吃饱撑着

"Keep the administrative procedures simple"

2011-11-26T12:34:00.001+08:00

So, it is really no big deal, it is just 14 million dollars that is spent to subsidize foreigners on medical bills.
Q: And why can't we stop subsidizing them and spend this 14 millions on needy Singaporeans?
e.g. those those old folks that cannot decide if they want their "three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant" (google this if you do not understand what i meant)
A: Oh, applying standard medical subsidies for Singaporeans and non is to "Keep the administrative procedures simple"
This definitely justifies the 14 millions dollars spent.

I am sure we can take a step further by simplifying the administrative procedures for conscripting youths into the armed forces.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_736369.html

"Foreigners make up 18 per cent of the 780,000-plus Accident and Emergency (A&E) patients treated at public hospitals each year, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong in Parliament on Monday. But government subsidies given to foreigner A&E patients at $14 million yearly is less than 1 per cent of the annual $2.2 billion government subsidies given to public hospitals, he added.

Mr Gan gave these figures in response to parliamentary questions from Tampines Group Representation Constituency Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng on the reasons behind the government practice of providing subsidies for all A&E patients, regardless of their nationality.

In his reply, Mr Gan said those seeking A&E treatment in public hospitals pay a flat attendance fee but get a 50 per cent subsidy, regardless of their nationality.

The reason is to keep the administrative procedures simple given that A&E departments serve patients with critical, life-threatening medical conditions or require emergency attention, he added"

Long term capacity

2011-11-26T12:20:00.002+08:00

In my line of trade, I implement and design IT systems for my customers. One fundamental question which never failed to be discussed and debated over is "how many users are you expecting to be using the system over the next 5 years", a.k.a. capacity planning.

But it seems that, for our policy makers who are over-seeing 'systems' that are directly impacting hundreds and thousands of lives, this simple thought never actually crossed their mind. I find it hard to believe they lack such basic sensitivity over an item that, to me, comes right out of a book like 'Urban Planning for Dummies'.

Or they chose to ignore it? over things like cost-effectiveness or basic dollars and sense. Is every living and breathing commuter that passes through the transportation system tagged with a certain statistic that is directly linked to the profit and loss chart of the transportation companies?

Now that the trains are bursting at their seams and noses pressed against train doors, they finally decided that it is time to 'consider' adding capacity.
" two-car trains were being considered as part of a review of the long-term capacity needs of this system"?

So, all along the policy makers were not looking at long-term capacity of when they started to dump millions of dollars into building houses and train stations?

Then why are we dumping millions of dollars to get these people to be in-charge?

http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_737088.html

"To address overcrowding on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT system, the Government is considering converting the current one-car system to a two-car one.

This will allow more passengers to board the LRT, especially during the morning peak periods.

Minister of State (Transport) Josephine Teo said this in response to a question from Dr Janil Puthucheary (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) on whether the Land Transport Authority was working with LRT operator, SBS Transit, to implement two-car trains on the Sengkang LRT system.

Mrs Teo said two-car trains were being considered as part of a review of the long-term capacity needs of this system"

You call this 'more protection'?

2011-11-26T11:54:00.003+08:00

The way I see it, this is nothing more than a tweak in the administrative process. It is the same pool of retirement fund that you have built up, nothing more nothing less, just a tiny bit more control over how you can now administer - ironically - your very own money.

To families with children with special needs who are already struggling to make ends meet and seeing their CPF depleting away for the roof over their head, I am not sure how this kind of half baked policy is going to further protect them?

one thing for sure, in the ivory towers, there are no such families.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_736604.html

"The CPF Board is stepping in to help provide a measure of financial security to children with special needs, when their parents are no longer around to care for them.

This will be done through a new Special Needs Savings Scheme (SNSS), through which parents can arrange to have their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings disbursed in monthly payouts to their disabled offspring after their deaths

The scheme was one of several changes to the CPF Act passed by Parliament on Monday

Usually, the savings of a CPF member who dies are distributed to his nominees as a lump sum.

Working

2011-09-16T12:58:00.001+08:00

My work desk for the day.

Healthy lifestyle

2010-04-07T14:18:00.001+08:00

You know you are heading towards the right direction when the fruits
bought after lunch cost more than the lunch itself.

Views

2010-04-07T00:59:00.001+08:00

Not the sight i get to see when i need that break from work. But i do

envy my colleague for the open spaces and touches of rivers amidst the

mangled mess of cold concrete buildings right out of his window.

I don't even sit near to a window ... but if i bother to look out of one, this is what greets me......

One army, 2 systems

2009-09-03T09:03:00.001+08:00

Remember how you were screwed upside down by your enciks when you
wore that paper thin vest under your no.4 to ease the prickiness and
moist that make you so uncomfortable under the hot sun?

It seems to be ok to do so now, judging from what i see on national
TV, during an interview on morning prime time. Pardon the poor
quality of the pics. It represent the kind of examplary conduct we
are seeing.

Golden words.....

2009-02-07T12:17:00.002+08:00

About a year and a half back, MM Lee said that we are in a 'golden period' which can 'stretch out over many years', 'If there are no wars or oil crises'. Words of wisdom I must say......except that he forgot to add 'if there are no subprime crisis' and look at the state we are in now?

And now, he is confident that we can 'weather the storm'.... oh no....

Integration

2009-02-07T00:29:00.005+08:00

So... the gahment is going to setup a National Integration Council to 'integrate new immigrants' as reported in reports here and here.

Don't understand, even in jia lard times like this they still can think of such money wasting ideas to create more job... hmm wait... create more job? ok it is not such a bad idea after all then. But I still don't know why we are so hard up to get them 'integrated'? For a start, what is the definition of being 'integrated'? they can speak good singlish? or they can share a same piece of memory of this land (good or bad) that we have for the last few decades?

Actually I have a better idea, that is to get all the new male immigrants to start serving NS, go for their yearly obligatory IPPT , ICT blah blah. This will serve a few purposes, firstly the new immigrants will join in the cursing session of the bloody gahment over tea break easily and bond with the locals in no time ("#$%@, fail my 2.4 again, must go RT liao .... dunno want to geng or not", "$#%@ waste my bloody time, every year call me back, now economy so bad...."). Secondly, the local boys will not be so resentful about the new immigrants freeloading on this country's sound military defence framework, supported largely by the poor boys all these years, which will make a positive impact towards welcoming the newbies.

How about the female new immigrants? They can now share the pain of our wonderful spouses who have been quietly shouldering the sacred duty of nation building all these while.......
"Er Boss, I cannot take the conference call tonight as I need to fetch my kids from the childcare centre.... my hubby is away on ICT...."

see? what National Integration Council?? Just make everyone suffer together and we will see true integration happen....

lunch

2008-11-17T13:32:00.002+08:00

the late morning downpour that did not show any signs of stopping signalled that I am in for another round of unhealthy lunch treat again. After 2 rounds of KFC meals last week, I originally wanted to have fish soup at the foodcourt to breakout of the vicious fastfood cycle but unable to get a seat as the wet weather is keeping every one in. In the end....... Another round of fast food.

live from indoor stadium....BEYOND LIVE 2008

2008-11-08T20:04:00.000+08:00

with wifey at this old school canto rock band concert. Times must be real bad, our cheapest balcony tics got 'promoted' to a terrece seat, very likely due to lousy sales.
The gals are at home, under the care of granny. Show gonna start soon....

Assortative mating

2008-10-25T18:25:00.004+08:00

MM Lee was repeating his same old story of how Asia will emerge stronger after this crisis at some Summit. I am really impressed by his insightful visions of the 'golden years' and the growth we can expect in this region except being a little puzzled why his visions simply chose to exclude foreseeing the financial crisis that hit us.

Anyway I didn't know why the news editor has decided to add in something totally irrelevant to the same news article that totally tipped the focus. The concluding paragraphs of that news article goes like this :

On a lighter note, the Minister Mentor touched on what he calls assortative mating, that is, finding a spouse at your level - something he strongly believes in.

He said: "I have explained this. I think I lost votes after I explained the awful truth. Nobody believed it, but slowly it dawned on them, especially the graduates, that yes, you marry a non-graduate, then you worry about whether or not your son or daughter is going to make it to the university.

I am no population genetics expert to start a discussion on 'assortative mating', but from a perspective of a human being, I can only say that , to me, such feudalism thinking goes against very basic values like respect and love for a fellow human. I am not surprise, that's how we are in his eyes, numbers, statistics, grads or non grads, merely figures that he took into consideration when he is meticulously designing and implementing his social engineering project to create his efficient yet emotionless system.

But then, ultimately, whether our sons or daughters can make it to the university is very largely dependent on how many scholarships are being given away to foreigners' sons and daughters.

Oh, and I better double check the education level of my parents, all along I have this impression that they only received primary school education but with all their kids being university grads, something must be wrong somewhere. Of course not MM Lee, he cannot be wrong.

怡乐千

2008-10-24T22:52:00.005+08:00

[source:www.everystockphoto]

I think the gahment is right, we are running out of local talents, why else is the mediacorp so busy and enthusiastic to come up with so many crappy collaboration projects with overseas (or rather over-straits-of-johor) actors and actresses?
I hate to be politically correct but I think a disclaimer now is appropriate: I personally find their accent abit overwhelming BUT the real issue here is most of them are speaking outright broken mandarin. And with such crappy verbal expression, it turns every episode of the show into a comedy and the actors/actresses into comedians.

However the biggest joke here is actually our "Speak Mandarin Campaign"..... I wonder how by banning those wonderful dialect shows with properly spoken Cantonese or Hokkien but yet allowing those lousy broken mandarin on TV helps us to"To improve communication and understanding amongst Chinese Singaporeans. "???

Anyway we Singaporeans probably deserve such insults to our media intelligence, after all we voted bands that cannot sing, cannot play music instruments, cannot harmonize as the champion in a nation-wide band competition..... TWICE in a row. And if that isn't enough, we even have crappy host that cannot even differentiate the words 'yu' 鱼 and 'yi' 姨 and yet is still hosting show after show as if Singapore is really lacking in ah bengs that CAN speak decent mandarin.

You see it now? our local 怡乐千 is hopeless.

FX

2008-10-08T23:18:00.002+08:00

Forex is such a crazy trading mechanism, I made 1125.47 USD in 1/2 an hour (10.45 - 11.15 pm) just by following some simple textbook theory observing the charts plus a huge dose of speculative luck. Of course the leverage provided by the 50,000 USD plays a part in accumulating the spoils of the night.

But I am still very rational over the whole thing, firstly, this is just an demo account, which means the dollars are virtual. I did not batt an eyelid when I short 400k of USD against the Yen, something that would have weaken my heart and knees in real life.

testing....

2008-09-26T23:06:00.002+08:00

Blogging from my handphone. 科技的发达。。。究竟释放了你，还是捆绑着你？

Like that also can be MP?

2008-08-24T14:58:00.003+08:00

source of photo: Straits Times Interative, 23rd Aug 2008

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the outburst on national TV of the president Table Tennis association and MP of AMK GRC, Lee Bee Wah, over the absence of coaching assistance in one of the defeat of our ~~China~~Singapore player.

Really, I have serious doubt in the kind of talents that our PM has spotted. It is the kind of school boy (or girl) mistake that every entry level management literature teaches you: NEVER PUT YOUR TEAM MEMBER DOWN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE.

It seems that she is so eager to draw clear lines with the poor team manager which she attributed the fault to, narrating in explicit details of how she picked up the phone and gave a piece of her mind to THAT team manager who did not arrange for coach coverage. Well, it is probably in line with how the whole government works - "the buck has to stop somewhere"a.ka. the Minister of Home Affairs is not at fault when a top criminal pulled off a jail break.

But really, doing it in front of national TV is bad taste.
It stinks, like bad politics.

gullible

2008-08-18T14:07:00.004+08:00

Our PM must have always believe that Singaporeans are gullible, or maybe even stupid.

You see, in his national rally speech, again to brainwash us into believing that their FT scheme is the bitter pill to see us into a brighter future, he actually gave a crappy logic as follows:

"Said Mr Lee: 'China has 1.3 billion people, we have 4 million. Based on population, China would have to win 300 medals before Singapore has the chance to win a single medal. So we cannot rely on only local talent."

Now, if probability and statistic is a way to gauge how successful a country is, we may as well scrap the whole olympics and allocate the medals based on country sizes, 300 for china, 1 for singapore, 100 for the United States and so on.
I don't know who is lying but I ever heard that the success of our armed forces are not due to the hardware nor the equipment but the PEOPLE we have. We are small yet lethal...blah blah. Now our PM has just confirmed that, we better give up this losing battle as China has 1.3 billion people, we have 4 million, so no matter (just like sports) how good our training is , how good our people is, we cannot rely on only local talent. So shall we scrap NS? or import PLA into our army, or better still, surrender our sovereignty since we are so small beyond hope.

