Singapore is that little dot of an island at the southern tip of Malaysia. It is well known for its clean, green garden city image, its chilli crab, its super efficient system and.... as the sharp tongued and super sacarstic Sue Sylvester had spouted in Glee , " ask anyone who safely walked the immaculate sidewalks of Singapore after winning an international cheerleading competition and they'll tell you one thing; CANING WORKS." . Yes, thanks to Michael Fay,the fame of our strict jurisdiction often precedes us and I am sure the world is going to hear more about us in the coming weeks as the system grapples with another high profile vandalism case.
For those who have not heard, some arse-iching fellows had decided to challenge the system and possibly showcase their artistic talents by breaking into our subway depot and spray painted 2 carriages with bold colourful graffitti. The duo, a Swiss National working as a business consultant in Singapore and a British guy will be charged with trespass and vandalism.The Swiss guy is now out on bail while the other British guy is still at large. This incident sparked off some very active debates over how these guys should be charged. Some argued that they should not be caned because the graffiti they sprayed on were actually quite artistic... but I doubt that the beauty of the artwork would be powerful enough to move the judges to show clemency. In fact, in terms of the counts of offenses, they probably are in deeper waters than Michael Fay.
When the news broke, I remember thinking to myself - these guys are blatantly telling the world that they want to be caned -surely the whole world must know that vandals get caned in Singapore! Then, there came more speculation of their 'art' - apparently the graffiti bore the signature of Mckoy Banos. Mckoy Banos are the stamp of 2 'artists' notorious for spray painting trains all over the world ... like some modern day Zorro who goes around tagging their mark on trains.... the good deed?... to bring art closer to the heartland?... a bit of a stretch, I guess. Nevertheless, this adds on a fascinating dimension to this case. It is still unclear if this duo is the real 'Mckoy' but I am already envisioning the headlines... 'Mckoy Banos Caught & Caned In Singapore' - that would be a blast! I am waiting with bated breath to see how our 'art-loving' judges would rule this controversial case when it opens for trial on 21st June.
In the mean time, I am trying to create a little graffiti in my own kitchen... What a feat! Didn't know that it could be so difficult to create pleasing graffiti in a cup cake! I had wanted to create some abstract swirls using raspberry and blueberry puree... and ended up with lame sputters of colour instead.
Well, all the best to the graffiti artists, I will be devouring my cupcakes while I wait for the verdict...
Recipe :
150g Cake Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
170g Sugar
115g Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
125g Milk
Raspberry Puree
Blueberry Puree
Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter at low speed until white and creamy.
4. Add sugar a tbsp at a time to butter and continue to mix until dissolved.
5. Add Vanilla extract.
6. Add beaten egg in a slow drizzle while mixing the creamed butter.
7. Add flour and milk in alternate portions.
8. Half fill mold / cupcake casing with batter.
9. Scoop 1/4 tsp of Raspberry Puree and 1/4 tsp of Blueberry puree over batter. Continue to fill up mold with batter. With a tooth pick / skewer, swirl the batter to disperse the puree.
10. Bake for 20mins at 180C.
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