Taking some time off during my work trip in Japan now to blog. It's been a while and since I have some time in between flights, I'm back at the hotel using the internet.
Japan is an amazing place. It is my 2nd time here and based on the behaviour of the people here, you will know that this is indeed a very different land. People are very or shuld I say extremely polite and humble. Courtesy is a must. What amazes me is the taxi fares. It is extremely expensive. fares running up to hundreds of Sing Dollars is not unheard of. What I cannot understand is why in some countries in Asia, we have taxi drivers loitering at the airports and once you are out, they swarm you and try to get you to board their cab. However, I also noticed that most advance or civilised countries, do not have the above symptom. I was in Phuket recently and the same occurred. In Cambodia, the same. Especially when you are fair in skin colour and with blond hair, they will swarm around you as if honey to bees. Thinking you will give them a big tip i suppose. Such actions disgust me and I prefer the likes of Japan, Singapore, Hongkong etc where by there is some form of a system to allow fair competition.
This trip to Osaka, I was very involved in the operations and from it I learnt a few valuable lessons too. Was introduced to someone who spoke English very well and was really impressed. A good help especially in a land whereby I do not speak the native language and can hardly communicate with the others. I trusted him with the instructions and deligated a lot of work to him. When the rubber meets the road, I realised that he is someone who cannot deliver. All talk, no action. At the end, it is the quiet Japanese who actually put in the thoughts and process in place to get the job done. It is really great to se them so passionate about their job.
So the lesson learnt is that very often, the person who speaks the least is the hardworking one. The one who talks the most, produces the most smoke. Always check their work...
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Gone Flying
It's been a while since I've last blogged and probably that is because I've been busy lately. Busy with work that is and have been flying about.
Just did a calculation. From the start of the year to date, I've covered more than 60,000kms. I've got a few more trips coming up this month, including to Vietnam, Manila, Japan, etc. By the end of July, I would have flown around the globe aprroximately 2 and a quarter times along the equator. The world is indeed an awesome place and that is because we've got an awesome God who created all that. From the various natural sceneries to those man-made ones to the diverse culture. Beautiful...
Phyysically, it is tiring and there are times when you do not even need to unpack as the next trip is just a couple of days away. Having mentioned all the trips I've been on this year, I noticed all but 1 flight was on an Airbus airplane.
Since this is a blog about the passion on aviation, I'll mention a bit about the difference between Airbus and Boeing, the 2 largest makers of commercial airplanes. For Airbus, generally, the maintenance cost is more expensive. Why? Cos their manuals require them to have a complete change of equipment when there is any damage or faults. However, for Boeing, one can just change by small parts. The layman way of saying it that for Boeing, one can just change a faulty screw and have it replaced. however, for Airbus, one needs to swop the entire part around. That is the general case, not too sure how the B-787 will be like. Therefore, if you are taking an old aircraft, an Airbus one will probably be more reliable. I'm sure they are all safe, but just an Airbus one will probably not give as much issues as a Boeing one....
Just did a calculation. From the start of the year to date, I've covered more than 60,000kms. I've got a few more trips coming up this month, including to Vietnam, Manila, Japan, etc. By the end of July, I would have flown around the globe aprroximately 2 and a quarter times along the equator. The world is indeed an awesome place and that is because we've got an awesome God who created all that. From the various natural sceneries to those man-made ones to the diverse culture. Beautiful...
Phyysically, it is tiring and there are times when you do not even need to unpack as the next trip is just a couple of days away. Having mentioned all the trips I've been on this year, I noticed all but 1 flight was on an Airbus airplane.
Since this is a blog about the passion on aviation, I'll mention a bit about the difference between Airbus and Boeing, the 2 largest makers of commercial airplanes. For Airbus, generally, the maintenance cost is more expensive. Why? Cos their manuals require them to have a complete change of equipment when there is any damage or faults. However, for Boeing, one can just change by small parts. The layman way of saying it that for Boeing, one can just change a faulty screw and have it replaced. however, for Airbus, one needs to swop the entire part around. That is the general case, not too sure how the B-787 will be like. Therefore, if you are taking an old aircraft, an Airbus one will probably be more reliable. I'm sure they are all safe, but just an Airbus one will probably not give as much issues as a Boeing one....