And is wining so important for you? Are we going to be replaced by the numerically superior people in time to come when we don't produce enough gold medals, world records, scholars, movie stars? Is that the message you have for us, to be 'one people, one nation, one singapore'??

Thanks PM Lee, you have made your point, loud and clear. I believe we will make ours in time to come too.

Thank you.

GO! Singapore Chinese Team

2008-08-18T13:16:00.004+08:00

The Olympic council can set all kinds of rules that allow a ~~mercenary~~ foreigner-turned-citizen to be legally allowed to represent their adopted country but like a romance gone awfully wrong, you can win the race, the medal and almost everything else, except pride and the heart of those.... who still has a heart.

So what if 'Other countries' are doing the same thing? if we want to compare, I will start with the salary of our ministers.

I have no problem that a China born citizen represent Singapore in any races, but the pre-condition of him or her becoming one is what I have problem with.
If as long as we cheapen our citizenship and offer it to someone who is good in a certain sports ...... then everything is a merely a commercial transaction. There is simply no pride or honor in paying money to entice someone over JUST to play table tennis because we WANT a medal. Let's not talk about the pride of seeing our national flag fly high in any sports event. It is shameful

patriotism

2008-08-18T11:36:00.002+08:00

this is a late post.

On National Day, just like a big joke, the ST forum posted 2 letters from 2 Permanent Residents. Both letters are similar in content, expressing their love and feelings of their adopted country, singing praises of the people, the food and their funny stories they had while settling into this place. One of them even spoke about the 'unconditional love' for this country.
Well, for a start, I didn't know why the hell did they still cling on to their PR status after being here 21 and 9 years respectively, as claimed in their letters. Shouldn't it be time for citizenship if they really love this place so much?

Secondly, I really feel very disgusted with the cheap talks and outpour of emotional attachments for everything Singapore. In the first place, they were just enticed by the higher pay and better job prospect and may just end up in any country saying the same things. So why try to romance-tise everything now? so that they looked better , rather than being labeled as mercenaries who can call every place a home for a price?
It is just like an adopted kid from a poor family calling his rich adopted family kind, loving, compassionate...just because they are rich.

Well, at least whores are more honest, they made it clear that they sell their soul for a price and not try to get emotionally attached to you.

Fixing the oppositions

2008-06-22T11:41:00.002+08:00

One cannot help but suspect that one of the KPIs of the ministers is to 'fix the oppositions', termed (and later clarified) by the PM himself.

But why, with a huge overwhelming ratio of 41:1 majority, why must a Minister still waste time nailing down a opposition member? And if he really have to do so, at least come up with something that holds water.

So what? if Mr Low is "'totally silent' when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asked if he thought Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng should quit."? I see no issues in refusing to answer a stupid question with an obvious answer. Would he have sacked him if Mr Low said 'Yes'? Anyway, shouldn't we 'move on' (and throw in a couple of sackings of low-level WP members) like whenever the government screws up?

And if Mr Ng believes that "Political leaders, whether in government or not, 'need to have their own ideas, to set a direction for the country and tell Singaporeans how they intend to get there'."
Please share with us the direction for the country, if it differs from my 'work till your death' vision I have regarding my existence in this country.

And please, get back to more important stuffs, we are paying your salary.

Story

2008-06-18T22:48:00.007+08:00

[from everystockphoto.com terms of use]

Just sharing a story:

There is this family, in a little town, somewhere in a little country, somewhere on earth.

Due to some historical reasons, the family had a head start in the early days when the town was developing which led them to practically owning all the businesses in that town, one way or another.
Notably , they operate the only clinic in that town; runs a thriving fast foot business and a simple, no frills eatery a few shops down the street within a stone's throw of each other.

The fast food restaurant of course, provides better services, get your order prepared quickly and customers get to enjoy their deep fried chicken drumsticks with fries in the cool comfort of the air-conditioned spacious and nicely furnished place. All these come at a premium, compared to the eatery where of course, crowded, warm and stuffy (despite the recent attempt to replace the dirty squeaky fans with air conditioners), average food that usually takes ages to reach your table.

It does not take a genius to see that, the more affluent will usually patronize the former, paying up a little extra to enjoy the privacy and 'quality of life', while the general public , relies on the eatery to get their meals.

In recent years, as the living standard of the town progresses, more and more people are able to afford the unhealthy fare served by the fast food restaurant. Some view it as a luxury item, others need it like a necessity as their hectic lifestyle means they cannot afford to waste time sitting in the eatery to wait for the food that take forever to come.

As more fried chicken, soft drinks and fries are served.... the after effect gradually begin to surface: More people are seeking medical advice for their clot-up arteries and coronary related diseases, where else, but from the only clinic in town. Now, any logical doctor would offer an equally logical (and responsible) remedy: Cut down on the unhealthy stuffs, or better still, ask the restaurant cut down the amount of unhealthy food on the menu, since it is after all his family's business.

The funny thing is, he actually came up with a noble idea that the people crave after fast food and in order to fulfill the aspirations and dreams of his townfolk, he actually encourages the restaurant to increase the daily dishes of fried chickens and at the same time, if more people fall sick, he will keep increasing the dosage of the medication he prescribe to them.

The undeniable fact is that, that more more are getting ill, and being a doctor, he came up with a new drug, the ERP, a super bitter drug whose actual medical name was long forgotten as the locals are so used to calling it the Expensive yet Redundant Pill.

A quick intro of the ERP: it primarily targets selected artery in your body and creates an unfavorable condition for blood flow. Some may ask, doesn't this further worsen the already congested blood vessel? Surprisingly, the drug did work as the body reaction is to divert the blood flow to other less clotted vessels..... but only for a while. The body soon realise that the longer detour of the blood flow is somehow equivalent to the hassle of going through the ERP-ed path, so in no time, the problem is back and it is another round of increase dosage.

As the vicious cycle drags on, some disillusioned folks wants to switch back to the cheaper no frills eatery. However, to their disappointment, things aren't exactly going right there too. Due to the sudden surge of population, the eatery has problem coping with the crowd and long waiting times, missed orders, bad experiences become the norm. To make things worse, the eatery still need to answer to the business owners and kept increasing price so that they can still bring in profit at the end of the year. Even those who are prepared to let go of the fast food diet needs to forgo the remaining of the10 year prepaid food vouchers they have purchased (that being the only mode of transaction offered by the restaurant)

In the end (well, not actually the end yet), everyone is happily stuffing themselves silly with fried chicken and swallowing the ineffective bitter pills prescribed by the doctor everyday.

To be continued... maybe.

Silly Willie

2008-05-19T17:35:00.002+08:00

How could anyone be so stupid to give up £700,000 (multiply that by 3 to get an approximate amount in SGD) worth of bonus just because he wants to take responsibility for some cock-ups that are way out of his control. Look at our Ministers!!! He got so much to learn from them.

ba cho mee

2008-05-19T17:21:00.002+08:00

Being too 'bo chup' with what you have during meals may not be good in terms of having a balance diet.

I had 肉脞面 for lunch and dinner in a single day.

......at Fortune Center, after my course, with my ex-colleague
...... the famous 合合noodle stall at Ang Mo Kio Central. Prices went up and the usual crowd and the usually long waiting time has shrunk to a a fraction of the typical 30-40 minutes.

Car cleaning

2008-05-03T23:12:00.003+08:00

Must be some kind of affinity with the Chong brothers, after meeting the elder Chong for lunch a day ealier, I met up with the younger brother today.

Since Kelvin's move into the neighbour, besides 1 or 2 late night coffee sessions and occasion popping over to each other's house for trivial stuffs, this is the first time we ever did something so meaningful - cleaning our cars together.

I was just about to bring my little princess out for a little bubble blowing bonding session when I got his call informing me that they (he and CS) are at one of the more secluded level of the carpark. I joined them slightly later and just in time to use the powerful vacuum cleaner brought by CS to clear off the dirt and debris in my car.
Believe it or not, the car has not been through such hygiene exercise since my wife was on maternity leave.... and my baby gal will be 2 year old in a few month's time. And embarrassing enough, it was wifey who actually executed that last round of cleaning exercise.

But better late than none, I had a thorough vacuum of the little nooks and corners of the car, even dismantled the baby seat so that no carpets are left unturned! I would have stop at that as another motto of my life is 'The car is your servant, not the other way round'. But then Kelvin sprayed some of his 3M magic wax thingy on the right rear side panel and did some miracle touch up that makes that portion standout so nicely among the dull and grim of the rest of the car. It did inspire me a bit and in no time, I got stuck for another 20 minutes there repeating the process over the whole car. One thing led to another. I even briefly gave the interior a wipe down to clear of the dust that was accumulating for ages.

At least some constructive stuff done on a lazy afternoon.

完蛋面

2008-05-03T19:14:00.004+08:00

No, I am not obsessed with wanton mee, though I have to agree that it is kinda 变态 to have the same dish on 2 consecutive days. It just happened that wifey wants to have it for breakfast and out of convenience (with a capital 'L' for laziness) I tagged along to have the same. This will save me one more return trip + queue to get something else from another stall. Remember, one of my motto in life is 'No food is worth queuing up for, unless your wifey wants to eat it'.

I notice this is another of those 'famous' food product whose marketing strategy is to bank on itself being 'tradition' or 'genuine' or being historically or geographically linked to a certain time or place. This time round, is wanton noodle from malaysia's pontian or 笨珍 which I always like to refer as wifey's hometown (ask her if you are interested to know).

Interestingly, a heavily china accented lady asked me for my order, I expected otherwise, since this is after all touted as a 'famous' malaysia wanton noodle that can sell off up to 1000 bowls a day according to the posters put up. It will be ideal if a true blue malaysian is preparing my order... oh well, I could have been too anal as well and I have better learn to accept this fact as the gahment said if we don't have them around, we will lose our job too. The funny thing is they still need to up the price of their noodles (20 cents more expensive then the conventional $2.50) although they are already employing cheap labour, just like how I cannot apprehend why ministries run by highly paid minister will still screw up. How I wish that we can get more of such cheap labour into the parliament so that those overpaid ministers can be replaced. In any case, if screw ups are inevitable, why not have cheaper alternatives?

Sorry for the side track.
And the verdict:
Too bad, the quality of the food does not live up to the fanfare on the posters. Even simple things like giving consistent quality in their servings cannot be achieved. My bowl of noodle with chilli is really soaked in chilli and they did not bother to add the black sauce that the 'non-chilli' version had. I give it a C (C grade, not C for China) in terms of taste. I think any decent stall in any hawker centre beats them hands down and the best ones I had are still those at Ang Mo Kio Central, Stirling road and Sunshine plaza.

Lunch

2008-05-02T21:26:00.004+08:00

[i accidentally deleted the pic of wanton mee from my hp, so using someone's else wanton mee pic I found on the net , but rest assured it is from the same stall and thanks raspberri, whoever you are]

Nice of Victor to pop by for lunch, met him for wanton mee at sunshine plaza since he needs to go to Sim Lim Square to get some 'gender changer'. Well, the lame (and crude) jokes that were suppressed for so long are still as solid and power packed and that really make my friday even sunnier.

搬家

2008-05-02T00:26:00.003+08:00

由于公司不断扩充，在安排座位和人事的调动时常有调整。我就是那些调动的受害者之一。在短短的一年半里，就搬了三次‘家‘。据说，最近这一次的挪动，应该算是比较永久性的。但是，以我对这里的领导层的办事能力的信心，我还是没把东西完全unpack....免得麻烦。

我原本有个window view,至少，seating plan 是这样列着的。可是到实地考察后，在发现，我离开那片玻璃墙，还隔着一个座位。
也罢，成天对着一条拥挤堵车的街道，也未尝是件好事。

好命

2008-05-02T00:06:00.002+08:00

老婆大人因为有个课程在Ayer Rajar 军营，所以有机会到平时鲜少机会去的portsdown road一带。那里和seletar一样，总是给我一个殖民地味道很重的感觉。
开了半小时的车，把老婆送到目的地后，望了望手表，9:10 分。然而我还是看到很多NSF模样的阿兵哥，三三两两的抵达。就算是stay out 的，照例也应该在一小时以前就roll call 了。

看来，第三代的新加坡武装部队，真的与众不同。

其实，也不关我事。。。。。

Mas alamak

2008-05-01T19:27:00.002+08:00

I am surprised by my silence on my blog over the whole bloody circus show that was put up in parliament and the media over the COI report on the jail break scandal.
I guess, being indifferent is the loudest form of 'screw you' and equivalent to the pappies, verbally and mentally at least, and never comparable to how they have been screwing us all these years.
But what else can we do?

mindset

2008-04-05T10:49:00.005+08:00

[ everystockphoto.com]

PM Lee says he is still looking for the next PM to succeed him, preferably in his 30-40s now.
I have a person in mind thou, that is the former president of AA singapore, now chairing the Public Transport Council (yes the same guy who picked up the pieces of the NKF saga) after hearing him speak in a talk show on national radio, on some new policy that the LTA is proposing.

