Life

More hospitals have joined a global breastfeeding scheme and want to help new mothers get started as soon as possible. Such early support is crucial as breastfeeding can be hard at first and the challenges that mothers may face in the first few days or weeks can discourage them. Please subscribe or log in to […]

I believe in holistic well-being. There really is no shortcut to looking fabulous. You have to listen to your body, work hard at keeping fit, rest well and take care of your skin and hair. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Learn more about ST PREMIUM. Enjoy unlimited access to […]

If Merdeka were an essay, I would give it an A+ for diligence and smarts. As a play, I would grade it a qualified B, as there are gaps in characterisation, which is sometimes given up in favour of information dumping. The dumping is deftly packaged as entertainment. For newcomers to the lesser known aspects […]

What do immigrants from China do when they transplant themselves thousands of miles from their homeland to settle in South-east Asia? They bring along their musical cultures, mostly through oral tradition, create their own instruments and pass these down to succeeding generations. That is how musical heritage survives or risks being forgotten altogether. Over the […]

Some young readers of the classic Nancy Drew mysteries may find themselves banned by their parents from watching the new television version. It is darker and more adult than the wholesome books – and the scrappy girl detective has sex. “The show’s not necessarily designed for 12-year-olds,” says executive producer Stephanie Savage, who developed the […]

LONDON • Legendary Hollywood actor Robert De Niro revealed he had occasionally used the so-called “animal exercise” in which actors channel an animal to play a character. In a wide-ranging question-and-answer event at the London Film Festival last Friday, he was bombarded with queries from several budding actors looking for tips on his fabled performances. […]

Find a good job, get married and have kids. The typical Singapore narrative is challenged in Permanence, Gina Chew’s tragicomic exploration of love, sex and domesticity which has been restaged after its premiere two years ago. Under Mitchell Fang’s judicious direction, past and present collide in a sort of theatrical tango between two pairs of […]

BEIJING • Would you buy a pair of chopsticks used by singer Kris Wu, a drinking glass used by singer Will Pan or wet wipes used by actress Angelababy? These items were offered for auction online last week after the trio dined last Wednesday at a hotpot restaurant in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, HK01 news website […]

NEW YORK • Robert Forster, whose role as a bail bondsman in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown (1997) earned him an Oscar nomination and who was acclaimed for his tough-guy appearances in Breaking Bad (2008 to 2013), died last Friday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 78. The cause was brain cancer, said Ms […]

The first thing financial analyst Evelyn Koh Ai-Ping learnt when she started breastfeeding her first son seven months ago was that it was not as easy as she had thought. She had prepared for it by signing up for an antenatal class conducted by well-known lactation consultant Wong Boh Boi. Please subscribe or log in […]

In the seven years since Singapore welcomed its first geriatric and special needs dentist, more has been done to cater to the oral care needs of the frail elderly, though there is a clear need for even more dentists with such training as the population ages. Today, there are five dentists who are trained in […]

If you think brushing your teeth hard helps keep them clean, think again. Brushing teeth too aggressively over a prolonged period can cause gums to recede. It is one of the changes in the mouth that can accompany ageing. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Learn more about ST PREMIUM. […]

A botched wisdom tooth removal is not commonly heard of, but it can kill taste, sensation in the mouth and even affect speech, say experts. Last week, a former head chef whose taste buds were compromised following a botched wisdom tooth extraction was awarded $105,000 for job loss, pain and suffering. Please subscribe or log […]

I may be at risk of revealing my age, but it did not seem too long ago that Singaporeans aspired to have the five Cs. For the benefit of the slightly younger generation, the five Cs refer to having ready cash, a condominium, a credit card, a car and a country club membership. These were […]

Former Mediacorp actor Jeff Wang may have left the local entertainment scene close to 10 years ago, but the 42-year-old is still popular. On a recent trip back to Singapore from Taiwan, Wang, who is Taiwanese, told The Straits Times with a laugh: “A lot of people tell me they watched me growing up. I […]

