely the most magical concert that I've ever been to, and one that I'm unlikely to ever forget. Thank you, Boys! * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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