Well, throughout the whole segment, he kept picking on the 'mindset' of Singaporeans as the main culprit of the traffic problem we are facing - Singaporeans buy cars due to status, Singaporeans are dependent on cars despite having a sound public transport system, Singaporeans 'drive 300 metres to buy a loaf of bread' etc.
He even went a step further to highlight how 'spoilt' we Singaporean brats are, by relating an incident whereby he sighted an Ang Moh taking public transport, with his 'suit' in tow.
Now, millions of local Singaporeans who are squeezing in those darn jam packed buses and MRTs do not mean a single thing to him but when he sees an Ang Moh doing the same thing, it is important enough for him to highlight that on national radio. Don't you agree that he is displaying good qualities of a potential leader ? Afterall, that's exactly how our current leaders are running the country by treating us 2nd class. We must not rock the boat too much in case our mothers and wives need to be a maid somewhere else.

And the best part is, did i forget to mention under what circumstances he saw that ang moh taking a bus? oh, he was 'driving his kids to school'. Now Mr Ee, Mr Ee, what is stopping you from tugging your 'kids' along and bringing them to school using our sound public transport system? is it status conscious? being dependent? or you don't belong to the pheasant class Singaporeans that deserved to be condemned to the lousy public transport system?

See, blaming others, again is another very important quality of our leaders. Like what our dearest MM has to say here. " He said Singaporeans are being complacent when they believe that the Government will take care of all security matters." and "But MM Lee disagreed that the Government deserved to be blamed. He said: 'Complacency sets in when a people have not suffered any shock or setback for a long time.'"
The escaping of Mas Selamant is because the 'guard' and you stupid singaporeans being too complacent but all the good work are the government's credit as thou Mr Wong himself had ever do even a 5 min sentry on the guard post at Whitely

Sorry for the sidetrack, but you got it? when they raise their pay, they say they deserved it for all the hardwork and when things screwed up, it is not their fault 'cause you singaporeans are too dependent on them, exactly how Mr Ee blamed the whole damn population of singapore drivers but not himself.
Look no further Mr Lee, you found your man.

very useful sign

2008-03-28T00:24:00.004+08:00

I am pretty sure I can find what I want in this section

cultural shock

2008-03-27T23:59:00.003+08:00

Guess who are quickly displacing us local folks in the workplace?
Talented professionals that rub their feet while conducting audits of your software system and processes ....
Yes, it is a she, a she from India.

I swear that I threw away the pen that I thought she might have touched and gave my notebook a good rub down with tons of napkins soaked in disinfectant!

Thank you for your service......

2008-03-27T23:28:00.005+08:00

It is not hearsays picked up from the pantry, nor mumblings heard from the grapevine. It is real this time and the first sign of trouble came yesterday via the IM tool from a lunch kaki in the company who reported sightings of people 'packing up and escorted out'.
The next thing I saw when I raised my head, there was a colleague packing up his stuffs, surrounded by his team mates. I recall seeing him moments before in the unit manager's office a while back, both in a somber mood. He was gone within 1/2 an hour and any trace of his existence in the system were wiped out the following day.
While I thought the massacre has died down, with some assurance from the boss that the worst might be over, today I saw another poor chap going through the same painful ritual his predecessors went through a day before.

time to make some plans......
scary......

Lunch

2008-03-18T00:06:00.005+08:00

Something must be wrong if your life got turned into such a messy chunk of regimental routine that you got nothing else to write about except your daily noon time escapade.

The respite from the rainy week was just nice for a good old $2.50 meal at my usual cheap and good makan place after being cooped up in the nearby food joints for days that we only patronize reluctantly due to the wet weather.

But even that simple joy was deprived when a sudden visit by the out-going ang moh manager on transit to his aussie hometown-- another 'official' lunch .
This time, we had dim sum at the Cathay Restaurant at ...... the Cathay, where else.

To go easy on everyone's wallet (although I am pretty sure the boss will pick up the tab but it is still polite to offer to pay for your own share right? So you can never be too sure), we ordered some set menus , topped up with some ala carte items.
Taste wise, is ok, I have to say I enjoyed the food. But really, they should serve coffee at chinese restaurants.

info overload

2008-03-17T23:56:00.003+08:00

Wanna know why 3000 fully equipped security personnels cannot even locate one single fugitive?
Sometimes you can tell how efficient an organisation is by the way they disseminate information. If they cannot do such simple things right, can you imagine what wrongs can they do?
For e.g. I still see posters telling the public that the fugitive is 'known to be armed' while on the MHA website it clearly states that "He is not known to be armed". so which is which?

double standards

2008-03-11T23:45:00.003+08:00

Mr Lee,
Did you remember to 'close ranks' with the people in HG and PP during the last election when you told them 'no vote, no upgrading'?
Did you remember to 'close ranks' with Gomez when he forgot to hand in a form?
Did you remember to 'close ranks' with your countrymen when they cried that the bus fares are rising, food are getting more expensive, flats are priced out of reach.
Did you remember to 'close ranks' with us when you and your colleagues complained that your salary are too low compared to the private sector (and no one is forcing you to stay in the civil service in the first place) and demanded raise after raise?

It is perfectly ok to make mistakes, but trying to distorted everyone's view by sugar -coating it with warped reasonings like they help us to 'bond' or serves as 'a test in inter-racial cohesion' is not.

It is perfectly ok to make mistakes, learn from it and move on, but it is equally important to allow others the same opportunity to move on as well.

Isn't it embarrassing, a world class government behaving like a petty, selfish, egoistic kid that only knows how to point fingers when others make mistakes; and yet can think of all sorts of silly reasons /excuses to be lenient to himself when he makes one.

Lee 在哪里？

2008-03-08T15:14:00.005+08:00

Where is our PM? The online forums are abuzz-ed with all kinds of conspiracy theory on his 'disappearance'.
From the Prime Minister's Office Website, the latest record of his public speech is on the 19th Feb, during the Airshow. No official press release regarding news that he is abroad for visits or trips. No word from him on the escape of the JI head. Is he still attending his usual meet the people sessions? or other activities that ~~his~~ the media did not cover? I am not sure.

Where are you now?

Edited on 9th March:
Hours after what i wrote, he gave a speech at the Indian Chamber of Commerce and today, opened some community club in Sengkang ....

IT Show 2008

2008-03-08T00:45:00.004+08:00

Popped by the IT show on Thursday at Suntec City during lunch, erm... extended lunch, you may want to call it. I have nothing in mind to spend my hard-earned money on this year, so I was basically there to make the flyer distributing part-timers' life easier by helping them clear up their brochures and flyers faster. Anyway , wify is looking for a simple laptop, those colorful brochures may come in handy during the decision making as well.

Was there within 1/2 an hour of it's opening, the crowd is bearable and I was so early that I actually qualified for a few 'first 10 sets' promotions as I whizzed past the booths. It's quite a pity to leave the place empty-handed being an early bird (IT shows are only good on the first and last day).
Seems that the good economy last year did inflate the budgets for many companies. I see more bigger, louder booth setup with matching giantic posters hanging overhead.

I bumped into quite a few familiar faces there, one of them, notably is an ex-secondary schoolmate, not sure if my kawans remember him ... 顺强. We used to call him by some nick name related to metal tooth or something, due to his braces. Well he is a pilot now and the answer for the 'bump into ex classmate FAQ' goes like this: he is married with no kid and is staying in an apartment along balestier road.

While I did not contribute a single cent to the hardworking people stationed at the booths, my colleagues did exactly the opposite and almost went out full force to show their support...
The list goes like this:
- 4 sets of Sony Bravia LCD TV
- digital camera
- DLink NAS
- 3 Gigabit ethernet cards
-all in one printers etc.....

no wonder they are forecasting 50 millions of sales revenue for the 4 day event.

Honesty

2008-03-04T23:43:00.003+08:00

The Straits Times became a circus again, entertaining me with all the feeble attempts by the police to explain their incompetency over the whole jail break incident.

First of all, they claimed that releasing the news of the embarrassing slip-up 4 hours later is to not cause panic" in the public without the appropriate information; and they needed time to 'lock down' the detention centre.
Erm... 4 hours? Long enough for anyone to steal a knife, makeover, hitch a ride, or visit an ex-comrade without the unsuspecting public even noticing.
You go and figure out if this is acceptable? Imagine the lead time he was given.
It is hard not to think along the line that the 4 hours was spent on futile attempts on capturing that guy without news leaking out.

And then came the contradicting description of whether the prisoner walks or runs with a limp. Imagine he may have just slipped the suspicious eyes of a a concerned public due to the contradicting information given.

And after that was sorted out....the next blooper came on the 6th day of his disappearance, when the police finally decides to release pictures of what he last worn -- 6 DAYS LATER

"the authorities needed to ascertain what Mas Selamat had with him when he fled".

Oh need 6 days to find out what is missing from his prison cell... but wait, It is also due to the fact that
"they did not want the public to have the 'fixation' with a particular attire as the fugitive could have already changed his clothes."

Oh, so not telling the public what he last worn is because they don't want all malay guys wearing a beige tee and brown pant to get unwanted 'fixation' all of a sudden.... eh, but, aren't the police the same people that says he walks or runs with a limp? so that will not cause the public to have a 'fixation' with a particular style of walking?

Sometimes, I just wish that they come clean and admit their shortcomings, at least, lessons are learnt.
Sorry to sound like a broken record, but no matter how much you pay them...... talented Ministers still will screw up.

免费的午餐

2008-03-04T00:22:00.003+08:00

又有人请客。地点是Central 的同乐Signature。
我一向对小贩中心，咖啡店以外的用餐场所都不是很在行，所以当然是我第一次在这里吃饭。
第一个印象是装潢比一般的中餐馆还高档些许，简洁的白色餐桌配上同样规整的格局和简单的色调。
放眼一看，是一整排靠着落地窗的位子。而窗外，正是死气沉沉的新加坡河。
侍应生中英文都说的很好，果然是训练有素。

当然最重要的还是。。。。食物。
开始两道点心，水饺和一笼类似水晶包的，还不错。接下来的几道，没什么印象，因为完完全全的被这道蟹黄鱼翅给喧宾夺主了。我还是第一次尝到用蟹黄作汤底的这道菜，很浓稠，很鲜美，也很高的胆固醇。

后来，就是这一道牛肉，也为我的味觉带来第二次高潮。很嫩，很入味。
吃完牛肉，配了一碗汤面，轻轻淡淡的，正好为了下一道点品做好准备--黑芝麻，杏仁和雪糕的合成品。我一向对甜品没有研究。。。甜品，就是甜甜，冰冰的。

结账：5个人就吃去了将近400大元。。。。

别动！起床！我们请你喝咖啡。。。。。。

2008-03-01T12:16:00.005+08:00

新年到大舅子家里拜年时，发现他的书柜摆满了不少中文书，多数是他在往返中国打理生意时买回来的。跟他借了两本回家看。。。大年初二，书书声似乎有点不吉利，但毕竟就是些民俗上的避忌，相信也好，不信也罢，不要执著就好。

借的两本书都和‘罪案’有关系，（是的，我的志愿是当警察，但是怕看见尸体，于是作罢）
一本是几十年前上海赫赫有名的黑帮老大，杜月笙的故事。另外一本是有关香港廉政公署的罪案实录--《廉政公署全传》。

先说《廉政公署全传》，廉政公署，对于我们这一代看香港连续剧长大的，应该不会陌生。通常警匪片里，都会有他们出现，在紧要关头把无恶不做，吃黑钱的某某大警长逮捕。小时候，我甚至是先知道有廉署的存在，才晓得新加坡也有自己的贪污调查局。

花了两三个星期，临睡前的半小时，我已经大概把它看完了。
这本书把廉署设立的始末，当年铲除警界贪污的艰难和跨世纪的几宗大案很详细的记载了。节奏虽然没有港剧那样紧凑，但是作者一层层的把整起案件从策划，密谋，执行到执法者如何抽丝剥茧的收集罪到将犯人绳之以法的过程很清楚地交代，却也十分引人入胜。
这些年受了太多港剧的‘熏陶’，几乎每一页，读起来都很有画面。什么‘有组织罪案与三合会调查科’啦，什么‘高级督察’啦。是不是活生生一出香港警匪片在眼前？
由于贪污罪的关系，这本书也有大量和经济，证券和股票市场有关的资料来解释那些案中的主角如何利用人脉，声势将手中的资金翻了又翻炒了又炒。。有些地方太多术语。。。我有点似懂非懂，但却领悟到一个道理:富贵险中求。
只是，出现在书中的冒险家，都赌输了。

MR lor

2008-02-24T22:53:00.004+08:00

Finally this day has arrived. Serving NS has lost that noble meaning of "...... 'cause we love our land and wants it to be free, to be freeeeeee...." ever since I realised this place is not my country after all. Quite simply, it treats foreigners better, in every aspect.