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
2 cities
Was traveling lately and before I went to China, I had the opportunity to watch a documentary entitled "Secret Service" at home. It was on Discovery Channel or NGC and they were talking about the assassination of US President Ronald Reagan. That programme was done by US and it was saying how the training of the Secret Service ultimately led to the prevention of this assassination. How that agent in the grey suit made himself looked huge and took a bullet for the President. There was another agent who pushed the President into the car and brought him to safety. The documentary was about how great the Secret Service was and how wonderful their training was and so on.
Then a few days later, in a hotel in China, I saw a similar programme and again, it was about the same assassination. This time, it was done from a Chinese perspective. There were apparently 3 reporters at the scene and thus, there were 3 videos of the incident all from different angles. They reviewed the tape and here is what they concluded. After the shooting, there was chaos especially when it comes to sending the assissin to the lock up. The first patrol car that came in cannot be used and they had to go to another patrol car. There was a women from across the street who ran to the scene and looked at the injured man and thought he was her husband and screamed and was talk to leave alone without any one supporting her. How did she manage to get so close to the crime scene in the first place? There was no crowd control. There was also a live gun just at the head of the injured lying on the floor. That was many minutes after the shooting. If there was an accomplice, that was the end of everyone. Another point they raised was the presence of the Uzi. What was the Uzi there for? and the guy who jumped around with the Uzi in hand really looked commical. There were other points raised such as the fact that they had to ask around for a hanky as first aid dressing. Basically, poor planning and poor training.
So very clearly, two different cities had 2 different versions of the story. It amazes me how often the same situation can generate different versions of it.
More often than not, I see Western people being very confident. Or should I say, the lack of humility. Look at the reality shows. How when they lose, they will put the blame on others and say that it is this, it is that, and it will never be because they were not good enough. For a Eastern person, they will always be humble. Like the Taiwanese who will always say "Wo hui jia you!" Meaning I will put in the effort. Or Japanese contestants who will say I will train harder the next time etc. In my opinion, the best is still a good balance between the two.
Friday, April 20, 2012
The under-aged prostitute saga
In Singapore, what is snatching the headlines recently is this on-going legal battle. Apparently an under-aged prostitute has caused close to 50 men to be summoned to be investigated. She is now 19 and was 17 when the acts were committed. Not a problem to have sex with someone under 18, as long as she is above 16. However, if it is paid sex (i.e. prositution), it is against the law. Prostitutes have got to be above 18. I'm no lawyer and the above information is what I gathered from the papers and other sources of media. Should they be incorrect, I regret that my level of intepretation is not up to mark.
So I've decided to blog a little about this issue as usual, I have my opinions on current affairs. Many people have followed the news closely and importantly, they want to know who the girl is. Some have identified her as ________. I will not mention her identity here due to a gag order. However, if you google hard enough, it is not hard to find. Is it her real identity? It is anyone's guess.
So what is really so sensational about this piece of news is really the people or rather, men, that got involed. Many of them are people with reputable status. The who's who of today's society. High ranking civil servents. One of them was also related to River Valley High School and therefore it caught my interest. Many people are laughing at these men who appear as lepers leaving the courtroom - all wrapped up.
However, I was just thinking of the family menbers of these men. In fact, what kind of stress will these men be going through now. How their business associates / colleagues / close relatives / cousins / school mates etc will be viewing them. It definately is not a glamourous thing. One of the men even appeared recently on a magazine stating how loving his marriage life is and now, he and his wife are in the courtroom.
What the main concern here is consistency and integrity. These people holding high office positions are expected to behave in a certain manner and what this case did was to expose their other side. Their private side. Their dark side. Sadly, it has been made public. However, before we flip open the papers and laugh at all the names of the men (yes they do print out all the names), we touch our hearts and ask ourselves are we that great ourselves. Have we led a truly consistent life that is 100% integrated? Did we not lead a double life at a certain point in time. at least once?
See, it can range from something seemingly innocent like "I am a prefect and is suppose to be a model student. However, I didn't do my homework and am punished for it" and on the other extreme end, "I am a CEO of a company but was found to have embazzled company funds" or maybe "I am a political leader but was caught having an affair".
