National Service

it was during lunch the other day that a colleague of mine started talking about National service. I began counting and realised that it is now the 6th year since I stepped into the workforce after graduation from the university. Including the 4 years in NUS and the 2.5 years of compulsory conscription in Singapore, it was more than 11 years since I started my Basic Military Training in arch 2002.

It is also a coincidence that I recently read a reflection from someone who completed his Military Service in Singapore some 14 years back. He mentioned about 4 lessons he learnt in his NS that is very much applicable to his life now. I begin to think... did y NS experience add anything valuable at all?.....

To me, National Service was a complete waste of time. Quite frankly, from birth all the way to late teenage years, I know that my strength is always not in the physical stuff but rather on things that involve my brain. the IQ things. My PSLE, O levels and A levels results were better than national average, but when it comes to the Fitness stuff, that's where I'm falling behind And NS is all about fitness. at least, for the most of it.

I shall not lament on that issue here but perhaps, just perhaps, if I think hard enough, I can think of something valuable out of NS. So I begin to think....

1. "whatever you choose not to interfere means you endorse it"
I remember vividly one Sunday night after I booked in, I got asked to help out in some staging of a hall for the following day's speech by some big shot. Well, it is a request for help as technically, it was a Sunday evening and it is my off day still. Being a nice guy, I offered my assistance and went for it. It took longer than expected and as a result, we were late for Sunday night's roll call. Much to the anger of my Sgt who brought us there for the staging of the hall. To the rest, he was incapable of ensuring we finished the task on time. As a result, he took his anger out on us and punished us to show his prowess to the rest in the company. Yes, he was and is a bastard.
However, during the change parade (which is already banned in the military by that time), there was a new officer who was there. He just got posted in the unit, probably within the first 2 months and he is actually a friend's friend of mine. He knew me as we were from the same JC batch. he went to OCS but not me. being fresh from officers' school, i'm sure he knows what the regulations are. However, he kept quiet. probably not wanted to offend the sgt who has enjoying the sadistic punishment. The punishment went on for more than an hour and even other platoons' commanders were getting curious as to what happened and why were we punished so hard.
All in all, that officer just stood there and did nothing. he did not intervene and just watched on. From that day on, I know OCS to be a place where they train gutless people only to be commissioned by the President of Singapore to do absolutely nothing in the Army but to draw a salary higher than the rest. That's OCS for me. So the lesson I learnt is never allow something to go pass your eyes unchallenged. if you keep quiet, you are endorsing it.
Almost 12 years on, I am now working in the airport. I have responsibilities and my work does not really require me to be at the front line but rather, be in the office, behind some computer sending emails... however, I take it upon myself to walk the ground as much as I afford the time. it may be just a longer toilet break of something like that. Just so that I can see what is going on the ground for myself. There's only so much those reports can tell you. and when I see something that is out of line, I will address it. Be it a supervisor who is not really doing his job well, or a service staff who was rude to a passenger or something. when passengers have crossed the line, I too, will step in to intervene. Thankfully, when passengers see me, they often back down. Whatever I choose not to intervene, I am endorsing it.

2. "The guy doing the lowly job knows best"
I am one of the lucky ones not be chosen to be an officer of a specialist in the Army. well, I was chosen to be a specialist but I did not complete the course. A long story that I will not spend time here talking about it. I have a friend who was in-charge of cleaning the carpark that our battalion uses. well, only the permanent staff (i.e. the regulars) drive to the camp. the ordinary NSFs like us rely on public transport or some, the family members will ferry them to and fro. So every morning, this friend of mine, together with his other platoon mates will have to sweep up the carpark full of leaves and throw away the bag full of leaves. This happened even if it is drizzling. It was really an insult as you'll see A'level and diploma holders all sweeping the compound. Whoever said "you better study hard if not you'll end up as a road sweeper" is not entirely correct.
So one day, the CO is driving into the car park. The guy ultimately in-charge of the area is the Sergeant major. so he instructed them to sweep it really well. the idea is to show that he is really hard working and that the CO can promote him as soon as possible. politics and lots of boot licking in the Army.
then one day, it rained. And the carpark flooded. The CO opened the car door and his boots were sinking into the water. if the CSM had his way, I'm sure he would have lied down in that pool so that the CO can step on him instead of the water. Ya, just like some eunuch in China. totally all out to lick the boots.
As you can imagine, after the incident, the CSM wasn't too pleased. He scolded the platoon who was suppose to clean the carpark and reprimanded them for not doing a good job, resulting in him losing "face" in front of the CO when his boots were all wet. (yes, the boots of the Army CO cannot be dirtied cos he is wimp who has problem cleaning his own boots)
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, my friend said "encik (uncle in malay), you ask us to sweep all the leaves everyday, so the grass all die due to the lack of natural fertiliser, then when it rains, the rain water wash all the soil and sand into the drains chocking them up. naturally, it will lead to flooding."
everyone then giggled at the supidity of the CSM. well, we all know that if the CSM had brains, he would not have signed on to be a regular right?
lesson to me was very clear, if you want to know more about a job, speak to the one who does it on a daily basis. He knows best. Try looking at things from his angle. I never liked a top-down approach on things. respect the guy even if he hold a lowly position. he knows things that no one knows. Not even the CEO of your organisation.