Imagine your parents wants only the brightest and smartest children in the family.
Imagine they even pay for the school fees of your neighbours' kid if they come over to stay.
Imagine your parents say it is compulsory for you to do the household chores and stay up late to wait at the door; Imagine you have to fend for yourself, while everyone else just sit back at watch TV at home.
Imagine your parents' wish to have a lot of neighbours' kids in the house, sharing your room, while they keep their privacy in the master bedroom.
Imagine this home as your country.

With so many new citizens joining us, the gahment should consider making all males who wants to take up citizenship go for IPPT every year and to spend 2 weeks doing voluntary job in any charitable organisation (at least contribute to the social defence). We will see how attractive our citizenships are to outsiders then.

creative referencing

2008-02-12T13:33:00.004+08:00

I was browsing through the website of a local tertiary institution some days back, where a trip to Beijing was mentioned, the students even came up with a site on the particular trip. The site was pretty well done, coming from 17-18 year old kids, with nice photos and equally good accompanying narration on the trip. In fact, their grammar was probably better than mine!
I did notice some different styles of writing in those articles and thought that this is very likely a group project with different contributors chipping in. But some exceptionally beautiful descriptions of scenery and places did raise some eyebrows.....

well, seems like some of the contents have been 'referenced' from other websites and the students are just too busy to quote the source.
e.g.
http://www.ict.np.edu.sg/trips/china/BeijingSept07/sightingsday2.html
Take a look at the paragraphs on 天坛 and 琉璃厂.....
and then, read the relevant parts on these sites:
http://www.legendsofchina.com/beijing.htm (for 天坛）
http://www.chinahotelsreservation.com/beijing_travel/liu_li_chang_cultural_street.html （for琉璃厂)

similarly...
http://www.ict.np.edu.sg/trips/china/BeijingSept07/sightingsday3.html
the article on 颐和园 (summer palace).... take note of the words like "large marble boat that sits immobile by the edge of the lake"
"is an ironic reminder of the waste and mismanagement that led to the decline of the imperial state. "

and read up these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace - "a marble boat sits immobile at the edge of the lake"
http://www.china-window.com/china_travel/china_destination_guides/china-destination-guides--5.shtml

http://www.chinatour.com/attraction/beijing.htm

The lecturers are probably too busy to notice. Anyway, if I were to recall my days as a poly student correctly, I would have done the same thing too.

House brand Ministers

2008-02-10T23:36:00.000+08:00

I think our million dollar ministers really cannot talk sense once they are out of their comfort zone of prepared scripts and rehearsed speeches.
Can you imagine a Prime Minister suggesting to his country folks to go for 'frozen food' and 'house brands' as those are ways that "Singaporeans could adjust to rising food prices" (article here). Hehe, if things don't get better, will he suggest that we skip a meal everyday or replace dinner with plain bread + tap water to 'adjust' to the problem again?
Really, I would like to have his pay and deal with the stress of coming up with pathetic suggestions (and of course, what next to raise price).
Anyway, talking about house brand, Mr Lee did mention something worth looking into.
I was wondering can we have house brand ministers as well? I think we really want to have our life back without all the frills and packagings and paying for all the extras without any significant value added.
Just like toilet rolls, house brands works fine for me since I just need the toilet paper to clear up my shit and not the other way round, or at least, don't introduce more mess.
However with the 'premier' brand I am using now, I am expected to clear up theirs instead....
for e.g.
- increasing GST to help them "help the poor" ;
- locking my CPF longer (and those longevity craps) to tackle the greying population
- mean testing to help them control the rising medical cost
- paying ERP to solve nothing

I want a house brand government......

scholar's logic

2008-02-04T23:58:00.000+08:00

In anticipation of the traffic volume going into Sentosa due to the IR 2 years later, LTA decides that building flyovers and widening roads are the way to go.

Why cannot build a ERP gantry there?

捞鱼生

2008-02-02T22:40:00.000+08:00

下个星期就是新年了。好几个同事都会放假去了。乘大家还在，我们很即兴的，想捞一捞鱼生，图个来年的一帆风顺和挡不住的好运。
本来是因该我负责去carrefour买鱼生的佐料和一些切片三纹鱼的。但是老友Victor刚好在附近，我便先去会他吃午饭，毕竟好久没跟他碰面了。买鱼生谁买都一样。

吃了午餐后，我‘转台’到我同事用餐的地方。大家都吃饱了，在等待主角的莅临。
鱼生来了，大家在手忙脚乱了一番后，终于拿起手中的筷子大捞一番。。。。

好快，又是新的一年了，希望来年大家都身体健康，一切顺利！

东海岸

2008-02-02T18:30:00.000+08:00

东海岸，一直说要带女儿去海边走走的我，竟然失约，很‘人在江湖’地和同事先去了。
因为同事是间知名的events management公司（好像zoukout 是他们搞的），nightlife.sg，的什么会员之类的. nightlife.sg 筹办了烧烤会，他就拉了我们一起去。

把老婆女儿安顿好之后，我便驱车前往这个我大概有4-5年没踏足的地方。

到了那里，几个早到的同事已经租了单车。哇不得了，因为食物，火炭都还没弄好，大伙都决定先踏一踏单车，顺便闪一闪人，把准备功夫都撇下。
好久没运动的我只好硬着头皮也跟去了。还好单车还能承受我的重量。就这样几个三，四十岁的大男人就在烈日下，死命的向着bedok jetty的方向走。一路上无惊无险，除了酸得要命的臀部和大腿。

还好到了终点，有一幅我好久都没看到的海景等着我。

把我的安全载到目的地的‘良驹’：

运动一番，肚子也饿了，食物也可以开始烧了。说真的食物的种类和味道都很好。加上人数不多，所以吃起来都挺有满足感的。
吃饱后，我们也蛮‘贱’的。即使时间还早，食物还很多，我们竟然拍拍屁股，借着要看电影的理由，作鸟兽散。。。主办人一脸不悦，却也没办法。。。。

就这样。。。。告别了东海岸。

Screening room

2008-02-02T14:17:00.000+08:00

Alex, the london PM was here last week to conduct training. When ang moh bosses are in town, rest assured that there will be drinking sessions. We met him for drinks at this place called Screening Room in Ann Siang hill. I was dragged into this at the eleventh hour after futile attempts to be excused. "Know your clients", my manager reminded me that is one key objectives set in my appraisal, well, it seems like a decent enough reason to go? not before repeatedly telling them that I will leave after one drink.

The place was situated in the shophouses along ann siang hill. Nice view overlooking the chinatown area. I was already half way through my hoegarden plus one chicken wing and a mini burger before Alex showed up. After our brief exchange of formalities and some silly jokes, we quickly settled back into our little comfort zone and engage in conversations that does not cross path with each other. Fortunately, I was not the only one that evening that needs to leave early, it makes my exit less prominent.

The servers at screening room hard at work, the thing about the service industry is: You play, We work.

Eat and Eat

2008-02-02T12:54:00.000+08:00

A month into the new year, it is hard to swing into the right momentum where work is concerned, especially with the Chinese New Year hovering round the corner.
On top of that there have been a few occasions of team/business meals that is fueling my justification (excuses lah) for remaining in the low gear as they always set you in a very relaxed mood.

First on the list, the challenge thrown out by our Unit Manager to give a presentation on some crappy corporate initiatives. The team that got last (via voting) will have to treat the rest. Being one of the senior guy (age...period) in the team that held a lecturing position previously, I naturally got volunteered to be part of the presentation team.
Adopting a strategy of style over substance, knowing that this world is about empty talks, we filled our presentations with jokes and stuffs. That worked, we came out 2nd...a free buffet meal at hotel meridian.

A week later, a colleague's farewell lunch sends the whole team down to Thai Express. It is rare for the person who is leaving to pay for the meal. He insisted on doing so, money obviously not the main concern here with his move to a VP position in another foreign bank, he is just being the usual nice guy he is. We 'paid' back in kind, by getting him a farewell gift.

I love my job

2008-02-02T12:26:00.000+08:00

Barely 2 weeks of lull period in the office last October/November after rolling out the previous project, I have been assigned to another project. It's all in the name of 'dynamism' that people in my team keeps getting rotating around and reallocated at the snap of fingers. I am not sure if this actually is the fast paced corporate world in action or simply lousy planning of the management. The current project I am working on did have some philosophical meaning on a personal note, it was one that I was pulled out from a year ago, while it is still in a mess then. Yes I contributed to those mess and having being reassigned back does give me that sense of 'eat my own poo' feeling.
So Hello late nights; hello the draggy conference calls to London; hello endless status reporting meetings plus the overdose of politically correctness..... and the technical meetings where everyone is so keen to share their past 10 years of experience in other jobs whenever there is a decision to be made. I appreciate those sharing which I have alot to learn from but I just hope they understand that nothing is right or wrong in the software world, so please move on after the technical lead (yours truly) said 'Let's do this' and stop dabbling on useless talk.
Good thing is, bonus announcement is round the corner and almost nothing in the world will make me not wait for that.

Oh one thing i did learn from those time wasting meetings is that, blue-tac make good sculpturing materials.

Propaganda ...cont

2008-01-16T01:05:00.000+08:00

.... continue from previous post,

or just by talking to 8 senior citizens, they can conclude that.

" Elderly S'poreans agree with MM Lee to stay active & not retire"
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_196582.html

MANY seniors agreed with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's recent comments about the importance of remaining active and not retiring.
Staying engaged with society is important, these older Singaporeans said. But some questioned if work is the only way to keep active, as Mr Lee suggested at a dialogue last Friday.
Others argued that government agencies and employers could make it easier for elderly Singaporeans to find consultancy or part-time jobs so they can continue working into their twilight years.
Speaking at a conference on the burgeoning silver industry here, Mr Lee shared how being a globally-engaged statesman had given him the necessary mental stimuli to take him into his 85th year.
His comment that able-bodied seniors should continue working as 'retirement means death' sparked impassioned debate online over its feasibility for the average Singaporean.
A majority of the eight seniors interviewed by The Straits Times said they hoped to carry on with a job they enjoy in their old age.

Propaganda

2008-01-15T23:17:00.000+08:00

http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20080115-44988.html
or
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_196151.html?vgnmr=1
54% of drivers don't pass through ERP gantries on the way to work

Tue, Jan 15, 2008
AsiaOne
By Maria Almenoar

EACH time the tolls on Singapore's roads rise, a chorus of complaints sounds from drivers across the island.

But the reality is that less than half of all motorists pass through Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries on their way to work.

A Singapore Press Holdings survey of 295 motorists found that 46 per cent fork out money for the privilege of driving on the island's roads.

Of those, about 70 per cent pay $3 or less every morning.

The survey was done over three days in mid-November, about two weeks after ERP rates were raised by 50 cents.

That brought tolls on the Central Expressway from the Pan Island Expressway to $5 between 8.30 and 9am - making it Singapore's costliest road.

It really isn't difficult to spot propaganda sh*t on Straits Times. Of course, being ranked 154th in the whole world does make it suitable to be carrying such tall tales.