The fact remains that if such a case can happen to these 50 men, it can happen to anyone of us. Most of these men are Singaporeans (It has been a long time since Singapore's papers publish crimes that invole Singaporeans as the victims and accused) They are the average people we see along orchard road, in the heartlands, etc. the crime this time may be women. it may be money next. Anyone can fall into these. The bible says guard your heart with all diligence. easier said than done. But what I always remember and am thankful for is that I learn some time back that God will deal with our sins privately. If we learnt and repent, it will save us from being dealt with publicly. You, my reader, may be leading a very good and clean life. So this message is not for you. It is simply a note to myself that I need to correct myself constantly. We are not competing to be the perfect saint but we need to do what we possibly can to improve and correct outselves. Going onto perfection, some people call it.
I was reminded of a song by Delirious? entitled "King or Cripple" A pert of the verse in the lyrics said "What made me a King can sometimes cripple" So true indeed. The higher you go, maybe a CEO or minister or a pulic figure like an international pastor will come under greater scrutiny. The public demands you to be perfect. I have entered the working world for about 4 years now and I have seen at least 4 top office holders being told to go. How sad when you cannot meet the expectations of others. I cannot please men. Let me try to please God.
God help me to be a better person each day. In my actions, thoughts, and everything within me....
So I've decided to blog a little about this issue as usual, I have my opinions on current affairs. Many people have followed the news closely and importantly, they want to know who the girl is. Some have identified her as ________. I will not mention her identity here due to a gag order. However, if you google hard enough, it is not hard to find. Is it her real identity? It is anyone's guess.
So what is really so sensational about this piece of news is really the people or rather, men, that got involed. Many of them are people with reputable status. The who's who of today's society. High ranking civil servents. One of them was also related to River Valley High School and therefore it caught my interest. Many people are laughing at these men who appear as lepers leaving the courtroom - all wrapped up.
However, I was just thinking of the family menbers of these men. In fact, what kind of stress will these men be going through now. How their business associates / colleagues / close relatives / cousins / school mates etc will be viewing them. It definately is not a glamourous thing. One of the men even appeared recently on a magazine stating how loving his marriage life is and now, he and his wife are in the courtroom.
What the main concern here is consistency and integrity. These people holding high office positions are expected to behave in a certain manner and what this case did was to expose their other side. Their private side. Their dark side. Sadly, it has been made public. However, before we flip open the papers and laugh at all the names of the men (yes they do print out all the names), we touch our hearts and ask ourselves are we that great ourselves. Have we led a truly consistent life that is 100% integrated? Did we not lead a double life at a certain point in time. at least once?
See, it can range from something seemingly innocent like "I am a prefect and is suppose to be a model student. However, I didn't do my homework and am punished for it" and on the other extreme end, "I am a CEO of a company but was found to have embazzled company funds" or maybe "I am a political leader but was caught having an affair".
The fact remains that if such a case can happen to these 50 men, it can happen to anyone of us. Most of these men are Singaporeans (It has been a long time since Singapore's papers publish crimes that invole Singaporeans as the victims and accused) They are the average people we see along orchard road, in the heartlands, etc. the crime this time may be women. it may be money next. Anyone can fall into these. The bible says guard your heart with all diligence. easier said than done. But what I always remember and am thankful for is that I learn some time back that God will deal with our sins privately. If we learnt and repent, it will save us from being dealt with publicly. You, my reader, may be leading a very good and clean life. So this message is not for you. It is simply a note to myself that I need to correct myself constantly. We are not competing to be the perfect saint but we need to do what we possibly can to improve and correct outselves. Going onto perfection, some people call it.
I was reminded of a song by Delirious? entitled "King or Cripple" A pert of the verse in the lyrics said "What made me a King can sometimes cripple" So true indeed. The higher you go, maybe a CEO or minister or a pulic figure like an international pastor will come under greater scrutiny. The public demands you to be perfect. I have entered the working world for about 4 years now and I have seen at least 4 top office holders being told to go. How sad when you cannot meet the expectations of others. I cannot please men. Let me try to please God.
