I had been resisting for 3 weeks to follow in my friend's footsteps in making a blog post to complain about how working life is tiring, but still I succumbed to that favourite SG habit - complaining!
Oh well, it's tiring!
Basically, I wake up at 7 every morning, wash up, read the paper while I have breakfast, and leave the house at 7.45am. Reach workplace at 8.25am, then work until 12pm+ then go for lunch. Arrive back in office at 1pm+ and continue working till 6.30pm+ or sometimes around 7pm+, then reach home 7pm earliest, or usually about 7.30pm. Rest for a bit, then have dinner, then rest for a longer bit, maybe watch some tv or like right now, do some blogging, and then go to sleep at 11pm.
I practically don't really have as much freetime as I used to have, to do whatever stuff like watching movies or playing pc games. Sigh...
Hey those of you reading this and sniggering away, it'll be your turn soon! Watch out man, I only started some time before you, but hopefully, fingers crossed, I can end this routine earlier than you!
Yawnz......
Monday, 4 August 2008
Sunday, 20 July 2008
No Space for Complains
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................
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................
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.
Friday, 20 June 2008
An Ant's Life
This is an interesting story about ants.
In a laboratory, there is a colony of black ants. The queen (purple) only produces black ants. They live peacefully within the colony.
Then one day, the scientist in charge of this colony introduces a red ant into the colony. This red ant is aggressive and strong. As part of nature, the black ants are inclined to repel the intruder. But as this red ant is aggressive and strong, it is able to repel any attacks easily.
Very soon, the red ant feel very comfortable about its new home. There is ample food for itself as it did not need to fight for every small bit of food which it used to do back at its red ant colony. It can easily bully the other black ants for food, and it earned the favor of the Queen ant as the Queen felt that this red ant is a foreign talent (FT). So the Queen granted the red ant a space in the colony.
One day the red ant disappeared. All the black ants are very happy that this intruder who had come and take away their "shine" is gone. Life can be back to normal again. But they are sadly wrong. The next day, they got a rude shock.
The red ant came back with two other red ants! Being part of nature, the black ants decide to repel the invaders. But as before, the red ants swiftly thwarted their attack, and left the black ants bruised and battered. The Queen is very glad however, as she feel that these new ants are strong and talented. She welcomed them with open arms, and decide to grant them a bigger space for accommodation. The black ants are naturally dismayed that not only do they have to work harder to find more food, they have to sacrifice some space for these red ants in a colony which is already very small.
The next day, even more red ants entered the colony and made themselves comfortable in this new place. Naturally, the black ants are unhappy and decide to repel these new intruders. But there are just too many of these strong and aggressive red ants that the black ants feel they have no chance against them at all. So they decide to launch a complain to the Queen about this, but it was swiftly put down by the Queen who praised the red ants as FT and are integral to their colony. Some of the black ants become disappointed and decide that it is time that they leave this colony to find life elsewhere as this colony does not belong to them anymore.
The next day, the Queen woke up to find almost half the black ant population gone, only to be replaced by red ants. And she wonders why.
Friday, 6 June 2008
A case of too much, too soon
Malaysia yesterday raised the prices of petrol nationwide by 40 percent and resulted in widespread unhappiness with the BN. This move is supposed to help Malaysia save billions every year in terms of subsidies which had kept Malaysian oil prices one of the lowest in the world. However, no doubt, this is a move that will incur the wrath of the common folks who felt they had their carpet pulled from under their feet. And at a time of rising inflation in all sorts of goods, having the price of this important commodity raised by 40 percent at one shot suddenly is like getting hit by a cyclone after getting hit by an earthquake.
This will no doubt be a big risk move by BN following their recent election loss, and in the short term, it will seem to be a outright suicidal move that could see a bigger shift in popularity to the opposition. However, if the central government is able to pull this off, I foresee that Malaysia's economy will do really well as the move will save it billions of dollars which can be put into its reserves to strengthen the economy and propel it to a more prosperous future. Otherwise, the situation can end up like the one which threw Indonesia into a turmoil about 10years ago, and most likely, "some heads will roll".
This makes me wonder why didn't the Malaysian government implement this in tiers instead of raising the entire 40 percent at one go? What I mean is that they could have raised the prices of petrol by 10 percent for a few months, and then another 10 percent and so on, instead of making citizens feel the full brunt of the price hike at one go? Or could this imply that 40 percent is the first tier, and further hikes are still on the horizon? This could be logical considering prices of petrol are still cheaper than in Singapore, and Singaporeans will still be willing to make the tour across the causeway to get cheaper petrol from the kind Malaysian government which has scrapped the plan to ban Singaporeans from buying petrol within a 50km radius from the border. Nonetheless, this was a necessary move that would become unsustainable as there seems to be no quick end to the rising oil prices.
