Ever had this scenario, when you complain about some matter and you are shut out of your complain by someone? I shall talk about mine.
I have these nice REAL Polo Tees by Ralph Lauren [Just a side story: After you go travelling in Bangkok, people tend to assume that whatever branded stuff that you own, are counterfeit products, especially with the large variety of fake Ralph Lauren Polo Tees in MBK Centre. That's why the stressing of the 'REAL' at the beginning of the paragraph, just to tell you it's not the 199baht, which you can bargain to 180baht, products selling in Bangkok.] Anyway, so back to the main story.
I put this one particular Polo Tee together with the rest of the laundry to be washed. My father usually does the laundry at home. So today I was doing the ironing of clothes, which is usually done by me, I noticed that there was a small purple spot at the front of the Polo Tee. Okay it's not too obvious, so I thought it should be ok. But horror of horrors, when I turned it to the back, I saw large purple spots on it, and I fainted! WTH! I don't know what caused the spots but I suspect it might have been the softener. [Side story again: This has not been the first time that my laundry has appeared with spots of other colours on it, and strangely enough, these spots seem to appear only when my father does the laundry, and they seem to only "attack" my clothes! Or maybe they do stain other clothes but that I do not pay attention to.]
So I was pretty resigned to fate that my nice expensive Polo Tee was going to be stained for the rest of its life, maybe something like the life of a rich man who suddenly committed an offence and was put behind bars, and suddenly find himself with a stain on his life. So later on, I complained to my Mum, and as you may know, complaining is one of the favourite pastimes of a Singaporean. So the conversation goes something like this:
Me: You know, I found a large purple stain on my Ralph Lauren Polo Tee!
Mum: 你这么厉害，你自己洗啦！[translates as: If you think you are so good, why don't you wash it yourself!]
Ok, Short & Sweet. A big full-stop to my complain.
So is there no room for me to complain in my own house?
Sometimes we are not trying to blame anyone for anything, but we just try to speak out our hearts so as to feel more comfortable, and that was certainly no relief for my comfort at all.
Well my Mum's next sentence was a heart breaker too.
Mum: Is it a fake Polo Ralph Lauren? [which explains why I told my first side story]
Sigh................
Sunday 20 July 2008
Tuesday 8 July 2008
The latest commoner's woe: ERP
That's right! After the recent hike in food prices and oil prices, and the 7% GST last year, the emotionless Transport ministry had to join in the fray and pile more misery at this gloomy time on the people by activating more channels of income - activating 5 more ERP gantries and raising the ERP charges. Hey Transport minister, Thank you very much! *sarcastic tone included*
I think this is ill time to be doing this, and no doubt do many Singaporeans think the same. Even while many people question the motive and are really doubtful of the claim by the LTA (Land Transport Authority) that car speeds in particular roads are really slow, they inputs are ignored. Well, first of all, the include waiting times at traffic lights into the calculations, and in this country where we can claim to be Numero Uno in the most number of traffic lights per mile of road, this would definitely be so! Come on, use your brain!
Then in the papers, there was a guy who worked in the clarke quay area who did his own recording of car speeds in the area, and took pictures of the roads at peak hours, and his study showed that it was completely unnecessary to raise the ERP charges at that area. Even his submission of his study to the LTA was unable to retract LTA's decision. "Disappointing! " I say. "Elitism!" Others claim.
Then what about the business of surrounding areas? This decision definitely would affect them, Big Time! At a time of rising inflation and stuttering economy, this ERP decision will put off people into travelling downtown, and hence reduce the business of the shops in the area. In the long run, these business will go Kaput! All that will be left are food stalls, and maybe only the popular ones, and perhaps some other shops which are a necessity. Shops that sell stuff that can be found somewhere else, well I think it's time to say goodbye! In this sense, retail will suffer, and hence tourism too.
In so many years as a Singaporean, this is the first time that I feel that many big & bad decisions have arise in such a short period, particularly pertaining to transport. The people feel irked by these things, and it is not hard to hear criticisms from the news to the coffeeshop. I think Mr transport minister should come out to explain these decisions, from the hike of public transport fees, the erecting of gantries as and where, and the raise in ERP charges. We need a proper and reasonable explanation.