That's all for now....

A world that cannot accept imperfection

Yes you read it right. We are now living in a world that cannot accept imperfection or any flaws of any kind. this is the modern day Singapore and it is downright sad. this thought just came to me and I think it is quite true. we live in a world that is pretty much controlled by the gen X, gen Y. The baby boomers are retiring and therefore, if we want to know what kind of world we can expect Singapore to be in the next few years, we need to look at the life experience of a gen X or gen Y. bearing in mind that Singapore's future Prime Minister and the entire cabinet will be a Gen X or a Gen Y in the very near future. Back in the 70s or 80s, when Singapore was just learning how to stand on her own two feet, the expectations were high. There are songs that people of that era may be familiar with such as "there was a time, when people say that Singapore couldn't make it, but we did...". Such songs inspire us and motivate us to be diligent and not slacken off, if not, we will be swallowed up by the countries around us. Those countries have natural resources that they can rely on and Singapore is nothing more than just a little red dot that even needs to buy water from her neighbours. On that note, we were very hard on ourselves. We worked hard in schools, believing in the doctrine that if you do not study hard, you will end up as a road sweeper and it is only through education that one can break the poverty cycle, to have a good paying job, to stay in a good house, to drive a good car, to have the "happy family" lifestyle that all condominiums and credit card commercials talk about. Remember the pursuit of the 5Cs? Such programmes worked well and solved those days' problems. Kids were kept off the streets and everyone wanted to have a good education. we saw a drop in crimes, especially organised ones and the population of Singapore, as a whole, were all working very hard, trying to create a good future for ourselves, for our future and our future's future. I once read somewhere that the worst thing that can ever happen to a nation is that the nation managed to generate many well-educated citizens but there are just not enough jobs for them to fill. Then, the nightmare of all nightmares - highly educated citizens having no jobs upon graduation. they will then turn to crimes to feed the family and then everything goes downhill in a deadly spiral. Speaking of which, some friends who just came back from Europe reported having they valuables stolen from them. Pick-pockets are everywhere, etc. But that's another story for another day. So in Singapore, we are glad that generally, most graduates are able to find decent jobs that pay relatively well. that's good news. the economy has created enough jobs for these fresh grads. sometimes, created too many that we need foreign talents to fill those positions. However, in this, we then take a step back and look at the promises of the 70s vs the reality now. we were given the impression that by studying hard, one can get a good life. Good life in terms of staying in a condo, having cash, many credit cards, career wise, it is a smooth ride, and lastly the good car to compliment it all. the 5Cs in short. However, is that reality? Condos are now priced beyond reach of many graduates. Car is also out of the question. recently asia-one ran an article talking about the top 10 most affordable cars in Singapore. Those unheard of brands also cost close to S$100,000 each. Career wise, is there really a prefect job out there? What is the by-product of all the promises painted back in the 70s and 80s is that we have a generation of very disillusioned young adults. Those that know, then become disgruntled, and often feel cheated over the past 20-30 years. The tell-tale signs are incidences of people flying into rage on the streets. we have seen how the "Hello Kitty" promotion by Macs has shown the ugly side of Singaporeans. at work, we also see people job-hopping as they simply cannot find that perfect job that they were promised of since young. with condos and cars priced out of reach, they are even more resentful and the natural thing to do is to blame the government. this is evident in the election results of the recent General Election. and not forgetting the problem that our Singapore government is trying so hard but has yet to find a solution for... increasing marriage numbers and child birth. we need the young to replace the old and at the very least cushion the impact of a greying population. However, there is simply not enough young to replace ourselves. Why? Simply because we cannot learn how to live with imperfection. We have been brought up to think that everything must be perfect. The perfect car, the perfect system, the perfect job, the perfect WIFE? as we look for a partner in life, we also apply all that we have learnt to use. What to look out for, we begin to analyse. I know of many friends around my age who are still single not because they choose to but because they have yet to find the mr-right or ms-right. Are they choosy? I'm not sure. But one thing I know is they do very thorough analysis before deciding on who to date and even have a dinner. And how can we blame them for that. They were wired up to take such an approach from a very young age. This is the situation we have created for ourselves back in the 70s and 80s. it's like the good saying when you tell 1 lie, you'll need 10 more to cover it up. So if we want to know what Singapore will be like in 2030, look at how we are educating our children now. parents no longer educate, we have out-sourced this role to "professional educators" be it from MOE or private schools. What's going to happen to them. how will they think in the future? What is shaping their minds now? Frankly, I cannot say for sure. If I can, I'll probably be the prime minister myself. However, there is no doubt that we need to look at how we educate our future now, and critically. Simply put, if your maid is teaching your kid how to ride a bicycle and not you, something is wrong. If your school teacher is the one teaching your kids what manners are, it's about time...