Which reputable newspaper will pick a sampling size of 295 drivers out of a car population of 514,685 for a survey and conclude that 1/2 of the motorists do not pass through ERP on their way to work?

new grilles

2008-01-06T23:41:00.000+08:00

One last look of the unobstructed view out of the windows.
Although the scenery of identically dull looking pigeon holes draped in ugly colour combinations is nothing to shout about; the absence of the grids of metal coming in between does symbolizes some kind of unspoken freedom in the lifestyle you are leading: the carefree, newly weds without kids.
I still remember how the questions of "Are you going to install window grilles?Next time got babies how?" kept popping up from our parents, when they were here surveying the new flat that was so bare and empty till sound waves could still find ample place to bounce off the walls to create echoes.
We brushed the questions/demands aside, compromised on some disagreements and went ahead with the renovation plans we had in mind to turn this little flat into a home, our very own home. Having a baby was the last thing on the to-do list then.
6 years on, the same window grille problem finally awakes from its dormancy and is staring me straight in the face -- I got a 16 month old baby girl that is setting her eyes on anything that is scalable in the house. An open window certainly looks inviting.
Thanks to the recommendation from Vic and QiQi's constant flow of useful information (they had theirs installed ahead of me), I finally got the baby-proofing of my house one notch up. The installation guys were quick, 3 of them, working with the efficiency of worker ants, split up the job and within 40mins, they were out of my house, together with my ~$500.
It took me nearly 3 times of that 40 mins to clean up the house, ensuring every single bits of the metal debris where picked up by the vacuum cleaner and trying my best to de-oil the greasy grilles.

The new look:

Happy new more-good years

2007-12-31T18:35:00.000+08:00

PM Lee's 2008 new year message

Besides talking about high growth of 2007, he 'is cautiously optimistic' as 'The US may go into a recession because of the financial market problems and a US downturn would affect Asia too'.

And of course he admitted that our 'small and open economy' is directly affected by fuel and energy prices, that's precisely why they are paid such a premium over their counterparts from the rest of the world that manages economies that a so many times bigger than ours right?

Among all, the most exciting piece of news is that the gahment is "making public transport a choice mode of travel and, parallel to that, the need to update policies on car ownership and usage". I am pretty sure they will come up with really creative ideas like increasing petrol taxes, or ERP charges.

Well, we are really looking forward to 2008, actually more towards the next election....

午餐 ·@waterloo street

2007-12-29T01:01:00.000+08:00

照片里的景物，角度和光线都丝毫没变。

前天和一个离职不久，到另一家银行高就的同事吃午餐。由于他的公司就在附近，我便走了那7，8分钟的路到他工作的大厦，以为就在那里楼下的食阁解决午餐。到了那里，他提议到waterloo street 去。我担心还要走一段路，耽误了回公司的时间。走着，走着，在他一再的保证下，果然，不出5分钟，我已经到了目的地，大牌262的咖啡店。
还是老样子的咖啡店，依然排着长龙的鸡饭摊子，一样的kopi uncle。我选了靠着门口的桌子坐了下来。依稀记得最后一次和ang,victor在这里吃饭，也大概在同样的位置。
新开的肉脞面摊，我当然要试试看，当我在很努力的吃着还挺好吃的面时，猛一抬头，看见了那似曾相识的画面。好怀念当年可以很自由的过来吃午餐，找ang或者qiqi(通常，victor也会很‘巧合’的出现)讲点废话，赖在他店里无所事事，悠哉闲哉，喝咖啡的日子。

现在每天庸庸碌碌的我，要找大家聚一聚都难。

食古不化

2007-12-24T09:50:00.000+08:00

我不是基督教徒，所以圣诞节对我来说只是个假期，和屠妖节或开斋节没什么两样，能让我赖一赖床的公共假日。当然，当年追我老婆大人的时候，还是免不了搞些门面功夫，送些小礼物，一起倒数等等。谈恋爱嘛，就还不都是这些风花雪月的事。
年轻时的我真的很纳闷，那么多年了，是不是殖民地心态还藕断丝连的捆绑着我们。
如果圣诞节不是源至西方，我们还会每年这个时候挤爆了购物商场？顶着什么love 啦，peace啦的名堂去买一堆礼物送给亲戚朋友？如果圣诞节不是源至西方，我们还会不会眷恋乌节路的灯饰，或者是圣诞大餐该买哪一种口味的火鸡或树桐蛋糕？毕竟不就是某个宗教的创始人的诞生日。关那些非教徒什么事。
又不见得卫塞节的时候，全世界都一起茹素吃斋？又不见得农历新年时，大家都发红包？
还是老外的东西，比较受欢迎。。。。

我现在每年都会在圣诞节，买点礼物送给女儿和几个侄儿/侄女。其实如果老婆大人不提醒，我真的也没去想到。
也罢，管他什么节日，最重要的是，在这个过度注重物质生活的社会里，身为一个父亲，不要忽略了也要不时补充一下孩子精神上的‘圣诞礼物’。这样，他们才不会成为人群中另一个随波逐流.维诺是从的脸孔。
还好。。。人老了，什么事情都看得开。大家开心就好。
愤世嫉俗的东西，在走出青春期的那一刻，就不流行了。

$erving the people......

2007-12-16T12:37:00.000+08:00

Our ministers and the cream in the civil service have got their pay raised again. Of course, I think they totally deserved the pat on the back.
I cannot imagine the whole cabinet relying on bribery and become corrupt if the 1.6 million annual pay is insufficient for them to lead a decent lifestyle in Singapore. For info, the average household income of Singaporeans last year is around 6k/month, that's for the whole household ok. Surely with a pay that is only about 22 times more than that of average Singaporean households, I am pretty sure it is insufficient and the wise thing to do is to keep raising their pay.
Worse, they may feel that the private sector is paying more and decide to leave for the greener pasture in the private sector. It will be horrible if the voids they create are filled up by people who are passionate about serving the people and country and not about working for money. Don't you just get worry if there is really such a minister/mp/prime minister who cares more about the people, the poor, the struggling families toeing the line of poverty than whether his own pay is how many percent pegged to the private sector? He is just being idealistic since taking 1.6 million a ~~month~~ year is simply not enough to justify the sacrifices he took e.g. leaving the relaxed and secure private sector that maybe paying him so many times more.

Ironically, I read a news article that reported on 2 corrupted cops. I suggest MHA to seriously looking into revising their pay to prevent such corruption cases from occurring again. Something along the line of the ministers' pay will be great.
Similarly, I have thought of other occupations' pay who are in dire need of a raise:

cleaner / toilet attendants: they may succumb to the the temptation of money offered by terrorists to place undesirable objects in public places thereby endangering ou lifes and properties
teaching profession: they may be easily swayed by foreign agents and fall prey to espionage acts like spreading false and dangerous idealogies in the classroom.
soldier: need i say more, just a simple act of not reporting the sighting of an intruder will open up the floodgate of an enemy invasion

I can keep going on till every single occupation in Singapore is listed. but the point is, a million dollar pay cheque cannot fight a billion dollar bribery and we must keep going on to raise the pay of ministers till they are no longer distracted by the money issues and focus on the real issues like taking care of the people in the country.

Going green

2007-12-09T00:18:00.000+08:00

There shouldn't be any ambiguity but just in case, I am not talking about the color which we all will turn into when our ministers' pay is mentioned.

I sometimes wonder are we throwing practicality out of the window when pursing good causes. Take the latest 'no plastic bag day' for instance. Yes I know, I know, it is all in the good name of saving our environment and making this already polluted and sickly earth fit for living for the next generation etc etc but are we really cutting down on producing the evil polymer that will choke up rivers, kill penguins and rule the world...simply by not giving out plastic bags?

With 80% of the population here staying in HDB flats, I am not sure how the other families cope with their refuse, but for me, I usually place bins around the house, lined with good old NTUC or cold storage plastic bags. Once the bins are filled, I will wrap them up and make the 20 or so meters journey to the common rubbish chute at the lift lobby to send them off to the incinerator.

If I am not going to get free plastic bags from the departmental stores anymore, it probably is not going to have a single bit of positive impact to the environment 'cause I will be getting trash bags to do the job which really defeat the purpose of cutting down on the usage of plastic bags!!
The stupid thing is, trash bags is usually ...produced for the sake of putting trash in. At least a plastic bag contributed positively to the quality of our lifes before dying for a good cause of holding rubbish. (try taking that packet of take-away prawn noodle in a trash bag home next time you visit a hawker centre... )
Well I do have alternatives (this is Singapore after all) which is to dump the trash straight into the bin and pouring it down the chute in their original form. Just for the record, the rubbish may include leftovers from meals to soiled diapers or discarded flesh from carcasses of fishes or raw pork ribs. I cannot imagine the amount of water and detergent it will cost the environment to clean up the bins or the mess at the rubbish chute.
Maybe throwing rubbish of out the window seems to be the most environmental friendly thing to do. I know the rain will wash everything away and the leftover spaghettis I had for dinner will nourish the greenery too.

Even the replacement canvas bags is such a silly idea. How many times do you have the bulky bag around you when you decide to visit the supermarket after work for a quick shopping trip to replenish the depleted stocks at home?

Really, all these sound like a convenience excuse for them to cut on business cost. But ..they are getting creative and I like that.
How about bio-degradable plastic bags? Oh, more expensive... but isn't this about the only earth we have and not about operating cost? Whatever......

swift and decisive

2007-11-27T22:40:00.000+08:00

My reservist unit has once again demonstrated what our 3G army is capable of doing... calling up hundreds of NSmen 3 days before an In Camp Training to inform them that it has been cancelled.

If not swift enough... how to make so many phone calls within such a short duration?

赣林老木

2007-11-21T23:00:00.000+08:00

中国的省份都有简称，广东称为粤；福建省叫闽，这些都是比较常听到的。
江西的简称是赣（与‘干’同音）

跟大家分享一侧发生在江西的故事

AWOL

2007-11-19T23:10:00.000+08:00

If your Prime Minister make sarcastic remarks like 'AWOL' and 树倒猢狲散 to mock the opposition party, you really have to applaud him for setting a good example for the whole country on striving to be a gracious society.

It could be simply insecurity or pettiness, that drove him to conclude that everyone who do not share his belief are untrustworthy and unreliable.
Besides, names calling, I wonder does he has any better suggestions for the opposition members who do not draw the big fat $13k allowance that the majority of his party's MP are getting, apart from their full time job; yet have to worry about making enough to support the expensive standard of living here. No need to eat ah?
I bet he got no clue on how tough life is on the ground. After all, he does not feel our pain so it is perfectly alright for him to come up with stupid remarks all for the fun of it. Ironically this is the same person who tried to convince us to trust him and his team to bring us a bright future.

It seems every bit the right thing to do when you venture abroad for that dream job, against all odds, roughing it out at a faraway place but somehow if you ever stood against them in an election, you become Absent Without Official Leave.

It just shows how disengaged he is with the people.

午餐

2007-11-11T11:14:00.000+08:00

前个星期三，由于是假期前夕，公司里的人少，所以就和同事提议到远一点的地方吃lunch。因为在公司里，大家的身份卑微，午餐去得太久会被小人算计--好像搬弄是非啦，或声东击西等等贱招都会使出来取悦老板。
所以只好选了不太远，地铁到得了的地方。。。。牛车水
牛车水-也叫chinatown.算是新加坡早期的一个重镇，车水马龙，什么行业，什么买卖都汇集在这里。然而，在新加坡快速发展的数十年，它就是没跟上那飞快的步伐，犹如一个跟时代脱节的老人。虽然不复当年英姿，牛车水始终都没有静静的躲到时间长廊的一角，反而还和每个新加坡华人都扯上了一点关系，就像我模糊的记忆里，和家人去那里办年货，买月饼，吃饭；妈妈带我到珍珠坊买校服等等的事情都还有点印象。
除了近年来被色情行业弄到乌烟瘴气，和被旅游局搞到不伦不类外。。。它其实还是个很有内涵，很有故事的地方。
扯远了。。。
午餐,在珍珠坊小贩中心解决，还好人不多，很快就有位子。我点了卤味，这也是上次跟老爸来的时候吃的一样，只是现在味道好象没那么好吃。。。
酒足饭饱后。。。大家赌性又起，3百万的诱惑，我们都抵挡不了，到隔壁People's Park Centre 去博一搏。虽然8百万分之1的机会跟‘绝望’好像没什么两样。。。我还是保持乐观的排起队来了。

woe$

2007-11-10T13:09:00.000+08:00

This morning, after parking my car at the carpark at Compasspoint, while setting up the baby pram for my anxiously waiting baby gal in the backseat, I heard a loud commotion. It was easy to trace the source, being in the early hours with little cars to block my view. It was a young couple arguing over things, with the guy as the main contributor to noise, with his over the top shouting. I did not get to hear the content. The couple soon disappear. We got on with our business, heading towards Macdonald's for breakfast.
After we stepped out of the elevator, the same couple were standing in the middle of the path way, locked in heated exchange.
This time things got a little clearer.
Guy:"I AM REALLY PISSED, YOU UNDERSTAND? PISSED!!"
Girl:"........." (She replied something, which is inaudible)
Guy:"I SAID I DON'T HAVE MONEY, STOP BUYING NEW THINGS, IS THAT Fxxxing DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND??"