God help me to be a better person each day. In my actions, thoughts, and everything within me....
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Salmon Teriyaki
Just made this extremely simply and yummy dish. So decided to post it here. It's Teriyaki Salmon and it should be done in under 10mins.
First, you'll need a piece of fresh salmon. NTUC, Giant or any other supermarkets should have them. This piece that I got cost around $7. So it's quite a big piece.
Place it in a nice microwaveable dish and into the microwave oven for 2-3 mins (depending on size and esp thickness of fish.)
It should appear like this when it's done.
Then, it's the teriyaki sauce. Bought it from Giant the last time and just pour it over the semi-cooked fish.
When it's done, put some black pepper on it and back into the microwave it goes for another 3 mins.
And this is the finished product.
Some tips: Teriyaki sauce might by quite salty, use as you deem fit. Might be a good idea to cover the dish when it's placed in the microwave oven. The oil from salmon is the good Omega 3.
First, you'll need a piece of fresh salmon. NTUC, Giant or any other supermarkets should have them. This piece that I got cost around $7. So it's quite a big piece.
Place it in a nice microwaveable dish and into the microwave oven for 2-3 mins (depending on size and esp thickness of fish.)
It should appear like this when it's done.
Then, it's the teriyaki sauce. Bought it from Giant the last time and just pour it over the semi-cooked fish.
When it's done, put some black pepper on it and back into the microwave it goes for another 3 mins.
And this is the finished product.
Some tips: Teriyaki sauce might by quite salty, use as you deem fit. Might be a good idea to cover the dish when it's placed in the microwave oven. The oil from salmon is the good Omega 3.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Bus Service 48
Some time back, I wrote to LTA stating that I find it amusing to see buses bringing residents to the bus terminus after snaking through neighbourhoods instead of a direct route taking them to the nearest mrt station. The examples I gave were service 229 for Bedok South Ave 3 and service 334 for Jurong West St 42. The post can be viewed in my Jan 2011 listing. (not sure how to do a shortcut link here)
Despite the reply, I was still hopeful that the authorities will do something about it and not just send out templated response to genuine, good, intellectual feedback.
I'm happy to note that somewhere in December 2011, they decided to ammend the route to service 48. 48 will now cut through Bedok South ave 3 directly to Tanah Merah Mrt station. This means that I now have a direct bus service to Tanah Merah Mrt station from the busstop right at the foot of my block. Previously, I had to walk 6-7mins to take 12 or 38.
Despite the reply, I was still hopeful that the authorities will do something about it and not just send out templated response to genuine, good, intellectual feedback.
I'm happy to note that somewhere in December 2011, they decided to ammend the route to service 48. 48 will now cut through Bedok South ave 3 directly to Tanah Merah Mrt station. This means that I now have a direct bus service to Tanah Merah Mrt station from the busstop right at the foot of my block. Previously, I had to walk 6-7mins to take 12 or 38.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
A Lonely Buffet
This happened towards the end of 2011. I always thought it is wierd to eat alone let alone a buffet. It was until recent that I knew how to dine alone. Especially so when I travel alone overseas and often had to have the breakfast buffet at the hotel... alone. Not too long ago, NUS also had a campaign to dare people to eat alone. Since I am NUS trained, I should be able to eat pretty much, without anyone else sitting with me. So, I went for a buffet at M hotel last year thanks to a voucher I got from my dad. So here are the photos and it should pretty much what I had at the reetaurant. Probably I left a plate of sashimi out that's all. Everything that was taken in the photos here all ended up in my belly.
Is it a lot?
This is the entrance where I was told to wait. Apparently, there were many people who were here for the buffet. It cost like close to SGD 50 I think per head.
The place I was seated
Some meat and it was pretty much sashimi from here on...
Ended with some desserts.
The conclusion I drew from this is that eating alone is very sad. It makes the food taste bad actually. It is often not about the food but the company that really matters. I can say out loud that a bowl of instant noodles eaten at home with my wife tastes so so so good. However, when I have the most expensive seafood in front of me with some officials in China for some duty trip, the food often is not appetising and I can hardly swallow them....