The CHC Saga

There has been lots of news and coverage on the above case as the matter has been brought to the court in Singapore. It is probably one of the biggest news in Singapore now as it involves the extremely sensitive topic we have in Singapore, that is - religion. There has already been more than enough coverage on the media on what this case is about and I will not go through the details here. It is in a nutshell, about pastor Kong and a few others who have allegedly misused large amounts of money (millions) to promote the career of pst Kong's wife - Sun Ho's music career. These money belong to the church and was allegedly misused by the accused. There are just a few points I would like to make and that is, in accordance to the hearings, we are now in a time where the prosecution makes their claim. Therefore, these few months will be a time where the prosecution makes all sorts of claims. be it true or false or how the judge is going to pass the verdict, it is still very much unknown. however, this is also the time where media coverage is at it's widest. few months or even weeks after this time, there will be some other cases that draw the attention of the media and the general public and everyone will forget about the CHC saga. So damage is being done now and it is hard to reverse whatever information the public has received until now. I do know some of the accused individually. I have also seen members of the church posting posts/entries wondering "what if Pastor and gang really took the money?" "What if they are really guilty?" And I must say that in times like this, it is only natural to doubt. I dare say a good percentage of CHC church goers do have this thought coming through their minds. what if the pastor they have been listening to all these years turn out to be a crook? Well, ministry workers and especially Christian leaders getting into trouble with the law and facing allegations especially when it come to finances is not uncommon. In the US, there have been many cases, you just need to google and there will be a lot of such cases. I have once seen a video of people accusing Pst Benny Hinn of some financial stuff as well. back in Singapore, it is also not the first time we have "charity" being questioned about their financial status and usage of money. Remember NKF, Ren Ci? And if I am not wrong, a church is considered "charity" in the context of Singapore. The question is that will the CHC case be the last? and from NKF to Ren Ci till today, what have we done to prevent future happenings of such cases? what have the CoC done to "safeguard the monies of the public"? The only ones who are benefiting are the lawyers and media people, perhaps they get to sell more papers. however, how much taxpayer's money is gone wasted because of all the investigation and court hearing? hey, the fact that an email dated many years back can be used as evidence means there is a poor chap who has to go through each individual email, letter by letter to search for evidence. probably some bloke working in CAD had that job. poor thing! As a society as a whole, it is also not useful, not productive. we should do what we can to prevent such possibility of allegations from taking place. it is for the greater good of the society, the people managing the money (religious leaders/charity organization heads, etc) and the public as well. I mean, have we not learnt enough lessons from Renci and NKF? How many more do we need? back to the Chc case, as mentioned earlier, I do know some of them on a closer level than the average joe. If the hypothesis that Pst Kong and company indeed planned all these and is after the money is true, then there will some serious lack of planning on their end. firstly, it is the timing. pst kong is in his 40s and the rest are even younger. Many of the accused have school going kids. they are not even close to their retirement age. As for City Harvest church it is still new and has greater potential to expand further. It will be foolish to try to siphon money out now. if you were to consider that one can only commit such events once, it will be in their interest to commit such deeds maybe 10 - 20 years later. Where there is more money to draw and there will be less risk as their children will all grow up etc. Therefore, my view is that it is unlikely, if they were really good at planning to plot this out and execute this at this time. Secondly, I have been to wedding dinners with some of the accused and have chatted with them. I believe in the integrity in the church's leaders. for my own wedding, I even gave a red packet to the leader who helped out in my wedding (it is a custom in Singapore for that). However, he rejected it. saying that as a new couple, I needed the money more. Well, back then, I really do need the money. I have seen this same behaviour over and over again. it is always about giving, sharing, caring. putting others first. thirdly, the accusation is that they used the church's money inappropriately. I attended some meetings and they did ask if it was ok to allow them to use the money for investments. I am not an economist, but I do know that there is a constant drop in the value of money over time. That is due to inflation. meaning, a dollar today will not be worth a dollar tomorrow. The very least to allow it to earn some interest so that the impact of inflation will be defrayed. we are not a church made up of rich businessmen unlike some churches in Singapore. Therefore, we will need more time in order to accumulate the money required for any big project, be it a mission trip or a church building project, etc. bit by bit, we saved. if we do not allow investments be made, then we are really loosing money. therefore, a decision was made and consensus given that they can use it. however, I cannot remember when was that meeting held, there has got to be some minutes of the meeting out there. More importantly, not everyone in the church went for that meeting. As you can imagine, it will be hard to determine who is really part of the church and who is not. Someone who attends the church regularly is considered a member?how about a visitor? A very regular visitor? The Church defines an executive member as someone who had the right to vote in those meetings. Therefore, the executive member is the one who has a voice in such meetings, not any member. It is a tough stand to make as we always want to be seen to be inclusive, but for administration purpose, we have to be exclusive on this one... Lastly, I know it is a tough time for all the accused and witnesses during this trial period. the kind of pressure they face from the media and from their family members. this can happen to anyone. in this modern society, it can happen to anyone. Be it guilty or not, it is not for us to judge. in closing, I remember a former colleague of mine once said "Kenneth, if you do the right thing, you will be able to sleep well at night". I am sure they can all sleep very well at night....