It is silly to quarrel with a love one over money. That is probably the next foolish thing to do besides voting for government that is directly or indirectly causing the money problem and yet not doing anything to solve it.
Really, prices are going up.
E.g. for a tank of Octane 95 petrol... it costs 80 over bucks.

Grocery shopping.... i can easily hit 50 dollars with some simple purchases; Food portion in hawker centre are getting smaller etc.

Well on a brighter note, just a little tip for those driving into city via the gantry outside Cathay Cinema, you can avoid it by doing a short detour into a nearby carpark that has a grace period. You can totally bypass the gantry after exiting the carpark. while petrol price is still worth the detour...all the best.

ERP

2007-11-10T12:15:00.000+08:00

I know it is childish but I cannot resist taking a few juvenile (yet appropriate?) jabs at the acronym.

Everyday Rob People
Elite Rip-off Peasants
Extremely Redundant Project
Exclusively Rich-man's Path

Really, it has been a week and it is still jam packed as usual

be it at night.....

or day....

alternatives? with the soaring petrol prices, it will cost more than the 50 cents to a dollar I am paying to wait through those traffic lights and jams.

Ok, to the elites in LTA that stay in the ivory towers along bukit timah and district 9/10...
let me share with you what's wrong with CTE , from the perspective of a peasant using the CTE almost everyday , who does not draw your kind of pay for implementing stupid policies.....

Fact:
The CTE is jam everyday all the way from amk ave 5 right up to the PIE exit. In between we have a brief respite after the AMK ave 1 exit, before things get ugly again, until the PIE exit, which things return to sanity until the havelock road exit.

Firstly, AMK ave 5 exit is always jammed with the horde of traffic trying to get into the industrial parks and residential areas being the most logical exit for anyone coming down from the north who wants to get to the heart of AMK. The bottleneck formed basically jammed up the whole left lane resulting in slower/heavier vehicles spilling off into the middle lane to avoid the mess. The incoming traffic from the YCK entrance does not help things at all when they too want to avoid the crowded tailback from AMK ave 5. so you can imagine the mass orgy occurring every morning during peak hour.
The build up will keep getting worse all the way from this point till AMK ave 1 when drivers who do not want to pay ERP get out of the high way, again causing a temporary jam but things got better for about 1km when the left lane is suddenly cleared of cars before the vacuum is filled up by more incoming traffic again.
This brings me to the next point, now, as much as I hated ERP and feel that it is a lousy idea. What I hate most is the way it is implemented. How can putting 2 gantries along the braddell stretch change things? You see those drivers that contributed to the jam all the way from YCK to AMK ave 1 already got off the high way. For people who used the CTE to get to the city, paying the ERP after that makes no sense at all after going through the jam. I guess it would make more sense if ERP is adopted on a more toll-based basis- calculated based on your point of entry and where you exit. This will ensure a more consistent control of the traffic and a fair charging system. Use more , pay more.

Lastly, from the point that the road is cleared up after PIE exit shows that... there is an urgent need for an alternative way for people to reach PIE.

Of course, I cannot think of a perfect solution, apart from building more flyovers to carry more cars and to do something about the growth rate. But really, I did not plan to build so many new towns along a highway ill-equipped to handle the traffic, nor do I get the obscene pay of the ministers, yet I am forced to pay for their mistakes.

Maybe It will be a good idea to get some MPs or ministers to get a flat in sengkang or punggol (or condo, if staying in a flat belittle your elite status). Yeah, and they can have more kids and take the public transport as much as they like. I really wish to see them pushing a baby pram around the MRT station. I tried that, thats why I am still driving despite all my complaints.

More good year... hell to that

'smoother' and 'faster'

2007-11-06T00:02:00.000+08:00

Channelnewsasia :New ERP charges take effect
" Most motorists moving south on the CTE have been able to move faster, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA). "

The interesting part of today's news article is that it no longer mentions the improvement in speed with concrete numbers, like how the average speed is able to stay above 40 kmh etc. It uses words like 'faster' or 'smoother'. Of course, it is not wrong to describe improvement of 1 to 2 kmh in the traffic as 'faster'.
ok, the roads are smoother according to our local media...... then it must be my lack of sleep, to see everything in a state of slow-mo when I unfortunately need to pass the southbound gantry at its peak this morning. Seriously, I think the only thing that is closest to being smooth and fast at that moment are the vugalities that I crafted mentally in my head, with the bloody idiot implementors in LTA as the intended recipients.

So as I expected the traffic to be really 'smoother' and 'faster' on my way home, hoping that my little baby and tired wife can get home and rest in the shortest possible time. And who wouldn't have that simple logical expectation with the introduction of a spanking new ERP gantry costing 1 million worth of our hard-earned tax payers' money, along the north bound CTE.....

this sight greeted me just as my little family sedan entered Chin Swee tunnel........ and lasted till Ang Mo Kio Ave 1

smooth my a**

下厨

2007-10-28T23:52:00.000+08:00

今天没回妈妈家吃饭，老婆大人又烦恼晚餐要吃什么，因为附近咖啡店的食物真的不怎样(我比较随便，上夜班的那个星期，曾连续吃了4天的云屯面当早餐，鸡饭当午餐，反正，就是填饱肚子嘛)。于是决定了要煮意大利面。刚好我前些时候也跟她提过我们因该换换口味，别老是煮那些番茄口味（因该有正统的名字吧。。。。我不懂）的意大利面酱料，我比较喜欢吃干一点的，类似干炒的。
下午在冷藏公司买女儿的饼干时，就顺便买了Stir through的酱料，再加一只烤好的现成honey glazed chicken.

晚餐时间到，用沸水煮了煮面条，撕了一大碗的鸡丝。

接着起火。。。镬一烧红，加了牛油，鸡丝胡乱炒了一通。然后加入面条，3勺子的pasta sauce,再继续翻炒。。。5 分钟后。。。大功告成,功德圆满。
唯一的败笔是用了很hawker centre 的塑胶碗来盛，还好我一向来都不是偶像派。

hot seats

2007-10-23T23:48:00.000+08:00

Saw the chinese news yesterday (can't remember which channel though, but they are the same anyway) reporting on MM Lee's visit to Changi Airports upcoming T3 and the A380.
It is the usual media crappy coverage on such events, plus the same old usual (yawwwwn) vision provided by the man on how we should keep pace with competition blah blah.
But what is interesting this time is that, according to the reporter, when MM Lee knew about the $800 a piece seats/benches that are installed in the terminal's open areas, he threw in further questions like the durability, maintainability of the seats, apparently concerned over the cost involved.

Well, I believe his concerns are unnecessary. If he trust ~~his daughter-in-law~~ our country's top brains' capability of investing millions of dollars all over the world without screwing up, surely 800 bucks are just chicken feet. He should 'look at the whole portfolio' as advised by his son and not dwell on the seats too much.

Anyway, I believe those seats in the parliament house do not come cheap too. For that kind of money, my personal feel is that we are definitely overpaying for those asses.

泥菩萨

2007-10-23T22:56:00.000+08:00

I sometimes think Singaporeans are so pathetic.

From the recent saga on Section 377A, I can't help but wonder whats wrong with us? After being screwed by the govt all these years, all you people can worry about is whether it is legal for men to screw each other??
Come on, shouldn't we divert our resources to other pressing issues that deserve changes? e.g. relevance of ISA, regaining control to our hard earned CPF money, the useless ERP, the lousy public transportation system, the out of touch ministers, the overcrowding of our country ...anything, everything except speaking of idealistic yet hollow statements like abolishing of 'archaic laws'.
really I rather they spend the time in parliament debating whether to give more welfare handouts to old folks. Who cares if gays are legally a criminal or not? Those idiots who feel so strongly about this section 377A ....won't they given a choice? they chose lift upgrading instead.

And as if worrying about gay's sexual life is not trivial enough, some singaporeans here have the cheek to clench their fist and shout 'Free Myanmar'?? It is just like prisoners in the medium security prison holding candlelight vigil and hunger strike for their counterparts in another maximum security prison.
It is probably hip and cool to be seen in such events - 'wow, see i am a freedom fighter, holding a lit candle and saying my prayers for the people of [insert country here]"
But.... how 'free' are we? how 'democratic' is this country?
When we are still trapped in our little prison by trading our own future and dignity for lift upgradings, I don't think we are ready to or even qualified to 'free' ourselves ...not to mention others.

其实

2007-10-06T14:00:00.000+08:00

其实我要的仅仅只是
抱着女儿的时间，比面对同事的时间来得多一些。
下班时看到阳光的次数，比上班时看到的脸色来得多一些。
在公司里受的委屈，比在家里受的唠叨来得少一些。
尊严被践踏的辛酸，比忍辱偷生的无奈来的少一些
掌握生命的能力，比掌握车子方向的能力来得好一些。

其实我只是想要, 好好的睡一觉，安心的吃顿饭，自在的喝杯咖啡，静静的读本书，放心的看着女儿长大。不会要求太多吧？

The cage

2007-10-02T01:00:00.001+08:00

Nothing to do with WWE smackdown.....

i am not going to repeat what ad has written on his blog

But the place is so damn far for regular soccer matches.

Still, it is a good workout after 2 year's of absence from a decent soccer match. Thanks kc for the effort to organise the match.

lunches

2007-10-02T00:30:00.000+08:00

My regular lunch haunts can be counted using one hand, my right hand, for that matter. (well, nothing significant though, my master hand is my right thats all).

The top 3 makan places i frequent are:

1. The eatery at ~~Paradize Centre~~ Parklane level 2, that offers cheap and good 杂菜饭(mixed vegetables rice), minced meat noodles or some limited range of zi-char stuffs. I also like this place because it is right above the Singapore Pools main office. Somehow, I believe that eating 'above' the lottery outlet gives me an edge in terms of fengshui, although so far, my investments in Totos and 4Ds down there have not yielded a single cent.

2. The 卤面(I prefer 米粉though) at peace centre, another 5 mins walk after Paradize Centre

3. Parkmall, QQ面 or the little cafe that again sells 杂菜饭 and some limited range of zi-char stuffs.

I will occasionally walk to the foodcourt at meridian hotel, or if it is raining, no choice, that is, eat at douby exchange or the foodcourt (which makes you appreciate army food, the pre SFI era ones) or fastfood at plaza singapura.

However, last month seems to have lots of exceptions to the routines, which also means that my meal expenses have gone up as well (and hong, my budget for lunch per day is not $50)

Like having Tepanyaki at sakae (got 30% discount due to some credit card promotion)

and 红糟鸡(stewed chix in red wine) at beach road. Now this is one of wifey's favourite dish, as mum-in-law is good at cooking it too.

and also the nasi pandang at rendezvous hotel. This is a treat from a colleague who is going to leave in a month's time. Yeah I am going to return the favour soon as a farewell meal.

very overrated if you ask me.

and just today, met adrian at douby exchange...we had pepper lunch. My first time, not bad, but just a tad too pricey for a regular lunch.

SMU

2007-09-28T23:05:00.000+08:00

Met up with hong for lunch at my favourite eatery at Paradize Centre.
After the nice meal of ba chor mee and 杂菜饭, we walked over to Singapore Management Uni across the street , which also happens to be a stone's throw away from my office, for coffee. Being an undergrad there, he offered to show me around the campus.
Not a huge campus as compared to the other universities in the country, but that is probably what orchard road can offer : 3-4 (probably more) closely situated buildings that provide the amenities, space for the various schools and the cafes and eateries that littered across the campus.

As usual you see students hanging around on benches and occupying the seats in the cafes.
I noticed majority of the student does not look local, well, we live in a country where university scholarships are given indiscriminately to outsiders.

I ended my tour by taking a walk at this basement level which is like a mini mall - food courts, banks, clinics, bookshops and what you have....

I would have taken some pics if my phone was not low on battery.

Oh ya, some tv show was on location to do filming for a variety show. The show is pretty educational, as it convey the message that that looks and bullshitting matters more than your capabilities in the workplace and see the kind of host they got for the show to reinforce the idea.
It is nice of the producers to start educating our future leaders on that.
Hong is equally nice to share some pics with me

Never mind the results, at least we have fairness and transparency

Check out Fiona Xie's pair of big, round and sexy.....
eyes

hong ...standing among the crowd. Nowadays Uni student damn eng right?