Is it a lot?
This is the entrance where I was told to wait. Apparently, there were many people who were here for the buffet. It cost like close to SGD 50 I think per head.
The place I was seated
Some meat and it was pretty much sashimi from here on...
Ended with some desserts.
The conclusion I drew from this is that eating alone is very sad. It makes the food taste bad actually. It is often not about the food but the company that really matters. I can say out loud that a bowl of instant noodles eaten at home with my wife tastes so so so good. However, when I have the most expensive seafood in front of me with some officials in China for some duty trip, the food often is not appetising and I can hardly swallow them....
Monday, March 5, 2012
2012 - not a racist post
Should have posted this long ago...
Typing this in the plane now. It has been an busy yet interesting start to the new year. For one, this is my first time spending the Lunar New Year away from home. Yes, Qin and I went overseas as it was the long weekend and I thought I was the only one but I was so wrong. Traveling was so popular that I nearly couldnt' get onboard. Well, we went to Perth and from there went over to Adelaide. We did the great ocean road and drove to Melbourne where we fly back to Singapore. It was summer there and Perth was pretty hot. However, as soon as we hit the road, we were suprised by the pleasant weather in Australia. The plan was this. We will fly to Perth on Friday night and then spend the night in Perth airport it self and venture to Perth city to have a look before our domestic flight to Adelaide that afternoon. From Adelaide, we will rent a car after the first night stay at Mercure and then drive down to Victor Harbour. It is a very short drive down but I thought it is good to have an easy start. Somemore, we are going to the clevland wildlife park. This is one cool park as you get to hand feed the kangaroos. They are pretty tamed and I know Qin would love this. She was hoping like the kangaroos around the park. Oops, suppose to be a secret. Then, the plan was that we will stay in Victor Harbour for a night before driving off to this town called Robe. Then this town called Portland and then Apollo Bay, followed by Baccarat and then into Melbourne where we will spend 2 nights. So that is a total of 9 nights. Well, things didn't go as planned. When we were in Portland, we decided to do some crazy things and thought of driving to the Grampians. According to my good friend who has studied in Melbourne for a number of years, "Grampains is a must visit. It is more beautiful than the blue mountains". So we decided to take up the challenge to drive all the way up north and do a little diversion. Man, this was one long drive. Basically, from morning 9am all the way till night time around 9pm. It is a little risky in retrospect. The saving grace was that it was summer then and the day is longer than usual which means that we have more day light to drive. Well, one of the nights, when we were in Portland to be exact, we drove out of Portland and did some night driving. It was really cool driving in the dark and you get to see a lot of wildlife running about. There were kangaroos, rabbits etc. Anyway, from Grampians we finally made our way to Apollo Bay and after we checked-in and put down our bags, it was almost totally dark already. If we were late by about half hour, probably will be caught in total pitch darkness driving in.
This trip to Australia has made me think of many things, especially after interacting with the locals or not interacting with them actually. What happened was that when we were taking the domestic flight over to Adelaide, someone sat wrongly and took our seats instead. What are the chances of 2 person sitting wrongly? Well it happened. We were given 12E and 12F. Well, I think I can be considered as a pretty regular flyer by now and I do not think I'll get my seats mixed up. The guy who was siting on 12E was a Chinese and he immediately stood up and said sorry before making his way out. The other guy, was an Aussie and he had his laptop opened up and was busy at work. Well, if you are a regular traveller, you'll know that you only use your laptop after take off and when the seat belt sign has been switched off. Well, at least this is the case for this airline I am flying with. So my guess is that he is a noob. Nevermind, he insisted that he was correct and I was wrong. "This is MY seat". He said. "The row number is written here" as he pointed towards the number above his seat, at the overhead compartment area. Well, the ground staff may have made a mistake by issuing a duplicate boarding pass and so I didn't want to kick a big fuss but wait for a cabin crew to come and have a look. By now, the passengers in the area were all looking as this man had raised his voice. I was like a stupid Chinese and all the whitemen are thinking I'm the dumb dumb who cannot even read a number. After a while, the guy realised that he was seated wrongly. His seat was 13F and not 12F. He said softly "Oops, I made a mistake, I'll move back". The gentleman on 12D then looked at me and shook his head. He was a 1st generation Australian and he too was discriminated because of his race when he first came. So he completely understand how I felt. He also said that if I was not an Asian, I will probably not be treated like