A video my coursemates and I did 6 years ago in NUS...

Greetings from Panama

Greetings from Panama. Am here cos the wife is here on a work trip and since I can buy discounted tickets, I've decided to tag along, afterall, the lodging is paid for already. I am also currently serving notice with my currently employer, so might as well clear my leave now. we were in Europe for a few days and indeed it was a wise choice as it helped us to cope with the jet lag better. the time difference between Panama and Singapore is 13 hours. It really doesn't matter if it is ahead or behind cos all i know is when my friends in Singapore are awake, I am asleep. It's good to travel on discounted ticket as the price I paid is some 120 euros to get to Europe and about the same price to get here from Amsterdam. the downside, is that it is on standby basis. If the flight is full, I don't get on. When leaving Singapore, that happened. So I had to go via Frankfurt instead. Well, the wife is sleeping in the room now and I am boiling some porridge for dinner later. It is about 6pm local.  We are in a service apartment.

Panama. Have always read about the Panama canal during Secondary Sch Geography lessons. interesting enough, I am just about 20km from where it is now. Will plan to visit the canal proper when we have the time. On the flight in, we saw many ships lining up to cross the canal. that is from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly all my geography came back. Hahahha. the Canal was built by the US military. That happened many years back and this canal is so important to Panama. I've got a feeling Panama is the city to spend money for the rich and famous in the latin American region. The place has nothing much really and is not that touristy. However, there are many tall skyscrapers and they are mostly vacant as of now. We will be here for a week and a half before going back. For me, I am entertaining myself with whatever I can find. hahaha.

back home in Singapore, the trial has begun. of cos we hope things will turn out well, but I kind of sense that it is a test of how serious Singaporeans can be towards religion. Should we publically display our support? a part of me say yes, a part says no. Why yes? Because we believe in them. why no? My supporting them, are we sabotaging them as the authorities will deem them as overly influential? Man, this is like the Jesus situation. Not an easy move.