"Disappointed & Upset!" I say, falling short of calling for his replacement
I think this is ill time to be doing this, and no doubt do many Singaporeans think the same. Even while many people question the motive and are really doubtful of the claim by the LTA (Land Transport Authority) that car speeds in particular roads are really slow, they inputs are ignored. Well, first of all, the include waiting times at traffic lights into the calculations, and in this country where we can claim to be Numero Uno in the most number of traffic lights per mile of road, this would definitely be so! Come on, use your brain!
Then in the papers, there was a guy who worked in the clarke quay area who did his own recording of car speeds in the area, and took pictures of the roads at peak hours, and his study showed that it was completely unnecessary to raise the ERP charges at that area. Even his submission of his study to the LTA was unable to retract LTA's decision. "Disappointing! " I say. "Elitism!" Others claim.
Then what about the business of surrounding areas? This decision definitely would affect them, Big Time! At a time of rising inflation and stuttering economy, this ERP decision will put off people into travelling downtown, and hence reduce the business of the shops in the area. In the long run, these business will go Kaput! All that will be left are food stalls, and maybe only the popular ones, and perhaps some other shops which are a necessity. Shops that sell stuff that can be found somewhere else, well I think it's time to say goodbye! In this sense, retail will suffer, and hence tourism too.
In so many years as a Singaporean, this is the first time that I feel that many big & bad decisions have arise in such a short period, particularly pertaining to transport. The people feel irked by these things, and it is not hard to hear criticisms from the news to the coffeeshop. I think Mr transport minister should come out to explain these decisions, from the hike of public transport fees, the erecting of gantries as and where, and the raise in ERP charges. We need a proper and reasonable explanation.
"Disappointed & Upset!" I say, falling short of calling for his replacement
Friday 4 July 2008
politically motivated?
I just shifted to a new apartment, and though the facilities and environment aren't as great as the previous one, at least I don't have to sleep in the living room anymore, and it's near to the mrt station. Gets a bit noisy though with the sound of trains running by, and of buses (my old place was quite a distance from the bus stop so I couldn't hear any buses). Well, pros and cons.
Well lots of interesting news recently, but still no news of Mas Selamat. One that made the headlines was that of Anwar Ibrahim being accused of sodomy, once again.
Was this a politically motivated action? Some, or rather many, believe that this is so due to the timing of the accusation, just as Anwar is about to compete in an upcoming by-election. Even the US believes so, and has one of its spokesperson warning the government not to make politically motivated arrests. This has definitely not gone down well with the ruling government, who now appears to be trying to eliminate its strongest opposition through underhand means. This particular case brings back memories of Anwar's first arrest due to sodomy charges which he has maintained his innocence, and many still believe it was a set-up.
A parallel can be drawn to a scenario in Taiwan during Chen Shui Bian's second presidential election. As he was riding down the street during a campaign, he suffered a gunshot wound from a mysterious assassination attempt, but survived. This gained him many sympathetic votes, and drew many conspiracy theories about the assassination being staged. Well the Malaysian situation may not be exactly the same, but this event can be similar scenario for Anwar who can gain many sympathetic votes out of this situation, if he survives another prison sentence.
This can be an interesting development to be observed.
Well lots of interesting news recently, but still no news of Mas Selamat. One that made the headlines was that of Anwar Ibrahim being accused of sodomy, once again.
Was this a politically motivated action? Some, or rather many, believe that this is so due to the timing of the accusation, just as Anwar is about to compete in an upcoming by-election. Even the US believes so, and has one of its spokesperson warning the government not to make politically motivated arrests. This has definitely not gone down well with the ruling government, who now appears to be trying to eliminate its strongest opposition through underhand means. This particular case brings back memories of Anwar's first arrest due to sodomy charges which he has maintained his innocence, and many still believe it was a set-up.
A parallel can be drawn to a scenario in Taiwan during Chen Shui Bian's second presidential election. As he was riding down the street during a campaign, he suffered a gunshot wound from a mysterious assassination attempt, but survived. This gained him many sympathetic votes, and drew many conspiracy theories about the assassination being staged. Well the Malaysian situation may not be exactly the same, but this event can be similar scenario for Anwar who can gain many sympathetic votes out of this situation, if he survives another prison sentence.
This can be an interesting development to be observed.
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