that. Anyways, this was not the only incident throughout this trip. We went to a restuarant, samething. And another case in a parking lot. I wasn't really offended by such things. It was in fact thought provoking. What caused some Aussies to be this racist? I saw milkshakes being thrown at my colleagues when I was there many years back. Many of them thought that we are there to fight for jobs with the locals and hence, hate non-Aussies to the guts. However, they are also not the locals if we want to be precise. THe aborigines are. They came and look their land to call their own and then form an exclusive club and deny the acceptance of other people like asians. And the scariest thing is that this bears close similarity with the situation we have in Singapore. Chinese, being the majority, didn't originate from Singapore. We came from CHina a few generations back. At present, we are also facing an issue with the influx of foreigners. Be it talent or labour, what difference does it make? The culture is different and they too are competing with us for jobs, houses, wives, husbands, food, etc. How are we reacting then? SHould we be racists and throw milkshakes at them along orchard road? Should we outrightly discriminate them? But if we do accept them, what is going to happen to our home? The place where we worked hard to defend (serve NS) and give it to new citizens like Jet Li and Gong Li? Allow foreigners to come in so that our kids are facing enormous pressure in schools as the elites from all over wants to come to singapore and partake our education system? Slog our lives away only to realise that the HDB flat seems forever out of reach as the rich Chinese can buy it using cold hard cash? These are issues that everyone face. In fact, these problems have been brought up at almost every rally during the election period just last year. What is our government going to do about it. I just read a report that LKY has called us to accept foreigners and that will prevent us from becoming like Japan. I'm not sure if he said we will regret if we choose not to accept foreigners though.
After returning from Australia, I was in China the next day. A drastic difference in temperature and culture as well. I first visited China close to 20 years back. Back then, I was in Yunnan and I totally didn't like it. Throughout the trip, I wanted to return to Singapore so badly. I enjoyed everything in Singapore. that was in the early 90s. Everything was hopeful. The common understanding was that if you worked hard, you'll make it in life. We have a great government with great policies and everyone was happy. Many people supported the government as shown in the polling results. Now, CHina is not that bad. Singapore on the other hand seems to lose its shine. Just take a walk at MBS, you'll think you have gone overseas. OK, that is a tourist place, so let's take the coffeeshop in our heartlands for example. It is the same, foreigners everywhere. I come from Jurong and when I went back to Jurong recently, it is totally unrecognizable. Way too many foreigners providing labour to the factories there. In fact, the only time that I saw lesser foriegners was when I attended the rally during election time. I really enjoyed the rallies. Not because of anything but because it reminded me of my childhood days. Where we will go satay club to eat after shopping at marina shopping centre. There were Singaporeans everywhere and I am proud to be a Singapoean. I remember attending National day Parade and when the fighter jets flew past, I was so proud. I saw many Singaporeans tearing then. Because we know that we all had a part to play in this. Now, when I see a fighter jet flying past, I do not know if that pilot inside is a Singaporean or not. When I was in China airport, i saw so many Chinese speaking folks. You know they are from CHina by their dressing, by their spitting and by their very loud speaking as if the person they are talking to is on the other mountain across the valley. Then when they were clearing immigration, I saw them taking out a Singapore passport. Wow, I thought they managed to buy a Singapore red passport cover. Then I was wrong, it was really a SIngapore passport. This influx of new citizens is indeed true. I can see that they are really proud and happy to be holding onto the red passport. They must be so grateful to our government for taking them in. Anyone knows if new citizens have voting rights? The rest of the Chinese passengers were holding onto Singapore work permits. In time to come, they will exchange the green card for the red passport. That is when our Children's generation will suffer. Back to Perth, I noticed many Singapoeans who have migrated over. I chatted with a staff in red rooster and she was from Singapore before and is now an Australian citizen. I asked if it was better in Perth but she too cannot give me a definate yes. Perhaps she was also treated like a 2nd class citizen there. So, is staying in Singapore better? Or Migrating better? both cases lead to being a 2nd class citizen no? Is there anything that anyone can do to change this? It is a huge thing and it concerns many lives. What kind of pace we want out future to have. WHat kind of pressures in life do we want our future generation to have? THese are questions that demand answers. Who knows that the future holds? We know. We decide. The future is ours.