上课

2007-09-15T11:56:00.000+08:00

这个星期，偷了两天懒。
因为同事临时有事，所以就代他去了两天C# Programming course.
由于是个入门课程，加上我的一点点狗屁天份和完全不掩饰他在混饭吃的老外Trainer,整个课程显得格外轻松，也很沉闷。
第一天，才过了两小时，我就把讲义看完，当天要教的东西吸收得七七八八，自己做起实习了。
谁有空去管老外在嘀咕些什么？
好不容易。。。。Tea Break! 还有糕点哦。
公积金大厦（CPF Building)还有满不错的海景。
（抱歉照片角度不很理想，但我宁可拍垃圾，也胜过拍一群飘洋过海来混饭吃的洋人和印度人渣在狼吞虎咽,...就当是，同垃圾不同命吧)

上这些课程，最怕是没伴。这次就是一个活生生的例子。
第一天，走了十分钟到Amoy Street Market 吃了盘炒虾面。位子不好找。
第二天，就干脆到楼下的小吃店解决。吃了碗肉脞面后，肚子还挺空虚寂寞的。。。就再点了个薄饼，配咖啡

最大的好处，莫过于，能在5点准时下课。。。。回到岳母家时还有时间带萱萱到楼下公园走走。

global players

2007-09-12T21:10:00.000+08:00

Read this article on the CNA website
Singapore's education system to focus on producing more global players
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/299371/1/.html

It always worry me when i see the words "Singapore" and "education" appearing in the same sentence in the local media. Coz, despite the revamps, changes that we have gone through over the years, we singaporeans don't seems to be 'educated' in any aspect- We still deprive old uncles , aunties and pregnant lady of seats on the MRT, throw ciggy butts on the floor; In some extreme cases, serving the country only if compensated with an out of the world pay package.

Anyway what caught my attention and nearly made me fell off the chair is this particular line i read

" The world’s leading educators have said there is a very low correlation between grades and future performance."

Suddenly everything becomes clear when you realize that the main criteria that has been used to gauge generations after generations of scholars and ministerial materials is ...incidentally.....

GRADE

how nice to know that they have a "very low correlation between future performance".

I suddenly don't feel so angry about the people behind endless ERP increment or the stupid FT policies.
It is basically the system's fault for placing them in their job.

but just when i recomposed and steadied myself on the chair, I read this line by our dear education minister
" To achieve this [help students develop global experiences], Singapore’s education system will place a greater emphasis on divergent thinking. "

Of course, divergent thinking, we have all the measures in place , like a tightly controlled media or sending in 4 police riot vans when plastic figurines are being filmed in a public place.

I am so damn sure our next generation will be very good global players after trying so hard to get out of this place

talent spotting

2007-09-10T23:08:00.000+08:00

Not long ago, our Minister Mentor mentioned that the search of the 4th generation of leaders are on going. As a patriotic citizen who shares the same vision as our great leaders, I do feel that grooming the right talent early to handover the running of the country can only bring benefits.

Having spend some years in the education industry, I do feel that schools are a good source of talent (apart from the usual sources like that 'exceptional family' and relatives) that should be tapped for future leaders.

But how do we differentiate the good from the greedy? I mean how do we objectively select those with potential?

They include students that :

1. Offer to upgrade your car, using the class fund, if you recommend them to be the class representative.

2. Insist that a grade of C+ is a strong mandate of their proficiency in that subject

3. After repeatingly failing a few subjects, keeps reminding you to look at the whole 'portfolio' of syllabus offered.

4. Blame their own parents for not giving him enough siblings so he invited Rajan, 小明 and suharto over to his house, lodging, meals on his parents.

5. Have siblings holding other important post in the class committee

6. Sweep the garbage under the carpet when told to keep the classroom clean and tidy. Keep getting bigger carpets when the current ones became too small for the ever increasing rubbish. (this group of students should be earmarked to serve in the transport ministry - to tackle the jam on the highways)

7. Keep reminding you of the sacrifice they made and that they are doing the school a great service by being here as they could be in some other better schools probably enjoying better grades and stuffs

向日本学习

2007-09-10T22:50:00.000+08:00

今天，报章刊登了一则新闻，说日本的民调显示，百分之70的日本人民对生活感到忧心。

老李二十年前大力推崇的“学习日本”，终于有了下落。

我们不仅做到了，还可能已经超越了

萱萱

2007-09-09T21:57:00.000+08:00

上个星期一早上，老婆帮萱萱换了尿片以后，把脏尿片和换下来的衣物递了给我做善后的处理。
一转身，只听到背后传来了婴儿的牙牙学语:"da..da...da...da..da..da...deeee"。
哇。。。她在叫我吗？
只见她，躺在床上，望着天花板漫无目的四处张望，一边重复着嘴里的呢喃，置身在自己的世界里，完全不晓得她的小惊喜所带给我的莫大惊讶与快乐。

父亲这个头衔，在日复一日的洗奶瓶，换尿片，泡奶，洗刷，接送，失眠等等的琐碎中，忽然又变得神圣起来。

the loof

2007-09-09T17:09:00.000+08:00

Never a party animal, so when I got the invitation email for the celebration drinks at 'The Loof' I need to ask for directions from my colleagues. They resent the mail again, this time with detailed driving directions and 'how to get there's instructions, probably surprised at sua ku people like me around.
Made arrangements with wifey and asked for permission to stay out late.
The place seems nice, roof top view, overseeing the sights around raffles city. It was a breezy night but we got ourselves cooped up in a glass enclosure for fear of the raining season acting up.
Promised myself 'only 1 beer' as I need to drive and ensure wifey and my darling rachel get home safe and sound.
In the end, the promise got broken 3 times and after 3 beers and a corona, I need to spend a good whole 1/2 an hour repenting over my broken promises over hot tea at the Macdonald's downstairs.

Well, free drinks are hard to resist especially if free flow of pizzas and chicken wings are around. It is a vicious cycle. You need beer to wash them down, yet more beer leads to more urgent need to fill the tummy with food so that the alcohol does not take over your system.

When I finally got sober enough , after 2 trips to the loo to flush the alcohol out to pick up the ladies from my in-laws' place, I got a earful from wifey for returning late, but what hurts me more is not the chiding but how tired my baby gal looked, after staying up late waiting for daddy.

中文摇滚 - Generation 2

2007-09-09T16:36:00.000+08:00

两个月前，听victor说tangjong pagar 有间玩中文摇滚的pub。

约了marx,三位老人家当晚便驱车前往，一探究竟。饶了一圈，走过了几条街，才找到目的地- House of Rock。
人潮是少的可怜。只有两桌子的人（包括我们在内）。另一桌是较早表演过的乐队。严格来说。。。我们是唯一特地去捧场的吧。

little green frog 是当晚的压轴吧。整体还不错。。。女主唱很有架势，十足陈琦贞的味道，连自创的歌曲也有被感染。

后来和他们聊了几句，才知道原来在我们‘退出江湖’之后。。。还有一大批的后浪在很汹涌的向前冲.

趁现实丑陋的触角还没完完全全的缠绕他们，捆绑他们，凌辱他们之前。。。

http://lgfband.blogspot.com/
他们的blog. 支持一下本土的Chinese Rockers吧！

冒险精神

2007-09-09T12:29:00.001+08:00

最近，朋友的朋友搞了间小公司，跟某个政府部门弄了点资金。要开发点网上传销的系统，专供银行使用。据说，只要从他们的牙缝里分得一丁点的宣传费就够花上半辈子了。
问我有没有兴趣加入？这问题来迟了7-8年。现在的我负债累累，贷款多的数不清，又要付责小女未来20年的起居饮食，教育等等，再加上亲眼目睹了网络泡沫的破灭。。。
还是安安分分的窝在这份没出息的工作吧，虽然没有尊严，受气，可月底俸禄还够维持一家大小生计。。。生死存亡在眼前，小小个人荣辱，尊严,快乐，满足感这些芝麻绿豆的事。。。就暂且搁一边啰。

然而，我还是应了约，下了班去和这几位'老板'见了面。办公室就在夜店，酒吧林立的mohammed sultan road。一踏进去，是一片很前卫的鲜红色。地点，装潢，都很典型的start-up.后来才知道，它们也快搬家了，显然是受不了昂贵的租金。下了班，到附近酒吧喝喝酒，解解压的日子，也所剩无几了。
几位老板都很年轻（大概和我一样，30 开外），都是专业人士。。。我很直接的表明了我的来意，虽然不会全职加入，却不介意以朋友的身份帮他们提供一些技术上的咨询。就算是多交一些朋友吧, 说得难听点。。。搞不好那天饭碗不保，也许能还有些后路可以走。hehe
以他们手上的资金，要弄一个十全十美的系统是挺具挑战性的。给了他们一些建议，委屈一点，搞个规模比较小，却还够 "sexy enough to buy them in"的。最后没有什么结论，但希望讨论过的，能给他们对心目中的东西有一些较踏实的印象。
取车途中，饶了周围走了一圈。。。静得可怜。

下一个男人会更好

2007-09-02T11:49:00.000+08:00

如果把政治比喻成婚姻：
选举之前，犹如蜜恋时说不完的风花雪月。
当选了，胜利演说那一刻的意气风发，好比婚礼当天对世界宣布的至死不渝的海誓山盟或照顾你一生的承诺
婚后，原形毕露。　恶言相向，拳打脚踢。。。。

．．．大选过了不到两年，什么消费税，公路电子闸门收费大大小小都涨到乱七八糟．．．又挪后了领公积金的岁数，还要强制买年金，８５岁之后才领钱．

有什么好埋怨的？反正说穿了，新加坡人。。。不也就是那个逆来顺受的苦命人。嘴里嚷嚷着受够了 (什么‘他虽然有时打我，却还是爱我的’之类的屁话），却继续一而再，再而三的窝在这段有名无实婚姻的光环下，就是始终没勇气去做对得起自己幸福的事。

别以为世界上只有一个好政府, 下一个可能会更好

Poor man's ERP

2007-06-29T00:06:00.001+08:00

The SMEs in singapore seems to be the last untapped market that any wannabe entrepreneur that is foolish enough to venture in to offer some decent IT solutioning.

There are some initiatives by IDA to reach out the SMEs recently (link). They setup a centre at Singapore Polytechnic to "helps SMEs to use common software such as Email, Skype, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus and how to set-up wireless in your business." and trying out "new systems and products before deciding to implement for your business"

I understand they charge a fee for those queries but that is not the main point. To me this is another half-hearted attempt by the bloody scholars to add some meat into their portfolio so that they have something to write for their yearly appraisal.

Email, skype and anti virus softwares... ask your teenage nephew and they probably can use them with eyes closed. Well, even assuming that you do not have such tech-savvy nephew, i believe the products' websites or any shop in Sim Lim Square have enough information to get you started. And if you are really at the extreme end that the web or internet is still some foreign technology to you, you should probably start with something more basic than to explore emails or skype in your business.
My point is... taxpayers' money are wasted on a stupid centre that serves no purposes

What IDA should be doing is something higher level like coming up with frameworks or standards for implementing IT solutions in SMEs and to foster the kind of electronic data exchange among SMEs. This will also align them closer to what the bigger players are doing and lessen their pain when they take the leap into the advance league while their business grow.

After all IT is about information ...data... how do they flow etc. For data to flow between Vendor A and Vendor B (e.g. Order of 10 cans of milk powder), they will need to understand each other in terms of the order number, price, qty, date required, payment mode, etc. With the variety of business domains, food, retail, trading etc... there are plenty of work to be done if IDA is serious about it.

I have a personal interest in open source ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning (no, not that useless piece of crappy ERP) , also known as the Poor man's ERP. (wiki link - what is ERP)

I believe scaled down ERP systems have a place in SMEs. First of all , the cost (it is free basically but you still need someone to customize it for your business) of owning the s/w is just a tiny fraction of the real thing and further more not all the complicated modules are necessary.

Logistics modules like inventory management , financial accounting, billing, Point of Sale and Customer Relationship management could serve as a barebone ERP system for a typical SME, at least to keep the in-house processes manageable and probably save some upfront cost for hiring a clerk just for the paper work. Other textbook benefits like streamlined operation, efficiency still depends on how the business is run. Run badly, IT or no IT system does not make a difference. These few modules will hopefully save you some time in your day to day operations like checking the stocks or totalling the sales of the day etc. Of course, there are things that SMEs may have reservations with. Security, flexibility (I understand there are thousand of one things that can be done (legally?) to save on taxes and operating cost in a manual system), reliability. etc.... it is a big paradigm shift!

I have been following open source ERPs for a while (tiny erp, ofbiz, opentaps etc)... the recent announcement of the apache ofbiz (http://www.ofbiz.org) project moving out of the incubator is definitely good news.
I've take a quick look, seems to be comprehensive. May be worth my time taking a look to check out if it is customizable for the Singapore market.

Coz gahmen says so......

2007-06-16T12:18:00.000+08:00

report on new jobless rate here from CNA.