LOS ANGELES • Ms Shannon McGrew admits she has had it a little easier than other women establishing her chops as an online film critic. Unlike some of her contemporaries, she said, “I have not received death threats.” But during her nearly five years as a critic of horror movies on her own website, Nightmarish […]

Japanese conductor-composer-harpsichordist-organist Masato Suzuki was last heard with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in Poulenc’s Organ Concerto, conducted by his father, Masaaki Suzuki. Last Friday, the younger Suzuki led the SSO in a programme with music linked to Leipzig, the early capital of Western classical music. Singapore-based pianist Albert Tiu joined them in two showpieces […]

CHENGDU • Crowds in a Chinese eatery ignore their drinks to gather adoringly around four fluffy white ducks, phones poised ready for pictures, at the latest addition to China’s growing list of popular animal cafes. Hey! We Go, a cafe in the centre of the south-western city of Chengdu, is proving perfect fodder for the […]

Singapore artist Goh Beng Kwan may be 82 years old, but he says he feels more in tune with colours and pigments than ever. The Cultural Medallion recipient, who is known for his abstract painting-collages, shows little sign of slowing down and has released a book which catalogues his work and charts the highlights of […]

A performer cannot hide on Wild Rice’s new thrust stage at Funan mall. He is surrounded on three sides by audience members who can literally reach out and touch him. But then, by the same token, audience members too cannot hide in the usual dark anonymity of a proscenium arch theatre. And therein lies the […]

For the longest time, people have been told that the best way to keep their teeth in tip-top condition is to go for twice-a-year dental check-ups, but this has changed. Although this advice remains common, there are now dentists who advise less frequent visits for those who have good oral health. Those who have dental […]

I am an addictions psychiatrist who chose to go into this field, partly because my father died from smoking-related lung cancer. He could have lived longer and enjoyed better quality of life if he had kicked the habit. As such, I am pretty much an advocate of saying no to smoking and helping those with […]

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has been taking heat for his new food-and-travel show ever since it was announced in June last year. Even before filming began, some critics felt the premise of the show Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted smacked of cultural appropriation and imperialism. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Learn […]

Crescent Girls’ School student Amritha Devaraj has been an avid fan of xinyao singer-songwriter Jimmy Ye for years, so when her Higher Chinese teacher encouraged her to sign up with friends for a national xinyao competition last year, she seized the opportunity. Amritha, now 16, performed at the National Schools Xinyao Singing and Songwriting Competition […]

NEW YORK • It was late one afternoon in spring this year and Madison Square Garden’s 19,000 seats were empty as Billy Joel and Lang Lang began jamming on stage. Pop’s piano man had invited the superstar classical pianist to make a guest appearance at his sold-out April show and they were rehearsing a duet […]

NEW YORK • She was picked from 200 candidates at a 1986 audition. On Friday, Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse for more than three decades, died. She was 75. Taylor, who was prone to giggles just like the character she voiced, captured the heart and sound of Mickey Mouse’s counterpart on television, in […]

Hong Kong singer Sammi Cheng pulled out all the stops, including a heavy metal segment where she head-banged and drummed to the tune of The Power Of Love, with underground band Tie Shu Lan. She concluded her run of 13 shows for the Hong Kong opener of her FollowMi tour on Saturday, with guest stars, […]

TAIPEI • Jimmy Wang Yu once slayed box-office opponents as the One-Armed Swordsman (1967) on screen. The actor went on to introduce the martial arts genre of movies with The Chinese Boxer (1970). For his ground-breaking efforts, Yu, now 76, will be honoured with a lifetime achievement prize on Nov 23 at the Golden Horse […]

NEW YORK • The 1976 movie Rocky and its sequels made Sylvester Stallone a box-office knockout. But few know that the actor, now 73, lost the fight in one area – he does not have an equity stake in the lucrative franchise, including the Creed and Creed II spin-offs. In an interview with trade publication […]

HONG KONG • Nicholas Tse, who has lately helmed cooking shows, now hopes to whip up another feast for the eyes – on movie screens. He is reuniting with actor Donnie Yen after 14 years to shoot a thriller called Raging Fire. It marks a return to action movies after stints in films such as […]