Back to my life, I am now going to join another airline. One that is pretty controversial. I am enjoying my time in my present company but well, there are always room for improvement. Often, it is about looking at what you have and then think about what you can offer and then consider if the company is the best fit. Let's see how things pan out. I believed and therefore my decision. Is it the best move? Only time will tell.

In KLIA

Am currently in KLIA. staying here for 2 days before going to Penang for another 2 days. That's 1 week gone. And so, that is how I spend my time. It may sound fun and I do agree it is, but at the end, after calculation, I actually put it more hours than a regular week in the office in Singapore.

OK, enough of me. This week, church has seen some real drama. With CoC wanting to remove 8 individuals from the church. Well, since the beginning of the investigation, I guess this is the day that we all hoped will never come. What they did, is it right, is it wrong, it is not something I want to comment on the blog but I believe there is good in every situation and God's plans are higher. Let/s see how things develop but I can say this is a tough time for all of the 8 individuals. And if you are from another church reading this, you may wonder what has it got to do with me. The answer is that this case not only involves the 8 individuals. It actually speaks of the atmosphere of religious acceptance in Singapore. And if you are a Christian in Singapore, this concerns you as it can potentially shape how churches are run in this island. So, the decision is a big thing. For the 8, it can mean that they will no longer be allowed to be employed by any charity organization in Singapore. This means a loss in income and literally, a suicide in their career. So what is the next step? migrate to another country? Somewhere that will accept people doing good deeds?

I shall not continue else I'll probably say something that is not politically correct and get myself into trouble with the law.

Talking on career, I will be making a bold move in my career in the next few months. Forever thankful to the blessings of God. I pray it will be fruitful. I shall not reveal too much as yet as nothing has been confirmed. but certainly, some changes are in the pipeline. I'm excited and looking forward to it.

For the past few days, I've been learning about respect. Being respectful to other is something not easy. Really need to be very confident to do so. In fact, is it due to the lack of confidence that resulted in a lot of disrespect and that is why we have racism etc. Racism is funny if taken well but it definitely is a bad thing. There's no doubt about it. Ok, got to go back to my lamb shank that I ordered. Then going for meeting number 4 for today alone. It is a tiring trip like all duty travels. I am but just a piece of sugar cane and the company is squeezing me dry...

In Osaka

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...

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....

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.

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....

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.

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.

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....

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.

Wrapping up the year

As 2011 comes to a close, it is time to evaluate and plan for 2012.

2011 has been an eventful year. With many things happening. Qin and I changed our jobs. Massive changes in Ministry for both of us. And I have been flying and seeing places that I have never been before. Brother moved to be my neighbour. Parents relocated to Central Singapore.

As I was flipping my passport the other day, I noticed for 2011, my traveling has significantly increased compared to 2010. Both for work and non-work.

1X Taiwan
5X Vietnam
1X Thailand
5X China
4X Malaysia
1X Macau
1X Hongkong

With most of the travelling happening af the 2nd half of the year, it is like 2 to 3 times a week. Interesting. Wonder what 2012 will be like.

Will probably blog more about food the next time.

Hanoi - Dec 2011

Decided to put in some photos to my otherwise very boring blog. Hoping to revive this blog after a long while...

And so, my Final Trip for 2011 was to Hanoi. Huiqin came to join me for 3 days and 2 nights. It is a city that has nothing much. Or at least, nothing much caught my attention.

So I picked Huiqin from the airport and here we are in a cab.


After resting in the hotel, we decided to talk a walk out in the town area. We were putting up near the Hoan Kiem Lake. This is the place where there is the highest concentration of tourists.

Generally, it was cold, but not too cold that it was uncomfortable. The air was polluted like all cities and especially so in Hanoi.



We decided to watch the water puppet show but it was so dark inside and the photos didn't turn out well.

For dinner, we went to the famous "Cha Ca". It means grilled fish. Ca means fish. In fact, the entire street was named after this dish. There are a number of stalls selling this traditional dish, but this stall was the best or at least that was what I was told.