This will no doubt be a big risk move by BN following their recent election loss, and in the short term, it will seem to be a outright suicidal move that could see a bigger shift in popularity to the opposition. However, if the central government is able to pull this off, I foresee that Malaysia's economy will do really well as the move will save it billions of dollars which can be put into its reserves to strengthen the economy and propel it to a more prosperous future. Otherwise, the situation can end up like the one which threw Indonesia into a turmoil about 10years ago, and most likely, "some heads will roll".
This makes me wonder why didn't the Malaysian government implement this in tiers instead of raising the entire 40 percent at one go? What I mean is that they could have raised the prices of petrol by 10 percent for a few months, and then another 10 percent and so on, instead of making citizens feel the full brunt of the price hike at one go? Or could this imply that 40 percent is the first tier, and further hikes are still on the horizon? This could be logical considering prices of petrol are still cheaper than in Singapore, and Singaporeans will still be willing to make the tour across the causeway to get cheaper petrol from the kind Malaysian government which has scrapped the plan to ban Singaporeans from buying petrol within a 50km radius from the border. Nonetheless, this was a necessary move that would become unsustainable as there seems to be no quick end to the rising oil prices.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Recent Happenings
Today is (today is not over yet, so I should use the present tense) a dark & gloomy day for Singapore football as it was humiliated by Uzbekistan 7-3 in the world cup qualifiers. That exposed a really leaky defense in Avramovic's team, but at least it showed that the attack was in existence as it managed to put in 3 goals against one of Asian football's giant. We'll just have to pull ourselves together in the next few matches to get a spot in the world cup. And meanwhile, we're like approximately 5days away from Euro 2008!
Got my university exam results a few days ago, and I am more pleased than I can ever be. Had a few mini-shocks actually. First was that I expected an A for my honours thesis, but only got an A-. Damn! But was really pleased with the B+ and B for Macro 3 and Econometrics 3 respectively, so I am really happy because the exam was so f*cked up that I thought I was going to get a C. Screw those foreign lecturers who can't teach properly, teach very little but set very difficult exams. Poor attitude I must say. They should have a screening procedure to eliminate bad lecturers, and send them home or maybe back to training school where they belong.
Haha I'm blasting them even though they gave me a much better result than I expected, but then I would have scored much better had they taught much better, and set exam qns which requires more intuitive thinking rather than qns that require you to memorise stuff and do simple but long & tedious calculations. Who the hell wants to calculate the roots of a time series equation manually when you can use a computer nowadays?! Geeez...
Oh and some days ago I saw this lady, no offence to her but is she brainless or is she trying to commit suicide? I couldn't figure, cos she brazenly stepped in front of an approaching double-decker bus to pick up a coin she dropped on the road. C'mon lady, I am not prepared at that moment to witness some bloody horror scene, and she made me had that urge to run forward to grab her off the road. But where're the brains I wonder. This reminds me of an analogy used by my lecturer, Tim Higgins, "picking up pennies in front of the bulldozer", a phrase he used to describe the guys from Long Term Capital Management (LTCM). Well LTCM provides for some interesting read if you search them up on Wikipedia. But I can now figure why that seems rather familiar at that moment....
Got my university exam results a few days ago, and I am more pleased than I can ever be. Had a few mini-shocks actually. First was that I expected an A for my honours thesis, but only got an A-. Damn! But was really pleased with the B+ and B for Macro 3 and Econometrics 3 respectively, so I am really happy because the exam was so f*cked up that I thought I was going to get a C. Screw those foreign lecturers who can't teach properly, teach very little but set very difficult exams. Poor attitude I must say. They should have a screening procedure to eliminate bad lecturers, and send them home or maybe back to training school where they belong.
Haha I'm blasting them even though they gave me a much better result than I expected, but then I would have scored much better had they taught much better, and set exam qns which requires more intuitive thinking rather than qns that require you to memorise stuff and do simple but long & tedious calculations. Who the hell wants to calculate the roots of a time series equation manually when you can use a computer nowadays?! Geeez...
Oh and some days ago I saw this lady, no offence to her but is she brainless or is she trying to commit suicide? I couldn't figure, cos she brazenly stepped in front of an approaching double-decker bus to pick up a coin she dropped on the road. C'mon lady, I am not prepared at that moment to witness some bloody horror scene, and she made me had that urge to run forward to grab her off the road. But where're the brains I wonder. This reminds me of an analogy used by my lecturer, Tim Higgins, "picking up pennies in front of the bulldozer", a phrase he used to describe the guys from Long Term Capital Management (LTCM). Well LTCM provides for some interesting read if you search them up on Wikipedia. But I can now figure why that seems rather familiar at that moment....
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