" Among residents - Singaporeans and permanent residents - the jobless figure was 4 percent, up from 3.6 percent in December 2006.

This was the result of more people entering the labour market on the back of favourable economic conditions. "

Eh....let me translate to ang mo "jobless rate (for locals and PRs) went up because more more people entering the labour market due to the better economy"

means what? good econ, more jobs, but jobs go to foreigners thats why locals can't find job?

Yeah, jobs for foreigners, NS for singaporeans!!!
more good years!

free lunch

2007-06-16T12:02:00.000+08:00

Programme manager going back to london after spending 2 weeks here. He bought us lunch on the last day of his stay 'coz he wants us to 'remember only the good things'

The whole team of about 30 ppl packed 2 long tables at Manhattan Fish Market. As usual, such lunches allows you to see the little social circles in any organisation by the seating arrangement.

Very full, as usual. Make my whole friday afternoon sleepy

龙记菜头馃

2007-06-10T14:21:00.001+08:00

On friday, after sending wify to work, dropped by AMK Ave 10 market for my favourite carrot cake : 龙记菜头馃

Been a real fan of the stall for at least 20 years as I remember eating them since secondary (or primary??) school days.

Washed down with a cup of authentic traditional kopitiam kopi. Thats life!

on leave

2007-06-10T13:50:00.000+08:00

Wednesday , Day 3 of my week long leave.

Wify is taking her OCP Exam (Oracle certified something...) at Suntec City tower 4 at 2pm.
We left our baby at mum-in-law's place the night before so that wify can study in peace.

Reached Suntec around 12 plus. Had lunch at 别府Ramen. I ordered the noodles at 2 chillies spicy level. Bearable, but not very enjoyable. Wify, remind me that I should stick to level 1 hor.

last minute cramping

our meal

Parted ways with wify when she proceed to her exam. I have an hour of spare time, pretty torturous for someone who does not enjoy shopping.

Suntec has changed a lot since the last time I was here. Brought back quite some memories too, as I spent 2 years here in a previous job.

Came across this exhibition called 'Women in the SAF'. Till now, I still cannot understand why any woman in her right mind will want to sign up with SAF.
Patriotism? what for, when our leaders are doing it for money?
love the outdoors? there must be plenty other ways to enjoy the outdoor adventures.
anyway, I am going to MR soon .....

money could be better spent in other ways

There is this new area up at level 3 (called My. PlayGround or something like that, think douby exchange). Seems to be not fully operational yet, with so many unopened shops. Anyway I noticed that nowadays shopping malls are squeezing every inch of their land, under the stairway, along the corridor, to be converted into a retail space. Be it a cart, a counter, or a shop space. Are there really so much businesses to be made?
I notice most of the shopkeepers are youngsters who are selling similar items. fashion accessories, shoes, dresses etc.

Finally, got an sms from wify, she passed! congrats. I can end my wandering.

Took a shot of the Singapore Flyer while driving along ECP

偷得浮生半日闲

2007-06-07T17:12:00.001+08:00

On leave this week. For the first 3 days, both wify and gal are not feeling too good so just glad that I am around to offer the extra help.

As for today, besides the routine chauffeur duty, nice to spend some time at home doing some reading and lazing around.
Also washed the clothes and de-scaled the sterilizer of my baby gal.

Some colleagues are amazed that I am going to spend a whole week entirely in singapore doing practically nothing (useful).

Well, first of all, I am not a traveling person (unless for work, not much choice). Shopping? not unless i have something to buy and anyway all the driving (yeah, i hate driving too) and parking lot hunting zap the last ounce of energy out of me.... these activities tired me out and defeat the whole purpose of a taking a break

it's thursday now...time flies

nephew kurt

2007-06-06T01:26:00.000+08:00

I almost forgot this... I am a uncle again, third time!

My Brother's youngest kid, Kurt arrived last month. Only manage to catch a glimpse of the little fella in deep slumber last Sunday on his Full-month celebration.

will update with some pictures when i got them

high clASS

2007-06-05T21:58:00.000+08:00

the landlord for my office building is so sweet, not sure if it is due to ~~Dowager~~ Mrs Lee's presence (Temasek Holdings shares the same building too). I saw her walking to her white BMW parked downstairs by the road a few times. Very tempted to walk across to her and ask her whether there should be more transparency in Temasek Holdings' ... company transport of course. look at the tinted windows of her ride...I am just concern it may not pass LTA's check thats all.
Anyway , back to the more transparent stuffs....
nowadays when we pang sai, no more messy toilet papers lining the toilet seats or the acrobatic toilet seat squat (shoe prints included).... because ....*drum roll*

we have the 'toilet seat cleaner' installed.
They even have cute little illustrations as instructions

step 1: tear off 2 squares of the toilet paper
step 2: place the toilet paper under the dispenser and press the big blue lever.
step 3: wipe the areas which your a** is going to come into contact with.

One thing it still does not clean up is the bad habit of toilet users... sad to say my workplace has at least 80% of people of a particular nationality that is extremely fond of curry-related diet. Just imagine the lingering debris reeking of curry smell that greets you when you are looking forward to take a dump on a clean, refreshing toilet seat..... damn

I'm back

2007-06-02T18:43:00.000+08:00

3 months is a long time.

That's how long I have stop blogging, in fact, I even stop reading blogs and i just found out that vic and jw are still going strong with their 1 blog / month frequency hehe.
Ahhhh fatherhood. like BMT all over again. It is tough, the daily routine of preparing the milk; washing , sterilizing the bottles; washing clothes, ferrying the baby...topped up with the stress level from a new job is really tough. It makes you want to just close your eyes and sleep whenever you have the time... blog? it can wait

3 months is also how long i have stop commenting on what has happened around me. Well, the gahment has increase everything they can lay their hands on except the respect of the people.
Hell, money really corrupts, especially the mind....so much that our disgustingly high paying policy makers' brain can only think of using money to solve all problems.

The biggest regret is the neglect of my baby Rachel's blog. a lot of things happened in 3 months, she learnt how to crawl ... how to grab a piece of biscuit etc.

I have just rearranged her pics from the last 3 months and realise that i 'owe' her at least 18 blog entries!! 18 pieces of memories from her 1st wonderful year.

better not let things drag any further.....

talk cock

2007-02-12T23:48:00.000+08:00

SM Goh said that the gahment is going to focus on creating some 'silver industry' to make elderly more employable.

I seriously dunno what the hell is wrong with our gahment. Instead of creating an environment where our elderly and retirees can take a well deserved break ; ensuring that they are in a sound financial, mental and physical state after slogging a good 20-30 years for the country, they actually can think of such crazy ideas.

"And many of these elderly will still have some good and productive years ahead.

So the government is looking at ways to encourage them to stay active through work."

People can stay active via doing things that interest them like , go for tours, walk the dog, play with grandchildren...if they can afford to do so, but not working.

Anyway we probably don't have a choice as usual by then.

suddenly, there is space.....

2007-02-11T20:06:00.000+08:00

6.5 millions, that is the population Mr Mah says our little island can handle without affecting the quality of our life.

I thought we need to curb car population and usage because we have finite land to be used for building carparks and roads and so arises ERP and COE.
I thought land is scarce here hence the ridiculous land cost to jack up the price of an average home here.
I thought we are at the brim of overpopulation when I sometimes have to miss 3 trains before getting a standing space on board.

Suddenly someone has 'found' new spaces but instead of improving the quality of life of the current 4 million people, our out of touch policy makers have decided to squeeze in 2.5 million more people.
anyway the elites in singapore have a force-shield around them... crowded trains, packed shopping malls and smaller flats are not going to affect them.

More good-squeezeeeee years

你自己不会看啊

2007-02-10T23:15:00.000+08:00

The 杂菜饭stall in the foodcourt of Plaza Singapura recently raised prices. 2 veges + 1 meat now cost 3.80 , almost 10% percent increase from the previous $3.50

Not sure if it is due to the impending 2% increase in GST but the response from the stall-helper is "你自己不会看啊" (Can't you see for yourself?) gesturing to the updated menu behind him, when my colleague asked him about the additional 30 cents increment.

My colleague was complaining to me about how rude the stall -helper was, but I thought the stall-helper is just being philosophic about life as a ~~peasant~~ Singaporean: you pay the price, If you don't see clearly for yourself?

Anonymous posters

2007-02-10T22:48:00.000+08:00

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070203/3/46f8k.html
"Members of Singapore's long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP) are posting anonymous messages in Internet forums and blogs to rebut online criticism of the party, a leading daily reported on Saturday....

..."The identity is not important. It is the message that is important," Baey Yam Keng was quoted as saying.

The Straits Times quoted Baey as saying that the messages were only effective if they were not "too obvious" lest they resemble "propaganda".

"
The things you read in a forum is probably 100 times more accurate then what you hear from the mouth of your grassroot leaders.

And... why must criticisms be rebutted? can't they be taken constructively to improve things?

3rd Gen Army

2007-02-06T22:22:00.000+08:00

This is our 3G Army:

Spending millions of dollars on an online IT system, but choose not to update my unit's contact number on the system.

Sending hundred of thousands of dollars running a call center which provides the correct number of my unit, but without anyone in the unit to pick up my call

civilization

2007-02-06T22:09:00.000+08:00

On the 3min journey from my humble flat to the void deck, i saw

heaps of rubbish lying right beside the rubbish chute
phlegm being spitted on the lift buttons
pamphlet lying around the letterbox area

This is how we treat the place we live in.

win, lose or draw.... do not be sore

2007-02-04T22:05:00.000+08:00

Possible news headline on 5th Feb 2007

Straits Times:
"Lions win Asean Cup!!!"

Bangkok Post:
"Thais played full game!!!"

what the fish......

2007-02-03T21:07:00.000+08:00

burger king really goes all out to cover their butt.
K, we will look out for bones while eating the big fish burger although we would prefer your QA dept do their job well and serve one without bones.

I suggest they come up with other cautions like, 'may not be thoroughly cleaned', 'employee handling food may not have washed hands' etc

ode to woody

2007-01-22T23:29:00.000+08:00

woody o woody
you make me look silly
'coz I chose to believe
the good years that are elusive
and now you are telling me
talk needs money,
so must raise gst

'Hey kettle, you are so damn black!" - the pot

2007-01-19T00:50:00.000+08:00

go ahead... read this funny article at todayonline http://www.todayonline.com/articles/166536.asp

Our dear SM Goh tries too hard to explain........ again.

"I'll tell you quite candidly and honestly that at election time, the idea of (raising) GST had not come up yet," Mr Goh told reporters.
.
"We just thought, we've got to do the Workfare Bonus, we'll look at the sums later on."

As for making promises during campaign and working out the details later, he said: "That's not quite wrong. That's the way campaigns should be fought. You concentrate on what you want to do, the positive parts.
.
"And after the election, you've got to translate your pledge into reality."

Hmmm.... Isn't Mr Goh the same guy that dug up Mr Chiam's account book and announce to the whole world that the evil opposition party do not have the money to fulfill their promise to upgrade the lifts in PP?

Only PAP can 'look at the sums later on'.... the rest of the world are cheaters and liars who make empty promises....

Best thing is... raising the GST to fulfill their promise is just like saying "I'll buy dinner but you have to foot the bill"

but yeah.... more good years

吃饱撑着

"Keep the administrative procedures simple"

Long term capacity

You call this 'more protection'?

Working

Healthy lifestyle

Views

One army, 2 systems

Golden words.....

Integration

lunch

live from indoor stadium....BEYOND LIVE 2008

Assortative mating

怡乐千

FX

testing....

Like that also can be MP?

gullible

GO! Singapore Chinese Team

patriotism

Fixing the oppositions

Story

Silly Willie

ba cho mee

Car cleaning

完蛋面

Lunch

搬家

好命

Mas alamak

mindset

very useful sign

cultural shock

Thank you for your service......

Lunch

info overload

double standards

Lee 在哪里？

IT Show 2008

Honesty

免费的午餐

别动！起床！ 我们请你喝咖啡。。。。。。

MR lor

creative referencing

House brand Ministers

scholar's logic

捞鱼生

东海岸

Screening room

Eat and Eat

I love my job

Propaganda ...cont

Propaganda

new grilles

Happy new more-good years

午餐 ·@waterloo street

食古不化

$erving the people......

Going green

swift and decisive

赣林老木

AWOL

午餐

woe$

ERP

'smoother' and 'faster'

下厨

hot seats

泥菩萨

其实

The cage

lunches

SMU

上课

global players

talent spotting

向日本学习

萱萱

the loof

中文摇滚 - Generation 2

别动！起床！我们请你喝咖啡。。。。。。