This was actually more like fried fish rather than grilled fish. The shop only sells 1 item and that is this dish. Plain Noodles go with it, however, I cannot remember what the noodles are called.

It was a really old building and I am sure it will not pass BCA checks. As you can see, this is really a touristy place. Ang Moh behind...


After dinner, we went to the lake for a walk. I was told that "when you feel stressed, just sit by the lake and you will feel very relaxed".




The Next day, we went to Halong Bay. This was what we have been looking forward to and seriously, this was the highlight of this trip. We were so looking forward to rekindling the times we had at Doubtful Sound in NZ. We are in a Chinese Junk here.



Halong Bay is famous all around the world and it is one of those heritage sites that conservationists are conserving. Imagine a hilly area that got flooded. That is how it is like. I was told that during the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese empire actually spread as far south as to Halong Bay. I'm impressed....






The symbol of Halong Bay is this so called "Fighting Cock" boulders. It is unique as it stands as if 2 fighting cocks are facing each other. I explain to Huiqin and she said I was "Talking Cock". but it is true...





There are people living here in the Bay.



We then decided to explore the inner caves and this was by row boat by the locals.






We walked the caves too...



The journey back from Halong Bay to Hanoi was again 3.5 hrs on a very bumpy road and in a very cramped van. It was not pleasureable at all.


Then it was more street walking the next morning before we leave for the airport back to Singapore.



Bought street food too. This is their "donuts". There's green bean paste inside too. The sasame flavor was the best!



Last cup of coffee at Highlands Coffee.

SMRT

How can any blogger resist the temptation to blog abt this latest, most happening event in Singapore. It is as epic as the great flooding of orchard road. Citizens are screeming to get rid of smrt's ceo. Our PM has done the popular move to call for an Inquiry of the incident.

What more can I say? everyone's attacking SMRT's profits over the past many years. I personally am not affected at all as I was overseas then. However, i though it would be nice to recap what we are all familiar with 1 year ago.

Glad

I was glad I was glad I went to the house of God last Sunday. Felt good listening to Pst Phil Pringle.

I'm happy also that our friend has finally got attached and to a Christian girl. Happy for him.

My project has also some progress, less stress now.

And my flight is confirmed. Leaving for China on thurs and back on Sat.

Next week, I'll be leaving on wednesday and back on friday...

Recently...

It certainly is shocking to know that an impt man in church is leaving. And it seems for good... The takeaway I've got is Never be quick to judge. Better if we can Not Judge at all. Easier said than done. Let the judging be done by God.

I was talking to someone and this was the advice he gave me too. Do not judge.

I was recently in Guangzhou and had dinner with an ex-military colonel. What happen was that in his organizstion, there is someone who has a very heck care attitude. lazy is what some ppl call him. Totally bo chap. Basically, every other week, this staff will be on mc a day. He will come late and leave early. However, the ex-colonel said that we should try to understand him and know the history, then you will know why he is like that. Asking around, I realised y. Apparently, the company did some stuff to him and he was devastated. Perhaps that's y he is not sacked to date.

As I take on various projects in my company, I realise the importance to understand the history of things. Seek to know what was transpired before and know what has already happened. Then we will know how and why we are where we are.

I begin to see things in a different light after having that dinner in Guangzhou. Do not judge. What goes around, comes around. I must remember not to judge others. I hope others will not judge me too... Cos at the end, when we begin to see the reasons, we may look like a fool.

Ok, a quick update of what is happening in my life. I've been to Ha noi and Guangzhou. In fact, going back to China soon, perhaps this coming week. Not confirm though. Then next month, back to Hanoi. One day, I woke up wondering which country I was in and realised I was in my own home in Singapore.

My bro has moved his house. Abt 2mins from my place. My parents are moving soon too..

SGN now

I'm in SGN now somewhere near cho ben tenh. Came here this morning and will be staying here till 1st Nov and followed by a flight to China within 6 hours after landing in Changi.

Qin's at home and saying that I miss her is an understatement. I think our hearts are intertwined. We simply cannot live without each other. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Miserable is how we feel without each other. No friend, No relative can ease that feeling. Come Feb, there will be a 2 -week reservice. How how how???

Any tips from anyone who have been through this?