“Let There Be Light”

I almost never have a word of praise for the Straits Times.

However, the special report on the Singapore Energy Story authored by Alphonsus Chern in the Straits Times Saturday special (published 8 November 2008) was really a class act.

The text wasn’t so great, but the pictures were awesome. So there is at least some competence in the photojournalism department at our local paper.

Separately, I’ve always felt that the quality of journalism is markedly better when it appears that the reporters for the stories have passion for the areas in which they write in. Notable local examples of these are the reporters for the Digital Life supplement (clearly better than the average Straits Times journalist), and some writers for the food and dining sections.

Returning to the article on energy, for further reading into alternative energy, I recommend Earth, the Sequel (3-stars). It’s not exhaustively researched, it’s a little partisan, and there’s clearly a political agenda behind the book. But it is recently published, offers a broad sweep of the new alternative energy ideas out there, and is just a really interesting read.