Typing this in the plane now. It has been an busy yet interesting start to the new year. For one, this is my first time spending the Lunar New Year away from home. Yes, Qin and I went overseas as it was the long weekend and I thought I was the only one but I was so wrong. Traveling was so popular that I nearly couldnt' get onboard. Well, we went to Perth and from there went over to Adelaide. We did the great ocean road and drove to Melbourne where we fly back to Singapore. It was summer there and Perth was pretty hot. However, as soon as we hit the road, we were suprised by the pleasant weather in Australia. The plan was this. We will fly to Perth on Friday night and then spend the night in Perth airport it self and venture to Perth city to have a look before our domestic flight to Adelaide that afternoon. From Adelaide, we will rent a car after the first night stay at Mercure and then drive down to Victor Harbour. It is a very short drive down but I thought it is good to have an easy start. Somemore, we are going to the clevland wildlife park. This is one cool park as you get to hand feed the kangaroos. They are pretty tamed and I know Qin would love this. She was hoping like the kangaroos around the park. Oops, suppose to be a secret. Then, the plan was that we will stay in Victor Harbour for a night before driving off to this town called Robe. Then this town called Portland and then Apollo Bay, followed by Baccarat and then into Melbourne where we will spend 2 nights. So that is a total of 9 nights. Well, things didn't go as planned. When we were in Portland, we decided to do some crazy things and thought of driving to the Grampians. According to my good friend who has studied in Melbourne for a number of years, "Grampains is a must visit. It is more beautiful than the blue mountains". So we decided to take up the challenge to drive all the way up north and do a little diversion. Man, this was one long drive. Basically, from morning 9am all the way till night time around 9pm. It is a little risky in retrospect. The saving grace was that it was summer then and the day is longer than usual which means that we have more day light to drive. Well, one of the nights, when we were in Portland to be exact, we drove out of Portland and did some night driving. It was really cool driving in the dark and you get to see a lot of wildlife running about. There were kangaroos, rabbits etc. Anyway, from Grampians we finally made our way to Apollo Bay and after we checked-in and put down our bags, it was almost totally dark already. If we were late by about half hour, probably will be caught in total pitch darkness driving in.
This trip to Australia has made me think of many things, especially after interacting with the locals or not interacting with them actually. What happened was that when we were taking the domestic flight over to Adelaide, someone sat wrongly and took our seats instead. What are the chances of 2 person sitting wrongly? Well it happened. We were given 12E and 12F. Well, I think I can be considered as a pretty regular flyer by now and I do not think I'll get my seats mixed up. The guy who was siting on 12E was a Chinese and he immediately stood up and said sorry before making his way out. The other guy, was an Aussie and he had his laptop opened up and was busy at work. Well, if you are a regular traveller, you'll know that you only use your laptop after take off and when the seat belt sign has been switched off. Well, at least this is the case for this airline I am flying with. So my guess is that he is a noob. Nevermind, he insisted that he was correct and I was wrong. "This is MY seat". He said. "The row number is written here" as he pointed towards the number above his seat, at the overhead compartment area. Well, the ground staff may have made a mistake by issuing a duplicate boarding pass and so I didn't want to kick a big fuss but wait for a cabin crew to come and have a look. By now, the passengers in the area were all looking as this man had raised his voice. I was like a stupid Chinese and all the whitemen are thinking I'm the dumb dumb who cannot even read a number. After a while, the guy realised that he was seated wrongly. His seat was 13F and not 12F. He said softly "Oops, I made a mistake, I'll move back". The gentleman on 12D then looked at me and shook his head. He was a 1st generation Australian and he too was discriminated because of his race when he first came. So he completely understand how I felt. He also said that if I was not an Asian, I will probably not be treated like that. Anyways, this was not the only incident throughout this trip. We went to a restuarant, samething. And another case in a parking lot. I wasn't really offended by such things. It was in fact thought provoking. What caused some Aussies to be this racist? I saw milkshakes being thrown at my colleagues when I was there many years back. Many of them thought that we are there to fight for jobs with the locals and hence, hate non-Aussies