Being Chinese in ethnicity and Singaporean by nationality, I identify with all ethnic Chinese, Japanese, Koreans who were born or grew up away from the country of their forebearers. Thus, my emotions varied as I read today’s papers.

In sports, Takuma Sato becomes the first Japanese to make it to an F1 podium in over a decade, a truly respectable feat considering the recent dominance of Ferrari. After seeing Sato in action at the Nuerburgring race in Germany and seeing him drop out of the race after gunning for second place, to finally read about his accomplishments in today’s papers is virtual carthasis. There’s an overwhelming sense of pride to see a non-Caucasian man on the podium.

In entertainment, however, William Hung continues to disgust me with his absolutely insulting rising star. Today’s Life! section has a little bit about how Hung will co-star in a recently announced Hong Kong comedy. This news, of course, is riding on the back of the brouhaha about Hung’s appearance at a local charity event later in the year. What has William Hung done to deserve all this financial investment into his infamy? It is bad enough that he has made an absolute fool of himself on the international stage, but to use that as the platform for drawing foolish “fans” in, is downright pathetic. Is it not bad enough that his gosh-awful album is actually generating sales in Singapore that we have to fly him in, pay him a (most likely exorbitant) sum to perform alongside local comedic talent in what is being promoted as a charity concert?

Have we become so desperate that we rely on a talentless hack to draw money for charity in Singapore?

To his credit, of course, the blame cannot rest solely on him. His father and agent is undoubtedly responsible for milking every last cent from his son’s infamy. Likewise, everyone who has contributed to the Hung phenomenon, including local music shops who brought in his album in the thousands, and those who bought them is responsible for making a mockery of talent and good taste.