to the guts. However, they are also not the locals if we want to be precise. THe aborigines are. They came and look their land to call their own and then form an exclusive club and deny the acceptance of other people like asians. And the scariest thing is that this bears close similarity with the situation we have in Singapore. Chinese, being the majority, didn't originate from Singapore. We came from CHina a few generations back. At present, we are also facing an issue with the influx of foreigners. Be it talent or labour, what difference does it make? The culture is different and they too are competing with us for jobs, houses, wives, husbands, food, etc. How are we reacting then? SHould we be racists and throw milkshakes at them along orchard road? Should we outrightly discriminate them? But if we do accept them, what is going to happen to our home? The place where we worked hard to defend (serve NS) and give it to new citizens like Jet Li and Gong Li? Allow foreigners to come in so that our kids are facing enormous pressure in schools as the elites from all over wants to come to singapore and partake our education system? Slog our lives away only to realise that the HDB flat seems forever out of reach as the rich Chinese can buy it using cold hard cash? These are issues that everyone face. In fact, these problems have been brought up at almost every rally during the election period just last year. What is our government going to do about it. I just read a report that LKY has called us to accept foreigners and that will prevent us from becoming like Japan. I'm not sure if he said we will regret if we choose not to accept foreigners though.
After returning from Australia, I was in China the next day. A drastic difference in temperature and culture as well. I first visited China close to 20 years back. Back then, I was in Yunnan and I totally didn't like it. Throughout the trip, I wanted to return to Singapore so badly. I enjoyed everything in Singapore. that was in the early 90s. Everything was hopeful. The common understanding was that if you worked hard, you'll make it in life. We have a great government with great policies and everyone was happy. Many people supported the government as shown in the polling results. Now, CHina is not that bad. Singapore on the other hand seems to lose its shine. Just take a walk at MBS, you'll think you have gone overseas. OK, that is a tourist place, so let's take the coffeeshop in our heartlands for example. It is the same, foreigners everywhere. I come from Jurong and when I went back to Jurong recently, it is totally unrecognizable. Way too many foreigners providing labour to the factories there. In fact, the only time that I saw lesser foriegners was when I attended the rally during election time. I really enjoyed the rallies. Not because of anything but because it reminded me of my childhood days. Where we will go satay club to eat after shopping at marina shopping centre. There were Singaporeans everywhere and I am proud to be a Singapoean. I remember attending National day Parade and when the fighter jets flew past, I was so proud. I saw many Singaporeans tearing then. Because we know that we all had a part to play in this. Now, when I see a fighter jet flying past, I do not know if that pilot inside is a Singaporean or not. When I was in China airport, i saw so many Chinese speaking folks. You know they are from CHina by their dressing, by their spitting and by their very loud speaking as if the person they are talking to is on the other mountain across the valley. Then when they were clearing immigration, I saw them taking out a Singapore passport. Wow, I thought they managed to buy a Singapore red passport cover. Then I was wrong, it was really a SIngapore passport. This influx of new citizens is indeed true. I can see that they are really proud and happy to be holding onto the red passport. They must be so grateful to our government for taking them in. Anyone knows if new citizens have voting rights? The rest of the Chinese passengers were holding onto Singapore work permits. In time to come, they will exchange the green card for the red passport. That is when our Children's generation will suffer. Back to Perth, I noticed many Singapoeans who have migrated over. I chatted with a staff in red rooster and she was from Singapore before and is now an Australian citizen. I asked if it was better in Perth but she too cannot give me a definate yes. Perhaps she was also treated like a 2nd class citizen there. So, is staying in Singapore better? Or Migrating better? both cases lead to being a 2nd class citizen no? Is there anything that anyone can do to change this? It is a huge thing and it concerns many lives. What kind of pace we want out future to have. WHat kind of pressures in life do we want our future generation to have? THese are questions that demand answers. Who knows that the future holds? We know. We decide. The future is ours.
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